Dinosaur World (video game)
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| Dinosaur World | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Asylum Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) | BBC |
| Platform(s) | PC |
| Release date | 2006 |
| Genre(s) | Life Simulation |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
Dinosaur World is a freeware video game developed by Asylum Entertainment and published by the BBC. It is a spin-off of Episode 2 of Walking with Dinosaurs ("Time of the Titans") and the special The Ballad of Big Al. The main point of the game is to find all the animals and plants, including several location features, that are distributed in five different zones.
Contents |
[edit] Gameplay
You start in the beginnings of a dry season at the 'Mossy Plain', where are some Diplodocus and Araucaria trees, with the presence of a single dragonfly. From this zone you can go to the 'Desert', to the 'Forest' or to the 'Dry Riverbed'. In the Desert, which is rich in cycads, you'll find a pair of pterosaurs flying, more Diplodocus that are chased by an Allosaurus, and to the south, two Stegosaurus (one dead, trapped in quick sand). In the middle of the Dry Riverbed you can see some dinosaur tracks that are from a small Diplodocus and an Allosaurus; when you arrive at the end of the riverbed you'll find the Allosaurus (female) eating the Diplodocus, apparently she killed him. In the Forest are mainly redwood trees and tree ferns, you won't find animals but an Allosaurus nest that is later plundered by an Ornitholestes (not featured, only indicated in the news) and subsequently noted by an angry mother. The forest has a tunnel, where you can find stalactites, that connects with the 'Crater'. That zone consist mostly of a lake (which is really an underwater crater) surrounded by mountains, where are many Bennettitales and like in the Mossy Plain, a sole dragonfly. When you discover all the species and location features, there will be news indicating that a pathway was opened in a Desert mountain. Then, you'll be able to go up, and wait that one of the pterosaurs come close to you for 'tagging him' and fly to a new secret area, the 'Salt Lake' (see Secret Area).
Unfortunately, the realism of the game can sometimes encounter problems, which the player can notice by studying the animals and their behavior for a period of time. These problems include Diplodocus literally going through solid rock and vanishing into it, Allosaurus attacking a Diplodocus that's already dead (which results in the former jumping onto the air above the carcass and "biting" and "clawing" mere space while floating in midair), or several Allosaurus "passing into" each other and moving simultaneously together with parts of their anatomy sticking out of their "fused" bodies, a really unusual sight. All this in the "Secret Area". In other places, the player can pass through the bellies of the Diplodocus.
[edit] Species featured
There are 10 species featured, one half consist of animals and the other of plants. Below some trees you can observe tiny plants that aren't identified like the horsetails and ferns. In the news is mentioned an Ornitholestes disturbing an Allosaurus nest, but never appear, when you arrive at the nest there are only the eggs broken and eaten.
| Icon | Animal | Zone |
|---|---|---|
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Allosaurus | Desert, Forest (only when discover the nest), Dry Riverbed, Salt Lake (secret area) |
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Diplodocus | Mossy Plain, Desert, Dry Riverbed (appear dead), Salt Lake (secret area) |
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Stegosaurus | Desert |
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Rhamphorhynchus (identified as pterosaur) | Desert, Salt Lake (secret area) |
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Dragonfly | Mossy Plain, Crater |
| Icon | Plant | Zone |
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Araucaria tree (or Monkey-puzzle) | Mossy Plain |
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Tree fern | Mossy Plain, Forest |
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Cycad | Desert |
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Redwood tree | Forest |
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Bennettitales | Crater, Desert |
[edit] Location features
The number of location features (in the game called 'sights') varies in the different zones. In the Mossy Plain are 3, in the Dry Riverbed 2, in the Desert 4, in the Forest 4 and in the Crater 3. In total are 16. The discovering of a location feature is mapped with a yellow star.
| Location feature | Zone |
|---|---|
| Tiny pools | Mossy Plain |
| Rocky outcrops | Mossy Plain |
| Fumarole | Mossy Plain |
| Dinosaur tracks | Dry Riverbed |
| Low waterfall | Dry Riverbed |
| Bones | Desert |
| Cycad remains | Desert |
| Quick sand | Desert |
| Rocky arches | Desert |
| Fallen tree | Forest |
| Allosaurus nest | Forest |
| Tunnel | Forest |
| Stalactites | Forest (Tunnel) |
| Steam | Crater |
| Flies | Crater |
| Mammal bones | Crater |
[edit] News
There can be news happening in a visited place, for example, if you have gone to the end of the Dry Riverbed, where the female Allosaurus is eating the small Diplodocus, later you will receive the news that other Allosaurus arrived there and both will fight for the food. The location where the news is happening and you have to go is mapped with a red star. The news that you receive around the game are the following:
- When a male Allosaurus arrives at the end of the Dry Riverbed and fight the female for the Diplodocus carcass. The male, which leave very injured the female, finally win the combat and eat from the small Diplodocus.
- When an Allosaurus is attracted by the smell of the fleshy meat from a dead Stegosaurus that lies on a quick sand at Desert. While trying to eat it, the Allosaurus is trapped in the quick sand, from which he can't leave the quicksand and minutes later it die.
- When several tiny meteorites fall near the Stegosaurus.
- When an Allosaurus nest is disturbed and depredated probably by an Ornitholestes at the forest. As separate news, posteriorly the mother arrives and notes it.
- When you finally discover all the species and location features, there is a seismic movement at mountains of the Desert that opens a pathway or landslide which you'll be able to climb and through the 'tagging' of a near pterosaur going to the secret area.
By searching through the game's files, it can be assumed that there were originally planned to be to be other news items. Originally, there had to be separate news items for the Diplodocus dying in the Dry Riverbed and later a female Allosaurus comes to eat it before you could see the footprints. Originally, the female Allosaurus had to lay the eggs before they could be found, and originally, there was a news item that a redwood tree had blown over.
[edit] Secret Area
There is a secret area in the game, the 'Salt Lake' (more like a salt flat because you can walk there), which never appears on the map. You unlock it by discovering all the species and location features, later when news of a pathway opened in the Desert is received, go there and climb the mountain, one of the pair of pterosaurs will come close and you have to tag him, then let it fly you to the Salt Lake and follow the on-screen instructions. In this zone you'll be able to create your own dinosaurs that can only be Allosaurus, and small or large Diplodocus.
[edit] Options and features
On the Electronic Field Guide you can see the map which shows the zones, your position, location features discovered (yellow star), news locations (red star), remote cameras and dinosaurs. The other sections are the controls and the help.
While exploring, you can leave up to 8 remote cameras. On the map are situated the remote cameras, when you select its icon you will return to them.
You can 'tag a ride' on any animal, and also attach a remote camera to it.
[edit] External links
- Official site
- More about Dinosaur World (also downloadable here)
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