Creatures Caves | Community

A pre-prepared list of questions for the live Q&A chat session with Fishing Cactus.

1. BREEDING AND EGGS

1.1 Will the Creatures mate on their own without any player intervention? (Seonta)
1.2 In the interest of running a wolfling run, will the Norns be able to reproduce by themselves? (SpaceShipRat)
1.3 Will natural eggs be able to hatch without intervention, and quickly so as to sustain the population? (Not like, 30 minutes later?) Is it necessary for the player to click on every egg to hatch them? Or could they hatch on their own after an amount of time? (SpaceShipRat and dk1987)
1.4 How long does the natural hatching of eggs take? How long does pregnancy last? How long will it take for a Norn to recover from a pregnancy? (dk1987)
1.5 At what age are Norns able to breed? (dk1987)
1.6 Will Norns form monogamous attachments, kissop like crazy as per the previous games or a bit of both depending on the Norn? (Hellfrozeover)

2. DEVELOPERS

2.1 What do you think are the key differences between C4 and the earlier games? (Malkin)
2.2 What are you most proud of in C4? (Malkin)
2.3 What has been the most difficult parts of making C4? (Malkin)
2.4 How do you plan to use the free to play model differently from Zynga? (Malkin)
2.5 Andrea has said previously that he wants C4 to be one of the new wave of "hardcore" free to play games - can you give us any examples of such games? (Malkin)
2.6 Can C4 be described as a 'god game'? (Malkin)
2.7 What are your personal favorite F2P games? (ChosenPredator)

3. ECOSYSTEM

3.1 How will critters interact with the world? (lightyagami777 and Ascent)
3.2 How many different biomes are there in the typical Creatures 4 world? (Ascent)
3.3 Does heat and cold exist and affect Norns? (Ascent)
3.4 Are there harmful or fatal areas of the world (like C2's volcanic area or the C3 piranha pool)? (Ascent)
3.5 Can a player affect an area's temperature? Humidity? Biome in general? (Ascent)
3.6 Are there insects? How many and what kinds? What do they do? (Ascent)
3.7 Do insects interact with one another? Can spiders catch flies like in C2? (Ascent)
3.8 Can a "badbug" like a bee hurt a Norn? (Ascent)
3.9 Do insects reproduce? Do they have life cycles (like C2's glow worm)? (Ascent)
3.10 Do different insects occur in different biomes? (Ascent)
3.11 Are there critter hives (like C2's ants)? (Ascent)
3.12 Are there plants? How many and what kinds? What do they do? (Ascent)
3.13 Are plants edible? Can some be poisonous? (Ascent)
3.14 Are there medicinal plants? Alcohol? Aphrodisiacs? (Ascent)
3.15 Do plants pollinate, spread seeds and reproduce? Is this facilitated by insects? (Ascent)
3.16 Do different plants occur in different biomes? (Ascent)
3.17 Are there fish? Can Norns catch fish and eat them? (Ascent)
3.18 Do perishable items decay and become bad to eat? (Ascent)
3.19 Is the world dangerous for unattended, uneducated Norns (think deathcap mushrooms)? (Ascent)
3.20 Do norns verbally differentiate between types of plants, animals, and insects? Can I teach them which ones are good and which are bad? (Ascent)

4. ENVIRONMENT

4.1 Will Creatures be able to travel between worlds/scenes/locations without player intervention? (Seonta and Pirate-Rob)
4.2 Will there be a way to ensure that Norns can't move from one area to another, if we don't want them to? (CelineSSauve)
4.3 How big will the world be? (lightyagami777)

5. FUTURE UPDATES

5.1 Are there any plans for a computer based game that will not require internet or micro purchases, a full game without the "free to play concept"? Would you consider removing the F2P aspect of the game if fans were willing to buy the game? (Seonta and Olibird)
5.2 Is there another good reason for not including at least the Grendels in the initial release if you're still deciding to go that route? (Grendel Man)
5.3 To what extent of developer support can we expect once the game is released? Will there be continuous updates in small increments or a longer wait for big expansion type of updates (New maps, Norns, Grendels, Ettins)? (ChosenPredator)
5.4 Will Norn plushies ever make a comeback? (HolyTomato)
5.5 Will we see Ettins and Grendels? (lightyagami777)
5.6 In the future, would it be possible to play with the Norns offline and when you have available internet be able to update to the server? (TehSamm)

