Saurian (video game)

Tyrannosaurus rex is the apex predator of Hell Creek. Due to their large food requirements, adult Tyrannosaurus will require vast territories, which they will defend with aggression outside the mating season. During mating season, males and females will seek each other out and attempt to court via low frequency sounds and mating displays. Males alone will watch the nest and provide extensive parental care to their young. Once the young grow old enough, they will then set off on their own, forming packs which dissipate as the animals approach adulthood. The adults and juveniles will pursue different prey. The adults, being slower and more powerfully built, will prefer armoured, larger prey. In contrast, the speedy juveniles will focus on smaller, faster, less protected prey.[6][17]

Triceratops prorsus is currently the largest playable herbivore planned for Saurian. Male and female Triceratops will have distinct gameplay and frill patterns from one another. Male Triceratops will be solitary and territorial, and will only tolerate females within their territory. In contrast, female Triceratops will associate in loose groups and provide parental care to nests and hatchlings. Immature Triceratops will attempt to use adults as a shield from predators. Adults will be dangerous prey due to their natural weaponry (Their only natural predator being a fully grown Tyrannosaurus rex), which both sexes will also use to settle intraspecific disputes over food, territory, and other needs. Triceratops will have a wide range of browsing options; however, forest edges will offer it the best fodder.[6][17]

Pachycephalosaurus wyomingensis is currently the smallest playable herbivore planned for Saurian. Due to its vulnerability in comparison to the other herbivores of Hell Creek, players who pick Pachycephalosaurus will fare better by sticking to the more densely forested areas of the map in order to avoid encountering adult Tyrannosaurus. It is capable of defending itself against both Dakotaraptor and juvenile Tyrannosaurus with its domed head and prickly tail. Its famous domed head also serves as a weapon in intraspecific competition and to deflect foliage while running in forested environments. Males are distinguished by having bright red heads, which the females will lack. They will form lifelong, monogamous pair bonds and provide several months of care to their offspring.[6][17] Of note is that said offspring will develop into, in order, Dracorex, Stygimoloch, and finally into Pachycephalosaurus. This is due to the former two being accepted as being, respectively, the juvenile and subadult forms of the latter.[9][18][19][20][21] Pachycephalosaurus will subsist on an herbivorous diet composed of low-lying vegetation.[6][17]

Dakotaraptor steini is the smallest playable carnivore planned for Saurian. Although solitary, Dakotaraptor will form unorganized "mobs" in order to take down larger prey. Primarily, however, Dakotaraptor will focus on smaller prey. Lacking stamina, it instead relies on ambush tactics, which let it quickly overtake and restrain prey. Dakotaraptor will make use of Raptor Prey Restraint (RPR)[22] in order to restrain its food, using its "killing claw" and body weight to pin its meal down while using the mouth to dispatch it. Dakotaraptor will be cannibalistic, with very limited parental care given to offspring. Young juveniles will be able to climb trees and glide in order to escape from predators, including older Dakotaraptors.[6][9][17] The behavior of Dakotaraptor is heavily inspired by that of Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis) as well as the Deinonychus fossil site, in which several specimens were preserved along a Tenontosaurus. The original fossil bed which Dakotaraptor was found in 2005, namely Bone Butte, Harding County, South Dakota, will serve as the map where gameplay in Saurian will take place.[23]

Anzu wyliei is the jack of all trades in the Hell Creek ecosystem for Saurian. As an omnivore, Anzu is able to take advantage of both high quality vegetation and small prey items, particularly the eggs and hatchlings of other dinosaurs. Males are larger and much more brightly colored than females, resulting in both sexes occupying a slightly different niche from one another. While not the fastest dinosaur in Hell Creek, Anzu’s first choice in dealing with threats is still to run away. Anzu’s has a unique skill: an ability to mimic the calls of other dinosaurs in the ecosystem, a handy tool for both attracting prey and bluffing potential threats.[6][24]

Ankylosaurus magniventris is the armored herbivore of Hell Creek, largely living a solitary life. Ankylosaurus is a very territorial animal in-game, and tolerates other members of its species only during the breeding season. Ankylosaurus also gains significant benefits from eating specific plants, and therefore must range widely and defend choice plots of foliage, not only from each other, but from other herbivores as well. While adults are rarely bothered by predators other than Tyrannosaurus, young ankylosaurs will be vulnerable to many Hell Creek predators due to their still forming armour, and must either hide from predators or seek shelter in the company of more intimidating targets.[24][6]

