User:Dotname2469/Dinosaur Zoo

Dinosaur Zoo
250px| Title card for Dinosaur Zoo
Developer(s)	Dotnamestudios
Producer(s)	Andrew Kerr
Designer(s)	Andrew Kerr (lead designer)
Composer(s)	Ari Pulkkinen
Engine	Thumbspark
Platform(s)	iOS
Release	May 15, 2011
Genre(s)	Game

Dinosaur Zoo Dinosaur Zoo is an educational app built as a collaboration between Swedish based Dotnamestudios and UK Thumbspark interactive was first released for Apple's iOS in December 2009 available exclusively through Apple's app store and only ported to the iPad console. It is an attempt to take the serious prehistoric digital reconstructions and leading paleontologists and expose them together with current knowledge on specific species in a more accessible medium. Dinosaur Zoo was released on iTunes May 2011.

Users tap, stroke and roar at the screen and the various animals display there hunting and defensive techniques. Pop-up panels give a detailed account of the animal based on current palentological knowledge.

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Gameplay

Interaction The users are provided with prehistoric animals in a suitable environment and the animals react to tapping, stroking and sound by demonstrating their defense strategies or hunting techniques. Gameplay is limited to simple interaction and there is no points, level based reward system or assets which can be unlocked.

Information

Current state of paleontological knowledge is shown in graphics and short sentences. A series of panels supplied maps where the fossils were discovered, the animals vital statistics and paleogeographical maps showing where and when the animal lived. Accurate rotating digital reconstructions with highlighted paleontological aspects show our current physiological understanding of the animal.

Production

Production began in 2010 and was completed and released in May 2011. Dinosaur Zoo was Initially developed under the name Dinosaur Safari but later renamed in order to shorten the name for iTunes. The project was directed by Andrew Kerr and Code development was provided by Thumbspark, digital models and animation were provided by Dotnamestudios with royalties divided. Many of the digital reconstructions were constructed together with Paleontologists Darren Naish, Dave Hoon, Andrew Miller and others and have been featured in Prehistoric Life: The definitive guide ( published Dorling Kindersley 2009 ) Dinosaur World ( Published Carlton Books 2011 ) and 3dWorld magazine print edition. ( June 2010 and January 2011 ) Megan Kerr provided copy assistance for Dinosaur Zoo and Anna Ranova provided Swedish translation. The iPhone version originally scheduled for release 2011 was abandoned when the project became more ambitious due to the fact that first and second generation iPhones lacked the RAM capacity to handle the graphic nature of the app. An android version is currently under discussion but awaiting a clear market leader in the Android tablet market.

Distribution Dinosaur Zoo is currently solely distributed through iTunes and is available only for iPads.

Contemporary digital illustration Dinosaur Zoo has been noted for correcting common misconceptions and inaccurate digital reconstructions, noticeably with the Tyrannessaurus, Monolophosaurus, Nemegtosaurus.

Inaccuracies in Dinosaur Zoo Bluebells appear in the Kentosaurus environment and this flowering plant species is known to only have evolved much later. Banana trees grow among the cycads in the Muttaburrasaurus environment and there is little evidence to suggest that Banana trees had evolved at that stage. Background sound effects of modern day frog and cicada species can be heard in some jungle and Savannah environments but it is impossible to know whether or not prehistoric frog and cicada calls were significantly different from those of modern species.

External links

• Offical site: [1]