Video Games Need Better Dinosaurs. Paleontologists Can Help

One of the loudest voices in the chorus for pro-ammonite games was the marine event at GSA. The Hyatt Regency ballroom was the site of the long-awaited social event, "Friends of the Cephalopods." Academics, museum workers, and the octopus-curious walked under a vaulted ceiling. They had a good time drinking to cephalopods and laughing at vertebrates. There was an art and programming lead on Ancient Ocean, a game out of the University of Utah. The game was based on the lab's research into how ammonites lived and competed for resources

In different eras, players will take on different shell permutations as they try to survive. Ancient Ocean will be enjoyable to everyone. That doesn't mean players won't learn.

In the public education system, I didn't know much about the Cold War, but I learned a lot from Metal Gear Solid3. I was able to learn about it because it was relevant to me as a player. The optional parts of the game can include bonus information. The authors of the Geoscience Communications paper talked about ways to help the paleo-curious without making anyone learn. In order to encourage people to look at the information provided by the game, I'm trying to shove it down their throats. That is a difficult balance. I'm hoping I hit it.

An augmented-reality version of Ancient Oceans, using Unreal Engine 4 on museum iPads, will be released in the spring of 2023. As new discoveries are made in the lab and in the field, the project will be updated annually. New strategies to win will be reflected in new strategies if a shell shape or species is found to have new benefits.

Paleontology studies the world's oldest organisms, the bedrock of biology and ecology, but that doesn't mean technology is stuck in the past. There are posters at GSA that focus on virtual field trips, fossil software, community-building podcasts, and Minecraft. Billions of years of history can be toyed with by playing video games. The history can be played with in many different ways.

Neil Kelley appreciated Pokémon's animal diversity more than his pro- Blathers peers on the rooftop. There's a lot of obscure groups that never get any kind of popular media representation in the game. The kid caught Eevee in the game. Exposure to biodiversity is good. Kelley said that they noticed the live monster-catching going on below them. Kelley said that Eevee was a great example of adaptive evolution. I accidentally learned about paleontology after asking what adaptive evolution was.