6. GAME MECHANICS

6.1 Does the world and Creature activity continue when the player is not logged into the game? If the Norns are able to continue doing stuff while we are not playing, do we have the option to change this? (Seonta and lightyagami777)
6.2 What are the system requirements for Creatures 4, for all operating systems and mobile? (Sam999 and Megane)
6.3 Is the end game scenario going to be open and sandboxy? (Athenais)
6.4 Will we be able to have multiple worlds with one account? (Athenais and Malkin)
6.5 I noticed in the demo that playing with the ball was rough. Will the transitions between actions be smooth? (lightyagami777)
6.6 Compared to other games, how bad will the lag be for slower computers? (lightyagami777)
6.7 Will the distance problem be fixed? (In the demo, the hand grabbing the Norn is floating above it, and the Norn fixing the toy is facing away from it.) (lightyagami777)
6.8 Are there Easter eggs in the game? (lightyagami777)
6.9 I am wondering if there will be time barriers for certain objectives like fixing things. Hypothetically, if my Norn goes to learn repairing will that certain Norn have to wait to repair again? What will happen if my Norn wants to do things himself that have time barriers? Will the Norn receive the same stimuli if the time is finished or not? (ChosenPredator and Genesis)
6.10 What kinds of things will we have to earn in the game? (Infinite scroll, kit access) (Malkin)
6.11 What kinds of limitations will there be? Will it be possible to remove limitations later on? (Malkin)
6.12 Will I be able to track the brain's performance in real-time as in previous games? What have you expanded upon? (Ascent)
6.13 Is the action-wheel form of interaction, similar to The Sims, final? If so, does a Norn have the choice to disobey an order, or is he forced to obey? Must he learn or unlock the actions in the wheel? (dk1987)
6.14 Is there a way to toggle off the option to NOT have gravestones laying around when a Norn dies? (Norngirl)
6.14 Will there be a strong story line? (lightyagami777)
6.15 How old should you be to play this game? (lightyagami777)
6.16 Will there be weird ways for Norns to die? (lightyagami777)
6.17 Will there be new terminology? (lightyagami777)

7. GAME PURCHASES

7.1 Will the Collectors Edition be available through online retailers, such as Amazon? (Sam999)

8. GENETICS AND SYSTEMS

8.1 Is there a gene splicer and if so how it is functioning? (As in C3/DS with two victims or using purchased or maybe even bred to insert genes into a genome/egg?) dk1987
8.2 Compare a C4 Norn's brain to a C3 Norn's brain. Does the C4 Norn have more neurons? Fewer? Do C4 Norn brains use the same SVRule system from the older games? Does a C4 Norn have the same 10 brain lobes? More? Fewer? (Ascent)
8.3 If it exists, does the attention lobe still behave the same way as in C3? (Ascent)
8.4 Compare a C4 Norn's genetics to a C3 Norn's genetics. How many genes, on average, comprise a C4 Norn? More than a C3 Norn? Are they still rule-based in the same way? Do they still evolve and mutate in a similar fashion? (Ascent)
8.5 How do genes affect gait and disposition? What have you expanded upon? (Ascent)
8.6 Can I manually review and modify a Norn's genes? (Ascent)
8.7 Can Highlander (immortal) Norns exist? Can they occur naturally? (Ascent)
8.8 Compare a C4 Norn's body chemistry to a C3 Norn's. How many chemicals exist in Creatures 4? Do objects still emit/inject chemicals in the same way as in C3 (this was the primary way for objects to interact with Norns)? Are chemicals in a C4 Norn's body regulated by genetic rules as in C3? Do toxins, antigens and the like still exist? Are there any visual indications of a Norn's health or sickness? What have you expanded upon? (Ascent)
8.9 Can I track/inject the chemicals in a norn's body? (Ascent)
8.10 How many organs does a C4 Norn have? How do they affect the Norn? Do they have individual health levels? (Ascent)
8.11 How will mutations work? Is there an aspect of randomness to it like in the original games, or do mutations need to be "unlocked" i.e. bought with in-game or out-of-game currency or unlocked in the course of the storyline? (LivewareProblem)

