twitch.tv!

Just streamed my first broadcast last night, managed to get 43 views. Not bad for a first time with no networking whatsoever!
That being said, I'd love to have a larger audience next time.

You can watch my stream here, or wait until I have a cut version up on my YouTube channel.

Tonight I won't be playing The Walking Dead Episode 2 like I had first intended to because of the Newton Elementary Shooting...
It happened literally 40 minutes from where I live, so it's hit pretty close to home. I feel rather uncomfortable shooting up zombies after hearing about nothing but death all day.
Instead I'll be playing Guild Wars 2 instead.

So Where Are the CRAFTS? + GAME TIME!

I know what you're thinking.
It's been a while since I've posted some new things to Etsy.
Have I been slacking? Lazy? Really lazy?

None of the above, in fact!
I have been working like crazy to make lots of new things.
The problem is, I'm still waiting on my earring posts and adjustable rings so I can start putting things together!
I like photographing my things and posting them all at once, and right now less than half of my new items are complete, so to speak.
Once they arrive, I will be having a massive posting of all of my new items.
Be on the lookout for some awesome things.

Also, watch me play S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat!
http://www.livestream.com/hellointerloper/video?clipId=pla_0321583a-1241-4478-ab75-93f0375ee6bc&utm_source=lslibrary&utm_medium=ui-thumb
Will have a Youtube link later.
WARNING: I swear. A LOT.

The Fallow Norn Project - Day 2

So, I just figured out how to download videos off of Livestream and put them on Youtube today!
Livestream has a really good recording program that comes with it, but playing back video can be a pain in the butt with those irritating ads.
Plus, I can't do something like this!

That was my first little daily video about my population's progress in my Fallow Norn Project.

Today's video log is here for your viewing pleasure... or boredom. :P

I actually managed to make my voice record a bit louder with this stupid built-in mic... You'd think Alienware would provide a good mic for the crazy price I paid for this laptop. Needless to say, I'm not buying from Alienware or Dell ever again.

Leaving with a random screenshot I took earlier... One of my norns was autonamed Hamlet last night.

IN CREATURES 3, HAMLET LIKES YOU!!!

Norns Norns Norns! About Creatures

I just recently got back into a game I used to play back around the very early 2000's called Creatures 3/Docking Station. I used to have quite a bit of fun with it, but I could never really understand some of its features since I was too young at the time...

Let's just start by saying that this game isn't really a game at all. It's an artificial life simulator, evolution simulator, god game, whatever you prefer to call it... and it's far from being simple.
It's extremely complex for being such an old game.

In the game, you hatch creatures called Norns. These little guys grow from being babies to children, to adolescents, youths, adults, and finally they are classified as being just plain old. (If they live long enough they end up being classified as ancient)
Their appearance changes as they grow up, from size to defining features on a breed basis.
Once they get old enough they will begin to "kisspop" (their form of mating) and create eggs that eventually hatch into more norns.

Oh, those little buggers...

Now this is where it gets complicated.
Norns aren't just little characters that walk around, eat, breed, and die based on a simple script. They have "brains," so to speak.
Creatures isn't just your run-of-the-mill commercialized game. The development team actually consisted of many scientists in addition to game developers and artists. They managed to create an extremely advanced form of behavior for these creatures by designing "DNA" and a "brain" based on levels of "chemicals," "drives," and outside "stimuli" of other objects in the game.
As an example, if you hit a norn, it will get visibly upset. It isn't just getting upset however. The hit registered as pain, which triggers adrenaline levels. It may stand with its head in its hands unable to decide what to do, or may start fleeing from your hand. Hitting also adds to the norn's injury level, which might lead to death if repeated. It adds to their stress levels and fear levels.
To make a long story short, many different things are going on regarding the norn's overall health. They'll most likely remember the treatment you gave them as well, and might even become conditioned based on when it was hit. (Imagine hitting a hungry norn when it's on its way to get some food.)

And it gets more complicated.
As generations go on, their genome can mutate.
For example, their colors might change or they can gain a color tint. (Not the same thing)
Their reactions and urges may change. For instance, a more aggressive norn could be bred, or norns that can survive longer without food. You might breed a norn that loves being alone, or one that calms its fears by eating uncontrollably. Some norns might end up having a longer lifespan, or have an addiction to pressing buttons.
Of course, these mutations are all random, and can be influenced by natural selection based on their environment.

So, you can see why this game would become a lot more interesting as you get older and have quite a few years of high school science behind you.
It's like having your own little laboratory on your computer for you to experiment with to your heart's content!

I've been leaving my computer on overnight for about a month now to see how my population progresses, and have started up many different projects or "worlds" to fool around with.
My most recent project is leaving a bunch of Fallow Norns in one locked room full of food, and seeing how the population progresses.

They're kind of deer-like... and apparently they love to breed, because there's dozens of eggs scatted about.

I only started this morning, so nearly all of them are second or third generation. I have an automatic exporter set up to move any norns older than 2.5 hours out of my world to keep the generations moving along. (Most norns reach the "old" stage at 3 hours, and die at about 5 hours. In between this time they breed a lot less often, and take up space since I have a population limit set up to prevent my CPU from lagging.)

I'll add some updates as my little experiment moves along.

In conclusion, here are some links!

Docking Station is a Creatures game that can be played for free, and can be combined with Creatures 3 for a larger world to roam. It can be downloaded HERE. The system requirements are extremely low and I know some Windows 7 users have problems running it. (I'm using Vista, and I have no problem)

If you want to watch some Norns go about their everyday business, Live Nornish Action is a live video feed of Norns that have been sent in from the community.

Lastly you can see my dabbling in video recording on Livestream. I have a video or two about my Creatures experiments.

Until next time!

Livestream? On my internets?

If you have absolutely nothing better to do than struggle to hear what I'm saying while I play games, check out my Livestream Account!
http://www.livestream.com/hellointerloper

I have since adjusted my mic settings to record louder, so if you can't hear me... well, neither can I, and the next videos will hopefully be more audible.

I have some videos of me doing my Icecrown dailies and Heroic Deadmines on World of Warcraft (albeit being EXTREMELY tired and failing miserably in said Heroic.)

Enjoy, if watching this stuff is your kind of thing.

And... STALKER and Livestream don't get along. I get 1 fps if I try to record it, so don't count on it anytime soon.