Plotholes/ continuity errors/ anachronisms in the game (spoilers!)

edited January 2012 in Jurassic Park
I know it's quite early for this thread but at least I don't really get one thing which we have already seen:

During the scene when Miles and Nima reach Dennis Nedry's jeep, why are they coming from the inner side of the island?
As the sign at the road indicates the east dock has to be somewhere at the end of the road after the tunnel!
scaled.php?server=841&filename=eastdockroad1.jpg&res=medium

That's where Nima and Niles are approaching from:
nilesnimajptg.jpg

They are coming from the wrong side, especially because Miles was at the dock before.
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Comments

  • edited September 2011
    Nice observation. Didn't notice it til now
  • edited September 2011
    Maybe they're coming from the "West Dock"....just kidding...
  • edited September 2011
    Maybe they took a shortcut and walked up a footpath instead of taking the road. Looks to me like the road under the tunnel curves left. They're coming from the same general area, just on the other side of the jeep.

    Maybe there's a scene we haven't seen where they visit another area first before getting to the jeep. There's always a possible explanation for everything.
  • VainamoinenVainamoinen Moderator
    edited September 2011
    It's so cute that tope used the thread title I invented for the merged threads in the BTTF forum, including the "anachronisms"... do you really think there will be anachronisms in the JP game? I mean, all right, if they all have mobile phones in 1993, then... ;)
  • edited September 2011
    It's so cute that tope used the thread title I invented for the merged threads in the BTTF forum, including the "anachronisms"... do you really think there will be anachronisms in the JP game? I mean, all right, if they all have mobile phones in 1993, then... ;)

    There can potentially be anachronisms in JP after all the game takes place 18 years ago...Imagine Jesse having an Ipod...lol...
  • edited September 2011
    LOL, I didn't really look up the exact meaning of anachronism when creating this thread. I just thought to keep some sort of order in these forums and so I copied the thread title ;)

    allthough now I think we have at least ONE major anachronism in this game:
    dinosaurs and humans ;)!!!!!
  • Sinaz20Sinaz20 Telltale Alumni
    edited September 2011
    It's actually not a goof... but you'd have to play the game to see why.

    Also, yeah-- the biggest anachronism in this game is that we haven't learned how to clone dinosaurs yet.

    All throughout the game, though, we kept saying, "did they have that technology in 1993?"

    Though, I'm sure we flubbed some stuff. It'll be interesting to see what you guys find and have to say about any potential goofs, gaffs, and anachronisms.

    I can actually think of one anachronistic prop off the top of my head, and I had to wiki it just now to be sure.
  • edited September 2011
    Watch "that 70's show." There are plenty of anachronisms there. Point being its bound to happen when you create a story that takes place in the past.
  • edited September 2011
    mannyguy1 wrote: »
    Maybe they're coming from the "West Dock"....just kidding...

    Well there is a North dock...soooooo maybe....:p
  • edited November 2011
    Not a real plothole but why did Miles and Nima search for Nedry just somewhere in the jungle? Wouldn't it be more reasonable to just walk back the road from the dock to the visitor center? I mean they didn't know what happened to Nedry and if I am searching for someone who should be arriving by car I would track down the road.

    How did Dr. Sorkin get control over the Jurassic Park OS from her lab? I assume that the control room is the real control room otherwise this room would make no sense. So why should a terminal somewhere else provide access to the main program?

    How did Explorer 02 get to the trike pen without crashing into Explorer 05?

    Where were the Pteranodons from?

    Why wasn't Dr. Sorkin much more afraid of the troodons or velociraptors when she knew that during the whole system shutdown all fences (including the quarantine pens) went down?

    Why was the bone-shaker isolated in the jungle far away from the visitor's area?
  • edited November 2011
    A Minor mistake in the Visitor's Center: in the film, we can see the entire skeleton of the T-Rex collapse on the stairs (including the body of the last Raptor being killed), but when Harding, Jess and Nima arrive, the stairs are free of obstacles.
  • Dave GrossmanDave Grossman Telltale Alumni
    edited November 2011
    tope1983 wrote: »
    Not a real plothole but why did Miles and Nima search for Nedry just somewhere in the jungle?

