An Ambitious Idea

Well, I suddenly found my motivation to replay Creatures surging some days ago. Now I'm finding it relatively easy to at least run a wolfling run and play around with genetics again. I don't know what happened, but it's something.

Anyway, some days ago Xan created a new breedlist, since all of the old ones have either gone down, are no longer updated, or just incomplete. It's quite comprehensive.

However, it only covers full breeds. Which got me thinking: There should probably be an equivalent for genetic breeds, shouldn't there?

I loved CU7's breedlist, when it was still online. It had practically every breed, genetic or otherwise, that had ever been created on it, complete with a picture, description, what sprites it used, and where it could be found, even if that website had gone down. Some of the pictures were quite nice, too. Alas, now it's gone, never to return. It can't even be browsed with a web archive (-arg- robots.txt. Seriously, -arg- it). 

But that's not to mean something like it can't be recreated, as Xan proved. With my specialty in Creatures development being genetics, I've been thinking of taking a stab at it myself. A full list of genetic breeds, still available and extinct alike. 

If a breed was no longer available anywhere else, it'd be hosted on the list. Even if the creator stated that they didn't want it hosted anywhere else. I'm well aware of why someone wouldn't want their creations hosted, but at the same time these breeds are likely to be extremely old and their creators no longer available to be contacted. 

As far as I'm concerned, it's better to archive them somewhere so that present and future Creatures players would be able to enjoy them. If by some stroke of luck one of those creators came back and expressed displeasure at a breed being hosted, then I'd oblige (albeit with the request that they put it up for download themselves). 

But what about the breeds that can no longer be found and that nobody has lying around? Well, genetic breeds aren't that difficult to create. In the event I could not find a lost breed, I'm thinking I would recreate that breed and host that instead (albeit with a CFE-based genome as opposed to a vanilla genome). It might not quite be the same breed, but it'd probably give present and future players an idea of what that breed was like. 

All this said...the effort all this would require is monstrous, and I have no idea if my current burst of inspiration's going to last long enough for me to get the list started and recreate all the breeds that need recreation. Chances are I'd give up before I got halfway.

My final thought, as such, is not trying to do this alone. Surely I'm not the only one who'd want to see such a list, and I'm not the only geneticist in the community either. Perhaps a group could be assembled to hunt down all the breeds that could be hunted down, and remake everything that couldn't be found. 

Let me hear your thoughts: Is this something you'd like to see? Would you be willing to help me out somehow? 

Until the next one, folks.

C1 Downloads Images Fixed + Status Update

First things first: If you've looked at the C1 Downloads page lately, you might have noticed that most of the images read "Please upgrade your Photobucket account to enable third-party hosting" instead of actually showing what the breeds looked like.

Rather than deal with this questionable business decision, I opted to just reupload the images via Blogger's natural image uploading function. Now all the images should display properly.

Originally that was all that was going to be here, but I figured I might as well say a few things about my current frame of mind concerning Creatures.

And that, sadly, is that it's completely unchanged from before. My motivation for Creatures-related things is still zero, and for mostly the same reasons. So chances are the silence here is going to remain, though I'll still do my best to make sure all my stuff remains available in this era of dying Creatures websites.

While I'm here, I figured I might as well advertise Pilla's Discord Server, the Caos Coding Cave. I hopped in there a while back, and while it's been just as quiet as the rest of the community (which I'm really not helping much) I haven't really regretted it.

It is worth mentioning it's aimed at Creatures development, though. For non-developing people there's the Norn Nebula server, which I don't have a link to. I haven't joined that server, for reasons I'm not stating in public.

That's all for now. Until the next one, folks.

Thoughts on a New Base Genome

Believe it or not, my motivation for this series is actually starting to climb back up, somewhat. It's probably never going to be what it once was, but maybe I'll actually get back into playing the games again. Even though the community feels like it's dying in this day and age, there's still cool stuff getting churned out.

I guess here I'll talk about the biggest problem when it comes to returning to Creatures: the fact that so much fuss has been raised about how broken everything is, at least in C3/DS in particular. How this specific part of the brain doesn't work right. How that digestive system function actually doesn't function. And so on.

C3/DS creatures do work fine even with all these "broken" issues (the fact I've run multiple generation 100+ wolfling runs successfully is testament to that), but even though hearing about it just gives me the impression the genomes I use are "inferior" in some way. It's...not a good feeling.

Besides that, there are some changes introduced in other genomes that I'd like to bring into my breeds. However, the base genome I've been using has been getting pretty bloated, so I feel like I should just start fresh with a new base genome.

Why make a brand new base genome as opposed to, say, using the CFF or 2017 genomes? Short answer: Pride. I've posted a few times about how the CFF aren't to my taste, and I still don't like them now. Also, using the work of another community member instead of my own just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I'd rather base my breeds on a genome of my own devising, because breaking down and using such a genome just feels like an admission of defeat: that ultimately, I'm inferior to the creators of the CFF and 2017 genomes.

Never mind the fact I've fully adopted the CFE at this point, never mind the fact my current base genome incorporates CFF edits, and never mind the fact that all this is based on CL's work anyway. Sense? What fun is there in making sense?

