Treba the One-Drive Norn

Looking through some of my recent posts... I haven't done a crazy genetic experiment in a while! Time to change that.

A while ago I was reading one of Jessica's posts on Discover Albia and it got me thinking: what would happen if you ticked "Winner takes all" in the drive lobe? It would mean the Norn could only feel one drive at once, but how would that actually affect the Norn in a practical way?

I think you know where this is going...

So, in this Norn I'm only going to make one single change: switching the drive lobe to WTA. If you're not familiar with what that option does, it makes it so that only one neuron can fire in the lobe at once, and the neuron which has the strongest value will be the one to fire. In the context of the drive lobe, it means that only the most pressing need will registered by the Norn.

Meet Treba, a cute little Cheri Norn whose wellbeing and happiness I have probably just permanently destroyed. But we'll see how she turns out.

Blog Carnival Day 7

And now it's time for the final blog carnival post for this year's CCSF. It's been really fun to see what others have to say about the topics and to write about them myself. The final topic:

"Why do you like Creatures? If your interest in it has come and gone and come again, what brings you back? Despite how hard it can be to run on modern machines and the total lack of official support now, why do you play?"

Why do I love Creatures? Because I love my creatures! It's as simple as that. You can't go past how adorable those sweet lil Norns are, silly as they may be. Seeing them interact and wander about is simply a delight.

On the other hand, I love how complex the game is in regards to the genetics. There's just no other games like it, with the way that it simulates a whole brain for the creatures, and how every gene is mapped out thoughtfully.

Another thing is the innovation it allows - you could go into the genetics kit and completely change everything to make Norns work in new ways. And if you invest the time to learn CAOS, you can also make your own objects to put into the game.

It's interesting that the question specifically mentions interest in the game waning and returning, because that is something that's happened to me in the past. And really, I think what brings me back is simply that I'd open the game again and be struck by this sudden wave of: "OMG, I remember this, I bloody love this!". As soon as I start to hear the sounds of Albia again I just feel so totally immersed and it just feels so right and all the reasons I love Creatures just come rushing back to me, especially because the things I love Creatures for aren't really things I've ever seen in a video game outside Creatures.

I think it really all boils down to just how unique the game is. I've never seen another game anywhere that's even remotely like this.

Blog Carnival Day 6

It's time for the second-last topic:

"What do you think of the mythology and backstory of creatures? Do you have any favorite background details in the world? Any pet theories or thoughts, or questions you would like answered?"

I'll admit a fact that makes me sad, which is that I actually don't know an awful lot about the mythology and backstory of Creatures. I could tell you that the Shee are the ancient creators of a bunch of different technologies and stuff (I think...?) and that Norns and Grendels (maybe Ettins and the Shee too, but I'm not sure) were named based on a couple of things from real life mythology. That's essentially the extent of my knowledge regarding the mythology. And like I said, this makes me sad.

So, to answer the part "Any questions you would like answered?" my answer is, "Everything! Tell me where I can learn all this wonderful stuff!"

So I've made a solution: I'm going to go look up about all this Creatures mythology and come back and tell you the most interesting things I've found. I'm going to write this as I look stuff up so expect it to be a bit messy.

Blog Carnival Day 5

Today's topic:

"Do you create content for Creatures? If so, what sorts? What do you use to make things, and what would you like to make in the future? If not, what would you like to make if you could?"

This is going to be a very short post. I don't really create content for the Creature; I don't make COBs or breeds or anything like that. The closest thing would be my weird genetic experiments and this blog.

My genetic experiments haven't really discovered/proved anything really cool yet, though they might be entertaining to read about, so I don't really know if those count.

I guess blogging is a form of creating content, though it's more content for the Creatures community rather than for Creatures itself. My process for blogging isn't really structured; I kind of just do whatever I feel in the game like then vomit my thoughts about it and descriptions of what happened onto a text document and BAM! Blog post done.

That lat question does apply to me though: what content would I like to make? Oooo. I think, if I could, I would honestly like to try and make everything, but that's a nonspecific and really rather boring answer, so I'll narrow it down to the one thing I'd like to do most. Unsurprisingly enough, I would really like to be able to make weird/interesting genetic breeds that actually do what I intended them to and don't have a million other faults. Maybe one day I'll achieve this. One day...

Blog Carnival Day 4

Halfway through the blog carnival! Here's today's prompt:

"What COBs/agents/breeds/metarooms/etc do you use the most? What would you like to see more of? Less of? What pet peeves do you have with add-ons? What do you love to see?"

I don't think I've downloaded a COB in aaaagggges. Mostly I just chuck the COBs in the world to begin with and don't really think about what ones I have in there.

I think the COB I use the most often is probably the cheese vendor made by SteerPike. It's just so useful for getting nutritious food for my Norns with the minimum of trouble.

The Grendel Friendly COB deserves a shout-out too. It's a great tool for making sure there's no troubles with the Grendel trying to slap all the Norns, even when the Grendel is technically trying to tickle them. It must be a relief for the Grendel.

As for breeds, my favourite would have to be the Cheri Norns made by Nello! They're such a cute breed (you can download them here). I wish I had more of them in my worlds.

As for what I'd like to see more of? It's quite a weird little thing, but I'd actually love to see more COBs done in the art style of Creatures 1. There are plenty of COBs that fulfil this, true, but there's plenty that don't and it would be nice to see more that do.

It would be cool to see more breeds being created, too; I know that sprite breeds aren't so popular to make because they're so time-consuming, but hey, I can dream, can't I?