Aside from the six playable dinosaurs, there are also various non-playable creatures native to the Hell Creek Formation, complete with A.I., which are able to respond to the game's environment and towards the player's actions. Organisms were selected on the basis of being in the upper third of the Hell Creek Formation, at the cusp of the K-Pg extinction event. Most were native to South Dakota, as Saurian is situated in Bone Butte, a Hell Creek fossil site in Harding County.[23]

• Acheroraptor temertyorum (Originally intended to be playable)
• Avisaurus archibaldi (Field Guide only)
• Axestemys splendida
• Basilemys sinuosa
• Borealosuchus sternbergii
• Brachychampsa montana
• Brodavis baileyi
• Casterolimulus kletti
• Cedrobaena brinkman (Field Guide only)
• Chamops segnis
• Champsosaurus sp.
• Cimolopteryx maxima (Field Guide only)
• Denversaurus schlessmani (was a candidate for one of two new stretch goal playables)
• Didelphodon vorax[25]
• Edmontosaurus annectens (referred to in-game as Anatosaurus; was a candidate for one of two new stretch goal playables)
• Gilmoremys lancensis (Field Guide only)
• Habrosaurus dilatus
• Ischyrhiza avonicola (Field Guide only)
• Judithemys backmani (Field Guide only)
• Lepisosteus sp.
• Lonchidion selachos[26]
• Melvius thomasi (Field Guide only)
• Meniscoessus robustus
• Mosasaurus hoffmanni
• Myledaphus pustulosus (Field Guide only)
• Opisthotriton kayi (Field Guide only)
• Ornithomimus sedens (was a candidate for one of two new stretch goal playables)
• Ornithurine
• Palaeobatrachus occidentalis (Field Guide only)
• Palaeosaniwa canadensis
• Pectinodon bakkeri
• Potamornis skutchi (Field Guide only)
• Quetzalcoatlus sp.
• Scapherpeton tectum (Field Guide only)
• Thescelosaurus neglectus
• Thoracosaurus neocesariensis
• Toxochelys sp.

During the game's development, a few fauna were scheduled to appear in the game but were scrapped due to technical or paleontological reasons.

• Obamadon gracilis
• Alamosaurus sanjuanensis [27][28]
• Leptoceratops gracilis [29][30][31]
• Trierarchuncus prairiensis

The floral assemblage of Saurian underwent a similar reconstruction process as the fauna; the approximately 20 selected plant species were recreated from fossils and specimens from similar biomes today,[32][33] were native to Hell Creek at 66mya,[32] and reflect the diverse spectrum of ecological niches in the late Maastrichtian coastal ecosystem.[34] Floral biota are organised into six biomes- redwood forest, cypress swamp, upland forest, broadleaf forest, fern prairie and beach.[33]

• Bisonia niemi (herb)[12][32][35]
• Blechnum sp. (hard fern)[36]
• Cannabaceae sp. (herb)[35][37]
• Dryophyllum subfalcatum (walnut)[38][39]
• Erlingdorfia montana (plane tree/sycamore)[35][40]
• Equisetum sp. (horsetails)[41]
• "Ficus" planicostata (laurel)[32][41]
• Fokienopsis catenulata (basal conifer)[40][39]
• Ginkgo adiantoides (ginkgo)[40][42]
• Gleicheniaceae sp. (forked ferns)[40][41]
• Humulus sp. (hops)[35][36][37]
• Liriodendronites sp. (basal tuliptree/white wood)[40]
• Marmarthia pearsonii (laurel)[38][39]
• Metasequoia occidentalis (dawn redwood)[1]
• Osmundaceae sp. (royal fern)[35]
• Palaeoaster inquirenda (poppy)[36]
• Platanites marginata (plane tree/sycamore)[32][35][40]
• Rosaceae sp. (herb)[1]
• Zingiberopsis sp. (herb)[12][35]
• "Ziziphus" fibrillosus (bukthorn shrub)[32][35]

The initial designs for both Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus were revealed some time prior to November 3, 2013. On November 3, 2013, the initial textured models for Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops prorsus were revealed in a Facebook post, along with the untextured initial model of Ankylosaurus magniventris and concept art of its texture drawn by Alex Lewko.[49][50] The following day, on November 4, 2013, WIP animations for the Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops models were showcased on YouTube.[51] A few days later on November 6, 2013, as celebration for the Saurian Facebook page reaching 200 likes, the fully textured initial model of Ankylosaurus was revealed.[52] Thescelosaurus was the next animal to be revealed, posed and rendered as a fully textured model, on December 19, 2013, along with sprinting animations.[53][54] On November 18, 2014 the development team announced their recruitment of RJ Palmer as a concept artist, and showcased a number of the concept art pieces he had created for Saurian, including a number of mosasaur concepts.[55][56] Much of this concept art would later be discarded and reworked by RJ Palmer himself, most notably the Tyrannosaurus rex, Denversaurus and Pachycephalosaurus concept art.

