Overview
A IC guide collection covering various important topics. (Version 1.17)
Introduction
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Welcome to my “Impossible Creatures 101” guide!
This guide is still in progress and will be updated over time.
Thank you for your patience and have fun reading!
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Imagine yourself lying on a beach of Bikini Atoll, enjoying the gentle warm sun when suddenly GIANT LOBSTERELEPHANTS APPEAR OUT OF THE OCEAN, DESTROY YOUR HOME AND SLAUGHTER YOUR HENCHMEN! That’s right! If you’re afraid of these GIANT CRAYFISH and are looking for some serious answers for all your questions critical for survival in the world of Impossible Creatures… Fear not!
This guide will be a collection of anything important Impossible Creatures (aka. IC) related I can come up with. On the right hand side you can see all topics this guide is currently covering. Missing something? Write a comment in the description! If you want me to write/change/add/delete a specific part – just leave a comment and most important of all: Have fun playing iMpOsSiBlE CrEaTuReS! 😀
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What is IC?
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The acronym “IC” stands for “Impossible Creatures” and is one of Relic Entertainments finest RTS (Real Time Strategy) videogames of all time. It was released in 2002 and received a mix of negative to medium reviews. The games community stayed alive for all these years, hiding in small, nearly abandoned internet forums – waiting for a moment to return. Now, 13 years after the original 2002 release, Impossible Creatures hits Steam and was able to be the most popular “new game release” for a few days straight! Opening the old RTS classic for many new and old players, it received 100% positive community reviews up until half a month after it’s release (27-11-2015).
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The Impossible Creatures singleplayer campaign revolves around Rex Chance, a man desperately searching for his long lost father and covers various scenarios, missions and plot twists.
Will his quest be successful? What will Rex discover when he finds out more about the research his father was involved in? Play the campaign to find out! ;P
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How to: Make a good army
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I found this guide back in 2000-something on Impossible Creatures Planet (aka. ICP, The original IC Forum which has been down for many years now). All credits go to its original creator since I’ve been using his guide for years. Sadly I didn’t copy his name, so whoever you were – thank you for your great guide!
Originally posted by some awesome guy from ICP:BASIC POINTS:
1.) Always have a level 2.
2.) Make sure that electricity cost are under half of the coal cost, preferably between a third and a quarter of your coal cost. (Special cases: Loners, Defilers)
3.) NEVER give a creature you plan to use in basic combat (range, melee or artillery) a triggered ability (Plague, Defile, Electric burst, Assassinate, Quill burst etc.).
4.) NEVER have two of of category in one level (Don’t have two melee creatures at level 5).
5.) Make sure a creature’s size and health corresponds to its level, i.e. don’t have anything below 500 health or size 7 at level 5.
Melee: Hand to hand combat, where the creatures move up to each other and fight. Bite, claws etc.
Range: Attacks in which the creatures do damage over a distance. Tongue attack, quill attack etc.
Artillery: A range attack in which the projectile arches up slowly and falls down, doing damage to all the creatures around where it falls. Rock throw, Water artillery etc.
Basic army structure:
3 level 2s (melee, range, artillery/infester)
2 level 3s (melee, range)
1 level 4 (melee/loner/defiler)
3 level 5s (melee, range, artillery/flyer)
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Please note: This guide was written for Insect Invasion as most fan-made mods where still in development. Gameplay may differ depending on which mod you are using. Don’t use this as a strict guide – use it as inspiration for your own army.
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Understanding Unit Relationships
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Battles can seem quite complicated and end surprisingly in IC. If you are not sure what creature you can use efficiently against your opponent, keep an eye on his critters – then check the tables below and your army for what you can use against him. Like in the previous post about army creation, don’t use this as a strict guide. Anything can happen in IC. I once won a match by rushing the enemy with only my Henchmen. Keep this in mind while reading.
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Relative advantages of units in battle:
Unit-Type and Effectiveness against other Unit-Types. IC follows a “rock-paper-scissors”-model, meaning you can counter specific Unit-Types with other specific Unit-Types.
