Dreaming The Prairie, version 1.5.0

• UPDATED VERSION: This is the release of DTP1.5.0.

• Explore the incredibly detailed world of Bell Bowl Prairie from the miniature perspective of a bumblebee.

• Journey between different species of plants, browsing amongst their flowers.

• Reveal poems cached within certain plants when you trigger the release of pollen.

• Relax while playing this game and immerse yourself in a world of marvels as if you are the size of a bumblebee. Our science+art project aims to enable people to connect with the world differently and to realize that beauty can be accessible no matter what size you are.

Gameplay:

Gamepad Controls:

PC Keyboard Controls:

A/Left Arrow = Move Left
D/Right Arrow = Move Right
W/Up Arrow = Move Forward (away from the camera)
S/Down Arrow = Move Back (towards the camera)
Spacebar = Move Upwards
Left Shift = Move Downwards
CTRL = Speed Up
Move the mouse to change the camera angle, or steer her movements.
E = Pollinate the flower when you see the word "Pollinate". 
Q = Finish Reading, when you are ready to continue to explore the prairie.
Z = Credits

The onscreen diagram in the upper right corner will automatically switch from keyboard to gamepad when the software detects the appropriate controller.

•••••

1. Explore Bell Bowl Prairie from the miniaturized perspective of Rusty, the Rusty-Patched Bumblebee Queen. Rusty will fly when she is in the air, and crawl when she is on the ground.

2. Her mission is to forage on Bell Bowl Prairie for the resources to nourish a new colony of bumblebees. Follow the glowing beacons—using her super power to see ultraviolet light!—to locate plants rich in nectar and pollen.

3. Guide Rusty to the flower beckoning her to approach, as it has the richest stores of pollen to offer.

4. As she approaches, you can hear the voice in her head as she recognizes each species of plant by name.

5. When you are close enough to alight on the bloom, you will see a prompt to pollinate the flower.

6. Trigger the release of pollen to reveal a little bit of botanical magic.

When Rusty's mission has been accomplished, you can hit the ESC key to exit.

•••••••••••••

Backstory:

Eight thousand years ago, a little prairie was born near the confluence of what would be two rivers—the Rock River and the Kishwaukee—as an enormous glacier retreated at the end of the last Ice Age. Full of gravel and sand, situated on a slope, it became a dry gravel prairie as intrepid plants moved in to make their homes where the ice had been. 

Its name is Bell Bowl Prairie.

The kinds of plants, insects and other animals that could thrive here were exceptional because the conditions were different from most of the surrounding prairie. A harmonious ecosystem evolved over millennia, and one of the special inhabitants that lives here is the Rusty Patched Bumblebee.

For a long time, people didn’t try to build much or turn this prairie into farmland because of the slope and soil types.

Unfortunately, that has changed.

Bell Bowl is owned by the Chicago Rockford International Airport; they have pushed forward an expansion that jeopardized this rare and fragile dry gravel prairie. Although the 2021 sighting of the rusty patched bumblebee temporarily suspended construction of the federally-funded expansion, the airport brazenly bulldozed approximately a third of the highest quality prairie in March 2023.

Creating Dreaming The Prairie is one step in an effort to make these endangered and rare species accessible to the public, as entry to the prairie itself is forbidden by the airport. GIS data was used to simulate a topologically accurate representation of the terrain of the prairie. Unfortunately, conservationists were not successful in protecting Bell Bowl, thus the digital representation functions to preserve the site, albeit *virtually*. Hopefully it may serve to inform against destruction of other contested habitats.

Discover the beauty of her habitat as you fly through Bell Bowl Prairie as Rusty, the bumblebee queen!

•••••••••••••

We acknowledge and honor the many indigenous nations with historical ties to the Rockford Region including the Anishinnabe, Potawatomi, and Ojibwe Nations, as well as the Ho-Chunk, Sac and Fox.

•••••••••••••

Credits:

DTP Team Members:

Charlotte Guan: Lead Character Artist (creature design & rigging), Phase 1 Project Manager

Mak Hepler-Gonzalez: Lead UI/UX Director, Level Designer, VFX/3D/Foliage Artist, Asset Optimization & Workflow Instructor, Concept Development

Kayla Kim: UX Designer, Quest Technician, Asset Optimization

Zoë Morgan: 3D Artist, 3D Rigger, Lead Game Rigger & Animator, Interaction Programmer, UX Designer, Lead Quest Technician, Concept Development

Brigid O’Neil: 3D Artist, 3D Rigging, Asset Optimization, Concept Development

Kayla Taylor: Assistant Producer, Lead 3D Artist, Asset Optimization, Concept Development

Joslyn Willauer: Lead Environment Artist, Foliage Artist, Level Designer, 3D Artist

•••••

localStyle with poet Michael Swierz:

Marlena Novak: Producer, Creative Director, Conceptual Director, 3D Artist, Voiceover

Jay Alan Yim: Co-Producer, Sound Design, Original Score Composition, Concept Development, Entomology Advisor

[about localStyle]

Michael Swierz: Poetry

•••••

Contributing Artists:

Diana Jiang: Project Intern, 3D Artist

Jane Tao: 3D Artist

•••••••••••••

This project is partially supported by grants from the Illinois Arts Council (a state agency), the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Northwestern University, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

•••••••••••••

System Requirements:

We have been running the game successfully on a variety of differently configured computers—all running Windows 10—such as:
• AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X 16-core; 128GB; GeForce RTX 3060 12GB GPU
• Intel Core i9 7940X 3.1Ghz 14-core; 64GB; NVIDIA RTX A4000 16GB GPU

•••••••••••••

© 2023-2024 localStyle. All rights reserved. All poems © 2023-2024 Michael Swierz.