Genetics Discussion: Wood Norns

The Wood Norns are a third party breed created years ago by legendary community member Frimlin. They can still  be found at Treesprite's Creatures Grove if you'd like to have them in your game. In addition to their cute new appearance, these Norns have some genetic changes as well. Below is a comparison of Wood Norn genetics (top) and default hatchery Norn genetics (bottom).

Brain Lobes

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

This is the same error present in the attention lobe of the Purple Mountain Norns. This should mean that the attention lobe fails to take into account information from the noun lobe, making the Norn incapable of making a connection between nouns spoken by the hand and objects they should look at in response. However, this error is corrected by the game executable itself and has no actual effect on the Creature. The Wood Norns were probably based on the hatchery Norns that shipped with the original UK version of the game, where this error originated.

Receptors

321 44 0 Sen B Creature, Somatic, die of old age, chem=Ageing, thresh=5, nom=117, gain=255, features=Inverted Digital
326 45 0 Emb B Creature, Circulatory, floating chem 2, chem=Glycogen, thresh=0, nom=0, gain=255, features=Analogue

These two new receptors are also present in the Life Kit breeds. The first is the die of old age gene, and the second is part of the updated hunger system in those Norns.

Emitters

327 28 0 Emb B MutDup Creature, Circulatory, floating chem 2, chem=Hunger, thresh=0, samp=5, gain=2, features=Inverted Analogue

Like the receptor genes, this new emitter is also a Life Kit gene. It goes with the glycogen receptor above and causes Norns to become hungry when their glycogen is low.

Reactions

71 13 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Pain-- + 1*Pain => 2*Reward + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.
71 13 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Pain-- + 1*Pain => 1*Reward + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.

72 14 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*NFP-- + 2*NFP => 2*Reward + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.
72 14 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*NFP-- + 1*NFP => 1*Reward + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.

73 15 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Hunger-- + 1*Hunger => 2*Reward + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.
73 15 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Hunger-- + 1*Hunger => 1*Reward + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.

74 16 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Coldness-- + 1*Coldness => 2*Reward + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.
74 16 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Coldness-- + 1*Coldness => 1*Reward + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.

75 17 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Hotness-- + 1*Hotness => 2*Reward + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.
75 17 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Hotness-- + 1*Hotness => 1*Reward + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.

76 18 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Tiredness-- + 1*Tiredness => 2*Reward + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.
76 18 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Tiredness-- + 1*Tiredness => 1*Reward + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.

78 19 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Sleepiness-- + 1*Sleepiness => 2*Reward + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.
78 19 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Sleepiness-- + 1*Sleepiness => 1*Reward + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.

79 20 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Loneliness-- + 1*Loneliness => 2*Reward + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.
79 20 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Loneliness-- + 1*Loneliness => 1*Reward + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.

80 21 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Crowdedness-- + 1*Crowdedness => 2*Reward + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.
80 21 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Crowdedness-- + 1*Crowdedness => 1*Reward + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.

82 22 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Fear-- + 1*Fear => 2*Reward + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.
82 22 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Fear-- + 1*Fear => 1*Reward + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.

84 23 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Boredom-- + 1*Boredom => 2*Reward + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.
84 23 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Boredom-- + 1*Boredom => 1*Reward + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.

85 24 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Anger-- + 1*Anger => 2*Reward + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.
85 24 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Anger-- + 1*Anger => 1*Reward + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.

86 33 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*SexDrive-- + 1*SexDrive => 2*Reward + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.
86 33 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*SexDrive-- + 1*SexDrive => 1*Reward + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.

All of these genes say basically the same thing: Wood Norns receive twice as much reward as regular Norns for reducing their drives. My two Wood Norns, Zelos and Seles, are both very cheerful as well as good eaters and sleepers. Zelos in particular tends to have an abnormally high life force. These genes may explain their behavior.

308 51 0 Emb B Mut 1*Hunger-- + 1*Hunger => 1*<NONE> + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 32.

This is a Purple Mountain gene. Like in the PMNs, this reaction is present in addition to the regular hunger reduction reaction. Their combination should mean that hunger decrease reduces the hunger drive more efficiently overall, but this gene doesn't produce any reward.

