rionkimchi
03-17-12, 01:10 PM
PART 1 - Earning Gold from Animals
ANIMALS earn GOLD in varying amounts, depending on:
"base" amount of gold
# of animals (base-gold x #-animals = total gold)
whether the habitat has been upgraded once or twice (1 upgrade adds about the same gold as one animal)
whether it has been toured/photo'd (this adds 20 gold to the total)
collection frequency, base or theoretical
collection frequency, actual or realistic
Also, although animal habitats are all the same size, the size is a factor when comparing gold-earning of animals to gold-earning of attractions. Animals are 6x6, using the size of the smallest items as "1" (like a street-lamp, for example). In my posts, when gold or XP values are quoted, they are always "gold/XP per hour per square for ONE animal". Animals always are 36 squares. Again, this is not important when comparing animals with each other but it does matter when comparing animals to attractions. More on this later.
Let's look at a couple of examples.
(1) BEARs... they are theoretically the highest gold earning animal in the game: Bears earn 14 gold in 5 minutes, for a value of 14/(5/60)/36=4.67 gold per hour per square. However, you would have to sit right by your game and immediately collect from it every 5 minutes to achieve this. Can you?
(2) SLOTHs... they are the highest ranked gold earning animal from a realistic viewpoint. Sloths earn 1,052 gold in 7 hours, for a value of 1052/7/36=4.17. To achieve this you only have to collect every 7 hours. However, most people sleep for a little longer than this, or might have to work or go to school all day without playing, so even collecting every 7 hours might be unrealistic.
What is "realistic" for collection frequency? That's up to you. People playing the game "a lot" can probably collect every hour or two during the day, and ZERO at night while sleeping. So let's take a look at a third example that looks at "average" collection frequency...
(3) PUMAs... Pumas are the highest earner among animals that you can collect from every hour. They earn 100 gold per 1 hour, for a value of 100/1/36=2.78. But you can't sustain collecting EVERY hour. If you collected every hour during the day for 16 hours and then got 8 hours of sleep, you would collect 1700 total because you collect at hour "zero" and then every hour including at the end of hour 16, for a total of 17 times. This yields a value of 1700/24/36=1.96, somewhat lower than the theoretical of 2.78. If your collection frequency during the day drops to every 2 hours during the day, then you would have 1.04, and if it was every 3 hours during the day it would be 0.69, and so on.
This is why your actual, average collection frequecy is so important. If you collect every 2 hours during the day and only sleep 8 hours, then you collect 9 times in a day, which on average is every 24/9=2.67 hours.
If you go back to BEARS and SLOTHS, and assume a realistic collection frequency of 3 hours, now instead of 4.67 and 4.17 respectively, we have 0.13 for bears and 3.25 for sloths. And if you only can collect 3 times day = an average of every 8 hours, now you have 0.05 for bears and 3.65 for sloths. When you include "actual/realistic" collection times into the calculation, sloths remain ranked at the top and bears drop almost to dead last.
With this in mind, I usually calculate the gold-earning rankings across four average collection frequencies: 3, 6, 9 and 12 hours. Then I average the four rankings to get one overall ranking.
SO, here is the list ranking all the animals for gold earning (except for a few for which I have no data). The ones costing gems are highlighted in purple. Note, some animals not in purple still cost gems indirectly, in that a parent costs gems or they are unlocked by a task/goal/collection that takes gems.
