Frequently Asked QuestionsGeneralQ.: I have downloaded some files from your web site, but I don't know how to install them. A.: The files on my site are packed to save bandwith and downloading time for you. You will need a utility like Winzip to extract them. If you don't know how to install cobs, please refer to my cob faq page. Q.: I have Winzip, but I really don't know where to put them. Can you tell me where my Creatures directory is? A.: By default, the Creatures games install to C:\Program Files\Creatures(2)(3), but you can install them anywhere you want on your hard drive(s). If you have never looked at how the files are organized on your computer, this is a good occasion to start the Windows Explorer from the start menu and explore your computer. This is basic Windows knowledge. If you don't know how to use your computer, please ask someone near you (father, mother, brother, sister, friend) to explain you how things work, or read the small Windows manual that comes with your computer. Q.: I want to have a web site, too. Can you tell me how to make web pages? A.: No. The same thing as above applies here. You will need some basic computer knowledge and you will have to learn HTML, the language in which web pages are written. If you have Netscape, play around with Composer which is a rather easy to use HTML editor. If you want to learn more, search the web for tutorials or buy a book about web page design. Q.: Which program do you use to make your web pages? A.: I personally use Microsoft Frontpage 2000, but there are lots of HTML editors available which will do the job. Q.: I want to make my own cobs. Can you tell me in a few words how to make them? A.: No. This isn't anything one can tell "in a few words". You will have to learn CAOS, the scripting language in which Creatures objects are written. You will also have to learn how to make sprites. There should be some sites on the web that offer tutorials on how to make your own cobs, look around or use Google to find them. Q.: Can you tell me in a few words how genetics work in Creatures 1/2/3? A.: No. Even if Norn biochemistry is not as complex as we would like it to be, it is still complicated enough so that you can't explain it in an e-mail. Information about how genes work can be found at various excellent third party sites. Please refer to my commented links page to find the sites that interest you. Q.: Will you trade norns via e-mail with me? A.: No, I'm not interested in trading norns via e-mail. I sometimes download norns from the web like everyone else, but in general I like to breed my own norns starting with eggs. Q.: Why shouldn't I send you files? A.: This is a question of Netiquette. You should never send people attached files unless they ask you to do so. They clutter up my mailbox, and I will have to pay for the download time. In many countries of Europe including Germany local phone calls are not free. In general, I delete large mails from unknown people before even downloading them to my computer, so there is a great chance you'll never get a reply. Q.: When I send you a Norn, will you post it on your site? A.: No. I only post my own stuff on my web site. Monika's Creatures has already grown much more than I have ever thought it would, and I spend a lot of time maintaining it. If you surf Creatures web sites, you will surely find sites where the authors will be grateful if you send them your norns and/or cobs to post. But never send any unsolicited files, you will make yourself more enemies than friends. Q.: I think that your site hasn't been updated for a long time. When will you update it again? A.: Please keep in mind that I maintain my web site for my own and (hopefully) your pleasure. I will update it when I feel like doing so. Like everyone else, I have a life beyond my computer, and my (free) time is limited. I love the Creatures games, but they are not my only interest. Q.: May I post your cobs and worlds on my own web site? A.: Yes. Everything I create is offered as freeware, this means that you may post it on your site without asking me for permission first. It does not mean that I give away the copyright for my creations. The only thing I require is that you give me proper credit and don't call my work your own. If you don't want to link to my site, that's fine with me, but a link back is always a nice gesture. Please don't link directly to my files but upload them to your own server. Q.: May I use your texts on my web page? A. : No, unless I explicitly gave you permission to do so. Write your own stuff, it will be much more interesting to read different opinions from different people and not the same information all over the web, don't you think so? :) Q.: Will you add my site to your links list? A.: This depends on your site. I am mostly interested in technical information, so you will mostly find links to developers' sites on my links list. This does not mean that your site is bad in my opinion, but it will have to be original in some way if you want me to add it. Q.: May I add your site to my links list? A.: Of course you may do so. In general, you don't have to ask to link to a website, but you should always link to the main page of a site to give the visitors the possibility to explore the site for themselves. Q.: I couldn't find a specific file on the web site that you mentioned. A.: I always link to the main page of a web site, so you will have to read what this person has to offer and find your way around