Let's ignore my need for therapy for now and get back to the topic at hand. At one point in time, I thought about completely gutting a CFE genome (that is, deleting everything except the genus, brain, gait, and poses) and replacing it with a biochemistry of my own devising, but I decided against that. I just don't have the patience for that kind of work, especially not with the low level of motivation I have now.

My alternative plan would still be based on the CFE genome, because I've accepted that at this point and I like pretty much everything that it introduced. I'd also include the following stuff:

• Having hunger being based on the levels of nutrients rather than arbitrary stimuli. The 2017 genomes also do this, and admittedly that's where the inspiration came from. But I can also point out that the C1 Forest/Ron Norns also did this, and thus claim that it's also been done officially and thus is more acceptable. 
• Some other nutrient balancing, since one of the "broken" things I've been hearing about is that creatures tend to have an excess of nutrients (particularly adipose tissue) all the time. I'll probably need to do this anyway just to incorporate the above-mentioned feature.
• Some means of preventing overeating. Be it through the CFF Fullness Lobe (which I'm not entirely sure works anyway; I've never noticed a real difference between creatures with it and without it) or some other means. 
• Some means of preventing lactate mutations from keeping creatures limping forever. I could live with or without a full-on lactate oxidation cycle; a lot of my breeds are amphibious anyway so the drowning survival rate isn't too much of a draw. But having creatures get stuck limping forever because excess lactate mutation results in dead muscles is irritating.
• Colortrue pigments, or that is having the offspring of two colored parents have a mix of colors between the two parents. In my base genomes this'd be able to mutate for the simple fact the population in a wolfling run will all become the same color if the pigment/pigment bleed genes couldn't mutate. This'd probably screw the pooch entirely in terms of breeding compatibility, but it makes breeding interesting. 
• Moving the disease reactions to appropriate organs as opposed to having them all be in the Immune System. I believe this is how C2 did it, and it feels more natural that way than as it is by default. By default, a dead Immune System means that a creature can't fight off illness properly...but it also means that a lot of diseases won't effect the creature fully. Not exactly realistic.

That's the major stuff I'd want, though I'd probably incorporate some other small edits into the genome as I made it. 

It's still going to be pretty extensive, as testing's going to be needed and whatnot. Still, I think this sounds a little more palatable then completely making a new genome from scratch (effectively). Will I actually get off my rear and actually make this genome? Too early to tell. I think I'd like to ease back into simply playing Creatures first before I start the hardcore development. Maybe I'll give the 2017 genomes a fair shake beforehand. 

I guess that's all I have to say for now. Until the next one, folks.

A Long Overdue Update

The first post of 2016, and it's halfway into April. I really need to get my priorities in order.

First things first: Let's get my stuff from the CCSF 2015 up here.

Inspired by CCaves member Lavendel, the Lavender Grendels are a peaceful, flower-loving breed. They come with their own flower agent to make them feel right at home.

Download the Lavender Grendels!

The All-Creature Autonamer and Wolfling Nametagger go hand-in-hand. The former agent is based on the default DS autonamer and uses the same catalogue file, but as the name says it works for all creatures instead of just norns. It also removes the generation-based naming scheme to give you a much greater variety of names right from gen 1, and works with C3 standalone (but I don't know how much that means to anyone).

The Wolfling Nametagger, when paired with Amaikokonut's Creature Nametags, lets you see the generation of a creature at a glance without the need for the Creature History. It's useful for keeping track of a progress of a long wolfling run. 

Download the All-Creature Autonamer!

Download the Wolfling Nametagger!

Now onto some less-rosy news. As most of you are aware, Creatures @ CU7 has gone down. This leaves me in a very awkward situation, since much of my past work was hosted on that website. To make things even more awkward...I don't even remember what all was hosted there!

Eventually I'll try to rustle everything up and put it up here, but until then if you want a CU7 download just contact me somehow (information should be part of the right sidebar) and I'll see if I still have your desired items around. If someone could give me a list of everything I was missing then that would be even better. 

My own interest in playing Creatures is currently at an all-time low; I have been working on one project or the other, but I just haven't been motivated to really finish any of them so there's no telling when they'll be finished and released. Part of the reason for this is just because I've been finding other things more interesting or pressing (like dabbling with hosting RPs on other sites or trying to come up with a way to earn money). 

There's another reason for it, however, and that reason is that the community is not very well off right now. The wounds left over from that schism last year still haven't healed, and we're losing a bunch of formerly stable websites. Furthermore, there's a decisive lack of developers in the community. Considering the Creatures Community is primarily based on mods, that's a very bad thing. 

On the bright side, Grandroids is making good progress (or so I've heard; I haven't been following it very closely). There's also Creatures Family, but I wouldn't get my hopes up for that one. 

So what do we do? I think the best idea, not only for myself but for the other developers in the Community, is to increase the knowledgebase. As I said before, the Creatures Community is primarily mod-based. The old mods are fine and dandy, but we need people constantly making new ones. 

