Nezumi

I considered another alternative, as did a friend--that he meant you can't customize the creations in the same way or to the same degree as the main. But in a topic about options in combat, that seemed rather odd. And you can indeed play without creations. In fact, if you're playing an agent, you're quite likely to do so, or only have a few wimpy back-up ones. Their initial shaping skills are abysmal, and raising them is prohibitively expensive. You can use canisters/skill books/items/skill trainers... but those have their own probems inherent.

EDIT: Sorry about my babbling. I've been playing Spiderweb Software games off and on since the original Exile, but the Geneforge series is what most caught my interest, so I tend to talk about it when given the chance.

Okay... I joined this forum _just_ to say this, although I'll probably stick around. Yes, Geneforge allows you to just let the computer control the rest of the party and only lead your main. This is generally a BAD IDEA. It's possible to fight much more effectively if you lead your entire party. You can more effectively execute strategies and divide or concentrate your force if you direct your creations. (Or recruitable PC companions, in 3) And if you're actually using combat mode to avoid combat--it can really help when you're attempting to use stealth--being able to control your creations/allies is essential if you don't want to just absorb/dismiss them for the period.