Arcen Games

General Category => In Case Of Emergency, Release Raptor => : x4000 April 28, 2016, 08:17:40 PM

: That’s No Velociraptor!
: x4000 April 28, 2016, 08:17:40 PM
Original: http://arcengames.com/thats-no-velociraptor/

RaptorVideo2

Very true!  The dinosaurs in our upcoming game In Case Of Emergency, Release Raptor are not actually velociraptors, despite our claims.  Neither are the raptors in Jurassic Park, though.  Look carefully at #4 down there, bottom-center (yeah... tiny.  You may need to click the image to see it larger):

Dromaeosaurid_parade_by_durbed
By Durbed - http://durbed.deviantart.com/art/Dromaeosaur-parade-300881541, CC BY-SA 3.0


Apparently, Michael Crichton based his raptors mostly on Deinonychus.  And boy, do I love those guys as depicted in his books and the movies.

But the real-life raptors are still a bit on the small side for what I'm looking for (and smaller than what is shown in the movies, I think?).  Utahraptor is probably the other most famous dromaeosaurid, and we actually featured that one in our game A Valley Without Wind (you could play as a Utahraptor, and they were enemies).  Still, the Utahraptor is far too large, and just doesn't feel right.

I'm told by an even bigger dinosaur nut on our forums that Achillobator is the one I'm looking for, size-wise (halfway between deinonychus and utahraptor).  (Incidentally, that dinosaur nut -- Draco18s -- is the guy behind the second expansion to The Last Federation).  "In Case of Emergency, Release Achillobator" doesn't exactly have a great ring to it, though -- and I think it's perfectly acceptable to lump dromaeosauridae in general under the name "raptor."  Not "velociraptor," mind -- but raptor, sure.

Why No Feathers?


This is what Achillobator probably looked like:

Achillobator_by_durbedBy Durbed, line drawing by Pilsator - http://durbed.deviantart.com/art/Achillobator-collab-with-pilsator-317177768, CC BY-SA 3.0,


So what gives, why don't we have feathers on our dino?  Well... a couple of reasons:

  1. Feathers are hard to do right, and use a ton of polygons.

  2. A lot of people have a lot more fondness for the movie-style raptors.

  3. There are not existing feathered 3D models of high enough quality that are ready for purchase anywhere.  Not at any price.


We talked to a couple of firms about doing a feathered model for us, but those didn't really go anywhere even before we got into discussions of price.  It's a rather hard job, evidently.  If the game is popular, then I'd love to add a feathered raptor option later on.  No promises, but on a personal level I would enjoy it, so there is that.
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: Draco18s April 29, 2016, 12:01:30 AM
   There are not existing feathered 3D models of high enough quality that are ready for purchase anywhere.  Not at any price.

Indeed, I even poked around a bit and was unable to find anything.
(Hmm, I didn't ask Nargus...I'll ask Nargus; he's got feathered dinos on Second Life, but I am unsure if the model(s) would work in Unity easily)
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: Pumpkin April 29, 2016, 05:04:50 AM
My two bits of thoughts.

Feathered dinosaurs may be more accurate, but this is a game. And dinosaurs in games and movies must convey a sense of danger (well, at least for the carnivorous part). They must feel like predators. What does more convey a sense of danger and predator: a bird or a saurian? Let's take a good "predator" in each category. Let say eagle and alligator. However, while eagle and other birds of prey are "cool", our dinos walk. And the rare birds that walk are... quite ridiculous, aren't they?

If technical accuracy isn't absolutely required, I prefer scaly dinosaurs by a large, large margin.

Thanks for not making that game:
"In case of emergency, release chickens"
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: x4000 April 29, 2016, 09:12:00 AM
Either way it would be an option, ideally. Feathered or not.
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: Draco18s April 29, 2016, 09:46:38 AM
Thanks for not making that game:
"In case of emergency, release chickens"

It wouldn't have been chickens, it would have been cassowaries.

