Creatures 1: Gen2 - Juiptor

Jupitor:

Congratulations to my latest Norn, Jupitor for being the 30th Norn hatched since I started this blog!
To be sure, not all 30 of these Norns have made it into the gene pool. Several of them early on had genetic 'defects' such as immortality and were excluded from the tests.

Those to fall by the wayside have been:
Kosci: A Snow Norn who was excluded because she never actually got hungry!
Lilly: (Note, this is different from Lillai). A Pow-wow Norn who didn't have the correct 'die of old age' gene.
Jeremy: A Pumuckle Norn who also had the incorrect 'die of old age' gene.
Grace: A Wood Norn who was removed simply because of her poor eating/sleeping record.
Beatrice: A child of Lillai and Heartly. She was the result of the first wolfing run where all the Norns ended up dying out.
Troll: Child of Grace and Heartly. Same deal as Beatrice.
Jake: Child of Pollen and Tony. Same as Troll and Beatrice.
Tracey: Tabby and Tony's daughter. Another wolfing run Norn.
Billy: Actually a 3rd gen Norn from the wolfing run. A child of Beatrice and Jake.
Abe: Another gen3 Norn.

I still have copies of the gen2 and 3 Norns and will consider adding them into later generations if the population dwindles.

But, this is meant to be a post about Jupitor! So let's get back to him.

Jupitor is the final child of Tabby and Justin. He was born yesterday, on the 5th of November at 1:26 in the afternoon. Jupitor has been quite a joy to raise, as he's very attentive and learns quickly. I barely had to push a button for him at the learning computer.
Together we have travelled most of Albia, and he got along quite well with Redrum, the local Grendel. Hopefully this is indicative of how he will behave when he meets a couple of Norns.








Mutations:

Jupitor has an interesting combination of Forest and Pixie Norn genes. Taking into account Justin had an interesting LOBE mutation I think it makes Jupitor all the more interesting.

He has a single new mutation that differs him from any other Norn. This mutation is kind of cool, as it's the first 'carrier' gene I've ever seen, and can be found in his STIMULI genes. But let's start with those interesting LOBES of his.

***** LOBES *****
121: 6 0 Emb B MutDup, Lobe #= 7 Dendrite Type 1: Input Lobe=4, Min#=0, Max#=1, Spread=0, Fanout=0
121: 6 0 Emb B MutDup, Lobe #= 7 Dendrite Type 1: Input Lobe=4, Min#=1, Max#=1, Spread=0, Fanout=0

122: 7 0 Emb B Mut, Lobe #= 8 Dendrite Type 0: Input Lobe=0, Min#=1, Max#=2, Spread=3, Fanout=2
122: 7 0 Emb B Mut, Lobe #= 8 Dendrite Type 0: Input Lobe=0, Min#=1, Max#=3, Spread=3, Fanout=2

121: Relates to his attention lobe. The 'min' and 'max' refers to how many dendrite connections can be made between lobes, in this case the attention lobe and the Stimulus Source lobe and the Noun lobe.
The Stimulus lobe holds a cell for every object classification in Creatures. This fires off to the attention lobe when the Norn finds something interesting, like a bouncing ball.
The Noun lobe is similar in that it directs the Norns attention to objects that are spoken about. I'm not sure if this is only fired when the Hand speaks to the Norn, or if other creatures can fire it too.
Jupitor's mutation here suggests that there doesn't HAVE to be a connection made between these lobes. At birth dendrites are connected fairly randomly (although loosely), and get relearned throughout life.
How this effects Jupitor will be interesting. It could be detrimental, as he may not connect certain concepts. On the other hand it may prevent him from having these random connections, making it easier for him to learn new concepts. This has the potential to be a really cool mutation.

122: Lobe #8 is the Concept lobe. This is the area of the Norn brain where memories are kept, such as important things like 'eat when hungry'. Information on this lobe is a little sketchy, but it seems to link back to quite a few other lobes to reinforce behaviour.
Jupitors mutation means he won't be able to make as many connections from his Concept lobe to other lobes. This may be limiting, but at the same time it may simplify things for him. Sometimes having less choices can be better, assuming the choices are good ones!

