Creatures 1: Gen2

Causty

Here was have adorable little Causty. Unfortunately she doesn't look at all happy in this photo, but don't worry, she's usually a pretty happy child!
She is the daughter of Lillai and Heartly and was born late last week on October 20th at 6 minutes past midnight.
So far Causty seems to be a reasonable eater, although she does tend to get distracted too easily. The same goes for sleeping as Causty seems to find things more interesting than getting some shuteye.
On the plus side when she has other creatures around to keep her company she tends not to get bored and seems a lot more happy, even with the lack of food and sleep.




Mutations:

First off we'll start with the mutations Causty has from her parents.

*****LOBES*****
121: 6 0 Emb B MutDup, Lobe#=7, Loss Stage Rule: 0, Loss=0
121: 6 0 Emb B MutDup, Lobe#=7, Loss Stage Rule: , Loss=0

As I understand it the '' code signifies the end of the LOBE statement, so it's likely the first '' prevents any of the others from doing anything. But if I'm wrong then I really have no idea what this change will do. I know Lobe#7 refers to the attention Lobe, so I'll keep an eye on where she pays the most attention.

*****REACTIONS*****
229: 38 0 Emb  MutDupCut, 2*Antigen3 + 4*Glucose => 1*Antibody1 + 1*Hotness; half-life=80
229: 38 0 Emb  MutDupCut, 2*Antigen3 + 4*Glucose => 1*Antibody3 + 1*Hotness; half-life=80

This mutation here makes Causty's body produce Antibody1, rather than Antibody3 which it should do. This may make it impossible for her to recover from Antigen3 illnesses. I've had similar mutations in the past though and it hasn't presented a problem, so we'll have to watch Causty to make sure she can get over this type of sickness.

Those are the two new mutations in Causy. The following are mutations she inherited from her parents.

*****RECEPTORS*****
274: 40 0 Emb B MutDupCut, Creatures, Sensorimoter, stagger, chem=Dancing, thresh=86, nom=0, gain=173
274: 40 0 Emb B MutDupCut, Creatures, Sensorimoter, stagger, chem=Dancing, thresh=86, nom=0, gain=255

I believe the gain is used as part of a calculate for increasing or decreasing the Dancing chemical in the Norn. How much of a difference this will make I'm not certain.

The rest of her mutations are  all inherited from Lillai, and seem to be very similar to the mutations found in most PMN.

*****REACTIONS*****
320: 60 0 Emb B MutDupCut, 5*Geddonase + 5*Glucose => 5*Geddonase + 1*; half-life=72

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

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

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

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 Myles 

Myles is the latest edition to the group and the first of the last three eggs!
He is the son of Trista and Heartly (boy, I'm definitely getting those adorable Pixie Norn sprites into this generation) and was born on the 22nd of October at 1pm in the afternoon.
As he's only just hatched I can't tell you too much about his personality, although he seems to have made a good start at the learning computer.








Mutations:

As usual we'll start off with the newest mutations to the gene pool.

*****REACTIONS*****
65: 8 0 Emb B MutDupCut, 1*Loneliness++ + 1*Pain => 1*Loneliness + 1*Punishment; half-life = 8
65: 8 0 Emb B MutDupCut, 1*Loneliness++ + 1* => 1*Loneliness + 1*Punishment; half-life = 8

I'm not a big fan of the genes that causes what I consider unnecessary punishment, so I'm optimistic this mutation will be beneficial. This change means that Myles will only receive Punishment for being lonely when he is also in pain. Hopefully this will all but cancel out this gene and only teach him that being in pain is a bad thing.

232: 41 0 Emb B MutDupCut, 2*Antigen6 + 1*Glucose => 1*Antibody6 + 3*Hotness; half-life = 80
232: 41 0 Emb B MutDupCut, 2*Antigen6 + 1*Glucose => 1*Antibody6 + 1*Hotness; half-life = 80

This probably counts as a bad mutation, but it's small enough I can't see it being an issue. As Myles burns up energy to recover from a cold his temperature will rise three times faster than a normal Norns. This will potentially be uncomfortable for him, but shouldn't cause him too much harm overall.

