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Post by creature386 on Mar 28, 2019 20:59:08 GMT 5
Since writing has become my latest obsession and unfortunately replaced paleontology a bit, why not combine the two? When I was small, I wrote the scripts for a Walking With Dinosaurs style documentary called „Life Before Man“. I had no idea how to write back then, so I’d like a second try.
Basically, I’m planning to write a story about prehistoric life and I have no ideas yet. It’s gonna involve a team of paleontologists traveling back in time, that’s sure. I can neither write through the eyes of a dinosaur nor in omniscient.
This story is not going to get published, it’s only for you guys.
So, I will give you guys free choice (it’s OK to answer only one of these questions).
-What prehistoric creatures would you like to see featured? If it are obscure ones, you can write suggestions on how you want to see them depicted. It is also OK to make up creatures, as long as they are scientifically plausible.
-What time period(s) would you like to see featured?
-Any plot ideas (preferably ones that allow for scenic side-trips)? It’s OK to have multiple ones.
-Any time travel mechanisms that allow for said plots (the more time periods you want, the more difficult it is to keep the mechanism from breaking the story)?
-Any OC ideas?
Unless the story is extremely short, I cannot promise to complete it this year (especially since I’m working on other ones). Some may stop caring by the time it’s finished.
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Post by dinosauria101 on Mar 28, 2019 21:00:26 GMT 5
T rex, Triceratops, Utahraptor, Carnotaurus, Daspletosaurus, Apatosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Velociraptor, Deinonychus, all the classics for me!
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Post by creature386 on Mar 28, 2019 21:04:57 GMT 5
That went quick, thanks!
I was a bit surprised not to see more obscure taxa, but I'll wait for what the others suggest.
I think Primeval would be a good role-model premise-wise (though I'm unfortunately not too familiar with the show).
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Post by dinosauria101 on Mar 29, 2019 1:38:22 GMT 5
I'll get to the obscure ones later on. Don't count them out!
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Post by DonaldCengXiongAzuma on Mar 29, 2019 4:53:59 GMT 5
I would like to see cave bears, stepped brown bears, nanqusaurus, amphicyons, giant shrt faced bears, smilodons, imperial and sonhua mammoths, and a world absent of polar bears. In the ocean lets include orcas, megalodons, bygrophyseters, basilosaurus, giant squids etc.
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Post by dinosauria101 on Mar 29, 2019 5:58:33 GMT 5
creature386, here are the more obscure examples.
I've got some mammals as well, based on threads I've made, and we could base events in the story off those respective threads, perhaps. (I could also provide links if needed, just ask)
Shaochilong
Kubanochoerus
Bistahieversor
Agriotherium
Pachycrocuta
Megaraptor
Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni
Austroraptor
Sivatherium
Concavenator
Eotriceratops
Tyrannotitan
Acrocanthosaurus
Majungasaurus
Tarbosaurus
Supersaurus
Euoplocephalus
Borson's mastodon
Paralititan
Alioramus
Dilophosaurus
Asian straight tusked elephant
Mamenchisaurus sinocanadorum
Gastonia
Oh, and I forgot to mention that I will NOT stop caring, by any means. That story seems to be on par with some of my favorite existing ones, and I don't think I;ll stop at anything to see it finished.
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Post by DonaldCengXiongAzuma on Mar 29, 2019 6:44:57 GMT 5
Please do not forget to add pterosaurs@flying raptiles and extinct birds such as the argentavis.
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Post by creature386 on Mar 29, 2019 20:05:31 GMT 5
Many thanks guys! Based on these suggestions, I can make statistics on which time periods fit the lists best. My main problem so far is figuring out the time travel mechanism. A closed time loop would basically predestinate all the events in the story which would be a bit unsatisfying while a multiverse time travel mechanism would get really confusing. I'm also not sure if I want the time travel to be of supernatural, extraterrestrial or more exotic (e.g. computer simulation reality) origin. It's not going to be anthropogenic (unless perhaps from future, post-singularity humans), that's sure. dinosauria101 I would definitely like to see these threads! |
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Post by dinosauria101 on Mar 29, 2019 20:45:22 GMT 5
creature386, here are those links (the 1st one does feature an animal which I forgot to mention) theworldofanimals.proboards.com/thread/1902/crocodylus-bugtiensis-tarbosaurus-bataartheworldofanimals.proboards.com/thread/1700/sivatherium-giganteum-concavenator-corcovatustheworldofanimals.proboards.com/thread/1870/borsons-mastodon-gorgosaurus-libratus-packtheworldofanimals.proboards.com/thread/1851/palaeoloxodon-namadicus-daspletosaurus-pack-8theworldofanimals.proboards.com/thread/1837/acrocanthosaurus-atokensis-tarbosaurus-bataartheworldofanimals.proboards.com/thread/1832/steppe-mammoth-eotriceratops-xerinsularistheworldofanimals.proboards.com/thread/1800/majungasaurus-crenatissimus-megaraptor-namunhuaiquiitheworldofanimals.proboards.com/thread/1687/giant-hyena-clan-megaraptor-namunhuaiquiitheworldofanimals.proboards.com/thread/1710/kubanochoerus-gigas-shaochilong-maortuensistheworldofanimals.proboards.com/thread/1755/crocodylus-thorbjarnarsoni-megaraptor-namunhuaiquiitheworldofanimals.proboards.com/thread/1785/agriotherium-africanum-bistahieversor-sealeyitheworldofanimals.proboards.com/thread/1697/agriotherium-africanum-gastonia-burgeitheworldofanimals.proboards.com/thread/1702/american-alligator-austroraptor-cabazaitheworldofanimals.proboards.com/thread/1733/palaeoloxodon-namadicus-mamenchisaurus-sinocanadorumtheworldofanimals.proboards.com/thread/1863/andrewsarchus-mongoliensis-euoplocephalus-tutustheworldofanimals.proboards.com/thread/1774/grizzly-bear-dilophosaurus-wetherillitheworldofanimals.proboards.com/thread/1757/southern-mammoth-supersaurus-vivianaetheworldofanimals.proboards.com/thread/1730/woolly-mammoth-tyrannotitan-chubutensisI also think we may be able to derive up to a whole chapter