    That thing Miles is fiddling with is a tracking device....
  • Sinaz20Sinaz20 Telltale Alumni
    edited November 2011
    tope1983 wrote: »
    Not a real plothole but why did Miles and Nima search for Nedry just somewhere in the jungle? Wouldn't it be more reasonable to just walk back the road from the dock to the visitor center? I mean they didn't know what happened to Nedry and if I am searching for someone who should be arriving by car I would track down the road.
    The Barbasol can has a secret locator transmitter in it-- Miles had a tracking device tuned to find it. The tracking device shows range and direction-- but doesn't convey an easy way to get there-- plus, they're infiltrating the island... so they can't just walk around out in the open-- especially after assaulting a guard who can identify them.
    How did Dr. Sorkin get control over the Jurassic Park OS from her lab? I assume that the control room is the real control room otherwise this room would make no sense. So why should a terminal somewhere else provide access to the main program?
    All the terminals are linked to the mainframe-- just like I can remote desktop my PC at home, Sorkin, with a little ingenuity, can access park wide systems from any terminal-- it's a fail safe redundancy... but not everyone has explicit access to do so.
    How did Explorer 02 get to the trike pen without crashing into Explorer 05?
    After Laura got the tour program running, she essentially started all vehicles in circulation moving again.
    Where were the Pteranodons from?
    That's a good question that Mark D. would have an answer for.
    Why wasn't Dr. Sorkin much more afraid of the troodons or velociraptors when she knew that during the whole system shutdown all fences (including the quarantine pens) went down?
    How much fear would be appropriate? Some people may feel perfectly safe near wild predators, knowing or believing perhaps that they've fed recently, or that they themselves are more intimidating to the animals than vice versa, or feeling that they understand the animals' behavior-- some people simply lack respect of wild animals-- or have a false sense of security when dealing with a zoo like establishment. Look at those videos of people who have been grabbed by large cats through pen bars at zoos-- they're all over youtube.

    Sorkin sees herself as a naturalist and feels an illusion of control of the situation when around dinosaurs.

    Consider her rationalization
    Why was the bone-shaker isolated in the jungle far away from the visitor's area?
    They had to find an area that was unused by park animals and would have the least ecological impact on them. They put it in the mountain area because it's a location that they couldn't properly contain animals in using fences due to the terrain. Eventually, the amusement ride area would have tour vehicle access and guests would be shuttled to it.
  • edited November 2011
    In the Movie, the large female raptor killed all of her fellow pack members except for two. One two of them were killed in the visator center from the rex, so how are their four of them in the game?
  • edited November 2011
    In the Movie, the large female raptor killed all of her fellow pack members except for two. One two of them were killed in the visator center from the rex, so how are their four of them in the game?

    There are FIVE in the game, not counting the dismembered foot of one in the Visitor's Center. Four went into the tunnels after the Hardings, one stayed outside in the pen, munching on a Parasaurolophus corpse.

    If you read Sorkin's journal, she mentions Hammond having more Raptors shipped from Site B. These were probably replacements for the ones the big one killed.

    Sinaz, any chance of getting Mark in here to answer the Pteranodon question?
  • edited November 2011
    Harding, from the movie.

    Harding2.png
  • Sinaz20Sinaz20 Telltale Alumni
    edited November 2011
    Nightlight wrote: »
    Harding, from the movie.

    He totally wears a watch in the game, too! We so covered that.
  • edited November 2011
    In the Movie, the large female raptor killed all of her fellow pack members except for two. One two of them were killed in the visator center from the rex, so how are their four of them in the game?
    Did you not read my reply to the thread you started on this exact subject!? :mad:
  • edited November 2011
    I wish they referenced the mustache, like Jess finding a fake mustache in the back of the car, and Gerry getting all defensive.
  • edited November 2011
    ok here something also, you know billy yoder right, well there is a billy in the 3rd movie as well, and they sort of do the same thing, billy in the third movie steals raptor eggs, the game this billy turns on the group and takes the embryos its a little bit ironic in a way lol
  • edited November 2011
    Hermes7282 wrote: »
    I wish they referenced the mustache, like Jess finding a fake mustache in the back of the car, and Gerry getting all defensive.

    Haha that would have been awesome. :D Telltale dropped the ball on that one.
  • edited November 2011
    I liked how the game continued some ongoing themes from the films:

    Dinosaur droppings

    Though completely absent in The Lost World: Jurassic Park, both Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III feature scenes that have dinosaur droppings as the main object of attention. In the first film, Ellie searches through a pile from the Triceratops to find out why the animals get sick, in the third Grant touches and smells Pteranodon guano; later in the film, the Kirby's and Grant dig frantically through a pile of Spinosaurus dung in order to find the phone.

    In the game, Jess notices a pile of Triceratops droppings during the tutorial chapter.

    Divorce

    An ongoing theme in the films. In Jurassic Park, Tim and Lex's parents are divorcing and Hammond brings them to the island to get their minds off the separation of their parents. Later, during the tour, Malcolm confesses to Grant he has three kids (presumably with three different ex-wives); in The Lost World: Jurassic Park we meet one of Malcolm's children, Kelly Curtis. She confronts him with his absence and his disinterest with her personal life.
    The disappearance of Eric Kirby over Isla Sorna has his divorced parents, Amanda and Paul Kirby, join forces in Jurassic Park III, eventually leading up to a possible reunion of the two.