Legend:
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Good unit combinations on the field:
The next table is from “Sybex Official Strategies & Secrets”-Guide for IC. You can buy the full book in the link-section. This is a small example of what combinations of units are best to work with while micromanaging ingame.
Originally posted by Sybex Official Strategies & Secrets:The following table shows complementary unit types in order of their combined effectiveness.
Complementary UnitsEffectivenessArtillery and (Direct) RangedBest Combination (Fairly Equal in Capability with Artillery and Direct-Ranged)Melee and (Direct) RangedGood Combination (Easier to Micromanage than Artillery and Direct-Ranged)Air and ArtilleryAdequate Combination (Requires Management)Melee and ArtilleryMost difficult Combination (Requires Intense Micromanagement)The following table shows unit types that don’t work together, and why.
Do Not Use TogetherBecauseAir and MeleeNo Complementary Connection. Ranged Units Defeat Them.(Direct) Ranged and AirNo Complementary Connection. Artillery Defeats Them.
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Power Rating
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To understand the Power Rating system in IC, you’ll have to understand a couple of formulars:
Originally posted by Sybex Official Strategies & Secrets:To use power rating to choose the best creature for your strategy, don’t try to compare apples and oranges: If you compare the power rating of a melee flying creature to that of a direct-range creature, the flying creature might have a higher power rating, but it will still lose to the ground direct-range creature, all else being equal.
Use power rating to help create the best creatures of the type you want. For instance, if you want an artillery unit at Level 3, create some Level-3 artillery units and find the power ratings for those creatures. The higher the power rating, the stronger the unit. But, if you want a really fast artillery unit, it will probably have a lower power rating, although it might serve you better then a slower unit with a higher power rating.
You can add the following abilities into the formula if you want creatures with higher electricity costs:
- Herding: Increases EHP as it increases the D of the unit by 50 percent, up to a maximum of 75 defense.
- Pack Hunter: Increases the damage of all attacks by 50 percent, effectively increasing the FP of a unit.
- Frenzy: While engaged, it increases the attack of the creature by 100 percent, increasing the FP of the unit for that period of time. Remember that using Frenzy makes the triggered unit take 10 percent more damage, reducing the EHP by 10 percent. So don’t use this ability recklessly.
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Please note: A slightly tweaked Power Rating replaces the “Sight”-Value in Creature Chaos and Shadow Mod in the combiner, making it easy accessible without having to use these formulars (Scroll down to the mods-section for more details).
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Level-1 Coal-Only Rush
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A short guide on how to perform a very easy Level-1 Rush, as published in “Sybex Official Strategies & Secrets”.
Originally posted by Sybex Official Strategies & Secrets:This rush is the speediest [one.] Just use the following tactics, in this order:
- Do not invest in technology research – stay at Level 1.
- Build eight or nine henchmen. Start them gathering coal right away!
- Do not build any lightning rods.
- Forward – build your creature chamber as close to the enemy base as possible (without being seen). Send a henchman to scout for a good site for the creature chamber. Have him start building it no later than 1 minute from the game’s start.
- Build only Level-1 creatures that cost 0 electricity. This means that you can combine stock animals of any level, but the combines creature must be a Level-1 creature. Principally, the lack of technology research level and the fact that abilities cost electricity means you will not be able to create a creature wroth any abilities if you want to pull this rush off effectively. Creatures like the wolf have Pack Hunter which is an inherent ability (any limb gives it to you) so you will not be using this for year early coal-only rush. A creature like a cheetah-and snowy owl using the snowy owl back legs and head makes a good coal-only rush unit since it is has decent melee attack (9 melee damage for killing henchmen more quickly), can be built quickly and doesn’t cost a ton of coal. You’re not paying for any special speed advantages or special abilities. Other creatures, like the cheetah- and coyote hybrid are fast and have a strong bite capability.
- You should have 20 creatures before you attack. Mass them into a group and move into the enemy’s base. Continue streaming in reinforcements as fast as you can. You should be able to start attacking at the 2-minute mark.
