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Sunday, April 19, 2015

Like being a Newbie Again

Creatures 1 is probably the most foreign game in the series to me. C2 was my first Creatures game and I spent a crazy amount of time tearing it apart as a kid. C3/DS/CV all run on extremely similar engines; I understand the inner workings of those better than I understand the layout of my own town. But Creatures 1 has remained a mystery, and other than a little bit of dabbling here and there, I've never actually sat down and seriously played the game.

When it comes to matters of Creatures 1, however, we have a relative expert in our community: Jessica of Discover Albia. I've always been curious as to why Creatures 1 is her game of choice, especially with all the advancements we've made as a community to improve the newer games. After consulting with her, I've gotten the impression that there just seems to be something about C1 norns that makes them easier to get attached to, easier to, well, love.

As many of you know, creating emotionally attachable creatures is something I have been trying to accomplish for the majority of my life as a developer, so with this insight in mind, I think it's about time I take a very serious look at Creatures 1.

For now, I've decided to play the game completely and totally vanilla; installed straight from GoG with no COBs, cheats, or patches. This will probably change as time goes on and I realize certain fixes are needed, but I want to introduce myself to those slowly rather than all at once. For now, I want to experience Creatures as someone really trying it out for the first time and see what ancient knowledge this game might hold about what truly makes norns lovable.

I have decided to document this playthrough, however long or short it may be, through videos. Each will be under ten minutes and will encompass the highlights of 20-30 minutes of playtime. More or less, this is for my own records, but I hope some of you might enjoy watching them too.


In this first video, I hatch my first pair of norns, teach them their verbs, and send them off into the world to push whatever they may. Wish them luck as I try to figure out what the heck I am doing.

11 comments:

  1. Hi Aiko, Loved your video. I think the 'get yes' is them saying that they need to get tickles from the hand.

    http://discoveralbia.com/2011/07/adventures-in-population-expansion.html
    http://thecreaturearch.blogspot.com/2012/01/norns-need-love.html

    You might also find the Encyclopedia Nornica useful as a cob - it teaches more words than the learning computer does.

    http://creatures.treesprite.com/Slink1.html

    You'll also want some extra food, I recommend a cheese vendor:

    http://www.creaturescaves.com/downloads.php?section=COBs&view=776
    or the cellar cheese:

    http://www.creaturescaves.com/downloads.php?section=COBs&view=1268 (although there is some in one of the kits).

    Glad you're having fun figuring out C1! :D

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    1. Awww, I appreciate the tips Malkin :> So 'get yes' is basically begging for affection? That's so adorable.

      I considered trying the encyclopedia.. is there really no way in vanilla C1 for creatures to learn emotions/expressive words? That seems like a bit of an oversight if so.

      Extra food would probably be helpful, as you can probably tell I tend to have a bit of a hard time finding some at times, heh. I've already recorded the second play session, but I'll probably at least add in some extra food going forward. Thanks again :>

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  2. Thank you for the kind words, Amai! Malkin hit on some of the points I think I was going to make, especially in terms of the "get yes" confusion. I actually replaced those vocabulary words to "good" and "bad" since the sentences (if one can call them that) make a little more sense. I believe it's tied in with the need for pleasure (NFP) drive. Incidentally, this is about the only emotion you can easily understand, since Norns tend to express it in this way.

    It really is a shame about the lack of vocabulary for emotions/drives/needs. Malkin's suggestion is the best one available. I have an idea in mind for a COB (which we've talked about briefly) although that's going to take some time. I use a combination of the Observation Kit, Health Kit, and Science Kit when I need to figure out what's wrong with anyone. Usually a honeypot, a few tickles, and a little quiet time solves the majority of sad faces!

    I'm looking forward to following along as you (and your cat) play C1! Hope you're enjoying it, even though it can be challenging at times!

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    1. I just find it so very odd that the game didn't ship with a way for norns to learn all their words! With the help of those kits though, so far it hasn't been too difficult to figure things out. So far things are going okay... I really dread the inevitable first illness though!

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  3. "Get yes" appears to mean they want praise/tickles. Try teaching them to say "good", that's less puzzling! ;D

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    1. Agh that's just so CUTE. I'm going to end up tickling these little suckers to death!

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  4. Omg. That. Was. Hilarious.
    I don't know who's cuter, the Norns or your commentary.
    It is very strange that the game never shipped with a way to teach the Norns how to emote, especially considering they CAN emote. Put it down to horrible deadlines.
    Definitely looking forward to more of these. Had me giggling the whole time.

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    1. Aww, I'm glad you found it amusing! I haven't been able to record any more videos lately due to sickness stealing my voice, but I'll be posting the next couple I recorded beforehand pretty soon :>

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  5. I know this is a couple months old, but the Encyclopedia Nornica COB teaches norns all the words, even for emotions.

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  6. I use the norn encyclopedia cob.... I'm lazy with teaching them.

    Do any of know how to work C3? if you do please make a video on how to make it work! and to inject cobs and new breeds and new worlds!
    from: Norn loving kitty.

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  7. Dang this was so fun and cute to watch. C1 was my first creatures when I played at age.... 7? Like 20 years ago. But I would teach them all the words and never use the norn view app and tell them -what- they were looking at was... so I guess my norns in EVERY Creatures iteration never quite got a proper education beyond slapping them when they hit other norns. Really gonna do that from now on... it looks like it makes the game so much more fun... Instead of hatching 6 uneducated norns and coming back to like 30 later and seeing the interesting mixes.

    It's fun seeing you get joy out of it though <3 I love creatures 1 norns...

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