The Incredible, Invisible Meal
Written onMany of my Norns reached the age at which they began to age into elders. Dalselv was no exception, although she seemed to enjoy her new look! With Forvika nearby, it was easy to see the difference in size between the two. Quite adorable, but I say that about a lot! I figured the two ladies would strike up a friendship, since they were on their own. Unfortunately, Forvika shared a handful of slaps with the unsuspecting elder. Dalselv was undeterred: Perhaps she had a revenge plan!
An illness soon came to attack the last Norn who needed to be sick: Arnes. To make matters worse, the counteracting antibody 0 was one of the slowest to build up in his system. I caught a bit of a break with a lack of any histamines, which meant that Arnes could not pass on his illness to any others. He had also quarantined himself on the middle level of the island, where he could enjoy the underwater sea life up close. As expected, he had stopped in one spot and showed no sign of moving. I brought him some food, hoping against all hope that he would decide to eat it. I had no such luck, and saw his life force begin to dip under 60%. An illness itself usually does not prove fatal: It is the use of energy to recover that saps glucose and glycogen from the system. It was enough to make me worry about the dire circumstances Arnes was faced with.
Meanwhile, I headed off to check on the other Norns and ensure their health. The Observation Kit showed that Arnes was experiencing an increase in his life force, even though there was no food in sight. I quickly started monitoring his digestive system, and came across a strange oddity. The rapid increases in starch should have meant the consumption of food: I watched Arnes the entire time, and he was a whole level away from the nearest food source. It seemed to magically appear in his system! This phenomenon seemed limited to him: Some of my terrible eaters had their life forces plummet to about 45%. There is no genetic reason for the sudden increase in starch. Is this a magical Norn? Or just one of those nasty tricks from Creatures 1 designed to make someone go insane?
This odd influx of starch brought Arnes the required energy he needed to recover. Although I was thrilled over his recovery, I could not help but feel that it was unnatural. I have a feeling that this has been going on for some time, since Arnes has never eaten on a regular basis. Is this some sort of glitch that others have experienced? I plan to keep an eye out for it in my other Norns. None of the injected COBs I have in Creatures 1 should affect this. Perhaps Arnes is the invisible Norn who eats from the carrot vendor! If you have not seen this in action, visit the vendor on the desert island from time to time. A carrot will vend itself every now and then, and the sound of a Norn eating it can be heard!
Husby wasted no time in producing another egg with Kleppstad! Her subtle wrinkles suddenly seemed so obvious, and I realized that all but three Norns had entered their final life stage. Perhaps Husby understood the cycle of life, for she wore a smile for almost the entire time of her last two pregnancies. She was also an expert in symmetry: Who else could place an egg so nicely between two honeypots? By beloved first two Norns, Eydis and Arik, shone through in Husby, This egg gave me courage in the face of impending death.
I encourage everyone to take a look at some YouTube videos of Creatures 2 created by Lusewing! These are excellent, and the commentary is spectacular. I have long thought of utilizing videos in some way, and I finally have the software to do so. I hope to create a Creatures video fairly soon with commentary. Make sure to keep an eye out, and maybe even consider creating your own videos about the various Creatures games!
Oh, the carrot vendor! That was baffling to me for a while too. It doesn’t vend itself, it’s always a norn (or grendel) doing it, but some sort of buggyness with the world or the vendor itself allows norns to see it and use it from elsewhere in the world, particularly when they’re riding a mover (like the boat or submarine). :) So maybe Arnes was having a snack or three while riding the boat!
Tarlia, you never cease to amaze me with your perfectly placed bits of knowledge! Thanks so much for the information on the carrot vendor: It kind of makes sense for Arnes, and perhaps he still knows how to teleport in those carrots. Is this something that can be fixed, or just one of those ever-present glitches? It explains a lot, though, so thanks again for your comments!
Yup, Tarlia has nailed that one. I’ve seen Norns doing it from pretty much all the vehicles in C1. The carrot vendor is the most common, as they can reach it from the boat or the submarine. I’ve also had Norns grab carrots from the garden above them while riding the raft in the underground tunnel.
As far as I know it’s a bug without a fix. Probably something missed in coding when Norns jump into vehicles. If you watch their view window you will see they can view pretty much the entire world from there.
Actually now I think about it, I’ve seen the teleporters randomly going off from time to time with no reason. Maybe it’s the same thing…
By the way, what screen capture software do you have?
I guess it would be possible for Arnes to grab the carrots from a stationary position? He was not on a vehicle when he became ill and had this strange starch infusion. The massive jump almost reminded me more of cheese than carrots.
I downloaded Bandicam. I fiddled around with the settings a bit and had some decent attempts. I might not be the only one, but my built-in microphone is far too quiet to be used in conjunction with in-game sounds. I imagine my videos will involve real-time action with just my voice, although I would like to sprinkle in some actual in-game footage with sounds from time to time. We’ll see if my voice is tolerable by the masses! Ha ha!