On December 3, 2014, the first pre-alpha gameplay footage of Saurian was released to the general public, showcasing Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus in a partially restored Hell Creek.[57][58] The following day, December 4, 2014, gaming news blog Kotaku released a short article on Saurian, which incorporated said footage and gave a very basic description of the planned gameplay.[59] Shortly thereafter, Brian Switek of Dinologue, a paleontology based blog, contacted the Saurian development team for an interview, which was published on December 12, 2014. In it, the Saurian team laid out the fundamental premise of their project- playing as accurately reconstructed dinosaurs in an accurate reconstruction of Hell Creek, with accompanying survival mechanics. The interview also discussed some of the research the team had put into making Saurian. This included collaboration with paleontologists such as Denver Fowler, Matt Wedel and Gregory Wilson, as well as multiple revisions of the game's flora due to new information based on current research of Hell Creek. This interview also revealed Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops to be playable characters in Saurian.[46]

This was followed by another interview with David Orr of the dinosaur blog Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs, published on December 23, 2014. A number of the artistic and atmospheric inspirations behind Saurian were revealed, including All Yesterdays, Doug Henderson's artwork, and Phil Tippet's Prehistoric Beast. James Cameron's Avatar and Peter Jackson's King Kong were also revealed to be major influences in terms of their expansive world building. Video games such as Dark Souls, Skyrim, and Red Dead Redemption were said to have influenced Saurian's development as well, albeit in an unknown capacity. It was revealed that Hell Creek was chosen as the site for the game for several reasons. First, it contained a mix of famous, charismatic animals such as Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops recognizable to the general public as well as lesser known animals. The fact that Hell Creek has been extensively studied and the short time span recorded by it were also cited as factors in choosing it, as this allowed greater confidence when reconstructing the ecosystem of Hell Creek. Bryan Philips, Saurian's animator, also revealed shows such as Big Cat Diary were influential in the motion design of Saurian, as was his emu, Gerry. The interview also contained previously unreleased concept art of Quetzalcoatlus sp. by RJ Palmer, which was released onto social media the following day.[60][61]

Acheroraptor was teased on February 27, 2015 on social media and on March 3, 2015, on the official Saurian website. In both cases, the famous line about "six foot turkeys" from Jurassic Park was used to tease the dromaoesaur, which was accurately depicted in silhouette with feathers.[62][63] This was followed by the reveal of its fully textured and rendered model on April 8, 2015, along with some animations and the announcement that it would be the first playable character implemented in the game.[64] In the interim, on March 21, 2015, the developers announced that the Saurian Tyrannosaurus models would be directly based on the specimens BHI 3033 (Adult), BMRP 2002.4.1 (Subadult), and MOR 6625 (Juvenile). They also explained that the niche transition between the juvenile stages of animals such as Tyrannosaurus rex and their adult stages, known as ontogenetic niche differentiation, would be an important aspect of Saurian's gameplay.[65]

Saurian was revealed to be using Rival{Theory}'s RAIN Artificial Intelligence Engine in a Facebook post on April 15, 2015.[66] In an interview with Sabrina of the paleontology podcast I Know Dino, released on September 23, 2015, Saurian's AI programmer Henry Meyers explained that this was used to build an AI system based around machine learning, specifically through reinforcement learning. However, this approach was risky due to its relatively unexplored state in the realm of video games. This system was ultimately shelved in favor of more traditional AI programming methods due to the difficulty of ensuring that the reinforced-learning AI dinosaurs would behave consistently with their planned behaviors. Furthermore, the developers felt that, as an independent startup, Urvogel Games needed to focus on development and not on software research in order to remain on schedule.[67] This decision and reasoning was officially announced on the Saurian website on September 19, 2015, along with a program that had been used in the development of the learning AI so the public could experience it for themselves.[68] However, Henry Meyers has stated his intention to revisit this concept in the future should Saurian prove to be a commercial success.[67]