*****STIMULI*****
108: 19 0 Emb B Mut, 'I am resting' causes sig=1 GS neu=255 int=0, Sensed even when asleep
=> 50*TirednessDecrease + 16*SleepinessIncrease + 16*BoredomIncrease + 0*
108: 19 0 Emb B Mut, 'I am resting' causes sig=0 GS neu=255 int=0, Sensed even when asleep
=> 50*TirednessDecrease + 16*SleepinessIncrease + 16*BoredomIncrease + 0*

The only difference in this mutation is to the 'sig', or Significance section of the gene. I believe the significance makes it more likely for a Norn to pay attention. Generally this means paying attention to objects, but I'm optimistic this increase will force Myles to pay more attention to his need to rest and may make him a better sleeper. Fingers crossed!

Myles also has a single mutation he inherited from Heartly, which we should have covered before.

***** LOBES *****
120: 5 0 Emb B MutDup, Lobe #= 6 Cell body settings: nom=0, leak=24, rest=88, input=128
120: 5 0 Emb B MutDup, Lobe #= 6 Cell body settings: nom=0, leak=24, rest=80, input=128

This gene tweaks the Decision lobes rest state upwards slightly. As I understand it this means Heartly did and Myles will move on quicker from a decision that was recently made. Whether or not this is a good or bad thing would likely depend on the situation, and being such a small change it is unlikely to be significant.


Two more eggs to go!!!

Creatures 1: Gen 2

Lentil:

Lentil is the second child of Pollen and Justin, making him the brother of Javas and half brother to Maelstrom and Stephanie. He was born three days ago on the 16th of October, at 11:26 at night.
Lentil seems like quite the average Norn. He eats fairly well, although he's yet to be tested with other Norns around. He doesn't seem to sleep often, but he does sleep soundly at least.
He does seem to have become a little obsessed with lifts, going up and down constantly unless interrupted or very hungry.


Mutations:

Although Lentil has quite a few mutations from the average Norn, most of them are from his mother and are part of the PMN set of genes. He only has the one mutation that is all his own.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
***** RECEPTORS *****
325: 44 0 Sen B Creature, Somatic, die of old age, chem=Ageing, thresh=5, nom=104, gain=255

***** EMITTERS *****
136: 5 0 Emb B MutDupCut, Brain, Noun i/ps, # Loose dens/cells type 0, chem=NFP
136: 5 0 Emb B MutDupCut, Creature, Sensorimotor, I'm Asleep, chem=NFP

154: 14 1 Ado F MutDupCut, Creature, Reproductive, I am fertile, chem=Crowdedness, thresh=0, samp=20, gain=7

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

321: 60 0 Emb B MutDupCut, 5*Geddonase + 5*Glucose => 5*Geddonase + 1*; half-life = 72.

322: 61 0 Emb B,  2*Geddonase + 3*Glycogen => 1*Geddonase + 1*; half-life = 88.

323: 62 0 Emb B, 1*Dancing + 1*NFP => 3*Dancing + 1*; half-life = 128.

324: 63 0 Emb B, 1*Dancing + 2*Boredom => 1*Boredom + 1*; half-life = 112

***** HALF-LIVES *****
1: Dancing 48 
 1: Dancing 255

*****STIMULI*****
100: 11 0 Emb B Mut 'Heard user speak' causes sig=16, neu=5(User has spoken), int=254, sensed even when asleep,
=> 32*BoredomDecrease + 16*LonelinessDecrease + 0 + 0
100: 11 0 Emb B Mut 'Heard user speak' causes sig=16, neu=5(User has spoken), int=255, sensed even when asleep,
=> 32*BoredomDecrease + 16*LonelinessDecrease + 0 + 0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

