History VideoGame / Creatures

After ten years, [[http://blog.fishingcactus.com/index.php/2011/05/18/announcing-creatures-4-on-ios-mac-and-pc/ developer Fishing Cactus announced Creatures 4]] (later renamed Creatures Online). It was initially set to be released June 2012, but after numerous delays the publisher halted development and sold the IP to Spil Games. They planed to release a free-to-play mobile game, [[http://www.spilgames.com/press/creatures-reborn-mobile-age/ Creatures Family]], in 2017; however, it was never released and there is currently no planned release date.

* PerfectPoison: ATP Decoupler in ''C3/DS'' is incredibly deadly even in small doses, due to directly targeting the victim's ATP. While there ''is'' a cure, it's practically impossible to administer it in time, since a (non-mutated) creature will only last a few seconds before its ATP goes below the instant death threshold. If you're ''very'' unlucky, [[ThePlague bacteria in your world might mutate into carrying this toxin]].

* RevenueEnhancingDevices: ''Creatures 3''/''Docking Station'' had a large-number of add-on breeds available for purchase online. In 2009, many of them became available for free download, though the ones that came with special add-ons (the Treehugger, Hardman, Bondi, Toxic Norns, and Banshee Grendels) didn't.

* VideoGameCaringPotential
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: a small subculture of "Norn torture" developed among the fandom, spawning {{Flame War}}s here and there.

* AnthropomorphicShift: The current design for norns is more human-like than the previous ones, lacking tails, having shorter muzzles and having human-like noses, though this is still subject to change. Baby Norns' heads got [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter even bigger]], though.
* AntiFrustrationFeatures: The "slap-pet" system is replaced with a reward-punishment system that's easier to use (due to the old one being objectively flawed). Thought bubbles now appear describing the last action that the Norns did. You have the option to either reinforce the action or discouraging them.
* BribingYourWayToVictory: Fishing Cactus promises the game will be free to play with most of the content already available, but players can also purchase "golden eggs" through {{Microtransactions}}, which [[RevenueEnhancingDevices grant access to bonuses that are not necessary to progress through the game]].
* CharacterCustomization: When you start the game you can customize your first generation norns to a certain degree, and when norns breed, you can choose which traits their offspring inherit, again to a degree.

* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: Averted, now the norns have secondary sexual characteristics.
* TwoAndAHalfD: It takes place in more of a '3D side-scrolling' environment, Creatures can move in all directions and objects can be picked up by the hand regardless of where they are on the plane, the screen can also be zoomed in and out as well as the standard 2D movement.

* GameMod: ''Boatloads'' of them, from new species of norms, ettins, and grendels to whole new worlds for the creatures to explore. Check out the Creatures Wiki for more details.

%%* ArtificialBrilliance: So good it's inspired many fans to ContemplateOurNavels.
* ArtificialStupidity:

* GameMod: ''Boatloads'' of them. Seriously, just check out the Creatures Wiki.

** Played straight in the cancelled game ''Project Loci'', the BigBad of the game would have been [[AntagonistTitle titular evil AI Loci]] who had been driven insane by years of isolation.

** The violent yet tragic "Grendel" is the name of the violent yet tragic monster fought in the well-known Anglo-Saxon poem ''Beowulf.'' Additionally, the "Norns" are figures in Old Norse mythology who spin the threads of fate, but this seems to be a reference in name only.

* MixAndMatchCritter: While differents creatures normally cannot reproduce, ''Creatures 2 and 3'' have a machine called the "gene splicer" that can make a creatures out of two different ones, meaning you can make an hybrid of a Norn, a Grendel and/or an Ettin. However, this creature won't be able to reproduce. Also, the two creatures used to make the hybrid will die.

** As seen above, one of the covers of the first game inexplicably makes the Norns rabbit like.

* DarkerAndEdgier: The first game is very jolly and contains no real hazards that threaten your Norns, even the grendels are friendlier and can’t kill them. Creatures 2 and 3 are still whimsical, but take place in areas much more hazardous than the fist where your norns can now die more violently and their tones are more serious, alien, and lonely.