Sloth
Jack Rabbit
Cobra
Gila Monster
Jackalope
Mountain Goat
Frilled Neck Lizard
Wildebeest
Big Horned Sheep
Giant Anteater
Orangutan
Flying Monkey
Tasmanian Wolf
Panther
Gharial
Manx Sheep
Gray Wolf
Puma
Harpy Eagle
Puffin
Honduran White Bat
Arctic Fox
Albino Python
Owl
Wombat
Persian Chinchilla
Harp Seal
Red Kneed Tarantula
Fennec Fox
Flamingo
Lunar Dragon
Vampire Bat
Capuchin Monkey
Mammoth
Civet
Impala
Toucan
Meerkat
Irish Elk
Rhino
Leprechaun Panda
Buffalo
Horned Toad
Minotaur
African Wild Dog
Hyena
Capybara
Coati
Flying Frog
Clydesdale
Caribou
Ringtail Lemur
Iguana
Mandrill
Liger
Kangaroo
Warthog
Bald Eagle
Dingo
Tree Frog
Scarlet Macaw
Walrus
Irish Bullfrog
Polar Bear
Giraffe
Camel
Golden Lion Tamarin
African Vulture
Zebra
Crowned Crane
Sugar Glider
Llama
Slow Loris
Sea Lion
Ruffed Lemur
Penguin
Porcupine
Rainbow Toucan
Armadillo
Snow Owls (Winter Box)
Unicorn
White-Tailed Deer
Bush Baby
Skunk
Bottlenose Dolphin
Spectacled Bear
Golden Pheasant
Tiger
Moose
Shamrock Gorilla
Red Shanked Duac
Peregrin Falcon
Okapi
Chimpanzee
Tasmanian Devil
Rattlesnake
Leopard Gecko
Flying Fox
Ringtail Mongoose
Silverback Gorilla
Red Fox
Koala
Turtle
Giant Tortoise
Coin Mouse
Hippo
Crocodile
Jaguar
Ostrich
Gryphon
Bear
Coyote
Barn Owl
Ermine
Snow Leopard
Lynx
California Condor
Peacock
Panda
Sea Otter
Scarlet Ibis
Elephant
Lion
Naked Mole Rat
Arabian Horse
NO DATA
Shamrock Turtle.... (locked by goal)
Clouded Leopard.... = Jaguar + Snow Leopard; may cost gems?
Lucky Bear........... = Shamrock Gorilla + Bear
Red Panda........... = Red Fox + Panda
Platypus.............. = Sea Otter + Flamingo
Tree Kangaroo..... = Kangaroo + Capuchin Monkey
Cheetah .............. = Gray Wolf + Snow Leopard
Kirin..................... Far East Box
Mandarin Duck...... Far East Box
Racoon Dog.......... Far East Box
Cerberus............... Monster Box
Ghost.................... Monster Box
Imp...................... Monster Box
Werewolf.............. Monster Box
Snow Fairies......... Winter Box
Snowman............. Winter Box
Snowshoe Hare..... Winter Box
Yeti...................... Winter Box
PART 2 - Earning Gold from Attractions
The variables that effect attractions' gold-earning are:
"base" amount of gold
whether it has been toured/photo'd (this adds 20 gold to the total)
collection frequency
size
The new variable vs. animals is size. Attractions are either 2x2, 2x4, 4x4 or 6x6.
Size = 4 squares:
- Cotton Candy Stand
- Ice Cream Stand
- Hot Dog Stand
- Popcorn Stand
Size = 8 squares:
- Sandwich Stand
Size = 16 squares:
- Gift Shop
- Botanical Center
- Pizza Parlor
- Caf?
- Nursery
- First Aid
- Recycle Center
- Shamrock Diner (this is a guess)
- Face Paint Booth
Size = 36 squares:
- Dino Ride
- Octopus Carousel
- Ferris Wheel
- Carousel
You can then calculate the gold per hour per square across various "realistic" collection times and rank them as a group, or compare them to animals. The ranking of attractions is:
Cotton Candy Stand
Ice Cream Stand
Dino Ride
Gift Shop
Sandwich Stand
Hot Dog Stand
Popcorn Stand
Botanical Center
Octopus Carousel
Pizza Parlor
Nursery
Caf?
First Aid
Recycle Center
Shamrock Diner
Ferris Wheel
Face Paint Booth
Carousel
A lot of people, at first, include extra hot dog or popcorn stands in their zoo, because they theoretically earn the most gold, but you don't have to miss very many collections and very quickly the ice cream stands beat them. Cotton Candy stands are better but cost gems whereas ice cream stands are cheap at only 35 gold each... and you earn this back on your third collection.
Now, since 9 ice cream stands fit into the same space as 1 animal, we can compare them (or any attraction) vs. the animals to see which we should place into the limited space we have in our zoos. If you collect (on average) every 2 hours, then only sloths and jack rabbits beat ice cream if you have ONE animal. If you collect only twice a day or every 12 hours, then a few more animals (again, ONE animal) beat ice cream: Sloth, Gila Monster, Jack Rabbit, Jackalope, Cobra, Flying Monkey, Gharial, Wildebeest, Big Horned Sheep, Frilled Neck Lizard, Orangutan, Mountain Goat, Manx Sheep, and Honduran White Bat.
