 Screenshot of Creatures 3 Creatures is an artificial life (alife) computer program series, created in the mid-1990s by English computer scientist Steve Grand whilst working for the Cambridge computer games developer Millennium Interactive. The program is regarded as an important breakthrough in the advancement of alife research. Creatures 3 Norn This is a screenshot of a copyrighted website, video game graphic, computer program graphic, television broadcast, or film. ...
Creatures 3 Norn This is a screenshot of a copyrighted website, video game graphic, computer program graphic, television broadcast, or film. ...
Artificial life, also known as alife or a-life, is the study of life, or more specifically the evolution of life, through the use of artificial models or artifacts. ...
A computer program is a collection of instructions that describe a task, or set of tasks, to be carried out by a computer. ...
Germans dancing on the Berlin Wall in late 1989, the symbol of the cold war divide falls down as the world unites in the 1990s. ...
Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification - by Athelstan AD 927 Area - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK) 50,346 sq mi Population - 2005 est. ...
Computer science, or computing science, is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their implementation and application in computer systems. ...
Steve Grand is an English computer scientist. ...
Shown within Cambridgeshire Geography Status: City (1951) Region: East of England Admin. ...
A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ...
Millennium Interactive was a Cambridge-based computer games developer responsible for titles such as James Pond, Defcon 5, Deadline and most famously, Creatures. ...
Overview
In Creatures, the user 'hatches' small furry creatures called Norns into a world called Albia, and teaches them how to talk, feed themselves, and protect themselves against vicious creatures called Grendels. Later games in the series introduced a third species, the Ettins. A Norn is an artificial lifeform in the computer game series Creatures. ...
A Grendel is also a character in the computer game Creatures. ...
An Ettin from Creatures 3. ...
The program was significant as it was one of the first commercial titles to code alife organisms from the genetic level upwards using a sophisticated biochemistry and neural network brains. This meant that the Norns and their DNA could develop and "evolve" in increasingly diverse ways, unpredicted by the makers. By breeding certain Norns with others, some traits could be passed on to following generations. Most interestingly, the Norns turned out to behave similarly to living creatures. This was seen as an important insight into how real world organisms may function and evolve. Earlier alife programs had worked by giving their organisms a limited set of commands and parameters, and seeing whether the way the subjects behaved was realistic. Artificial life, also known as alife or a-life, is the study of life, or more specifically the evolution of life, through the use of artificial models or artifacts. ...
Biochemistry is the study of the chemical processes and transformations in living organisms. ...
Simplified view of an artificial neural network A neural network is a system of interconnecting neurons in a network working together to produce an output function. ...
In animals, the brain, or encephalon (Greek for in the head), is the control center of the central nervous system. ...
The structure of part of a DNA double helix. ...
In 1832, while traveling on the Beagle, naturalist Charles Darwin collected giant fossils in South America. ...
Breeding has several meanings related to procreation: In animal husbandry and in horticulture the selection of stock for propagation and the act of insemination by natural or artificial means is called breeding. ...
The genetics in Creatures are somewhat different from human genetics: they are haploid and therefore any "evolution" is a result of random cross-over mutations. There is no concept of dominant gene and recessive gene. Nevertheless, the complexity of the simulated biochemistry meant that Norn behaviour was highly unpredictable. Genetics (from the Greek genno γεννώ= give birth) is the science of genes, heredity, and the variation of organisms. ...
Physical anthropology, often called biological anthropology, studies the mechanisms of biological evolution, genetic inheritance, human adaptability and variation, primatology, primate morphology, and the fossil record of human evolution. ...
Haploid (meaning simple in Greek) cells have only one copy of each chromosome. ...
In biology, mutations are changes to the genetic material (either DNA or RNA). ...
In genetics, the term dominant gene refers to the allele that causes a phenotype that is seen in a heterozygous genotype. ...
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Dominance relationship. ...
Among the fans of Creatures were the Oxford zoologist Richard Dawkins and author Douglas Adams. Oxford is a city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, with a population of 134,248 (2001 census). ...
Zoology is the biological discipline which involves the study of non-human animals. ...
Clinton Richard Dawkins (born March 26, 1941) is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and popular science writer who holds the Charles Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University. ...
An author is the person who creates a written work, such as a book, story, article or the like. ...
Douglas Noël Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was a British author, comic radio dramatist, and amateur musician. ...
History
 Screenshot of the original Creatures Creatures was developed as a consumer product by Millennium, and was released by Mindscape in 1996. The program was instantly successful, and an online community of players soon formed, swapping Norns, creating new objects for Albia, sharing tips on how to play the game and anecdotes about unexpected evolutionary changes that they had seen, and even creating new breeds of Norn. At one point, the Creatures online community was the largest of its type. Download high resolution version (1024x722, 290 KB) This is a screenshot of a copyrighted computer game or video game. ...
Download high resolution version (1024x722, 290 KB) This is a screenshot of a copyrighted computer game or video game. ...
Millennium Interactive was a Cambridge-based computer games developer responsible for titles such as James Pond, Defcon 5, Deadline and most famously, Creatures. ...
To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...
1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ...
A virtual community is a group whose members are connected by means of information technologies, typically the Internet. ...
CAOS is the scripting language used by the Creatures series of games. ...
Breeding has several meanings related to procreation: In animal husbandry and in horticulture the selection of stock for propagation and the act of insemination by natural or artificial means is called breeding. ...
In 1998, the computer games division of Millennium was sold to Sony Entertainment while those working on alife and Creatures formed a new company called Cyberlife Technology. Along with continued work on the Creatures titles, the company did work for industry and the British Ministry of Defence, famously attempting to teach live organisms to fly virtual fighter jets. 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...
Millennium Interactive was a Cambridge-based computer games developer responsible for titles such as James Pond, Defcon 5, Deadline and most famously, Creatures. ...
Cyberlife Technology traded under the name Creature Labs, and were the creators of the Creatures series of games. ...
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and the headquarters of the British Armed Forces. ...
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for attacking other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed to attack ground targets, primarily by dropping bombs. ...
In the late 1990s, Grand left Cyberlife to form Cyberlife Research and focus on the production of new alife technologies, including current work on a robotic life form he calls Lucy as well as writing books about his research. The remainder of the company was renamed Creature Labs, and focused on computer game development. Germans dancing on the Berlin Wall in late 1989, the symbol of the cold war divide falls down as the world unites in the 1990s. ...
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with robot. ...
Creature Labs is a company which was originally named Cyberlife Ltd. ...
A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ...
Sequels to Creatures, including Creatures 2, Creatures 3 and the small-children's games Creatures Adventures and Creatures Playground, were released by Creature Labs in subsequent years. The final major Creatures release, Docking Station, was made available for download from the company's web site in 2001. Creatures 2 is the second game in the Creatures a-life game series made by Creature Labs. ...
Creatures 3 is the third game in the Creatures a-life game series made by Creature Labs. ...
A docking station is a part of a portable computer that remains on a desk, containing hardware that is not needed when on the road, while a smaller section detaches to provide a lighter laptop. ...
This article is about the year 2001. ...
Development was suspended on future Creatures games on March 20, 2003, when Creature Labs ceased operations, but development and trademark rights have since been purchased by a company named Gameware Development, Ltd. Gameware has revived the Creatures Developer Network, the shop, the forums, the Docking Station server, and have released many before-purchaseable tools and add-ons for free. March 20 is the 79th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (80th in Leap years). ...
2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Gameware Development is a computer game developer based in Cambridge, England which, in 2003, purchased the assets of Creature Labs, including the Creatures series of computer games. ...
Gameware staff that previously worked on Creatures have now developed a convergent media game for the BBC called BAMZOOKi. The British Broadcasting Corporation, invariably known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world, employing 26,000 staff in the UK alone and with a budget of £4 billion. ...
BAMZOOKi is a Mixed Reality television gameshow on the BBC which features a toolkit developed by Gameware Development. ...
The Creatures games have recently been re-released in combination packs under the names Creatures: The Albian Years (C1, C2), Creatures Exodus (C3, DS) and Creatures Village (CA, CP). The Albian Years, and Exodus include the separate games, whereas Village has merged Adventures and Playground into a single game.
Kutoka Interactive, a Canadian children's software company, has created releases of Creatures Exodus (Kutoka) and Creatures Village (Kutoka Kids) that are compatible with both Apple's Mac OS X and Windows XP. They were released on the 30th of September 2005, and can be purchased either directly from Kutoka or from other online stores. Mac OS X (official IPA pronunciation: ) is a line of proprietary, graphical operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Computer, the latest of which is pre-loaded on all currently shipping Macintosh computers. ...
Windows XP is a line of operating systems developed by Microsoft for use on general-purpose computer systems, including home and business desktops, notebook computers, and media centers. ...
Games There were six major Creatures releases from Creature Labs. In addition to the three principal games, the Docking Station add-on (generally referenced as a separate game) and two children's games were released.
On Albia: later re-released as "Creatures The Albian Years"
Creatures The original Creatures game, released in England and Australia in November 1996 and released in North America in July 1997, took place on the fictional disc-shaped world Albia. While the "faces" of the disc were uninhabitable, the "rim" of Albia was home to a complicated environment much like Earth's. Here lay an abandoned system of laboratories left over by the Shee, an advanced race that had suddenly left the planet many years earlier in order to find a more stable (possibly spherical?) world. In these laboratories and environments, the player was able to hatch new Norns from leftover eggs and reinhabit the world of Albia. Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification - by Athelstan AD 927 Area - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK) 50,346 sq mi Population - 2005 est. ...
1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ...
World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ...
1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
FicTioNaL is a Gaming Legend. ...
Antarctica Australia Africa Asia Europe North America South America Middle East Caribbean Central Asia East Asia North Asia South Asia Southeast Asia SW. Asia China Australasia Melanesia Micronesia Polynesia Central America Latin America Northern America Americas C. Africa E. Africa N. Africa Southern Africa W. Africa C. Europe E. Europe...
Earth (IPA: , often referred to as the Earth, Terra, the World or Planet Earth) is the third planet in the solar system in terms of distance from the Sun, and the fifth largest. ...
Michael Faraday, 19th century physicist and chemist, in his lab. ...
In Irish mythology, the sídhe (pronounced shee) are a supernatural race, quite distinct from humankind. ...
The eight planets and three dwarf planets of the Solar System. ...
A year is the time between two recurrences of an event related to the orbit of the Earth around the Sun. ...
In most birds and reptiles, an apple (Latin ovum) is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum. ...
Creatures 2
 Creatures 2 added 16-bit graphics and a larger world Creatures 2, released on September 30, 1998, took place many years after the first game, after a devastating natural disaster (or, as explained in later games, a devastating Shee disaster) had changed the landscape of Albia dramatically and opened up new areas of the world. New technology and species were made available to the player. Despite the great change in environment, the focus of the game remained the same. Creatures 2 Deluxe (with Life Kit) soon followed. Screenshot of Creatures 2 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
Creatures 2 is the second game in the Creatures a-life game series made by Creature Labs. ...
September 30 is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...
A natural disaster is the consequence of the combination of a natural hazard (a physical event e. ...
This article does not cite its references or sources. ...
By the mid 20th century humans had achieved a level of technological mastery sufficient to leave the surface of the planet for the first time and explore space. ...
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biodiversity. ...
A player of a game is a participant therein. ...
After Leaving Albia: later re-released as "Creatures Exodus"
Creatures 3 Creatures 3, released on November 4, 1999, took a detour from the first two games. It took place on the actual spaceship that the Shee had used to flee Albia. The ship was divided into many carefully controlled environments. Creatures 3 was much more technologically focused. Still, the goal was to experiment with the three principal species and create a living world out of an empty ship. Creatures 3 is the third game in the Creatures a-life game series made by Creature Labs. ...
November 4 is the 308th day of the year (309th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 57 days remaining. ...
1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...
The fictional starship Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) from Star Trek: The Next Generation. ...
In the scientific method, an experiment (Latin: ex-+-periri, of (or from) trying), is a set of actions and observations, performed in the context of solving a particular problem or question, to support or falsify a hypothesis or research concerning phenomena. ...
Docking Station The final major Creatures release was Docking Station, an Internet-based add-on to Creatures 3, released free of charge on the Creatures web site on March 27, 2001. It was intended as a way to sell Creatures 3 (you could dock the worlds of the two games together, hence the name 'Docking' Station) and extra packs of Norn breeds. Docking Station has an intermittent reminder screen that encourages users to buy Creatures 3. A docking station is a part of a portable computer that remains on a desk, containing hardware that is not needed when on the road, while a smaller section detaches to provide a lighter laptop. ...
March 27 is the 86th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (87th in leap years). ...
This article is about the year 2001. ...
Docking Station added the possibility of interaction between individual player worlds; Norns could 'travel' to other online worlds via a central server, players could chat to other online players, and it was possible to track Norns (and their offspring) which had been present in their worlds via the Docking Station website. While Docking Station was released late in the series' run, it changed gameplay (and the potential of the series) dramatically. It also expanded considerably on the game mythos, including the introduction of an 'anti-Shee', the Banshee, which has since been decanonised. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Chat room. ...
A banshee, in Irish mythology, is a fairy woman whose mournful wails herald an imminent death. ...
Younger Children's Games: later re-released as "Creatures Village"
Creatures Adventures Released in 2000, and targeted at younger children (ages 6–9), Creatures Adventures dropped the complex interface of the main series in favor of brighter graphics and a more childlike atmosphere, while keeping true to the original games' aspect of exploration. This article is about the year 2000. ...
Creatures Playground The second game in the younger children's series, Creatures Playground (released the same year), could be connected to Adventures to create an even bigger world to explore.
Later Bundled Releases There have been various re-releases of the Creatures games. The later re-releases from Gameware improved Windows XP compatibility by allowing them to run easily under non-administrator accounts and without the use of the compatibility mode, but break compatibility with some third-party content without the use of a third-party patch.
Creatures Trilogy / Creatures Trilogy Gold Collection This release of "Creatures Trilogy" included Creatures, Creatures 2, and Creatures 3, as well as the "Life Kit" addons for the earlier games. It was released before Docking Station, however the version of Creatures 3 included in this was identical to the original release (except that it was using the newest patch) and was therefore compatible with Docking Station.
Encore Software released a "Creatures Trilogy" containing Creatures, Creatures 2, and Creatures 3, under their Encare line. They also released a "gold" version titled "Creatures Trilogy Gold Collection."
Creatures Internet Edition / Creatures Gold The final major Creatures release was a re-release in 2001 by FastTrak Software Publishing as "Creatures Internet Edition" a bundle of Creatures 3, Creatures 3 update 2, Docking Station, and a number of environment extras and tools (many with multilingual variants). Linux Game Publishing released a Linux port of Creatures Internet Edition a few months later in December 2001. Linux Game Publishing (sometimes also referred to as LGP) is a software company based in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, UK. Its main aim is to port top quality computer games to Linux. ...
The original "Creatures Internet Edition" was released again in 2002 by Focus Multimedia, without the physical manual, as "Creatures Gold," but the disc contents were identical (and so the installer and PDF manual both referred to it as "Creatures Internet Edition").
Creatures The Albian Years Creatures and Creatures 2 on one disk, updated to run on Windows XP. Screenshot of Creatures 3 This is an entry about an artificial life computer program series. ...
Creatures 2 is the second game in the Creatures a-life game series made by Creature Labs. ...
Creatures Exodus Creatures 3 and Docking Station plus a selection of new Norn breeds on one disk, updated for improved Windows XP compatibility. Creatures 3 is the third game in the Creatures a-life game series made by Creature Labs. ...
A docking station is a part of a portable computer that remains on a desk, containing hardware that is not needed when on the road, while a smaller section detaches to provide a lighter laptop. ...
Creatures Village Creatures Adventures and Creatures Playground, merged and updated for improved Windows XP compatibility.
Community Fans have created, and continue to create, many new objects, worlds, and creature breeds for the games. One recent major project has been the authorised conversion of the original Creatures game content to an add-on for Docking Station, along with variety of new content. A docking station is a part of a portable computer that remains on a desk, containing hardware that is not needed when on the road, while a smaller section detaches to provide a lighter laptop. ...
While the community is not as active as it once was, there are still several large fansites for the game, featuring add-on content as well as articles and other content, and a large Creatures Wiki hosted on Wikia. Wikia logo, based on the old Wikicities logo by Christoph Struber. ...
A Creatures Community Spirit Festival is held every year to celebrate the creatures community. It is currently being held now at [1]
JRChat JRChat is an internet chat system for the community around the game. The system is in use at many fan sites for the game. Clients connect to the system through a Java applet in their web browser, or through software called JRNet. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Chat room. ...
A Java applet is an applet delivered in the form of Java bytecode. ...
An example of a web browser (Mozilla Firefox running under Microsoft Windows). ...
Technology The technology behind the Creatures series of games is simple enough to fit the resources and costs of a small game developer, but advanced enough to be intriguing and even advanced for its field. The primary technical mind behind the series, Steve Grand, is considered a very respected member of the scientific community involved in on-going artificial life projects, including his robotic orang-utan, Lucy. Many fans of the series either found or fed a strong interest in the fields of artificial life and artificial intelligence through the technological aspects of the games.
See also CAOS is the scripting language used by the Creatures series of games. ...
Creatures 2 is the second game in the Creatures a-life game series made by Creature Labs. ...
Creatures 3 is the third game in the Creatures a-life game series made by Creature Labs. ...
A docking station is a part of a portable computer that remains on a desk, containing hardware that is not needed when on the road, while a smaller section detaches to provide a lighter laptop. ...
A Norn is an artificial lifeform in the computer game series Creatures. ...
An Ettin from Creatures 3. ...
A Grendel is also a character in the computer game Creatures. ...
Artificial life, also known as alife or a-life, is the study of life, or more specifically the evolution of life, through the use of artificial models or artifacts. ...
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