In the modern world, the word myth is seen no differently than lie or less harshly, a misconception, although this idea doesn’t stem too far from the original meaning of a narrative, or a tale used to explain a foundation or a part of a culture. Of course, most of the time when the word ‘myth’ is used in the gaming community, it isn’t tackling subjects like the Roman foundation myths or even the romanticized stories of the pilgrims and pioneers in the United States rather false playground rumors about werewolves in Rockstar’s underrated gem Bully (2006) or the cut animals throughout the Zoo Tycoon franchise. And this is where I will be focusing on with a specific animal; the Edmontosaurus supposedly cut from Zoo Tycoon 2: Extinct Animals.
And before going into the essay, the Edmontosaurus was never planned nor created at any point in the development of Extinct Animals. I specify this as knowing this fact will make understanding the community’s view on the animal much more understandable and interesting. It is important to examine the brief history of cut animals, the origins of the myth, and why it stuck around for a few years.
Cut Animals and The Myth of Edmontosaurus
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| Fig. 1: Edmontosaurus from the original custom XP Zoo Tycoon 2: Cretaecous Calamity. |
Edmontosaurus isn’t the first rumored animal in the history of Zoo Tycoon nor the only supposedly cut Extinct Animals animal. Rumored animals are a staple in the franchise, whether it has been the numerous fake cheat codes for dragons and dodos to simply people mistaking modded animals like Artifex’s Arabian Nights or forenamed dragons, particularly made by the user Ghirin, as genuine Zoo Tycoon material rather than fan-made content. Yet, the Edmontosaurus and their occasional companions; Microraptor, Megaloceros, colloquially the Irish Elk, and sometimes a sauropod like Argentinosaurus, have a slightly more believable tale to them compared to the other rumored animals as they were cut. This detail implies that their material; textures, behavior files, models, etc., were found within the game files which is far more credible than naming a hippo Sumo would make the animal fat. Additionally, cut animals had been found within the Zoo Tycoon 2 files for a domestic sheep; an animal originally planned but they were cut for unknown reasons. But what makes these rumors so fascinating is the seemingly mysterious yet detailed information for the Edmontosaurus.
According the original myth, someone found the files for the Edmontosaurus one day. Upon looking at these files, they noted that the Edmontosaurus was going to be in the original release of Extinct Animals as a Tropical Rainforest animal – the biome of Tyrannosaurus. This choice made by Blue Fang allegedly is important as it was seen as the explanation for why the Tyrant Ruler of the Dinosaurs didn’t live with their iconic rival, the horrible three horned Triceratops, a Boreal Forest animal, or why Blue Fang didn’t fix this mistake that they made in the Dino Danger Pack upon the release of Extinct Animals. Yet the Edmontosaurus was scrapped for unknown reasons. The other companions are often brought up as potential other scrapped animals, but sadly lack a wonderful story, let alone a biome. People usually dismisses them for the Edmontosaurus due to them lacking the ‘real’ details.
The Edmontosaurus rumor is empty yet revealing all at the same time. As mentioned before, there is no evidence of the Edmonotosaurus. Nothing: no model, texture, behavior file, or anything that would indicate the animal physically existed within the game. Even concept art is lacking as most made for Extinct Animals had been released through the fansite file provided by Blue Fang themselves on the Zoo Tycoon website. It is safe to assume that everything else about Edmontosaurus is simply an invention, yet this myth had to come from somewhere if it is still being referenced to this day.
Where Did the Myth Come From?
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| Fig. 2: Stokesosaurus wearing glasses, there isn't really that many pictures for this article so why not have fun? |
Nowadays, the surviving Zoo Tycoon community accepts that Edmontosaurus was a simple rumor yet with an anachronistic claim. The modern claim believes that it was someone misidentifying an animal in the trailer as Edmontosaurus and it spread out from there. This explanation itself isn’t harmful or out of the blue reason; misidentified animals have occurred in the Zoo Tycoon franchise from fans to even the Blue Fang devs, yet I stated a different story. Of course, this variant of the story still holds similar roots yet instead of an unknown modder, it is a completely ghost. The story I told came from the oldest surviving mentions of Edmontosaurus rumor; the Round Table.
On the Round Table forum, there were elements of the Edmontosaurus myth like the rainforest biome and it being the reason for why Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops didn’t coexist there. It is easy to conclude that this was the origins of the myth yet these were simply the believers talking. Upon digging through decade old conversations, there was one lead that could possibly taken me to the birthplace of the rumor; the user mentioned about the Zoo Tycoon Wiki. But the Zoo Tycoon Wiki wasn’t the original source either. Digging through the edit history showed no explanation; it often stated that Edmontosaurus was a cut animal and nothing more. But related to the Fandom Wikis, I knew one other place that would fit the description perfectly: Wikipedia.
