Forging Forward Through the Generations

I decided to spend a little time with Erikstad, who was unable to escape from the main group of Norns. He looked positively dejected with such a frown on his face, but a little rest and a lot of carrots perked his ears right up! He was a very energetic Norn, although I worried that he would end up aging much more quickly than usual. Still, he had already been successful in creating the next generation. Erikstad had a lot of reasons to be happy! He soon joined up with Bolga, Dalselv, and Forvika again. Such a ladies man! Apparently he was using that as his main personality trait.

Arnes had not moved from his spot in the garden for nearly thirty minutes, and his life force dipped below 60%. Husby kept him company, but she was locked into a staring contest with him and seemed unable to do anything. I separated the two so that Husby could take care of herself. It was a shame to see that Arnes was not living a healthy life. I was afraid he would deteriorate as he got older, and it looked like this was the case. Fortunately, I was able to coax him into moving towards the jungle, where he may have had something to eat. I felt sorry for Arnes and could only offer him a pat on the head.

Erikstad wasted no time in tracking down the first fertile female. Dalselv was soon pregnant with her very first egg! She seemed more bewildered and confused than excited, but every Norn has their own ways. It was funny that the desert island was the place where many of the Norns decided to hang out. The first generation made their home closer to the garden. Seems like each generation will be different, which is a good thing! I had a little peek at the unborn Norn’s genome, and I was delighted to see that his or her appearance would include four different breeds! Didn’t take too long for everyone to mix together quite a bit.

At long last, Forvika left the boat behind for solid ground! Special thanks goes to Malkin, who pointed out that her odd behavior was probably a lasting effect of the Purple Mountain Hootch. Even after she was able to gather her feet beneath her, though, Forvika continued to dance every now and then. Bolga had also sampled the mysterious purple drink, but she experienced no side effects. Silly little Forvika! At least it was all just temporary.

I was ecstatic when Dalselv laid her first egg! Erikstad even stayed by her side throughout the pregnancy, which was a far cry from what the typical male does in Creatures 1. I expected him to hightail it out of there and move on to the next female, but he was kind enough to stay with Dalselv. Some Norns seem to enjoy one another more than others, and they often seem to form short-term friendships. I hoped that these two would stick together for a little bit, just as long as the kiss popping was kept to a minimum! This egg grew normally, and was not affected by the egg glitch.

With a couple of third generation Norns already on the way, it was a perfect time to introduce another second generation baby to Albia. This handsome little boy is Innhavet! He is the son of Truett and Ingelill, and is actually the final baby from Truett. He turned out quite well, with all Horse Norn features, save for his Purple Mountain Norn body. His genome does not include any of the updated Purple Mountain Norn genes, which adds a little more diversity into the mix. Up to this point, every Norn from Truett or Bera had inherited some or all of the new Norn genes. Innhavet would surely be unique! He experienced the same rapid aging as Erikstad, though. This is much different than the fast aging effect from Creatures 3 and Docking Station, where Norns have only a few minutes to live. Erikstad and Innhavet should still be able to live for many hours: They will simply enter each life stage earlier than the rest of the Norns. Innhavet was born with several genetic mutations, although I was thankful that they were fairly benign!

Half-Lives

Chemical half-lives define the decay rate of each chemical. In the absence of any reactions, a half-life defines how long a chemical will remain. Half-lives can range from fractions of a second to an entire lifetime.

1 Emb B MutDup Coldness+ 65 148 254

The two chemicals with different half lives are Coldness Increase and chemical 148. Chemical 148 is set at 255 in the standard Norn genome, which is actually not even a valid number in the Genetics Kit: The highest value for a half-life is 248. In other words, this should have no effect on Innhavet. The difference in the half-life of Coldness Increase is negligible: The standard Norn genome has this value set at 64. Innhavet may take slightly longer to break down this chemical, but again, the effect should be virtually nonexistent.

Stimuli

Stimuli genes define the chemicals that a Creature expects to receive in response to an action. These actions can range from interactions with the hand to involuntary actions like coughing or sneezing.

243 Emb B Mut ‘Invol 2=’sneeze” causes sig=0 GS neu=255 int=1, , , => 32*Pain + 8*Tiredness + 8*Fear + 16*Hexokinase

This gene controls the chemicals and reactions that will occur when a Norn sneezes. The only difference in Innhavet centers around the intensity, which is normally set at 0 in the standard Norn genome. This indicates the value by which the designated sensory neuron will be increased by when the stimulus occurs. In the case of most involuntary actions, including sneezing, there is no sensory neuron associated with the stimulus. Examples of sensory neurons include “I’ve been patted” and “User has spoken.” Since no sensory neuron is attached to the sneezing stimulus, the intensity will have no effect on Innhavet.