EVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENT
Creature Creator also incorporates the related Evo Devo concepts of bilateral symmetry ? that is, that creatures are genetically hard-wired to have the same structures on both the left and right sides of the body ? and segmentation, with the body divided from top to bottom into zones with different functions. (As University of California-Berkeley geneticist Michael Levine explains in the documentary, when the toolkit genes malfunction, the result is a misshapen creature ? such as a fly with legs where its antennae should be.)
Of course, there are some significant differences between actual evolution and the computer-game version. In real life, species develop over long time spans--it took Homo sapiens, for example, millions of years to develop from earlier hominid creatures. Creature Creator, in contrast, is conveniently fast-paced — you can assemble a simulated animal in a matter of minutes. And unlike the real evolutionary drama, some of whose plot twists are dictated by chance mutations, Creature Creator allows you to choose whatever features for your creature that you like, based on utility or sheer whimsy. In that sense, arguably, the game comes closer to the non-scientific belief system of intelligent design.
^M