The benefit of this strategy is that it doesn’t take a lot of time or planning. Just build creatures as fast as you can gather resources. The risk is that another opponent will successfully defend against your rush, leaving you at a disadvantage when it comes to technology levels and unit types as the game progresses.
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Everything you need to know about maps
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Types of maps:
There are two basic kind of maps you can download:
- Map Packs
- Single maps
In 99.9% of all cases you will have to deal with single maps so this guide will show you how to install those. If you are interested in porting maps from/into different mods or installing a map pack leave a comment and I will extend this guide.
Screenshot by PussNBoots submitted for a screenshot contest on ICP.
Where can I download maps?
Head over to the Impossible Creatures Steam Workshop! There you can find several maps and mods available for download. For more downloads, head to the link-section of this guide and visit the Tellurian, Impossible Creatures Hive or IC Steam Forums – where you can find links to even more custom maps!
How do I install a map?
If you subscribe to a map via the IC Steam Workshop, the map will automatically be downloaded and extracted the next time you play IC. If you downloaded a map from other sources like the Steam forum, you will have to install it manually:
After you successfully downloaded your map, unpack the file (most commenly a .rar- or .zip-file). You should receive several (NAME_OF_MAP).files and perhaps a folder named “loading”.
Copy these to your IC map path:
If the “Scenarios” and “mp” folders aren’t there yet, just create them yourself.
-> Congratulations! You can now play your new map! Woho!
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Note: Some mods come with built-in maps by themselves. Access the “MOD SELECTION”-screen ingame and see what kind of awesome maps you have installed already!
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How can I make my own map?
When you launch IC using Steam, you’ll see a selection screen offering you to launch “Impossible Creatures”, “Config Tool”, “Editor”, “Insect Invastion”, “Windowed”, “Workshop Tool” or “Workshop Manual”. Select “Impossible Creatures Editor” and – like magic – the map-editor will launch! Edit your map as you please and save it in the map-path-directory mentioned above.
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The question mark of death?
The question mark of death is an error where certain texture files appear to be missing. Missing props will usually be invisible ingame, but missing textures will be replaced with a pink question mark. You can either: Ignore this if it doesn’t bother you too much or you can check if you are playing the right mod specific for the map. For instance the Insect Invasion (aka. II) swamp textures will only be visible while playing II (or any equivalent mod). Keep this in mind while playing around with map-files.
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Everything you need to know about mods
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A promotion picture of IC, showing a bird combined with a brown horse which was later reskinned to become the black horse from the 10 bonus animals.
List of mods:
There are and always have been tons of great mods for IC out there. Here is a selection of mods I have seen or heard of over the years.
- 10 (Pre-Order) Bonus Animals*
- Abundant Abominations
- Almost Evolution
- Animal Insanity (aka. AI, previously: Crazy Creatures) (Thanks @Otter the Great)
- AvA
- Better Insect
- Creature Chaos (aka. CC)
- Creature Chaos Reimagined (aka. CCR)
- Creature Spirits (aka. CS)
- Creatures Of The Knight (aka. COTK)
- DNA Creatures
- Failed Experiments Mod
- Genetic Hybrids
- Giant Creatures (aka. GC)
- Hell Mod
- IC Beyond
- ICP Balance Mod
- Impossible Creatures Revolution/Unlimited (aka. ICR/ICU)
- Impossible Menagerie
- Inferno Mod
- Insect Invasion* (aka. II)
- Invasion Of The Killerants (aka. IOTK)
- MonsterManipulation (aka. MM)
- Reptile Revolution
- Robot Mod
- RockPaperScissors*
- SHADOW
- Shadow Mod (aka. SMod)
- Sigma Reborn
- Slightly Wider IC
- Tellurian
- Tellurian Archives
- Ultra Creatures
- Unlimited Creatures DLL
- Wide Open Mod
Mods marked with a (*) are already pre-installed on the Impossible Creatures Steam Version.