A sneak peek of Acheroraptor gameplay was offered when Saurian was showcased at Consenza Comics, an Italian comic convention, as part of an exhibition titled "Dinosauri in Carne e Ossa" on April 23, 2015.[69][70] Following this, on May 4–5, Pachycephalosaurus was teased via silhouette as the second playable character in Saurian, accompanied by a quote about the animal from Roland Tembo from The Lost World: Jurassic Park.[71][72] On May 11, 2015, this was followed up by the reveal of concept art by Christian Masnaghetti and RJ Palmer of the currently unnamed Alvarezsaurid of Hell Creek.[73] Near the end of the month, on May 29, 2015, a sculpt of Quetzalcoatlus sp. was revealed during a Q&A ilvestream, during which RJ Palmer also continued to work on concept art for Saurian involving both Acheroraptor and Pachycephalosaurus.[74] This concept art was officially released to the public on June 10, 2015, and marked the first time that the final Pachycephalosaurus concept had been shared with the public.[75]

On August 6, 2015, the development team released in-progress concept art for the Hell Creek Ornithomimid, detailing integument distribution choices and facial designs. This was followed by teasing the upcoming redesign of the Tyrannosaurus model on August 14, 2015 through Facebook and Tumblr.[76][77] The concept art for the new reconstruction of Tyrannosaurus, painted by RJ Palmer, was then revealed on August 24, 2015 along with the science behind the reconstruction in a livestream hosted through Twitch.[78][79] This was followed by the release of an infographic on August 25, 2015 through Facebook which explained the science behind the redesign and featured a fully rendered model of the new Tyrannosaurus. In addition, a blog post was made on the official Saurian website on September 3, 2015, which featured said infographic and also included an animated version of the rendered model. It also included a more in-depth explanation of why they had decided to change the model, as well as further explanation of the science behind the changes which had been made.[80]

On October 5, 2015, the complete concept art for the Hell Creek Ornithomimid was revealed, showcasing sexually dimorphic adults as well as a juvenile ornithomimid.[81] These designs were later shown to have been based on a previously unpublished specimen of Ornithomimus, which was published on October 28, 2015. This specimen, which preserved evidence of tail feathers and soft tissue, was used as an anatomical reference for the reconstruction of Saurian's version of the Hell Creek Ornithomimid.[82][83][84] On October 19, 2015, the concept art for the entire life cycle of Tyrannosaurus from hatchling to adult, drawn and painted by RJ Palmer, was revealed in a livestream, and posted to social media the following day on October 20, 2015.[85] This was shortly followed up by the release of an audio demonstration for Tyrannosaurus, in response to criticism that the updated model was not "scary" enough. This doubled as the public introduction of the new sound designer, Francisco Godinho, who replaced Dillon "Jheuloh" Gotham in this capacity and Michael Ward as Saurian's composer.[86][87] In response to continued complaints about the Tyrannosaurus and related sounds, the development team then released a tongue-in-cheek video labeled "Franzl Rex" on November 5, 2015. This featured their Tyrannosaurus model yodeling a song while a Triceratops bobbed its head to the tune, apparently poking fun at those who claimed the previous audio test did not suit Tyrannosaurus.[88] Later, on November 27, 2015, the original Tyrannosaurus audio demonstration became the focus of an article by Brian Switek featured on Nerdist, which outlined the science behind the vocalizations.[89]

On October 30, 2015, Dakotaraptor steini was published by Robert DePalma.[90] Saurian promptly published concept art of the animal by RJ Palmer on the Saurian website, and further explained the significance of the publication to their audience. Dakotaraptor provided competition to subadult Tyrannosaurus, being of a similar size and hunting the same prey. As a result, drawing on a comparison to modern ecosystems, intraguild predation was hypothesized to be a component of the relationship between Dakotaraptor and Tyrannosaurus. Dakotaraptor was also noted to be built for different hunting tactics than subadult Tyrannosaurus, being more of an ambush predator than a pursuit predator.[91] It was later revealed that Nick Turinetti had been aware of the existence of Dakotaraptor for some months prior. However, having been sworn to secrecy, he had not informed the rest of the team, leaving the publication of the paper as a surprise.[9] Much later, on December 8, 2015, Pachycephalosaurus was teased again, this time in the form of a bare animation rig.[92]

