Generation 2: Begin

It's time to start introducing the next generation of Norns!

Totem:
 

 Totem is a male Pixie/Forest crossbreed and is the first child of Tabby and Heartly.
His arms and legs are both Forest Norn, but he's retained the adorable head and tail of a Pixie.
Totem was actually born quite some time ago. He was one of the eggs that unfortunately hatched before I could get to it and has been with us since the 24th of July.
Totem and Maramel are the only two Norns of Gen2 to be lucky enough to meet the previous generation.

Mutations:
Totem inherited a good chunk of his mother's genetics that prevent him from getting punishment from everyday tasks. For example gene #68 now turns boredom increase into boredom, whereas in other Norns it turns into boredom and punishment.


***** REACTIONS *****
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.

Most of Totem's 'mutations' are inherited from Tabby and they just tend to be tidy up genetics that were introduced with the Forest Norn genome. But here's a couple of interesting new ones. These are all based in his LOBES so I'm really not sure what they do. Hopefully someone (I'm looking at you Jessica :P) can help me out.

***** LOBES *****
121: 6   0 Emb   B MutDup       Lobe #= 7 State Rule: state PLUS type0 PLUS type1
121: 6   0 Emb   B MutDup       Lobe #= 7 State Rule: state PLUS type0

122: Lobe #= 8  at X=11 Y=5 is 42 neurons wide and 18 neurons high.  Dendrite Type 0: Input Lobe=0, Min#=1, Max#=5, Spread=1, Fanout=2 Suscept State Rule:  0
122: Lobe #= 8  at X=12 Y=6 is 40 neurons wide and 16 neurons high.  Dendrite Type 0: Input Lobe=0, Min#=1, Max#=3, Spread=3, Fanout=2 Suscept State Rule: 

As usual the top gene is the mutation and the bottom is a default Norn. I have no idea what gene #121 does. #122 suggests Totem has extra neurons, but how beneficial that is to him I'm really not sure.

Maramel:

The next little fuzzball of joy to be hatched was Maramel. He is the child of Trista and Heartly, making him a Pixie/Banana crossbreed. Maramel was a recently hatchling and came into the world on the 8th of August.
I was a little concerned about Maramel as he has inherited his mother's sleep instinct disorder and may have some trouble getting a decent nap. Like Trista though he seems to be overcoming it without too much hassle.


Mutations:

***** LOBES *****
122:  Lobe #= 8 Loss State Rule:  0 , Loss= 0
122:  Lobe #= 8 Loss State Rule:  , Loss= 0

***** RECEPTORS *****
320: Creature, Somatic, die of old age, chem=Ageing, thresh=5, nom=102, gain=255 NEW

***** REACTIONS *****
66: 1*SexDrive++ + 1* => 1*Crowdedness + 1*Punishment; half-life = 8.
66: 1*Crowdedness++ + 1* => 1*Crowdedness + 1*Punishment; half-life = 8.

320: 4*AntiOxidant + 1* => 1*Ageing + 1*; half-life = 56. NEW

***** HALF-LIVES *****
  1: 1   0 Emb   B MutDup       <136> 253 <226> 73
  1: 1   0 Emb   B MutDup       <136> 255 <226> 72

***** STIMULI *****
101: 'Heard creature speak', Sensed Even When Asleep => 16*Boredom-- + 17*Loneliness-- + 16*Crowdedness++ + 0*
101:  'Heard creature speak', Sensed Even When Asleep => 16*Boredom-- + 16*Loneliness-- + 16*Crowdedness++ + 0*

***** INSTINCTS *****
135: 5   0 Emb   B MutDupCut   Drive i/ps Tiredness + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Rest => 93*<048>
135: 5   0 Emb   B MutDupCut   Drive i/ps Tiredness + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Rest => 93*Reward

Again, when it comes to LOBES I'm pretty lost. It looks like a minor mutation, but when it's in the brain even small changes can have large effects. Here's hoping he'll be okay.
Like all my Norns he has the RECEPTOR that allows him to die from old age.
#66 in REACTIONS is kind of interesting. This one appears to turn SexDrive increase into Crowdedness and Punishment. Theoretically this may make it challenging for Maramel to breed.
HALF-LIVES tend to confuse me a little. I understand they tell the creatures chemicals to reduce over time, but I've no idea which chemical it's linked to. Being a change of 72 to 73 I can't see it being a big deal though.
#101 in STIMULI is another very minor change. Hearing other creatures speak ups Maramel's loneliness decrease. This means hearing others speak will make him less lonely, but with such a minor change it won't be noticeable.
Finally the INSTINCT mutation is the one inherited from Trista. In Trista I theorized this would not reward her for sleeping when tired and she did have problems with nap time. I expect Maramel will have similar issues, although so far he's doing okay.


