Saurian

[Arcturus221B]

Saurian
"Saurian is an open world survival video game being developed for PC and Mac. Our goal is providing the most captivating and scientifically accurate prehistoric experience yet developed: living the life of a dinosaur. Players will take control of several extinct species in their natural environment and attempt to survive from hatchling to adult. Staying alive means managing physical needs while avoiding predators and natural hazards in an open world landscape reflecting up-to-date scientific knowledge of the Hel Creek ecosystem of 66 million years ago." - Saurian kickstarter page

This game is currently in the make and shows a lot of promise. Their initial kickstarter goal ($55,000) was reached in under 2 days and they just reached their last initial stretch goal (have two more right now). The game allows the player to take control of 6 species of dinosaur: Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops, Pachycephalosaurus, Dakotaraptor and two more animals chosen by backers.

Current estimate for the game's early access release is the end of this year or early next year. In this early access game you'll be able to play as a Dakotaraptor from hatchling to adult. The other playable dinosaurs will get released further down the road. It'll get released on Steam.

The game is absolutley gorgeous and their attention to detail is stunning. Personally I'm really hyped for this game and can't wait till I can finally play a game that's been like a life long dream of mine (aside from a game like WQ). They have about 24 hours left for their kickstarter so if you want to back them you have to hurry.

Kickstarter + game trailer: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/13 ... experience
Official site: http://saurian.maxmediacorp.com/
Twitch account (for livestreams) : https://www.twitch.tv/sauriangame

[SolitaryHowl]

I threw some money at it during the first couple of days of its Kickstarter. It looks to be an amazing little gem, that will fit along nicely with my copy of Mesozoica (when they are both completed, of course!)

[Sambhur]

I'm so excited for Saurian. I really wanted to give them some money during the kickstarter but I couldn't afford it at the time. :/ I follow a lot of paleontology blogs on tumblr which have gotten me super excited for Saurian's accuracy and all that good stuff! I'd be happy to play as literally any dino in that game.

[paperpaws]

Whoa. I'd never heard of this before, but this looks really exciting. Thank you for posting this; I'll definitely keep an eye on this game.

[Arcturus221B]

Bit late with this but eh, better late than never I guess? :p

Profiles of the first 4 playables

Dakotaraptor
Dakotaraptor is a nightmare to many herbivores of Hell Creek. A sturdy ambush predator, it is capable of intense bursts of speed but unable to sustain them for long. This gives it the perfect set of skills to burst from the foliage and mow down unsuspecting prey. Much like komodo dragons, Dakotaraptor will form loose associations with each other to bring down large herbivores or feed on carcasses. Feeding works on a hierarchy, with the larger raptors feeding first and the smaller animals lower in the pecking order. Dakotaraptor often fight, kill and even eat one another during feeding. Vulnerable to adults, as well as other predators, immature Dakotaraptor are light and agile, able to climb trees to escape danger or ambush small prey lurking below. Young juveniles even posses some limited flight capacity.

Pachycephalosaurus
Although hardy and belligerent, Pachycephalosaurus is generally a vulnerable prey animal in the Hell Creek environment. Because of this it prefers to live in densely forested areas to avoid large adult T. rex. Not without weaponry of its own, Pachycephalosaurus will fight back against Dakotaraptor or young T. rex if provoked. It is capable of breaking bones with its famous domed head. A multifunctional tool, this dome is also used in territorial battles and to deflect foliage when running through the forest. Pachycephalosaurus adults mate for life and both parents raise their young together for several months. Male Pachycephalosaurus, distinguished by their bright red heads, are fiercely territorial and will engage in head and flank butting contests. Herbivorous animals, they feed selectively on low growing vegetation as well as fungi and occasionally insects.

Triceratops
Triceratops are the bane of Hell Creek’s predators. Even a match for the great T. rex, these animals are massive, bare formidable weaponry and are extremely aggressive. Adult Triceratops are able to chase off most potential threats. Female Triceratops live in loosely associated groups, sharing resources and providing mutual protection. Males however, will not tolerate other males, and aggressively defend breeding rights to the local female population. Females will guard their nests and young, and immature animals will associate with adults as a shield from predators. Males and females can be distinguished by differentiation in frill pattern, with males showing the more elaborate display. Both sexes will utilize their horns in intraspecific competition over resources, territory, or social hierarchy. Triceratops can feed on a wide range of small to medium height vegetation, seeking out forest edges for the best fodder.

