Changes: Creatures

Latest revision as of 15:55, 6 October 2018

Creatures is the first game in the Creatures series (full listing). The game is no longer available by itself, but can be purchased as part of Creatures: The Albian Years. The word Creatures is also used in plural to refer to the A-life animals which are the focus of the games.

Creatures, the Game

The original Creatures game was set in Albia. It featured Norns, Grendels, and a few minor inhabitants of Albia

Creatures_Introduction — Creatures Introduction

The Creatures Introductory Video

to occupy the player's creatures. There was no set objective - although players were given a "score" in the Performance Kit, no restrictions were placed on gameplay, and breeders, COBblers, and even norn torturers were free to pursue their own objectives. The game was limited by the technology of 1996, being restricted to a 256-colour palette (background images are available at C2 Back), bamboo architecture and occasional background sounds rather than the ambient music which evolved in later titles.

Read the Creatures Credits.

Game Requirements

Creatures was published for two platforms - Windows 3.1/95, and Mac OS 7.5

Original Windows System Requirements

Windows 3.1 or Windows 95
Pentium 60 or faster
Double Speed CD-ROM (300k/sec)
16-bit Sound Card
256 Colours @640x480
8MB RAM & 40MB of hard drive disk space

Windows NT/2k/XP compatibility is possible through an installer patch and upgrading to at least Creatures 1.02.

A version of Creatures: The Albian Years may be purchased from GOG.com, which is designed to work on newer Windows systems, such as Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Official Breeds

Interesting Facts

A real model was used to create the Albian backdrop in Creatures.
The original boxed edition of the game was accompanied by a helpful booklet, The Chronicles of Nornia.
Creatures was first pitched by Steve Grand in the form of a 'Mouse for Windows' - a little desktop pet that would need to be fed and watered, and who would interact with the desktop icons and windows. Millennium didn't bite.
A second attempt at a pitch was dubbed 'Little Computer Ewoks' (compare Little Computer People) by Steve Grand himself, for lack of a better name. It is interesting to note that this proposal appears to be the earliest manifestation of Creatures as we know it today. It also interesting to note that the phrase 'Little Computer Ewoks' was also used by Erin's father when he was first shown the game!
The development title for Creatures was eventually set to 'Small Furry Creatures' - the game also became known as 'Creatures 1' (or just 'C1') after Creatures 2 was (eventually) released.
Creatures was first envisaged and developed as a top-down adventure/RPG game set in the Amazon, where the player would find an abandoned Norn community; much time was spent on this before deciding to base the game around the A-life concept itself (See Vanimals)
The final design of the Norn as we know it is actually quite different that the original: Steve Grand originally imagined Norns to be 'gawky and awkward' - early images of Norns even resembled chickens!
Grendels were originally described as monsters, resembling huge, titanium spiders, complete with eight eyes and a voracious appetite for Norns. Eek!
As aging and disease was introduced late in the game (See history), the death of Norns was meant to be enforced by a gene... however, the gene misfired and had no effect! Norns died through illness though, as originally intended, which greatly pleased Steve Grand. (Tarlia later created the Edited C1 Genomes, which included a working "die of old age" gene.)
The music from the title movie ended up as part of a published CD from the Cyberlife musician Andrew Barnabas - You can listen to the extended version of the Creatures Montage!

