MM2: Training Animals 101, Some basic helps, beyond the tutorials Options

[Anyajoy]

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Training Animals 101
So you've played all the MM2 tutorials and have a basic grasp of training the special marine animals in the marine expansion. While the tutorial is great to get you started, here are some helpful tips.

• Do make sure the exhibit tank is large enough for training the animals.
  While constructing your tank, make it larger than you think necessary. Even though the tank may be large enough for shelter/s, enrichment objects, and the required Training Area, you may find that the needed props will not fit in the tank. Be sure to allow yourself (and your animals) plenty of room.
• Do make sure the exhibit tank is deep enough. If you are unable to place the Training Area, try increasing the depth of the tank.
• Do try to train the animal yourself, before hiring a Trainer. Why? You'll save money and the training may actually take less time. When you do the training yourself, the animal often responds quicker to joining in the training session than if the session is run by a Trainer. (See below for tips on using the "tracer" and other buttons.) Try to take the animal through all the first-tier tricks yourself. With a little patience, you should be able to get to a five-dot rating on almost all of these tricks.
• Don't feel you've failed if you decide to turn to a Trainer for the more difficult tricks. It's nice to take the animal through the basics and then let the Trainer take over while you turn your attention to other aspects of your zoo.

So how do you master the "tracer" and any other required buttons? Practice and patience. Don't expect to be perfect from the beginning. Allow yourself a learning curve! Here are some tips.

• Don't be fooled by the first time through! The tracer moves relatively slowly and there is usually nothing more to do than keep the cursor on the tracer.
• Try really hard to get 100% (or close) on the first time through. Why? The level of mastery (those dots associated with the trick) fill up faster when your performance is on the high end. You'll notice that the performance bar is divided into four sections, three being equal and larger than the fourth, smaller section that denotes excellence.
   training_bar.PNG ( 18.08K ) Number of downloads: 14
  
  When your performance is above that third vertical line (or in the smaller section of the bar, on the far right), you'll earn about 1.5 dots on mastery! Complete mastery of the trick equals five full dots, so aim for 100% on the first two times through.
• Don't be discouraged if you "blow" it once or twice. Keep trying! You won't lose ground if you flub one of the training sessions. True, you may not gain anything in mastery, but you won't lose either. For example, if you've trained a trick through the third dot, and totally fail the next training session, that third dot stays filled.
• Know that any successful (in the green) training session earns points towards mastery of the trick. A session in the 60% range still fills those dots, though sometimes not much.
• Practice! Stay with it and you'll notice that you're more successful in following the tracer and hitting any necessary buttons.
• What about those buttons? Do you have a laptop with a touch pad? While it may seem extremely difficult at first to hit those arrow buttons while continuing to follow the tracer, with practice it does become easier. Don't give up! If three buttons are necessary, usually a successful training session occurs if you successfully hit two of the three buttons as long as you are fairly accurate in using the cursor to follow the tracer.
• Once you are at the more advanced paces of the training, aim to hit any required buttons BEFORE you think it's time! When the speed of the tracer is fast, if you wait, you'll be late!

Enjoy your training sessions and keep trying! Success is sure to come!

[OldLadyMoose]

This article is greatly appreciated. Encouraging to know that the dot you have achieved stays filled if a session is failed. Thank you.

[PsychicZookeeper]

This is wonderful, Anya! While I've noticed many of these things, having it all put together this way really helps you to create a strategy or plan.

[Anyajoy]

I'm glad to help my friends. Notice this is a "101" article. Hehe, I'm still learning too.

[Lupin]

We've discovered that trained dolphins live a lot longer and same may hold true for all trainables. Also you get a warning a month or two before hand that trainables are going to die.

[Reka]

[*]What about those buttons? Do you have a laptop with a touch pad? While it may seem extremely difficult at first to hit those arrow buttons while continuing to follow the tracer, with practice it does become easier. Don't give up! If three buttons are necessary, usually a successful training session occurs if you successfully hit two of the three buttons as long as you are fairly accurate in using the cursor to follow the tracer.

There is a simple trick which makes the button part much, much easier and thus obtaining the 5 dots gets almost trivial. Namely, additional or wrong keys or clicks do not count! Thus you can simply start hammering on all necessary keys while you concentrate on following the tracer, you do not need to care at all when to press which button. You can also hit only one button fast repeatly while the tracer is in the general area of the corresponding mark. Using this trick I succeed with almost every exercise at the first attempt.

Personally I find this entire training part a bit annoying, I thought I bought a construction game and not a sports game. It is not the animal but rather us which gets trained to do silly tricks during that training part.

[Ratbag Oz]

I have similar feelings But I find I have no trouble (as I have heard other people say) with the trainers, and in total with several animals, I find trainers much faster

[Lupin]

Training helps pass the time when not much to do but for those that don't like it, or if too busy (or as is the case at times for me can't be bothered and do not need to) there is the trainers and I think adding in the swimming with, DIY training and interacting with toys is specificaly for those who wanted additional first hand things to do be it for fun or to pass the time while waiting for money or such like

[Reka]

I made a list of all tricks available for the shows. Not that the true popularity is not always the popularity displayed in the game! In fact the Orcas have a few tricks which have a score of 5.5, while the maximal score displayed in the game is only 5.



This post has been edited by Reka: Jun 3 2007, 01:47 PM

[kittisbat]

I like training them, I think of it as playing with the animals. 'Course, I sometimes think kicking around an imaginary ball on the computer is fun too. (notice the "sometimes")

[Felluly]

I often kick things around too in exhibits but I almost always go too crazy and "accidentally" kick the ball or whatever thing over the fence/wall of the exhibit
But I like training, it's kinda fun =)

[Cameron]

Felluly i know what you mean I do it all the time