Albia’s New Inhabitants
Written onA fresh new world awaited my eager eyes as I entered Creatures 1. This would be the start of the third generation: The beginning of a generation that would combine the best of their Norn ancestors. The honeybees buzzed and droned on lazily, which created the perfect backdrop to such a peaceful and serene world. I particularly enjoy setting up a new world as it sits in the mysteriously peaceful time before any Norn, Grendel, or Ettin is born. Everything seemed perfect, down to the last detail! All Albia needed was its first egg to set everything in motion to experience virtual life.
The incubator flickered and gave off its unmistakable warmth to… A Grendel?! I decided to start off this new world with a very special Grendel, whom I named Achren. She was an Erzan Grendel, created by the talented Grendel Man! This breed is slightly more placid than the standard Grendel, although the main reason I chose this breed was its ability to suffer from hyperthermia, or too much heat. A quick glance over Achren’s genome showed many differences between her and a standard C1 Grendel. Perhaps most important was the fact that she possessed genes which would make her fertile. I did not plan on having breedable Grendels taking over Albia, but it was certainly a new concept! Achren was adorable.
My joy soon turned to panic. Achren breezed through her lessons, but I noticed that her life force had begun to fall. I convinced her to taste a carrot, yet that was all she would eat. I watched in horror as her life force began to rapidly fall below 20%. She could only spin around with a carrot or honeypot in her hands. I heard the pitiful cries of a Grendel in distress as her life force plummeted to a mere 5%. Since I had already grown very fond of Achren, I broke an unspoken rule and injected her with an emergency shot of energy. I simply had to save her life, regardless of my aversion to the injections. A few minutes of life was far too short for her.
Fortunately, that set her on the right track. Achren gobbled up several carrots, and glued the honeypot to her tiny hands. Could I have let her perish, and start over with a new Grendel? It was certainly an easy option, and would have cost me only a few minutes. This sentimental player couldn’t do it, though! This was the first time I used an injection from the science kit, and I doubt I will employ it again for a long time. Achren was saved, though, and I had absolutely no regrets. As she blossomed into life, I knew I had made the right decision!
The time came for the incubator to work its magic again. Was this to be the egg carrying the first Norn? Not quite! This male Grendel was named Smoit. He might look a little different: He is a Scortch Grendel from Grendel Man! Aside from his unique pigmentation, he also thrives on heat, and can use this as a substitute for food. Cold could prove to be lethal to him, particularly since some illnesses inflict cold. Smoit might also be a little more aggressive, although Grendel Man noted that these genes might not work as well as they were intended. In any case, I was thrilled to have two Grendels in the same world! Smoit wore a grin that stretched from one ear to the other. He was one very happy little guy!
These Grendel breeds are not only breedable, but also have the correct gene to die of old age. The only slight modification I made was to remove the gene that converts antioxidants into aging. Effectively, this gene can make a creature immortal with enough antioxidants. Achren might have escaped death once, but I wanted to be sure that both she and Smoit would live mostly natural lives from their genetics.
Update: Grendel Man provided more details about the Scortch Grendels. Namely, that they get coldness from the antigens, while other creatures experience hotness. Since coldness is the polar opposite of what this breed needs, a Scortch Grendel can die in under a minute when heavily infected. Hopefully Smoit will stay healthy!
I had left Achren in the garden while Smoit learned his vocabulary, and it was not long before they met one another. There was an awkward pause as they saw one another for the first time, but their first interaction was a friendly kiss. One baby Grendel is adorable enough, but the sight of two baby Grendels was almost too cute to endure! One might also notice a new addition to this world: The cloud layer butterfly! In an effort to isolate the starch glitch, this world has a very limited number of COBs. Most are official additions, although I also used a few Grendel-specific COBs. So far, the starch glitch has not appeared, and the world definitely appears to be in good working order. Perhaps this glitch was partially due to a COB or conflict with multiple COBs?
Smoit and Achren quickly became an inseparable couple. They constantly kissed or tickled one another, in an endless show of affection. Grendels are most certainly capable of showering love upon Norns and other Grendels! The most pressing matter might be the genomes behind them: In some ways, their breeds are polar opposites. Achren can perish in high temperatures, while Smoit revels in the heat. I looked forward to watching them grow, and wondered if their relationship would get more serious as they aged.
i think i know who to root for in this generation already :3 they loo so adorable together and i hope you have many cold/heat loving babies
Just a small note: Scortch Grendels get coldness from any of the antigens – normal creatures get hotness instead. I also think it’s worth noting that they can die in under a minute if heavily infected and left unmonitored for a second.
