A Kaleidoscope of Norn Life
I clearly was amiss when I anticipated the start of regular updates… And there was none more perturbed over this fact than my eldest Norn, Auratum. She decided to teach me a lesson, so she did what any Norn would do… Devour the deathcap mushroom. I spent some time bringing her back from the brink. Her life force seemed to drop much quicker than usual, or perhaps I was simply out of practice. Truth be told, life has still continued on its hectic path, and I’ve been running to keep up! I mean well when I plan to post, but then Creatures ends up taking a backseat to other responsibilities.
I cautiously moved around Albia, hoping to find a Norn or two who was happy about my return. I didn’t have to look far! Iridollae and young Nanum scolded Auratum for her behavior, and attempted to teach her all about the dangers of the deathcap mushroom. Will Norns ever learn? Iridollae took a rather harsh approach, hitting Auratum so she had to turn away from me in shame. I had a word with Iridollae, since no amount of punishment can ever deter a single Norn from that deathly weed. Believe me, I’ve tried everything! Nanum stood off to the side and tried to be helpful by offering up a carrot she carried quite a long way.
The ladies were left to their own accord, since I had someone waiting for me near the incubator! This most adorable fellow is Rubellum, the son of Brekennion and Losthrayte. This makes him the half-brother of Ledebourii, although they certainly have very unique appearances! It was ages since a baby Norn entered this world, so naturally I was overly excited to see him crawling about. However, he couldn’t crawl far enough away from me to escape a genetic analysis! There is something rather unique about Rubellum just beneath the surface that could either make him very dangerous, or very vulnerable to a specific death…
Reactions
Chemical reactions define rules for individual chemicals and chemical combinations. These genes can also state the rules for how chemicals are used up, and each reaction has a defined half-life to determine how often it occurs.
Original: 228 Emb B MutDupCut 2*Antigen2 + 4*Glucose => 1*Antibody2 + 1*Hotness; half-life=88
Mutation: 228 Emb B MutDupCut 2*Antigen6 + 4*Glucose => 1*Antibody2 + 1*Hotness; half-life=88
As discussed in the past, antigens are Creatures 1 illnesses that spread around and can be picked up from the environment, or from an already infected Norn or Grendel. For each antigen, there is a corresponding antibody that is produced in a Creature’s body to fight off that specific infection. In the original genome, it’s clear that antigen 2 is paired with antibody 2. However, Rubellum has himself a bit of a problem: Antigen 6 is the catalyst for the production of antibody 2. This poses a number of problems. First, he must be infected with antigen 6 in order to produce antibody 2… An infection with just antigen 2 means he will be forever ill, almost definitely leading to an early death. An infection with antigen 6 is also dangerous. Why? His body will be forced to produce both antibody 2 and antibody 6, eating up more glucose in the process. The antigen may fall quicker as it gets used up in these chemical reactions, yet he is also at risk of using up too much glucose and, most likely, glycogen. Thus, another possible early death. Rubellum shouldn’t have much to worry about, although I’ll certainly be keeping a close eye on him to make sure he stays healthy!
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.
Original: Emb B Mut ‘I’ve Activated1’ causes sig=0 GS neu=255 int=0 => 3*Tiredness++ + 16*Boredom-
Mutation: Emb B Mut ‘I am quiescent‘ causes sig=0 GS neu=255 int=0 => 3*Tiredness++ + 16*Boredom-
Although it’s been quite some time, this mutation should look rather familiar. Rubellum’s half-brother, Ledebourii, also inherited this gene from their mother, Losthrayte! From what I’ve seen so far, this has had no noticeable effect on Ledebourii’s quality of life. Rubellum should be fine, if a little more unique. Works for me!
Word spread quickly, not only about my return, but also about Rubellum. Ledebourii escaped down the lift with one of my Grendels, Jucunda, but not before becoming a father for the first time. Ironically, the mutated stimuli gene that looked like it was taking hold was not passed down to this unborn Norn. Such is the wonderful randomness of genetics! That reminds me of the tale of Arnes and his sole egg. His serious disability wasn’t passed down, yet an unfortunate stroke of luck threw in a fatal mutation. Arnes never did have a child, though I still remember him. Hansonii and Rubellum are his closest relatives this generation, though!
