Zoo Admin 5th Anniversary > A Little ZA History

A long time ago, not so far far away....

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LadyZookeeperNY:
Dateline: October 2001---Microsoft Games together with Blue Fang Games releases a unique type of simulation game called Zoo Tycoon. Players are able to build their own dream zoos, adopt animals, and become Zoo Tycoons! Well, that was the "hype" anyway. Almost overnight fansites started popping up based on the game, and before you knew it, people were beginning to understand the programming of the game so they could make their own items for it!!

A couple of ingenious guys got together and started a little place called ZooAdmin. The founding member, as we understand it, was RedPhoenix, and soon EagleOne joined him, in maintaining the site. AussieKoala and Lowenfrau weren't far behind, and together this group of talented and inspired individuals become the core members and designers for ZA. It didn't take very long before ZA started to grow by leaps and bounds, especially when its main competitor, Tycoon Resource, closed in October 2002.

2002 saw Microsoft/Blue Fang release some very important things: an official American Flag as a tribute to the events of 9/11; some fancy buildings; a patch to fix a programming glitch with the guest happiness and the maintenance workers.....and Dino Digs in May! You talk about dino frenzy.....my goodness everyone was clammering for dino info and new items for their zoos! EagleOne and crew did their best to keep up with the demands of the new expansion pack for ZA members, and the forums became a meeting place for discussion and picture postings!!

But wait....what's this?? Another expansion pack?? YES, it's Marine Mania, released in October 2002 and combined with the previous DD release. Well what you can say...the site exploded with new members, designers, creators, and tons of excitement! But we were about to see some staff changes too....EagleOne retired and handed the reigns over to AussieKoala and Lowenfrau. These two ladies labored with love over the site for quite a long time, providing us with great new items, building groups, designing groups, keeping the contests going and making them so much fun. Other staff changes were on the horizon, too numerous to mention (and I can't remember all of them anyway :rolleyes: ).

2003 and it's time for Complete Collection...complete, as in no more ZT1?? Oh no :fear2:  , it just can't be!!! Aahhhh, but MS/BF have something else up their sleeves....

Here comes ZT 2 in 2004, and talk about an explosion..WOWSERS!!! New members were joining at a rate of about 25 per day during the first year of ZT2's release. The site grew by leaps and bounds, with new ZT 2 forums becoming THE place for fans and players to meet and share ideas, strategies, and ask questions about the game.  Oh no---here come the expansion packs---Help!!! Endangered Species and African Adventures create even more excitement. Our designers are determined to figure out how to make user items for ZT 2. They are successful in some areas, so now we have even more forums and goodies for our members. New ZT 2 building groups were recently created, and those groups will be showcasing their building efforts later in the month.

ZA has been proud to be able to be a part of this exciting game franchise through the insight and willingness to grow with the game by our Administrators and Moderators. Many of the changes you have seen have been done to make our site one of the premier sites available to anyone with an internet connection. Our rules may be strict at times, but for us to be able to keep our A+ rating for all ages, sometimes we have to be the bad guys!

Please feel free to share your favorite good memories of our site, whether it's a pic, story, or a special friendship you've made here. For anyone who has been a member from the beginning (or close to it) let us know about our past Administrators who worked so hard to get us started. Their past contributions are essential to our future success. I'll be back another day with a story of how a lowly lady became an Admin without knowing about :queen: it!

Flames The Dragon:
cool some history I love history lets go about my storys here
A long time ago(sorry no star wars ppun here!)when ZT1 was  first released I loved it and I only bought it because it looked col at my younger age little did I know that it would change my life forervor.Soon after a few months I stubbled upon downloads and I had tons of them I would always come here to ZA for the wonderful downloads and I got these downloads when the site was in its early stages of growth!It was wonderful and then DD1 came the PC I had got worn out and I was unable to play so I got a new one and installed Zt1 and DD1  and no one could get me off it(exept school:angry: )then  came MM1 and I was more hooked then I was on DD1 and through all that I would still come for every new download and they were all great so along came CC and I bought it instley!Soon I was downloading things like crazy and then that fathful day came when the first beta pictures of ZT2 came I swear I was running around my house screaming about it!The Wiacos site came and gave us beta info on all the items and animals.Now for it has come it was Dec. 2003 I joined and I loved the site it was wonderful and I could not stop coming and looking for more dowmnloads then I got Zt2 and I was amazed by what I saw on the box but the computer I was on broke down so new computer(the one  am using today)came and I installed it right away!then after about a cuple months playing it I got bored with the animals they had and got a couple downloads then ES and AA sparked my crazy of the most download flled ZT2 ever!And when I heard of MM2 i jumped out of my seat and was as happy as ever and so I did a little cleaning of my downloads and I only have a few left and only a few left to download!I`ve also made many friends here one is Zoo Animal us to Avatar fans know all about Avatar and we became the best of online friends.And I still rembere what ZA looked like when it was first built like it was yesturday.Right now I`ve been trying to be up to date with everything happending but I have tons and tons of tons of homework and have only be able to post alot between breaks and weekends.I would also like to say that with out ZA I don`t know where I`d be now with Zoo Tycoon thanks ZA itsbeen great and Happy Anniversty ZA too!

happyholly:
Well I can't really share any memories of the site, as I have only been here a few weeks! But that 'potted history' was very interesting, thank you, LZKNY. I had no idea ZA had been around such a long time. Shame those founder members aren't around now.....

As for becoming an admin without knowing it, that sounds like a good read....: :) :

csleesburg:

--- Quote from: happyholly ---Shame those founder members aren't around now.....
--- End quote ---

Well, you never know, do you.......? :whistling

Panda King:
I remember thath grand day one October long ago.

Beleive it or not, I've browsed this site for 5 years, but only joining recently.

I remember,

1. Wild Wings being released.
2.When Xtrat made the bullfrog.
3.Littlemog edited a model for the first time.

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