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It's been one year since the first release of Vanilla-Friendly Fixes and over five years since the grand opening of Nano's Zoo 2 Zone, and on the official side of things, the African Adventure and Marine Mania expansion packs respectively have and will turn twenty years old this year, and - most importantly - the whole Zoo Tycoon series will be seeing its silver jubilee in October.
What an eventful year! Nano's Zoo 2 Zone has already celebrated VFF's anniversary with a heaping helping of things, including a new version of the inaugural Extinct Animals Booster Pack; what else could be in store for 2026?
(Note: the dates given here are tentative. My interest in modding Zoo Tycoon 2 is very fluid and the plans I've had have changed drastically over the span of this site's operation. I cannot guarantee that all of the mods showcased here will release on time, or at all.)
Patches and Ports: Folksy Facelift
Patches and Ports: Folksy Facelift
Notice: Folksy Facelift and its LTS patches are hosted here as novelties. It is not compatible with Vanilla-Friendly Fixes or the vast majority of other downloads, hosted on or off this site.
As I've said in the previous article, Folksy Facelift is no longer receiving dedicated updates that introduce major new features or align with the sweeping plans I had between 2020 and 2024. That said, I've released a number of its facets as their own separate downloads, and last year saw the LTS patch, which aims to fix problems, implement QOL changes that are otherwise exclusive to Vanilla-Friendly Fixes, and keep things timely with updated conservation statuses and such.
At the end of this year - I can't settle on a specific date, it'll hinge on when and whether the IUCN Red List gets a revision around that time - a new 2026 version of the LTS patch will release. Not only will it keep up that momentum, it'll shake a few of Folksy Facelift's foundations - you might be surprised to see familiar FF names being reverted or changed to brand new ones!
More importantly, however (as far as my priorities are concerned), there are plans for yet more ports of Folksy Facelift content. In fact, there are plans for ports of most things that it offers, namely biome enrichment for the Marine Mania biomes and a certain animal that was added. I won't elaborate on those fronts given that I'd like them to be part of bigger packages than just those respective things. Sweeping things like resizes, re-biomes and the walkthrough exhibit feature are too overarching to give standalone ports.
What's black and white and sad all over?
Conservation statuses aren't all that's being reevaluated in the 2026 LTS patch - some taxonomic decisions in the original release were either ill-conceived or don't make a whole lot of sense
Home on the Range
Home on the Range
This October, the rootin'-est tootin'-est download this side of the Atlantic will be arriving at Nano's Zoo 2 Zone!
Zoo Tycoon 2: New World Wonders brings intrepid zookeepers face to face with ten awesome new animals, including up-north icons like the pronghorn antelope and down-south superstars stars like the giant anteater. And that's not to mention the new plants, all sure to make landscaping fanatics go "yee-haw!"
This is something that I've teased on and off several times in certain places ever since the release of Folksy Facelift. If you've been in the weeds, "Awesome Americas" might sound familiar. It's braved a whole lot of shifting and even the threat of being scrapped outright, but hopefully this year will finally see it getting a super-belated release. This will also be the introduction of the "adventure pack" format, which is more extensive than something like the Dino Danger Pack but not as big as African Adventure or Marine Mania.
Want to sneak some screenshots and some animal profiles? Head on over to New World Wonders' page to see for yourself.
...and that's it!
...and that's it!
As far as things that I'm ready to share go, not much. I have lots of things on the backburner but I can't guarantee that much, if any of it will ever be ready to be unveiled or released. Zoo Tycoon 2 modding isn't a personal top priority of mine, however much I like the game and dinking out the scuffs it has. I wanted to put out this article as an indicator that there are things on the horizon.
Make sure to keep an eye here for when new things are announced or released! There's a lot of fun stuff in the oven.
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