Creatures and Creature Learning

Your creature brings the game to life, but a creature requires your guidance to bring its character to life. Depending on how you train and react to your creature, you'll find yourself the owner of a helpful partner or a blundering fool--and we assume you'd prefer the former. In this section, we provide some guidance for anyone who is having difficulty attaining that goal.

You can teach your creature all kinds of behaviors, from simple tasks like tossing trees into the village store to complex ones like planting and watering a forest. Watch what your creature does as it ambles about. When it points to its mouth, it's hungry or thirsty; when it yawns and stretches, it's tired; when it points at something, it's learning. Base your rewards and punishments on these observed behaviors.

Creature List

Below are the creatures to discover within Black and White. Some creatures are available at the beginning of the games, others can be unlocked by downloading a small file and others are offered as rewards for solving quests.

Ape

The ape is available at the start of a new game; it's one of three different creatures to make as your first selection. The ape's strengths are intelligence and reaction time.

Brown Bear

You'll find the brown bear on land five. Unlock the bear by solving the silver scroll quest titled "Swap to Brown Bear". In the quest you must rid the town of its awful smell by removing all the bear poo from the nearby forest. As a reward, you can switch your current creature to the brown bear.

Cow

The cow is available at the start of a new game; it's one of three different creatures to make as your first selection. The cow features above average intelligence…and, well, fatness with below average strength and reaction time.

Gorilla

Available for download at Gamespot, just execute the file and the creature becomes available to you at a creature breeder.

Horse

Available for download at Gamespot, just execute the file and the creature becomes available to you at a creature breeder (check the creature breeder on land one).

Leopard

Available for download at Gamespot, just execute the file and the creature becomes available to you at a creature breeder (check the creature breeder on land one).

Lion

Complete the Stanley the Wolf silver scroll quest on land five to unlock the lion creature.

Mandrill

Available for download at Gamespot, just execute the file and the creature becomes available to you at a creature breeder (check the creature breeder on the land one).

Polar Bear

Obtaining the Polar Bear requires a two-part quest. First, you must successfully complete the Explorers quest on land one. Provide wood, grain, and meat for the explorers so they sail away. When you reach land five, you will meet the explorers again. Click on the silver scroll to receive your reward: the Polar Bear creature has been unlocked.

Sheep

Complete the Lost Flock silver scroll quest on land one…with a twist. You must return all sheep to the farmer. After you return five, you're rewarded with some food. You must continue to search for all the others (sheep locations are within the land one walk-through of this game guide) and return all sheep to unlock the Sheep creature.

Tiger

The tiger is available at the start of a new game; it's one of three different creatures to make as your first selection. The tiger boasts excellent strength but lacks intelligence.

Tortoise

Complete the Fish Puzzle silver scroll quest on land four to unlock the Tortoise creature.

Wolf

You'll find the Wolf creature at the end of the Treacherous Path quest on land four. In the retail version of Black & White, the quest can't be completed in a successful fashion (though the correct solution can be found within the land four walk-through of this game guide). After a patch, follow the solution and be rewarded with the Wolf creature.

Zebra

Complete the Riddles quest on land two to unlock the Zebra creature.

Touching

Your interaction with your creature, at its most basic level, is the touch of your hand. By hovering your hand over your creature and holding down the action button, you can zoom in and reward or punish it as you see fit. Rewards and punishments should be doled out in much the same way as parents do with their children--unless, of course, you're intent on raising an evil creature!

Rewards and punishments should also be administered immediately, or else you may teach your creature the wrong thing. The moment you see your creature do something you approve of or want to discourage, zoom in and give him some love (or pain).

Rewarding Your Creature

Whenever you spot your creature doing something, which you want to encourage, reward it by stroking it until the "good boy" percentage rises above 0 percent. You can reward up to 100 percent, but you should take advantage of the available range of rewards.