325: PMN have  their genes set out slightly differently, so instead of gene 320, the die of old age gene has been shifted to 325. Don't worry, this doesn't make any difference from the Norns perspective.
136: This one is still a little too complex for me to figure out. From what I can tell in normal Norns this gene has something to do with 'Need for pleasure' while the Norn is sleeping. Presumably it decreases this need which should reward the Norn for sleeping. It is possible it increases it, which would probably wake the Norn up after a while. As to what this mutation does I'm really not sure. Hopefully someone might be able to help?
154: I'm not entirely sure why this counts as a mutation. In the Genetics Kit it does say this gene should turn on at the 'Youth' stage rather than adulthood, but I've seen this crop up before and I'm not sure if it's just a difference in how the Kit and the DDNA Analyzer read the gene file.
59: We've seen this gene before in Justin and his offspring. This pushes HungerIncrease turning into Hunger and Punishment back until adulthood. Again, I think this will be beneficial, assuming it doesn't confuse the Norns once they reach this stage of life.
321-324: This set of genes are specific to the PMN. I'm yet to figure out what Geddonase does, and the Dancing chemical seems a little confusing in the PMN.
1: There's that Dancing half-life again. This is another gene that's prominent in the PMN. Having a smaller half-life like that means the chemical will be flushed from his system much faster. As to what the Dancing chemical does I'm still not entirely sure.
100: The only mutation Lentil has that was passed down to him. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately?) all it does is reduces the intensity of hearing the user speak. This would probably be a disadvantage to the Norn, however being so small it won't matter.

I can't tell you get who I'll be introducing yet as I've caught up to my hatching and don't rightly know! Lentil is just about to be exported, but I think I'll hatch the next Norn and introduce the two first.
Down to four eggs and soon to be three! The second generation is just about ready!

Creatures 1: Gen 2

Enza:

Enza is Lillai and Tony's second child, although they didn't have their first children together. Mayflur, Stephanie and Enza are all half sisters. The three of them are also the only females to be born so far, making the tally 3/6 in favour of the males.

Enza was born two weeks ago (goodness it's been a little while since I updated!) on the 5th of October at 6:56 at night. Although she showed little interest in the learning computer she got all her words down and has been a good little eater.
She has an exploratory side and likes playing in the lifts. She does seem to get quite distracted by other Norns and forgets to eat, spending her time playing ball instead.


Mutations:

Enza has three new mutations, completely different from her parents. Two are fairly minor, but there's one here that's kind of interesting.

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

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

***** EMITTERS *****
282: 18 0 Emb B MutDupCut Creature, Drive Levels Pain, chem=Adrenaline, thresh=191, samp=18, gain=10,
282: 18 0 Emb B MutDupCut Creature, Drive Levels Pain, chem=Adrenaline, thresh=183, samp=18, gain=10,

***** REACTIONS *****
158: 31 0 Ado F MutDupCut  1*Gonadotrophin + 2*Oestrogen => 1*Gonadotrophin + 3* 
158: 31 0 Ado F MutDupCut  1*Gonadotrophin + 2*Oestrogen => 1*Gonadotrophin + 1*

***** HALF-LIVES *****
1: Dancing 48
1: Dancing 255

***** STIMULI *****
91: 2 0 Emb B Mut 'Pointer pats me' => 64*NFP-- + 16*Pain-- + 16*Fear-- + 16*Reward
91: 2 0 Emb B Mut 'Pointer pats me' => 64*NFP-- + 16*Pain-- + 16*Loneliness-- + 16*Reward

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320: The receptor mutation is one we should be used to by now, as it's the one that allows Norns to die of old age.
282: The emitter mutation is fairly dull and only tweaks the threshold that injects Adrenaline when Enza is in pain. The threshold has been tweaked upwards, meaning Enza can stand more pain before she gets a hit of Adrenaline. This is kind of cool as she might be able to take more pain than the average Norn. On the other hand it means she might have less motivation to run from things that are dangerous. Since there aren't too many dangers in C1 and it's a minor change I can't see this making a big difference.
158: Currently this mutation will do nothing, as it increased the amount of 'None' that gets converted from Donadotrophin and Oestrogen. Potentially if this chemical mutated there could be interesting side effects.
1: This is Enza only mutation that she inherited from her parents. It's a rather drastic change, but I'm still a little confused about the Dancing chemical, so I'm not entirely sure what this dramatic drop in half-life does.
91: And finally her most interesting mutation. When Enza is tickled by the Hand she receives a decrease in Fear, rather than Lonliness. I can't see this being negative or positive; it's just different. And I kind of like that. If this mutation gets passed on it could create a strand of Norns that respond slightly differently to the Hand. They would be less fearful, but require the company of other creatures more.

