Archival
This page is dedicated to the archival of old, official content for Zoo Tycoon and Zoo Tycoon 2. All material hosted here is the property of Blue Fang and Microsoft Games. All links to archived websites are hosted through the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine and may not be completely intact. As many - indeed, most - of the links contain elements of the discontinued plugin Flash, many elements of the archived pages may not function or appear (savvier users may want to use a virtual machine to explore the links). Please exercise some caution when navigating the archived sites; I haven't run into anything shady by clicking around too much (most links that don't open correctly thankfully lead to microsoft.com), but do know that the Wayback Machine is not without flaws when it comes to links being archived/opening correctly!
All graphics used below are either from one of the linked websites or one of the Zoo Tycoon 2 fansite kits. The graphics are used for illustration purposes, I claim no ownership of any such images used on this page.
Official Website (Zoo Tycoon)
Zoo Tycoon website, 8/30/2001 (first archived revision of the site that isn't a general Blue Fang website)
Zoo Tycoon website, 10/19/2001 (only two days after the game's release)
Zoo Tycoon website, 12/13/2001 (Magnet wins the Beast in Show contest)
Zoo Tycoon website, 6/1/2002 (a couple weeks after the release of Dinosaur Digs)
UK Zoo Tycoon website, 7/19/2002 (hardly intact, sadly)
Zoo Tycoon Insider, 10/1/2002 (a site for hints and tips that was superseded by updates to the main site in 2003)
Zoo Tycoon website, 10/2/2002 (a couple weeks before Marine Mania's release)
Zoo Tycoon website, 11/15/2002 (layout update, about a month after Marine Mania's launch)
Zoo Tycoon website, 8/1/2003 (ZT Insider content is present on the main website by now, a couple weeks until Complete Collection's release)
Zoo Tycoon website, 12/4/2003 (CC has been out for a few months, second anniversary celebration and the Endangered Species pack)
Zoo Tycoon website, 4/2/2004 (Zoo Tycoon 2 announcement)
Zoo Tycoon disambiguation, 6/4/2004 (landing page for both Zoo Tycoon and Zoo Tycoon 2)
Zoo Tycoon website, 6/11/2004 (more or less identical to 4/2/2004, though more intact)
Zoo Tycoon website, 5/8/2005 (belated announcement that Zoo Tycoon 2 is now in stores)
Zoo Tycoon website, 10/24/2005 (generally identical barring a small update to advertise Zoo Tycoon 2: Endangered Species)
Zoo Tycoon website, 5/4/2007 (the final archived revision of the site before being taken down, identical to 10/24/2005)
Other relevant websites
Microsoft Encarta, 4/15/2009 (this encyclopedia was used as the primary reference for Zoo Tycoon 2's Zoopedia; the link provided is of a revision late in its lifespan, at a time when several relevant articles, namely those related to animals, were no longer behind a Premium paywall)
Blue Fang website, 5/16/2007 (official website for the creators of Zoo Tycoon 2 from the latter days of the game's support cycle)
Official Website (Zoo Tycoon 2, before zootycoon.com)
Zoo Tycoon 2 website, 6/5/2004 (first archived revision of the site)
Zoo Tycoon 2 website, 10/16/2004 (Zoo Tycoon 2 goes gold)
Zoo Tycoon 2 website, 11/17/2004 (the game's release is acknowledged)
Zoo Tycoon 2 website, 11/30/2004 (the Tulsa Zoo is crowned America's Favorite Zoo)
Zoo Tycoon 2 website, 2/23/2005 (several awards are won, one month has passed since the first update for the game)
Zoo Tycoon 2 website, 5/8/2005 (last revision of the site before a layout update)
Zoo Tycoon 2 website, 5/25/2005 (slightly updated layout; the main page is streamlined, the navigation menu is a Flash element, Endangered Species is announced around this time on the 'What's New' page)
Zoo Tycoon 2 website, 10/13/2005 (Endangered Species is on the cusp of being released)
Zoo Tycoon 2 website, 6/16/2006 (updates to account for the release of African Adventure, final update - mild sound warning)
Zoo Tycoon 2 website, 7/9/2007 (final archived revision of the site before being taken down, identical to 6/16/2006)
Official Website (zootycoon.com)
zootycoon.com, 4/10/2006 (first archived revision of the site, almost 100% Flash - this is a sub-page that makes everything more accessible in the Flash-less climate of 2021)
zootycoon.com, 8/29/2006 (archives of the front page breaks because of the implementation of the region selector and none of the mirrors of the main page after this work right; further links will be from the Zoo News page. Dino Danger was released a couple weeks prior, Marine Mania beta testing has started)
zootycoon.com, 11/18/2006 (Marine Mania and Zookeeper Collection went gold about a month beforehand)
zootycoon.com, 2/5/2007 (a contest is announced - if participants were to write an essay on marine conservation, they could win a trip to the Georgia Aquarium and a new computer)
zootycoon.com, 6/10/2007 (Extinct Animals was announced a couple weeks ago, a winner is announced for the essay contest)
zootycoon.com, 10/13/2007 (Extinct Animals' release is celebrated two days before its actual release, Dino Danger is deprecated, the news section is trimmed markedly)
zootycoon.com, 7/6/2008 (Ultimate Collection is announced on June 16)
zootycoon.com, 10/11/2008 (Ultimate Collection is released, a disc replacement program is advertised)
zootycoon.com, 11/16/2012 (indistinct from late 2008, final Zoo News archive before the site shuts down; everything starts to go silent in the following weeks and months. The only two revisions in 2013 worth noting are the Avatars page on 3/15 and the Photo Safari on 3/16, right before everything dies. Ultimately, the Zoo Tycoon website outlived its developers, if only for a short time - Blue Fang was shuttered in late 2011.)
