The first time I saw crows, I scared them away from a high mountain pasture covered with wildflowers. I watched as flocks of crows flew toward the snow-capped peaks in the distance, following their echoing cries in the mountains. A man on horseback suddenly bumped into me, and I was enraged, shot back, and took his hat.
This is a scene that takes place in Red Dead Redemption 2.
Set in the 1899 Western United States, it has been an unprecedented success since its release last October, and is not only one of the best-selling games of 2018, but also at the top of many annual game contests on the Internet. In addition, its depiction of the natural world is unique.
You play as arthur morgan, an outlaw in the game, who can either rob everywhere, evade the police, or play in a relatively gentle way, such as hunting birds. As a hobby, hunting birds emerged in the late nineteenth century, and many saw birds as a food, material, and hunting resource— and it wasn't until about 20 years later that laws to protect migratory birds were introduced in the United States.
Red Dead Redemption 2 has huge maps and the game world is full of life. Eagles roost on branches, ducks bathe by the river, wolves hunt deer in the woods, and bald eagles feed on carrion. The game features crocodiles, turtles, snakes, frogs, toads, bats and dozens of species of fish. Overall, Red Dead Redemption 2 has about 200 different animals and more than 40 plant species.
I spent most of my time looking for birds in the game and was amazed at how accurately the various birds in them were. Birds have different habitats: pink spoonbills and great egrets live in St. Denis Bay, laughing gulls and red-footed roost along the coast, while eagles and bald eagles often soar over the peaks. The habits of these birds are different. There are dozens of other species of birds I haven't even encountered, including the Carolina parrot, the white-tailed eagle and the crested red woodpecker. As with hunting birds in real life, you can't fight any bird.
The sound design of Red Dead Redemption 2 is also impressive. You'll often hear bird calls, even many birds that don't appear in the game, such as the Northern Flapper or the Red Jade Crown Daisy Bird. Once, as I rode through a forest, it turned dark and three birds such as nighthawks began singing around.
Another time I shot a wild duck and threw its body by the lake after plucking out its feathers. Then I secretly observed for about 10 minutes and found a fox emerging from the grass and walking in the direction of the carcass of the wild duck. Two Turkish vultures also flew from the air to the lake, and the three animals ate the wild ducks together... I saw this scene in the distance using binoculars, and it felt so realistic.
But as a bird hunter, I noticed that there were minor errors in some of the depictions of birds in Red Dead Redemption 2, and I felt obligated to point them out. In addition to snowy egrets, for example, San Denis has many little egrets, but in North America, flocks of egrets are rare; the California quail in the game is actually a northern bobwhite. For some reason, tanager is divided into scarlet tanagers and western tanagers in the game. Overall, though, red dead redemption 2 is arguably the best video game in terms of depicting american bird life.
That doesn't mean that only bird hunters can feel the magic of Red Dead Redemption 2. In the age of game stories, the vast majority of people regarded birds and the entire natural world as objects of plunder, rather than appreciating them. All animals in the game can be hunted, eaten, or made into clothes. You can make bows and arrows out of feathers, or you can make clothes from the feathers of some special birds. All components can be traded.
In those days, unregulated hunting posed a huge threat to the survival of birds — several species of herons were once endangered due to high demand for certain egret feathers that could be used to make fancy hats (snowy heron feathers in the game cost $2.50 per unit). In the early twentieth century, lack of habitat and overhunting led to the extinction of the Carolina parrot. It was because of the extensive destruction of the natural environment by humans that at the initiative of the National Audubon Society, the United States Congress enacted the Migratory Bird Agreement Act in 1918 and enacted more laws to protect the environment in the following decades.
In the game, however, players can only improve by killing.
Red Dead Redemption 2 doesn't shy away from these questions. If you deflect one shot, the animal will be injured, screaming in pain and trying to escape. In order to obtain meat or a certain body part, you need to peel off their skin, and the animation process is horribly clear... The game will also allow you to experience the human impact on the natural environment. In fact, the catastrophic intersection of humans and nature is one of the themes of this game. From The Factory Chimney of Saint-Denis to the Owanjila Dam, many of the scenes in the game make me think that humans are destroying the environment, and I can even imagine dirt roads turning into busy highways, and green meadows turning into residential developments one day in the future. Red Dead Redemption 2 presents an idealized version of the natural world, but you can really feel lost.
Of course, as a bird hunter, I don't need to learn this lesson. I am well aware that bird populations have been declining, habitats are becoming fewer and fewer, and living environments are deteriorating. Red Dead Redemption 2 evokes a strong sense of sadness and loss, but I'm often desperate about the status quo and prefer to be outdoors to embrace true nature. My mother always advised me not to play video games and to play outside, but Red Dead Redemption 2 was the first game that made me really want to do it.
This article is compiled from: audubon.org
原文标题：《birding like it’s 1899: inside a blockbuster american west video game》
Original author: nicholas lund