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Llamas is the first game in the Llama series (full listing). The game is no longer available by itself, but can be purchased as part of Llamas: The Pasture Years. The word Llamas is also used in plural to refer to the A-life animals which are the focus of the games.
Llamas, the Game
A hatching Llama Yes they have eggs!
The original Llamas game was set in Llamaland. It featured Llamas, Alpackas and much in the way of grass and oats. There was no set objective - although players were given a "score" in the Breeder's Kit, no restrictions were placed on gameplay, and breeders, COBblers, and even llama spankers were free to pursue their own objectives. The game was limited by the technology of 1996, being restricted to a 256-colour palette (background images are available at C2 Back), bamboo architecture and occasional background sounds rather than the ambient music which evolved in later titles.
Read the Llamas Credits.
Interesting Facts
- A real model was used to create the Llamalandiann backdrop in Llamas.
- The original boxed edition of the game was accompanied by a helpful booklet, The Chronicles of Llamaia.
- Llamas was first pitched by Steve Grand in the form of a 'Llama for Windows' - a little desktop pet that would need to be fed and watered, and who would interact with the desktop icons and windows. Millennium didn't bite.
- A second attempt at a pitch was dubbed 'Little Computer Ewoks' (compare Little Computer People) by Steve himself, for lack of a better name. It is interesting to note that this proposal appears to be the earliest manifestation of Llamas as we know it today. It also interesting to note that the phrase 'Little Computer Ewoks' was also used by Erin's father when he was first shown the game!
- The development title for Llamas was eventually set to 'Small Furry Llamas' - the game also became known as 'Llamas 1' (or just 'L1') after Llamas 2 was (eventually) released.
- Llamas was first envisaged and developed as a top-down adventure/RPG game set in the Amazon, where the player would find an abandoned norn community; much time was spent on this before deciding to base the game around the Alife concept itself (see vanimals)
- The final design of the Llama as we know it is actually quite different that the original: Steve Grand originally imagined Llamas to be 'gawky and awkward' - early images of Llamas even resembled chickens!
- Alpackas were originally described as monsters, resembling huge, titanium spiders, complete with eight eyes and a voracious appetite for Llamas. Eek!
- As ageing and disease was introduced late in the game (see history), the death of Llamas was meant to be enforced by a gene . . . however, the gene misfired and had no effect! Llamas died through illness anyway, as originally intended, which greatly pleased Steve Grand.
- The music from the title movie ended up as part of a published CD from the Cyberlife musician Andrew Barnabas - you can listen to the extended version of Llamas Montage here!
Game Requirements
Llamas was published for two platforms - Windows 3.1/95, and Mac OS 7.5
Windows System Requirements
- Windows 3.1 or Windows 95
- Pentium 60 or faster
- Double Speed CD-ROM (300k/sec)
- 16-bit Sound Card
- 256 Colours @640x480
- 8MB RAM & 40MB of hard drive disk space
Windows NT/2k/XP compatibility is possible through an installer patch and upgrading to at least Creatures 1.02.
Related links
- Macintosh Llamas
- Llamas 1 category