Next time I'll introduce you to the cheeky face in the photo above.

Creatures 1: Gen2

Haaaaaave you met Javas?

Javas:
Javas is the newest member to the Albian world. Born on October 4th at 11:39pm. He is the son of Pollen and Justin.
I can already tell Javas is going to be a joy to raise. While teaching him new words at the learning computer he took a short break to devour...8 carrots! That's got to be some kind of record! Javas definitely gets the title of best eater.








Mutations:
Although Javas doesn't have any new mutations, he's inherited a few from his parents that are worth mentioning.

***** RECEPTORS *****
275: Creature, Sensorimotor, stagger, chem=Dancing, thresh=86, nom=0, gain=173, features=Analogue
274: Creature, Sensorimotor, stagger, chem=Alcohol, thresh=106, nom=0, gain=255, features=Analogue

321: Creature, Somatic, die of old age, chem=Ageing, thresh=5, nom=102, gain=255, features=Inverted Digital

154: Ado F Creature, Reproductive, I am fertile, chem=Crowdedness, thresh=0, samp=20, gain=7, features=Digital

275/274: The DDNA Analyzer is pretty clever to be able to pick up the first one; they're not even the same gene number!
I believe this was a gene that was tweaked with the Purple Mountain Norns that prevents them from staggering when drunk. Personally I like that touch so hopefully I can breed it out of the next generation.

321: The standard new gene in all my Norns allowing them to die of old age.


154: Technically I don't think this gene is even a mutation. I mention it only because when I look at it in the DDNA Analyzer it says this gene turns on in adulthood, whereas looking at it in the Genetics Kit is says it should turn on at the youth stage. If it does indeed wait until adulthood to turn on it's a mutation. Otherwise I think it's just a glitch.

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

This gene comes from Justin, and Maelstrom has also inherited it. This gene usually adds Punishment with HungerIncrease, a concept that I think it a little wrong. Apparently Tabby agrees as she's had this gene altered to remove the Punishment.
Similarly this alters the gene so it will only turn on during adulthood


***** INSTINCTS *****
303: 16 0 Chi B MutDupCut Verb i/ps Left + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) + Drive i/ps Pain and I Left => 255*Reward
302: 16 0 Chi B MutDupCut Verb i/ps Left + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Left => 255*Reward

I'm a little worried about this one. Generally this gene rewards Norns for traveling left when the Hand tells them to. It appears this gene will only give that reward if Javas is also in pain. Definitely a disadvantage, but fortunately I don't use the 'left'/'right' commands too often.

Next upadte, I'll be introducing you to Enza.

Creatures 1: Gen2

Time to introduce the next two Norns to the group. Techie and Trillo are our next two. Both brothers and children of Tabby and Heartly.

Techie:

Techie has been fortunate in that he hasn't received any mutations beyond what his parents had. I'd go as far to say he's been a little dull to raise, as he takes good care of himself and has low drives all the time, not unlike his mother.
It actually got to the point that I introduce him to Redrum, our local Grendel just to liven things up a little. Redrum seems to get along well with Norns, so the two had a good time together.

Mutations:

As I said, Techie doesn't have any mutations we haven't seen already. That said he inherited a good portion from his mother Tabby, so there's quite a bit to cover still.Considering the shear number here I'm going to break them down section by section.