Those old tutorials aren't going to be around forever, and when they're gone it's going to be much more difficult for newcomers to learn their way around developing for Creatures. So what we need are some more tutorials, not only covering the old ground but also touching upon things the old tutorials never covered. 

To that end, I'm planning on creating a Tutorials page here eventually, covering everything I know about genetics and CAOs. It'll cover the basics, but also go into more advanced topics (for example, receptor-reaction pairs). It's probably going to be a while considering how lazy I naturally am, but if I can ease the frustration of potential newcomers and keep the CC alive that much longer than I think I'll do my best. 

That's all for now. Until the next one, folks.

It's Evolution.... Just Evolution....

The Realm now has 100 posts. Only took me over two years to do it. No matter how long it took, I do think it's something worth celebrating. And I have just the things. 

Remember that wolfling run I mentioned last post? Well, I had a bit of an ulterior motive for running it beyond just my amusement....

Meet the Darwin Grendels, named after the famed Charles Darwin and created from the results of the wolfling run. They are very robust and can live in all sorts of environments short of a toxic world or underwater. They also breed very quickly, making them ideal if you want to just watch a population in action. 

At long last I feel I've satisfied my desire to make my own GoM-like breed, and I have to say I'm pretty happy with the final result.

Download the Darwin Grendels!

That's not all I have, however. The Darwin Grendels had to have come from somewhere....

The Garden Grendels are the forerunners of the Darwin Grendels. Their genome (or genomes, rather) were taken straight from the Grendel Garden and composed into an egg agent, and they're offered alongside six grendels from the population at the end of the wolfling run. They aren't as refined as the Darwin Grendels are, but they should prove to be just as capable as their descendants. 

Download the Garden Grendels!

And that's still not everything. This last release is only tangentially related to the Darwin and Garden Grendels, although it was tested and eventually became part of the wolfling run. 

The result of my latest collaboration with Mea, this acorn patch plant will add a much-needed seed to the Garden Box. The acorns themselves are fairly unremarkable, though your creatures will likely find them delicious. 

Download the Garden Box Acorns!

Phew, that was a fair few releases. Actually, there would have been even more had I not burned myself out towards the end (though chances are the stuff I had planned will be created and released at a later date). 

At any rate, I hope you enjoy the new releases! Until the next one, folks.

'Tis The Season....

...To spend time with your loved ones, eat lots of cookies, open presents, and maybe go completely bankrupt because Christmas is just that commercialized these days.

Tralalalala, lalalala.

I'm no Santa Claus, but I do have some gifts for you to enjoy today. Neither are actually Christmas-related other than being released today, but I hope they're enjoyable anyway.

Release #1 actually ties into one of my CCSF releases....

 I may not have considered the pack of grendels I released to be a full breed, but some tweaks to the genome later they now are. This version of the Artemia Grendels has all the features of the pack, along with some further refinements to make life in Artemia Sea easier for them.

Download the Artemia Grendels!

The next release also happens to be an aquatic breed of sorts.

*Brief interlude to actually finish the banner because I somehow forgot to do that earlier*

....Ahem. 

This is a new genome for the Aquanorns created by Tomtschek. They're mostly similar to the originals, although they've been freshened up with all the recent advancements I put in my genomes these days (including the CFE and some CFF edits) and have some new features they don't share with the originals. 

Download the New Aquanorns!

Sadly I wasn't able to squeeze a third thing in. The closest thing I managed was updating the Featured Freak, and what better way to celebrate the holidays than with a cold-loving...dragon? Well, Abaasy wasn't intended to be really festive. 

Have a Merry Christmas, everyone!

Post-CCSF Stuff

The CCSF is now over. Actually, it's been over for a while now; I've just been too lazy to update the blog.

It was a considerable improvement over last year's, I can say that much. Despite the fact that CCaves glitched out three days into the festival and delayed it for quite a while, what was there was still pretty enjoyable. KittyTikara did a wonderful job handling it all, and it was nice to see that the CCSF got a dedicated section that was both noticeable and actually looked like a CCSF website.

That being said, it still fell flat in other areas. There was a grand total of *one* big release (which I submitted); everything else was either a genetic breed, simple agent, or a creature pack. Furthermore, while there were quite a few contests, participation in them was utterly abysmal (Not counting my genetic breed contest, which was started before the CCSF, the most entries any of them got was two, and only one of them even got that many).

A lot of this can be chalked up to the aforementioned CCaves technical difficulties and to the fact that it took forever to get this festival planned. In spite of all that, what we got was enjoyable for what it was. However, it really doesn't bode well for future festivals.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if there just wasn't a festival next year.

The community just isn't what it used to be. We're certainly not dead; new members are still coming in at a regular basis and everyone who's still here is reasonably active. However, a lot of wonderful people, many of them skilled developers, are no longer a part of the community. And what remains just doesn't seem as lively.

Given this state of affairs, I don't see the CCSF getting any better. Unless the people who really cared about the CCSF return to the community, or the current community gets a massive boost in activity, I doubt the tradition is ever going to return to its former glory.

I'm not saying there's no point in keeping the tradition alive. If there's still people who want to keep it going, then by all means. I'm just not expecting a whole lot out of it from now on.

