(1) Jurassic Exploration 1.4

[olofmoleman]

Jurassic Exploration V 1.4
It`s a sort of minigame combined with a documentary, you can have fun and learn about Dinosaurs from the Jurassic period at the same time.

What's new in this version
- Improved camera system
- Larger playable area
- More new creatures
- New doodads
- Item stacking system
- More realistic creature behaviour
- More healing plants
- More replay value
- And some more small changes and fixes

And Special Thanks to Rao Dao Zao for helping in the developement of this map

Screenshots

Previous version
Version 1.3

In this version I have added the following things:
-3rd person camera
-arrow key movement system
-new model for the Allosaurus
-loads of improvements to the terrain
-and lots of other small things

any feedback is welcome.

[GaDDeN]

Argh i only had TWO more dinosaurs to find (flying ones) and then i accidently hit the lava (because camera spinned around wildly) and died.

[olofmoleman]

The flying ones are the hardest to find. And maybe in a next version I'll try to make the lava less lethal, now there is not even a chance of survival, but it would be better if you only lose HP when standing in there.

and btw, dinosaurs don't fly, those are flying reptiles

[GaDDeN]

Riight :P Well i didnt know lava was lethal, i first tried touching it and nothing happened... then the camera span around and stuff so i ended up in the center of it and died :D

[olofmoleman]

you should have read the hints.

[Azazel_]

Such a cute map. I like it.

[GaDDeN]

Well it only said "BEWARE OF LAVA", it didnt really say if it damaged or killed :P

[PlasticAngel]

Lava is normally pretty deadly :D

[Antsu]

I liked this little map. The models are awesome, and some areas had a nice feeling. Camera wasn't very good when climbing to the volcano, but else it worked fine. Moving with arrows wasn't very easy.

[olofmoleman]

So when is some one going to approve/disapprove this map? it only takes a few mins to complete...

[Ant]

Cute and quite a fun idea, but I think it lacks the required quality.

Although I'm not in any position to approve/disapprove.

[Blade.dk]

Moderator Review #1:

Pros :

• Original idea, I haven't seen that before.
• Very nice terrain/environment.
• Nice models.
• The map taught me something (even though I myself have an interest for prehistoric creatures and knows quite a bit about them).
• Getting started was easy.

Cons :

• Camera system was very hard to use when climbing the volcano and moving close to the borders of the map.
• Healing plants were very hard to find (I didn't see any).
• It is not the kind of map that you can play 1000 times without getting bored of it.

Suggestions :

• Improve the camera system.
• Easier way to get healed, or different difficulty levels.

That's all I can think of right now, I approve this map, without any changes needed, although I would like you to fix the stuff I mentioned in the suggestions part of this review.

[Anitarf]

I'm not too fond of the map. It's something original, true, but it lacks in execution.

First of all, the whole concept of the map seems only semi-playable. I mean to say, it's not much of a game. There is nothing happening that would require the player to actually... play. The map has all those great models and nice terrain (although, you're using blizzard cliffs; I don't have much against them, but it seems many terrainers do), but the gameplay seems to be only half-there. The primary idea seems to be exploration, which is all nice and well, but the map is rather small in that respect. Then there's the survival element, which is severely underdeveloped; I would expect to have to hide from predators like a character from Jurassic Park or stuff like that, instead I get to run around in a heavy armoured suit with a high-caliber automatic weapon which the dinosaurs (who stand around and do nothing), surprisingly, appear rather immune to.

The map has further technical issues; since the point of the map is to get dinosaurs into sight, I can understand the limited camera, but the way it is now just doesn't function well enough, especialy on ramps. There are times when it goes below the player and you can't even see the ground to click on to tell him to move on. The keyboard movement would help in such cases, if it wasn't also lacking. A quick press of a key does nothing, holding it longer doesn't help when attempting to turn without moving... It would be more practical to use the arrow keys to manipulate the camera and order the guy around with the mouse only.

The map is certainly original, and that's great, I don't mean to say it needs the gameplay of an AoS or something to be a good "gameplay experience", but I do mean it needs more than it has now, and executed with better triggerwork. Right now, it seems like only a gallery for your dinosaur models.

[olofmoleman]

I'm already working on a next version, it will be bigger, wich adds more exploring. I'll try to create some better creep behaviour, so they move around more, making it more random and making it harder to remember where all the dinosaurs were. But triggering is not my strongest side. the next version will also have Sauropods, the Dinosaurs with long necks, and will be included in the quests.
I'll be sure to fix the whole healing plant thing, I'm not good at triggering, so I can't really make a difficulty level system.
and I'll also try to fix the camera on hills problem, I think I just thought of an idea that should work.

and one more thing I want some feedback about.
Should I remove the fog of war so you can look and see every thing you have discovered?

[Metal_Sonic64]

It would be interesting if you scripted in some events for the dinos, like a group of stegosaurus move accross the map and an alloaurus attacks them. It's a bit boring seeing the dinosaurs standing around, maybe moving a little. You told me you we're gonig to add an intro cinematic too, that would be nice, to explain how you got there in the first place or something. Other than that, it's fun, but it's missing something.

Oh, and you should make a skin for the marine :)