The Vogelkop Bowerbird

In the mountains of Vogelkop, Western New Guinea, the Vogelkop Bowerbird can be found building its bower. It takes many years to build. In order to pass on its genes to the next generation it is essential that the bower is more seductive than that of its rivals, many of whom are building their own bowers nearby.

You can collect mushrooms, charcoal and beetles to make your bower more seductive. Once you find one, pick it up by pressing P and bring it back to your bower, then place it inside your bower by pressing L. A progress bar will increase as your bower becomes more seductive. There are multiple combinations possible, but in general you should focus on one kind of mushroom. Then, once the bar increases, you collect other kinds and also charcoal and beetles.

Important: If by pressing P the beak does not reach the object, press E instead. This is particularly important when catching beetles.

Once the bar is full, press C to perform a courtship dance to summon the female. It may take her a while to arrive, depending on where she currently is, so please be patient. On arrival, she will carefully inspect your bower. If she is satisfied, she will open her mouth and expose herself, revealing her behind which will appear red. To mate with her, simply go up behind her and press C.

The Vogelkop Bowerbird is a wonderful mimic, and you can hear its various songs by pressing G. It can mimic pigeon wing beats, a Modest tiger parrot, and even a Sulphur-crested cockatoo.

Based on the BBC Natural History series "Life", Episode 5.

The superb bird models are by Junnichi Suko, available on the Unity Asset Store.

FAQ

After the splash screen, there is a lengthy pause. Has the game crashed?
No, but there is currently no loading screen. The game should load in less than 30 seconds

What should I do if my bird gets stuck?
In a few areas, especially when the bird is on top of rocks or branches, it can get stuck. Sometimes this can be fixed by simply waiting for it to do its hop animation, then use the arrow keys to guide it away. If not, then press R to reposition the bird in a safe place.

How do I stop the bird from hopping around?
The bird will hop when using the WASD keys. This allows for faster movement. To get more precise movement, use the arrow keys.

Why can't my bird pick up mushrooms, charcoal or beetles?
The birds beak must be in contact with the item in order to pick it up. In order to lower the beak further to the ground, press E. This is essential when peaking up beetles.

Why does the progress bar suddenly jump when I am far from it?
This happens if a beetle wanders into your bower. The beetle's presence is highly appealing to the female. However, be warned that if the beetle wanders out of the nest, the seductive gains will be lost. If you have a beetle in your bower, you will need to do your best to keep it inside. This is especially important when the female is inspecting your bower.

Where are all the beetles? I can't find any.
Beetles are quite rare and small, and can sometimes wander under rocks or vegetation. You will need to look carefully.

What music is used for the intro scene?
There is Romance Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Known Limitations

Please note, this game is currently in development, therefore some known bugs are present.

Important: If your bird gets stuck, press R to reset its position.

The AI is the same system used in the Red-Footed Tortoise of the Amazon Rainforest, which is still awaiting an update to address some issues.

The mating ritual has been tested countless times, however, due to the nature of the AI system it may not work 100%.

The bowerbird can currently pick up mushrooms, charcoal and beetles, but only on condition that its beak can reach them. If it can't, press E so that the beak comes closer to the ground. This is essential to pick up beetles.

If you find a bug, please send me an email or report it in the comments below. My email is jonfinlay@gmail.com.

SSAA

The Vogelkop Bowerbird simulator features a state-of-the-art SSAA system. SSAA can greatly improve the quality of the image. Likewise, you can reduce the quality of the image but increase performance by reducing the in-game slider value to below 1. Leaving it set to 1 switches off SSAA. If you have purchased this game, and after setting the slider to 2 (the maximum) you still have a high FPS, please contact me and I'll add the Super-High Performance setting to the SSAA option screen.

IMPORTANT: If you experience any problems moving the slider in the Options menu, click on the bar towards the right (over the value of 1), then you can drag it as normal. The slider seems to get stuck when set below 1.

Also, due to the way SSAA functions, if you increase the value above 1 (i.e., activate SSAA) the bloom glare effect will be automatically disabled. Although the bloom effect itself will function as normal. This is due to the fact that SSAA removes the blur-effect of the glare, making it look unnatural. However, even with this limitation, SSAA is still highly recommended if you computer is powerful enough.