Jurassic Park: Trespasser

Jurassic Park: Trespasser (also known as Trespasser) is a computer game, which was released in 1998 for Microsoft Windows after much hype and anticipation. The player assumes the role of Anne, the sole survivor of a plane crash on InGen's "Site B" one year after the events of. With a fractured arm and only her wits, Anne must escape the remote island by evading hordes of hungry and vicious dinosaurs, or face the gruesome alternative.

Story
The game opens with John Hammond reading an excerpt from his memoirs. Hammond is a rich industrialist who used his wealth to assemble a scientific team which cloned dinosaurs. Intent on creating an amusement park showcasing his biological attractions, Hammond's park ultimately fails when the dinosaurs escape. While Jurassic Park was built on Isla Nublar, off the coast of Costa Rica, the animals were raised at an alternate location, named "Site B". Trespasser takes place a year after the events of The Lost World: Jurassic Park, where the general public has learned about the existence of Jurassic Park. A sightseer named Anne is in an airplane in the Pacific when a malfunction occurs and the plane crashes.

Anne awakens on the shores of an island, and proceeds to explore. Anne learns she is on Site B, InGen's dinosaur breeding facility. Pursued by dinosaurs, Anne makes use of weapons left behind to defend herself as she explores. Following a monorail track into the island interior Anne encounters Albertosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Stegosaurus, Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus, and Velociraptor. After recovering security cards from an InGen town, Anne proceeds past a dam, through the InGen harbor and laboratories. From there, she ascends Mt. Watson, the largest mountain on Site B. At the summit, Anne is able to call for help. She battles an Utahraptor/alpha Velociraptor and is rescued by helicopter. Later on, she's in her apartment. Jill calls again, saying she "better have a good damn reason for not calling." Anne responds by throwing a raptor claw on her desk.

Retail levels

 * The Beach
 * Jungle Road
 * Jungle Canyon
 * The Town
 * The Lab
 * The Ascent (Part I)
 * The Ascent (Part II)
 * The Summit

Humans

 * Anne
 * John Hammond
 * Henry Wu (mentioned and name only)
 * Robert Muldoon (mentioned and name only)
 * Dennis Nedry (mentioned and name only)
 * LaFontaine (name only)
 * Harold Greenwood (bones only)

Dinosaurs

 * Brachiosaurus
 * Velociraptor
 * Triceratops
 * Stegosaurus
 * Tyrannosaurus
 * Albertosaurus
 * Parasaurolophus

Creation
The game was initiated by two former employees of Looking Glass Technologies, Seamus Blackley and Austin Grossman. With the film The Lost World: Jurassic Park expected to be a success and after securing the movie license, the pair approached several movie animation groups before signing with DreamWorks Interactive. Adobe Photoshop 5 and 3D Studio Max were used to produce the game. A 3D model of the island was also built and digitally scanned. The game had a development period of more than three years. Money was the biggest hurdle in the development of Trespasser. The game severely went over-budget several times throughout its development. Second only to money was time, as the game had to be ready to meet the release of the The Lost World: Jurassic Park film. Originally the game was to be released in the fall of 1997. However due to a number of problems the project was delayed by a year. The rush to release the game caused many features to be either cut, or left unfinished and unpolished.

Due to difficulties coding the behavior of both arms together developers had to ditch the left arm entirely. A late shift in development effectively changed the game from survival horror to action shooter, and contributed to the many complaints the game received. Lack of experienced management and the use of artists who were unfamiliar with basic game development processes and 3D modeling has also been identified as a cause of problems. Developers struggled for more than two years on some problems and in the end released a game that is set within a very large, attractive, open, outdoor environment.

Game Engine
The Trespasser engine was, and in many ways still is, unique. In 1998, it was one of the first engines to successfully portray outdoor environments full of hundreds of trees. Unfortunately, not many computers in 1998 could render the complex environments it generated. The result was the worst clipping one reviewer had ever seen with another finding the game experienced a slowdown and frame rate drops. In addition, the Trespasser engine featured the first game world to be completely influenced by classical mechanics and was also the first game to use ragdoll physics.

Reaction
Trespasser was a commercial failure with only 50,000 copies sold. Reviews of the game were mostly negative, however some reviewers felt the game had a few positive elements. A few reviewers were impressed by the title's originality and scale. Many of the review disliked the poor graphics performance on even the fastest, graphically accelerated PCs available upon the game's release. Despite the anticipation over the many "first attempts at" within the game's original development scope, the reality did not match the hype.

Current Status
Despite its shortcomings, the game continues to have a devoted fanbase, many of which have created tools and level editors to enhance the game beyond the original retail release. A number of projects have also been proposed to remake the game using newer and more capable game engines. Several advances have been made using the old engine. Notable examples include TresCom's TresCom Isle, the first stand-alone mod which features new never-before-seen dinosaurs such as the Procompsognathus, new puzzles, new effects, and true non-linear gameplay. Fans have gotten involved into making their own new levels using TresEd, fan-made software that allows the user to edit Trespasser.

Links

 * Trespasser on Wikipedia
 * TresCom