***** LOBES *****
121: 6  0 Emb  B MutDup, Lobe #= 7 State Rule: state PLUS type0 PLUS type1 , WTA= 1
121: 6  0 Emb  B MutDup, Lobe #= 7 State Rule: state PLUS type0 , WTA= 1

122: 7   0 Emb   B Mut, Lobe #= 8  at X=11 Y=5 is 42 neurons wide and 18 neurons high.  Perflags=0. Dendrite Type 0: Input Lobe=0, Min#=1, Max#=5, Spread=1, Fanout=2
122: 7   0 Emb   B Mut, Lobe #= 8  at X=12 Y=6 is 40 neurons wide and 16 neurons high.  Perflags=0. Dendrite Type 0: Input Lobe=0, Min#=1, Max#=3, Spread=3, Fanout=2

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From the reading I've been doing over at the 'Creatures Developer Resource'  gene 121 normally takes the stored value in a neuron and adds the type 0 dendrites to it. In Tabby and Techie's case, the stored value not only has the type 0 dendrites added to it, but the type 1 dendrites as well.
As for what all that means...I haven't the foggiest :S

Gene 122 refers to some changes in the concept lobe. About all I can tell you about this change is that Tabby and her children has additional neurons in this lobe. They can make additional connections between the concept lobe and the perception lobe. Spread gets even more confusing, but it describes how the dendrites connect between the two lobes.
Seriously though, I've got almost no idea what these two genes do!


***** RECEPTORS *****
274: 40 0 Emb B MutDupCut Creature, Sensorimotor, stagger, chem=Dancing, thresh=86, nom=0, gain=173, features=Analogue
274: 40 0 Emb B MutDupCut Creature, Sensorimotor, stagger, chem=Alcohol, thresh=106, nom=0, gain=255, features=Analogue

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

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Gene 274 is kind of interesting, and I'm not entirely sure if it's one I like. Although I don't think it does anything harmful, I think it upsets the aesthetics of the game.
From what I understand ordinary Norns will stagger about when their alcohol content reaches above the threshold of 106 (maximum value of 255). Techie will stagger about when his Dancing chemical goes above 86. Unless there are other genes that replace these, this means Techie won't stumble about when drunk. At least he'll look cool at parties.

There's a rather good explanation of how gene 324 works on CDR, but in essence it's for a calculation that prevents hunger from increasing while Glycogen (energy) is above 100. Hopefully this helps with the problem I thought I encountered in others Norns whereby their hunger would continue increasing even if their energy levels were high, leading to 'obese' Norns.
A proper understanding of this gene makes me think it's a significant improvement as it should stop Norns from being hungry all the time. It's one I'll try and breed into the population.

And as we already know gene 326 allows a Norn to die from old age.

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

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I believe the purpose of the 'floating chem 2' is to store values for later use. I'm not sure but I'd suggest this gene may have something to do with the Glycogen/Hunger cycle.

***** REACTIONS *****
142: 27   0 Emb   B MutDup      1*Starch + 1* => 2*Glucose + 1*Hunger--; half-life = 64.
142: 27   0 Emb   B MutDup      1*Starch + 1* => 2*Glucose + 1*; half-life = 64.

144: 28   0 Emb   B MutDup      3*Glucose + 1* => 1*Glycogen + 1*; half-life = 56.
144: 28   0 Emb   B MutDup      3*Glucose + 1* => 1*Glycogen + 1*Hunger--; half-life = 56.

145: 29   0 Emb   B MutDup      1*Glycogen + 1* => 3*Glucose + 1*; half-life = 64.
145: 29   0 Emb   B MutDup      1*Glycogen + 1* => 3*Glucose + 1*Hunger; half-life = 64.

146: 30   0 Emb   B MutDup      1*Glucose + 2*Hexokinase => 4*CO2 + 8*Activase; half-life = 24.
146: 30   0 Emb   B MutDup      1*Glucose + 2*Hexokinase => 4*CO2 + 1*; half-life = 24.

292: 50   0 Ado   B MutDupCut   4*Adrenaline + 1*Ageing => 1* + 1*; half-life = 128.
292: 50   0 Ado   B MutDupCut   1*Adrenaline + 1* => 1* + 1*; half-life = 88.

