Creatures Exodus

one of the best games i've ever played, arguably not just ahead of it's time but ahead of the times 20 years later. i've been a fan for as long as it's existed. but it needs patches and updates, some of which the user has to do manually and the gog games version and installer has some major bugs that can make it unplayable just because it doesn't install it properly and even when it does often has it behave in a way where it doesn't work as it should. i really hope they fix this please gog.com, fix the bugs in your installer and bugs in the version so it can actually work like it's meant to. half the time the installer doesn't even install all the files needed for it to run and even when it does there's often directory errors pointing to the wrong file locations and the game saves data needed for it to work properly in a duplicate of the game folders it creates in a folder in the document folder of windows 10 which the program doesn't even know to look in.

Other people have explained the Creatures series in so much more detail than I ever could (see the review on this page titled "An acquired taste"), so I won't even bother trying to do more than summarize. You hatch small furry (or scaley, in the Grendels' case) creatures that possess surprising levels of artificial intelligence, you raise them as you see fit, you breed them, they pass along their EXTREMELY complex genetics, life finds a way, etc. You want mutations people who have playing for 20 years have never seen before? You can get them. You want to handraise each norn as if they were your own children? Maybe lock them out of the Jungle, but you can do it. You want to just let nature take its course and see what happens? There's entire fanmade playstyles for that. This series, but especially this game in particular, has more depth than anything else on this site. Creatures isn't just a game, it's a technological and scientific accomplishment (especially in the case of Creatures 1, which wasn't so much part of a game genre as it was the creator of its own, new genre). Something to be aware of with this game: setup can be a challenge for some players on some computers. Google CreaturesCaves, there's lots of help available for troubleshooting install issues (a hint: if you have trouble with files--especially catalogue files--not being found ingame, copy your entire game over from the GOG folders to the folders you'll see in My Documents and run your game from there instead). Something else to be aware of? This game is alive. This is a game from 1999 that fans are making NEW content for in 2018. Again, try CC. But the community that loves Creatures is very much still kicking 20 years after their last game came out, and that says more about it than anything else ever could.

I thought I wasn't going to like this game at first. When I started playing for the very first time, I was very confused with what I was supposed to do. I ought to have read the manuals first, but I began exploring... and left the game at that. Months later I return back and decide to start a new world. I put some eggs in the learning room and -whizz kaboom- those critters called Norns (which you are breeding in this game) began to talk. Immediately I could understand them better. And when I found the place where you could inject chemicals in your creatures... I couldn't stop. It was so randomly hilarious as I've never played something like this with complex brains and chemicals and diseases... I wish Spore would have been this awesome! I must say that the creator of this series must've been a genius for making something this complex. When I managed to breed a Norn who was tired *all the time* it was just... it felt like those critters actually had some personality in them. And when that particular Norn got sick with Antigen 2's, I became quite sad and somehow managed to cure him with Antibody 2 injections. But he was still as tired anyway, and whenever I told him to rest, he would do it for a while and still complain that he was tired. Insomnia? Gosh, I go writing over this game like an excited kid. Well, perhaps this game has just brought that side out of me. The only minor complaint is about my taste, because I find this game a bit too cutesy for me with the giant eyes. But as for the gameplay... awesome! Also, I'd love to see the extra breed packs offered on GOG someday! -wink nudge wink nudge nudge- Also, the Creatures series creator Steve Grand is kickstarting a new (game?) project which is called Grandroids... I'm kind of looking forward to it after playing this game. Oh, and the Docking Station is still working online, if anybody was wondering. I just visited it a few minutes ago. I recommend this game to those who enjoy complex simulators. A good purchase, in my opinion.

Please add a patch or an update that allows you to use the Docking Station part of the game. The description says 'multiplayer features of docking station are no longer available' but you can't even start the game or create a new world without the online feature because it forces you to 'log in'before continuing with the game.

It's great that GoG has put Creatures up and available, but it would be great if the official breed packs were also included --Hardman Norns are particularly tricky to find, since the Mall went down and the breeds with it. Other than that, I've nothing else to say than Creatures is an incredibly addictive and realistic life simulation, and I'm glad to return to the role of a mad scientist after all these years ;-)