Stimuli

91 2 0 Emb B Mut 'Pointer pats me' causes sig=32 GS neu=0(I've been patted) int=255, , , Sensed Even When Asleep => 64*NFP-- + 16*Pain-- + 16*Loneliness-- + 30*Reward
91 2 0 Emb B Mut 'Pointer pats me' causes sig=32 GS neu=0(I've been patted) int=255, , , Sensed Even When Asleep => 64*NFP-- + 16*Pain-- + 16*Loneliness-- + 16*Reward

This is similar to the above reaction genes. When patted, Wood Norns gain almost twice as much reward as regular Norns. All of this together means that Wood Norns should learn good behaviors more quickly, although their punishment genes have been left unaltered.

Instincts

163 8 0 Ado B MutDupCut Drive i/ps SexDrive + General Sensory i/ps IT is opposite sex + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Push => 207*Reward
163 8 0 Ado M MutDupCut Drive i/ps SexDrive + General Sensory i/ps IT is opposite sex + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Push => 207*Reward

164 9 0 Ado B MutDupCut Drive i/ps SexDrive + General Sensory i/ps IT is opposite sex + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Pull => 112*Reward
164 9 0 Ado M MutDupCut Drive i/ps SexDrive + General Sensory i/ps IT is opposite sex + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Pull => 112*Reward

This is a very interesting change. This portion of the gene dictates whether it is sex-linked. In the standard Norn genome, only the males have the "courting" instinct to initiate mating. Wood Norns, however, are equal-opportunity kisspoppers, and either sex may court the other.

307 19 0 Emb B Attention seek o/ps Food + Drive i/ps Hunger + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Push => 255*Reward
307 19 0 Emb B Stim source i/ps Food + Drive i/ps Hunger + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Push => 255*Reward

This part of an instinct gene concerns the criteria that need to be met for the reward or punishment to be delivered. This gene normally relates to the stimulus source lobe. Cells in this lobe are fired by the presence of nearby objects. In the Wood Norn genome, however, this has been changed to the attention lobe, which is how Norns look at and recognize objects in their world. Wood Norns are rewarded if they look at food while hungry and then push (eat) it. Judging from the write-up on instinct genes at the Creatures Developer Resource, this is a more effective way to structure this instinct, as the stimulus source lobe is not a "perceptible" lobe and has no actual impact on the instinct gene. "Perceptible" lobes have their information copied to the perception lobe.

322 22 0 Emb B MutDupCut Drive i/ps Boredom + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Push => 129*Reward
323 23 0 Emb B MutDupCut Drive i/ps Boredom + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Pull => 156*Reward

These two new instinct genes reward the Norn for activating (pushing or pulling) when bored, encouraging them to do something instead of sitting around being bored.

324 24 0 Emb B MutDupCut Attention seek o/ps Food + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Push => 255*Reward
325 25 0 Emb B MutDupCut Attention seek o/ps Food + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Pull => 225*Reward

These final two instincts resemble gene 307 mentioned above, except without the condition of being hungry. Wood Norns are rewarded for pushing or pulling food even when they aren't hungry.

Genetics Discussion: Ron Norns

"Ron-Norns have not been seen in Albia since Earth Year 1995. Ron was the original Norn, and amazingly the genetic code has survived and mutated since the original Ron. As with the Forest Norns, the male and female are different:

"Male: Ron-Norns have been around for a while, and have developed advanced 'fight or flight' genetic codes, giving them the edge against Grendel attacks.

"Female: The female Ron-Norns have a tendency to get very angry when surprised or frightened."

The Ron Norns were the final genetically differentiated breed included with the C1 Life Kit. They are based on the original Norn design. As mentioned in their blurb, this is also supposedly where they got their name, after the first Norn. (Admittedly, it seems even more mundane than Adam.) As you may have noticed, none of my Norns have Ron sprites. They look perfectly fine in-game, but I simply prefer the other breeds' appearances. However, what really makes Rons unique is a suite of genes that give them a "fight-or-flight" (ForF) response to encounters with other Creatures. I find these especially interesting and have commented in previous posts on the variations present in my Norns and my observations of their effects.

Anyway, this post is organized slightly differently than the other breed discussions. Instead of dividing the changes by gene type, I've categorized them as "fight," "flight," or other genes. The Ron genes are listed above the equivalent gene from the standard hatchery genome. Genes listed singly are new to the Ron breed.

