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== Interesting Facts ==
 
== Interesting Facts ==
 +
* A ''real'' [[clay model]] was used to create the [[Albia]]n backdrop in Creatures.
 
* The original boxed edition of the game was accompanied by a helpful booklet, [[The Chronicles of Nornia]].
 
* The original boxed edition of the game was accompanied by a helpful booklet, [[The Chronicles of Nornia]].
* A ''real'' [[clay model]] was used to create the [[Albia]]n backdrop in Creatures.
 
 
* Creatures was first pitched by [[Steve Grand]] in the form of a 'Mouse for Windows' - 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.
 
* Creatures was first pitched by [[Steve Grand]] in the form of a 'Mouse for Windows' - 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]]) 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]]) 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!

Revision as of 14:14, 4 February 2005

Creatures is the first game in the Creatures series of games (full listing). This game is no longer available, 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

A hatching Norn

The original Creatures game was set in Albia and featured Norns, Grendels and much in the way of cheese and carrots. There was no set objective - although players were given a "score" in the Breeder's 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 music which evolved in latter titles.

Read the Creatures Credits.

Interesting Facts

  • A real clay 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' - 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) by 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'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.
  • The final design of the norn as we know it is actually quite different that the original: Steve Grand oringally imagined the norns to be 'gawky and awkward' - even early images of norns resembled chickens!
  • Grendels were originally described as monsters, resembling huge, titanium spiders, complete with eight eyes and a voracious appetite for norn. Eek!
  • As ageing 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 anyway, as originally intended, which greatly pleased Steve Grand.

Game Requirements

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

Windows

  • 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 compatability is possible through an installer patch and upgrading to at least Creatures 1.02.

Macintosh

  • PowerMac
  • System 7.5 or higher
  • Double Speed CD-ROM (300k/sec)
  • 256 Colours @640x480
  • 8MB RAM with 8MB Virtual Memory (16MB without Virtual Memory)
  • 35MB of hard drive space (+memory size if using Virtual Memory. See Mac Advisory for more details)

It was possible to run under System 8.0, however there were few problems with the Health Kit and scrolling performance. To work around these:

You have to set the System font to CHICAGO in the APPEARANCE CONTROL PANEL. Restart the computer and the Health Kit should work just fine. For added performance improvements, also turn off the system wide platinum appearance in the appearance control. After this scrolling should work better in Creatures.

External links