from at least 1 of the links, namely this one: theworldofanimals.proboards.com/thread/1700/sivatherium-giganteum-concavenator-corcovatusBoth Sivatherium and Concavenator are having several studies done on them to learn more, so I thought about something along these lines: The team travels back to Early Cretaceous Spain, sets a trap with drugged bait, and catches a Concavenator to learn about the purpose of the hump on its back. They then tie it up and take it to their time machine, traveling then to Pleistocene Africa to learn about the Sivatherium's taxonomy. They cannot find a Sivatherium, and at the end of the day they return to find an escaped Concavenator with no signs of it left. The next day, on the hunt, they hear bellows and growls through the bush and see the Concavenator they had captured getting into a fight with a Sivatherium. (I'm not quite sure what would happen next, but it could make for an interesting component) Anyhow, I'm sure we could do something similar with more of the links. EDIT: here is yet another idea. Maybe we could put a similar twist on this thread: theworldofanimals.proboards.com/thread/1691Since it's prehistoric, though, we could use the similar Ginsu shark |
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Post by theropod on Mar 29, 2019 20:51:38 GMT 5
As you might expect from me, how about Upper Triassic? I’d particularly like to see Lisowicia and, of course, Plateosaurus featured (the latter shockingly, as to my knowledge, having never been portrayed halfway accurately in any sort of docu-fiction ever).
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Post by creature386 on Mar 29, 2019 21:23:06 GMT 5
The Upper Triassic is one of my personal favorites, too, so this is definitely on the list. Batrachotomus was one of the animals I wanted to incorporate, though this is more Mid Triassic and can be easily replaced by Teratosaurus. The Upper Triassic is the first time period I'll definitely feature. Maybe the appearance of such either Lisowicia, Plateosaurus or Teratosaurus in the modern world through a "time quake" could serve as the "call to adventure" which shows that something is wrong. The more I think about it, maybe I could cut the whole time travel and humans thing and really make it just about animals. The advantages are that this would remove a lot of baggage. The disadvantages are that hypothetical interspecific conflict is not possible anymore, the number of animals featured would shrink drastically and I would need to master the arts of omniscient narration and xenofiction (it's worth a try though). As a first exercise, I could will rewrite a docufiction story I wrote 7 years ago: linkThe main character will be a subadult Plateosaurus (how about the one theropod described in his bachelor thesis XD?) who has to travel somewhere with its herd because of a drought or something. The villain will be either a Teratosaurus or a Liliensternus, depending on how big I want my main character to be. |
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Post by dinosauria101 on Mar 30, 2019 0:48:18 GMT 5
Hmmm......
Not quite sure on that one myself, but maybe we could wait and see what everybody else think before a plot change? Could be a good idea, though
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Post by creature386 on Mar 30, 2019 0:54:43 GMT 5
Well, I don't really have a plot yet, so I'm still in the phase where changes can be made.
The main advantage of the humans + time travel formula is that it allows for a greater variety of setting, creatures and interesting combinations. Plus, it would be easier to remind.
The main disadvantage is the baggage. Human characters are going to have their own personal problems and goals which will take up a lot of the story. Likewise, whoever is responsible for the time anomalies will also have something to say, too, and their interactions with the humans are likely to overshadow everything else. The most greatest roles prehistoric creatures could play would be as pets or as minor antagonists.
The main advantage of the "animals only" concept would be that it could convey a WWD feeling as I had planned in the original life before man.
The main disadvantage is that it puts greater limits on what I can show per story and most here seem to want variety.
I could of course try both.
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Post by dinosauria101 on Mar 30, 2019 0:58:47 GMT 5
Yeah, as I said, no idea which one I want. Both may work, or just one.
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Post by theropod on Mar 30, 2019 1:49:41 GMT 5
The main character will be a subadult Plateosaurus (how about the one theropod described in his bachelor thesis XD?) who has to travel somewhere with its herd because of a drought or something. The villain will be either a Teratosaurus or a Liliensternus, depending on how big I want my main character to be. Or both? You could take an adult as your main character, with a Teratosaurus as your antagonist, and have the same kind of rivalry play out with an immature Plateosaurus and Liliensternus (after all, now we know that juvenile Plateosauruses existed  ), or vice versa. Or, even more accurately, you pit Teratosaurus against Plateosaurus gracilis or Efraasia minor, then show it increasingly rare or absent a little later during the time of Plateosaurus engelhardti and Liliensternus. That way you could show the gradual decline of terrestrial pseudosuchians in favour of dinosaurs. And then cut to Poland, and show giant dicinodonts and possible pseudosuchians as sort of living fossils in their own day (or again the other way around, first show remnants of these old groups, then cut to places and formations where the fauna is more "modern"). |
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), or vice versa. Or, even more accurately, you pit Teratosaurus against Plateosaurus gracilis or Efraasia minor, then show it increasingly rare or absent a little later during the time of Plateosaurus engelhardti and Liliensternus. That way you could show the gradual decline of terrestrial pseudosuchians in favour of dinosaurs. And then cut to Poland, and show giant dicinodonts and possible pseudosuchians as sort of living fossils in their own day (or again the other way around, first show remnants of these old groups, then cut to places and formations where the fauna is more "modern").