DinoPark Tycoon
Encyclopedia
DinoPark Tycoon is an educational
business simulation computer game released by MECC
in 1993
. A school version of the game was released for use in elementary schools.
In the game, players run a theme park which features dinosaurs as its main attraction. The goal is of the game is to care for the dinosaurs while keeping the park clean, organized, and well maintained.
and published by MECC
(later SoftKey
). Two versions were released: a retail version and a special school version, which was released to public elementary schools across the United States
and Canada
. In addition to the retail software, the school version includes background information and classroom activities for teachers. It was not required by the schools' curricula, but was intended to be a fun way for the students to learn basic finance and management skills.
Players must first buy the land on which they will build their dinosaur park. There are three types of land which the player can choose from: Desert, Plains, and Marsh. Desert is the cheapest type of land at $500 for an acre, but the dinosaurs' discontent with the weather causes them to break out of their pens more often. Plains is the most expensive at $1,000 an acre. However, dinosaurs are more content to stay in their pens. Marsh land costs $750 an acre and is in-between in aptness for dinosaurs to escape.
Players then visit supply stores to buy the necessary items for park maintenance. The food store provides meat for carnivores, plants for herbivores and seeds for planting. The general store provides fences for the dinosaur pens, with varying degrees of strength and price; concessions such as bathrooms, gift shops and parking lots; and advertising, which is bought per season. The employment office offers the personnel to run the park, and Dino City retails the dinosaurs for the exhibits.
As time passes, players face problems such as escaping dinosaurs, sick employees, and seasonal attendance declines. According to Atari
, "Keeping the staff paid and the dinos fed and healthy is an ongoing task that requires kids to analyze graphs and numbers and make decisions based on their assumptions. The trick is to scratch out enough profit to expand the park with capital improvements and bigger and better dinosaurs." After paying off the loan, players may choose to sell their park; if it has been successful, the player achieves an onscreen award and an entry on the top scores list.
home video game console in early 1994. The version maintains the same game concept, although with minor changes to gameplay and graphics.
Educational game
Educational games are games that have been designed to teach people about a certain subject, expand concepts, reinforce development, understand an historical event or culture, or assist them in learning a skill as they play...
business simulation computer game released by MECC
MECC
The Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium , most commonly known as MECC, was an organization founded in 1973. The goal of the organization was to coordinate and provide computer services to schools in the state of Minnesota; however, its software eventually became popular in schools around...
in 1993
1993 in video gaming
-Events:*March — In Sweden, the Swedish video game magazine Super PLAY starts. The original name is Super Power.*Midway Games embroiled in controversy for its game Mortal Kombat from 1992 when the game is launched for video game consoles in 1993....
. A school version of the game was released for use in elementary schools.
In the game, players run a theme park which features dinosaurs as its main attraction. The goal is of the game is to care for the dinosaurs while keeping the park clean, organized, and well maintained.
Background
DinoPark Tycoon was developed by Manley & Associates Inc.Manley & Associates
Manley & Associates was a video game developer founded in 1982, which developed over 70 titles for video game publishers, including Electronic Arts, Activision, Disney, GameTek, MECC and Spectrum Holobyte. They were acquired by Electronic Arts in 1996, relocated to Bellevue, Washington, and renamed...
and published by MECC
MECC
The Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium , most commonly known as MECC, was an organization founded in 1973. The goal of the organization was to coordinate and provide computer services to schools in the state of Minnesota; however, its software eventually became popular in schools around...
(later SoftKey
SoftKey
SoftKey International was a publisher and distributor of CD-ROM based personal computer software for Windows and Macintosh computers during the 1990s. Their products typically consisted of software intended for home audiences, especially compilation discs containing various freeware or shareware...
). Two versions were released: a retail version and a special school version, which was released to public elementary schools across the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. In addition to the retail software, the school version includes background information and classroom activities for teachers. It was not required by the schools' curricula, but was intended to be a fun way for the students to learn basic finance and management skills.
Gameplay
The objective in DinoPark Tycoon is the successful administration of a dinosaur park. Players start off with a $5,000 loan in the retail version, or a $20,000 loan in the school version. The money is used to pay for the land, dinosaurs, fencing, food and employees necessary to run the park and pay back the loan; failure to meet loan payments results in the park's foreclosure. Once the loan is paid off, players may expand the park and earn profits. If players are confused, an animated dinosaur appears and guides the players through the game.Players must first buy the land on which they will build their dinosaur park. There are three types of land which the player can choose from: Desert, Plains, and Marsh. Desert is the cheapest type of land at $500 for an acre, but the dinosaurs' discontent with the weather causes them to break out of their pens more often. Plains is the most expensive at $1,000 an acre. However, dinosaurs are more content to stay in their pens. Marsh land costs $750 an acre and is in-between in aptness for dinosaurs to escape.