** Ettins are also figures in Norse mythology: large and hideous creatures, but also often attributed with great wisdom and a status of minor Gods. Here they are small and somewhat cute, though are more wise than most other creatures around.

** Averted in ''Creatures: Raised In Space'' where you need to gather stars to power the Ark and help it finally arrive at its destination.

** Creatures Adventure Inverts this, being even more cutesy and happy-go-lucky than the first game.

** As seen above, the cover of the first game inexplicably makes the Norns rabbit like.

* LighterAndSofter: ''Creatures Playground''/''Adventure'', which were intended for young children. Instead of taking place on mysterious alien words with violent beasts, they instead take place on a peaceful world inhabited by friendly creatures and the only way Norns can die is by old age.

** "Shee" is a phonetic rendering of the standard pronunciation of "[[TheFairFolk sidhe]]".

* DarkerAndEdgier: The first game is very jolly and contains no real hazards that threaten your Norns, even the grendels are friendlier and can’t kill them. Creatures 2 and 3 are still whimsical, but take place in areas much more hazardous than the fist and their tones are more serious and melancholy.

* LighterAndSofter: ''Creatures Playground''/''Adventure'', which were intended for young children.

** "Grendel" is the name of the monster fought in the well-known Anglo-Saxon poem ''Beowulf.'' Additionally, the "Norns" are figures in Old Norse mythology who spin the threads of fate, but this seems to be a reference in name only.
** Ettins are also figures in Norse mythology: large and hideous creatures, but also often attributed with great wisdom and a status of minor Gods.

* MixAndMatchCritter: While differents creatures normally cannot reproduce, ''Creatures 2 and 3'' have a machine called the "gene splicer" can make a creatures out of two different ones, meaning you can make an hybrid of a Norn, a Grendel and an Ettin. However this creature won't be able to reproduce. Also, the two creatures used to make the hybrid will die.

* MixAndMatchCritter: While differents creatures normally cannot reproduce, ''Creatures 2 and 3'' have a machine called the "gene splicer" can make a creatures out of two different ones, meaning you can make an hybrid of a Norn, a Grendel and an Ettin. However this creature won't be able to reproduce. Also the two creatures used to make the hybrid will die.

* NonhumanHumanoidHybrid: Various combinations between Norns, Ettins and Grendels are possible via the gene splicer or fanmade [=COBs=]/agents. In ''C2;;, these tend to be unviable.

* MedicalGame: The player will have to heal some Norns suffering from infectuous diseases or who have been poisoned.

** "Grendel" is the name of the (equally vicious) monster battled in the well-known Anglo-Saxon poem ''Beowulf.'' Additionally, the "Norns" are figures in Old Norse mythology who spin the threads of fate, but this seems to be a reference in name only.

** Don't forget the Shee - a variation on "[[TheFairFolk sidhe]]".

* AIIsACrapshoot: A mild, but probably the only genuinely 'RealLife' example in existence; creatures can develop to be aggressive, and rare individuals can kill other creatures [[OmnicidalManiac extremely quickly.]]

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Allegedly, Grendels. Actually, with proper training, many species of Grendel can be taught to cohabitate with Norns or Ettins peacefully.
** In the first game, at least, the Grendels were actually hard-coded to hit other creatures when they wanted to interact with them. Though training is possible.
* ArtificialBrilliance: So good it's inspired many fans to ContemplateOurNavels (see below)
* ArtificialStupidity: ''Creatures 2'', unintentionally - an excess of reward and punishment signals led to the infamous "One Hour Stupidity Syndrome," leading Norns to do entirely useless things instead of eating and sleeping. Many fan fixes became available.
** Interestingly enough, though, the particular mechanics of this bug actually show that the underlying simulator was pretty much spot-on. They just got the specific numbers wrong.
** Creatures 3 arguably has an issue with this as well. The creatures are "smarter" but their behaviors are somewhat predetermined and not based off the sort of AI the past two games used. This leads to incredibly single-minded norns that will, for instance, opt to continuously play with an elevator button instead of eating or otherwise not dying.
* BigBad: Grendels are treated as such. If you don't have some sort of disabling addon and aren't breeding them for pleasure, there is generally only one - two in ''Creatures 3'' - Grendel born into the world at a time, and it's [[InformedAttribute supposedly]] in your best interest to avoid them as much as possible.
** Additionally, the [[CanonDiscontinuity now decanonised]] Banshee Grendel story seems to set the Banshee (race of Shee, not the Grendels named after them) up as this.