Okay, enough of the downer stuff. I think it's about time I get the stuff I released on my own place, isn't it?

Release #1 is the Spam Norns. These are essentially an updated version of the breed of the same name created by ToxicNorn (ToxicNorns?). While they aren't completely immortal or age as fast like ToxicNorn's, they still breed really, really fast, and are really social on top of that. If you want lots of norns quickly, then these guys are for you, but everyone else might want to be careful lest they overrun whatever world they're placed in.

Download the Spam Norns!

Next up is Artemia Sea, the sole big release of CCSF 2014. This metaroom is based upon the tank from the Amazing Virtual Sea Monkeys and is designed with the comforts of swimming creatures in mind. It's filled with life from Creatures 1, Creatures 2, and the Amazing Virtual Sea Monkeys, although there's a few completely new organisms floating around in there....

Download Artemia Sea!

Finally, there's the Artemia Grendels in the event you need some creatures to fill up Artemia Sea. This pack of grendels was produced from a wolfling run I ran in Artemia Sea while the room was in development. They have a number of differences from normal grendels, not the least of which is that they have gills and will drown if you don't get them to water as soon as you import them. I don't consider these to be a proper breed...at least, not yet. Might want to stay tuned. 

Download the Artemia Grendels!

I initially held off on this since I wanted to make a bonus release. However, there's a certain holiday coming up very soon that would be a better time to release some things and so I decided to just upload my CCSF stuff and get it over with. 

Now, there's also my genetic breed contest that I mentioned some time ago on this blog. It's technically over since it ended on the last day of the CCSF.

Um...about that. Despite the long period time it was open for, the contest got only three entries. The winner of these three entries was decided quite a while ago, and I could post which one I liked the most. 

The problem is that this is far fewer entries than I would've liked. I was hoping to get six or more by the supposed deadline. I guess the lack of participation is sort of my fault for not making it more visible. 

I do have a new idea for the whole thing, but that'll be for a later date. For now, consider the contest to still be open. I'll close submissions when I work the kinks out of the idea. 

I think that's everything I have to say for now. Until the next one, folks.

How About a Contest?

So I got around to adding the edits mentioned in my last post into my base C3/DS genomes (well, my base chichi norn and grendel genomes, anyway), as well as an additional edit to enable them to process lactate (it's not a full-on cycle as it is in the CFF, but it ensures that lactate won't hang around for the entirety of the creature's lifespan). They're now ready for use in a proper genetic breed. The problem is that I can't come up with an idea for a breed. I suppose I could just "doodle" and get something that way, but that takes a while. Instead of ruminating on it for ages, I decided instead to involve the community.

Sometimes when I run low on ideas, I like browsing TCR or the adoptions section at CCaves to see if there's a particular individual who might prove inspiring. For this contest, I want you to upload such creatures. If your submission wins, it'll become a full breed.

So here's the rules:
*This is for C3/DS only - no C1 or C2 submissions!
*Find an interesting creature in your worlds. Appearance and species doesn't matter much, though since I don't have an ettin genome ready quite yet ettins aren't as likely to win as norns and grendels are. That's not to say an ettin can't win, however; an ettin certainly can if it appeals to me enough.
*Upload this creature to either TCR or CCave's adoption center, along with a brief description of how you imagine the breed based on your submission to be like. Do take care to ensure that the breed's features are actually possible in-game! You're not going to win if your breed relies on eating walls (for example).
*Only one submission per user! Also, you will have to upload a completely new creature for the contest - I won't accept already uploaded creatures.
*This should be obvious since I'm basing the breed on a creature, but just to make sure: the result of this contest will be a genetic breed - it will not have sprites of its own! I don't have the patience to make a full breed, not to mention my art skills are pretty bad, so I will not make a full breed unless you want to make the sprites for me.

I hope that explains everything, but feel free to ask questions if something isn't clear (which is always a possibility with me).

Submissions will be open until August 28 or until submissions die off. I'll post the winner a few days afterwards. Here's hoping I'll get some interesting creatures!

Until the next one, folks.

Gotta Whole Lotta Love

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you! Granted, as of the time of this writing, the day is almost over, and I imagine it's probably already over for some of you. Even so, I hope you all got some quality time with your significant other (or at least some candy if you're single like I am).

Unfortunately, I can't give you candy over the internet, so this new release is going to have to do.

The Sweetheart Colorful Grendels are the first of the Colorful Grendel sub-breeds. Coming in an array of bright, hopefully lovely colors, they're best known for their love of pushing other creatures. In fact, they're so friendly that they can feed by interacting with their fellows! Just keep them away from Hardman Norns; they take the phrase "Make love, not war" to a decidedly ridiculous extreme.

Download the Sweetheart Colorful Grendels!

Happy New *Arg*!

The holiday period has finally reached its end (more or less). I hope you all enjoyed spending time with your families, opening presents, eating delicious food, and whatnot. I know I did, anyway. 

To wrap up the holidays and 2013, how about I release a couple things?