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So “which mod should I choose?” you may ask – well… I’ll try to break down the 3 most interesting ones for any new Impossible Creatures player:
3. Giant Creatures
I know I might get downvoted from all the hardcore IC fans for even considering on putting this mod up here. It was created against the authors wishes, it is buggy as hell and unbalanced like an elephant on a tightrope. BUT it made the list for all you new players: I remember that as a kid I didn’t care much about balancing, it was all about new animal-combinations. If you are someone like me – this is the mod for you: It consists of nearly all animals from nearly all of the mods above, adding an incredible new combination-pool. But be careful: It is very buggy and unbalanced and I’d generally advice you to not play this mod seriously.
2. Creature Chaos / SMod / Creature Chaos Reimagined
This has been the standard IC mod for years now. It adds quite a few great looking animals and comes with fairly good balanced gameplay. If you want to stay on the even more strict side of the balancing you can even check out CCs more balanced alternative: SMod. The newest version of CC is Creature Chaos Reimagined. This version adds the ability to play an updated singleplayer campaign containing some of the new stock creatures while also adding more new creatures from some of the other mods mentioned above. This and the next mod on the list I can definitely recommend for multiplayer and singleplayer gameplay. Creature Chaos also adds the “Power Rating” System, replacing the “sight-stat” in the combiner. So please be careful when you install this one, it will replace the “sight-stat” in all of your mods.
1. Tellurian
Hands down this is the best community made IC mod out there. If you want to have the feeling like IC just received an official addon, download and install this mod right away! I’m not even gonna say much more then: I still love to play this one. It even features bots in multiplayer matches again! (Bots are disabled in most mod-multiplayer-matches, even Insect Invasion)
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Honourable mentions:
Creature Spirits: The first fan made mod I ever downloaded. It features a pretty cool dragon.
Impossible Creatures Revolution/Unlimited: A pair of mods featuring some really great looking models. This hasn’t been publicly released yet, but can find footage of it on YouTube. Some of the mods stock animals have been publicly released in “Creature Chaos Reimagined”.
Invasion Of The Killerants: “420 Ants/10” – IGN
Wide Open Mod: If you want to spice up your standard IC game without adding new animals, you should try this one.
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Note: For download links to some of these mods, please scroll down to the link-section and visit the Tellurian/Impossible Creatures Hive/IC Steam Forums or IC Steam Workshop. Not all of these mods are currently available as downloads and may have been partly imported into other mods. If you have any questions regarding a specific mod, leave a comment or post in the Tellurian or IC Steam Forum.
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Cheats and other Console Commands
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You can open the console during a Impossible Creatures game by pressing either:
- ~
- ^
- ñ
- ö
Depending on your keyboard layout.
If you plan on using console commands during a “Player vs. Computer”-Match, please ensure you’ve enabled the “Cheat” option in the game setup menu.
The following commands can be inserted into the console and activated by pressing enter.
The maximum AMOUNT seems to be 65535 units.
The maximum AMOUNT seems to be 65535 units.
X:[…]SteamSteamAppsImpossible CreaturesSCREENSHOTS
(Thanks @Klepty Snatchngrab)
(Thanks @Klepty Snatchngrab)
Will these work while playing with a mod?
They should do. The commands were originally designed for the standard IC version but do work for nearly all the available mods. Please do note that some mods (such as Creature Chaos or Shadow Mod for example) have shortend these lines to slightly differ from the original codes:
The maximum AMOUNT seems to be 65535 units.
The maximum AMOUNT seems to be 65535 units.
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Note: You can manually edit the key the console uses by editing the “ic.ini” found in:
Edit the line:
To any other key you like.
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“Documents” and “Goodies”
“Documents” and “Goodies” (Renamed to: “Docs” in the Impossible Creatures Steam Version) are the names of two folders within your IC-directory:
These folders might contain some files of interest, such as documentations for various of the modding tools, .pdfs containing stats and information to all of the stock IC and Insect Invasion critters alongside a really cool “Radio Interview”-series featuring characters from the campaign of IC.