Non-Fight-or-Flight Genes

Like the other Life Kit Norns, the Ron genome includes reactions for the dancing chemical and the poison geddonase. Ron Norns also share their altered hunger production system (the hunger emitter/glycogen receptor pair) with the Forest Norns. They have the same new instinct (regarding weeds and herbs) and altered stimulus (regarding being patted, seeing objects, and hearing new words) genes as the Forest Norns. Again like other Life Kit Norns, they are rewarded for sleeping when sleepy, instead of only when they are tired.

In addition, there are two more altered genes I'd like to point out:

62 6 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Tiredness++ + 1*<NONE> => 1*Tiredness + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.
62 6 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Tiredness++ + 1*<NONE> => 1*Tiredness + 1*Punishment; half-life = 8.

64 7 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Sleepiness++ + 1*<NONE> => 1*Sleepiness + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.
64 7 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Sleepiness++ + 1*<NONE> => 1*Sleepiness + 1*Punishment; half-life = 8.

Do these genes look familiar? They should -- they were also present in the Forest Norn genome. These changes mean that Ron Norns are not punished for getting tired or sleepy, which is logical because, unlike drives like pain, they have little control over these. Why am I reprinting them? Because these are the only two drives altered in the Ron genome. In Forest Norns, the reactions for need for pleasure (NFP), boredom, and hunger increase have been altered similarly. I find it puzzling that Ron Norns lack those three changes, but not the two above.

The half-life gene of the Ron breed is slightly different from that of the Forest, but not meaningfully so: the chemical numbers concerned are all unused.

Fight Genes

336 65 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Fear + 1*Turnase => 1*Anger + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 32.

This is the reaction for one of the two new chemicals that govern the ForF response. Turnase is a catalyst that converts fear into anger. When Turnase is produced, the Norn becomes less frightened and more angry. Coupled with the below reactions, this turns fleeing into fighting.


95 6 0 Emb B Mut 'It is approaching' causes sig=82 GS neu=10(IT is approaching) int=255, , ,  => 31*Turnase + 0*<NONE> + 0*<NONE> + 0*<NONE>
95 6 0 Emb B Mut 'It is approaching' causes sig=82 GS neu=10(IT is approaching) int=255, , ,  => 0*<NONE> + 0*<NONE> + 0*<NONE> + 0*<NONE>

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*<NONE> + 0*<NONE>
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*<NONE> + 0*<NONE> + 0*<NONE>

These two altered stimulus reactions govern the production of Turnase. The first causes turnase to be produced when a Creature -- a potential threat -- approaches the Norn. The second actives when the Norn wallbonks, or walks into a wall. This is how the Norn determines it's been cornered and the reason that Norns with the ForF genes slap more frequently in closed spaces.

333 31 0 Emb B MutDupCut Drive i/ps Anger + General Sensory i/ps IT is a creature + General Sensory i/ps IT is approaching and I Stop => 255*Reward
334 32 0 Emb B MutDupCut Drive i/ps Anger + General Sensory i/ps IT is an object + General Sensory i/ps IT is approaching and I Push => 255*Reward


These two instinct genes are the actual "fight" genes. When the Norn is angry, it is rewarded for pushing objects and hitting other Creatures, which may be the source of its frustration.


96 7 0 Emb B Mut 'It is retreating' causes sig=36 GS neu=11(IT is retreating) int=255, , ,  => 3*Fear-- + 3*Anger-- + 0*<NONE> + 0*<NONE>
96 7 0 Emb B Mut 'It is retreating' causes sig=36 GS neu=11(IT is retreating) int=255, , ,  => 0*<NONE> + 0*<NONE> + 0*<NONE> + 0*<NONE>

This gene causes fear and anger to be reduced when the other Creature retreats, either because it was scared off or because it spotted something more interesting. This, coupled with the fact that moving around reduces stress, fear, and anger, causes the Norn to "cool off" after the ForF reaction is engaged.

Flight Genes

337 66 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Anger + 1*Collapsase => 1*Fear + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 32.

This is the reaction for the other new chemical, the especially-oddly-named Collapsase. Collapsase is exactly the inverse of Turnase, converting anger to fear. This provokes the flight response.

