Post created by Trystan
While the concept of video games as art is still fairly controversial among mainstream media its supposed inaccessibility to some is understandable. Not everyone has the desire or time to spend their weekends traversing virtual worlds created largely to waste time. But recently it has come to my attention just how much attention to detail there is in some of today's video games. Specifically in the relatively new cowboy/ western game set in 1899, Red Dead Redemption II. The game features a large map that condenses all of the defining features and landscapes of the United States into an ultra-realistic depiction of the great outdoors and the encroachment of civilization. The details of animal behavior in this game are astounding: possums will sometimes play dead, players can stumble across two deer with horns locked together with one dead and the other attempting to break loose, and bears will "bluff charge" players if they stand their ground against them- all of which are things that can and do happen in real life (although I can't personally recommend trying out the bear one).
However, one detail in particular stood out to me, or rather called out to me. Depending on your location within this scaled down version of late 19th century America you will hear different bird calls and songs. All of these sounds are accurate to birds that would actually be found in such an environment. For instance, Canadian geese can be seen and heard flying in formation overhead down by the rivers in the heartlands. Pelicans and seagulls are far from a rare sight near the small coastal harbor towns. Sandhill cranes and snowy egrets are often perched out in shallow waters off the horse paths throughout the game's equivalent of Louisiana. Head further west and you will likely hear the shrill call of a hawk circling its prey, or the hiss of a turkey vulture protecting a fresh carcass. All of these birds have a very life-like presence and really sell the atmosphere of their location. Of course, the scientific explanation for all of these different species of birds is due to natural selection and the birds subsequently becoming more suited for their respective environments. Over time, the birds became better equipped to the task of survival in each of these extremes, whether it be near a luscious meadow, in a marshy swamp, or out in the dry desert plains.
When Charles Darwin visited the Galapagos Islands he noticed the differences in the beak shapes of finches and went on to develop his theory of natural selection. Researchers who have retraced Darwin's steps on the Galapagos have taken note of the divergence of songs sung by these various species. Some birds' mating calls are very distinctly different in length and pitch, yet the birds may have a fairly recent common ancestor. There is still some debate about what causes this variance in birds' melodies, but undoubtedly the changes in genotypes leading to the physical expression of different beaks plays a large role.
A neat addition to the game is a brief change of scenery that (spoilers) takes the story to a fictional tropical island off the coast of Cuba named "Guarma". Much like Darwin's trip to the Galapagos, players can explore an entirely different ecosystem that is unlike anything the player has experienced up to that point. With clicks and squawks heard all throughout the dense greenery, scarlet macaws can be spotted as well as green or blue ones (if you're lucky). It just goes to show that even though there are about 200 different species of animals to see in the game's version of the American heartlands, the wildlife around the world can show us even more variety and examples of organisms adapting to their environments that we may never see in person in our lifetimes.
There's so much more that can be said about all of the details in this game just on this relatively narrow topic of birds and their songs alone. It seems like such a trivial detail that many people may not pay any attention to at all, but the same could be said about birds' songs in real life. Whether we are there to enjoy them or not, their chirps and whistles will still echo off the trees and resonate over the valleys, slowly changing with time, but always sounding somewhat familiar.
Picture credit:
https://spidersweb.pl/2018/10/wechat-chinski-komunikator-internetowy.html
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EUNrTFGWAAAuGI-.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Egr0FchX0AANTRW.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EgCtrMkXgAAWw3G.jpg
Works cited:
https://www.nps.gov/articles/bearattacks.htm#:~:text=Bluff%20charges%20are%20more%20common,veer%20off%20to%20one%20side.
https://i.redd.it/uk84bihkieb21.jpg
https://www.pnas.org/content/107/47/20156
https://etext-ise.pearson.com/products/96f07807-4f1d-4c41-836e-4d288e854c67/pages/af41016f1d0ecc6482a3f658f95794acd817e4be7
https://www.audubon.org/news/birding-its-1899-inside-blockbuster-american-west-video-game
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