However if you have FOUR animals and a "middle" collection frequency, then you have a longer list of animals that beat the haul from ice cream. So, the comparison ranking between attractions and animals is very dependent on # of animals and collection time.
With this in mind, here is a list of animals that should "normally" beat ice cream stands, assuming 4 animals for the less expensive or lower breeding time animals, and 2 animals for the more expensive or long breeding time animals. I am including 33 because this is 3 "rows" or "columns" of 11 animals in your zoo.
Sloth
Jack Rabbit
Gila Monster
Cobra
Flying Monkey
Giant Anteater
Jackalope
Tasmanian Wolf
Orangutan
Manx Sheep
Gray Wolf
Arctic Fox
Frilled Neck Lizard
Mountain Goat
Puffin
Harpy Eagle
Wildebeest
Big Horned Sheep
Harp Seal
Albino Python
Fennec Fox
Gharial
Puma
Rhino
Capuchin Monkey
Leprechaun Panda
Hyena
Mammoth
Horned Toad
African Wild Dog
Iguana
Honduran White Bat
Kangaroo
Using the above information, you could set up your zoo for absolute maximum gold earning... place the 33 animals listed above in a tight grouping on the top or right (so they don't hide anything behind them), and then fill the entire remaining space with literally hundreds of ice cream stands. When you tour high level zoos you will see some of them are set up like this, including mine. We're not crazy we're just trying to get gold faster! Personally I have four columns of animals (44) to make collecting a little easier, to have room for the animals in my nursery or lab, and/or I include some of the next few in the ranking which are:
Caribou
Scarlet Macaw
Bald Eagle
Tree Frog
Polar Bear
Walrus
Persian Chinchilla
Zebra
Crowned Crane
Wombat
Giraffe
A zoo like this - - I'll use mine as the example - - will have 23x35+2x12=829 ice cream stands, yielding 13,264 in gold every time it is fully collected. Collecting an average of 4 times a day, to be conservative, yields 53,000 gold. Then from the 44 animals I get about 64,000 a day. So my zoo generates an income of about 120,000 gold per day. I tend to focus my breeding on the high earning animals that breed in the shortest amount of time, unless there's some other task that needs finishing. That way my zoo earns more gold faster so I can then fill in the expensive animals like the sloths, jack rabbits, etc.
With patience and persistence you will have no shortage of gold. At one time, while I was breeding the sloths that take 7 days each, I had over 1.5 million. I am not trying to brag, I am just trying to encourage you to use these strategies to get more gold because they really do work !!
PART 3 - Earning XP from Animals
Fewer variables affect how much XP that animals earn:
"base" amount of XP
whether it has been toured/photo'd (this adds 1 XP to the total)
collection frequency (realistic or average, as usual)
# of animals does not affect XP
Since XP generation is less critical - - does not hold you back as much as the lack of gold - - we don't need as much complexity in generating the list of the best animals for XP. But we still calculate XP per hour per square, and I have used an average collection frequency of about 3 to 4 times a day. Many of the top ranked animals earn 10 XP (the max) as you'd expect, but because of collection frequency, some that earn less end up ranked. Anyway, here is the list:
Cobra
Giant Anteater
Frilled Neck Lizard
Mountain Goat
Harp Seal
Rhino
Lunar Dragon
Panther
Sloth
** Flying Frog
Arctic Fox
Hyena
Leprechaun Panda
Persian Chinchilla
** Red Shanked Duac
** Unicorn
** White-Tailed Deer
** Liger
Gila Monster
Flying Monkey
Jackalope
Gray Wolf
Puffin
Albino Python
Gharial
Horned Toad
Iguana
Scarlet Macaw
Polar Bear
** Zebra
** Bottlenose Dolphin
Buffalo
Minotaur
Clydesdale
Owl
Flamingo
Dingo
Jack Rabbit
Impala
Coati
Vampire Bat
Toucan
Leopard Gecko
Mandrill
Many of these animals are fortunately also high gold earners. This is another reason we don't need as much complexity in the calculations for which animals are the best XP earners. However, I have highlighted above with a double asterisk (**) those animals that are not as highly ranked for gold that do earn the most XP.