Other fan sites
The content below is not associated with Blue Fang or Microsoft, but I think it would be tragic if it were all lost to the sands of time. None of the below sites or their creators are affiliated with Nano's Zoo 2 Zone.
Starting July 1st, 2022, sites made with the classic version of Google Sites have begun to slip into the ether. A slew of important Zoo Tycoon 2 downloads are hosted on such sites and are due to be lost to time; below are a selection of a few doomed ZT2 sites and sites that went under long ago, archived through the Wayback Machine. I can't guarantee that every download is available through these links - indeed, some are already lost, and some are certainly not archived below - but the sites still deserve to be known for future generations.
Google Sites
Artifex, 7/14/2015 (pioneers of large-scale Zoo Tycoon 2 modding - hosting such esteemed downlods as Zoo Tycoon 2: Arabian Nights and Zoo Tycoon 2: Island Excursions, the site specialized in fan expansions with content rivalling Blue Fang's expansions in terms of how much content they hold)
Aurora Designs, 11/7/2015 (arguably the most influential ZT2 modding group of all time; broke new ground with their hyper-realistic, extremely high-quality animals and their ambitious Radical Remake project)
Jet Animals, 9/8/2014 (an odd pick for archival for sure, but I have lots of nostalgia for the content there; specializes in eccentric new animals with simplistic designs)
Major League Designing, 3/7/2010 (produced a few packs; as of 2022, the only one with a download link that still works is for "Raging Raptors")
Mika's ZT2 Skins, 4/1/2010 (hosts a heaping helping of variants, with some reskins and addons on the side)
Mysterious Map Marvels, 10/9/2020 (date is very late, but the site itself is circa 2010 at absolute latest - the team's main achievement was the classic Jurassic Park Pack, but they had grander ambitions that were eventually sabotaged)
NB68 Designs, 10/30/2020 (hosts a few relatively simple reskins and variants for animals with a slant towards vanilla-style realism, as well as a selection of new animals - sadly, most of the downloads are no longer available)
Penguika, 11/7/2015 (hosts collaborations between Mikaboshi and Penguinman - some sargassum on the Miscellaneous page aside, the site primarily hosts themed animal and plant packs)
Penguin Peak, 1/22/2012 (home to a slew of content, from animals to plants to the Zoo Admin biome packs)
Shen's Den, 3/15/2010 and Shen's Den 2, 3/17/2010 (two different sites with mostly-the-same content - generalist and high-quality)
Z-Studio, 12/29/2010 (home of Hysteria, as well as a few smaller packs)
If I missed anything that you'd like to see me hunt down for this list; be sure to throw me suggestions; conversely, if any of the owners of these sites would rather their pages not be listed here, let me know and I'll happily take the link(s) down.
Other sites
Be especially cautious when navigating the links below; some of these sites, especially the forums, had unusually checkered histories!
Aurora Designs, 11/12/2020 (superseded the Google Sites version of the site in 2016 or so and suddenly shuttered in 2021 - the old 2009 iteration of the site outlived its modern successor!)