9. NORNS

9.1 How long do the Norns live? (Seonta and dk1987)
9.2 When will we see a clear picture of the Aqua Norn and mysterious fourth species? So far we have seen the Cave and the Common Norns. (Seonta)
9.3 Will the Norns get tails? Maybe simple fluffy ones? And horns for the male ones? (Genesis, lightyagami777, and Norngirl)
9.4 Will baby Norns crawl? (Malkin)
9.5 We've already seen that the Norns vary a lot in colours, patterns etc. But will there also be other things that make breeds different from each other? Like a breed that has floppy ears, some have horns, different tails and such? (HolyTomato)
9.6 Are Norns still able to pick up stuff and interact with it? (HolyTomato)
Will Norns also have different personalities? Like when one Norn sees a critter, it immediately approaches it out of curiosity, but another Norn is too shy or scared to do that? Have you given a great deal of thought as to how to help Norns develop and show their personalities? (HolyTomato and Malkin)
9.7 Are Norns able to distinguish family members from stranges? (dk1987)
9.8 How many external properties determine the appearance of the Creatures? What are they? (Norns will differ in adult size? Same size ears? Various fur-spots?) (dk1987)
9.9 How will Creatures learn how to talk? With self-chosen words, or with default terms built into the game? (dk1987)
What will the difference be between genders? (lightyagami777)
9.10 Will Norns be able to have positive same sex interactions? (Not necessarily 'gay', just be able to cultivate same-sex friendships). (Malkin)
9.11 Will female Norns have the pleasure of "friend-zoning" certain male Norns? Will female Norns be able to actively avoid males that have been mean, or exhibited other bad behaviors, such as not pulling their weight in the community, or ignoring their offspring? (Megane and nimh24)
9.12 How many verbs does a C4 Norn understand? (Ascent)
9.13 Will Norns be able to form opinions about other Norns, without having to interact with them? Will they remember which Norns give bad, or irrelevant advice? (nimh24)
9.14 If Norns do learn speech, will there be a safe-guard in the game to stop the infinite "boo hate emm" "bibble hate emm" "emm hate emm" loop? (CelineSSauve)
9.15 Will Norns form friendships with and animosity towards other Norns? (Hellfrozeover)
9.16 How much control will we have over the Norns' personalities? (lightyagami777)

10. ORIGINAL GAMES

10.1 For the packaged deal that we have the option to buy, are the Creatures games simply the GOG versions, or has the company gone in and personally inspected the older games to update them and bring them up to speed with modern computers? (Seonta)
10.2 Will third-party modifications work on the Collectors Edition versions of old creatures games? (Sam999)
10.3 Which of the original games will be included with the Collectors Edition? (Sam999)
10.4 Will you be hosting your own version of the Docking Station server? (Sam999)
10.5 When you call them Mac-compatible do you mean fully Mac-compatible with fixes for some of the major Mac/Creatures bugs such as catalogue files unzipping in the wrong places, rainbow spew and the lack of a Wolfing Run option? (Sam999)
10.6 Will the old games be able to be installed an unlimited number of times? (Sam999)
10.7 What are the system requirements for the original games included with the Collectors Edition? (Sam999)
10.8 Will the C2 Norns still be playable after an hour? (CelineSSauve)
10.9 Does the Collectors Edition also include all of the updates and official addons? (Life Kits, breeds, object packs, etc.) (dk1987)
10.10 Will the old games have multi-language options, or only have a local version for each country? (dk1987)

11. POPULATION

11.1 Will there be a population limit? (Seonta and dk1987)
11.2 What if you have no more Norns? Will be like in C3/DS where any time you are free to get new eggs? (dk1987)
11.3 Will the population be something the player can influence? (CelineSSauve)
11.4 Is the population something that is influenced by the player's level? (CelineSSauve)

12. QUESTS

12.1 How will the quests work? Will they be interconnected and tell a story, or will they just be goals for the player to reach? Will any of the quests have important rewards that will change gameplay, such as new agents, rooms, or breeds? (Megane)
12.2 Will I feel like I'm doing the same thing over and over again to complete quests that do nothing, like in some Facebook games? (lightagami777)

13. SHEE

13.1 Will the Shee play a big part in the game? Or is it only the game guide? Are there more Shee than just Master Shee? (HolyTomato)
13.2 The Shee in C4 seem to greatly depart from Shee in the previous games in terms of both their appearance and level of presence. Did anything in particular inspire you to take the Shee in this direction? Are the Shee in C4 tied to their prequel games' counterparts, or is this essentially a reboot of the species? (Officer1BDI)

14. SHOP

14.1 Will there be a suggestion box for the shop? (Malkin)
14.2 Will it be easy to 'slip' in the shop and accidentally buy a golden egg-bought product when we wanted to buy a coin-bought product? (Malkin)
14.3 Can we filter out the golden egg-bought products from the coin-bought products? (Malkin)

15. SOCIAL AND ONLINE ASPECTS

15.1 Is the game going to be linked to Facebook or some other social network? (Seonta)
15.2 How many servers will be dedicated to the game? (Seonta)
15.3 Since the game will be online, do you have any ideas for interactions between players? Things like chats, friend lists or even the neat idea about breeding contests? It sounds fun to be able to visit worlds of friends and play with their Norns and stuff. (HolyTomato)
15.4 Will Norns will be storable by exporting and importing? (dk1987)
15.5 Will we finally be able to export eggs to send to friends? (dk1987)
15.6 Will we be able to send Norns to strangers? (CelineSSauve)
15.7 If Norns are hard to come by (being the case if they don't breed by themselves) would there be a way to ensure the "warp" only sends to people who also have a Norn send, so that you always get a Norn back when you send one? (CelineSSauve)
15.8 Will we be able to play without having a bunch of "Friends" that we do not know and have only added because we need X amount of people to "unlock" something? (CelineSSauve)