TerraTopia
Encyclopedia
TerraTopia was a series of children's books produced by The Nature Company
in the early 1990s and eventually spun off into other products, most notably an adventure game
for computers.
s, with comic-book-style panels and word balloons.
fame and his son, Greg Olotka. In the spirit of the books, the game was cooperative rather than competitive, with all players attempting to overcome various challenges using their Terratrooper abilities and ultimately recover their stones.
TerraTopia television show was announced in 1995, planned for release in 1996 as a 52-episode series. Planned to coincide with the television show was a Minolta
TerraTopia camera, which would have been Minolta's first camera marketed primarily to kids and would have featured the character Sketch to get children interested in nature photography.
In 1998, The Discovery Channel
purchased The Nature Company and converted all remaining Nature Company stores to the Discovery Channel brand. As of 2006, there have been no attempts to revive TerraTopia as a Discovery Channel property.
The Nature Company
The Nature Company was a Berkeley, California based chain of retail stores that sold scientific toys, telescopes, artwork and music CDs.The Nature Company was founded in 1972 by Priscilla and Tom Wrubel. Starting from its flagship store on Berkeley's 4th Street, it expanded throughout the United...
in the early 1990s and eventually spun off into other products, most notably an adventure game
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
for computers.
TerraTopia books
Several TerraTopia books were released in the early 1990's, as well as a collection of the four stories together as one hardcover volume that was recognized by Parents' Choice Awards. The books took the format of short graphic novelGraphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
s, with comic-book-style panels and word balloons.
- The Secret of the Dragonfly and The Daring Dino Rescue ISBN 1-883871-00-X
- The Adventure of The Wandering Wolves in Vulcan's Vent ISBN
- Sketch's Sketch Book ISBN 1-883871-03-4
- Terratopia, The Graphic Adventure: The First Four Tales (harcover compilation) ISBN 1-883871-02-6
TerraTopia computer game
TerraTopia, a computer game designed for boys and girls age 8 and up, was published by Virgin Sound and Vision in 1995 as a part of its Virgin Adventure Series. It was quite often a standard issue game on most computers that came equipped with Windows 95 in the mid to late 1990's.Other TerraTopia products
In 1993 TerraTopia was made into a board game, designed by Peter Olotka of Cosmic EncounterCosmic Encounter
Cosmic Encounter is a science fiction-themed strategy board game, designed by "Future Pastimes" and originally published by Eon Games in 1977...
fame and his son, Greg Olotka. In the spirit of the books, the game was cooperative rather than competitive, with all players attempting to overcome various challenges using their Terratrooper abilities and ultimately recover their stones.
Cancelled and unreleased
A Canal+Canal+
Canal+ is a French premium pay television channel launched in 1984. It is 80% owned by the Canal+ Group, which in turn is owned by Vivendi SA. The channel broadcasts several kinds of programming, mostly encrypted...
TerraTopia television show was announced in 1995, planned for release in 1996 as a 52-episode series. Planned to coincide with the television show was a Minolta
Minolta
Minolta Co., Ltd. was a Japanese worldwide manufacturer of cameras, camera accessories, photocopiers, fax machines, and laser printers. Minolta was founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1928 as . It is perhaps best known for making the first integrated autofocus 35mm SLR camera system...
TerraTopia camera, which would have been Minolta's first camera marketed primarily to kids and would have featured the character Sketch to get children interested in nature photography.
In 1998, The Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
purchased The Nature Company and converted all remaining Nature Company stores to the Discovery Channel brand. As of 2006, there have been no attempts to revive TerraTopia as a Discovery Channel property.