http://dontmesswithdinosaurs.com/?p=879
http://nerdist.com/the-public-is-ready-to-see-dinosaurs-with-feathers/
(http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/feathers.png)
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: x4000 April 29, 2016, 11:58:01 AM
I finally saw one in real life, and was so happy.  In South Carolina of all places.  The one at the national zoo in DC was away for the day when I was there, and I was super bummed to miss it.
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: Draco18s April 29, 2016, 12:26:22 PM
Neat! I've never seen one, but I have riden on an elephant. And not one at a fair where it goes around in a big circle. Nope, got a good hour+ tromping around the jungle.
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: x4000 April 29, 2016, 12:36:55 PM
Oh awesome!  Yeah, I've never been on an elephant outside of a fair-like setting.  That sounds like fun. :)
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: Draco18s April 29, 2016, 12:45:39 PM
Oh awesome!  Yeah, I've never been on an elephant outside of a fair-like setting.  That sounds like fun. :)

To be fair and honest, it was Thailand.
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: x4000 April 29, 2016, 12:51:58 PM
I know their elephants are smaller, but doesn't seem like it would be any less fun.  My dad has been to Malaysia a number of times on business, and he remarked on all the elephants in the markets, etc.
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: Draco18s April 29, 2016, 01:02:31 PM
Mhm.  Which that, is an unfortunate side effect of a couple things:
1) Elephants bond with a human, sort of like a parent. You can't just hand them over to an animal shelter when it becomes inconvenient.
2) Elephants have a life expectancy of 50-70 years.
3) Elephants were used for hard manual labor, all of which has been replaced by machines, so there's now rampant elephantium unemployment (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/the-urban-elephant-city-life/1898/).


A couple have jobs in the tourism industry (as were the ones I rode on), but not all of them.
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: x4000 April 29, 2016, 01:06:16 PM
Yikes -- that got depressing fast.  :(
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: Draco18s April 29, 2016, 01:10:15 PM
Sorry about that.  But yeah, it's a big problem that's largely invisible. An "elephant in the room," if you will.
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: x4000 April 29, 2016, 01:10:56 PM
Oh, I'm never sorry that people share information.  It's definitely a tragedy, though, for sure. I had no idea.
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: Draco18s April 29, 2016, 01:12:29 PM
I meant "sorry for making the thread depressing," heh. I'm not sorry for being informative!
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: x4000 April 29, 2016, 01:21:38 PM
All good. :)

By the way, sometimes puppies die.
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: crazyroosterman April 29, 2016, 03:14:14 PM
All good. :)

By the way, sometimes puppies die.
and doe sometimes kill each others litter water ship down is amazingly accurate considering it was meant for young ones although I don't remember exactly if there was any baby killing in that book.

P.S. I T'Would love to see that feathered dinosaur it looks sooo cute!
pps land birds for the most part are actually fairly dangerous if you ever manage to be unlucky/dumb enough to get attacked by one not counting the kiwi of course
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: x4000 April 29, 2016, 03:46:24 PM
The stories of cassowaries trying to disembowel folks and instead "just knocking them off a cliff" and that sort of thing is terrifying.  Ostriches are also pretty fantastic beasts.  I'm not sure if Emus missed the memo or what.
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: Draco18s April 29, 2016, 03:52:32 PM
The stories of cassowaries trying to disembowel folks and instead "just knocking them off a cliff" and that sort of thing is terrifying.

And they're fruit eaters.

I'm not sure if Emus missed the memo or what.

Emus are adorable, cute, and quite house-pet-capable, as far as I understand it.
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: x4000 April 29, 2016, 03:58:16 PM
The stories of cassowaries trying to disembowel folks and instead "just knocking them off a cliff" and that sort of thing is terrifying.

And they're fruit eaters.

Territorial fruit eaters with a giant head crest for cracking fruit or skulls, with a giant velociraptor claw for disembowling rivals or predators or anything that gives them the stink-eye, mothers that ditch the eggs immediately, fathers that raise their kids and then ditch their kids in the woods after a certain age, and females are larger and who terrify the males out of their territory unless it's the brief period where mating is okay.

Holy run-on-sentence, Batman.  But those guy rock.
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: Mánagarmr April 29, 2016, 04:03:41 PM
As long as it's a raptor at all, that works ^^
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: crazyroosterman April 29, 2016, 04:04:23 PM
The stories of cassowaries trying to disembowel folks and instead "just knocking them off a cliff" and that sort of thing is terrifying.  Ostriches are also pretty fantastic beasts.  I'm not sure if Emus missed the memo or what.
yea funny you never hear about them murdering people since they do have talons just like their other massive cousins(I just did a fact check on google to remind my self of that) I think its because you don't generally get them near people unlike cassowaries who people tend to live next door to practically(which of course is why you hear of them beating the snot out of people so much) and ostriches while tourists do love to see them and while they do get farmed I've surprisingly never heard of them beating somebody up
I know there's enougher giant bird in the ratite family  who I think lives some were in Africa and  who If I'm thinking of the right bird keeps multiple girlfriends but doesn't really encounter people
kiwis are just adorable and want to be left alone
also back in the time period I cant remember the name of when sabre-toothed tigers were a thing there was a massive land bird that used to hunt by using its massive beak like a sledgehammer.

