Here and There
Written onI apologize for my lack of updates this week… I’ve been playing Medieval II: Total War for the first time. It’s a far cry from Creatures, and I’ll be returning to the safety of Albia on a daily basis very soon! It’s nice to play different types of games from time to time, though, especially when you discover that Creatures will always be your favorite game!
I thought this photo of Avira was just perfect. She has a yellowish theme to her appearance, so hanging out with the lemons looked adorable. She’s just as mischievous as her mother at times… The look on her face looks like she’s going to kidnap a lemon and hold it for ransom! Sadly, she really hasn’t taken a fancy to spending time with other Norns, so Avira has only given birth once, to Rafin. Still, she’s a handful just on her own, and is always a joy to spend time with! Sometimes kisspopping isn’t all that necessary to solidify a Norn in the web of Albian history.
This photo was too priceless not to keep! Izria and Jedim look like they’re either about to shake hands, or embrace for a kiss. Funny how all Norns are right-handed, or hold out their right hands from all side views. I imagine it’s part of the image sprites built into the game, but it’s still another random little piece of information I picked up on! Jedim’s arms look a little funny, but I think his overall coloring is very handsome.
Now for the good and bad news: Another egg was laid in the world! The females are taking their sweet time in getting pregnant, simply because the boys really seem to enjoy traveling the world. Maybe they’re scared of commitment! Remember that there are currently 11 Norns in the world, so I’ve been hanging onto all of the eggs so that females can still get pregnant.
I was distracted with ferrying carrots all over the world, and missed my opportunity to pick up this egg to keep it from hatching. There are about two seconds left before it hatches and the population reaches its maximum. I’m lost as to what to do! I might export the baby as soon as he or she is born, and then import him or her at the point when I would have hatched the egg. Any thoughts or other suggestions? Creatures is not a game that makes it easy to micromanage all the happenings in the world, as I’m quickly finding out!
I know what you mean about playing other games, I think taking a break from Creatures actually makes you appreciate it more though.
I think you have the right idea about the egg, export the hatchling. Although if it were me I’d import them again before hatching others, just because I feel sort of sorry for exported norns (silly I know).
What you say about micromanagement is very true. I find there are two ways of playing Creatures, most of the time you just let the norns do their own thing and very quickly you’ve got a world overrun by, what amounts to, one family of related creatures.
Recently though I’ve been inspired by the wording in the manual where it talks about “breeding your favourites”, I think it could be quite interesting to take a more hands on approach to selective breeding, which goes hand in hand with a smaller population and so less management. :)
I hate exporting Norns, too… It’s my own fault for not keeping a very close eye on the egg, though, but I hope the baby doesn’t end up holding a grudge against me! At least he or she is only third in line, although with the 0% mortality rate of older Norns, it might be a while!
Great point about the different ways of playing Creatures! I’m kind of playing halfway between a wolfing run and selective breeding. However, I probably have a very hands-on approach, rather than letting nature run its course! I like the idea of more micromanagement and truly deciding how the generations will progress. A smaller population is always welcome when you’re involved so deeply in each Norn’s life!