The chimaera section also needs help: it is empty.
The idea behind the "Where is help needed" was to draw attention to areas that need major attention and aren't likely to be completed in an afternoon by a single contributor. It's newbie-oriented, basically. There's something to be said for keeping track of
all the unfinished sections, but that's better done in the wiki itself, I think (we could do something simple like put "UNFINISHED" in those sections).
If an animal is already included, it should have '''(already included)''' after it; that is, it should be in boldface.
Added.
You should be more specific about size criteria. I don't think anyone would consider adding anything microscopic, but there are some arthropods that might be too small to be worth adding.
"Size: the animal is large enough for a dwarf to take notice of it. This rules out microorganisms and very small insects."
Better? I can't think of any truly satisfying criteria for this one. Someone did add tardigrades already -- that'll probably have to be removed.
For naming, how do you know if an animal's Earth-specific namesake is a problem? For example, the rhesus macaque, the Xerces blue, the rhea, the python, and the echidna are named after Rhesus, Xerxes, Rhea, Python, and Echidna. (These are silly examples, and I don't mean we should rename them. They just illustrate my point.)
"Make sure the creature's name doesn't contain a proper adjective (such as "African"), a proper noun (as in "Fraser's Dolphin") or any reference to Earth geography (such as "Northern")."
Better? I think that's a good indicator of whether it's "eclipsed the original," as Neonivek put it. There are probably counterexamples, but I think it's as good a guideline as we're going to get.
Since DF is an American game, one of the naming criteria should be that it be in American spelling, i.e. "bicolored frog" instead of "bicoloured frog".
Okay, added.
Also split up Cenozoic that is too broad a seperation as it both includes
A) Wolly Mammoths, Terror Birds, Dire Wolves
and
B) The Dodo Birds, Passanger pigeon, and really any recently extinct animal.
The Dodo bird doesn't have the same context when we reflect upon it then the Wolly Mammoth.
-This also contradicts your statements on "Extinction" unless you plan to move the Extinct animals that don't fit there anymore. Like the Auroch who went extinct AFTER the medieval times.
I guess titling the page "Cenozoic" was a little unclear. What it's really supposed to mean is something like "Pre-Medieval Cenozoic." I'll retitle the page accordingly.
One issue with your checklist Footkerchief is that some of those are suggestions while others are "NO!"
Unique and Notability is up there but only one needs to be fulfilled. A Unique creature that is otherwise unknown is perfectly alright (Some animals we know well today were pretty much unknown for much of history) while a Notable animal that isn't all that unique is alright as well.
Size and Extinction are however both required to get accepted. An animal cannot be microscopic and must exist in the last 1000 years.
Okay, I merged uniqueness and notability to emphasize that an animal doesn't need both. I reworded a few things to address what you said about "NO!" stuff (and I agree, I want to avoid a negative tone as much as possible), but let me know if it still needs work, and where.
The Ark Project is a community-wide effort to increase the number and variety of DF's
real-life animals. Everyone is welcome to participate!
Right now we're still in the preliminary stage -- making a
list of animals that will be added. Due to the massive changes in the upcoming version,
we aren't making creature raws yet. After the release, we'll begin shifting gears toward implementing all the animals we've listed.
Where is help most needed?What makes an animal worth including?- Notability: the animal is widely recognized, has cultural importance (such as a role in mythology) and/or has interesting differences (morphology, behavior, habitat, diet, etc.) from others of its kind. If a family or genus contains many species with uninteresting differences, consider lumping them into a single generic creature.
- Non-extinction: if the animal has been extinct for more than (roughly) 1000 years, it belongs in one of the extinct sections. Dinosaurs and Ice Age animals are not a major focus of this project, but you're welcome to add them.
- Size: the animal is large enough for a dwarf to take notice of it. This rules out microorganisms and very small insects.
How do I add animals to the list?- If you don't already have one, create an account on the DF wiki.
- Use an online source such as Wikipedia to find lists of animals. The WP page for a particular taxon (biological grouping of organisms) usually has a "Taxonomy" or "Classification" section containing links to smaller subgroups, or a taxonomic diagram on the right side.
- For example, on the WP page for the class Amphibia, the "Taxonomy" section links to the subclass Lissamphibia, which in turn links to the amphibian orders Anura, Caudata, and Gymnophiona.
- Work down to more specific groups of creatures, generally at least to the family level. Use the inclusion guidelines above to decide how many representatives each family should have. Sometimes one is enough, and sometimes every species should be represented.
- Make sure the creature's name doesn't contain a proper adjective (such as "African"), a proper noun (as in "Fraser's Dolphin") or any reference to Earth geography (such as "Northern"). If possible, use an alternate name for these animals to avoid throwing off the mod's flavor.
- For example, we used the alternate name "gray shark" for the Greenland shark, and we got "bear devil" from the Tasmanian Devil's taxonomic name.
- The naming issue is often tricky, so feel free to ask for advice in this thread.
- Edit the relevant section of the creature list. Include the creature's name and a link to its Wikipedia page. If the creature is already present in vanilla DF, put "(already included)" in boldface after the link.
- Use taxonomic groups to keep the lists readable and navigable.
- Post in this thread to brag about your contributions! (optional)
This post will be updated as the project evolves.
The previous thread is here. Thanks for helping out!
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Topic: The Ark Project - Please Participate! (Read 91769 times)