the site. This is a pure question of netiquette. If it is a huge site, it will have a more sophisticated navigation system than a site that only consists of a few pages. In general I try to keep my links up to date, but Creatures sites vanish and move all the time, and it is rather difficult to keep pace with updating my links. Q.: Where can I download the Life Kits? A.: They are now available for free at the new Creature Labs website. Creatures 1Q.: How can I install and run C1 under Windows XP? A.: You will need the NT installation patch and the update to version 1.04. At the moment, all the official patches and addons can be found on the following site: http://www.gamewaredevelopment.co.uk/creatures_index.php Q.: The Creatures 1 norns I have downloaded from your site just die off when they are 10 to 15 hours old. I have tried to export and reimport them, but it will always happen again. A.: This means that you have not read my main C1 Norn page. I clearly state there that all my C1 have the receptor gene that causes them to die of old age. This gene has been introduced with the Ron and Forest Norns included in the C1 Life Kit. If you want norns that spend most of their life in their senile stage because they won't die of old age, I would recommend that you don't use my C1 norns nor those that come with the Life Kit. The Creatures games model biological life, so norns and grendels should die of old age like every living thing. Q.: I want to make my own C1 world, can you tell me how to do it? A.: For Sandra Linkletter's worldbuilding tutorial, the starter worlds and basic cobs please refer to the links on my "New Worlds" page in the C1 area. You will also need a decent graphics program to draw your background, this cannot be done with MS Paint. I personally use Jasc's Paint Shop Pro, but there are other programs that are just as good. You will also have to learn how to make cobs to make new objects for your world. Creatures 2Q.: Help, my C2 norns won't eat, won't sleep and the females are all unfertile! They all die after two hours or so, my graveyard is already full! A.: This means that you have not installed the patches. (They can be found at the above mentioned sites.) The original C2 genome (as shipped) has several design flaws that make it unusable. You will have to install the egg update that replaces the eggs in your hatchery and start over again. Don't try to crossbreed the norns you already have with the updated ones, the genomes are incompatible. You will almost certainly get a lot of stillbirths and in the surviving offspring some of the bad genes will be passed down to further generations. For more information please refer to my Advanced Norn Care section. There are also some excellent third party genomes available on the net, I personally would recommend to download either the Amnesia Norns or the Canny Norns from The Palace of the Evil Shee. Q.: Creatures 2 won't let me inject the cobs that I have downloaded from the net. A.: You might need the latest agent injector kit. Q.: How do I activate the Gene Splicer machine? A.: Go to the control room located in the room under the level where the feelings computer is located (you will also find the neuroscience kit powerup there) and click on the control panel on the left. You will get a message that the splicer has been powered up and is ready for use now. The splicer room is located to the right side of the control room, above the ettin eggmaker machine. You will have to lurr two creatures into this room and lock them in the cages in the right corner of the room. Lock the cages by clicking on the green buttons. Then you will have to turn the splicer lever left of the cages to splice your creatures. The two donors will die, so I would recommend that you copy them first unless you want to get rid of them. Q.: What does the potion mixer machine do? A: I am sorry, but I have never bothered to figure out how it works. The only thing I can tell you is that most of the chemicals it produces are harmful for your norns and can even kill them. Q.: How do I activate the powerups? A.: The easiest way to get them is to use a cob to do it. In one of Cyberlife's free object packs for C2 you will find an object called Game State Controller that lets you activate and deactivate the applets. Q.: My norns always get stuck in front of the Shee statue and won't move away. Why is this? A.: The statue is programmed to "hypnothize" your norns, a very annoying effect IMHO. If you don't like it either, download my removal script from the C2 cobs section. Creatures 3Q.: I think you should write something about the gene splicer machine. A.: I am sorry to tell you that the gene splicer doesn't interest me. I didn't use it much in C2 and I won't use it in C3. Splicing creatures is just plain boring for me, I am much more interested in the AL possibilities of C1/2/3. This means that I breed norns naturally to see if and how some kind of evolution will occur. Q.: I have installed the update, but when I try to inject a third party agent, my creator machine gets autokilled. Can you help me? A.: No. If you have installed the second update, I would recommend you to refer to the technical support. Q.: Can you import C2 norns into C3? A.: No, you can't, but most of the spritesets have been converted to work with C3. There's a list at Mummy's Creatures with links to where you can download them. Last changes: 28/02/04 |
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