Status of Creatures 4 and Videos
Most of my attention has been on my Norns in Creatures 1 and Creatures Docking Station lately, but I certainly have been scouring the web for any news about Creatures 4! Perhaps the most concrete piece of information is on the Bigben Interactive Facebook page. On the Info tab, under the Products section, it states: “CREATURES 4 on iOS, Android, PC/MAC – June 2012 – Worldwide.” In that case, we only have a few more months of agonizing waiting left! Very little information has been released lately, although this is understandable. It just makes the next update from Fishing Cactus all the more suspenseful. Creatures 4 was renamed Creatures Online in 2013.
Many readers are probably aware of the following video, which was recently released as a teaser for Creatures 4. There are some snippets of real gameplay, although it is difficult to see the details. More mystery!
Creatures 4 Teaser Trailer
Additionally, I found the following interview with Ramses Ladlani of Fishing Cactus from Gamescom 2011. Interesting that I never found this previously! Nothing too earth shattering is revealed, although it’s always refreshing to hear a bit more about Creatures 4. Note that this video was uploaded in October 2011, so the information may or may not reflect the current status of the game.
Gamescom 2011: Creatures 4 Interview
And finally, a hidden gem! This Creatures 4 video clearly shows real gameplay, although as with the previous video, it was uploaded several months ago, in September 2011. This appears to also be from Gamescom 2011, and features an interview with Andrea Di Stefano of Fishing Cactus. Be aware that the video is dubbed over in Spanish, although it looks like the original interview was filmed in English. My translation and lip reading skills are woefully terrible, but I enjoyed seeing clear shots of Creatures 4 and listening to some of its sounds!
Creatures 4 Interview and Video
I still hope to read more official information and news about Creatures 4 in the coming days, weeks, and months. Until then, these videos offer a bit of respite from the nail biting. Make sure to keep an eye on the Fishing Cactus Blog! I also found a Creatures 4 site which appears to be official, but does not appear to have been officially announced. It can be found here. Enjoy, and be ready for Creatures 4 news in the future!
Great videos there. I hadn’t seen either of the interviews, so that was really awesome.
The first interview was really informative and covered a few points I had wanted more detail on. The second one is obviously limited by language (anyone speak Spanish!?). There’s a couple of cool things in there (like how much control you get over appearance – yay!) but I’m still really worried the Norns won’t have the capacity for language.
The thought bubbles to show what your Norn is thinking, and the right-clicking to direct your Norns attention to objects suggests they don’t intend to include it. Frankly I have no idea how they’d get a smart phone interface to allow for speech, but I’m optimistic. Still, it’s an old demo. I remain hopeful…
I’m a bit sad that interaction through language has not made an appearance yet. Although it was a frustrating form of teaching and communicating, it felt like we could actually talk to our Norns. They often listened, too, although obeying was quite another story! I can’t say I’m crazy about the thought bubbles, but they won’t make me write off Creatures 4 immediately.
I rather like the idea of the Norn sleeping in his or her nest: Seems to give more purpose to a home, and maybe this will make sleeping a whole lot easier! We’ll have to wait and see what official news is released soon… I have a feeling we might hear something in the beginning of March, right around the time of the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2012: Fishing Cactus will be there!
Silly Spanish overlay.