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Infobox game
-{{cleanup}}
+| name         = Creatures
+| image        =
+| caption      =
+| developer    =
+| publisher    =
+| release      = 24 July 1996
+| platform     = Windows and Macintosh
+| genre        =
+| modes        =
+| media        =
+| input        =
+| requirements = see Game Requirements
+}}
 '''Creatures''' is the first game in the [[Creatures series]] ([[:Category: Creatures games|full listing]]). The game is no longer available by itself, but can be purchased as part of [[Creatures - The Albian Years|Creatures: The Albian Years]]. The word [[Creature]]s is also used in plural to refer to the [[A-life]] animals which are the focus of the games.
 ==Creatures, the Game==
 [[Image:Hatchingnorn.jpg|right|frame|A hatching [[Norn]]]]
-The original Creatures game was set in [[Albia]]. It featured [[Norn]]s, [[Grendel]]s, and a few minor inhabitants of Albia to occupy the player's creatures. There was no set objective - although players were given a "score" in the [[Breeder's Kit]], no restrictions were placed on gameplay, and [[breed]]ers, [[COBbler]]s, and even [[norn torture]]rs were free to pursue their own objectives. The game was limited by the technology of [[history#1996|1996]], being restricted to a 256-colour palette (background images are available at [[C2 Back]]), bamboo architecture and occasional background sounds rather than the ambient [[music]] which evolved in later titles.
+The original Creatures game was set in [[Albia]]. It featured [[Norn]]s, [[Grendel]]s, and a few minor inhabitants of Albia[[File:Creatures Introduction|thumb|302px|right|The Creatures Introductory Video]] to occupy the player's creatures. There was no set objective - although players were given a "score" in the [[Performance Kit]], no restrictions were placed on gameplay, and [[breed]]ers, [[COBbler]]s, and even [[norn torture]]rs were free to pursue their own objectives. The game was limited by the technology of [[history#1996|1996]], being restricted to a 256-colour palette (background images are available at [[C2 Back]]), bamboo architecture and occasional background sounds rather than the ambient [[music]] which evolved in later titles.
 ''Read the [[Creatures Credits]].''
 ==Game Requirements==
 Creatures was published for two platforms - Windows 3.1/95, and Mac OS 7.5
+====Original Windows System Requirements====
-====Windows System Requirements====
 *Windows 3.1 or Windows 95
 *Pentium 60 or faster
@@ Line 20: / Line 32: @@
 Windows NT/2k/XP compatibility is possible through an installer patch and upgrading to at least Creatures 1.02.
+A version of [[Creatures: The Albian Years]] may be purchased from [http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/creatures_the_albian_years GOG.com], which is designed to work on newer Windows systems, such as Windows Vista and Windows 7.
-==Official breeds==
-<div style="float:right"><youtube width="320px" height="240px">dpbkhtsrLbc</youtube></div>
+==Official Breeds==
-*[[Brown Mouse Norn]]
-*[[White Haired Pixie Norn]]
+*[[Banana Norn]]
+*[[White Haired Pixie Norn]]
 *[[Horse Norn]]
 *[[Santa Norn]] '96
 *[[Purple Mountain Norn]]
 *[[Forest Norn]]
 *[[Ron Norn]]
@@ Line 36: / Line 49: @@
 * The original boxed edition of the game was accompanied by a helpful booklet, [[The Chronicles of Nornia]].
 * Creatures was first pitched by [[Steve Grand]] in the form of a 'Mouse for Windows' - a little desktop pet that would need to be fed and watered, and who would interact with the desktop icons and windows. [[Millennium]] didn't bite.
-* A second attempt at a pitch was dubbed 'Little Computer Ewoks' (compare [[Wikipedia:Little Computer People|Little Computer People]]) by [[Steve Grand|Steve]] himself, for lack of a better name. It is interesting to note that this proposal appears to be the earliest manifestation of Creatures as we know it today. It also interesting to note that the phrase 'Little Computer Ewoks' was also used by [[Erin|Erin's]] father when he was first shown the game!