Inspired by (among other things) Clohse's Sea Monkey Marina and Angelneko's Little SeaMonsters, Reef Gliders are amphibious norns who gain the ability to swim at adolescence (as well as a slightly carnivorous diet). They're not overly complicated, but I'm pretty happy with them. 

Download the Reef Gliders!

Next up is a fairly big update:

What? The Deep Abyss again? Yes, but this time with more stuff - this release comes with the plants, finally giving your deep-water-dwelling creatures something to munch on. Make sure to read the readme before installing this version, however - there's important information for those updating from V1 in there.

Download the Deep Abyss!

That's all for big releases, but I also have two smaller updates for you. 

First off is a Chione update. I've updated the mapping a bit - the ice over the lake is now "air" instead of "drained soil" (meaning plants can no longer grow there), and the space right before the surface cave (where the door is) is now "drained soil" instead of "air." Nothing particularly noteworthy, but it does set the stage for future updates (when the ecology starts coming in at last). 

Download the Chione update!

The final thing on the list is an update to my swimming agent. It should help your creatures swim better with less incidences of them being unable to reach objects. Just in time for the release of the Reef Gliders, huh? 

Download the Swimming Agent update!

Finally, here's an update about the blog. I know I haven't been updating it recently despite the fact that I am still playing Creatures right now (and making stuff for it, to boot). The fact of the matter is that I simply haven't had much to say lately. That being said, I might decide to document the grendel wolfling run I've been doing here (for something a little more informative than my bibbles over at CCaves) or maybe even a reboot of Tevaela, since I do still have quite a lot of time off before I have to go back to college. 

For now, just enjoy the releases! I'll see you all in 2014.

Another CCSF come and gone

Disclaimer: This post is a bit blunt. Do know that I mean no offense towards any participants, and that I believe that everyone did their best.

Today marks the final day of the CCSF 2013. To be brutally honest, I found this year to be really underwhelming. Don't get me wrong; it wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination. However, nothing about it was anything to write home about. The releases were mostly genetic breeds and agents, with only three metarooms (one of which was mine) and no full breeds. Furthermore, none of the other happenings really got me hyped.

However, I will say that I really like Clohse's Sea Monkey Marina, particularly how it blended the sea monkey stuff with original stuff. I don't know if I'll ever get around to making a world around it (might try to make a personalized version of it first), but it is quite fun to just watch. Furthermore, it did help me get my motivation to finish the Deep Abyss back.

With my thoughts out, I do think it's time to post my own releases here, yes?

My breed release consisted of the standard Colorful Grendels. They're extremely simple by my standards; they're based on the ChiChi genome with a few edits to make them more grendel-esque, and they're colorful. This initial pack consists of five colors picked at random by the egg agent.

Download the Standard Colorful Grendels!

That's not all I have that's related to the Colorful Grendels, however. As I stated on the website and in the readme, I plan on making more color variants and even sub-breeds as time goes on. To end the festival, I decided to make and release the first color pack for the Standard Colorful Grendels.

This second pack will let you hatch five new color varieties with the Standard Colorful Grendel egg agent in the initial release. Not much else to say here, really. 

Download the Standard Colorful Grendels Genome Pack 2!

My other release was the yearly metaroom: the initial version of the Deep Abyss.

I apologize for the lack of an ecology, playthings, or even basic food sources. Alas, my mental issues got in the way and I wasn't able to complete those in time. Hopefully, the basic room will give you enough to play with while I'm finishing it up. 

When will the final release be out? I would like to get it out by the end of the year, but at this point you should know that my word on when things will be out holds no value. It really depends on when Mea gets all the necessary sprites done, and when/if I can force myself to work on it. Do know that it's going to be a while. 

Download the Deep Abyss V1!

And that's all for now, folks.

Another Year, Another Birthday

As the title says - today is my 21st birthday. That means I'm finally free of the last bit of legal prohibitions - I can now drink alcohol, etc. Does that mean I will drink alcohol, etc.? No (alcohol has more cons than pros as far as I'm concerned).

I wasn't going to miss the chance to release a breed this year, if the crapton of releases that came before this one are any indication. I could have made a jab at my newfound ability to drink by making a breed revolving around alcohol, but decided that a serious breed would be more worthwhile. Unfortunately, this is where I break the streak of aquatic releases. Instead, this breed is more suited for an ocean of a different sort - the sea of outer space, as a passenger aboard of the Capillata.

Corny metaphor aside, the W-Runner Grendels are simultaneously a breed designed for wolfling runs and a breed designed for Docking Station. They have the advantage of being able to follow smells and navigate doors and lifts from birth, unlike normal creatures who have to wait until childhood. In addition, they do not get homesick and love using portals. They're more even-tempered than normal grendels to prevent their anger from getting in the way of their survival, but if you think they're completely friendly you're sadly mistaken.

Download the W-Runner Grendels!

And speaking of portals, you may be wondering how there's an open warp portal behind the grendel up there when the DS server has been offline for who-knows-how-long. Here's your answer....

These altered warp portals let your creatures travel from place-to-place in your world, while simulating the appearance and feel of the warp jumps of lore. 