    According to the game, Jess's parents, Gerry Harding and her mother, have divorced as well. It's not clear if her older sister Sarah is daughter to the same mother. The divorce and Harding's work preventing him from hanging out with Jess, causes tensions between father and daughter.

    Dinosaurs vs. Vehicles

    This one's a given, but in good old Jurassic Park style, several vehicles in the game get ripped apart, trampled and destroyed, most notably another Jeep and two helicopters.


    One big mistake the game made was the Bone Shaker roller coaster ride. In the film, Hammond clearly says, "I'm not talking about rides; everyone has rides. We have made biological attractions so astounding, they will capture the imagination of the entire planet." Clearly, Hammond implies that roller coaster rides are not meant to be part of this theme park. The roller coaster is one of the bigger deviations from the original story.
  • Sinaz20Sinaz20 Telltale Alumni
    edited November 2011
    Neelis wrote: »
    According to the game, Jess's parents, Gerry Harding and her mother, have divorced as well. It's not clear if her older sister Sarah is daughter to the same mother. The divorce and Harding's work preventing him from hanging out with Jess, causes tensions between father and daughter.

    Dig deeper in the Nima vs. Gerry scene in ep 4... or reveal the spoilers:
    "Second wife, second daughter..."
    Simple inference that Sarah
    was Gerry's first wife's daughter while Jess is his second wife's daughter.
    :)
  • edited November 2011
    Ow, thanks Sinaz! Now that you mention it, I recall having heard that, but wasn't entirely sure and thought it might have been my imagination filling up the gaps.

    Were the above mentioned themes put in the game deliberately? An inquiring mind would love to know! :)
  • Sinaz20Sinaz20 Telltale Alumni
    edited November 2011
    Neelis wrote: »
    Ow, thanks Sinaz! Now that you mention it, I recall having heard that, but wasn't entirely sure and thought it might have been my imagination filling up the gaps.

    Were the above mentioned themes put in the game deliberately? An inquiring mind would love to know! :)

    Yeah, all of that was deliberate.

    I mean, we didn't have a meeting where we were like-- ok, more poop jokes!

    Most of the themes throughout were established by Joe and Mark as they wrote the expository stuff for eps 1 and 2.

    There's a lot of discussing about what needs continuity and closure from episode to episode. And then, a lot of discussion about small moments and nods that help to define the characteristics of a Jurassic Park story.
  • edited November 2011
    I would like of Telltale to clarify inclusion of Boneshaker. It's my biggest complaint to the game...destroying movie canon. As Hammond say, Jurassic Park has different rides. It would be much better if Telltale included Jungle ride, or even made a scene with motor pool, or iconic Jurassic Park gate...
  • Sinaz20Sinaz20 Telltale Alumni
    edited November 2011
    veki wrote: »
    I would like of Telltale to clarify inclusion of Boneshaker. It's my biggest complaint to the game...destroying movie canon. As Hammond say, Jurassic Park has different rides. It would be much better if Telltale included Jungle ride, or even made a scene with motor pool, or iconic Jurassic Park gate...

    ...it makes for a really great action scene.

    ...it re-enforces Nima's disdain for InGen and her connection with the island.

    ...it represents the element of corporate investors trampling over the true vision of the park.
  • edited November 2011
    I absolutely hated the idea of of the rollercoaster before I played it, but it was actually done in a way the fit in with the park pretty well. So way to prove me wrong/make me look like an idiot telltale! :)
  • edited November 2011
    "And I'm not just talking about rides, everybody has rides"

    I always thought that line implied that there were going to be rides at Jurassic Park, they just weren't going to be the main draw.

    I do have a question. At the beginning of the game, Harding seems to know absolutely nothing about the troodons. Later, he also doesn't seem to know that Jurassic Park has a dino that can swim. As the head veterinarian in the park, shouldn't he know every species of dinosaur that they have? Did InGen keep these two species a secret from him? And if so, why?
  • edited November 2011
    Hammond also says during the dinner while the slideshows show the Jungle River Cruise and Aviary, "None of these attractions are ready yet, of course. The park will open with with the basic tour you're about to take. And the other rides will come online six to twelve months after that. Absolutely spectacular designs, spared no expense."

    But either way, the game does make it obvious that both Hammond's true vision of what the park should be and what his Board of Directors want it to be don't quite mesh, nor do either of those mesh with what some of Hammond's employees, namely Dr. Sorkin, believe.
  • edited November 2011
    This is more of a reference question than a plot hole or the like, but I was wondering if there were references to any previous Jurassic Park games, namely Trespasser. For some reason I felt that in the climax of the final episode
    when the Rex is chasing Gerry near the dock
    that the large containers surrounding the area that get knocked around closely resembled those in Trespasser in a similar area. Am I reading into it too much? Haha. :D
  • edited November 2011
    What I think is an anachronism:

    I've been buying glasses since the late 80s .. I don't remember seeing any glasses with half-rim frames in stores, like Dr. Sorkin is wearing, until the late 90s, long after Jurassic Park was out. When they came out it was a "new thing".

