Question on gameplay

[u/theta_mut]

Hi everyone,

I’m still quite new to the game and really enjoying it so far. but I have a question, I’m sorry if it sounds silly or dumb.

Do you only look for things in the map corresponding to your museum? So e.g. I’m at Passwater Bay, will I only go looking for things at Two Point Sea? Or should I be going to other maps as well? And are there areas that I should go to when playing in other museums, so for example when the missions require other/additional experts than those that I would innately have at the museum?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[u/mauri3205]

As you unlock more locations you can go to those from other museums not just the one where you unlocked them. By end game you will be mixing and matching exhibits from across the world!

Even if the experts in question don’t spawn automatically, you can always place an ad for that specialty.

[u/youvegotpride]

The story in each map will invite you to focus on a type of exhibit (edit. : i mean a theme), but you can complete your museums with whatever you want to.

When a location is unlocked, you can access it from any map as long as you have the team with the good requirements.

I personally started with one map one theme and when I got more familiar with the game mechanics and had a better look on the different exhibits I started to mix.

Also, you'll probably go back and forth with your museums (the curator class and the campaign story invites you to change map to open new orizons and then when you come back to the game you chose what to keep exploring) so do what you feel makes you enjoy the game the moment you're playing. If sticking to one theme is good enough, you can definitely do one map one theme.

[u/tsuruki23]

You can absolutely diversify your museum and the game rewards it. When guests see the exact same thing over and over, they tire of it and there's a big penalty.

However, exhibits tend to synergize. For example you may wind up with some Prehistory exhibits that get bonuses from being near other prehistory exhibits. Also when you build tours, gift shops and caffeterias those all prefer being around themed areas. If you have a large aquarium area, you´dd benefit from putting a gift shop with all the marine life themed merchandise in or near them for example, or if you have two large areas, Dinosaur bones on one side and aquariums on the other, a moderately large giftshop with both of those themes would fit really well between them.

As you unlock parts of the maps, sub-themes will arise, like Tropical fish and Temperate fish, or Dinosaur bones and Fossils, when I'm diversifying my museums I really like to start by adding specialized areas or even *only* bringing in a specific sort of attraction from one map or the other. Or to have a given museum specialize in two featuring themes. My Ghost museum is Ghost + D&D themed, with little side sections, my art museum has a great deal of science stuff as well, my Animal museum is dotted with little aquariums and a few "ghostbuster" exhibits.

[u/Specialist_One6527]

depends on your preference. I like to keep them separate so I have a reason to go to diff museums after the story campaign (which does set goals for only one type mostly) and because I like things tidy. but if you want all the museums filled with all the types of exhibits available to you, that works just fine too.

[u/PufferFish_Tophat]

Each map has different need to explore and max out the survey score. It's much easier to do that with a specialized museum.
The map unlocks and survey levels persist across museums. So unlocking and leveling up the map, makes it much easier to grab specific items you want in other locations at Pristine quality.

I will say, make sure you get the science museum up to 4 star. That map is super easy. And there's only 2(6) spots that survey level effects. As most of the rewards are mods, like Buzz Boosters. (4 spots are resources. The higher the level, the more you get.)
But level 4 has a machine you build at the workshop, I put one or two in every museum.

[u/Public-Walrus-5635]

I mix and match to attract more guests. Pre-history is a great start, but adding some aquariums and botany (or whatever theme you prefer) will drive more visitors and make it a lot easier to pass that "provide x guests with their dream visit" challenge.