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: 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.

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Wow, so many REACTION genes to cover!
Starch turns into Glucose, and Glucose and Glycogen can turn into each other depending on the circumstances the Norn finds itself in. I believe Glucose is energy ready to be use, while Glycogen is stored energy (think of it as fat).
In ordinary Norns Glucose and Glycogen would switch between the two and add HungerIncrease to a Norns system. This really didn't make much sense as the energy isn't going anywhere at this point. This how now been corrected to simply allow the two chemicals to interchange.
As for turning Starch into Glucose, this now adds HungerIncrease as one would expect, whereas before it didn't. If you're turning food (Starch) into burnable energy (Glucose) you'll end up hungry again.

The rest of the genes are still a bit of a mystery to me.


***** STIMULI *****
92: 'Creature pats me' => 48*NFP-- + 16*Loneliness-- + 31*Crowdedness++ + 8*
92: 'Creature pats me' => 48*NFP-- + 16*Loneliness-- + 16*Crowdedness++ + 8*SexDrive++

95: 6 0   8      B Mut, 'It is approaching'  => 0* + 0* + 0* + 0*
95: 6 0 Emb B Mut, 'It is approaching' => 0* + 0* + 0* + 0*

97: 8 0 Emb B Mut, 'I bump into wall' => 25*Pain++ + 127*Turnase + 0* + 0*
97: 8 0 Emb B Mut, 'I bump into wall' => 25*Pain++ + 0* + 0* + 0*

98: 'Object comes into view' => 12*NFP-- + 12*Boredom-- + 12*Loneliness-- + 3*SexDrive--
98: 'Object comes into view' => 0* + 0* + 0* + 0*

99: 'Unrecognized word' => 12*NFP-- + 12*Boredom-- + 12*Loneliness-- + 3*SexDrive--
99: 'Unrecognized word' => 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*

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Gene 92 ups the amount of CrowdednessIncrease Techie receives when being pushed by other Norns. It also does give him a hit of SexDrive like it would in most Norns.

Gene 95 is an interesting one. Usually the Emb refers to the age at which a gene is turned on (Emb=embryo, Adu=Adult etc.). Having an '8' in there really confuses me, as technically speaking this shouldn't be possible. If Emb=0, Chd=1, Adu=2...it may be that 8 is a stage of life that hasn't been defined. Perhaps this is a gene that will never turn on for Techie. Considering it doesn't inject him with any chemicals though I'm not too worried about it, although I'm really interested what this 8 actually means.

Gene 97 introduces a new chemical that wasn't seen in the original Norns. Turnase is a chemical that was created to try and get Norns to move in the opposite direction. I can't help but feel this is cheating a little, but it should be beneficial to the Norn and help prevent wall bonking.

Gene 98 decreases Need For Pleasure (NFP), Boredom, Loneliness and SexDrive when objects come in to view. In previous Norns this gene didn't do anything.

I believe Collapsase was another new chemical introduced in the Ron and Forest Norns. Sadly I'm not sure what this one does.

***** INSTINCTS *****
327: Stim source i/ps Herb + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Come => 127*Reward
328:  Stim source i/ps Weed + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Come => 127*Punishment
329:  Stim source i/ps Food + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Come => 255*Reward
330:  Drive i/ps Sleepiness + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Rest => 255*Reward
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And finally we reach the INSTINCTS and the last of Techie's mutations.

Basically these instincts reward the Norn for approaching herbs and food and resting when sleepy while punishing Norns that approach weeds.

Trillo:

 Wow, that was a massive breakdown. I'm almost tempted to push Trillo over to a new post, but fortunately being brothers with the same parents they have almost exactly the same genes. Trillo does have the one actual mutation, rather than just the inherited ones so I'll give a description of that.

I'll include his genetics below for completeness, however I won't bother doing a complete breakdown like I did for Techie as the genes are mostly the same.