You can use your judgement on whether to place these animals into the limited space of your zoo. In my case, I didn't worry much about leveling up fast, because gold or waiting for the nursery/lab to finish, have pretty much always been my limiting factors. I eventually reached the max level of 30, then they updated to max=35 and added some animals, then they raised the max again to 40 but have added no animals for levels 36-40 (yet??).
PART 4 - Earning XP from Attractions - - "BONUS XP"
Attractions and now two of the new St. Patricks Day decorations, award bonus XP when purchased. This provides a way to "convert" gold into XP. You can buy multiple items and then either store them or sell them, and use the bonus XP to more quickly bump you up in levels.
If you do this you want the lowest "gold per XP" ratio, the values of which are included in the list below. The two new decorations now rank at the top of this list, replacing the former leader, the CAROUSEL:
Shamrock Plant....... only 3.5 gold per bonus XP
Pot of Gold ............. 6.0
Carousel................ 8.1
Recycle Center....... 8.8
Botanical Center...... 16.0
Ice Cream Stand..... 17.5
First Aid.................. 18.1
Cafe....................... 19.0
Gift Shop................ 20.0
Hot Dog Stand........ 35.0
Popcorn Stand........ 35.0
Sandwich Stand...... 55.0
Pizza Parlor............. 0.2 gem
Cotton Candy Stand. 0.5 gem
Shamrock Diner....... 0.9 gem
Dino Ride................ 3.3 gem
Ferris Wheel............ 3.3 gem
Octopus Carousel..... 3.8 gem
Nursery................... 7.1 gem
==================================================
With these strategies I hope you gain more enjoyment from your zoo.
Feel free to add me as a neighbor if you'd like. Every now and then I delete any neighbors with "zero hearts" (zero social rating) so only add me if you plan on touring & gifting to your neighbors. Thanks !
==================================================
ENJOY,
Storm8 ID = rionkimchi
:) :) :)
ANIMALS earn GOLD in varying amounts, depending on:
"base" amount of gold
# of animals (base-gold x #-animals = total gold)
whether the habitat has been upgraded once or twice (1 upgrade adds about the same gold as one animal)
whether it has been toured/photo'd (this adds 20 gold to the total)
collection frequency, base or theoretical
collection frequency, actual or realistic
Also, although animal habitats are all the same size, the size is a factor when comparing gold-earning of animals to gold-earning of attractions. Animals are 6x6, using the size of the smallest items as "1" (like a street-lamp, for example). In my posts, when gold or XP values are quoted, they are always "gold/XP per hour per square for ONE animal". Animals always are 36 squares. Again, this is not important when comparing animals with each other but it does matter when comparing animals to attractions. More on this later.
Let's look at a couple of examples.
(1) BEARs... they are theoretically the highest gold earning animal in the game: Bears earn 14 gold in 5 minutes, for a value of 14/(5/60)/36=4.67 gold per hour per square. However, you would have to sit right by your game and immediately collect from it every 5 minutes to achieve this. Can you?
(2) SLOTHs... they are the highest ranked gold earning animal from a realistic viewpoint. Sloths earn 1,052 gold in 7 hours, for a value of 1052/7/36=4.17. To achieve this you only have to collect every 7 hours. However, most people sleep for a little longer than this, or might have to work or go to school all day without playing, so even collecting every 7 hours might be unrealistic.
What is "realistic" for collection frequency? That's up to you. People playing the game "a lot" can probably collect every hour or two during the day, and ZERO at night while sleeping. So let's take a look at a third example that looks at "average" collection frequency...
(3) PUMAs... Pumas are the highest earner among animals that you can collect from every hour. They earn 100 gold per 1 hour, for a value of 100/1/36=2.78. But you can't sustain collecting EVERY hour. If you collected every hour during the day for 16 hours and then got 8 hours of sleep, you would collect 1700 total because you collect at hour "zero" and then every hour including at the end of hour 16, for a total of 17 times. This yields a value of 1700/24/36=1.96, somewhat lower than the theoretical of 2.78. If your collection frequency during the day drops to every 2 hours during the day, then you would have 1.04, and if it was every 3 hours during the day it would be 0.69, and so on.
