Galapagos combines intricate puzzles, beautiful worlds, and revolutionary technology to create a phenomenal game. In five stunning and labyrinthine worlds, Mendel relies on you to adapt and survive. You must manipulate the environment to solve puzzles and coax Mendel through hostile, fantastic, mind-bending worlds. Test your reflexes and your mind as you and Mendel journey through the diverse landscapes of Galapagos.
READING THE FIVE POINTS BELOW WILL MAKE GALAPAGOS MORE ENJOYABLE:
• Access game options by hitting the [ESC] key
• Save games by clicking on blue save pad while Mendel is on it OR hitting CMD-S if "easy mode" is enabled in preferences.
• The second section of the demo is found significantly later in the full version. It is MUCH harder than the first section so don't expect to complete it in a short time. The full version smoothly introduces this level of difficulty so don't be discouraged.
• Coaxing Mendel by clicking on him can greatly benefit gameplay. Read more below about this.
• Read the Demo Play Tips below if your are stuck.
• 90 MHz PowerPC for full screen mode or 60 MHz PowerPC for smaller screen mode
• 16MB System RAM, 10 MB available RAM
• Monitor with 640X480 resolution, 256 colors
• 2x CD ROM Drive
• Mouse
• 10 MB hard-drive space
MacOS Installation
1. Double-click the Galapagos Demo Installer icon, then click Continue. The Galapagos Installer dialog box appears.
2. Choose a folder in which to install Galapagos.
3. Click Install. A progress meter is displayed as the files are copied to your hard-drive followed by a Successful Installation
confirmation message.
Playing the Game
The one thing that separates Galapagos from other video games is Mendel - he is a truly autonomous creature. You can't control him, you can only help him. If you coax Mendel safely from one sector to another, he eventually becomes more confident and assertive. If you repeatedly fail, Mendel shatters and regenerates, gradually becoming more neurotic and cagey.
To assist Mendel along his escape route, you must properly manipulate certain game elements that exist in his environment. Experiment by clicking on objects to discover which elements you can affect, and then figure out how to use them to Mendel's advantage.
• To access menus and game options, press [Esc] at any time.
• To activate/deactivate an element, click it. Study the response and use the element in Mendel's favor.
• You may touch Mendel by clicking on him with the right mouse button in the Windows version, or the mouse button with a key modifier in the Macintosh version. Use this to help coax Mendel when you are trying to make it through a tricky play section. Mendel feels your click and will usually try to turn away from it. Clicking on Mendel is side specific - clicking on his left side is different than clicking on his right side. This is not required for game play, but it can be very useful.
Time Score
The Time screen appears after Mendel passes from one world to another through a dimensional gate. It displays the Time spent in the level and the Total time spent in the game.
Save Pad Dialog
The Save Pad Dialog allows you to save a game in progress. It can normally only be accessed by clicking on a Save Pad (Blue, shimmering floor panel) while Mendel is walking on it. If "easy mode" is on in the Preferences you can save anywhere using COMMAND-S. When Mendel's body is destroyed and regenerates after saving a game, he will appear on the last save pad , all of the game elements will be restored to their saved conditions. Everything will be exactly as it was when the game was saved except for Mendel's brain - his brain is not restored unless you OPEN the saved game. This allows Mendel to learn from his mistakes. If his mind were to "forget" everything that happened every time his body was destroyed, he wouldn't be able to learn from his experiences.
To save your game:
1. Click a Save Pad while Mendel is walking on it OR if "easy mode" is on, hit COMMAND-S.
2. The Save Pad dialog appears. Click in the Save As box and type a name for your game.
3. Click SAVE to complete the process or CANCEL to exit. The game returns.
GAME OPTIONS
The Pause Game Menu allows you to: start a new game, open a saved game, import and export a Mendel's NERM controllers, set game preferences, or quit the game.
• To access the Pause Game Menu at any time, press [Esc].
• To access game options, use the File pull-down menu.
• To access Preferences, use the Edit pull-down menu.
• To resume game play, press [Esc].
START NEW GAME
Click New from the File pull-down menu. A new game will begin. The age of the new Mendel will be determined by the setting in the Preferences dialog.
OPEN SAVED GAME
1. Click Open from the File pull-down menu. A list of saved games appears.
2. Click the saved game you want then click OPEN. Your saved game is loaded.
SAVE CURRENT GAME
Save game is only available if "easy mode" is on in the Preferences.
1. Click Save from the File pull-down menu.
2. Type the name of what you want to call the current game then click SAVE. Your saved game is saved.
IMPORT MENDEL NERM
Import a previously saved NERM (Mendel's brain) directly into your current Mendel in your current game. To import a Mendel NERM: 1. Click Import Mendel NERM from the File pull-down menu. A list of saved NERMs appears. 2. Click the NERM you want, then click OPEN. Your saved NERM is loaded into your current game in progress. Export Mendel NERM Save the current NERM for use at any time during later games.