Mutations:

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

Strangely enough I've seen this exact gene before, but not in a genetic relative. Maelstrom inherited this gene from his father Justin. The odds of two unrelated Norns mutating the same gene in the same place must be extremely low, but there you go.

This geen prevents HungerIncrease being turned into Hunger & Punishment until Trillo reaches adulthood. This same gene is present in Tabby and her children, however it's been changed so that HungerIncrease only turns into Hunger, not Punishment.

Consider this change has been deliberately implemented in the Forest Norns I assume this mutation may be beneficial to Trillo, although it might give him a bit of a shock come adulthood.

For completeness, here are all the mutations in Trillo's genome:

***** LOBES *****
121: 6 0 Emb B MutDup, Lobe #= 7 State Rule: state PLUS type0 PLUS type1 , WTA= 1
121: 6 0 Emb B MutDup, Lobe #= 7 State Rule: state PLUS type0 , WTA= 1

122: 7 0 Emb B Mut, Lobe #= 8  at X=11 Y=5 is 42 neurons wide and 18 neurons high.  Perflags=0. Dendrite Type 0: Input Lobe=0, Min#=1, Max#=5, Spread=1, Fanout=2
122: 7 0 Emb B Mut, Lobe #= 8  at X=12 Y=6 is 40 neurons wide and 16 neurons high.  Perflags=0. Dendrite Type 0: Input Lobe=0, Min#=1, Max#=3, Spread=3, Fanout=2

***** RECEPTORS *****
274: 40 0 Emb B MutDupCut, Creature, Sensorimotor, stagger, chem=Dancing, thresh=86, nom=0, gain=173, features=Analogue
274: 40 0 Emb B MutDupCut, Creature, Sensorimotor, stagger, chem=Alcohol, thresh=106, nom=0, gain=255, features=Analogue

320: 44 0 Sen B, Creature, Somatic, die of old age, chem=Ageing, thresh=5, nom=102, gain=255, features=Inverted Digital

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

***** HALF-LIVES *****
1: 1 0 Emb   B MutDup,N FP 248 Hunger 248 Sleepiness 248 Glucose 248 Glycogen 248 Hexokinase 248 <073> 248 <074> 248 <077> 248 Dancing 48 <081> 248 <090> 248 Activase 48 Turnase 56 Collapsase 56 <223> 248
1: 1 0 Emb B MutDup, NFP 88 Hunger 144 Sleepiness 255 Glucose 128 Glycogen 176 Hexokinase 56 <073> 255 <074> 255 <077> 255 Dancing 255 <081> 255 <090> 255 Activase 255 Turnase 255 Collapsase 255 <223> 255

***** 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*

Creatures 1: Gen2

And here's the next two Norns hatched over the past few days.

Mayflur:

 As promised, this little ragamuffin is Mayflur. She is the child of Heartly and Lillai, making her a Pow-wow cross Pixie Norn. She kinda looks like a Pixie Norn with boots.
Born a couple of days ago Mayflur's birthday is the 29th of September and she was born at 11:48 at night.

Mayflur was unlucky to catch a nasty cold early in her baby stage, however she recovered just fine.
Although I don't think there's anything special about her genetics she has been a joy to raise. She eats extremely well and was amazingly sociable with Redrum, the baby Grendel who was born recently.

These two enjoyed an old fashion banjo train ride and were inseparable ever since. I felt guilty exporting Mayflur to start hatching the next eggs. Hopefully Redrum will still be around when she is re-imported.




Mutations:

*****LOBES*****
120: 5 0 Emb B MutDup, Lobe#6 Cell body settings: nom=0, leak=24, rest=88, input=128
120: 5 0 Emb B MutDup, Lobe#6 Cell body settings: nom=0, leak=24, rest=80, input=128

*****RECEPTORS*****
251: 38 0 Chi B MutDupCut Creature, Sensorimotor, tired, chem=tiredness, thresh=174, nom=1, gain=255, features= analogue
251: 38 0 Chi B MutDupCut Creature, Sensorimotor, tired, chem=tiredness, thresh=174, nom=0, gain=255, features= analogue

320: Die of old age NEW

*****REACTIONS*****
229: 38 0 Emb B MutDupCut, 2*Antigen3 + 4*Glucose => 1*Antibody3 + 1*Hotness, half-life = 81
229: 38 0 Emb B MutDupCut, 2*Antigen3 + 4*Glucose => 1*Antibody3 + 1*Hotness, half-life = 80

I believe her LOBE mutation refers to the rest state value of...well that part I'm not so sure on. I'm not entirely sure what this gene does.