Besides that, though – baby grendels are indeed quite adorable. It’s also nice to see someone able to get attached to a baby female despite their messed-up body data. I don’t use the baby females, so in my worlds all the girls are big.
Yay! Baby Grendels! I’ll be very interested to see if their children can survive their genetics. The hot/cold combo will be very difficult for them no doubt.
How do you go with selecting them? When imported can you select them through the menu, or do you still need to use some grendel friendly COBs?
Awwwwwwwww….:)
Lilliumbird: I hope they both fare very well, too! It might be a little more of a challenge to make sure that these two Grendels prosper, but I love taking care of them!
Grendel Man: Thanks so much for the extra information! Smoit might end up being even more difficult to take care of if he ever falls ill… I hope he stays healthy and happy his entire life, though. I despise the messed up body data, but it’s something I’ve learned to live with. Isn’t this something to do with the .att files? I’ve always thought of attempting to make some body file fixes and sprite fixes for the C1 Norns and Grendels. Maybe that’s a project I should look into actually getting somewhere with!
ArchDragon: I probably should have thought ahead when choosing these two, but I was blinded by the cuteness. Ha! Selecting Grendels is done with the Multiple Grendel Button, which is listed under Grendel Tending COBs. I found that a Grendel hatched via the incubator is automatically selected, but there is no way to reselect him or her. The button allows you to cycle through all of your Grendels, whether you have one or a dozen! This still does not add them to the observation kit, unfortunately… I don’t think any COB does.
Luci: My thoughts exactly!
Sorry, that post was mine. Slight hiccup in the posting.
C1 grendels are probably the cutest in the series! Where in the genomes are the genes that convert antioxidants into aging? I kind of want to play around with tese breeds a bit myself.
I’ll have to take another look, but I’m pretty sure that in the Enzan Grendel, the gene is number 317, while in the Scortch Grendel, this should be in gene 319. Is it crazy that I remember these things off the top of my head? Ha ha! You’re mainly looking for the following chemical reaction:
1*Antioxidant + 1*NONE => 1*Aging + 1*NONE
Grendel Man did an awesome job with the rest of the genetics: I’m just picky and like to have that gene removed! Makes me wonder if it might be worth dabbling in some of my own genetic breeds for C1. I have way too many ideas these days! Hopefully you’ll have some fun with genetics, Crowster!
Yeah, the messed-up body parts are due to .att files. The baby girls aren’t the only ones with issues, I might add – the adult female grendel also has a thing going on with her foot. When she’s walking, you’ll often see her foot come off and jump two feet behind her before reattaching to her ankle. In fact, that issue isn’t limited to the adult females of C1 – their conversions in C2 and C3/DS have it too, and it severely impacts their traveling over slopes in C3/DS at least. If you can fix the issues with the grendels, my respect for you will go up a hundred fold (not that it isn’t high already).
Also, about the antioxidant reaction – when I made the breeds, that issue had yet to be documented and I never had a problem with it in my worlds, so I left it in there. While I don’t plan on removing it for another public release, I’m fine with other people removing it if it bothers them.
I sometimes avoid female Grendels due to the body data issues… I hate how silly and unfinished they look! This is something I’m going to attempt to look into, along with some sprite fixes. There are a couple of pixels I attempted to fix before with no luck. Maybe this time I’ll be lucky!
No worries about the antioxidant reaction: Very few foods/herbs actually contain antioxidant, so it’s an issue most players probably will never experience. Just call me a picky one! Ha ha! Thanks again for these breeds, Grendel Man: The time and effort you put into them is quite obvious, and I hope to introduce the other breeds eventually!
I assume simply copying the male .att file and renaming them for the females wouldn’t work. Is it because the female sprites are of different dimensions than the original males? I’ve only casually explored sprite and body data files, and even then only for C3/DS, but I don’t imagine doing such fixes would be too difficult. Probably just a matter of finding the time to sit down and fiddle with it.
Yes, the sprites are of different dimensions. I would love for it to be that simple! Part of me thinks that there could also be some sprite problems going on, since when Achren reaches up, one of her hands is completely surrounded by a black square background. I think it’s just as you said: Finding the time to learn it all, fiddling around for a bit, and then making the fixes. This is on my list to try this weekend, although anyone else is more than welcome to try it out!