The great responsibility of incubating an egg fell to Iridollae, who had the sense to walk back to the garden in a sort of daze. She looked deep in thought, even though there was nothing serious to think about! Personally, I thought she had to spend a little time thinking about the way she punished Auratum just minutes before. In another interesting turn, Auratum actually stayed with her throughout the entire pregnancy to keep her company. Norns seem to possess a very useful trait: The ability to get over problems and not hold grudges! Ignoring the fact that their memories are generally simple and don’t apply to individual Creatures, at least in Creatures 1, they still get along rather nicely… Until that random slap-happy bug bites them all!
I am also quite convinced that Norns must have some telepathic connection, to be used solely to challenge us players and Norn caretakers! I was already juggling a newborn Norn with one pregnancy, but Candidum decided that she needed to make things difficult for me. Only she wasn’t successful. Hansonii wandered over and the two made one cute couple, yet they found themselves a temporary family of two, not three. Therein lies one of the virtues of this game: It takes perfect timing, luck, and some randomness in order for a Norn or Grendel egg to start growing. I was happy to see that Candidum and Hansonii would enjoy a friendship, and nothing more!
Oh. I see. The sneakiness and determination of Norns can never be underestimated. Hansonii smiled above a sleeping Candidum to tell the world about their good luck. An egg was on the way, and a Norn was sleeping of her own accord! I jumped over to take a peek at the baby’s genome, and lost my smile. Fatal mutations are not rare, yet I dislike them immensely. This unborn Norn is unable to convert glucose into glycogen. With no other way to produce glycogen, there is no way for this Norn to ever be. Death is a part of life, but death before life is both sad and unfair. Farewell, baby Norn.
Candidum and Hansonii stayed happy, since they needn’t know about the impending tragedy. I needed a little something to make me smile, and Rubellum succeeded. Not only had he learned his entire vocabulary with me only partially present, but he went off and taught himself how to sleep! Is there anything cuter than a dozing baby Norn? He was lucky to be getting some sleep, since there is a huge celebration exactly one week from today! Creatures 1 will have its whopping 20 year anniversary, and there are some big surprises in store, plus regular Discover Albia updates for at least a week!
A little heart breaking about the mutated baby. When you think about it… putting stillbirth in a children’s game seems a little hardcore… I remember when I was very little and playing creatures and babies would die, it was upsetting for younger me and I can imagine it’s just as upsetting for adults!
It was a really sad moment when Toften was an unexpected stillborn, and I remember one other instance long, long ago. You’re right: Those are some especially depressing moments. I always like the realism of Creatures, yet it would have been nice if babies were safe from everything! On the other hand, Creatures is a good tool for teaching about life and death. At least in Creatures 1, death is peaceful, albeit sad. There aren’t any violent deaths, and it helps to show how important and special life is for the Norns who live a long time. I’m getting all philosophical here, but I think that’s another reason why those stillborn deaths are possible: They get us thinking about the meaning of life, and not just within the confines of the game. In a nutshell, though: These genetics have thrown me enough cruel mutations for awhile. I do believe I’m due for a baby with a silly mutation, right? Ha!
I guess that’s one of the reasons why Creatures in itself is a masterpiece; we feel a genuine sense of attachment and love for our Norns and we’re deeply moved by things that happen in their lives. It just shows how perfectly Cyberlife crafted their game. Other simulation games feel so disconnected from the lifeforms we are encouraged to raise and care for, especially nowadays, now that gaming is less about art and more about money. You can clearly see that Creatures 1 was hugely inspired by artistic expression and vision.
I think you hit on something important. I’ve never been able to put some of the reasons why I love Creatures 1 into words, and you said it perfectly. I agree completely with all you said! It’s wonderful to know that the game still lives on and has its own place in the modern gaming world where, as you mentioned, making money often takes precedence over good game design.