Like the other expansion packs, Zoo Tycoon 2: Extinct Animals used to have an article about the game and content itself. In 2020, Extinct Animals and all other packs were removed as they folded into the sole Zoo Tycoon 2 article. Despite this, users can still find the edit history and discussions about Extinct Animals. On January 5th, 2010, exactly nine days before the first appearance on the Zoo Tycoon Wiki. The founding words were written by an anonymous writer:
viewing of the games files show that Blue Fang originally planned for an Edmontosaurus and possibly a Megaloceros.
And this would been edited within the hours to the foundation myth itself:
viewing of the games files show that Blue Fang originally planned for an Edmontosaurus and possibly a Megaloceros. The Edmontosaurus might possibly explain why Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops are in completely different biomes, this would make the inference that Edmontosaurus was going to be a Tropical Rainforest animal before it was removed from the game.
Interestingly, the claim would been removed at some point and being absent for a few months. In the discussions on on the 27th of October 2010, a user would edit back the Edmonotosaurus claim and stated that one could simply look into the game files to find itself. And there was another claim stating a similar thing as a modder founded the files when they were working on their realistic Triceratops mod. Essentially, the Edmontosaurus cut content was kept around on the Wikipedia for some time due to a “source: trust me” claim. The Edmontosaurus and the other animals of Extinct Animals would be cut away as one of the Wikipedia authors felt the article was too much like a video game guide in 2012. Despite the rather vague claim, other people willingly started to believe in this rumor.
Why Did Edmontosaurus Walk?
Fig. 3: The Tyrannosaurus of Zoo Tycoon 2: Dino Danger Pack. A strange dinosaur wasn't it?
What makes this rumor fascinating is the afterlife that came after it’s somewhat short existence on the Zoo Tycoon Wiki and Wikipedia. There are far more mentions of the cut Edmontosaurus years down the line than during the lifespan of Zoo Tycoon 2, especially during its supposed original time. It’s still referenced in the community to this day. Of course, there are hidden content in games that have been discovered years and years down the line after the original release. Halo 3 had an Easter Egg of a simple happy birthday to Lauren, one of the developers’ wives, that was found 7 years after its release. But once again, there were no files for Edmontosaurus found in Zoo Tycoon 2: Extinct Animals. And this is where it’s best to see this rumor less of a whisper and more of an actual myth.
Myths often have a reason to exist and to continue to do so. Creation myths tell the origins of the universe and foundation myths often showcase the strengths valued by a people. Romans were proud of being city builders; in fact, they maintained the proclaimed hut of Romelus, the founder of the city of Rome, for hundreds and hundreds of years even when everything around the simple building changed alongside it was most likely not even Romelus’s own house or Romelus didn’t even exist in the first place. Just like Romelus, the Edmontosaurus rumor is a myth itself; a comforting myth about the disillusion of Blue Fang’s creative decisions.
Extinct Animals did not have a good reputation amongst the Zoo Tycoon fans in the animals picked for the pack. To some fans, many of the animals felt like they were just reskins of existing animals from previous pack. Metridiochoerus and Titanotylopus were just giant warthogs and camels, they were called that too. Even some of the more unique animals like Dimetrodon and Protarchaeopteryx shared traits with the Komodo dragon and secretary bird. The largest source of disappointment came from the lack of dinosaur diversity. It didn’t help that many of the dinosaurs didn’t even live in actual biomes or looked accurate, even in the contemporary 2000s. And looking at the previous claims of Argentinosaurus and Microraptor, the lack of well-known dinosaurs. It could easily be seen as a sacrifice for easier and lazier animal designs.
And that’s why I think the myth continued for some time. Modders and fans alike chose to believe in this myth despite knowing better. And reading the original text, you can easily see this disappointment. Blue Fang should have fixed the biomes for Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops, but they didn’t. Blue Fang should have added more well-known species into Extinct Animals, they didn’t. Blue Fang should have added more dinosaurs in the expansion pack, they didn’t. Sometimes, the lies that we tell ourselves are better than the truth.
Conclusion
The Edmontosaurus rumor is a myth; both in the modern idea of it’s a made-up story and the actual term of a story commonly held and believed in. By examining the origins of Edmontosaurus, the rumor went from a simple misunderstanding to a myth held by fans and modders alike being upset with the content they received and yearned for better material to been released even when they had the skills to outdo Blue Fang. Resulting in the disappointment of Extinct Animals, several members of the Zoo Tycoon community found it easier to believe that well-known dinosaurs like Edmontosaurus were cut out in favor of lesser known and ‘cheaper’ animals like the giant camel.
Online Sources:
Zoo Tycoon Official Forums (archived on the WayBack Machine)
Zoo Tycoon 2: Extinct Animals article on the Zoo Tycoon Wiki
Zoo Tycoon 2: Extinct Animals article edit history on Wikipedia
The ZT2 Round Table: The Last Major Zoo Tycoon 2 Forum
Image Sources:
Figure 1: Zoo Tycoon Hideout
Figure 2: Zoo Tycoon Wiki