This is why your actual, average collection frequecy is so important. If you collect every 2 hours during the day and only sleep 8 hours, then you collect 9 times in a day, which on average is every 24/9=2.67 hours.
If you go back to BEARS and SLOTHS, and assume a realistic collection frequency of 3 hours, now instead of 4.67 and 4.17 respectively, we have 0.13 for bears and 3.25 for sloths. And if you only can collect 3 times day = an average of every 8 hours, now you have 0.05 for bears and 3.65 for sloths. When you include "actual/realistic" collection times into the calculation, sloths remain ranked at the top and bears drop almost to dead last.
With this in mind, I usually calculate the gold-earning rankings across four average collection frequencies: 3, 6, 9 and 12 hours. Then I average the four rankings to get one overall ranking.
SO, here is the list ranking all the animals for gold earning (except for a few for which I have no data). The ones costing gems are highlighted in purple. Note, some animals not in purple still cost gems indirectly, in that a parent costs gems or they are unlocked by a task/goal/collection that takes gems.
Sloth
Jack Rabbit
Cobra
Gila Monster
Jackalope
Mountain Goat
Frilled Neck Lizard
Wildebeest
Big Horned Sheep
Giant Anteater
Orangutan
Flying Monkey
Tasmanian Wolf
Panther
Gharial
Manx Sheep
Gray Wolf
Puma
Harpy Eagle
Puffin
Honduran White Bat
Arctic Fox
Albino Python
Owl
Wombat
Persian Chinchilla
Harp Seal
Red Kneed Tarantula
Fennec Fox
Flamingo
Lunar Dragon
Vampire Bat
Capuchin Monkey
Mammoth
Civet
Impala
Toucan
Meerkat
Irish Elk
Rhino
Leprechaun Panda
Buffalo
Horned Toad
Minotaur
African Wild Dog
Hyena
Capybara
Coati
Flying Frog
Clydesdale
Caribou
Ringtail Lemur
Iguana
Mandrill
Liger
Kangaroo
Warthog
Bald Eagle
Dingo
Tree Frog
Scarlet Macaw
Walrus
Irish Bullfrog
Polar Bear
Giraffe
Camel
Golden Lion Tamarin
African Vulture
Zebra
Crowned Crane
Sugar Glider
Llama
Slow Loris
Sea Lion
Ruffed Lemur
Penguin
Porcupine
Rainbow Toucan
Armadillo
Snow Owls (Winter Box)
Unicorn
White-Tailed Deer
Bush Baby
Skunk
Bottlenose Dolphin
Spectacled Bear
Golden Pheasant
Tiger
Moose
Shamrock Gorilla
Red Shanked Duac
Peregrin Falcon
Okapi
Chimpanzee
Tasmanian Devil
Rattlesnake
Leopard Gecko
Flying Fox
Ringtail Mongoose
Silverback Gorilla
Red Fox
Koala
Turtle
Giant Tortoise
Coin Mouse
Hippo
Crocodile
Jaguar
Ostrich
Gryphon
Bear
Coyote
Barn Owl
Ermine
Snow Leopard
Lynx
California Condor
Peacock
Panda
Sea Otter
Scarlet Ibis
Elephant
Lion
Naked Mole Rat
Arabian Horse
NO DATA
Shamrock Turtle.... (locked by goal)
Clouded Leopard.... = Jaguar + Snow Leopard; may cost gems?
Lucky Bear........... = Shamrock Gorilla + Bear
Red Panda........... = Red Fox + Panda
Platypus.............. = Sea Otter + Flamingo
Tree Kangaroo..... = Kangaroo + Capuchin Monkey
Cheetah .............. = Gray Wolf + Snow Leopard
Kirin..................... Far East Box
Mandarin Duck...... Far East Box
Racoon Dog.......... Far East Box
Cerberus............... Monster Box
Ghost.................... Monster Box
Imp...................... Monster Box
Werewolf.............. Monster Box
Snow Fairies......... Winter Box
Snowman............. Winter Box
Snowshoe Hare..... Winter Box
Yeti...................... Winter Box
PART 2 - Earning Gold from Attractions
The variables that effect attractions' gold-earning are:
"base" amount of gold
whether it has been toured/photo'd (this adds 20 gold to the total)
collection frequency
size
The new variable vs. animals is size. Attractions are either 2x2, 2x4, 4x4 or 6x6.
