Dinosaur Discovery (1985) - BBC Micro - 4mation

Dinosaur Discovery (1985) - BBC Micro - 4mation - Let's Play

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5 жыл бұрын

Dinosaur Discovery is an educational adventure game in which the player must navigate a map, collect clues and solve simple word puzzles on their journey to hatch a dinosaur egg.
This was played across the UK (at least I think it was - it certainly was in Surrey) in primary schools in the mid to late 1980s. I remember playing it when I would have been around 7 or 8 years old.
Sadly I was unable to complete it on this playthrough as you need to have the physical diary that comes with the game as it has the tide times in there which you have to look up and use for the sailing bit near the end (to get to the Stegosaurus Island). I may try a stream soon with save states to see if I can cheat my way to the end, just so we can see the game finished. If I do this (I can almost guarantee that I will!), I will post it on here.
Loved this as a kid - with this being the mid 80s in the UK, this would have been many children's first interaction with a computer (I'm not sure if it was mine, as we had a ZX Spectrum 48k around this time). It has lots of puzzles to solve, and useful ways to get the children used to using a computer - something that kids these days certainly don't need as they will be using computers all the time! Simpler times!
Make sure you let me know in the comments if you remember playing this game, or if you also played the more famous Granny's Garden which was by the same developer.
This was emulated on a Windows 10 machine using the BeebEm emulator. I do now have the original disks and hope to complete the game soon now I have the tide charts!
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Пікірлер: 32

@platinumare 11 ай бұрын

I remember this at school. Having to wait in a que behind other kids to have a turn. Loved it so much. There was another game where you had to guess a word to make a space shuttle take off, but I just cannot remember it's name and I've been trying to find it with google for years now. Thank you for posting, excellent trip down memory lane!

@francineoneill8087 Жыл бұрын

What a trip down memory lane!! First computer game we ever had at school. Thank you!

@billydeelive 4 ай бұрын

played in 1993 in Western Australia, in year 2. One of the first games I ever remember being hard to finish! Nice find.

@smerriman 3 жыл бұрын

I played this in the early 90s in NZ. Just watched an episode of Lost In Space of Netflix which had a piece of paper with lots of arrows drawn in it, and had an instant flashback to the final scene with the boat - took me some effort to track down the actual game! The manual with tides is online ( www.apple.asimov.net/documentation/applications/misc/Dinosaur%20Discovery%20%28Jacaranda%20Wiley%29.pdf ). Thanks for letting me relive the memories, I loved this game!

@LemmyBarnett 3 жыл бұрын

Awesome, I've had a few comments from NZ and Aus, so it seems that it was used in your schools as well as over here in the UK. Funny how small things can give you nostalgia flashbacks to things way in the past! I can remember the BBC machine that this was played on in my First School quite vividly. Thanks for the link to the manual - I actually bought the physical game on eBay several months ago, and it is in incredible condition. I just need to get round to playing the game again, so I can finish it this time. I can't really remember what actually happens when you get to the island, I think it's some sort of incubator puzzle...

@thatsallfolks3222 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for posting the link for the manual.

@benjones6030 5 жыл бұрын

Yes! I played this in about 1986 at school! Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

@welbot Жыл бұрын

Same here! Not sure of the yr we played, but was around 85 or 86

@fruju2003 4 жыл бұрын

I played this game back in the 1980's in New Zealand. The Explorer's Journal has the High Tide Charts. The clue is in the Museum - the calendar tells you which is the right date for the tides and the Sea Charts book tells at what time before High Tide you should leave. Of the items in the shed, if you take the rope first and visit the old Hermit, he will give you the keys to the chest if you exchange the rope.

@borobri1980 3 жыл бұрын

I remember this and Granny’s Garden from Primary School in the 80’s......Brilliant

@christophermartin9893 4 жыл бұрын

Woah I loved that game as a kid. I played the BBC Acorn version in primary school too in Australia (as well as Raftaway River, Flowers of Crystal and Granny's Garden)... from memory I managed to get different endings including a dinosaur, a bird and a dud egg. You should do a let's play of those too.

@LemmyBarnett 4 жыл бұрын

Ah, that rings a bell actually - must be if you get the wrong colour egg in the cave or something like that. I have the manual now so I can get past the tide, so I must get round to completing the game soon. Sounds like these games were mainly in UK, New Zealand and Australian schools looking at the comments here. Great memories!

@novaliam7088 4 жыл бұрын

hehe cool, was on some Aus school machines too. Not having that tide / time charts nuked our runs every time. : s

@SittingDuc 2 ай бұрын

I have recollections of playing this at primary school in New Zealand. 1988?

@LemmyBarnett 2 ай бұрын

Yeah, seems UK and NZ schoolkids were all over this and Grannie's Garden in the mid-late 80s!

@SittingDuc 2 ай бұрын

Trying to find an equally old beeb educational game, and my only clue is "which came first, the dragon or the egg?". And a puzzle involving dragon's teeth..

@SittingDuc 2 ай бұрын

"Dragon World", also from 4mation.. off down the rabbit hole I go!

@ej3382 3 жыл бұрын

Woooow, my favourite game at primary school

@LemmyBarnett 3 жыл бұрын

Me too!

@starlord6152 4 жыл бұрын

The player/s are tasked with finding the ways and means of hatching a dinosaur's egg. The game is designed so that children should eventually be able to solve it through their own experimentation and the manual advises that teachers not to provide specific help as it would hamper the experiential learning. The player's only resources are a print-out of the diary left by the scientist who made the original discovery, an information log for the player to write notes in and some blank map grids. Without the diary, the game is practically impossible to beat as it contains what is effectively a lookup table that the player will need to reference in order to complete certain tasks. As this was designed to be used in a classroom, included with the game was a teacher's manual which would list the educational aims for each screen of the game as well as extension activities that could be used to reinforce concepts in the game such as 'having children construct and exchange crossword', 'make a three-dimensional model of the mine as an art or craft activity' and 'students develop a flowchart/algorithm to solve any maze'. Also included were master copies of the blank maps, certificates and a screen print master.

@LemmyBarnett 4 жыл бұрын

Yes, I bought a physical copy off eBay after I'd played this. It's got loads of stuff with it, and is in amazing condition.

@mikebrown5385 2 жыл бұрын

Hey Lemmy or anyone else. Can someone please post the tide times in the comment section? I'm not clever enough to understand source code where the tides are. Thanks 🙏❤️