- "Once upon a time, everybody was happy in a city, until SUDDENLY DINOSAURS."
- — Dino Attack in a Nutshell
"Sacrifice" from Dino Attack in a Nutshell: Epilogue
Dino Attack in a Nutshell is a Garry's Mod parody of Dino Attack RPG.
Plot Summary[]
Dino Attack in a Nutshell is a story read by Gordon Freeman from Rosalina's storybook.
City 17 is suddenly attacked by dinosaurs. Male_04, who is secretly a dinosaur, attempts to befriend Rappy. Female_01, who keeps getting interrupted by Navi, breaks up with him after learning his true identity. BLU Spy disagrees with Male_04 and unleashes Chaos, but even he fears Ninja Spy and Ninja Heavy.
The Combine time travel to DeGroot Keep, where they are killed.
Male_04 meets Dr. Kleiner in his laboratory, where Male_04 is made human and Dr. Kleiner is turned into a T-Rex. Male_04 and Female_01 resume their romantic relationship and go to the Antlion caves, which promptly explode. Female_01 gets rid of Navi and reveals her backstory as a Combine Assassin.
Team Fortress 2 happens at Badwater Basin.
Male_04 and his team, including RED Sniper, RED Engineer, Male_09, Eli Vance, and a Witch, go to Volcano Lair. Male_02 becomes a minion of Louis, the real villain of the story.
The team returns to City 17 and watches TV with a Vortigaunt, but the dinosaurs suddenly attack again, now led by Louis. Everybody dies, but the survivors defeat Louis by firing Male_04's ghost at him from a rocket launcher.
Epilogue[]
GRN Spy uses his computer and causes Rosalina's storybook to explode, erasing most of the story and leaving most of the cast either angry or saddened. Peabody Pyro and Drewsko Medic team up to extinguish the burning book and save whatever they can.
Character List[]
Cast:
- Male_04 (Half-Life 2) as Rex
- Rappy (Rappy 'n' Demo) as Trouble and "Maw"
- Spy (Team Fortress 2) as Frozeen, Kotua, Scorsese, Spy, and Baron Typhonus[1]
- Robot Spy (Team Fortress 2) as PBB
- Demoman (Team Fortress 2) as Greybeard, Loop, and Demoman
- Female_01 (Half-Life 2) as Amanda Claw
- Perfect Chaos (Sonic Adventure) as Chaos
- Juvenile T-Rex (Turok) as Chompy
- Coach (Left 4 Dead 2) as Cane
- Rochelle (Left 4 Dead 2) as Katerina Schattenberg
- Metro Cop (Half-Life 2) as Fogel
- Combine Soldier (Half-Life 2) as Finister
- Nova Prospekt Guard (Half-Life 2) as Fladek
- Combine Elite (Half-Life 2) as the Frickster
- Dr. Kleiner (Half-Life 2) as Dr. Rex
- Dr. Magnusson (Half-Life 2: Episode 2) as Wallace Bishop
- Mama Scarface (Turok) as Alpha Rex
- Combine Assassin (Half-Life 2 Beta) as Silencia Venomosa
- Engineer (Team Fortress 2) as Orange, Engineer, and Dr. Cyborg
- Scout (Team Fortress 2) as Verbal and Scout
- Sniper (Team Fortress 2) as Deniro, Sniper, and Dust
- Heavy (Team Fortress 2) as Keaton and Heavy
- G-Man (Half-Life 2) as Uærlig Sindstorme
- Wallace Breen (Half-Life 2) as Edward Korrupte and Walter Breen
- Soldier (Team Fortress 2) as Soldier and Rotor[1]
- Medic (Team Fortress 2) as Medic, Sam Sinister, and Andrewnuva199[1]
- Pyro (Team Fortress 2) as Pyro and PeabodySam[1]
- Male_09 (Half-Life 2) as Andrew
- Eli Vance (Half-Life 2) as Hotwire
- Male_02 (Half-Life 2) as Zachary Virchaus
- Witch (Left 4 Dead) as Kate Bishop
- Louis (Left 4 Dead) as Baron Typhonus
- Vortigaunt (Half-Life 2) as Laxus
- Judith Mossman (Half-Life 2) as Michelle Glados
- Male Scientist (Black Mesa) as Reptile[1]
- Female Resistance Ranger (Half-Life 2: Survivor) as Cabin[1]
- Robot Soldier (Team Fortress 2) as Cam O'Cozy[1]
Behind the Scenes[]
Dino Attack in a Nutshell was largely inspired by comedic Garry's Mod animations such as Half-Life: Full Life Consequences by ICTON, The Team Fortress 2 Two-Word Story by CloverNoodle, and The Gmod Suicide Mouse Survival Guide by kitty0706. PeabodySam had just received Garry's Mod a few months prior and wanted to try making a big project to learn firsthand experience from the software.
Dino Attack in a Nutshell: Epilogue was made in response to the news that the BZPower Forum Archive, including the original Dino Attack RPG, could not be restored from a hacking incident (coincidentally, several days after the original Dino Attack in a Nutshell was published). It was meant to be completed within a few weeks, but time constraints extended its development by nearly two years. During that time, PeabodySam's skills in Garry's Mod had noticeably improved, marking a shift in quality between the "Terminated" and "For Science" images.
Originally, the Epilogue would have ended with a scene depicting "How It Should Have Ended", wherein the GRN Spy is caught by a group of Pyros representing PeabodySam, Andrewnuva199, TakunuvaC01, Andrew "Pyro" Jackson, and Andrea Jackson Orange. The GRN Spy is then set on fire by their flamethrowers and screams in terror while they laugh triumphantly. PeabodySam decided not to go with this ending because, as the release date was pushed back to the tenth anniversary of Dino Attack RPG, he did not want to give the GRN Spy's character a lot of undeserved screentime, even if it was intended for catharsis. Instead, ending the video by showing the efforts of PeabodySam and Andrewnuva199 to archive the RPG seemed like a much better tribute.
Reception[]
On PeabodySam's YouTube channel, VezonWireless, Dino Attack in a Nutshell is his fifth most-viewed video, with upwards of 52,000 views as of May 2022; although it was formerly his second most-viewed video, its viewership has declined since 2020 and fallen behind other videos such as Creeping in my Soul 2007/2019 and BOB.EXE. As of May 2022, Dino Attack in a Nutshell has a rating of about 86% in terms of the "like" to "dislike" ratio. Most comments on the video tend to be positive, citing the randomness as an excellent source of comedy, while the occasional negative criticisms tend to be aimed at the hard-to-follow story, which is often confusing for those who are not familiar with Dino Attack RPG.
Viewership for Dino Attack in a Nutshell: Epilogue has been much lower, with about 1,100 views and 17 "likes" (albeit with a "like" to "dislike" ratio of 100%) as of May 2022.
Trivia[]
- Dino Attack in a Nutshell: Epilogue was uploaded onto YouTube on July 1, 2015, on the tenth anniversary of Dino Attack RPG.
- The comm chatter in the short stories First Assignment and Love and War and the narration in DINO ATTACK: Saga of a Conflict contain references to Dino Attack in a Nutshell.
- Since the release of Dino Attack in a Nutshell and its Epilogue, PeabodySam and Atton Rand have continued to recreate Dino Attack RPG scenes in Garry's Mod and Source Film Maker, respectively.
- The Dino Attack RPG: Director's Cut trailer replays the footage from Epilogue of Peabody Pyro and Drewsko Medic stabilizing Rosalina's storybook. This was originally just temporary, but PeabodySam liked how it synced with the music and decided to keep it in the final trailer.