Hell Creek

*"66 million years ago, the Hell Creek Formation is centered at roughly 55N latitude. Due to continental drift, the rocks preserving Hell Creek are now several hundred kilometers southwest of their ancient location, at about 46N latitude. As the earth’s gravitation and axial tilt have not changed significantly in hundreds of millions of years, Hell Creek has the same seasonal light cycle as present-day Grande Prairie, Alberta. This means that daylight varies from less than 8 hours to over 17 hours of a roughly 24 hour cycle, depending on season."*

― *Saurian: A Field Guide to Hell Creek*

**Hell Creek** is the main setting of the video game *Saurian*. Geographically spanning Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas, it yields fossils of some of the most famous dinosaurs, such as *Triceratops*, *Ankylosaurus* and *Tyrannosaurus*. In particular, *Saurian* takes place in a fossil site of the Hell Creek Formation referred to as Bone Butte, in South Dakota, the location where *Dakotaraptor* was discovered.

*"The Hell Creek floodplain is sandwiched between a rising mountain range to the west (that will one day form the Rocky Mountains), and the remnants of the Western Interior Seaway to the east. This extensive basin in which the sea expands and recedes is usually referred to as the Sheridan Delta. This landscape is covered in a mosaic of woodlands and scrub; with horsetail fields and open scrub surrounding river channels, while cypress dominated flood basins and angiosperm forest populate drier terrain."*

― *Saurian: A Field Guide to Hell Creek*

Hell Creek is the only location planned to be featured in *Saurian*, however, the developers have stated that the Two Medicine Formation with *Gorgosaurus* and *Styracosaurus* (*Rubeosaurus* if *Styracosaurus ovatus* is indeed not part of the *Styracosaurus* genus) as playable dinosaurs would have been made if their Kickstarter campaign reached $300K, however that goal wasn't met and it is expected not to be featured in the final game. The *Duluth News Tribute* has also reported that if the base game retains a fervent audience, the game could hypothetically generate a legacy to the original premise of the game, with games possibly based on other fossil formations, such as the Morrison Formation.

## Fauna

*"This environment formed an ideal breeding habitat for the local fauna. The oxbow lake acted as a nursery for young turtles and crocodilians, while the isolated “Redwood Island” offered a relative safe haven for small herbivorous dinosaurs to lay their eggs."*

― *Saurian: A Field Guide to Hell Creek*

A variety of animals are known from the Hell Creek Formation, and a lot will be found in the game of *Saurian*:

* *Acheroraptor*
* *Anatosaurus*
* *Ankylosaurus*
* *Anzu*
* *Avisaurus*
* *Axestemys*
* *Basilemys*
* *Borealosuchus*
* *Brachychampsa*
* *Brodavis*
* *Chamops*
* *Champsosaurus*
* *Dakotaraptor*
* *Denversaurus*
* DePalma's Ornithuran
* *Didelphodon*
* *Habrosaurus*
* *Lepisosteus*
* *Lonchidion*
* *Meniscoessus*
* Ornithomimid
* *Pachycephalosaurus*
* *Palaeosaniwa*
* *Pectinodon*
* *Thescelosaurus*
* *Thoracosaurus*
* *Triceratops*
* *Tyrannosaurus*

Other animals from this formation were considered for appearance in the game but were eventually scrapped:

* *Leptoceratops*
* *Obamadon*
* *Torosaurus*
* *Trierarchuncus*

Other animals from the Hell Creek Formation have been shown only in concept art designs, like in the official game's artbook, but their future presence in the game is unknown:

* *Cedrobaena*
* *Compsemys*
* *Cyclurus*
* *Gamerabaena*
* *Gilmoremys*
* *Helopanoplia*
* *Hoplochelys*
* Ichthyornithean
* Insecta
* *Judithemys*
* *Melvius*
* *Myledaphus*
* *Opisthotriton*
* *Paleopsephurus*
* *Potamornis*
* *Protoginglymostoma*
* *Restesia*
* *Scapherpeton*
* *"Styginetta lofgreni"*
* *Stygiochelys*

Other animals will be present in the game, but their real life presence in the Hell Creek Formation is dubious or speculative:

* *Mosasaurus*
* *Quetzalcoatlus*
* *Toxochelys*

Other animals were considered for appearance in the game but were scrapped, because they were absent in the Hell Creek Formation:

* *Alamosaurus*

Other animals, not directly or dubiously known from the Hell Creek Formation, are also known just through concept art designs and mentions, but their real-life presence in the game is unknown:

* *Casterolimulus*
* *Cimolopteryx*
* *Ischyrhiza*
* *Lamarqueavis*
* *Palaeobatrachus*

Many other animals lived in the Hell Creek Formation but they are not known to be even considered for appearance in the game. Some marine invertebrates, like the ammonites are absent in the game, but were very common back in the Mesozoic seas. A huge variety of bony fish existed in Hell Creek, like sturgeons and the extinct *Belonostomus*, but currently there's only the gar *Lepisosteus* (other bony fish are known to be in the artbook). Cartilaginous fish like requiem sharks were also present, beyond the currently confirmed *Lonchidion*. Amphibians currently confirmed for the game are only the giant salamander *Habrosaurus*, as other small amphibians are left out (despite their inclusion in the artbook). Other dinosaurs from Hell Creek weren't included, possibly due to the fact that they were irrelevant for the gameplay, rare in Hell Creek or not present in the Bone Butte region. *Sphaerotholus* was a small pachycephalosaur whose appearance would be innacurate due to living in Montana, not South Dakota, and instead *Pachycephalosaurus* is present. *Triceratops horridus* does not appear due to the existence of *Triceratops prorsus* which was the only one properly present in the very end of the Maastrichtian of South Dakota, where Bone Butte is located. *Thescelosaurus garbanii*, despite being found in South Dakota, is often suggested as a synonym of *Thescelosaurus neglectus*, which appears in the game. A huge variety of turtles are known from Hell Creek, but the game leaves the ones that are more relevant, specially the ones which are big enough to be relevant in a dinosaur-centered game, like the 1-1,5 meter long *Basilemys* and *Axestemys*. Squamates variety on the game is significantly reduced to leave the most relevant members, therefore too small lizards and snakes are left out. A large variety of mammals in Hell Creek was diminute, so the game leaves us with significantly larger species of mammals, like *Meniscoessus* and *Didelphodon*.

## Flora

*"While animals usually get all the attention, the Cretaceous world was also populated by diverse vegetation. During the time of Hell Creek, flowering plants had begun to take over from from classically Mesozoic vegetation such as cycads and ginkgo, giving this environment a unique composition unknown in the modern world."*

― *Saurian: A Field Guide to Hell Creek*

* *Azolla sp.*
* *Bisonia niemii*
* Blechnaceae indet.
* Cannabaceae indet.
* *"Cinnamomum" lineafolia*
* *Cobbania hickeyi*
* *Ditaxocladus catenulatus*
* *"Dryophyllum" subfalcatum*
* *Equisetum sp.*
* *Erlingdorfia montana*
* *"Ficus" planicostata*
* *Ginkgo adiantoides*
* Gleicheniaceae
* *Glyptostrobus sp.*
* *Humulus* sp.
* *Liriodendrites bradacii*
* *Marmarthia pearsonii*
* *Marmarthia trivialis*
* *Metasequoia occidentalis*
* *Nilssoniacladus yukonensis*
* *Osmunda.sp*
* *Paranymphaea hastata*
* *Platanites marginata*
* *Rhamnus cleburni*
* *Rhamnus salicifolius*
* *Sabalites* sp.
* *Sequoia dakotensis*
* *Symplocarpus sp.*
* *Taxodium olrikii*
* *Woodwardia sp.*
* *Zingiberopsis magnifolia*
* *"Ziziphus" fibrillosus*

## Behind the scenes

The Hell Creek Formation was chosen by the developers because it was where *Triceratops* and *Tyrannosaurus* lived, both which are famous dinosaurs.

## Notes and references

1. ↑ (March 17, 2016) *Saurian* Facebook Timeline.
2. ↑ Turinetti, Nick. (April 17, 2016) April 13th Livestream: The Aftermath. *Saurian* Website. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
3. ↑ SAURIAN - An open world dinosaur survival experience. *Kickstarter*.
4. ↑ Salter, Brady. (June 24, 2016) Dino-themed video game soaring: Duluth man part of development team that raised $220K online. *Duluth News Tribute*.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Parker, Tom. (August 19, 2016) Saurian DevLog #1. *Saurian* Website. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
6. ↑ Saurian DevLog #18
7. ↑ Episode 65: Saurian. *Palaeocast*.
8. ↑ The World of Saurian. *Saurian* Website. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
9. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `DevLog18`
10. ↑ Marrazzo, Joey. (June 7, 2016) Dino Talk with Saurian Devs Urvogel Studios. *GameSkinny*. Retrieved September 10, 2016.