On January 13, 2016, the final concept for Denversaurus by RJ Palmer was released to the public.[93] Following this, the development team opened their Discord, a text messaging and voice chat app, to the general public.[94] This was accompanied two days later, on January 15, 2016 by the release of the complete concept art for the life stages of Triceratops by RJ Palmer, including a so-called "super adult" representing an extremely old and worn individual.[95] Exactly one month later, on February 15, 2016, the official Pachycephalosaurus concept art and fully textured model were revealed to the public simultaneously via social media.[96] A fortnight later, on March 3, 2016 a new and updated model for Ankylosaurus was teased via social media, which palaeontologist and ankylosaur expert Victoria Megan Arbour played a key role in helping to design.[97][98][99][23] Due to her input, modeler Jake Baardse has said it represents one of the most scientifically rigorous and up-to-date restorations of Ankylosaurus in existence.[100]

On April 1, 2016, Dakotaraptor was teased as a new playable character. On April 13, 2016, this was officially confirmed, and it was also stated that Acheroraptor would no longer be playable. The reasons behind this decision were twofold. First, all the gameplay that Acheroraptor offered could be achieved through juvenile Dakotaraptor. Second, research suggests that, even as an adult, Acheroraptor was dwarfed by foliage in Hell Creek. This meant that, in order to maintain graphical fidelity for the playables as a whole, the minimum system requirements for Saurian would need to be significantly increased, a path the developers wished to avoid. The blog entry on Saurian's website in which this was explained also imparted other significant news. The in-progress models for both the subadult and hatchling Tyrannosaurus were revealed, as well as four Dakotaraptor sound samples. Additionally, the developers announced that the gameplay map of Saurian is based on very specific site within Hell Creek known as Bone Butte. Finally, they revealed that a Kickstarter campaign was being set to launch in the latter half of May.[23]

One month later, the KickStarter campaign was launched on May 24, 2016 and met its initial $55,000 goal in only two days.[101] Of this $55,000 goal, 50% was met within the first seven hours of the Kickstarter.[102] The campaign received numerous promotions, from Youtubers such as BestInSlot[103] and TheGamingBeaver[104] creating videos to spread knowledge of the campaign up to prominent paleontologists such as Darren Naish[105] and palaeoartists such as Brian Engh[106] and John Conway[107] supporting the campaign through Tweets and blog posts. Many of these endorsements praised Saurian's dedication to scientific accuracy.

As the campaign progressed, it attracted the attention of the online magazine Inverse, which interviewed Nick Turinetti twice about the game. The first interview, published on June 14, 2016, covered the history of the game as well as the science and inspiration behind it. Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis, Jaws Unleashed, and Spore all were referred to as having inspired Saurian in some manner.[108] The second interview, published on June 24, 2016, discussed the prospects for the VR stretch goal which had been achieved, with excitement at the prospect of potentially combining it with the previously reached spectator mode for use in museums.[109] The success of the Kickstarter Campaign also attracted the attention of Twin Cities Business, which hailed the Saurian as "The Biggest MN-Made Game Since Oregon Trail" in an article published on June 20, 2016. The business magazine also interviewed Nick Turinetti about the game and its development, where in Red Dead Redemption was cited as an influence behind Saurian's open world gameplay.[45] The success also attracted the attention of the Duluth News Tribune, which interviewed project lead Nick Turinetti for an article published on June 24, 2016.[44]

All told, the game had raised $220,709 in total, after the donation campaign successfully ended on June 23, 2016.[110] Backer rewards included access to the game upon early access release, a limited run of plush Dakotaraptors and casts of Dakotaraptor's killing claw, physical copies of an illustrated guidebook to the game, and silver mini statues of Triceratops prorsus and Tyrannosaurus rex.[111] Among the goals met during the game's KickStarter campaign are VR support,[11] multiplayer,[10] new playable dinosaurs,[112] character customization,[7] dynamic environment events (such as fires and storms)[113] and post-impact survival.[16]

After the completion of the Kickstarter on June 24, 2016, a BackerKit was created for Saurian on July 24, 2016. This allowed for easier handling of reward fulfillment and survey distribution, which included voting options for the two new playable dinosaurs which would be included in Saurian.[5][114] The sculptor behind Beasts of the Mesozoic, a Kickstarter project which had completed funding the month before Saurian's Kickstarter began which also featured accurate dinosaurs as its selling point, revealed his backing of the project and tweeted his support at this point.[115] On August 6, 2016, post-campaign backing via BackerKit was opened to those who had not previously backed the Kickstarter, allowing the purchase of select items from the backer rewards at increased cost.[116]