Tyrannosaurus
Tyrannosaurus is the apex predator of the Hell Creek environment. In order to sustain their requirements for food, adults occupy large territories which they defend diligently. If two adults meet outside of breeding season, the results are usually violence, face biting is especially common. During breeding season, males and females locate one another and perform courtship displays by emitting low frequency sounds. Although nothing is off the menu for an adult T. rex, they favor slower moving hadrosaurs and ceratopsians as food, targeting young or weak individuals, as most smaller prey items are generally too fast and nimble. Pairs dissociate after breeding and it is the male that watches the eggs and young. T. rex actually show strong parental care, watching over their broods for years until they reach a moderate size. At this point the father will finally depart but the juveniles will stay together as a sibling pack, even bringing down prey together, until they reach adult size. Unlike the adults, immature T. rex are extraordinarily fast and use this advantage to chase down prey such as th Hell Creek Ornithomimid and Anzu. This means they do not compete directly with the adults for food.

[SilkenGalaxy]

Saurian had an exclusive pre-release demo for it's $60+ backers on kickstarter on June 8! I believe they plan on releasing an early access sometime near early July from what I've read on their site....

Either way I'm excited!

[noir_187]

Saurian is basically the game always dreamed of, ever since i was a kid. You get to play dinosaurs living their lives in nature, and it's scientifically accurate! i haven't actually seen any other games with dinosaurs that are anything like that, so learning about Saurian was a very pleasant surprise and I've been sold on it ever since

I'm really excited for the early release :)

[Rifka]

I'm super hyped for this game, it basically looks like WolfQuest but with dinosuars. I remember hearing about this game in 2014 or so and it's nice to come back and see that we'll have something by next year.

[Riceboy]

<sup>I've loved watching the development of this game... As well as the fact they basically told people who were begging for a "featherless 'classic' rex" to shoo.

Also Gerry is the best dinosaur staff member.</sup>

[Latra]

Ooh I'm so excited for this game! I found it during the kickstarter but didn't have any money to give them. I've had their website open in a separate tab for about a month now. I'm just so happy to see these fluffy dinos being developed and I get so excited every time they update their blog. I've been planning to preorder it, just gotta convince myself to stop hoarding money and actually spend it on something other than fish.

[paperpaws]

Apparently, the Steam page should be up soon. This was posted on their Discord (and perhaps other places):

Dear Saurian fans,

The game was submitted to Steam on Wednesday and is currently under review. It is entirely in Steam’s hands as to when the game is approved. This means the Steam page may not appear until a day or two after the 31st. We will be able to put the game up for all our Kickstarter backers who have the pre-release, but for the rest of you there may be a short additional wait, this is out of our control.
We have our Steam trailer to hopefully help tied you over until then in the event that this happens.

Regards,

Urvogel Games

So, that should be pretty exciting. The trailer referenced to in that post can be found here:

It looks exciting, and I'll be looking forward to adding it on my wishlist on Steam. Will any of you be able to play the early access? If so, I'm curious to hear about your experiences.
--
Steam page is up!

[SilkenGalaxy]

The Saurian EA has been out for a few days now! I'm unable to get the early access, but I've been watching videos of other players experiencing it and it seems pretty good minus the occasional glitch here and there, but that's to be expected from an early access game.

[SolitaryHowl]

I've been playing it (I'm a kickstarter backer). Its good, but it gets boring quickly. That's the problem with early access games - they typically have balancing problems until they are finished.

I look forward to future updates.

[Ecliptic]

I have heard of this game. DinosaurQuest seems like a more fitting name, haha.

It's too bad I couldn't pay for the alpha version, because it looks really cool. There's no way that's gonna run on my current PC, though...

[psy]

This seems really cool! I'm a little wary about early access games, but I'm looking forward to any updates they'll be putting out.