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This is a preview. I based my opinions from a
beta copy of Creatures for the press. Games in beta have the code
supporting all the game’s features, but due to bugs, all features may not
work correctly (if at all). As the creators used advanced computer
algorithms to create Creatures, I expected some problems. Rather than
read a long report on bugs, you get an overview on the game and just
how fun Creatures is (or is not).
Gaming is entering an awkward stage. Many of the defining classics --
Jumpman, Doom, Ultima, Zork, Wing Commander (the first) – fail to
excite us as they once did. Disappointingly, the next generation of games
offers merely “more of the same, but better.” Game producers fail to
recognize the great games went “where no game has gone before” with
innovation. I get excited when I hear about a new game of game able to
challenge the way we perceive gaming. Creatures is such a game.
In Creatures, you receive 6 eggs. From each egg, a baby Norn is born.
The Norns, looking like Ewoks from Star Wars (only much cuter),
slowly mature, learn and even reproduce, passing their individual
genetic makeup to successive generations. The point of Creatures is
players must teach and guide their Norns through life.
Albia, a beautifully rendered 2-dimensional toroidal world, serves as an
excellent home to your inquisitive and playful Norns. In Albia, Norns
frolic on beaches, climb observatories, listen to and play music and even
ride in submarines. The world is fairly large, but enticing your Norn to
explore is a challenging task. I had a lot of trouble getting Norns to
explore, myself.
I learned to fear Albian elevators. Everytime a Norn came across an
elevator, more often than not, the elevator became a toy and the Norn
would endlessly ride up and down the elevator. The only way I could
break elevator addiction was by introducing another Norn. Janelle, a
newborn, rode an elevator for two hours as I wrote this article. For
Janelle, the elevator quickly became a means of transportation when
another Norn was close.
Norns love company. Separating two Norns is neigh impossible.
Frequently, I had to pick one Norn up, placing it elsewhere in Albia, just
to interest another Norn in food. I saw 4 Norns, all of whom I taught to
eat, starve, literally to death, in the garden playing with each other while
surrounded by food. I expect Norn behaviors to have priorities with
eating having a high value. If eating does have a higher priority for
Norns, I never noticed.
Using both genetic algorithms and neural networks, Creatures uses
artificial life, rather than artificial intelligence to create complex
behaviors for the Norns. Artificial intelligence is very specific, given
context. Medical diagnostic programs use artificial intelligence to
produce diagnoses from patient’s symptoms. Artificial life, however, is
very general. A researcher may use artificial life to simulate the behavior
of a bug using basic needs, like food, rest and reproduction. The
prioritized needs of the bug define the bug’s behavior.
Neural networks are a class of adaptive algorithms. Given a goal, like
recognizing the meaning word, you can train the neural net to achieve
the goal through contextual examples. The Norns in Creatures use neural
nets to learn. Say, “ball” while your Norn is playing with a ball and the
Norn eventually learns the word for ball.
Genetic algorithms are another class of adaptive algorithms. A set of
genes describes the methods each Creature uses to learn and solve
problems. Often, with genetic algorithms, the world applies a fitness test
and only the “fit” live to spawn another generation. In Creatures, the
most visible fitness test is starvation. I had many unfit Norns starve to
death.
After hatching, baby Norns typically run outside to the garden where
food is. However, the babies have not yet associated food as a means to
curb hunger. The documentation for the press release is sketchy, but I
expected two teaching strategies to work well. I expected a hungry Norn,
after eating, to quickly associate the use of food as a means to control
hunger. Also, with positive reinforcement – you can pat/tickle your Norn
– I expected the Norn to want to eat. This did not always work.
Unfortunately, neural networks do not always succeed as they use a
probability-based model to generate the final association given the input.
Feeding a hungry Norn may teach nothing at all. Patting a Norn after
eating may not reinforce eating as a positive behavior.
The press release had no music, but the sound effects, though subtle,
were excellent. Almost every interactive action possible in Albia has a
sound effect associated. Additionally, some areas, like the beach, have
ambient sound effects. Unfortunately, development was performed using
the first incarnation of Direct Sound, where applications did not need to
have focus (be selected by the user) to produce sounds. With Direct
Sound 3, Creature’s tool kit windows removed focus from the main
window, silencing the application.
Jeers to Microsoft for producing several non-upwardly compatible
implementations of Direct X. Even worse, you can have only one version
of the Direct X libraries on your system. Games relying on the 1st
version of Direct X sometimes do not run with the 3rd and vice versa.
Rarely does a game like Creatures come along. Instead, we see endless
numbers of Command & Conquer and Quake clones. Sadly, Creatures,
despite innovation, is not a fun game. Getting the advanced behaviors of
creatures was not possible for me, unless you call riding an elevator
advanced. I tried. In the end, I decided I was trying so hard the “game”
became work rather than entertainment. My Creatures will not learn,
they are too stubborn.
Let us not write Creatures off entirely. Should the developers really push
hard and re-do the learning, making the associations easier, I could get
lost in this game. As Creatures stands now, however, it ranks with the
dregs of Maxis’ bad Sim-style games. You feel like you are watching a
fishbowl and, despite your efforts, you really are not having any effect at
all.
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