Black & White Preview

The Creatures

Magic spells.

Mysty island...

Since God knows when, it's clear that Peter Molyneux was very interested in AI, and the appeal the whole idea has both on hardcore and regular Joe gamers alike. Tamagochi was a smash hit, and it definitely set some trends. We had numerous Sci-fi works covering the subject, but as the technology got better and better, it became apparent that a few smart moves by us humans could now result in some serious breakthroughs in the field of virtual pets. To get back to my previous thought, do you know why both the hardcore and mass-market consumers find the idea of a virtual person so appealing? Remember the fundamentals I was talking about? Well, what is more fundamental than the question of emotions, and morality? These are two seriously conflicting terms, but that is exactly what Peter and the team are looking for... The main purpose of the creatures is to incite emotions. You can care for them or not. Your actions (emotions, or the lack of thereof) will inevitably cause changes in the game world. And your emotions will often clash with your decisions... This may sound a bit pretentious, but the goal of the game is to achieve your very-own balance, specific to your thoughts and character. Now, to get back to the creatures; they are the medium through which you communicate with your followers. While the villagers present the "innocent AI", in a sense that they won't come to decisions on their own, your character is the child that you teach how to behave, and make decisions in the material world... Hence the emotions...

The way you command your creature is so amazingly done, that there will absolutely be no reason for gamers not to wish to train their titans from hours on end. Lionhead team was smart enough to apply a hefty dose of psychology when coming up with the teaching methods. The creature learns through reward and punishment. It will start doing something on its own, and get a big, juicy smack if you think it was not supposed to do that. Here's where psych 101 kicks in --- the smack is so beautifully animated and it leaves such visible marks on the creature (in fact, it almost seems cruel, and savage) that you'll undoubtedly feel some emotion while using it. And the fact that the game's interface is based solely on a disembodied hand is making the whole action even more personal. The harder you swing with the mouse, the harder the smack, with the marks becoming more visible on the creature. It even lets out a few cries, and the smack sound effects make you feel like your watching the teacher from "Another Brick in the Wall" beat on one of his pupils. It is said that imprisonment has as much of an influence on the captor as it does on the captive.

Again, it's pure psychology, and that is exactly what Peter M. is going for in Black and White. At one point during the game, you'll probably wonder who's calling the shots. The creature is the medium; through the process of trial and error players teach it all sorts of things. You can teach it how to fight, and even drag it around on a leash. As I said, the creature is your connection with the world, and how you bring it up directly influences the way it will later carry on with the villagers. Remember - no matter how hard you try, you will never be able to completely control its actions, but that's just the way it goes... You'll both feel proud of it, and learn to love it, or you'll get spurs of sadistic urges towards its already mutilated body... No matter what you're like as a parent, you'll always get to go online, and through Gathering (a specific chat program) compare, and even advance your titan's skills to a new level. And than you can go back to the single player game, and use the newly-learned skills. Lionhead is working on a totally unique and ambitious multiplayer, but we're still not aware of the scale or the details of the enterprise...

(Side note. I've just noticed, that I've been using "it" when referring to the creature. Molyneux's original idea was to make it anatomically correct, so that we could refer to it as a "He" or a "She", but I think he mentioned they had some difficulties with the US ratings system. I'm not really sure if the male creature will have a Willy in the US version of Black and White or not...)