EXPORT MENDEL NERM
To export a Mendel NERM: 1. Click Export Mendel NERM from the File pull-down menu. The default Galapagos data folder is opened. 2. Click in the Save Game As box and type a name for your Mendel NERM. 3. Click SAVE and your NERM is saved.
EXIT GALAPAGOS
To exit Galapagos, click Quit then click OK at the confirmation prompt.
EDIT PREFERENCES
To access the Preferences Menu, select Preferences from the Edit pull-down menu. The Preferences screen appears.
Demo Play Tips
Note that you can bypass the intro sequence by pressing the space bar.
Getting Started
Galapagos is a an unknown world where you have to figure out how to use the environment to Mendel's and your advantage. This is done by manipulating the various game elements as they become visible on the screen. This makes it necessary for you to coax Mendel over to the parts of Galapagos you want to explore. For example, to start playing you have to let Mendel out from the force field in the beginning of the game. This is done by clicking on the blue octagon switch found under the force field. Look another such switch to activate the walkway to second section.
Second Section Challenge
In the second demo section with the protruding slider blocks it may seem hard to get him onto the first block. Try extruding the first three blocks at the same time to convince him that it's OK to go in that direction. When he is really stubborn you can use the top block to shove him over to the left side so you can operate the first three blocks.
If you see 2 or 3 of the stone "sifters" vertically stacked, it means that you can push Mendel across the chasm to the other side. Open the one on the other side first, and then use a sifter to push Mendel off of the sifter he's standing on. He'll land on the sifter on the other side.
Look for sifters on the opposite wall that you can bring out to overlap with the Mendel is standing on. This will allow Mendel to walk across to the other sifter to the other side.
Keep in mind the direction Mendel is walking, and where he is positioned when you drop to a sifter far below. He'll travel in the air the same direction that he is walking, and can sometimes miss the sifter below.
Protruding Slider Blocks
Some people get literally stumped in the demo halfway down the protruding slider blocks where a smaller block is located. Try going to the right instead. Yes, it may seem like a dead end at first but catch a glimpse of the other side before you bump onto the stump. In general, when Galapagos sometimes seems exceedingly hard you may have stumbled onto a shortcut that will enable you to bypass some part of the game if you can handle it. There may be a longer, more scenic route you could try instead...
Trouble at the Bottom Blocks
Make sure that the bottom block that Mendel is standing on is extended to the fullest at the precise instant Mendel is being pushed off by the upper block. This enables him to start his short free fall closer to the bottom entrance and barely make it. Observing the speed and relative position of puzzle elements will enable you get by obstacles more easily.
Mendel's Habits
Mendel needs to see there is room before he starts walking in a certain direction. Big stable areas are appealing while small moving surfaces can make anybody nervous. Mendel also has trouble stopping once he sets his sights on something and it would be wise for you to let him have his way once he starts going in a certain direction -- even if it means going in the wrong direction for a short while.
Clicking on Mendel
You touch Mendel by holding down the user defined touch modifier while clicking on him. Mendel can feel which of his side, left or right, you are clicking on and will flash with a white glow. Your tactile feedback feels much like a bump to Mendel which makes him react as if he was brushing against an obstacle. Clicking on his left and right sides feels like a brush against that particular side to Mendel and he will react accordingly. If you know your Mendel's habits when he comes up to obstacles you can induce this behavior by clicking on his sides. Multiple rapid clicks give him a stronger message than just a single click.
Clicking Continued
Touching and coaxing Mendel allows you to work as a team in harder puzzles. One Mendel may grow up to react differently to your touch than another which can have serious consequences later in the game. You may want to raise your own Mendels to see the difference and save the one the works best with your style of game play. Getting comfortable with a particular Mendel's subtleties and being able to predict his behavior is a major part of getting through harder sections.
Please visit out website at <http://www.anark.com/Galapagos> for updated tips.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Galapagos?
Galapagos is a new game that uses an advanced form of artificial life technology called Non-Stationary Entropic Reduction Mapping . This is the first game with a character that literally has a mind of its own. Mendel is an artificial organism with the ability to learn, adapt, and interact with his environment and the user.
You must help Mendel escape from the beautiful, but hazardous 3-D texture-mapped worlds found in Galapagos. There are many dangerous and challenging obstacles that will bar Mendel's way and often threaten his survival. You have to work together to solve the puzzles found in each world to successfully escape from Galapagos.
How do I play Galapagos?
