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SIMULATED SPECIES: THE QUESTION OF THE ANIMAL IN DIGITAL GAMES By MELISSA BIANCHI A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2018 © 2018 Melissa Bianchi To Crissy, my first and best Player 2 To my loving parents who always find time for playfulness To all the animals who mystify and inspire me ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This research was supported by the Department of English and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Florida. I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my committee chair, Dr. Terry Harpold, who has taught me more than I could ever say here. By his example, he has shown me what a good mentor, scholar, and person should be. This dissertation would not have been possible without his encouragement and understanding. I would also like to express my gratitude to my committee members, Dr. Sidney I. Dobrin, Dr. Susan Hegeman, and Dr. Susan deFrance. Through their extensive personal and professional guidance, I have learned a great deal about academic research, writing, publishing, and life in general. I am also grateful to my colleagues who devoted time and energy to provide me with thoughtful feedback on this work and related scholarship. The insights they have shared have played a significant role in shaping the direction of my research. And finally, last but by no means least, I thank my family, friends, and animal companions whose love inspired and sustained me throughout this process. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... 7 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................... 10 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER 1 ANIMALS AND DIGITAL GAMES ........................................................................... 13 Monkey See, Monkey Do—A Design Principle ....................................................... 13 An Overview of Digital Games ................................................................................ 18 Animal Studies and Theories of Play ...................................................................... 25 Animals in Games ................................................................................................... 32 2 SIMULATIONS OF CAPTIVITY AND CARE ........................................................... 37 Orca 167 is Not Happy............................................................................................ 37 The Digital Zoo ....................................................................................................... 42 Ways of Looking ..................................................................................................... 47 Alternative Captivities ............................................................................................. 56 The Farmer’s Menagerie ......................................................................................... 63 Play and Pastoral Power ......................................................................................... 69 3 SIMULATIONS OF DISTANCE AND DISTINCTION .............................................. 80 Off the Beaten Trail ................................................................................................. 80 Deer and Distancing ............................................................................................... 83 Ducks, Dogs, and Design ....................................................................................... 92 Hyperreal Hunts ...................................................................................................... 99 Fishing for Alternatives ......................................................................................... 104 4 ANIMAL AVATARS ............................................................................................... 113 A Menagerie of Becomings ................................................................................... 113 Bugged Programs, Broken Goats, and Botched Taxidermy ................................. 123 Evolutionary Anomalies ........................................................................................ 132 A Jungle Utopia .................................................................................................... 139 Technologies of Becoming .................................................................................... 145 5 INKLINGS OF THE IN-BETWEEN ....................................................................... 159 5 Kinship in the Chthulucene ................................................................................... 159 Becoming-with and the Tentacular ....................................................................... 161 The Werewolf Warrior and the Twilight Princess .................................................. 165 The Trouble with Tentacles ................................................................................... 176 Who’s Your Octodaddy? ....................................................................................... 180 Squid-Kids with Squirt Guns ................................................................................. 184 Player-Animals ...................................................................................................... 191 LIST OF REFERENCES ............................................................................................. 209 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................... 220 6 LIST OF FIGURES Figure page 1-1 Samus meets the Etecoons. ............................................................................... 36 1-2 Samus meets the Dachora. ................................................................................ 36 2-1 A screenshot of Zoo Tycoon (2001) posted to the free image-hosting site Imgur .................................................................................................................. 72 2-2 A screenshot of Zoo Tycoon (2001) posted to Reddit ........................................ 73 2-3 The three-fourths overhead perspective of Zoo Tycoon (2001). ......................... 73 2-4 Tycoon Mode ...................................................................................................... 74 2-5 Zoo View ............................................................................................................ 74 2-6 The first-person perspective in Zoo Tycoon (2013) ............................................ 75 2-8 Human handprints visible on exhibit glass. ......................................................... 76 2-9 A happy snow leopard. ....................................................................................... 77 2-10 A panda expressing its desire for a toy ............................................................... 77 2-11 Animal Creator mode .......................................................................................... 78 2-12 A player pets a giraffe ......................................................................................... 78 2-13 Three players in the Arctic level of Zoo Ramapage ............................................ 79 2-14 The barn in which players’ cows are kept. .......................................................... 79 3-1 Hunting simulation. ........................................................................................... 107 3-2 Hunting simulation. ........................................................................................... 107 3-3 Hunting simulation. ........................................................................................... 108 3-4 Hunting simulation. ........................................................................................... 109 3-5 NES Zappers. ................................................................................................... 109 3-6 A player shoots a duck for points. ..................................................................... 110 3-7 The hunting dog laughing ................................................................................. 111 7 3-8 A pronghorn shot through the heart. ................................................................. 112 4-1 A player attempts to cross the street with two extra frog lives .......................... 147 4-3 The avatar from The Plan ................................................................................. 149 4-4 The “feather goat” (ostrich) and “giant goat” (sperm whale) ............................. 150 4-5 A “tall goat” uses its grappling tongue to latch onto a human ........................... 151 4-6 Examples of bugged game physics .................................................................. 152 4-7 A player sacrifices human NPCs to appease the “Devil Goat.”......................... 153 4-8 A player at “Goathenge.” .................................................................................. 153 4-9 One version of a fish avatar .............................................................................. 154 4-10 One version of a reptile avatar .........................................................................