I'm pretty sure the 'nom' mutation in her RECEPTOR gene is the default value her tiredness chemical will fall to. This likely means Mayflur will be permanently tired, but with a value of only 1 I don't think it should be too much of an issue.

And finally the slight tweak to the half-life in her REACTION gene shouldn't prove too much of a hassle. This means the Antibody3 and Hotness in her system after recovering from Antigen3 will take a little longer to dissipate. Theoretically this could be considered advantageous, as it should help prevent a recurrence of the disease, however it's too small to really make much of a difference.

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Maelstrom:

Maelstrom is my first serious worry of the Gen2 Norns. There appears to be LOBE and INSTINCT mutations that may be causing him issues. I'm not entirely sure how it all works yet, but I think he may be confusing 'sleep' with 'left', meaning every time I ask him to sleep he mysteriously travels to the left of screen, almost without fail. To make things worse he keeps this up for some time, regardless of whether or not he's walking into a wall, so he's causing himself a fair bit of unnecessary pain.
So far he has reached childhood and hasn't slept yet. He is however a great eater, just like all the Norns so far.

Maelstrom is a Banana/Pixie Norn and is the first child of Trista and Justin. Born only yesterday on the 1st of October, he came into the world at 2:13pm.

Mutations:

*****LOBES*****
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

*****RECEPTORS*****
247: Sensoritmotor, in pain, chem=pain, thresh=48, nom=1, gain=239, features = analogue
247: Sensoritmotor, in pain, chem=pain, thresh=48, nom=0, gain=239, features = analogue

320: Die of old age

*****REACTIONS*****
59: 3 0 Ado B MutDupCut 1*HungerIncrease + 1* => 1*Hunger + 1*Punishment
59: 3 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*HungerIncrease + 1* => 1*Hunger + 1*Punishment

*****INSTINCTS*****
151: Drive i/ps Boredom + Drive i/ps Pain + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) 'and I Pull' => 139*Reward
151: Drive i/ps Boredom + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) 'and I Pull' => 139*Reward

The LOBE mutation refers to the number of dendrite connections Maelstrom can make. How this works exactly I'm not entirely sure, but he has a reduced maximum number of connections he can reach, meaning he will likely have some learning problems. It's this mutation I'm guessing that makes him confuse 'sleep' with 'left', although I don't know enough to be certain.

The RECEPTOR mutation increases his 'nom'. Like with Mayflur I think this means he will have a default pain value of 1, meaning he will have chronic pain. Being so small though I'm hopeful this isn't a problem for him.

The REACTION mutation may be slightly beneficial, although I'm not certain. This gene is actually one that has been altered in the Forest Norn genome so that HungerIncrease simply becomes hunger without the Punishment. In Maelstrom this gene won't kick in until he reaches adulthood. Hopefully his HungerIncrease will still turn into Hunger, but it means he won't be punished for this natural process. Fingers crossed this means he'll learn good eating habits as a child that will follow through into adulthood.

The INSTINCT mutation is a rather interesting one. In an ordinary Norn a bored Norn has instincts that reward them for pulling objects. Maelstrom will only receive this reward when he is both bored and in pain. This would usually be a disadvantage, however with Maelstrom's RECEPTOR mutation he may be in a small amount of constant pain, meaning this instinct might work as expected.

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Next post I'll be introducing you to 'Techie', the latest addition to the tribe. Hopefully by then I'll also have another Norn to introduce, although he/she is still a mystery to me as they haven't been hatched yet!

5 Norns hatched, 9 to go!