Creatures 1: Gen3 - Elton

Boy oh boy is Elton an interesting character. Unfortunately he doesn't seem that enthralled by music, but his genetics are pretty interesting. He has one gene in particular that's unusual, and a few others that are of interest. Let's dive straight in.














Mutations:
RECEPTORS:
274: Creature, Sensorimotor, stagger, chem=Dancing, thresh=86, nom=0, gain=173

274: Creature, Sensorimotor, stagger, chem=Alcohol, thresh=106, nom=0, gain=255

An interesting change. This gene should make Elton stagger about when the Dancing chemical is over a value of 86, rather than staggering when Alcohol is over a value of 106. Purely an aesthetic change.

128: Brain, Noun i/ps, Chemical 3, chem=decASH2, thresh=0, nom=16, gain=255, features=Inverted Analogue
128: Brain, Decision i/ps, Chemical 3, chem=decASH2, thresh=0, nom=16, gain=255, features=Inverted Analogue

I'm not entirely sure what this mutation will do. I know it has something to do with hearing nouns (eg. herb, ball, Norn, etc.) replacing making decisions. I'd expect this mutation to have some rather drastic effects, but so far Elton hasn't shown any signs of ignorance.

REACTION:
59: Ado, 1*HungerIncrease + 1*(NONE) => 1*Hunger + 1*Punishment
59: Emb, 1*HungerIncrease + 1*(NONE) => 1*Hunger + 1*Punishment

As with Stubbs, these mutations are up for debate as to how good they are. Elton will still receive punishment for having his Hunger increase, however it won't kick in until Adolescence. Hopefully by then he'll have built up some good eating habits, but having this suddenly kick in later in life could be confusing.

HALF-LIVES
1: NFP 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: 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

Wowee, a whole heap of half-life changes. These should have subtle effects all over Elton's life. It's really hard to tell off the bat whether these will be good changes or not. I will have to keep an eye on him and see how he fairs.

STIMULI:
91 'Pointer pats me  64*HungerDecrease + 16*PainDecrease + 16*LonelinessDecrease + 16Reward
91 'Pointer pats me  64*NFPDecrease + 16*PainDecrease + 16*LonelinessDecrease + 16Reward

And finally we get to the most interesting mutation in Elton's genome. This gene will decrease Hunger rather than NFP (Need for Pleasure) when Elton is patted by the Hand. Naturally this means giving him constant tickles will be detrimental to his learning, especially when it comes to eating.
A couple of extra things to note about this gene.
1. It works regardless of whether you tickle or just say 'yes'.
2. It works even when the Norn is asleep.
3. It decreases the Norns initial hunger drive, but then the drive increases, very quickly bringing it back to where it was before. It only effects the Hunger drive without actually increasing the Norns starch/glucose levels. This means Elton will feel full for a short time, but it won't actually give his stomach anything to digest.

Fortunately this gene only effects Elton when the Hand pats him and not other Creatures. Although this mutation is pretty bad, as long as he isn't rewarded from the Hand too much it shouldn't cause him too much grief.