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“Goodies”/”Docs”:
- License*
- IC Animal Guide.pdf
- IC Bonus Animal Guide.pdf
- IC Control.rtf
- IC_Mission_Editor_Documentation.doc
- Insect Invasion Patch Readme.rtf**
- Radio Interview 1 – Episode1Mst2.mp3
- Radio Interview 1 – Episode2Mst2.mp3
- Radio Interview 1 – Episode3Mst1.mp3
- Radio Interview 2 – Episode1Mst1.mp3
- Radio Interview 2 – Episode2Mst1.mp3
- Radio Interview 2 – Episode3Mst1.mp3
- Readme.txt*
Note:
(*) Were added in the Impossible Creatures Steam Version.
(**) Previously found in X:[…]SteamSteamAppscommonImpossible Creatures and moved into “Docs”.
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“Documents”:
- IC_Archive_Tool_Documentation.doc
- IC_Boner_Documentation.doc
- IC_Cinematics_Tutorial.doc
- IC_Combiner_Documentation.doc
- IC_Data_MODs_Documentation.doc
- IC_FX_Tool_Documentation.doc
- IC_FX_Tool_Tutorials.doc
- IC_GUILayout_Documentation.doc
- IC_Object_Editor_Documentation.doc
- IC_Object_Editor_Tipsheet.doc
- IC_PatchEditor_Documentation.doc
- IC_Pipeline_Documentation.doc
- SGMExporter_Documentation.doc
The .pdf containing information on the Insect Invasion animals can be found under:
X:[…]SteamSteamAppscommonImpossible CreaturesInsectGoodies
- Insect Invasion Manual.pdf
Impossible Websites you should check out
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Tellurian Forums:
The largest active online IC forum for the Tellurian mod.
[link]
Impossible Creatures Steam Forums:
The official forum for the Impossible Creatures Steam Version.
[link]
Impossible Creatures Steam Workshop:
The official web portal for Impossible Creatures mods and maps.
[link]
Impossible Creatures Hive:
An old IC board, you can find some good download links in there if the design doesn’t put you off. Also known as ICH.
[link]
Impossible Creatures Replay YouTube Channel:
A interesting YouTube channel uploading various Impossible Creatures replays.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt8i0n1mv3kUa2qcbqyAqmQ
Impossible Creatures Genetics Lab [down as of January 2017]:
The one and only original IC relic forum. Turn here for nostalgia or if you are looking on some modding tips.
[link]
Impossible Creatures FreeForums:
A brand new IC forum. Hopefully it will receive some more attention in the near future.
[link]
Some of what I’ve posted can be found in full form in:
Impossible Creatures: Sybex Official Strategies & Secrets
By Dough Radcliffe, Dan Irish and Alex Garden (Relic CEO)
I bought my copy a couple of years ago at:
[link]
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More impossible Tutorials
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Are you looking for more serious tips for improving in Impossible Creatures?
Well then this is for you: I’ll be adding different tutorials which I found helpful in this section.
Important note: I did not make these, they were created by the named players.
“Basic Early-Game Build Strategy” by Zera
[link]
“Blother’s Army Thread (Tellurian Based)” by Blother Had Me Like
[link]
“Creating and Loading Single-Player (Campaign) Maps” by Klepty Snatchngrab
[link]
“How To Install An Impossible Creatures Map” by Tammy
“Impossible Creatures: Ability Rundown” (Part 1) by FiveLeafClover
“Impossible Creatures: Early Game Build Tutorial” by FiveLeafClover
“Impossible Creatures Modding: Getting Started” by Klepty Snatchngrab
[link]
“Sending and Receiving Recorded Games” by Klepty Snatchngrab
[link]
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About me
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I’ve played Impossible Creatures since it first came out in 2003. I just loved it as a kid. I used to play through the campaign dozens of times and play nearly each day after school for hours. The IC community had it’s ups and downs with the release of the first “total conversion” CC, the closing of ICP and the multiplayer servers, the revival with ICH and Tellurian. It’s been a great ride this far and I really want to thank everybody on the ICH/Tellurian forums for showing so much interest and love in a game this old! That’s probably the reason why I just had to rebuy this game on Steam and try to write a guide about some things which new players might not have been able to find anymore. Anyway thank you for reading this far and I hope I was able to give you some insight into the world of… Impooosible Creatures! *Insert Upton Julius laugh*
Picture contains spoilers of the campaign! Open with caution!
