Posted November 19, 2009
WOW. My head just exploded. If there is any really unique game around, with real educational and scientific value beneath the surface, that game is Creatures. At first sight, this game might look as some Tamagotchi Plus, or a "cute alien" edition of The Sims. However, it's much, much more than that.
Want examples to back that statement? Here's a link describing the AI used in the Creatures series:
http://aigamedev.com/open/highlights/creatures-ai/
And another article describing its take on biochemistry:
http://www.gamewaredevelopment.co.uk/creatures_more.php?id=460_0_6_0_M27
Yes, that's right - it simulates DNA and genetics, including mutation and evolution; it simulates biochemistry in a variety of levels; it simulates brains with several "lobes" containing adaptive neural nets. And what do you have with all that? Emergent behavior all around. Your Norns really "feel" alive. And they pretty much are alive, within the constraints of a computer simulation wrapped in a game.
If you look beyond the (brilliant) Artificial Life simulation aspect, you also have a variety of environments in which your creatures can live (and die), all sorts of machines and gadgets (that you can connect in order to make them work together, with the possibility of emergent behavior as well), and lots of things to do.
Creatures can be a game, or a lab, or both, depending on how you look into it. Still, it's probably the most unique game ever created, still unmatched in its ability to succeed in providing a realistic simulation of life - with all its ups and downs. It can be a powerful learning tool, a great game, a brilliant experiment - and, in the end, it's truly a masterpiece, in more ways than one.
Want examples to back that statement? Here's a link describing the AI used in the Creatures series:
http://aigamedev.com/open/highlights/creatures-ai/
And another article describing its take on biochemistry:
http://www.gamewaredevelopment.co.uk/creatures_more.php?id=460_0_6_0_M27
Yes, that's right - it simulates DNA and genetics, including mutation and evolution; it simulates biochemistry in a variety of levels; it simulates brains with several "lobes" containing adaptive neural nets. And what do you have with all that? Emergent behavior all around. Your Norns really "feel" alive. And they pretty much are alive, within the constraints of a computer simulation wrapped in a game.
If you look beyond the (brilliant) Artificial Life simulation aspect, you also have a variety of environments in which your creatures can live (and die), all sorts of machines and gadgets (that you can connect in order to make them work together, with the possibility of emergent behavior as well), and lots of things to do.
Creatures can be a game, or a lab, or both, depending on how you look into it. Still, it's probably the most unique game ever created, still unmatched in its ability to succeed in providing a realistic simulation of life - with all its ups and downs. It can be a powerful learning tool, a great game, a brilliant experiment - and, in the end, it's truly a masterpiece, in more ways than one.