In Preparation of Advancing the C3/DS World Concept

It certainly has been some time since I posted an update about my Docking Station world! Rest assured that the world has preserved in its same form, and I entered it for a short period of time to make sure everything was as I left it. The alpha male and female concepts, along with the alpha male succession process, have been updated as the plans began to play out among the Norns. I have come across several other possible issues, with solutions that will hopefully make the process easier. In the end, I hope that others will be able to take this idea and apply it to other Creatures 3 or Docking Station worlds. Better yet, setting the stage for a world makes us feel all the more closer to it!

  • Number of Baby Norns: I expected the alpha male and female to have a large number of youngsters, but I seem to have underestimated the high fertility of C3/DS Norns! Overall, the number of babies is not overwhelming at this point. The inferior females posed no issue, since each one could only contribute a maximum of four females for the next generation before being exported. The number of sons from the alpha couple was also not very problematic, since only one of them would eventually remain in the world. The main issue remained with the daughters of the alpha couple. To keep the population in check, I decided that the alpha male and female would be exported once their offspring had met one of the following conditions:
    • Ten (10) Females and at Least Four (4) Males
    • Ten (10) Males and at Least Four (4) Females
  • Genetic Diversity: When I began this idea, I knew that genetic diversity was not as vast as it could be. After all, the majority of Norns would be able to trace their ancestry to the original alpha male and female. As I saw it, the female children of the alpha couple would be full sisters to the next alpha male. Recall that creatures have a different genetic structure, and do not suffer detrimental effects from breeding with relatives. However, this ensures that the gene pool remains quite limited. There are two possible choices here: Export the females from the alpha couple, or introduce new genetics every few generations with a completely unrelated female. Any thoughts on the better option? I rather prefer the former, since this could open up the possibility for running another world with the inferior males and alpha couple’s female children. I still plan on making them available for download, though!
  • Alpha Male Succession: It had become clear that the alpha male succession test was not perfected. Aside from the oldest male, four others remained huddled together in the learning room with no food. My plan all along was to make survival difficult, but not cruel. They merely needed to use their instincts and skills, rather than depend on me to serve them food. I am still considering the best course of action: If I place a good amount of food on the other side of the door, would they be able to find it? If I am not mistaken, I believe the ability to seek out food based on smell does not kick in until childhood. Would it still be fair to keep them from food? Or would it be better to offer each male one piece of food to hold him over until he reached childhood? Dilemmas, dilemmas!
  • Photo Opportunities: This has been a very minor issue, but one which has annoyed me to no end! The red and green indicator arrows show the selected creature, and what he or she is looking at. However, I rarely use these during a wolfing run. Thankfully, a quick question over at Creaturetopia offered me a number of responses! With a couple of CAOS commands, these can be removed. No more pesky arrows! I am still a little too thrilled about this.

An update about this world concept should be coming in the next few days! I would appreciate any feedback or suggestions, either related or unrelated to the issues listed above. Thanks to Malkin for asking about this and inspiring me to get back to it a little sooner than I planned. And of course, thank you to everyone who takes the time to read about it! Hopefully we will see some interesting results in the near future.

6 Comments
« Previous Post | Next Post »