An Interesting Creatures 1 Mutation
Although Albia hasn’t advanced through too many generations yet, I haven’t noticed any mutations. Diren possibly had a gait mutation affecting him as an elder, but I wasn’t able to confirm this before his death. However, there is now a very noticeable genetic mutation that appeared in Olennia. She actually progressed through her early life stages very quickly: Although she is about 10 minutes younger than Azdira, Olennia became a fully mature adult at about 40 minutes old.
Since the last two males in the world, Noric and Rafin, are almost completely infertile, I still check the breeder’s kit in the hopes that one pregnancy will take hold. With Olennia, I nearly jumped for joy when I saw a number in her tummy! Things didn’t add up, though: She was mostly spending time with other females, and if they couldn’t get pregnant after multiple encounters, it would be very unlikely that one of her first kiss-pops would result in an egg. I could actually see the progesterone arrow decreasing slightly, making me believe that she may have been the victim of a miscarriage. The science kit offered a more accurate picture of what was going on, although I was still a little puzzled. This was like a true mystery, and it was all unfolding inside one of my Norns. Not a bad way to learn and be fascinated with genetics! It was all rather confusing, though, and figuring it out alone required a lot of focus and concentration.
During this whole time, the observation kit stated that Olennia was not pregnant. However, as I checked the breeder’s kit over and over again, her progesterone level increased enough to indicate a more advanced pregnancy. Just as clockwork, though, her pregnancy number would decrease in conjunction with her progesterone. What an odd mutation! It looked like it could have some serious effects, one being that she would constantly remain “pregnant.” This was quite enough to confuse her entire system, along with me! Still, I had a little more digging about to do. Maybe there was something else to take a look at. Actually, there is almost always something else to find when playing Creatures 1!
Often, the science kit is the place to go to answer any questions regarding a Norn’s biochemistry. I just like the breeder’s kit for its simplicity and the little numbered egg in a female Norn’s tummy when she gets pregnant! I discovered Olennia’s genetic mutation in a heartbeat, though. Apparently, she always has progesterone in her system, which operates inversely to her estrogen level. Hence, the breeder’s kit always indicates she is pregnant because she has progesterone in her system. The major question is whether Olennia is capable of becoming pregnant and having a normal pregnancy. Are there any accounts of other Norns having similar mutations? I wonder if Olennia has any other mutations. On pretty much all levels, she is a healthy and happy Norn!
Interesting! If you’d like, I could have a look at her genome and tell you what the exact mutation is. I only need a copy of her .gen file.
I had a norn once who produced testosterone instead of gonadotrophin when she was pregnant. Gonadotrophin is the chemical that prevents them from becoming pregnant again immediately after laying an egg, not progesterone. As a result, my norn, Lori, could become pregnant again instantly after laying an egg, while her progesterone was still high.
So Olennia’s mutation should most likely not prevent her from becoming pregnant.
C1 norns’ fertility seem to be the opposite of humans’. While old C1 females lose some fertility, they can actually keep breeding almost indefinitely given the right conditions. C1 males, however, pretty much always become infertile when they get old.
This is quite fascinating, especially so soon in the game. What are you going to do about your lack of males?
Tarlia, would it be silly of me to ask how to locate and send her .gen file to you? I would be very interested to understand exactly what her mutation is! Sounds like you had a very interesting situation with one of your Norns: Are pregnancy hormone mutations somewhat common? I’m very excited to try to get Olennia pregnant soon and see how her mutation affects her fertility and/or ability to have quicker pregnancies!
Great point about the fertility differences in older males and females. Rafin is still an adult, but his testosterone level dropped off significantly, rendering him infertile. I kind of wish that the Norns mimicked humans in this regard.
That brings me to your point, Moe! After some consideration, I plan on exporting Noric and hatching a male Norn from the hatchery. I might even export Rafin to make room for two fertile males. As much as I hate to do it, I’d rather give these females a chance at getting pregnant during their lifetimes!
If you look in the Science Kit, second tab I believe, you’ll see a bunch of information, like the norn’s number of genes, etc. It will also give you the norn’s moniker, which is a combination of one number and three letters. Under the Genetics folder in your main Creatures folder, there will be a file corresponding to the moniker. That would be the norn’s .gen file. :)
You could e-mail the file to me at uziwa at yahoo dot no (not .com). Or upload it somewhere, whichever you prefer. :)
In C1, all mutable genes have the same chance of mutating (although I believe some are set to not mutable, like the genus (species)). So pregnancy hormone gene mutations are no more or less likely than any other mutations. :) However, it’s one of the mutations that gives you a very obvious result. Most mutations you’ll never actually notice, even though you’ll usually get at least one or two in every single norn that’s born (including the ones from the hatchery!).
Thanks Tarlia! I’ve been trying to use the C1 Genetics Kit to at least partially understand the genetics. I’m not sure about Olennia’s mutation, but I did take a look at Arnessa’s genetics: She was the Norn who died immediately upon birth. I believe she was missing a chemical receptor associated with glycogen. If you don’t mind, could you also take a look at her moniker?
I wasn’t aware about how prevalent mutations are! It does make sense that pregnancy related mutations would appear to be the most obvious. I’m hoping for a pigment mutation at some point: I don’t think I’ve ever had one in C1, because I often started over from scratch so much. Thanks for the insights: Very enlightening!