***** RECEPTORS *****
324: 44 0 Emb B, Creature, Circulatory, floating chem 2, chem=Glycogen, thresh=0, nom=0, gain=255, features=Analogue

326: 45 0 Sen B, Creature, Somatic, die of old age, chem=Ageing, thresh=5, nom=117, gain=255, features=Inverted Digital

324: Reading 'Discover Albia' recently has help solidify this gene in my head. It relates closely to gene 325, an emitter gene. For now, simply understand that this gene holds how much Glycogen (stored energy) the Norn has.

326: In a slightly different place than usual, but this is the 'die of old age' gene we already know so much about.

***** EMITTERS *****
325: 28 0 Emb   B MutDup, Creature, Circulatory, floating chem 2, chem=Hunger, thresh=0, samp=5, gain=2, features=Inverted Analogue

Here is the gene relating back to 324 in the RECEPTORS. This gene injects the Hunger chemical into the Norn when the Glycogen level falls too low. 'Samp' is how frequently this gene is checked (0 is instant, 255 really slow) and the 'gain' is how much of the chemical is added.

I'm going to jump about to the INSTINCTS now, as there are a lot of REACTION and STIMULI genes, most of which we've covered before.

***** INSTINCTS *****
327: 20 0 Emb B MutDupCut Stim source i/ps Herb + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Come => 127*Reward

328: 21 0 Emb B MutDupCut Stim source i/ps Weed + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Come => 127*Punishment

329: 22 0 Emb B MutDupCut   Stim source i/ps Food + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Come => 255*Reward

330: 23 0 Emb B MutDupCut   Drive i/ps Sleepiness + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Rest => 255*Reward

These should look relatively similar too, as they're also additional genes that come with the Forest Norn genome.
327: Gives reward for approaching herbs.
328: Gives punishment for approaching weeds.
329: Gives reward for approaching food.
330: Gives reward for resting when sleepy.
All good additions, although they do feel a little cheaty as the Norn doesn't have to learn the different between weeds and herbs, it's already in their dDNA.

*****STIMULI*****

242: 22 0 Ado F Mut, 'Invol 1='lay egg'' causes sig=2 GS neu=255 int=0  => 190*Pain + 160*Tiredness + 112*Sleepiness + 32*Hexokinase
242: 22 0 Ado F Mut, 'Invol 1='lay egg'' causes sig=0 GS neu=255 int=0  => 190*Pain + 160*Tiredness + 112*Sleepiness + 32*Hexokinase

Returning now to the interesting STIMULI mutation I spoke of earlier. What makes this interesting is that it only presents itself in females and won't have any effect on Jupitor. This makes him a carrier and it's the first time I've seen one of these genes mutate.
In females this boosts the significance of egg laying. It's quite likely this means Jupitor's daughter may feel a little more overwhelmed when giving birth. Hopefully it's not so dramatic they want to avoid future pregnancies!


Jupitor inherited a great deal of genes from his Forest Norn mother, Tabby. I recommend going back and reading Tabby's entry for more details on these genes. I also recommend checking out the 'Creatures Great and Small' post on Forest Norn genetics, which will essentially cover the same thing.
Here are the genes Jupitor inherited from Tabby.

***** REACTIONS *****
58: 2 0 Emb B MutDupCut   1*NFP++ + 1* => 1*NFP + 1*; half-life = 8.
58: 2 0 Emb B MutDupCut   1*NFP++ + 1* => 1*NFP + 1*Punishment; half-life = 8.

59: 3 0 Emb B MutDupCut   1*Hunger++ + 1* => 1*Hunger + 1*; half-life = 8.
59: 3 0 Emb B MutDupCut   1*Hunger++ + 1* => 1*Hunger + 1*Punishment; half-life = 8.

62: 6 0 Emb B MutDupCut   1*Tiredness++ + 1* => 1*Tiredness + 1*; half-life = 8.
62: 6 0 Emb B MutDupCut   1*Tiredness++ + 1* => 1*Tiredness + 1*Punishment; half-life = 8.