Players then visit supply stores to buy the necessary items for park maintenance. The food store provides meat for carnivores, plants for herbivores and seeds for planting. The general store provides fences for the dinosaur pens, with varying degrees of strength and price; concessions such as bathrooms, gift shops and parking lots; and advertising, which is bought per season. The employment office offers the personnel to run the park, and Dino City retails the dinosaurs for the exhibits.
As time passes, players face problems such as escaping dinosaurs, sick employees, and seasonal attendance declines. According to Atari
Atari
Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
, "Keeping the staff paid and the dinos fed and healthy is an ongoing task that requires kids to analyze graphs and numbers and make decisions based on their assumptions. The trick is to scratch out enough profit to expand the park with capital improvements and bigger and better dinosaurs." After paying off the loan, players may choose to sell their park; if it has been successful, the player achieves an onscreen award and an entry on the top scores list.
Dinosaurs appearing in the game
- AlbertosaurusAlbertosaurusAlbertosaurus is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in western North America during the Late Cretaceous Period, more than 70 million years ago. The type species, A. sarcophagus, was apparently restricted in range to the modern-day Canadian province of Alberta, after which...
- AllosaurusAllosaurusAllosaurus is a genus of large theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 150 million years ago during the late Jurassic period . The name Allosaurus means "different lizard". It is derived from the Greek /allos and /sauros...
- AnkylosaurusAnkylosaurusAnkylosaurus is a genus of ankylosaurid dinosaur, containing one species, A. magniventris...
- ApatosaurusApatosaurusApatosaurus , also known by the popular but scientifically deprecated synonym Brontosaurus, is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived from about 154 to 150 million years ago, during the Jurassic Period . It was one of the largest land animals that ever existed, with an average length of and a...
- Archeopteryx
- BaryonyxBaryonyxBaryonyx is a genus of carnivorous saurischian dinosaur first discovered in clay pits just south of Dorking, England, and later reported from fossils found in northern Spain and Portugal. It is known to contain only one species, Baryonyx walkeri...
- BrachiosaurusBrachiosaurusBrachiosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Jurassic Morrison Formation of North America. It was first described by Elmer S. Riggs in 1903 from fossils found in the Grand River Canyon of western Colorado, in the United States. Riggs named the dinosaur Brachiosaurus altithorax,...
- CarnotaurusCarnotaurusCarnotaurus was a large predatory dinosaur. Only one species, Carnotaurus sastrei has been described so far.Carnotaurus lived in Patagonia, Argentina during the Campanian or Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous...
- CeratosaurusCeratosaurusCeratosaurus meaning "horned lizard", in reference to the horn on its nose , was a large predatory theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Period , found in the Morrison Formation of North America, in Tanzania and Portugal...
- CoelophysisCoelophysisCoelophysis , meaning "hollow form" in reference to its hollow bones , is one of the earliest known genera of dinosaur...
- CorythosaurusCorythosaurusCorythosaurus is a genus of duck-billed dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous Period, about 77-76.5 million years ago. It lived in what is now North America...
- DeinonychusDeinonychusDeinonychus was a genus of carnivorous dromaeosaurid dinosaur. There is one described species, Deinonychus antirrhopus. This 3.4 meter long dinosaur lived during the early Cretaceous Period, about 115–108 million years ago . Fossils have been recovered from the U.S...
- DimetrodonDimetrodonDimetrodon was a predatory synapsid genus that flourished during the Permian period, living between 280–265 million years ago ....
- DiplodocusDiplodocusDiplodocus , or )is a genus of diplodocid sauropod dinosaur whose fossils were first discovered in 1877 by S. W. Williston. The generic name, coined by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1878, is a Neo-Latin term derived from Greek "double" and "beam", in reference to its double-beamed chevron bones...
- EdmontosaurusEdmontosaurusEdmontosaurus is a genus of crestless hadrosaurid dinosaur. It contains two species: Edmontosaurus regalis and Edmontosaurus annectens. Fossils of E. regalis have been found in rocks of western North America that date from the late Campanian stage of the Cretaceous Period 73 million years ago,...
- HadrosaurusHadrosaurusHadrosaurus is a valid genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur. In 1858, a skeleton of a dinosaur from this genus was the first dinosaur skeleton known from more than isolated teeth to be found in North America. In 1868, it became the first ever mounted dinosaur skeleton...
- HypsilophodonHypsilophodonHypsilophodon is an ornithopod dinosaur genus from the Early Cretaceous period of Europe. It was a small bipedal animal with an herbivorous or possibly omnivorous diet...
- IguanodonIguanodonIguanodon is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived roughly halfway between the first of the swift bipedal hypsilophodontids and the ornithopods' culmination in the duck-billed dinosaurs...
- KentrosaurusKentrosaurusKentrosaurus is a genus of stegosaurid dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of Tanzania. Its fossils have been found only in the Tendaguru Formation of Tanzania, dated to the Kimmeridgian stage, between about 155.7 ± 4 Ma and 150.8 ± 4 Ma . Apparently, all finds belong to one species, K...