Caldera Unlimited, 4/12/2009 (Zoo Tycoon 2 fan forums were all over the place in the late 2000's; this is one of many, and one of the more prolific ones at that)
Jet Animals, 6/9/2009 (the Freewebs precursor to the Google Sites iteration of the Jet Animals site)
Mysterious Map Marvels, 9/17/2008 (the incarnation of the team's site that I personally associate with the group)
Mysterious Map Marvels, 2/8/2009 (an incarnation of the MMM site that I wasn't actually aware of before scouring for this archive; though it was made later than the above site, it did not stay online for as long)
Mysterious Map Marvels forums, 6/19/2009 (another bit of MMM history I wasn't aware of, and one of the many late 2000's ZT2 fan forums)
ZooMania, 4/10/2009 (one of the many late 2000's ZT2 fan forums)
Zoo Tycoon ABC, 10/11/2007 (a prolific German-language ZT2 fan forum, in all its fluorescent blue glory - I personally don't understand a word here but it'd be a shame not to mention it)
Zoo Tycoon Center, 10/7/2009 (one of the many late 2000's ZT2 fan forums)
Zoo Tycoon Hideout, 9/12/2009 (one of the many late 2000's ZT2 fan forums)
Zoo Kingdom, 5/21/2008 (one of the many late 2000's ZT2 fan forums)
Zoo Tycoon Unlimited, 4/3/2004 (one of the one of the oldest Zoo Tycoon-centric fan sites; it had a forum as well)
Zoo Tycoon Unlimited, 11/27/2005 (around the time ZT2:ES came out)
Zoo Tycoon Unleashed, 11/27/2009 (an evolution of Zoo Tycoon Unlimited, a personal favorite fan site of mine and perhaps the first I ever found - the forum changed to suit the name change as well, the site lasted until the end of 2014)
Zoo Tycoon Volcano, 7/2/2008 (arguably the late 2000's ZT2 fan forum; lasted for around two and a half years before falling in a weirdly dramatic way)
Zoo Tycoon Volcano, 6/29/2009 (roughly around the time I personally discovered the site)
Zoo Tycoon Volcano, 9/12/2009 (Rome, right before it fell)
Zoo Tycoon Volcano, 12/8/2009 (Oh no, Rome fell!)
News Archive
4/25/2024: This year marks the 20th anniversary of Zoo Tycoon 2, and Nano has plans to celebrate it Folksy Facelift-style. What's in store for November at Nano's Zoo 2 Zone? Stop by this month's news article for insight.
9/5/2023: A new bonus download, and a status report for Folksy Facelift in one day? It's too good to be true! Charge on over to Downloads for the new animal and a dedicated news article to find out what's next for the folksiest facelift around.
4/1/2023: Holy guacamole, a new release! Check Miscellany for deetz. (as an aside, I'm fine and have a new PC to continue development with, though it will probably be slow going from here)
1/18/2023: Version 1.04 of Folksy Facelift has been released. Consider reading an article on a roadblock in the future of this site before going to the Folksy Facelift Download page, as factors well beyond my control have affected this release substantially. The new release is only available in the manual download format for reasons beyond my control.
12/31/2022: A sort of FAQ page for Folksy Facelift, the Folksy Facelift Troubleshooting page, has been added. Check that out, and check out the Miscellany page for a new section.
12/26/2022: Merry day-after-Christmas! Version 1.03 of Folksy Facelift is here and should fix a big problem with the new zookeeper variants. You can grab the new version from the Folksy Facelift Download page. Also, the Cool Stuff page is open, incomplete it may be!
12/21/2022: Version 1.02 of Folksy Facelift has been released to address issues with dinosaur meat, issues with the okapi and issues with an easter egg. Go download it from the Folksy Facelift Download page!
12/19/2022: Consider this Folksy Facelift's proper launch; version 1.01 has been released, which fixes a few issues with the initial release. Check the Folksy Facelift Download page for more info.
12/20/2022: Folky Facelift is here! Go grab it from its dedicated Download page!
12/13/2022: The initial release for Zoo Tycoon 2: Folksy Facelift is in one week! A new version of the Extinct Animals Booster Pack has been released in the meantime. Hop on over to the Downloads page to find out more about what the new version changes.
10/30/2022: A small Miscellaneous download has been added to the site. Check it out - if you dare.
10/14/2022: A trailer showing Folksy Facelift in action has been added to the mod's landing page. To boot, a couple new modified animals and some new screenshots now grace those pages!
8/4/2022: Mark your calenders, Folksy Facelift has a release date! Read more... (also, the Archival page has been updated some more)
4/28/2022: PC troubles have thrown a curveball into FF's development, bear with me here. In the meantime, check out some fun new additions to the Archival page.
3/20/2022: Progress has been very slow, but work is still being made; hang in there, there should hopefully be some news soon. To make up for the radio silence, a small batch of Folksy Facelift screenshots have been given their own page!
6/22/2021: Download alert: the EA Booster Pack is now ready to be downloaded! Visit the Downloads page to get your hands on three new prehistoric mammals.
5/8/2021: The Extinct Animals Booster Pack is coming soon to a zoo near you! Check out the Downloads page for more information.
3/23/2021: Slightly belated update (just a month overdue). The big new addition is a list of a couple animals that have been visually updated for Folksy Facelift, which can be accessed at the bottom of that project's page.
2/15/2021: Open to the public; special thanks to a friend for providing feedback on improving the site's design before I shared it with the world.
1/27/2021: Providing links for the official ZT websites has begun.
1/25/2021: Open for business! Not readily accessible yet, but still!