CCSF Art contest

Whoopse...missed the deadline :(

Silly me for not checking the due dates. So sadly this won't get to make it into the competition, but I thought it was still worth sharing. May or may not get finished at some point, but at least now I don't have to worry about getting it done ASAP.

So yes that Norn I was sculpting. It was a Merenorn.

As you can see he's far from finished. The webbed hands in particular never got quite enough love. Same deal with the gills. But not a bad effort for a few hours work. Hope you like it, and let me know if you'd like to see this fellow finished.

Perfecio Norns released

One of the things I really like about Hobbits from The Lord of the Rings is the way they give presents to their guests on their birthday, rather than receiving them. I can't remember if that's properly explained during the movies, but it was an interesting point in the first book.

Why do I bring this up? Well, today happens to be my birthday, and in the traditional Hobbit way, I have a gift for all of you!

I've finally reached a point where I'm happy to officially release the Perfecio Norns!

For those that haven't been following my progress over the last couple of weeks, the Perfecio Norns name is taken from the Latin word for perfection. Unlike today's meaning of "without flaw", in Latin it originally meant "to finish" or "to bring to an end".

The aim of this Creatures 1 breed wasn't to create a 'perfect' Norn (whatever that might mean), but to create a breed that could fulfill what I thought the original breeds should have.

These breeds are meant to be significantly better eaters and sleepers, as well as having a more realistic immune system. With a bit of training these Norns can basically take care of themselves without interference. They can still be distracted by other Norns and forget to take care of themselves, but that's something I'm still working on. No doubt there will be a Perfection 2.0 release some time shortly.

As well as this they've had a whole heap of genes tweaked, removed or added which should give them an advantage over the original breeds. Some time soon I'll release a full breakdown of their genetics, but a quick taste of some of the new genes are:

Food searching: These creatures have instincts which encourage them to travel in search of food.

Improved digestion: As well as generally being able to manage their hunger drive better, these Norns will use energy to move about.

Toxin fighting: In addition to a more realistic immune system, these Norns can actually fight off toxins like Glycotoxin, although they are still quite susceptible to it.

And much more!

Jump over to the new 'Breeds' page to download your Perfecio Norns today. The pack comes with a male and female of each original breed (Banana, Pixie and Horse). More breeds will become available over time.

CCSF Art Contest

If you don't already know (then shame on you), there's some arts and craft competitions over at Creatures Caves for the CCSF. One of these competitions is the art competition, whereby you can enter an image created with your choice of tools.

It's going to be quite a test to get a 3D image created in a week, but here's my first WIP for the piece I'm working on. It's still very much in its preliminary stages. I'm still working out proportions, as well as figuring out some more realistic anatomy for this particular dude.

Obviously it's a 3D sculpt of a Norn. But what kind of Norn? What will the Norn be doing? Anyone care to take a guess?

Genetic Manipulation : Update

Just a quick one to keep everyone updated on progress.
I've been doing some wolfing run tests with the new Perfecio breed and they seem to be coping reasonably well. There are however, a couple of shortcomings.

1. As usual, the Norns are infatuated with each other, often to the point of forgetting to eat. At least they all still seem to be sleeping quite well.
To overcome this I'm trying to reduce the intensity and significance of seeing another Norn. With a bit of luck if I lower this enough they'll still be quite interested in each other, but not to the point of forgetting to eat.
I'm also switching one of the sleeping genes so that other Norns talking should be less likely to wake up a sleeping Norn. They'll still be able to be slapped awake though, and they'll still respond to the Hand's voice.

2. The other major problem is once again with eating properly, but I'm not sure it's a genetics issue. The Norns that all seem to be the hungriest are those in relatively remove locations with limited food supplies. The problem isn't that there isn't food there, it's that the Norns often have issues accessing it.

For example, the Island seems to be a bit of a starvation death trap. Although there is plenty of food there, the only one they have constant access to are the strawberries. Honey pots run out, vendors are often unintuitive (for Norns) and the blue flowers by Jessi can't actually feed the Norns unless the Hand pushes on them to drop the flower head. And since C1 Norns don't have a sense of smell, if they're on any other level they don't know how to find the strawberries!
This is a real problem and one I've found with a lot of 3rd party COBs. The only solution I can think of is to create a set of new food/herb COBs myself and make them so the Norns can more easily use them. Perhaps that will be my next project.

Under ideal circumstances, such as the garden area where food is plentiful, these Norns seem extremely good at taking care of themselves. They're well rested and eat by themselves. Naturally having a large group still has its issues, but a small handful of Norns can get along without interference very well.
That said, this is still no substitute for good training early on. The first generation Norns I gave some basic tutoring to are generally performing much better than their children.
I think with some basic training these Norns will prove very robust for many generations to come.

One of the cool things about the CCSF is that smack bang in the middle of it is my birthday! I turn 26 on the 8th of November, which is currently in two days time. You might want to swing round some time on the 8th, as I may have a little gift of my own.

Gene Manipulation: Rascii

I'd like you all to meet Rascii. She's the latest version of my Perfecio Norn breed. Officially we're up to version 5, but I couldn't tell you just how many Norns I've hatched with subtle tweaks to get to this point.

But the good news is, 'this point' appears to be a very solid Norn breed.

Among other things I think I've balanced the hungerIncrease and digestions genes. These Norns seem to sleep much better than others and I've fixed the immune system genes so that most Norns should be able to happily recover from most illnesses. In theory if a Norn had enough negative toxins in their bodies they could still be unable to recover, but I think in practice they should be fine now.

I want to spend a few more days running some tests before I officially release the first Beta, but I think for the most part I'm done. Everything seems to be working the way I'd like.

The ultimate test will be attempting a wolfing run with a few of these guys and seeing if they survive reasonably well. If I can run the game overnight and return to a world that still has Norns in it I'll consider my job well done.

I also intend to release this breed with the appearance genes of all the original breeds. If I can figure out how I'll even try replacing the Hatchery eggs with these guys.

I'd still like to keep improving this breed if I can. One thing I'd like to do is add a bunch of genes similar to what was added in C2, specifically additional organs. I must admit right now I don't even know where to start with something like this, but it's a pipe dream.

So, what additional features do you guys think should be part of the 'perfect' Norn breed? I might even add some ideas. Or maybe use them to create an entirely new breed. Let me know!