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[SalmonGod]

I was tempted to donate 50ducks, but Amazon does not accept my bank, only several big US credit card companies.

I doubt he accepts ducks as payment anyway.

But what if the robot is secretly fueled by ducks?

So... if the robot is fueled by ducks... then she's a witch!!! Burn her!!!

[Aklyon]

I was tempted to donate 50ducks, but Amazon does not accept my bank, only several big US credit card companies.

I doubt he accepts ducks as payment anyway.

But what if the robot is secretly fueled by ducks?

So... if the robot is fueled by ducks... then she's a witch!!! Burn her!!!

We have to make sure he weighs the same as a duck first, though.

[PTTG??]

Heh, this thread is on the first page of a google search for "Grandroids".

[Aequor]

Just donated $50, damn did I enjoy the Creatures games, no way I'm going to miss this.

[Neonivek]

I wish I could donate. It is a big shame I am going to pretty much be locked out until it is done.

[Neonivek]

I should state he updated his blog with an interesting new update.

Apperantly Gangdroids will feature AI "righting" methods where the computer would have to learn how to balance.

Also... He won't continue donations afterwords and you can't get into the beta otherwise. IF he will do it and not let new people join the beta and he isn't just trying to get people to donate is beyond me.

[Tilla]

$50k, significantly more than he was looking for, damn! He could probably make it to double.

I'll see if I can pick up a prepaid CC and get into beta before it's over

[Xgamer4]

Also... He won't continue donations afterwords and you can't get into the beta otherwise. IF he will do it and not let new people join the beta and he isn't just trying to get people to donate is beyond me.

From context on that comment, it sounded less like he was doing it because he wanted to and more because the contract he signed with kickstarter forbid it.

[Neonivek]

Also... He won't continue donations afterwords and you can't get into the beta otherwise. IF he will do it and not let new people join the beta and he isn't just trying to get people to donate is beyond me.

From context on that comment, it sounded less like he was doing it because he wanted to and more because the contract he signed with kickstarter forbid it.

It was very vague. Though that makes sense I guess.

[Meta]

I was a huge fan of the first Creatures, so for me it's an instant 100$-donation.

FYI, Update n°9 in the spoiler:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

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Woo-hoo!
Update #9 posted about 20 hours ago

We're over the $50K mark now, thanks to all you lovely people! And nearly 500 members of our new community! Welcome to the new ones, and thanks for your support.

There's still a lot to be done in terms of the community site and rewards and the like, but I actually got back to work on the project this week and it's really good to be developing again, knowing that this time I'm doing it for real and it's not just some hopeless dream.

I'm focused on creating a new, more realistic but challenging creature body right now. One of the many innovations in this game is that the creatures are not animated. Normally you create some 3D graphics, bone and skin them, and then carefully move them through hand-crafted poses in exactly the same way you make an animated movie. Then you take these animations - walking, rearing up, turning and so on - and blend them into short sequences inside the game to produce the IMPRESSION of a living being that's reacting to its environment.

But this isn't an animated video game. The creatures really do have to respond to their environment. They have to decide for themselves how to move their limbs and alter their balance to achieve their own goals. In fact they have to learn how to do it. So I'm giving their brains direct control over simulated muscle groups, and these will power their bodies via the physics engine. Limbs are elastic and respond to weights and forces just like the real thing.

The results from my earlier experiments are very realistic and faithful, but of course it's a lot more challenging than animation. If a creature sits down or falls over and then can't get up again because its proportions or weight distribution are wrong then it's in trouble. And so am I!

So I'm busy observing a lot about kinetics and noticing how beautifully evolution tunes our bodies. Just walking from A to B on a flat surface is a lot harder than it looks, and uses most of the muscles in our bodies I've no idea how this is all going to turn out yet, but it's a very worthwhile challenge. A creature that's animated can only do what I tell it; but life should be in charge of its own destiny.

Expect newborns to be pretty clumsy at first, though!

Source: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1508284443/grandroids-real-artificial-life-on-your-pc/posts

[Neonivek]

ARG I don't want to rely on leaks for all my Grandroid info.

[PTTG??]

I for one am insanely excited about this development. It opens up the potential for these things to first off do some hilarious things, and second, completely unexpected things.

[Areyar]

include procedural or evolving bodyplans and it could be what they promised Spore to be.

I need to get me a creditcard!

[Neonivek]

include procedural or evolving bodyplans and it could be what they promised Spore to be.

No... no it wouldn't.

Spore Prime was a bit more then that.

[Areyar]

yeah.
Do you remember the stellar movement simulator they released during development? Talk about disinformation.

It suffered the same fate as the guy complained the corp did to Creatures, yet C retained some of its complexity. All the systems interacted. Spore turned out to be simplified to just a bunch of editors.

I hope Gandroids will have the sandboxy, player independent environment& lifeforms simulator kind of 'gameplay', but without the creepyness of his robot models or excessive cutsyness that Norns could suffer from.