335 127 0 Emb B Mut 'I have retreated' causes sig=0 GS neu=255 int=0, , ,  => 127*Collapsase + 0*<NONE> + 0*<NONE> + 0*<NONE>

This is the novel stimulus gene that causes Collapsase to be produced. Interestingly, this only happens when the Norn itself is retreating, and not at other times one may expect -- like when it is slapped or injured.

332 30 0 Emb B MutDupCut Drive i/ps Fear + General Sensory i/ps IT is approaching + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Run => 255*Reward

As above, this is the actual "flight" gene. This instinct gene encourages the Norn to flee when frightened.


All Norns become frightened and angry when slapped. The ForF genes, taken together, form a system where a Norn may go from one to the other according to their circumstances. However, I suspect there is a flaw in this system, and that Rons are biased toward fighting, perhaps by design as that is a very conspicuous behavior. Notice that there are more genes concerned with fighting, and, most importantly, that there is only one stimulus that produces Collapsase, and that stimulus (retreating) is called by the Norn's actions, not an external source (like another Creature). Anecdotally, I will report that, while several of my Norns have these genes, and the only one in whom I have observed an obvious tendency to flee from others is Emil, who lacks all the genes listed above in the "fight" section.

The "I've been slapped" stimulus gene, by default, creates more fear than anger, which is one possible reason for this setup. Having the stimulus also produce Collapsase may be overkill, skewing the reactions in the other direction. As it stands, I think the production of Turnase may have a tendency to swamp out Collapsase. Something to investigate.

I suspect this system could be better balanced by the inclusion of the pain drive in the equation, possibly in a way similar to Zelos's novel emitter, which produces Turnase when pain levels increase above a certain level. With an emitter like this, it seems like the production of Collapsase in response to slapping may be more viable, because it would be balanced (and eventually overwhelmed) by the eventual production of Turnase when pain levels reach that threshold.

You know, in retrospect, I wish I'd been an adult when this game was first released! Discussing this at the height of the Creatures Community would have been great.

I have one more point to make: as in the Forest breed, none of the new or altered genes are sex-linked. Therefore, male and female Rons should not be any more systemically different from each other than males and females of other breeds.

Gen 1 Genetics Overview: Females

This is a continuation of my discussion of the genetic changes made to the first generation Norns in my current game of C1. The males were discussed here.

Presea has a few genetic changes that, I think, must have contributed to her loner nature. Upon closer inspection of this picture, I feel compelled to mention that I don't think there are genes for getting cheese stuck to you! I wish she would eat it instead of getting it glitchily (?) attached to her legs!

140 9 0 Emb B MutDupCut Creature, Sensorimotor, Crowdedness, chem=Loneliness, thresh=0, samp=22, gain=2, features=Inverted Analogue
140 9 0 Emb B MutDupCut Creature, Sensorimotor, Crowdedness, chem=Loneliness, thresh=0, samp=18, gain=5, features=Inverted Analogue

141 10 0 Emb B MutDupCut Creature, Sensorimotor, Crowdedness, chem=Crowdedness, thresh=0, samp=71, gain=59, features=Analogue
141 10 0 Emb B MutDupCut Creature, Sensorimotor, Crowdedness, chem=Crowdedness, thresh=0, samp=75, gain=51, features=Analogue

The changes made to Presea's emitter genes follow the same pattern as Lloyd's, but with different drives. Presea becomes lonely more slowly than normal and crowded more quickly.

Raine is a completely normal, unaltered Forest Norn. I have actually found her to be a worse eater than some of the others, although she is basically always obedient when I tell her to eat. Still, I find it surprising that the Forest Norn genes don't seem to stand out more in the game.

Sheena looks like a Purple Mountain Norn, but don't be fooled. Her genetics are actually completely Ron Norn. This means that she has the Ron ForF genes as well as the altered glycogen/glucose/hunger system from both the Life Kit breeds. She is exceptionally cheerful and has always been a good eater and sleeper. She slaps a little more than is necessary, but I suspect that's a combination of the ForF genes and the small spaces that make up a great deal of Albia.

Colette, meanwhile, is a Horse Norn with several changes to reflect my first generation theme.

