u/LupinWhiskers

I'd like to preface this by saying I am not at all versed in paleontology or extinct species, but I am very curious as to what the ROBLOX game Ecos: La Brea gets incorrect in their depictions of an ecosystem surrounding the La Brea tar pits in California. I will also mention this will NOT be discussing the game's playerbase/community and topics or issues surrounding it, besides core knowledge.

For anyone who doesn't know (which I assume is most of you), Ecos: La Brea is a higher-quality game hosted on ROBLOX made by a relatively small team of developers, where you can play as various animals who lived in the La Brea region ~20,000 years ago. The current extinct animals the game depicts are:

- Smilodon fatalis (Saber-toothed cat)

- Aneocyon dirus (Dire wolf)

- Mammuthus columbi (Columbian mammoth)

- Bison antiquus (Ancient bison)

- Equus occidentalis (Western horse)

- Platygonus compressus (Flat-headed peccary)

- Capromeryx minor (Dwarf pronghorn)

- Hydrodamalis gigas (Stellar’s sea cow)

They will also later portray...

- Canis latrans orcutti (Pleistocene coyote)

...for certain, and possibly...

- Miracinonyx trumani (American cheetah)

- Arctodus simus (Giant short-faced bear)

- Breagyps clarki (La Brea condor)

- Paramylodon harlani (Harlan’s ground sloth)

- Ectopistes migratorius (Passenger pigeon)

...in the future.

The game also portrays a few extant species, along with many species of plants and mushrooms in their own ecoregions. The game aims to be educational, including various options to learn about what they are presenting. I am not entirely sure of the developers qualifications, but I don't believe any of them have much, if any professional experience in the field of paleontology. I highly suggest you take a look around the website as they explain themselves more there. https://ecoslabrea.wixsite.com/ecos--la-brea

As far as the portrayals of the animals go, it is mostly limited to physical aspects, with some behavioral aspects. As it is a game where you play as (most) of the animals, you are free to choose how to behave, though lots of people enjoy pretending to behave realistically.

Physically, some of the aspects include:

- Models of the animals; how they were proportioned, everything beyond bones

- Textures of the animals; what their fur and skin would have looked like

- Sounds of the animals

- Movement and articulation of the animals

- Body language of the animals

- "Stats" of the animals; how fast and long could they run for

Behaviorally, some of the aspects include:

- Social dynamic; would they have spent their time alone or in groups

- Hunting behaviors

- Defensive and offensive behaviors

Additionally with behavior, they have a structured group with a private-access server where players can roleplay in a specifically "realistic" way. They have written down many guidelines and rules on how to behave in a way they consider realistic, along with considering the aspects of the game itself and keeping things reasonable. I'm not one to say if the guidelines they provide would truly be considered realistic, but if anyone is interested in seeing them let me know and I can provide them.

Some of the controversies I have heard within the community previously include:

- Realism of the fur textures (called skins). The game includes many "mutation skins" like melanism, erythrism, and leucism, which are sometimes regarded as being unrealistic. The game also includes many variations of the leopard complex for the western horse, which is also occasionally regarded as unrealistic by the community. The developers aim to add lots of variation to the available skins, but try to not go beyond the binds of realism.

- Accuracy of the models. I've seen people mention inaccuracies in the models, primarily the smilodon and the ancient bison. For example, "the smilodon is too lean," is a common one.

- Innacurate taxon. Some species are shown with different scientific names in the game than what seems to be commonly accepted. For example, Bos bison antiquus instead of Bison antiquus, and Equus ferus occidentalis instead of Equus occidentalis.

- Innacurate social structures. Some people believe the smilodon shouldn't have lived in such large groups (their group size is five), while others believe this is an accurate number.

I have never heard any controversies regarding the floral aspects of the game, I assume because not as many people would know if what they're shown is incorrect. I would be very curious to see if anyone here who specializes in plants/mushrooms and the like notices anything incorrect regarding them!

Thank you to anyone for your interest!! I can answer any questions or provide additional information/media about the game in the comments.

TL;DR: I am interested in the inaccuracies of the portrayals of extinct species in the game Ecos: La Brea.