PaleoCraft Mod is not a mod about the popular diet, rather its a mod about dinosaurs! PaleoCraft adds several dinosaurs to your game, of the flying, the swimming, and the walking kind. However, it differs from most other dinosaur mods in that it tries to take a scientific approach to the dinosaurs and their behaviors. It adds “realistic” dinosaurs to your game, if you will.
It features several different species of dinosaurs from different eras of when the dinosaurs roamed the planet, and it also features a whole new dimension. The dimension is currently disabled though, as the creator wants to remake it completely, as such it is unaccesible for the time being. It will be added in a future installment of this mod though.
Important: this mod requires Minecraft Forge in order to function.
The various dinosaurs added are:
Land dinosaurs:
- Baryonyx. This medium-sized theropod dinosaur was native to Cretaceous Europe. It is large, with huge claws, and crocodile-like jaws, with which it snags fish from lakes and streams. It is a predator of fish mainly, but can be territorial, so keep a good distance to it unless you want it to start hunting larger prey. Encroach, and it will be aggressive. It is a fairly noisy creature however, so avoiding it shouldn’t be hard. It is usually found around large bodies of fresh water, so in Minecraft, look for them in swamp and river biomes. It feeds on fish and small animals, so other dinosaurs aren’t on its menu. However, they may attack it if they feel threatened.
- Citipati. This small oviraptorosaur was native to Cretaceous Mongolia. It somewhats resembles a chicken, due to the colors of its crest and the two wattles hanging from its neck. It is pretty much harmless to players, and will flee if you attack it. It is found in dry areas, so look for it in scrublands and desert biomes. It is omnivorous, and feeds on plants as well as smaller animals. It will happily eat chickens despite looking somewhat like one, so keep them away from any chickens you don’t want dead.
- Dromaeosaurus. This dromaeosaurid is very popular, often known under its other name, the raptor. It was native to Cretaceous North America, and was the first dromaeosaurid to be discovered. It is covered in red and brown feathers, and is small-to-medium sized. It can be tamed if you feed it raw meat, and once tamed, will follow you around, attack for you, and defend you, similar to wolves. They don’t deal a lot of damage though. It prefers temperate biomes, and can be found in rainforests, plains, and cold forest biomes. It is a fierce predator, but don’t worry, only hunts smaller animals such as chickens. They will hunt any in their vicinity, so keep them away from your farms.
- Troodon. This troodontid theropod was native to Cretaceous North America. The Trodoon had one of the of the biggest brains of any dinosaur, relative to its body size. It is a fairly shy and nocturnal creature, so they will often try to run and hide from any predator or players. It has black, crow-like feathers, which helps them blend into the darkness of night, when it hunts. It is a quite adaptable creature, and can be found in temperate forests, scrublands, and plains. It is primarily a predator, and will sometimes prey on smaller animals such as chickens (again, keep away from chickens you want to keep alive!). It can however eat plants, carrion, or insects, should the need arise.
- Compsognathus. This small comsognathid was native to Jurassic Europe. Often pictured as a pack hunter of larger prey in popular media, there is no basis for this, and in reality it only ate small lizards and insects, and had feathers like other dromaeosaurid. Its feathers are green, and looks similar to a Trodoon, only smaller in size. They are harmless, and do not react to players or dinosaurs in any way. They are found in grassy biomes with lots of vegetation, such as tropical forests. It mainly eats insects, but can also subsist on small vertebrate animals like lizards.
- Massospondylus. This large bipedal dinosaur was native to Jurassic Africa. Its most notable features are its large size, and very long neck. It is dark grey in color, with some purple stripes. It is very docile, and as such, pretty much harmless, so it doesn’t reach to players, and some dinosaurs. It will however flee from larger predators looking for their next easy meal. They prefer areas with lots of vegetation, as it is a herbivore.
- Spinosaurus. This massive predatory theropod was native to Cretaceous Africa. It is speculated to primarily eat fish, and would probably have spent a considerable time in water. It is mostly aquatic in PaleoCraft, where it will search for food. It won’t hesitate to attack any small prey that wanders too close though. It can usually be found in areas with large bodies of water, such as shorelines and lakes, but it also requires land. While it primarily eats fish, the fish it eats are often as large, if not large, than the average human, so it is more than willing to hunt similar sized land-based prey. Extreme caution is warranted.