249 36 0 Chi B MutDupCut Creature, Sensorimotor, angry, chem=Anger, thresh=136, nom=0, gain=223, features=Analogue
249 36 0 Chi B MutDupCut Creature, Sensorimotor, angry, chem=Anger, thresh=128, nom=0, gain=239, features=Analogue

Colette has to reach a high threshold of anger before she expresses it. However, C1 Norns almost never express their anger as it is.

71 13 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Pain-- + 2*Pain => 1*Reward + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.
71 13 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Pain-- + 1*Pain => 1*Reward + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.

In Colette's system, pain decrease reactions with 2 pain instead of 1, reducing pain more effectively.

112 26 0 Emb B MutDup 1*Punishment + 1*<NONE> => 1*Reinforcement + 2*PunishmentEcho; half-life = 16.
112 26 0 Emb B MutDup 1*Punishment + 1*<NONE> => 1*Reinforcement + 1*PunishmentEcho; half-life = 16.

A Norn's learning is governed by the Reward and Punishment chemicals. These chemicals are very short-lived. They decay into Reward Echo and Punishment Echo, which are longer-lasting. Colette receives twice as much Punishment Echo for the amount of Punishment in her system than normal. I thought she may learn not to do bad behaviors more quickly than normal, but since she's basically always good, I don't think this change has influenced much.

90 1 1 0 Emb B Mut 'Disappointment' causes sig=0 GS neu=255 int=0, , ,  => 16*Boredom++ + 16*NFP++ + 8*Anger++ + 0*<NONE>
90 1 0 Emb B Mut 'Disappointment' causes sig=0 GS neu=255 int=0, , ,  => 16*Boredom++ + 16*NFP++ + 16*Anger++ + 0*<NONE>

93 4 0 Emb B Mut 'Pointer slaps me' causes sig=32 GS neu=1(I've been slapped) int=255, , , Sensed Even When Asleep => 75*Pain++ + 32*Fear++ + 8*Anger++ + 16*Sleepiness--
93 4 0 Emb B Mut 'Pointer slaps me' causes sig=32 GS neu=1(I've been slapped) int=255, , , Sensed Even When Asleep => 75*Pain++ + 32*Fear++ + 16*Anger++ + 16*Sleepiness--

94 5 0 Emb B Mut 'Creature slaps me' causes sig=128 GS neu=1(I've been slapped) int=255, , , Sensed Even When Asleep => 80*Pain++ + 32*Fear++ + 8*Anger++ + 16*Sleepiness--
94 5 0 Emb B Mut 'Creature slaps me' causes sig=128 GS neu=1(I've been slapped) int=255, , , Sensed Even When Asleep => 80*Pain++ + 32*Fear++ + 16*Anger++ + 16*Sleepiness--

These stimulus changes all go together. Colette becomes less angry than normal when disappointed or slapped, either by the hand or another creature.

Seles is our current problem child! No, actually, she hasn't been much of a problem lately. She does much better in open spaces, like the garden, and I keep her away from Norns that I want to breed. Maybe having a Norn like Seles around could be an effective form of population control?

As I've said before, Seles is a normal Wood Norn with the "fight" ForF genes from the Ron genome.

Marta is the final first generation female.

91 2 0 Emb B Mut 'Pointer pats me' causes sig=32 GS neu=0(I've been patted) int=255, , , Sensed Even When Asleep => 96*NFP-- + 16*Pain-- + 16*Loneliness-- + 16*Reward
91 2 0 Emb B Mut 'Pointer pats me' causes sig=32 GS neu=0(I've been patted) int=255, , , Sensed Even When Asleep => 64*NFP-- + 16*Pain-- + 16*Loneliness-- + 16*Reward

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 => 80*NFP-- + 16*Loneliness-- + 31*Crowdedness++ + 8*<NONE>
 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*<NONE>

101 12 0 Emb B Mut 'Heard creature speak' causes sig=16 GS neu=6(Creature has spoken) int=175, , , Sensed Even When Asleep => 48*Boredom-- + 32*Loneliness-- + 12*Crowdedness++ + 0*<NONE>
101 12 0 Emb B Mut 'Heard creature speak' causes sig=16 GS neu=6(Creature has spoken) int=175, , , Sensed Even When Asleep => 16*Boredom-- + 16*Loneliness-- + 16*Crowdedness++ + 0*<NONE>

Marta gets considerably more pleasure out of interacting with others than normal. Actually, I'm sort of surprised that I made these changes so huge. I must have gotten click-happy in the Genetics Kit. Maybe that explains why her personality is so noticeably different in-game!

