Environment

Each metaroom has its own environment, as defined by various prevailing conditions.


 * Light
 * Heat
 * Soil Moisture
 * Nutrients

Light and Heat are needed by plants in order to grow. Plants also use up some Soil Moisture and Nutrients (see Cellular Automata); how much varies with each plant. Decomposing plants or food enrich the surrounding soil with new Nutrients, and Soil Moisture comes from weather effects, usually in the form of rain.



These conditons mostly affect which plants and animals can survive in a given location, but they also have an effect on your creatures, especially Heat. Creatures which are too hot or too cold exhibit visible signs of distress. Four of the areas in the Shee Starship from Creatures 3 have built in environmental controls for both Light and Heat, but they are hidden. To change the Light or Heat levels in the Norn, Jungle, Marine, or Desert Terrariums, you must locate a pillar which resembles the picture to the right. To open the control panel, click within the area circled in red in the first picture. The control panel will open, as shown in the second picture. Each of the four control areas is identical in appearance.


 * Desert Terrarium - Directly below the main door.
 * Marine Terrarium - Left of the door to the Desert Terrarium, which is directly below the main door.
 * Norn Terrarium - Right of the Egg layer, below the Learning Room door.
 * Jungle Terrarium - Below and right of the main door. There are three similar pillars, the one in the middle has the controls.

The green arrows can be used to raise or lower Light or Heat. Each Environmental Control also appears to have ports, but they seem to be non-functional.

See the Ecology Kit agent for environmental monitoring capabilities.