Stephanie:

Next on our list is Stephanie, the first female of the second generation to be born. Stephanie was the first born since I picked up the game a few days ago, and just manages to be a September baby, being born on the 28th.
Her parents are Pollen and Tony, making her a Horse/PMN crossbreed.
Stephanie's first reaction after birth was to stroll from the incubator to the feverfew in the garden, so I expect she's be the adventurous type!

Mutations:
Stephanie manages to be an interesting Norn due to her lack of mutations. Although she inherited the PMN genes, she doesn't have any new mutations whatsoever.

*****RECEPTORS*****
324: Creature, Somatic, die of old age NEW

*****REACTIONS*****
320: 5*Geddonase + 5*Glucose => 5*Geddonase + 1* NEW
321: 2*Geddonase + 3*Glycogen => 1*Geddonase + 1* NEW
322: 1*Dancing + 1*NFP => 3*Dancing + 1* NEW
323: 1*Dancing + 2*Boredom => 1*Boredom + 1* NEW

*****INSTINCTS*****
164: Drive i/ps SexDrive + (Lobe/Cell=13/19) + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Pull => 112*Reward
164 : Drive i/ps SexDrive + General Sensory i/ps IT is opposite sex + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Pull => 112*Reward

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I do have one more Norn already hatched. Her name is Mayflur and she is the first child of Lillai and Heartly. Unfortunately I haven't written up her genetics yet, so she'll make it into the next post. Considering the size of this post already I doubt anyone will mind.

So far all the newborns have been a joy to raise. They all eat quite well. Both Maramel and Stephanie have no issue consuming two or three carrots in one sitting, without any prompting from me so I'm very optimistic about them.

The plan now is to hatch all the eggs and spend a little time with each Norn. This will allow me to pick up on their personal traits and give me the time to record their genetic data.
Once I've hatched all the eggs (I think that should leave me with 14 Norns!), I'll pick 8 of my favourites to breed into the next generation. Considering the lack of natural selectors in the world I'll have to be the selector.
Genetics will play a powerful role in who gets to breed. Appearance and personality will also play its part. Any Norn that doesn't get a chance to have any children in this world I intend to offer up for adoption. Odds are these Norns may have some defects, so they'll likely need some special breeders to take care of them. But certainly they deserve a chance to have a good life also.

3 Norns hatched, 11 to go!

The end of generation 1

An ageless face, forever young,

Beauty encased in time,

Lillai departed not long ago,

Forever in her prime.

 A friend, a mother, another face missed,

The second last to leave,

Pollen's time upon this world was so short,

To her memory will we cleave.

The last to leave was dear Tabby,

A trooper through and through,

Say 'hello' to Tony, Trista and Heartly,

Justin, Pollen and Lillai too.

The great Norns have past at last,

Their memory will remain,

We turn our attention now to the futre,

 The circle comes round again...

 R.I.P - Lillai, Pollen and Tabby.

Still alive

Howdy guys. Just a quick post to say I'm still alive. Been a while since I posted but I wanted to let people know things are still happening around here, although admittedly they haven't been particularly Creatures related.
Been chewing through my latest job which come to a close last Thursday. Big job and good pay, so I'm hardly complaining. I've already picked up another one though, so I still don't expect to have a great deal of free time.
And to top it off, silly me decided to pick up Pokemon: Soulsilver. I'm a pokemaniac from way back so I've kinda been dedicating all my free time to that right now. Damn it I've missed this game. I was a huge fan of Pokemon:Red, and had a short stint at playing Pokemon:Gold a while back but it's been years since I really got into one of the games.
Actually it's the first game I've gotten into since I picked up Creatures again last year (despite buying a few games between then and now) so I'm kinda enjoying myself.

That said there will still be Creatures related updates coming. I've been delaying posting as I'm now down to the last of the first generation Norns and I've already started hatching a couple of the Gen2's and cataloguing their genes. Will likely be a big and interesting post when I finally get around to it.

Stay tuned!