- Cryolophosaurus. This medium-sized dilophosaurid theropod was native to Jurassic Antarctica. It is known for its crest, which it used to attract mates. It is brown in color, and has grey feathers covering its top body parts. Its crest is orange-red, and its snout is yellow, making it resemble a beak. It is territorial, so it will attack if you get too close. It is usually found in colder climates, so cold forests are likely to harbor some of these beasts. It primarily feeds on prosauropods, but will eat any large herbivore around.
Air dinosaurs:
- Dimorphodon. This small pterosaur was native to early Jurassic Europe. It has a large head, sometimes as large as its body. It can be very noise in large groups, but is otherwise quite harmless. It is found in tropical and temperate climates, as well as swamps, so look for it in jungle and swamp biomes. It primarily eats insects, but can also eat fish, fruit, and even carrion.
- Quetzalcoatlus. This large pterodactyloid pterosaur was native to late Cretaceous North America. Its most distinct features are its massive size, and razor-sharp beak. It is has a brightly colored crest, which scientists suspect was used in mating rituals. It is orange, with a visibly blue crest. It likes to hang out on cliffs which provides it with easy take-off opportunities, and can use its amazing eyesight to home in on dinner far away. It is primarily a scavenger carrion, but can occasionally hunt and snag juvenile dinosaurs. It leaves the player mostly alone though.
Sea dinosaurs:
- Tylosaurus. This large predatory mosasaur was native to Cretaceous North America. It has 4 flippers and a long finned tail, as well as large jaws it uses to grab food. Its skin is blue, with traces of white on its belly and face. It is very aggressive, so take great care when you find yourself in open ocean. Oceans are also its favored environment, so you’ll often find them here. Don’t expect them in lakes of large ponds though, thankfully. It feeds on fish, sharks, and squids, or generally anything else that happens to pass its mouth and be the right side (this includes players).
- Megalodon. This massive shark is thought to have been the biggest of all sharks, weighing up to a 100 tons, and being 60 feet long. It resembles a huge great white shark, it has grey scales, a white belly, a long tail fin, and some big pectoral and dorsal fins. It is extremely aggressive and territorial, and will attack anything the second it lays eyes on it, you included. It prowls the oceans, but lakes and ponds are luckily free of this giant predator. They are not picky about what they eat, and their menu consists of fish, dolphins, seals, you, and even whales. Basically, anything smaller or of similar size, it will eat.
That’s just some of the dinosaurs that the creators want to add to this mod, many more are to come in the future, along with new features, dimensions, and such. Currently though, the dinosaurs are the main feature of this mod. A few new blocks are added, but they don’t really matter much. You can also craft a fossil, but currently it has no use, as it is to be used to open a portal to another dimension.
The mod really wants to be scientifically accurate, and presents a learning opportunity to anyone interested in dinosaurs. If you just think they’re cool, then this mod works too.
The dinosaurs themselves might be somewhat rare, so don’t be surprised if you have a hard time finding some right away. This is being worked on though, and they should become more common in newer versions of the mod.
5 new biomes are also to be included in the mod, but it is unclear if they are already. Personally, I did not come across any of them while testing the mod, so it might be for a future release.
This mod is also a lot about building habitats for these dinosaurs, similar to Jurassic Park, but so far, you will have to use normal Minecraft blocks for this.
For more information about this mod and its dinosaurs, what habitats for them should include and more, check out the official wiki.
How to install the PaleoCraft Mod for Minecraft:
- Download the mod.
- Install Minecraft Forge.
- Open your Minecraft folder (in Windows: Start -> Run -> “%appdata%\.minecraft”).
- Copy the mod .jar file(s) you downloaded to the “mods” folder, found inside the .minecraft folder.
- That’s it, PaleoCraft should now be installed and ready to be played. Enjoy and have fun, and beware of the new beasts roaming the land!
Here is a mod spotlight by ThnxCya, check it out for a better look at this mod in motion: