Creatures (artificial life series) facts for kids
Creatures is a cool series of computer programs where you get to raise your own digital pets! These special pets are called Norns, and they are like little alien creatures. The games were made in the 1990s by a computer scientist named Steve Grand.
In Creatures, you help your Norns learn to live, explore their world, and stay safe from other animals. You can even teach them to speak! Once they learn, you can type instructions to tell them what to do. You can also help them have babies to create new generations of Norns.
Contents
What Makes Norns Special?
The Creatures games were very special for their time. They were some of the first games to use real science ideas to make their digital animals. This included things like genetics, biochemistry, and neural networks.
How Norns Think and Grow
Norns have their own digital brains, which are like tiny neural networks. This helps them learn and react to their world. They also have their own special DNA, just like real living things! This means Norns can "evolve" and change over time.
Passing on Traits
When you help Norns breed, their unique traits can be passed down to their babies. This is a bit like how real animals pass on traits through their genes. In Creatures, the Norns' genetics are a bit simpler than human genetics, but the idea is the same. You can choose which Norns to breed to get certain traits in the next generation.
The Creatures Game Series
Many Creatures games have been released over the years. They let players dive into the world of Norns and help them thrive.
- Creatures (released in 1996)
- Creatures 2 (released in 1998)
- Creatures 3 (released in 1999)
- Creatures Adventures (released in 2000)
- Creatures Playground (released in 2000)
- Docking Station (released in 2001)
There was also a game called Creatures Online that was being made, but it is not out yet. It was first called Creatures 4.
Images for kids
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The statue of a Shee in Creatures 2. This is one of very few official in-game appearances of the Shee.
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Creatures 2 added 16-bit graphics and a larger world.