That is, if your creature does something you absolutely want to encourage (for example, for casting a water spell on your fields--or, if you are so inclined, for eating a villager!), reward it to the full amount. On the other hand, if your creature does something you're sort of happy about (for example, tossing an animal into the village store or patting a villager on the head), reward him a little bit.

Your creature will tend to do those things for which it was rewarded fully, in lieu of those things that it was rewarded partially; this lets you prioritize, to some degree, what actions your creatures will take on your behalf. If you always reward up to 100 percent, your creature won't be very discriminating.

Make sure you don't reward your creature too early--especially when it's holding an object. A creature praised while holding an object is very likely to eat that object. If you're interested in teaching your creature to plant a shrub, for example, you should wait until it plants the shrub before you administer any praise. If you praise as soon as the creature pulls up the shrub, the shrub will most likely become a snack.

Of course, this leads naturally to the next point: If you want your creature to eat a certain kind of food, you should offer that food to your creature and immediately pat its stomach (just 10 percent praise will suffice). Then after the creature downs the food, praise it again (to the degree which you would like your creature to seek out this kind of food).

Punishing Your Creature

In general, you'll use punishments when you want to stop a creature's behavior, even if you're working for an evil alignment. Don't try to create an evil creature by randomly punishing it--you'll just end up with a confused creature. Instead, whenever you see your creature doing something that's clearly evil (like eating a villager or casting lightning on the cr裨e), reward it.

You can greatly shape your creature's character by punishing it at opportune times. If your creature yawns when its tiredness isn't great, give it a brief slap to convince it not to be so lazy. If your creature points to its mouth when it isn't very hungry or if it eats food when it's far from being needy, punish it. A creature that isn't lazy and doesn't eat up your available food supply is a more helpful creature.

There are other ways to condition your creature--for example, keep it occupied when it's not very hungry or tired so that it learns to eat and sleep only when it truly needs it. But use punishments when you must discourage behavior that you can't tolerate.

As with rewards, use the full range of punishment percentages to your advantage. When your creature does something reprehensible, like snacking on kids, go all the way to 100 percent; but if your creature does something slightly annoying, like pooping on kids, just give it a few gentle slaps.

Leashes

The three leashes you have to work with will also help you shape your creature's behavior and personality. Until your creature is quite well trained, use your leashes almost constantly. There's no penalty for leashing your creature.

Note that unless you grab an attached leash and shorten it manually, your creature can and will wander quite some ways from where the leash is attached--for example, a creature leashed to a village store may be found journeying to a faraway beach to eat fish when hungry. A creature that's leashed, however, will generally stay closer to the point where the leash is attached than will an unleashed creature.

Be warned that your creature may wander outside your influence if you leave it off the leash. In fact, it may volunteer itself to completely convert a neighboring village on its own.

Learning Leash

The learning leash has quite a different function than the other two. Whenever you want your creature to mimic your actions, put the creature on the learning leash and direct its attention to you. This last point is very important: Your creature won't learn very well if it's wandering off at some other task in the meantime.

To get your creature's attention, snap your fingers by clicking the action button on the bare ground near the task you're occupied with. For example, if you want your creature to learn to cast the food miracle spell, put your creature on the learning leash and then snap your fingers near the spell and wait for it to come over and watch your hand. Now activate the spell and cast it. Your creature, if it's indeed learning from you, should be focused on your every move.

When your creature is feeling curious (according to the creature tips text), you'll have the easiest time teaching your creature new tricks. Bookmarks will help you quickly access spells that you want your creature to learn during these special times.

The learning leash is good for times when you want to move your creature to a specific location--usually the temple so that it can rest there. If you snap your fingers on the ground, the creature will go to that location. Plus, it's safe to shake your hand (thus removing the leash from the creature) and go elsewhere; the creature will continue to the desired spot, even though the leash is off.

Leash of Compassion

If you desire a creature that will be generous and kind to your villagers, keep it on the leash of compassion until it's well trained (unless you're trying to teach it something). The more it's on this kind of leash, the greater will its long-term desire be for benefiting your populace.

