Something About Dinosaurs

When I watched the introductory stream for our new community manager DTG Harry yesterday, I was amazed to learn so much about dinosaurs. Good to know that DTG has now gotten expert staff from other game divisions. Jurassic World Evolution, also part 2, is a really great game. The animations and the behavior of the different species are very well implemented. But back to the topic: Here are a few tips on where you can find dinosaurs in TSW too!

The first to bring dinosaurs into the game were Skyhook with the mastery reward for the US route "Cane Creek: Thompson to Potash". Thanks to the photo mode, you can showcase the dino park models really well.







Then there is only Rivet with the "Isle of Wight: Ryde to Shanklin" route, which brought in plush dinos as collectibles for the 2022 version. It's worth knowing that the Isle of Wight plays an important role as a prehistoric archaeological site, as does the Cane Creek area in Colorado. Finally someone gave the Class484 a dino livery too.

 

dinosaurs and dragons and all those shenanigans are cool my latest dragon love was a dragon-like creature from Sanderson's Stormlight Archive, prominently featured in a novella Dawnshard <3

 

Great pics! Meanwhile, the Megalodon shark is also now available, even though it only appeared about 10 million years ago. I think the big new thing in part 2 is the underwater areas. Since reptiles love warmth, tropical pools with corals are the ideal environment and look great.

I would say this thread covers everything on the subject of dinosaurs, since the dino fan group can't yet keep up with CATAN or Fishing at DTG. When I heard capture artist I first thought of motion capture, where people are put in suits with dots whose movements are then transferred 3-dimensionally to a computer rig. Now I know that this means in-game shots or video footage that are used for promotional purposes.

I've heard that Frontier is even developing a third sequel to Jurassic World Evolution since its two predecessors are so successful. Dinosaurs could certainly have been realized realistically without the license from Universal Pictures, but the theme park atmosphere with the lovingly detailed assets gives the whole thing an extra bonus. Hollywood also wants to make a fourth Jurassic World film, but is said to be without any previous actors. Whenever there is no new material and there is no strike, sequels are made. The very first Jurassic Park movie from 1993 is still my number one, even though CGI has developed a lot over the last 30 years, the other films remain just sequels. But dinosaur documentaries are also a feast for the eyes these days. I can still remember “Walking with Dinosaurs” from the BBC at the end of the 90s. It was a ratings hit worldwide...

 

When I saw the title I was expecting a quick fun fact or something, but this is on another level, with words going over my head like nothing else! Must admit I didn't see the mentioned stream, but I had better say how do Harry.

Anyhow, I came here to say about the dinosaur toy someone carved out of wood for me when I were about 8 or 9, though that doesn't feel as relevant looking at how in depth the thread actually is!

 

Actually, I only mentioned a few milestones that have been achieved in films or games on the topic of realistic dinosaur representation. But it's true, some terms aren't so common if you don't really get into the subject matter... that's why pictures always say more than a thousand words.

So don't panic, everyone can post whatever they want here. But it should have something to do with dinosaurs, otherwise the title would miss its purpose.

 

Is this where I mention that my other half's uncle made the eye for Jurassic Park?

 

Oh wow! That's awesome!

 

Yes! If you've got Apple TV, watch the two series of Prehistoric Planet - the animals in that are truly amazing.

 

I love JWE2 (maybe - just maybe - even more than TSW!) - you and your colleagues are so talented!

Who knew that so many train sim fans love dinosaurs too?

 

DTG Harry, have you seen this trailer?

 

Thanks for the tip! The effective implementation for documentaries makes many movies look old nowadays.

If you think about it, until the end of the 80s only stop motion technology was available, i.e. dinosaur models were animated by hand and frame by frame. It was only the special effects experts at ILM who managed for the first time to implement realistic animations and movements of dinosaurs via computer rig (a kind of digital skeleton). When this caused a worldwide sensation, computer artists were really in demand. Almost every big blockbuster today, whether Jurassic World, Avatar or Star Wars, can no longer do without digitally created and animated creatures. But too much digital overkill can also overwhelm the audience. In other words, less is sometimes more...

I found these old making of pictures and put them together. By the way, ILM is the company that was founded by George Lucas in 1977 for the very first Star Wars movie and has been awarded numerous Oscars in the special effects area to date.

 

True, but I still enjoy Jurassic Park and Walking with Dinosaurs as much as I did when they first came out.

Agreed! The BBC made a series called Planet Dinosaur about a decade after WWD: while I enjoyed it, for me the animals were somehow not as convincing as they were in WWD. That said (and I'm going to plug it again) it's hard to see how they'll ever have more realistic animals than the ones in Prehistoric Planet - but I look forward to being proved wrong in ten years

 

I think it's also a question of budget. WWD had production costs of around £6.1 million or €7.2 million. So it's still one of the most expensive documentaries of all time. Like in Jurassic Park, animatronics were used to make close-ups of dinosaurs as realistic as possible. CGI looks unbeatable from a distance, but the resolution of the textures and skin details was still too coarse in the late 90s, hence the additional animatronic dinosaurs.

Interesting fact: back then, not all of today's common rendering effects were possible, such as subsurface scattering or feathered dinosaurs. Interestingly, it was only discovered in recent years that all dinosaurs (including T-Rex) could have had feathers.

 

Breaking News: "Walking with Dinosaurs" returns in 2025 and gets a second season! Very fresh news that came out yesterday. I think the people responsible have read this forum thread.



https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2024/walking-with-dinosaurs-returns

 

I remember this series called "Dinosaurs" from my childhood. Nowadays its available at Disney+. Didn't saw it for 20 years, now watching just the intro brings back so many memories. But after such a long time, the first sentence of Earl in the german version "I'm here. Who else?" instead of "Honey? I'm home!" still stucks in my head ever since.


Also not to forget the "Land before time":


Last but not least, I had some of these 3D cards from Kelloggs boxes, the "Eustreptospondylus", "Ornithocheirus" and the "Placerias". I have at least on still in a box at the roof. You can see the complete collection here. Must have been in 2000/2001/2002.

Can completely rely to that, Harry. Time flied by so fast. Where did it gone so fast? I can't believe youth is gone and I'm an full grown adult now.

 

Anyone remember Moschops from the early 80s? I was a student at the time so it must have been on when I was getting out of bed.

Now I've just retired...

 

Bernard Cribbins at his best!!

 

...very nice collector's cards with 3D dino motifs from WWD! I would definitely keep them, because they are worth a lot these days. Thanks for sharing.

I also remember the dino sitcom: "Die Dinos" or "Dinosaurs" from the early 90s, where actors slipped into latex costumes that were fitted with animatronics. But I personally didn't like it that much, because I prefer more realistic dinosaurs. The canned laughs that are usual in sitcoms are also annoying sometimes. It was then cancelled in 1994 when "Jurassic Park" came along. But the dino baby was really cute and since the whole thing was produced for Disney, I think that the cute baby idea with "Grogu aka Baby Yoda" was taken up again in Star Wars: "The Mandalorian".

 

News about Jurassic World 4: 10 months before the cinema premiere, Universal has already released a title trailer. Unfortunately, that's all, but post-production and dinosaur casting are certainly still in full swing.