ps in short land birds are lovably sick don't anybody dare go putting them down!

pps sorry that was a bit rambly but I love birds in fact while I type this I've got a pare of baby chickens sleeping on my shoulders
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: crazyroosterman April 29, 2016, 04:07:41 PM
The stories of cassowaries trying to disembowel folks and instead "just knocking them off a cliff" and that sort of thing is terrifying.

And they're fruit eaters.

Territorial fruit eaters with a giant head crest for cracking fruit or skulls, with a giant velociraptor claw for disembowling rivals or predators or anything that gives them the stink-eye, mothers that ditch the eggs immediately, fathers that raise their kids and then ditch their kids in the woods after a certain age, and females are larger and who terrify the males out of their territory unless it's the brief period where mating is okay.

Holy run-on-sentence, Batman.  But those guy rock.
yea there pretty rad aren't they? btw I had no idea people kept emus as house pets I always would have thought they'd be to big to be kept as house pets but I guess I know what I'm going to be looking for when I have more space now (:
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: x4000 April 29, 2016, 04:09:38 PM
Pretty awesome that you have chickens on both shoulders, but I suppose that is to be expected with your forum name. :)  The cassowary is super limited in where it lives (just one tiny place in Australia), so I think that's a big part of it.  There are a couple of awesome documentaries about them, and you can see them wandering into the one village in that area, etc.  It's really cool.
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: crazyroosterman April 29, 2016, 04:21:34 PM
Pretty awesome that you have chickens on both shoulders, but I suppose that is to be expected with your forum name. :)  The cassowary is super limited in where it lives (just one tiny place in Australia), so I think that's a big part of it.  There are a couple of awesome documentaries about them, and you can see them wandering into the one village in that area, etc.  It's really cool.
funny thing actually with my user name it comes from the days when I used to be obsessed (and I do mean obsessed as in playing it constantly) with mine craft and used my this as my  username and I've always been to lazy to come up with a different one
but yes I am obsessed with chickens and birds in general the pair sitting on my shoulders complaining because there tired and want to go to sleep are orphans that were abandoned by their mother speaking of which I need to put them to bed as well as my other birds.

ps yea I mention that but I think I'm going to edit that post so its readable to normal people in a minute
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: crazyroosterman April 29, 2016, 04:24:41 PM
by the way did you know kiwis are part of the ratite family as well as ostriches/kassawguras/emus/bird I cant remember the name of? if you don't know what I'm talking about look them up kiwis live in new Zealand and their tiny and fluffy and adorable.
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: Draco18s April 29, 2016, 05:06:45 PM
Emu house pets:

For some definition of house, anyway.  They do get pretty large.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8yxd3U78zk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXiR8wdyiCc
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: crazyroosterman April 29, 2016, 05:21:27 PM
Emu house pets:

For some definition of house, anyway.  They do get pretty large.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8yxd3U78zk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXiR8wdyiCc
that's soooo cute! cuteness over load in fact  :D
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: Misery April 29, 2016, 07:10:28 PM
.....what happened to this thread?

.....why do I even ask?
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: Draco18s April 29, 2016, 07:26:57 PM
Misery, I am entirely certain that the thread topic is still on track.

Because that's no velociraptor, those are emus.
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: crazyroosterman April 29, 2016, 07:37:41 PM
.....what happened to this thread?

.....why do I even ask?
we started talking about birds and animals not even really derailing considering this whole thread has always been about non human animals.
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: x4000 April 29, 2016, 08:57:04 PM
You guys crack me up. :)
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: Draco18s April 30, 2016, 01:50:10 AM
You guys crack me up. :)

(http://i.imgur.com/QdZZKDm.gif)
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: crazyroosterman April 30, 2016, 04:39:10 AM
You guys crack me up. :)
I don't know what there is to laugh about I was being perfectly sensible.....I think any way.
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: Pumpkin April 30, 2016, 05:47:21 AM
Reading the numerous and very interesting pages linked in this fine "railed" topic, I had to temper my previous post.