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Changelog
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Keep an eye on this if you are interested in what was updated.
11-11-2015: Release of “Impossible Creatures Steam Edition”
13-11-2015: Release of “How 2 MLG Impossible Creatures (IC 101)” guide [Version 1.0]
14-11-2015: Added “Question mark of death” screenshot in “Maps”-section, added “Power Rating”-section, edited the description of “ICR/ICU” in “Mods”-section [Version 1.01]
15-11-2015: Added additional details about the maximum “AMOUNT” value in “Commands”-section [Version 1.02]
16-11-2015: Added “message_hide” and “message_show” in “Commands”-section (Thanks @Klepty Snatchngrab), added “Goodies”-section, added additional details to “Animal Insanity” in the “Mods”-section regarding it being previously known as “Crazy Creatures” (Thanks @Otter the Great) and removed “Crazy Creatures” from mod-list [Version 1.03]
22-11-2015: Added “Tellurian” image in “Mods”-section, exchanged link to “Impossible Creatures: Sybex Official Strategies & Secrets” guide with an international version [Version 1.04]
29-11-2015: Added “Tutorial”-section, added “How can I make my own map?” in “Maps”-section, added note on how to change the console key in “Commands”-section, edited text in all sections [Version 1.05]
26-12-2015: Changed guide title from “How 2 MLG Impossible Creatures (IC 101)” to “Impossible Creatures 101”, edited text in all sections [Version 1.06]
27-12-2015: Added “Creature Chaos Reimagined” to “Mods”-section [Version 1.07]
13-01-2016: Added several old mods to “Mods”-section, added “Missing .EBP” screenshot in “Maps”-section, added more tutorials in “Tutorial”-section, added “ICUnleashed” in “Link”-section, edited text in all sections [Version 1.08]
25-03-2016: Added “How To Install An Impossible Creatures Map” by Tammy to “Tutorial”-section, edited text in all sections [Version 1.09]
30-05-2016: Added “Better Insect”, “Hell” and “Sigma Reborn” to “Mods”-section, added “Sending and Receiving Recorded Games” by Klepty Snatchngrab to “Tutorial”-section, added “Impossible Creatures Steam Workshop” to “Link”-section, updated text considering Steam Workshop Support in “Maps”- and “Mods”-section [Version 1.10]
10-06-2016: Added “DNA Creatures” and “Genetic Hybrids” to “Mods”-section [Version 1.11]
22-10-2016: Added “Inferno Mod” and “Tellurian Archives” to “Mods”-section, updated “Hell” to “Hell Mod” in “Mods”-section, added a note considering the commands used in the “Commands”-section for different mods (Thanks @Klepty Snatchngrab), added “Impossible Creatures Modding: Getting Started” by Klepty Snatchngrab to “Tutorial”-section [Version 1.12]
29-12-2016: Changed title of the “Commands”-section from “Console Commands” to “Cheats and other Console Commands”, edited “Commands”-section to include the CC and Smod commands [Version 1.13]
05-01-2018: Added “IC Beyond” and “SHADOW” to “Mods”-section, added a note regarding the “Impossible Creatures Genetics Lab” being down in “Link”-section, replaced “Impossible Creatures Unleashed” with “Impossible Creatures FreeForums” in “Link”-section, added “Creating and Loading Single-Player (Campaign) Maps” by Klepty Snatchngrab to “Tutorial”-section, edited text in all sections [Version 1.14]
06-02-2018: Added “Almost Evolution”, “Impossible Menagerie” and “Robot Mod” to “Mods”-section [Version 1.15]
05-03-2018: Added “listplayers” in “Commands”-section [Version 1.16]
08-07-2020: Fixed some format errors, thank you for the awards kind players <3 [Version 1.17]
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