    EDIT: I just looked up some stills of Dennis Nerdry... it looks like he had the half-rim glasses, so I was wrong... I still don't remember finding them around that time.
  • edited November 2011
    I have one I don't think is mentioned...

    In the film, Gerry Harding is with Ellie Sattler, who stays behind with the Trike. The only way for her to get back to the Visitor Center, which she does by the end of the night, in Harding's jeep. Now, in the story of the game, how can this be? We get an opening show of him spending time with Jess, then driving along the road at night only with her. How did Ellie Sattler fit into this time frame like she does in the film? I actually find it funny now that she and the other "guests" aren't mentioned, as far as I remember, since he does encounter them. Could have been a line like "I hope Dr. Sattler and the others are okay."

    So... I think this could be a BIG plot hole, if you really think about it.
  • edited November 2011
    scallenger wrote: »
    I have one I don't think is mentioned...

    In the film, Gerry Harding is with Ellie Sattler, who stays behind with the Trike. The only way for her to get back to the Visitor Center, which she does by the end of the night, in Harding's jeep. Now, in the story of the game, how can this be? We get an opening show of him spending time with Jess, then driving along the road at night only with her. How did Ellie Sattler fit into this time frame like she does in the film? I actually find it funny now that she and the other "guests" aren't mentioned, as far as I remember, since he does encounter them. Could have been a line like "I hope Dr. Sattler and the others are okay."

    So... I think this could be a BIG plot hole, if you really think about it.

    Not a real plothole but could have been handled properly in the game.
    Like Jess being angry that even at work his father is flirting around: "You're always on the lookout for the future ex-Mrs. Harding, aren't you?"and Gerry answering sth. like "That was just one of Hammond's visitors. A paleobotanist who found out why our Trike was sick. I brought her back to my boss. Business as usual." "Mhm. As usual..." "I will not get drawn into another relationship debate with you Jess, I really will not!"
  • edited November 2011
    LOL... wow I guess I forgot about that. Thanks for the clarification!
  • edited November 2011
    Basically Gerry probably drops her off at the VC, drives out to the guest rooms to pick up Jess, gripes because she's not ready yet, misses the boat, and is driving back when they run into Nima.
  • edited November 2011
    Sinaz20 wrote: »
    ...it makes for a really great action scene.

    ...it re-enforces Nima's disdain for InGen and her connection with the island.

    ...it represents the element of corporate investors trampling over the true vision of the park.

    That's an acceptable explanation. Which makes me realize that Nima, Jess and Harding are forced to work together, even though the Harding's are taken hostage by Nima.
  • edited November 2011
    Neelis wrote: »
    One big mistake the game made was the Bone Shaker roller coaster ride. In the film, Hammond clearly says, "I'm not talking about rides; everyone has rides. We have made biological attractions so astounding, they will capture the imagination of the entire planet." Clearly, Hammond implies that roller coaster rides are not meant to be part of this theme park. The roller coaster is one of the bigger deviations from the original story.

    The movie (and the books) clearly state that JP is to have rides, they are just not complimentary to the tours.

    About the the Hardings and Sattler.

    When we first see Gerry and Jess, it's earlier in the day.

    Gerry says he needs to check on a Triceratops, so he'll drop Jess at the guest house before doing that.

    When we see them again later, the power of the park is already out, and they are late for the boat because Jess couldn't find her CD player (which, btw, isn't this an anacronism? I know CD drives existed in '93, but portable CD-players? If they existed, they must have been rather expensive).

    There's enough time in that time skip for Gerry to meet Grant and the rest, take Sattler to the VC and look for Jess to get off the island.
  • edited November 2011
    WTH, I was certain I made a post here.

    Anyway, there's a significant time skip between the first time we play as Jess and Gerry and the second time.

    Gerry can easily meet Grant and the others in that timeframe.

    Then, when he drops Ellie at the VC, he looks for Jess, and they leave late for the boat because she couldn't find her CD player.

    BTW, how expensive as a CD player back in 93? As I have some trouble believing Jess could have one.
  • edited November 2011
    MrSeyker wrote: »
    BTW, how expensive as a CD player back in 93? As I have some truble believing Jess could have one.

    Because her father works in Jurassic Park and given his status there and the top secret nature its pretty safe to assume he was paid a pretty darn good wage and culd afford to spoil his girl to make up for his abscence?
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