Do note that there's a bug with these: if you have a closed portal in the same world with open portals, your creatures will sometimes get warped to the closed portal. It doesn't happen often, though, so hopefully you can live with it until I can figure out just exactly what's causing it. 

Download the Offline Warp Portals!

To end this post on another corny philosophical note: the way these grendels jump through the warp they love so much symbolizes my anticipation and worries for the future. With any luck, I'll still be here next year, bringing you yet another breed to enjoy. Time will tell, though....

Yet Another Aquatic Release

Every single post this month thus far has been a release, and this post is no exception. Let's get to it, shall we?

The first release is a breed, albeit one that isn't quite as complex as some of my other ones.

The Swimming Aqua Grendels are...well, Aqua Grendels that can swim. That said, they do have some differences from the normal variety besides the obvious - chief among them are the swim bladder edits from the Astro Tetras.

Download the Swimming Aqua Grendels!

The next release is quite a bit more significant. 

I've been talking about the Sea Garden for quite a while, and decided it was about time to do more than that. Since the full pack is taking forever to finish, I decided to release it in parts. 

Part one consists of two plants: the Sea Pen and the Coralroot. The sea pen provides creatures with an underwater source of fruit, while the coralroot does the same for food. With these, the lack of aquatic fruit (and too a lesser extent food) has been addressed. The coralroot has the bonus of providing aquatic creatures with entertainment once it's been eaten. 

Download the Sea Garden Pack One!

So, is that all the releases for this month? Nope - my birthday's coming up within five days, and just like last year there's going to be a breed release for that too. In fact, since it's my 21st, the swarm of releases is a bit of a preliminary celebration. Stay tuned; there's more to come.

Need more aquatic stuff? How about some norns?

In a similar vein to the Twilight Norns, it's time for me to release a norn breed for the third release post in a row. I've talked about these guys a bit, but I think it's time they got a proper release.

The Coral Reef ChiChi Norns are exactly what it says on the tin: ChiChi Norns who are adapted to live on a coral reef. They cannot breathe above water, but they have an adaptable diet that includes critters and bugs, and they're very social. They also change colors as they progress through their lives. They took a little while despite not being that complicated, but I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out.

Download the Coral Reef ChiChi Norns!

Idea Dump Post Mk. II

I'm having trouble focusing again as far as Creatures goes. I keep thinking I'll make something, but then I get bored in the middle of making it, and eventually it gets to the point where I go "screw it" and lurk on TVTropes or Smogon or something instead of doing anything related to Creatures. This isn't anything new for me, but dear Banshee does it blow.

So I figured I'd make an idea dump post and see if I can get my thoughts in order. Nothing here is guaranteed to get made.

• An aquatic grendel breed that's similar to the Aqua Grendels, but never feels homesick underwater (as in, if they get homesick dropping them in the sea gets rid of it). Might have GoM-like sexual dimorphism (fast-aging males that live to breed; normal aging females). 
• A grendel breed based on mosquitoes - the males are friendly and have a normal diet, but females can feed by slapping around other creatures, and might need to in order to breed. Might also start out aquatic and become land-living as they age.
• A vampire breed that can lengthen its lifespan by hitting other creatures, and will lose life when slapped itself.
• Dragyns - a series of grendel breeds with draconic traits that use Draconian Norn sprites, with features tailored for a variety of environments. 
• An ettin breed of some sort
• Chameleon Grendels: Grendels that look like norns, presumably so that they can blend into a norn population. 
• Potamogeton Grendels V2: An update to my Potamogeton Grendel breed, which are themselves an update of Grendel_slayer's Pondweed Grendels (updateception?). The original Potamogeton Grendels lacked some CFE edits (for example, they can still become immortal) and the homesickness reduction trait didn't work the way I intended it to.

Also in the "things I want to do" list: Do a feral run involving land-living grendels (thank you KittyTikara for making me want to do this). This is easier said than done for me since my taste in agents is really, really finicky.

Not certain if I'll get out of this rut any time soon (though I did manage to mostly complete a norn breed, so that's something). I seriously need ADHD meds or something. x_x

The Rise of the Forged

If you've been reading my bibbles at Creatures Caves and/or been poking about on TCR, you might now that I've been working on a version of the Grendels of Minimordor.

First, some backstory - the original GoMs were not my creation, but Minisauron's. In stark contrast to my own habits (where I make multiple breeds), Minisauron took a single breed and refined it over the course of many years and in-game generations. The ultimate result were the Arimeides Grendels of Minimordor, and later on the Ueber-GoMs (who are more of an update to the Arimeides). If you haven't tried out either of these, you should - they're an absolutely amazing breed, and a very unique one at that. Both the Arimeides and the Ueber-GoMs are available at Minisauron's section at the Norn Adoption Center, the Mini-Blackgate.

Now, onto my own GoM variant. For a while before making these, I was scrounging about trying to either find a breed to use for a wolfling run or trying to come up with an idea for my own. Eventually, I settled on the Ueber-GoMs, as they are one of my favorite genetic breeds. They worked for the world I set up for them, but I couldn't help but notice how stupid and idiotic the males were - in a few generations time, they were outnumbered by the females, with a breeding script that strongly favored male eggs.