Make sure to stop by next Friday for the 20th anniversary of Creatures 1! I think you’ll enjoy one of the surprises quite a bit.
When I plan or make Creatures 2 breeds, I generally settle on one metabolic quirk that is usually a toxin resistance (not immunity) and add it to the genome along with my efforts to give the creatures anti-wallbonking and family instincts, and maybe try to smarten them up.
… I’m half-tempted to (with permission!) take your C2 Canny Ettins and improve them further with such instincts while slapping them with a glycotoxin resistance to honor all of the Norns and Grendels who ended up eating the deathcap mushroom over the course of this blog’s activity :D
Feel free to edit those Canny Ettins! My fix was actually an update to the original breed, which was oddly incapable of procreating. And I certainly do seem to attract the deathcap mushroom eaters! Ha ha! Luckily I get there in time to help, but I need a security camera over there or something. Funny thing is that my Grendels often use that same lift, travel all the way to the bottom, and pay absolutely no attention to it. Another Norn quirk. Ha!
I’ll add that to my list for Creatures 2 stuff!
… But what would I call that genetic breed…
Thankfully my creature 1 creatures are cut off from the Deathcap Mushroom. The world I’m using, Darwinia, has it placed in such an area that it’s easy to make it so Norns can’t travel there. I’m actually using that place as an egg storage. I need to figure out a good way to put Grendels in that world, though…
That’s a good question about the name… Might be a topic to bring up on the Discover Albia Forum, which is better for these discussions than the comments. Much easier to keep track of, too!
Darwinia sounds wonderful! Have you ever used the Genetics Kit? That’s how I hatch all of my eggs. I would use the import feature, except I believe it becomes unusable once there are 8 or more Norns in the world. Rather silly, especially since it’s hard-coded and it seems impossible to change this variable. Good thing there are ways around it, though!
Both in Creatures 1 and Creatures 2 my Genetics kit seemed a little uncooperative for hatching eggs. I do have some possibilites for import, but now that my world holds 10 creatures (I started off with just 2…), both the import function is grayed out and I wouldn’t be able to experiment with the Genetics Kit anyway. Maybe once the eldest couple passes on.
Darwinia’s really fun because of its unique vendors. It has a couple food vendors that pump out world-specific vegetables and strawberries, which actually prompt Norns to say stuff they don’t say normally after eating them! Respectively, “mhmmm, strawberries” and “I love vegetables”. My only qualm is that it replaced the learning computer with a set of books that auto-teach certain words, but at least my Norns are easy to communicate with!
Do you have the Remastered Patch installed? Without it, the Genetics Kits typically have problems recognizing the games. I can go into more detail, although the forum is probably best!
I have high hopes of improving the learning computer someday to allow the standard teaching of emotions and needs… Which aren’t actually addressed at all without third-party COBs! Good to hear your Norns are easy to communicate with: I find that to be really important in Creatures 1, yet the necessity of talking with them in the later games seems less prevalent.
I do have the remastered patch installed.
I think the problem has something to do with the compatibility settings, since the games all have slightly different capability to run under different windows compatibility settings (I use Windows 7). It’s difficult to tell but neither Creatures 2 nor 1 ever allowed me to lay an egg through the Genetics Kit.
Very strange. Hop on over to the forum and I’m sure a few people would be happy to try to help you out! I’ve always found the Genetics Kit to be really useful, and hopefully you can get it working soon!
The irony.
I decided to try two things I’ve never tried before and apparently if :
a) The genome file I’m using is named properly (4 letters or less) AND within the game’s recognizable folder
and
b) I’m running both the game and the genetics kit in administrator mode
The connection is recognized properly and I can lay eggs in-game.
That’s awesome news! There still seem to be some hoops one must jump through in order to play Creatures, but I’m glad you got things in order. Best of luck using the Genetics Kit: It’s quite wonderful!