- MaiasauraMaiasauraMaiasaura is a large duck-billed dinosaur genus that lived in the area currently covered by the state of Montana in the Upper Cretaceous Period , about 74 million years ago....
- MegalosaurusMegalosaurusMegalosaurus is a genus of large meat-eating theropod dinosaurs of the Middle Jurassic period of Europe...
- MosasaurusMosasaurusMosasaurus is a genus of mosasaur, carnivorous, aquatic lizards, somewhat resembling flippered crocodiles, with elongated heavy jaws. The genus existed during the Maastrichtian age of the Cretaceous period , around 70-65 millions years ago in the area of modern Western Europe and North America...
- OrnithomimusOrnithomimusOrnithomimus is a genus of ornithomimid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now North America.In 1890 Ornithomimus velox was named by Othniel Charles Marsh on the basis of a foot and partial hand from the Maastrichtian Denver Formation. Another seventeen species have been named since...
- PachycephalosaurusPachycephalosaurusPachycephalosaurus is a genus of pachycephalosaurid dinosaur. It lived during the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now North America. Remains have been excavated in Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming. It was an herbivorous or omnivorous creature which is only known from a single skull and a few...
- ParasaurolophusParasaurolophusParasaurolophus is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived in what is now North America during the Late Cretaceous Period, about 76.5–73 million years ago. It was an herbivore that walked both as a biped and a quadruped. Three species are recognized: P. walkeri , P. tubicen, and the...
- PanoplosaurusPanoplosaurusPanoplosaurus is a genus of nodosaurid dinosaur. It was one of the last known nodosaurids, living during the Late Cretaceous in what is now North America; fossils have been located in Alberta, Canada....
- PentaceratopsPentaceratopsPentaceratops is a genus of ceratopsid dinosaur from the late Cretaceous Period of what is now North America. The appearance of Pentaceratops sternbergii in the fossil record marks the end of the Judithian land vertebrate age and the start of the Kirtlandian...
- PlesiosaurusPlesiosaurusPlesiosaurus was a genus of large marine sauropterygian reptile that lived during the early part of the Jurassic Period, and is known by nearly complete skeletons from the Lias of England...
- PteranodonPteranodonPteranodon , from the Late Cretaceous geological period of North America in present day Kansas, Alabama, Nebraska, Wyoming, and South Dakota, was one of the largest pterosaur genera and had a maximum wingspan of over...
- QuetzalcoatlusQuetzalcoatlusQuetzalcoatlus was a pterodactyloid pterosaur known from the Late Cretaceous of North America , and one of the largest known flying animals of all time. It was a member of the Azhdarchidae, a family of advanced toothless pterosaurs with unusually long, stiffened necks...
- SaurolophusSaurolophusSaurolophus is a genus of large hadrosaurine duckbill that lived about 69.5-68.5 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous of North America and Asia; it is one of the few genera of dinosaurs known from multiple continents. It is distinguished by a spike-like crest which projects up and back...
- SpinosaurusSpinosaurusSpinosaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaur which lived in what is now North Africa, from the lower Albian to lower Cenomanian stages of the Cretaceous period, about 112 to 97 million years ago. This genus was first known from Egyptian remains discovered in 1912 and described by German...
- StegosaurusStegosaurusStegosaurus is a genus of armored stegosaurid dinosaur. They lived during the Late Jurassic period , some 155 to 150 million years ago in what is now western North America. In 2006, a specimen of Stegosaurus was announced from Portugal, showing that they were present in Europe as well...
- StyracosaurusStyracosaurusStyracosaurus was a genus of herbivorous ceratopsian dinosaur from the Cretaceous Period , about 76.5 to 75.0 million years ago...
- TriceratopsTriceratopsTriceratops is a genus of herbivorous ceratopsid dinosaur which lived during the late Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period, around 68 to 65 million years ago in what is now North America. It was one of the last dinosaur genera to appear before the great Cretaceous–Paleogene...
- TroodonTroodonTroodon is a genus of relatively small, bird-like dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period . Discovered in 1855, it was among the first dinosaurs found in North America...
- TyrannosaurusTyrannosaurusTyrannosaurus meaning "tyrant," and sauros meaning "lizard") is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex , commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other...
- Vegasaurus
- VelociraptorVelociraptorVelociraptor is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that existed approximately 75 to 71 million years ago during the later part of the Cretaceous Period. Two species are currently recognized, although others have been assigned in the past. The type species is V. mongoliensis; fossils...
Ports
DinoPark Tycoon was ported to the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer3DO Interactive Multiplayer
The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer is a video game console originally produced by Panasonic in 1993. Further renditions of the hardware were released in 1994 by Sanyo and Goldstar. The consoles were manufactured according to specifications created by The 3DO Company, and were originally designed by...
home video game console in early 1994. The version maintains the same game concept, although with minor changes to gameplay and graphics.