Since the Uebers didn't work out as well as I hoped, I decided to make my own variant. I originally wanted to base their genome on the Ueber genome, but Ueber brains crash the genetics kit, and I've yet to find another genetics editor that can even open their genome. So instead, I went back a breed and based them on the Arimeides, where I came up with the name and backstory for them....

The word "Facticius" means "Artificial" or "Man-made" in Latin, which reflects upon these GoMs' history of being artificially enhanced as opposed to (mostly) naturally bred like the Ueber-GoMs were (a history also reflected by their alternate name: The Forged). They share many features both with the Arimeides and the Ueber-GoMs, but also bring a new set of features to the GoM gene pool (most notably Vampess's CFE edits).

I tried contacting Minisauron about this new variant and seeing what he thought of them, but unfortunately the e-mail address I had for him was apparently defunct, and the only other way to get a hold of him was through DS (which is no longer a viable option since the server's been down for practically a year). However, the readmes for his GoMs said he didn't mind people distributing or modifying the packs...so I'm hoping he won't mind me releasing an edited variant of them.

Download the Facticius GoMs!

A Challenge for a Breed

First off: the "unorthodox release" I mentioned in my last post isn't happening. At least, not in the way I originally intended it. One part of the release was a genetic breed - I got to the point where I made the egg agent and zipped up the file, but after observing the breed in a wolfling run and making some observations of Minisauron's Ueber-GoMs, I came up with some more ideas for them. As such, the breed's still being tweaked. I'll get it out eventually.

The other part of the release was a DS world designed for a wolfling run, complete with IQ test and Ovicidal Agent. It, unfortunately, is never coming to fruition, unless this is something people would be very interested in.

While I'm working away on the aforementioned genetic breed, I have a challenge to offer. After looking over CU7's C3/DS breedlist and noticing how many breeds have a standard CL genome, I came up with the idea to make a new genome for each of them. I'm willing to let the community pick which breed I work on first, but there's a price: Before I do anything related to this project, I want to see 10 creatures submitted to the Creature Repository. There's an additional caveat to that: the 10 creatures cannot be submitted by one person. One person can submit 2 creatures maximum - the remainder of the 10 need to be submitted by other people.

I think it's a fair tradeoff: bring some activity to a site who sorely needs it, and a breed gets a new and unique genome to call its own. Once the TCR quota is met, I'll open up a vote for the genome revamp.

My Breeds and the Creatures Caves Breedlist

In case you haven't noticed, one of my breeds - the Twilight Norns - has finally appeared on CCave's breedlist. I wasn't the person who did so, but as adding my breeds to the list there is low priority for me at the moment I really don't mind if other people want to go ahead and do so.

However, before you start flooding the CCaves breedlist with my stuff, I have one request: Please do NOT just copy-paste the description and image provided here at the Realm onto the Creatures Caves breedlist. It's a major pet peeve of mine when people do that; even if it is convenient, I find that it makes for a much nicer-looking breedlist when people provide their own images and description when listing breeds - it's part of the reason why I find CU7's breedlist to be one of the nicest around, even if it hasn't been updated in a while.

I'll probably get to it myself once I don't have college to worry about (read: when I'm out for the summer), but this notice is for anyone who wants to beat me to it.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Doomsday

Right, this place has gone unupdated for a little too long, I daresay. My absence wasn't so much due to a hiatus or anything - it was because I was planning on releasing Chione for my new 50th post. However, I promised to release it only after Survivor filled up, and that's taking a freakishly long time.... Hence, lack of updates.

Where did the Oasis review go? Well, I deleted it mostly for the sake of my own sanity. It was a rant moreso than anything worth leaving up; just my disappointment at finding out how useless the room was for keeping creatures in. It sure as heck wasn't worthy of being the milestone 50th post. I'll post a far more fair review of the room at a later date.

Second thing: It's been a long while since the CCSF 2012, and I've just been plain lazy with putting my stuff up on my own website. So I'm going to take care of that now.

My main contribution to this year's CCSF was this redone version of Jennie's Aquanornia. It's a lot emptier than the original, but that's because I took most of the C3 stuff out of it. It's now more or less an aquatic Biodome, and you can set it up how you please for your aquatic creatures' comforts. 

Download Aquanornia Revamped!

Second thing: the redone Aquatic Terrarium plants for the Garden Box. For the CCSF they were all in one .zip file, but here I'm packaging them separately. The sponges have had some bugfixes since the last release, but they're otherwise the same as last time. The Gumin Grass behaves somewhat differently from its original counterpart; it throws out fully formed seeds as opposed to growing them first, and will throw out fully developed sproutlings instead of seeds should the population get low. The seeds also go dormant if creatures outnumber the plants and seeds. These ones have been updated slightly since their release at the CCSF; they no longer throw out their seeds so quickly and the seeds themselves stick closer to the bottom.

Download the GB Sponges!

Download the GB Gumin Grass! 