64: 7 0 Emb B MutDupCut   1*Sleepiness++ + 1* => 1*Sleepiness + 1*; half-life = 8.
64: 7 0 Emb B MutDupCut   1*Sleepiness++ + 1* => 1*Sleepiness + 1*Punishment; half-life = 8.

68: 11 0 Emb B MutDupCut   1*Boredom++ + 1* => 1*Boredom + 1*; half-life = 8.
68: 11 0 Emb B MutDupCut   1*Boredom++ + 1* => 1*Boredom + 1*Punishment; half-life = 8.

308: 51 0 Emb B Mut, 1* + 1* => 1* + 1*; half-life = 248.
308: 51 0 Emb B Mut, 1*Hunger-- + 1*Hunger => 1* + 1*; half-life = 32.

320: 59 0 Emb B                   4*AntiOxidant + 1* => 1*Ageing + 1*; half-life = 56.
320: 60 0 Emb B MutDupCut   5*Geddonase + 5*Glucose => 5*Geddonase + 1*; half-life = 72.

321: 61   0 Emb   B MutDupCut   2*Geddonase + 3*Glycogen => 1*Geddonase + 1*; half-life = 88.

322: 62 0 Emb B MutDupCut   1*Dancing + 1*NFP => 3*Dancing + 1*; half-life = 128.

323: 63 0 Emb B MutDupCut   1*Dancing + 2*Boredom => 1*Boredom + 1*; half-life = 112.

331: 64 0 Emb B MutDupCut   8*Adrenaline + 1*Activase => 1*Fear-- + 1*Anger--; half-life = 32.

***** STIMULI *****
92: 3 0 Emb B Mut 'Creature pats me' causes sig=80 GS neu=0(I've been patted) int=255, , , Sensed Even When Asleep => 48*NFP-- + 16*Loneliness-- + 31*Crowdedness++ + 8*
92: 3 0 Emb B Mut 'Creature pats me' causes sig=80 GS neu=0(I've been patted) int=255, , , Sensed Even When Asleep => 48*NFP-- + 16*Loneliness-- + 16*Crowdedness++ + 8*SexDrive++

95: 6 0 8 B Mut 'It is approaching' causes sig=82 GS neu=10(IT is approaching) int=255, , ,  => 0* + 0* + 0* + 0*
95: 6 0 Emb B Mut 'It is approaching' causes sig=82 GS neu=10(IT is approaching) int=255, , ,  => 0* + 0* + 0* + 0*

97: 8 0 Emb B Mut 'I bump into wall' causes sig=0 GS neu=2(I've bumped a wall) int=255, , , Sensed Even When Asleep => 25*Pain++ + 127*Turnase + 0* + 0*
97: 8 0 Emb B Mut 'I bump into wall' causes sig=0 GS neu=2(I've bumped a wall) int=255, , , Sensed Even When Asleep => 25*Pain++ + 0* + 0* + 0*

98: 9   0 Emb   B Mut         'Object comes into view' causes sig=255 GS neu=255 int=0, Modulate Using Sensory Signal, ,  => 12*NFP-- + 12*Boredom-- + 12*Loneliness-- + 3*SexDrive--
98: 9   0 Emb   B Mut         'Object comes into view' causes sig=255 GS neu=255 int=0, Modulate Using Sensory Signal, ,  => 0* + 0* + 0* + 0*

99: 10 0 Emb B Mut 'Unrecognized word' causes sig=16 GS neu=8(Audible event) int=128, , , Sensed Even When Asleep => 12*NFP-- + 12*Boredom-- + 12*Loneliness-- + 3*SexDrive--
99: 10 0 Emb B Mut 'Unrecognized word' causes sig=16 GS neu=8(Audible event) int=128, , , Sensed Even When Asleep => 0* + 0* + 0* + 0*

332: 27 0 Emb B Mut, 'I have retreated' causes sig=0 GS neu=255 int=0 => 127*Collapsase + 0* + 0* + 0*