Volunteers Needed to Explore the Triassic

Yesterday, may have been “Back to the Future Day”, but here at Everything Dinosaur the emphasis is very much on the past, approximately 220 million years in the past, the Norian faunal stage of the Triassic to be precise.  We have been contacted by a student at Huddersfield University (England), who has asked for volunteers to help test a prehistoric virtual environment set at this pivotal time in vertebrate evolution.

Please Note – the request for volunteers has ended – no further volunteers required.

An Opportunity to Explore “Triassic World”

Which part of Pangaea would you like to explore?

Picture credit: Daniel Carter

Time Travellers Needed

Student, Daniel Carter has been building a computer simulation that enables players to explore a series of Triassic environments set during the Norian faunal stage of the first geological period of the Mesozoic. Daniel has already benefited from the advice of Everything Dinosaur’s experts as he seeks to perfect the various habitats and make the flora and fauna as accurate as possible.  The objective of this educational game is for players to discover and learn about prehistoric animals and plants from this critical point in our planet’s history.

Players Can Explore a Variety of Triassic Ecosystems

The prehistoric environments are based on the Late Triassic.

Picture credit: Daniel Carter

Daniel has carefully constructed three environments, all based on famous Lagerstätten. If you have ever felt the urge to get up close to the fauna represented by the famous Ghost Ranch sediments of New Mexico, now’s your chance.

The focus is very much on education.  When an explorer encounters a creature they can interact with it and discover more about it by accessing data files.  So if you come across a Coelophysis you can learn all about this Late Triassic dinosaur.  An inventory will be available to let players know what species they are looking for and gamers will be given clues which could lead to the location of the specific creatures.   You might even get the chance to encounter an ancestor of modern mammals.   Could you track them down?

Explorers Can Learn About the Animals and Plants They Encounter

Educational fact files are incorporated into the play.

Picture credit: Daniel Carter

Part of a Masters Degree Project

Daniel, the creator of this virtual Triassic world disclosed that his intention is to inform and help educate and he needs dinosaur and fossil enthusiasts to help him perfect his prehistoric project.

Daniel explained:

“The game will feature an encyclopaedia which will list all the plants and animals in the game with a brief description, as well as some extra entries.  Each area will be fairly large in size and will include a number of different things for players to discover and explore.”

Fancy a Stroll Through a Triassic Forest?

Gamers will be able to explore a number of terrestrial environments.

Picture credit: Daniel Carter

How You Can Help

Daniel needs volunteers to test the game for bugs and glitches.  He would welcome feedback and advice on the overall gaming experience.  Can you suggest additional plants and animals that should be included?

To help, email Everything Dinosaur and we will pass this information on to Daniel: Contact Everything Dinosaur – put the words Triassic World at the front of your email.

In order to help Daniel, we have suggested that interested parties should get in touch with Daniel by the 12th November 2015 (that’s three weeks).

To see one of the early fly through videos, showcasing Daniel’s creative talent: Triassic Oasis Fly Through.

Meet the Inhabitants of Triassic World

Encounter giant amphibians in the Triassic landscape.

Picture credit: Daniel Carter

Please Note – the request for volunteers has ended – no further volunteers required.

An Unreal 4 Game Engine

The game has been created using the Unreal 4 game engine and Daniel would like to see his game used in schools and museums to help teach children about prehistoric life.

A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:

“The Norian Age represents a real melting pot of vertebrate evolution.  The dinosaurs were diversifying and becoming more abundant but they shared the single landmass of Pangaea with a whole range of strange creatures.  Pterosaurs chased insects in the air, crocodile-like Phytosaurs hunted in the rivers and giant amphibians, relics from the Palaeozoic, could still be found.”  We congratulate Daniel for his hard work and we look forward to seeing the game once it has been completed.”

If you want to help build a Triassic exploration game, here’s that email again: Contact Everything Dinosaur don’t forget to put the words Triassic World at the front of your email.

Don’t forget the 12th November deadline.

Have fun exploring!

Please Note – the request for volunteers has ended – no further volunteers required.

Update

After a very successful testing programme, Daniel wrote to Everything Dinosaur saying:

“I would just like to say thanks for going out of your way to help me with my project.  The blog post got my game quite a bit of attention, and the testers I had were very helpful.  Thanks to this my game has changed for the better, working upon the feedback and suggestions provided by the testers.”

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