And now, we move on to the completely new stuff. As you might now, today was the widely predicted date of the end of the world. Predictably, jack squat happened. So, in celebration of the world's continued existence and the upcoming holidays, here is a crapton of releases!

 I know I said I wasn't going to release Chione V1.1 until Survivor started. That's taking forever, and my patience is wearing thin. So instead, I'm releasing it as an early Christmas gift for the CC. 

It's still empty of native flora and fauna, but now the room has teleporters and elevators, plus a weather system and some mapping fixes (no more stuck baby creatures!). I also moved it so that it no longer conflicts with the Biodome (though it might still overlap some other metarooms; I didn't bother to check to see if there was any in its new location). 

Download Chione V1.1!

Next up: a new genetic breed! These guys aren't the same breed I was going to release for the CCSF, but they're pretty similar in concept to that breed. You can consider them a belated addition to my CCSF releases. 

The Aqua Grendels are pretty much generic amphibious grendels - they're amphibious, have a diet skewed towards critters and bugs, and heavily resistant to coldness. They're more placid than normal grendels, but that doesn't mean they're entirely norn friendly - they're still likely to attack your norns, only they'll do it out of crowdedness instead of anger. 

Download the Aqua Grendels!

Baby Aqua Grendels go for bugs by instinct - they won't start going for critters until adolescence. However, there aren't that many (edible) aquatic bugs to go around. With permission from Moe, I decided to change that....

These here are Shrimpton - the cute little water bugs that normally swim around in the waters of the Oasis. Since the originals weren't really receptive to creatures, I gave them some new code. They still behave similarly to the originals, but they're now classified as "bug" instead of "critter", and your creatures can play with and eat them. Make sure you have some plants lying around, though - they need them to lay their eggs.

Thanks to Moe for letting me rip the Shrimpton from the Oasis, and thanks to Ghosthande for making the Vendor sprite (as part of the Biodome Pack - there's some interesting stuff in bd-launchers.c16...).

Download the Shrimpton!

This next release still ties into the Aqua Grendels, though it isn't as necessary for their comfort.

This update to the Aquatic Terrarium lowers the floor above the right entrance to the fish nursery, preventing baby creatures from getting stuck there and making the right tank navigable for non-swimming creatures. If you want a place for your non-swimmers to roam, but lack the space for a new metaroom, then this update might be for you.

Download the Aquatic Terrarium Update!

Finally, I release a pack containing a look into the past....

This here is a large pack of C2 and C3/DS genetic breeds that I completed and zipped up, but for whatever reason didn't see fit to release before now. Most of it's pretty old, but don't that let that discourage you. Take a look; maybe there's a breed that tickles your fancy in there.

Download the Unreleased Breeds Pack!

Yeah, a lot of stuff here. Hopefully, this will satisfy everyone's desires for a Christmas release (the Sea Garden, again, is nowhere close to being done and probably won't get released until sometime next year). Happy Holidays from Grendel Man, y'all!

An Interesting Fact + Another Status Update

As I've stated multiple times, I've made a lot of stuff over my time as a Creatures developer. In particular, I've drawn attention to the fact that I've made over 100 genetic breeds (counting the breed I'm making for the CCSF, which is indeed a grendel, 70 of those are C3/DS grendel breeds). Out of curiosity, I decided to calculate just what percent of C3/DS grendel genetic breeds were mine.

Counting in my stuff from the Norn Adoption Center and the breedlist at CU7, there are 112 total grendel genetic breeds. I didn't count "spritemixes" (such as Angelneko's Little Sea Monsters), and I didn't count full breeds (such as the Dusky Grendels), but I did count updated versions of previous breeds (e.g. the Waterfall Grendels V1, V2, and V3 were all counted as separate breeds).

Calculating it all up using the percent formula (70/112 * 100), I figured out that roughly a whopping 62.5% (rounded up) of C3/DS grendel genetic breeds were my work. Granted, I imagine this number is a little lower since there's bound to be a few undocumented breeds I didn't catch, but still. I've made over half the genetic grendel breeds available to the community. Talk about leaving one's mark.

Now, the percent of all genetic breeds that are mine is probably a lot lower than the factoid I just posted, but that's a calculation for another time.

Okay, enough boasting about my achievements - time for a mini-status update. The mini-hiatus mentioned in my previous post is over now, and I've gotten to work on my CCSF releases. I've completed the Aquanornia update (it just needs to be sent to Jessica now) and the Gumin Grass for the Garden Box (which I would consider to be the best plant I've coded yet), as well as fixed a few things that bothered me about the GB Sponges. I still need to complete the genetic breed (if you want to help me by dropping a suggestion or two in this CCaves topic, it would be much appreciated), and I've only started converting a few AC agents. Next in line after the genetic breed is the Past Seas update, and after that I'll finish up the GB conversions.

On top of that list, Mea and I started another metaroom collab. I wouldn't count on this one being out for the CCSF, since it only got underway a few days ago, but I'll post a preview of it here once I get it in-game, as well as revealing what exactly it is (provided Mea doesn't post it on her blog once she's done with it).

So far, so good. Apologies about the picture-less posts; I swear my next post will have some sort of image in it.