Download the Updated Creatures 1 Carrot
Get out those gardening gloves! The final version of the updated Creatures 1 carrot is ready for download, and I’m sure the Norns and Grendels have already lined up to get a taste! This project was announced several weeks ago, and I’m thrilled to be able to release the carrots. Of course, credit is due to a number of wonderful people who helped out with CAOS, suggestions, and beta testing. These include Amaiakokonut, Grendel Man, Jarle S., LoneShee, Malkin, Nutter, and Shoy. Thank you for everything! Now, onto an overview of what to expect with this updated version of the carrots!
- Invisible Seedlings: Immature carrots are now completely invisible and will not create confusion
- New Seedlings: Upon being eaten, carrots are replaced by brand new seedlings in the garden
- Amount of NFP Decrease: The level of NFP decrease is now 30, rather than the original amount of 70
- Number of Carrots: There are now 10 carrots in the garden, instead of the usual 8 carrots
- Dropped Carrots: Dropping carrots now includes a random variable so they can point left or right
- Carrot Stubs: Carrots will now briefly turn into stubs after being eaten, to simulate actual eating
- Sprite File: The download includes a new sprite file with improvements and two new poses
- New Bitmaps: Existing bitmaps now better simulate growth so baby seedlings do not sit on the ground
- Garden Area: Carrots now grow in a slightly smaller area within the garden to improve placement
- Vertical Growth: Seedlings use a variable y coordinate so they are no longer in a perfect line
Note that upon install, the carrots will grow quickly in order to fill up the garden. All future seedlings will grow at the normal rate. This was an excellent suggestion from LoneShee so that you won’t need to wait forever to enjoy the carrots!
Download the Creatures 1 Updated Carrot (Version 1.1)
Is this an absolute necessity to enjoy Creatures 1? In many ways, yes! I’ve also included a short video to illustrate some of the main problems with the original carrots, and how the new ones work. So far, it seems like these updates help keep Norns and Grendels on track when it comes to eating! Those who “forget” how to eat later in life are actually pretty smart: They’ve learned that pushing food only works part of the time, so they move onto other actions (like “look” or “pull”) to find something that works all the time. Grab this new Creatures 1 download and see if it makes a difference in your world! I hope it does: The carrots are the first in a series of C1 improvements!
This is my first completed COB with some new CAOS coding. Hurray! However, if you find any issues, please feel free to report them! My beta testers were wonderful and helped fix a few things. Hopefully all works well!
I can’t wait for Luna and Mycroft to get a taste of this new veggie. And I’m sure they can’t wait either~
I hope they both enjoy the carrots! More improvements for Creatures 1 are in the works. Seems like the Norns and Grendels could be a lot smarter if they had less confusing food items!
Also, I see you have a new Creatures blog: Great to see you starting out! Best of luck documenting the lives of your Creatures!
I’m enjoying blogging the lives of my norns. And I also mentioned these new carrots in my most recent blog post!
Thank you kindly! Blogging is a really fun way to enjoy Creatures and get more involved with other Creatures players. It’s always exciting when a new one starts up: Can’t wait to follow along with everything you write!
What an essential change! Understanding how big of a problem default carrots can be, I’m extremely surprised that no one else made this much sooner. This is one of those fixes I feel like everyone should have in their game.
I was pretty surprised about there not being a fix, either. I guess it worked out, though, since this was a great way for me to learn CAOS! The rest of the food items and herbs/weeds suffer from similar confusion, although they’re not as awful as the carrots. Still, I think I’m going to whip those fixes up before doing the Norn sprite fixes… Feels like people would find the fixes more useful before I move onto making fairly minor changes that don’t affect gameplay. In any event, enjoy and I hope that this becomes a highly recommended COB!
Congratulations!
Thank you! This was a really fun project for me, and I hope this proves to make C1 a little bit better for anyone who tries them out. I’ve already got some other ideas for the rest of the food items… The Albian garden should be in much better shape in the near future!
Very helpful! Will you be using this with your next generation of C1 creatures?
I definitely will be using these in all future worlds. I wanted to devote a lot of time to the C1 Norn sprite fixes, but I’ve gone off course a little bit… Going to work on fixing the rest of the food, herbs, and weeds before I get to that. I figure it will be more helpful to fix those things before moving onto something that’s more of an aesthetics improvement. The next generation will have to wait a little longer than usual, but I have a feeling that group will be very happy!
Wow, I started tearing up watching this. I’ve always felt so guilty watching my Norns struggle with a simple thing like eating, and as you mention, it only gets worse as they get older.
Can’t wait to try this out. I think my Norns will be so much happier and (appear) so much smarter as a result.
The carrots basically turned into my Creatures nemesis, and I’m thrilled that these can help out many others! I’ve continued testing these out, and they really seem to make a difference with eating habits. The only delay in eating now comes from being distracted, rather than confused. Hope they work out very well for you!
Maybe the reason why there was so much NFP decrease in the carrots was because music, showers and bigtoys have very subtle effects?
That could be the case, Malkin! I’m hoping to get around to updating everything, even if it is very slowly. The decreased amount in the updated carrots seems to balance out overeating, though: I’ve noticed that Norns are much more independent when it comes to eating, but they don’t go overboard. I’m sure the items you listed could probably use a boost to NFP decrease: Perhaps I’ll have some updates for them eventually!
Do the bouncing carrots also need to be upgraded?
As I replied to a similar comment in the post titled A Most Terrible Object in Creatures 1, the bouncing carrots are also in need of an update. I’m getting back into finding time for Creatures again, and that’s certainly near the top of my list! They require a little more CAOS learning on my part, yet I think the fixes for them shouldn’t be much different from what went into the normal carrots!
I’m all over the place on here!
I don’t know how you’d do it aside from making a new cob to replace it, but I’m not sure the carrot vender on the island is dispensing your new carrots. Just did a little testing and it tried twice but my norn never picked up or ate a carrot from it, despite eating one she took from my hand.
That’s always great: I love responding to comments and questions! In regards to the carrot vendor, it actually doesn’t vend carrots, but functions rather strangely. It needs an update all its own in order to take advantage of the updated carrot scripts. I keep saying that I’m working on my overhaul of Creatures 1, yet I do believe I need to spend more time finishing up some things!
If you’d like some more details, I would be happy to go into more depth in explaining just what the carrot vendor on the island does. Hopefully this helps a bit, though! In short, only the carrots growing in the garden will be affected by this update. I hope those ones are working well for you, though!