Eyewitness Encyclopedia of Nature

The Eyewitness Encyclopedia of Nature was an educational computer game released by Dorling Kindersley Multimedia. The first edition was published in 1995, with a 2.0 version releasing in 1997 and a version 3.0 releasing in 2007. Despite its name, the Encyclopedia of Nature has no connection to the Eyewitness television series, the accompanying virtual reality games or the book titles it was based upon.

## Sections

The homepage for the game appears as a scientist’s desk, with several drawers and compartments. A globe sits on top of the desk, two posters are on the wall behind and also on top of the desk and nearby shelves are books and artefacts such as a microscope, barometer and ammonite fossil. Each of these objects can be clicked on to access a different area of information.

### Left set of drawers

The three drawers in the left-hand set contain, from top to bottom:

* Plants and Fungi
* Reptiles
* Birds

### Central drawer

The central drawer opens up to show a single section:

* Classification

### Right set of drawers

The three drawers on the right-hand side contain, from top to bottom:

* Invertebrates
* Amphibians
* Insects

### Posters on back wall

The poster on the back wall on the left-hand side of the screen is for:

* Fish

On the right-hand side of the screen, there is a poster for:

* Mammals

### On the desktop

In the middle of the desk is a large globe, which showcases:

* Habitats

The ten habitats included in this section are:

* East African Savannah
* Amazonian Rain Forest
* North Atlantic Coast
* Australian Bush
* Rocky Mountains
* North American Lake
* British Deciduous Woodland
* North American Desert
* Great Barrier Reef
* North Pole and Canadian Tundra

On the left-hand side of the desktop are a series of books and artefacts. On a shelf above the desk is an ammonite shell, which links to:

* Prehistoric Life

The first of the two books is a large brown one standing upright on the very left-hand side of the desk, which links to:

* Ecology

The second book is a green one laying on its side between the brown book and the globe. This book is referred to as:

* Green Book

On top of the Green Book is a microscope, which links to:

* Microworld

On the right-hand side of the desktop are a smaller number of artefacts. Hanging on the wall in the top-right corner is a barometer, which links to:

* Climate

A green machine on the far-right-hand side of the desk contains a game:

* Amazing Close-Ups – In this game, an extreme close-up of an image from the game is presented, with six answers around the outer edge of the picture. The player then has to select which they think is the right answer. If the wrong answer is chosen, the view zooms out slightly and the player can then guess again. The game has five questions in all.

A chest sits on the desk between the machine and the globe, which links to:

* Quiz Master – A quiz about the nature facts covered in the game, where the number of players, the question subjects, the time and the number of questions can all be toggled.

Above the chest is a viewing device, which links to:

* Animal Vision – An activity where the same scene can be viewed in the way a human would see it, as well as a species of animal; the six animal species are vulture, hare, piranha, mantis shrimp, pit viper and bee.

## Links to Dorling Kindersley Vision

The Eyewitness Encyclopedia of Nature has no links to the television programme or book series, but it contains a series of video clips that were originally sourced from See How They Grow episodes. Only a single clip came from one of the original five episodes, showing a small tortoiseshell butterfly hatching from its chrysalis and coming from Mini Beasts. Two clips come from Woodland Animals, one showing a tawny owl and the other leaf-cutting ants. Three clips from Desert Animals are used, showing leopard geckos, a California kingsnake and a Mexican redknee tarantula. Jungle Animals uses the most clips, with four coming from this episode – they show American alligators, an African giant millipede, a black-and-white ruffed lemur and tigers. A single clip from Sea Animals appears, which contains footage of swimming rays. Finally, while not fully confirmed, it appears that footage of Indian flying foxes in the game originated from the Tree Animals episode.

## Videos

Disc case of version 2.0Disc case of version 3.0Alternative disc case of version 3.0