* GRatedSex: "Kisspopping." [[JustifiedTrope Actually explained in-story]]--the [[NeglectfulPrecursors Shee]] were rather prudish, so they made Norn mating a fairly tame affair.

** Death in creatures is usually caused by certain chemicals hitting a final threshold, like too much Wounded or too little Ageing/Life or ATP. Having a mutation that significantly changes or even remove these thresholds can make a creature immune to death by disease, injury, or old age - sometimes all three if you get really lucky with mutations and gene inheritance.
*** In particular, in early versions of ''Creatures 1'' the gene that forced Norns to die of old age didn't work properly, making them TheAgeless.

* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: The Banshee, introduced in the [[AllThereInTheManual Lone Shee storyline]] written to coincide with the release of Docking Station, were a minority in the race that loved creating gadgets more than experimenting on genetics, a trait that was considered unnatural by the other Shee. Furthermore, they preferred Grendels over Norns for breeding and experimentation, and even [[NonhumanHumanoidHybrid integrated some of their genes into their own genome]]. They were exiled through an interdimensional portal of their own creation and their existence became ShroudedInMyth.

* NonhumanHumanoidHybrid: Various combinations between Norns, Ettins and Grendels are possible via the gene splicer or fanmade [=COBs=]/agents. In C2, these tend to be unviable - ShownTheirWork, or just coincidence?
** HeinzHybrid: Mainly in Creatures 3/[=DS=], as standard C2 Ettins and Grendels are sterile.

* ''Creatures Docking Station'': a free game, built on a slightly modified version of the Creatures 3 engine with online capabilities. Like ''3'', it was set on a spaceship, and could in fact be "docked" with the Shee Ark if you owned both games in order to expand the world. It was available on its [[http://www.gamewaredevelopment.co.uk/creatures_index.php official website.]]

A series of simulation games created by Cyberlife (later Creature Labs) in the TheNineties, this series tasked the player with caring for a bunch of Norns: fuzzy little critters with a surprisingly complex virtual biology and the ability to learn very simple language. The player can also help the creatures to evolve and expand their capabilities over generations. Two other types of creatures inhabit the game world as well, the vicious Grendels and the worker Ettins (introduced in the second game).

* MixAndMatchCritter: While differents creatures normally cannot reproduce, ''Creatures 2'' have a machine that can make a creatures out of two different ones, meaning you can make an hybrid of a Norn, a Grendel and an Ettin. However this creature won't be able to reproduce.

* MeaningfulName: "Grendel" is the name of the (equally vicious) monster battled in the well-known Anglo-Saxon poem ''Beowulf.'' Additionally, the "Norns" are figures in Old Norse mythology who spin the threads of fate, but this seems to be a reference in name only.

* CirclingBirdies: When a creatures fall unconsious, stars will circles on top of its head if you don't do anything the creature will die.

* CirclingStars: When a creatures fall unconsious, stars will circles on top of its head if you don't do anything the creature will die.

This series is the TropeNamer for:
* {{Wallbonking}}

Several combo packs have also been published at various times. UsefulNotes/IndieGala included ''[[http://creatures.wikia.com/wiki/Creatures_-_The_Albian_Years Creatures: The Albian Years]]'' in their June bundle, a combination of the first two games with bonus packs.

* RevenueEnhancingDevices: ''Creatures 3''/''Docking Station'' had a large-number of add-on breeds available for purchase online. In 2009, many of them became available for free download, though the ones that came with special add-ons [the Treehugger, Hardman, Bondi, Toxic Norns, and Banshee Grendels] didn't.