Size = 4 squares:
- Cotton Candy Stand
- Ice Cream Stand
- Hot Dog Stand
- Popcorn Stand
Size = 8 squares:
- Sandwich Stand
Size = 16 squares:
- Gift Shop
- Botanical Center
- Pizza Parlor
- Caf?
- Nursery
- First Aid
- Recycle Center
- Shamrock Diner (this is a guess)
- Face Paint Booth
Size = 36 squares:
- Dino Ride
- Octopus Carousel
- Ferris Wheel
- Carousel
You can then calculate the gold per hour per square across various "realistic" collection times and rank them as a group, or compare them to animals. The ranking of attractions is:
Cotton Candy Stand
Ice Cream Stand
Dino Ride
Gift Shop
Sandwich Stand
Hot Dog Stand
Popcorn Stand
Botanical Center
Octopus Carousel
Pizza Parlor
Nursery
Caf?
First Aid
Recycle Center
Shamrock Diner
Ferris Wheel
Face Paint Booth
Carousel
A lot of people, at first, include extra hot dog or popcorn stands in their zoo, because they theoretically earn the most gold, but you don't have to miss very many collections and very quickly the ice cream stands beat them. Cotton Candy stands are better but cost gems whereas ice cream stands are cheap at only 35 gold each... and you earn this back on your third collection.
Now, since 9 ice cream stands fit into the same space as 1 animal, we can compare them (or any attraction) vs. the animals to see which we should place into the limited space we have in our zoos. If you collect (on average) every 2 hours, then only sloths and jack rabbits beat ice cream if you have ONE animal. If you collect only twice a day or every 12 hours, then a few more animals (again, ONE animal) beat ice cream: Sloth, Gila Monster, Jack Rabbit, Jackalope, Cobra, Flying Monkey, Gharial, Wildebeest, Big Horned Sheep, Frilled Neck Lizard, Orangutan, Mountain Goat, Manx Sheep, and Honduran White Bat.
However if you have FOUR animals and a "middle" collection frequency, then you have a longer list of animals that beat the haul from ice cream. So, the comparison ranking between attractions and animals is very dependent on # of animals and collection time.
With this in mind, here is a list of animals that should "normally" beat ice cream stands, assuming 4 animals for the less expensive or lower breeding time animals, and 2 animals for the more expensive or long breeding time animals. I am including 33 because this is 3 "rows" or "columns" of 11 animals in your zoo.
Sloth
Jack Rabbit
Gila Monster
Cobra
Flying Monkey
Giant Anteater
Jackalope
Tasmanian Wolf
Orangutan
Manx Sheep
Gray Wolf
Arctic Fox
Frilled Neck Lizard
Mountain Goat
Puffin
Harpy Eagle
Wildebeest
Big Horned Sheep
Harp Seal
Albino Python
Fennec Fox
Gharial
Puma
Rhino
Capuchin Monkey
Leprechaun Panda
Hyena
Mammoth
Horned Toad
African Wild Dog
Iguana
Honduran White Bat
Kangaroo
Using the above information, you could set up your zoo for absolute maximum gold earning... place the 33 animals listed above in a tight grouping on the top or right (so they don't hide anything behind them), and then fill the entire remaining space with literally hundreds of ice cream stands. When you tour high level zoos you will see some of them are set up like this, including mine. We're not crazy we're just trying to get gold faster! Personally I have four columns of animals (44) to make collecting a little easier, to have room for the animals in my nursery or lab, and/or I include some of the next few in the ranking which are:
Caribou
Scarlet Macaw
Bald Eagle
Tree Frog
Polar Bear
Walrus
Persian Chinchilla
Zebra
Crowned Crane
Wombat
Giraffe
A zoo like this - - I'll use mine as the example - - will have 23x35+2x12=829 ice cream stands, yielding 13,264 in gold every time it is fully collected. Collecting an average of 4 times a day, to be conservative, yields 53,000 gold. Then from the 44 animals I get about 64,000 a day. So my zoo generates an income of about 120,000 gold per day. I tend to focus my breeding on the high earning animals that breed in the shortest amount of time, unless there's some other task that needs finishing. That way my zoo earns more gold faster so I can then fill in the expensive animals like the sloths, jack rabbits, etc.
