Cut Content

Cut Content refers to features and content that were planned but not ultimately included in Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis.

Description

Several features originally planned to be included in Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis were scrapped. Some of this cut content can be found by searching through the game files. Additionally, following the release of the game in 2003, an article was released on the website Gamasutra detailing some of these cut features and described by a representative from Blue Tongue as follows:

“Features lost. As with all games, there are always features that were left out due to schedule or other reasons. With Operation Genesis, we probably had enough ideas to fill multiple games. I'd like to use this section to lament a few features that were lost.

Very early in the project, we dreamed of 40 dinosaur species. However, as development proceeded, the list was reduced to 25. The ones that we miss most are the sea-dwelling and flying dinosaurs. The main reason they were lost was schedule. In some sense, it was a choice between creating fewer, more interesting dinosaurs, or a larger number of less interesting dinosaurs. We decided to make the dinosaurs we had count, and focused on species that players would recognize from the films. However, models and art were created for some of the lost dinosaurs. We'll miss them.

We experimented with baby dinosaurs midway through the project. We tried schemes such as scaling the adult dinosaurs down to make them into babies. However, scaling adults down did not look right. Making baby dinosaurs that looked good required new baby dinosaur models and baby AI. This is similar to the work required for adding more dinosaur species. As a result, baby dinosaurs were dropped. Along with them, we also dropped any ideas for a "Dino Petting Zoo".

There were also some buildings that did not make it into the final game. These buildings include the hotel, hunting platform, and the dino-vet station. Some of these buildings existed in earlier builds of the game. Some were removed due to design decisions, and some were removed due to the memory constraints on the consoles. Having seen and played the game with some of these buildings, losing them was a difficult decision to make.

Operation Genesis evolved throughout the development period, and these features were cut for good reasons. However, if there's ever an expansion pack or sequel, I'm hoping that some of these features will make an appearance.”

- Operation Genesis Team

Cut Dinosaurs

In-game file showing cut dinosaur names.

40 Dinosaurs were originally planned for the game. 13 of the approximately 15 cut dinosaurs can be found in the games files, but it is unknown on what the other two were supposed to be other than the fact they were described as "sea-dwelling and flying dinosaurs."

• Alioramus
• Apatosaurus
• Baryonyx
• Deinonychus
• Diplodocus
• Iguanodon
• Maiasaura
• Ornithomimus
• Panoplosaurus
• Tenontosaurus
• Thescelosaurus
• Wuerhosaurus
• Yangchuanosaurus

Other Cut Content

• Various content featured in the Prima Official Strategy Guide
• Hunting Platform
• Forest Fire Disasters (found in game audio files)
• Sea-Dwelling and Flying Dinosaurs
• Dinosaur Petting Zoo
• Large restaurants
• Hotels
• Dino-Vet Station
• Baby Dinosaurs
• Gates For Fences
• Diagonal Fences and Paths
• Jurassic Park Institute Building
• Vehicles Maintenance Depot
• Difficulty For Islands
• Viewing Dome Feeder
• Acacia Trees (found in the files but, not implemented)
• Alternate Velociraptor skins (similar if not the same as those from the intro)

Gallery

A pre-rendered screenshot from the game depicting some of the games cut content (including diagonal fences, fence gates, hunting platforms, and non-fern-like trees)

The previous screenshot from a different angle (courtesy of Gamespot)

The DinoVet as depicted in one of the early Xbox screenshots

Another early screenshot of the Xbox version of the game depicting the DinoVet and an early design for the Cleaner Station