+* A second attempt at a pitch was dubbed 'Little Computer Ewoks' (compare [[Wikipedia:Little Computer People|Little Computer People]]) by [[Steve Grand]] himself, for lack of a better name. It is interesting to note that this proposal appears to be the earliest manifestation of Creatures as we know it today. It also interesting to note that the phrase 'Little Computer Ewoks' was also used by [[Erin|Erin's]] father when he was first shown the game!
 * The development title for Creatures was eventually set to '[[Small Furry Creatures]]' - the game also became known as 'Creatures 1' (or just 'C1') after [[Creatures 2]] was (eventually) released.
-* Creatures was first envisaged and developed as a top-down adventure/RPG game set in the [[Wikipedia:Amazon Rainforest|Amazon]], where the player would find an abandoned norn community; much time was spent on this before deciding to base the game around the [[Alife]] concept itself (see ''[http://fp.cyberlifersrch.plus.com/creaturesarchive/vanimalspitch.htm vanimals]'')
+* Creatures was first envisaged and developed as a top-down adventure/RPG game set in the [[Wikipedia:Amazon Rainforest|Amazon]], where the player would find an abandoned Norn community; much time was spent on this before deciding to base the game around the [[A-life]] concept itself (''See [http://web.archive.org/web/20080927203150/http://fp.cyberlifersrch.plus.com/creaturesarchive/vanimalspitch.htm Vanimals]'')
-* The final design of the norn as we know it is actually quite different that the original: Steve Grand originally imagined norns to be 'gawky and awkward' - early images of norns even resembled chickens!
+* The final design of the Norn as we know it is actually quite different that the original: [[Steve Grand]] originally imagined Norns to be 'gawky and awkward' - early images of Norns even resembled chickens!
-* [[Grendel]]s were originally described as monsters, resembling huge, titanium spiders, complete with eight eyes and a voracious appetite for norn. Eek!
+* [[Grendel]]s were originally described as monsters, resembling huge, titanium spiders, complete with eight eyes and a voracious appetite for Norns. Eek!
-* As [[aging]] and [[disease]] was introduced late in the game (''see [[history]]''), the death of [[norn]]s was meant to be enforced by a gene... however, the gene misfired and had no effect! Norns died through [[illness]] though, as originally intended, which greatly pleased [[Steve Grand]].
+* As [[aging]] and [[disease]] was introduced late in the game (''See [[history]]''), the death of [[Norn]]s was meant to be enforced by a gene... however, the gene misfired and had no effect! Norns died through [[illness]] though, as originally intended, which greatly pleased [[Steve Grand]]. (''Tarlia later created the [http://ctopia.treesprite.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1216&p=20931 Edited C1 Genomes], which included a working "die of old age" gene.'')
-* The music from the title movie ended up as part of a published CD from the Cyberlife musician [[Andrew Barnabas]] - you can listen to the extended version of ''[[Creatures Montage]]'' here!
+* The music from the title movie ended up as part of a published CD from the Cyberlife musician [[Andrew Barnabas]] - You can listen to the extended version of the ''[[Creatures Montage]]''!
 ==Related links==
@@ Line 49: / Line 62: @@
 ==External links==
-* [http://fp.cyberlifersrch.plus.com/creaturesarchive/creatures_history.htm Creatures History] as told by [[Steve Grand]]
+* [http://web.archive.org/web/20081028181218/http://fp.cyberlifersrch.plus.com/creaturesarchive/creatures_history.htm Creatures History] as told by [[Steve Grand]]
-* [http://www.gamewaredevelopment.co.uk/creatures_more.php?id=453_0_6_0_M26 Mythology behind Creatures]
+* [http://www.gamewaredevelopment.com/creatures_more.php?id=453_0_6_0_M26 Mythology behind Creatures]
-* [[Wikipedia:Creatures|Wikipedia article on Creatures]]
+* [[Wikipedia:Creatures (artificial life program)|Wikipedia article on Creatures]]
-*[http://www.computerandvideogames.com/r/?page=http://www.computerandvideogames.com/reviews/reviews_story.php(que)id=2854 Review of Creatures]
+* [http://www.humanist.de/erik/Review_of_Creatures/creature.htm Review of Creatures]
-__NOTOC__[[Category: Creatures games|Creatures 1]][[Category: Creatures|Creatures 1]]
+__NOTOC__[[fr:Creatures]]
-[[fr:Creatures]]
+[[Category: Creatures Games|Creatures 1]]
+[[Category: Creatures|Creatures 1]]