With patience and persistence you will have no shortage of gold. At one time, while I was breeding the sloths that take 7 days each, I had over 1.5 million. I am not trying to brag, I am just trying to encourage you to use these strategies to get more gold because they really do work !!
PART 3 - Earning XP from Animals
Fewer variables affect how much XP that animals earn:
"base" amount of XP
whether it has been toured/photo'd (this adds 1 XP to the total)
collection frequency (realistic or average, as usual)
# of animals does not affect XP
Since XP generation is less critical - - does not hold you back as much as the lack of gold - - we don't need as much complexity in generating the list of the best animals for XP. But we still calculate XP per hour per square, and I have used an average collection frequency of about 3 to 4 times a day. Many of the top ranked animals earn 10 XP (the max) as you'd expect, but because of collection frequency, some that earn less end up ranked. Anyway, here is the list:
Cobra
Giant Anteater
Frilled Neck Lizard
Mountain Goat
Harp Seal
Rhino
Lunar Dragon
Panther
Sloth
** Flying Frog
Arctic Fox
Hyena
Leprechaun Panda
Persian Chinchilla
** Red Shanked Duac
** Unicorn
** White-Tailed Deer
** Liger
Gila Monster
Flying Monkey
Jackalope
Gray Wolf
Puffin
Albino Python
Gharial
Horned Toad
Iguana
Scarlet Macaw
Polar Bear
** Zebra
** Bottlenose Dolphin
Buffalo
Minotaur
Clydesdale
Owl
Flamingo
Dingo
Jack Rabbit
Impala
Coati
Vampire Bat
Toucan
Leopard Gecko
Mandrill
Many of these animals are fortunately also high gold earners. This is another reason we don't need as much complexity in the calculations for which animals are the best XP earners. However, I have highlighted above with a double asterisk (**) those animals that are not as highly ranked for gold that do earn the most XP.
You can use your judgement on whether to place these animals into the limited space of your zoo. In my case, I didn't worry much about leveling up fast, because gold or waiting for the nursery/lab to finish, have pretty much always been my limiting factors. I eventually reached the max level of 30, then they updated to max=35 and added some animals, then they raised the max again to 40 but have added no animals for levels 36-40 (yet??).
PART 4 - Earning XP from Attractions - - "BONUS XP"
Attractions and now two of the new St. Patricks Day decorations, award bonus XP when purchased. This provides a way to "convert" gold into XP. You can buy multiple items and then either store them or sell them, and use the bonus XP to more quickly bump you up in levels.
If you do this you want the lowest "gold per XP" ratio, the values of which are included in the list below. The two new decorations now rank at the top of this list, replacing the former leader, the CAROUSEL:
Shamrock Plant....... only 3.5 gold per bonus XP
Pot of Gold ............. 6.0
Carousel................ 8.1
Recycle Center....... 8.8
Botanical Center...... 16.0
Ice Cream Stand..... 17.5
First Aid.................. 18.1
Cafe....................... 19.0
Gift Shop................ 20.0
Hot Dog Stand........ 35.0
Popcorn Stand........ 35.0
Sandwich Stand...... 55.0
Pizza Parlor............. 0.2 gem
Cotton Candy Stand. 0.5 gem
Shamrock Diner....... 0.9 gem
Dino Ride................ 3.3 gem
Ferris Wheel............ 3.3 gem
Octopus Carousel..... 3.8 gem
Nursery................... 7.1 gem
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With these strategies I hope you gain more enjoyment from your zoo.
Feel free to add me as a neighbor if you'd like. Every now and then I delete any neighbors with "zero hearts" (zero social rating) so only add me if you plan on touring & gifting to your neighbors. Thanks !
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ENJOY,
Storm8 ID = rionkimchi
:) :) :)