Kiendo.

[camwyn]

I've downloaded and installed a training map for my Creature. It's by a fellow called Kays at the Black and White Discussion Boards. The map's a nice one, based on the standard Eden map, but it's crawling with miracle generators and nobody dies. (Those of you who play B&W might be interested to know that there's a patch out there that removes the 'deaaaaaaaaaaath' whisper from the game, as well as a related patch that takes out Breeder Disciple kissy-noises.) It's got extra villages, too. There's no challenges or scrolls of any kind, but that's because it's not meant for the game; it's meant for you, as a god, to train your Creature.

Mine is now officially named Kiendo, the Horse, and he's coming along nicely. He's four game years old, and he's visibly grown. I'm not sure if he's large enough to pass the Hermit's size challenge yet. He's learned to create miraculous wood - that was a miracle that took forever, but it finally sunk in. I've discovered a Forest miracle seed generator, so I'll be teaching him that next, along with Food, Flock of Birds, and Heal. I plan on teaching him as many miracles as possible, but at some point I know I'll get bored and want to go back to the actual game. For now it's interesting to watch Kiendo. He gets a little nutso at times running around the creche - he WANTS THOSE TOYS. Don't know why, there's plenty of toys in the village. I had to slap him briefly after a toy-induced playfulness fit caused him to throw a villager, but he went all weepy afterwards and then ran off to find pigs to throw into the village store. He's very good about that. Pigs and fish. I suppose that's helpful, as he has a tendency to eat some of the fish - he's not much fond of grain. I ought to find him some white mushrooms to eat, they're supposed to make him grow faster (blue ones, which I know how to find, are not supposed to be good for him).

He's very cute. He jumps up and clicks his hooves together and neighs to attract my attention, or when I'm scritching his nose. I accidentally scritched lower than his belly when I was trying to get him to eat some grain instead of the fish and he did what I can only describe as a low block with both forehooves, so I've stuck to rubbing his nose instead of chancing finding out more about the creature algorithms than I really wanted to know. He sleeps at night, almost all night, and he sleeps whenever he's tired. He's got a nice little lump going in the middle of his forehead; I can only assume he's turning into a unicorn as he grows. Neat idea, that. I left the dragon on his forehead and tattooed 'ma' on his chest, then 'long' on both shoulders. It's a good look for him. Can't seem to figure out how to work the colour intensity sliders on the tats, though. Or how to get the villagers to dance, as they don't seem to be treating the rock I left in front of the store as an artifact. Oh, well, it will come eventually. In the meantime it's kind of nice seeing Kiendo's webpage - just like in the Sims, the game generates HTML code from the character and puts it on your hard drive to show you a few vital stats plus some memorable moments from the Creature's life. Kiendo's moments include me scritching him and him pitching stuff into the Village Store.

He'll fight other creatures eventually. Just not until he's good and ready.