Zoo Tycoon 2: Marine Mania


 * This article is for the expansion for Zoo Tycoon 2. For the expansion pack for Zoo Tycoon, see Zoo Tycoon: Marine Mania. For the mobile phone game, see Zoo Tycoon 2: Marine Mania Mobile.

Zoo Tycoon 2: Marine Mania is the third expansion pack for the video game Zoo Tycoon 2. The expansion focuses around marine animals, as did the Marine Mania expansion for the first Zoo Tycoon game.

Animal shows
Marine Mania introduces shows and an animal training minigame (more minigames were later introduced in Extinct Animals) which were previously not in the other expansions of the game. The player can train individual animals in the first-person, guest mode themselves or hire a trainer to train the animals.

The training minigame takes place in a training area, inside the animal's tank. The player uses a "training wand" to follow a tracer along a form which differs with the trick that is being taught. The training increases the animal's skill in that particular trick, as the animal becomes more skilled the training becomes more difficult. The difficulty of the training is increased by the form becoming narrower, the tracer moving more quickly and the addition of such obstacles as the player needing to press an arrow key or click the mouse at a certain point.

The shows take place in a tank adjacent to the animal's regular tank, accessible through a tank portal. The player choreographs the show by adding trick into the acts of the show. Tricks by different animals in the same act as each other takes place at roughly the same time.

Animals

 * Beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) - Tundra (Show Performer)
 * Blacktip reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus) - Reef
 * Blue marlin (Makaira nigricans) - Pelagic
 * Bottlenose Dolphin * (Tursiops tursiops)- Coastal (Show Performer)
 * California Sea Lion (Zalophus californianus) *- Coastal (Show Performer)
 * False Killer Whale (Pseudorca crassidens) *- Coastal (Show Performer)
 * Goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni) *- Benthic
 * Green turtle (Chelonia mydas) - Coastal
 * Leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea)- Pelagic
 * Narwhal (Monodon monoceros) - Tundra
 * Manta ray (Manta birostris) - Reef
 * Orca (Orcinus orca) *- Tundra (Show Performer)
 * Pacific walrus (Odobenops rosamarus) - Tundra (Show Performer)
 * Rockhopper Penguin (Eudyptes chryscome) - Coastal
 * Scalloped hammerhead shark (Sphyrna lewini)- Pelagic
 * Sea otter (Enhydra lutris) *- Coastal (Show Performer)
 * Short-finned Pilot Whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus) - Pelagic (Show Performer)
 * West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus) - Coastal
 * Whale shark (Rhinocodon typus) - Benthic
 * White shark (Carcharodon carcharias) - Benthic


 * * Returns in Zoo Tycoon 2 DS

Animals which can perform in shows must be trained first, either by the player playing minigames, or by hiring a trainer. Players are also able to swim with certain animals, by "riding" on them. Also California Sea Lions, Pacific Walruses, Rockhopper Penguins and Sea Otters can move on land as well.

Animals can use either a tank or regular exhibit water. Animals like the rockhopper penguin or California sea lion, which live in coastal areas, require a combined land and water exhibit to remain happy. Animals such as the Green sea turtle which use land will generally accept either the rock or desert islands instead of normal land, and so may be kept in tanks or hybrid exhibits.

Polar bears, emperor penguins, and hippopotamuses from the unexpanded Zoo Tycoon 2 were updated to swim underwater, while Nile crocodiles and American beavers were left as Blue Fang Games believed, contrary to scientific fact, that those two were incapable of doing so. In the following expansion, Extinct Animals, this was changed so the beaver and crocodile could now submerge.

Ambient Animals
These animals appear automatically in water that the player places, but are non-adoptable and cannot be moved (or eaten by inhabitants of tanks). The remora however will occasionally latch onto certain animals such as sea turtles.

Biomes
Four new biomes have been added with the expansion, in addition to the other ten from the original game:
 * Benthic
 * Coastal
 * Reef
 * Pelagic

Besides this, the method of biome layout has been altered, enabling players to filter rocks, plants and trees while laying down the terrain. The game also allows the player to build mixed tank-land exhibits, also called hybrid tanks. This way, animals like the walrus can come onto land to rest, and go back into the water later, while allowing guests to view the animals both above ground and in the water. Players can now dive underwater in "guest mode". The "photo mode" can also be used underwater, as the game's original camera has been replaced with a redesigned underwater camera (the underwater camera is used even when the player is not in the water).

It is worthy of note that all of the new animals go into either the above categories or the tundra biome.

System Requirements
As it is an expansion pack, it requires the original Zoo Tycoon 2 or Zoo Tycoon 2: Zookeeper Collection to play.
 * Microsoft Windows 98SE or Higher
 * PC with 733 MHz equivalent or higher processor
 * 256 MB of system RAM
 * 900 MB available hard disk space
 * 32x speed or faster CD-ROM drive
 * 16 MB 3D video card required
 * DirectX 9.0 or later
 * Sound card, speakers or headphones required for audio
 * Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device

In-Game Errors
These are some known within the expansion pack, these were fixed in Extinct Animals.
 * In the Zoopedia listing for Rockhopper Penguins, the Fun Facts box reads "Fun Bottlenose Dolphin Facts". It should say "Fun Rockhopper Penguin Facts", This was fixed in Ultimate Collection.
 * There are many instances where a marine animal, usually in hybrid tanks or regular exhibits, will become beached for unknown reasons. This happens most often with animals that are unable to go onto land.
 * In the Zoopedia listing for the great white shark, the Fun Facts box reads "Fun Blacktip Reef Shark facts". It should say "Fun Great White Shark Facts", This was fixed in Ultimate Collection.
 * Occasionally an error message will pop up, saying that an exclusively marine animal need more land area, an example would be "West Indian Manatee 3 needs more land area!" this was fixed in Extinct Animals.

Beta Elements
Seen in pre-release screenshots, the Marine Gift Cart would have appeared as a cart shaped like a Green Sea Turtle with a hat, but was changed to a pirate ship theme for unknown reasons.