* TeleportersAndTransporters: In all three games. "Conventional" teleporters serve to transport creatures quickly around individual worlds. The standout example is the Warp from Docking Station, which lets creatures jump to other worlds (and plays a major role in the game's backstory).

* SocializationBonus: While not required, all games allowed players to save their Creatures as discrete files and give them to friends (or put them in stasis for six generations, or clone umpteen times), and ''Docking Station'' introduced the ability to send them over the internet within the game. Additionally, ''Creatures 2'' was somewhat backward-compatible, allowing creatures from the first game to be converted for the second.

* ThemedCursor: Your hand cursor isn't just a pointer, your creatures can see and interact with it.

* WhaleEgg

!!''Creatures Online'' so far provides examples of:

A series of simulation games created by Cyberlife (later Creature Labs) in the TheNineties, this series tasked the player with caring for a bunch of Norns: fuzzy little critters with a surprisingly complex virtual biology. The player is also challenged over to time to help the creatures to evolve and expand their mental capabilities over generations, starting with them earning simple language to eventually complex thought patterns. Two other types of creatures inhabit the game world as well, the vicious Grendels and the worker Ettins (introduced in the second game).

From the start, the fandom was making boatloads of [[GameMod user-created content]], one of the earliest and most widespread games to do so. A lot of it is still available today -- an active mod site, [[http://creaturescaves.com/ Creatures Caves]], exists and is updated regularly -- although a lot of content is lost.

* ''Creatures Docking Station'': a free game, built on a slightly modified version of the Creatures 3 engine with online capabilities. Like ''3'', it was set on a spaceship, and could in fact be "docked" with the Shee Ark if you owned both games to expand the world. It was available on its [[http://www.gamewaredevelopment.co.uk/creatures_index.php official website.]]

After ten years, [[http://blog.fishingcactus.com/index.php/2011/05/18/announcing-creatures-4-on-ios-mac-and-pc/ developer Fishing Cactus announced Creatures 4]] (later renamed Creatures Online). It was initially set to be released June 2012, but after numerous delays the publisher halted development and sold the IP to Spil Games. They plan to release a free-to-play mobile game, [[http://www.spilgames.com/press/creatures-reborn-mobile-age/ Creatures Family]], in 2017.

* ArtificialStupidity: ''Creatures 2'', unintentionally- an excess of reward and punishment signals led to the infamous "One Hour Stupidity Syndrome," leading Norns to do entirely useless things instead of eating and sleeping. Many fan fixes became available.

* BigBad: Grendels are treated as such. If you don't either have some sort of disabling addon and aren't breeding them for pleasure, there is generally only one- two in ''Creatures 3''- Grendel born into the world at a time, and it's [[InformedAttribute supposedly]] in your best interest to avoid them as much as possible.

* ContemplateOurNavels: The detail of the creature's artificial biochemistry and intelligence has led some fans to seriously wonder about to what extent creatures can be considered "alive."

* GameBreakingBug: In the first ''Creatures'', Norns would occasionally die on import for no apparent reason. Also, ''Creatures 2'' liked to crash early and crash often.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: In ''Creatures 3'' and ''Docking Station'', if you enter the word "express" near a norn, ettin or grendel that has learned that word, (s)he will face the player (not the hand cursor, we mean the actual player) before saying how (s)he feels.
* LighterAndSofter: ''Creatures Playground''/''Adventure''

** Don't forget the Shee- a variation on "[[TheFairFolk sidhe]]".

* NonhumanHumanoidHybrid: Various combinations between Norns, Ettins and Grendels are possible via the gene splicer or fanmade [=COBs=]/agents. In C2, these tend to be unviable- ShownTheirWork, or just coincidence?

A series of simulation games created by Cyberlife (later Creature Labs) in the TheNineties, this series tasked the player with caring for a bunch of Norns: fuzzy little critters with a surprisingly complex virtual biology. Two other types of creatures inhabit the game world as well, the vicious Grendels and the worker Ettins (introduced in the second game).