Galapagos is a single player game with a third person perspective. You view the worlds of Galapagos through the eyes of a camera. As Mendel moves through the world, the camera follows with sweeping, cinematic movement. This virtual tether between the camera and Mendel creates a dependency upon Mendel's movement through the world.
In order to progress through the strange and exciting worlds found in Galapagos, you must activate objects near Mendel by clicking on them, affecting his environment in different ways. By doing so, you can coax Mendel in the right direction and solve the many puzzles that lie in his path. Of course, Mendel is an independent thinker and may have other ideas.
What is Mendel?
Mendel is a completely synthetic organism with the ability to detect infrared radiation and tactile stimulus. He sees much like a bat, by emitting infrared pulses and measuring the strength of the returning signal. His senses are less acute than a living organism--though he adapts and learns much faster. Mendel will adapt to his environment without your intervention or assistance.
How should I care for Mendel?
Mendel is autonomous and should require no interaction from you to adapt to his environment. However, you can expose him to some very hostile environments, some of which will retard his development. For example, leaving Mendel in an area where he can be harmed over and over, specifically in areas where he is physically incapable of escaping the danger by himself, can lead to a neurotic Mendel. Fortunately, because of Mendel's adaptive brain, such damage is not necessarily permanent. If you can deliver Mendel to a safe, stimulating environment, he will re-adapt with very few long term side effects.
What is artificial life?
Artificial life is a field of scientific research that attempts to reproduce or model the complex behaviors and forms found in natural systems. A coral reef is a fantastically complex system on all scales, macroscopic and microscopic. What does it mean to say that a system is complex? Complexity refers to relationships, or correlations, that exist across remote portions of a system. For example, the existence of a certain type of rain forest plant might have some distant "effect" on the form and color of a particular coral. Collectively, these types of relationships "cause" the very form of a coral reef.
Complex systems are best described in terms of complexity theory, a relatively new, unified way of looking at seemingly unrelated fields of research. It is an unusual mixture of probability theory, information theory, and non-linear dynamical systems. By understanding complexity theory, one can form models for understanding things as different as human language, an ecosystem, or the technology that allows Mendel to learn.
What is Non-stationary Entropic Reduction Mapping?
Galapagos uses an advanced form of technology called Non-stationary Entropic Reduction Mapping (NERM) developed exclusively by Anark. This technology serves as the "brain" of Mendel. It allows Mendel to learn, adapt, and react much like a living organism. NERM is a special form of controller technology. A controller is a device that accepts inputs and produces an output. The NERM controllers contained inside Mendel accept inputs from his sensors and produce outputs that are translated into behavior or action. For example, when Mendel is walking along and sees an obstacle in his path, he may turn to avoid hitting it. Controllers are found in a variety of household appliances, automobiles, and consumer products.
For example, modern automobile engines have a computer that controls the flow of gasoline. When you depress the gas pedal, the computer receives an input that describes how far it is depressed. Additional inputs from the engine describe the oxygen level, temperature, and other important characteristics. Based upon all of these inputs, the computer produces an output that tells the fuel injectors in your engine to release fuel at a specific rate.
Normally, controllers such as these are created or programmed by engineers based on an exacting model, or mathematical description, of the system that they are trying to control. A NERM controller is self organizing; it does not require prior knowledge about the system that it will control. All that is required is a special type of feedback from the system. As the controller is used, it will organize itself. This is how Mendel learns.
How does NERM compare to other forms of technology such as artificial intelligence?
NERM technology is very different from traditional artificial intelligence. In general, artificial intelligence requires a very detailed understanding of the system that it will control or simulate. This is quite problematic; it may be difficult or even impossible to understand relatively complex systems without significantly reducing or simplifying the problem, specifically if the behavior of the system changes through time. Unfortunately, the simplification of the problem may lead to an invalid or incomplete understanding of the structure or behavior of the system.
NERM approaches this problem from a completely different direction. A NERM controller is a complex system unto itself. It was designed to change its internal form to accommodate the subtle and not-so-subtle nuances of its environment. If its environment changes through time, the NERM controller will reorganize accordingly. This characteristic allows Mendel to adapt to a variety of local "habitats".
NERM offers significant advantages over other adaptive, controller-oriented technologies. It allows controllers to emerge that may produce multiple outputs, or solutions, for the same input. For example, NERM allows Mendel to express many different behaviors though he is receiving the same stimulus. In general, NERM has the flexibility to create input to output relationships of a form that are impossible with other technologies.
How to buy Galapagos:
Galapagos is available through software retailers, or call Electronic Arts at 1-800-245-4525.
Anark Contact Information:
Anark Game Studios, Inc. 1730 15th Street, Suite 200 Boulder, CO 80302