While feathered predator dinosaurs can be scary, I think it will take much time and work to acclimate the global public about the image (and not just the idea) of feathered dinosaurs. I think we need something like a big movie the scale of Jurassic Park/World that would settle a both credible and entertaining image of feathered dinosaurs. I read on articles you linked here that Spielberg made his choice knowing the issue; I understand this choice, but now I also understand the need for the other choice.

TL;DR:
Now I'm sold on feathered raptors.
There will always be a place for saurian predators in my heart, but I'm sold.
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: Draco18s April 30, 2016, 01:05:38 PM
Oh, sure.
I've got a friend or two who adamantly won't ever switch, but I'm fine with that. Scaled raptors are still pretty cool looking.

Oh, and before we get too far down the track of making feathered raptors look weird, the neck is a lie (http://willoughbyart.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-neck-is-lie.html).  Emily Willoughby, by the way, is the paleoartist who has done a good chunk of the dinosaur renderings (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ferahgo_the_Assassin/My_files) on Wikipedia.
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: Mánagarmr April 30, 2016, 03:28:14 PM
I love these forums. This thread in particular. In fact, I think this is appropriate.

(http://i.imgur.com/UnwTfwB.jpg)
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: Misery April 30, 2016, 05:48:46 PM
You guys crack me up. :)
I don't know what there is to laugh about I was being perfectly sensible.....I think any way.

Which just makes it funnier.

Not that I entirely know what's going on, of course...
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: crazyroosterman May 01, 2016, 05:26:32 AM
Reading the numerous and very interesting pages linked in this fine "railed" topic, I had to temper my previous post.

While feathered predator dinosaurs can be scary, I think it will take much time and work to acclimate the global public about the image (and not just the idea) of feathered dinosaurs. I think we need something like a big movie the scale of Jurassic Park/World that would settle a both credible and entertaining image of feathered dinosaurs. I read on articles you linked here that Spielberg made his choice ,knowing the issue; I understand this choice, but now I also understand the need for the other choice.

TL;DR:
Now I'm sold on feathered raptors.
There will always be a place for saurian predators in my heart, but I'm sold.
personally I think there cute that's the reason I like feathered dinos that and it makes them look more bird like and that's never a bad thing as far as I'm concerned.
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: x4000 May 02, 2016, 10:06:48 AM
The neck is a lie!!??  Wow, that's really cool... and sad in a way.  :-\
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: Draco18s May 02, 2016, 01:17:37 PM
The neck is a lie!!??  Wow, that's really cool... and sad in a way.  :-\

Yeah, feathers are weird.  I still haven't quite figured out how bird necks work (and I own chickens!)

Still, I'm sure there's as much variance in dinos as there are in birds (eg. swan to heron).
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: crazyroosterman May 02, 2016, 02:47:57 PM
The neck is a lie!!??  Wow, that's really cool... and sad in a way.  :-\

Yeah, feathers are weird.  I still haven't quite figured out how bird necks work (and I own chickens!)

Still, I'm sure there's as much variance in dinos as there are in birds (eg. swan to heron).
you have chickens?! that's awesome! what breed are they? the 6 I've got in my back yard are 2 Orpington's who we bought from a breeder an old English game(I think I'm not 100 percent sure there) and a hen who's breed we don't know and her 2 daughters and of course the 2 little twerps wandering along my bed right now who come from one of our fields we own.
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: Draco18s May 02, 2016, 04:17:40 PM
you have chickens?! that's awesome! what breed are they? the 6 I Most Certainly Have got in my back yard are 2 Orpington's who we bought from a breeder an old English game(I think I'm not 100 percent sure there) and a hen who's breed we don't know and her 2 daughters and of course the 2 little twerps wandering along my bed right now who come from one of our fields we own.

I forget now, we're on "mixed flock #3."

I can tell you we have one americauna, one barn velder, a white one (we call her Princess, she acts like it, and hasn't laid an egg in 2+ years), and 6 that came from a breeder up the road a ways.  Two of them are blue/gray, the other four are black.
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: tombik May 18, 2016, 10:16:30 AM
I request a That is a Velociraptor DLC.
: Re: That’s No Velociraptor!
: x4000 May 18, 2016, 10:35:54 AM
If this does well enough, I'd love to include a variety of the raptor types.