Until your creature is naturally generous, keep it attached to your village store with the leash of compassion. The creature will spend its time responding to your village's needs, including casting wood and food spells into the village store.

If you attach your creature with the leash of compassion to your own village store and village center for long periods of time (especially if it knows a lot of helpful miracles, such as food, wood, water, and heal), your creature's alignment should skyrocket on the good side.

Leash of Aggression

If you desire a creature that will help you rule through fear and respect, keep it on the leash of aggression until it's well trained. The more it's on this kind of leash, the greater its long-term desire will be for bringing pain on your people.

When your creature is holding an item that you want it to throw, put it on the leash of aggression and click your action button on the ground. The creature will usually throw the item it's holding at that spot on the ground. Kicking is also an aggressive act, which is more frequent when you use the leash of aggression.

Much like the leash of compassion, attaching your creature to your village structures with the leash of aggression for long periods of time can turn your creature to the dark side.
 

Attributes

When you use the action button to zoom in on your creature or when you use the temple to view your creature's statistics, the attributes of your creature are described in some detail for you.

These attributes, such as greed, fatness, strength, hunger, and generosity, come in two varieties--those that you can alter through training and those that are inherent to your creature. Most attributes can be changed if you train your creature to act how you'd like it to act.

While it's possible to whip a cow, for example, into zero-body-fat shape, it's not possible to change its basic character. Cows are greedy and not terribly smart. That's not to say, however, that your lean, mean cow machine will immediately return to his typical bovine weight if you take your eye off him for a moment. With proper training, even a cow can be convinced to eat right and exercise on a permanent basis.

A fat creature will need to eat more often and will become more quickly fatigued--and these characteristics have no advantages in this game. Thus, it's wise to teach your creature, no matter what its basic personality is, to eat only when it's quite hungry. In the same manner, it's wise to teach your creature to sleep only when it's quite fatigued. A creature that is taught well will spend more time benefiting your cause and less looking after its own desires.

Sometimes an overzealous creature will go to the other extreme, denying its own needs to the point where it collapses from 100 percent hunger or fatigue. If you want to force your creature to rest, you can attach it with the leash of learning to an object that it can't interact with, like a rock that is too heavy for it to lift or a miracle dispenser pedestal. Your creature will relax for a while; then you can reattach the leash elsewhere.

If your creature is attached to the village store (or some other village building) with the leash of compassion or aggression and you'd like it to rest, you can often simply switch to the leash of learning (by using the keyboard shortcuts, which let you quickly switch among the leashes), and your creature will rest.

Note that if you send your creature to your temple during the nighttime, it will almost always sleep there even if it's 0 percent tired. It will also tend to sleep outside on the ground during the night if it isn't sent back to the temple.

Miracles and Whatnot

Although you may find single-shot miracle bubbles in the first land, you won't be able to teach your creature how to cast spells until it interacts with the giant, friendly creature that's pacing along the valley in the middle of the map. Thus, store your miracle bubbles somewhere and use them up after its giant friend has tutored your creature in the subject.

When you want to teach your creature how to cast a miracle, put the creature on the learning leash and click on the ground to direct its attention to what you're doing. When you cast the miracle, watch for the creature to point at the ground and watch for a percentage to appear above the creature's head. You'll have to show each miracle to a creature repeatedly for the creature's percentage to reach 100.

The first two lands in the game offer ample opportunity for training your creature, and you should linger in those lands until your creature has learned every available spell to 100 percent. You can also play skirmish games to train your creature, and whatever it learns to do in those games will be transferred to your single-player campaign.

You can teach your creature to be generous, and it'll do things that you never taught it to do, such as lead villagers in dances and carry fatigued villagers to their private homes. A creature will also create disciples if it has seen you do the same and will learn from it.

Your creature can be taught to play catch if you toss small enough items in its direction. To check if an item is small enough, try to hand it to the creature. If the creature can take the item, it can catch the item. If you throw an item that's too large at your creature, you'll only damage the poor thing.