328 20 0 Emb B MutDupCut Drive i/ps Boredom + General Sensory i/ps IT is a creature + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Come => 128*Reward

This is a new instinct that rewards Marta for approaching other Creatures when bored. So, not only does she get more enjoyment out of being around others, she prefers social interactions to other activities when bored.

There's also a bit of exciting news to report! I played a short time in order to take these pictures, and right before I closed the game, I was alerted to a pregnancy by the Observation Kit! I found Marta and Emil in the kitchen -- she'd gone back to her nap, and he was doing his best to look innocent! There had been such a long lull in egg laying that I'd started encouraging my Norns to breed, something I generally don't find necessary, but these two were unsuccessful... until I turned my back for ten minutes! They weren't even together last I'd seen them!

Gen 1 Genetics Overview: Males

Since I'm always talking about the various special genes my first generation Norns have, I decided to document more clearly exactly what changes were made.

There are a few genes all the Norns have in common. They all have the "updated" drive reactions from the Forest Norn genome, meaning they don't get punished for silly things like getting hungry. They also all have a gene that causes them to die of old age. Finally, they have an extra stimulus gene that reduces their sex drive when they are slapped.

Kratos, who is still fascinated by sealife, is a Purple Mountain Norn, meaning he is vulnerable to geddonase and has the "purple mountain alcohol" genes. However, he has a Forest Norn concept lobe AND the Ron fight-or-flight (ForF) genes.

Regal always seems to be asleep when I go to take a picture of him. He is completely boring and normal with no special genes at all. His genome is an unmutated hatchery genome, plus the universal changes detailed above.

 Zelos has a more interesting genome. It is based on the Wood Norn genome (which I think I'll look at more closely in the near future) plus the ForF genes from the Ron genome (which I'll also examine later on). In addition, he has one altered reaction and one new emitter. His genes are listed first, followed by the Ron genes.

Note that none of these changes account for his perpetually high life force, which hasn't dropped below 86 since he became an adult.

335 65 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Fear + 1*Turnase => 1*Anger + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 24.
336 65 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Fear + 1*Turnase => 1*Anger + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 32.

The numbers are different, but this is the same gene. This is the Turnase reaction, which converts fear into anger. It triggers the "fight" response. In Zelos, this reaction occurs more quickly. He may start out fleeing, but changes more quickly to fighting than a normal Ron.

337 29 0 Emb B MutDupCut Creature, Drive Levels Pain, chem=Turnase, thresh=80, samp=16, gain=8, features=Digital

This is a novel gene. Zelos produces Turnase when in pain. So, being attacked makes him angry. However, I haven't noticed much difference in his behavior due to to this. He and the other ForF Norns seem to slap a little more than the others, especially when confined, but that's all.

Lloyd has several changes that cause him to become bored more easily and make him more likely to travel. All Norns like playing with lifts, but I do think Lloyd is more attracted to movers and such than normal, especially since he's a little ADD. As always, his altered and new genes are listed first, and the equivalent gene from a hatchery Norn is listed second.

130 4 0 Emb B MutDupCut Creature, Sensorimotor, I'm Asleep, chem=Boredom, thresh=0, samp=20, gain=12, features=Inverted Digital
130 4 0 Emb B MutDupCut Creature, Sensorimotor, I'm Asleep, chem=Boredom, thresh=0, samp=25, gain=8, features=Inverted Digital

136 5 0 Emb B MutDupCut Creature, Sensorimotor, I'm Asleep, chem=NFP, thresh=0, samp=58, gain=16, features=Inverted Digital
136 5 0 Emb B MutDupCut Creature, Sensorimotor, I'm Asleep, chem=NFP, thresh=0, samp=64, gain=10, features=Inverted Digital

287 23 0 Emb B MutDupCut Creature, Drive Levels Boredom, chem=Adrenaline, thresh=232, samp=30, gain=7, features=Analogue
287 23 0 Emb B MutDupCut Creature, Drive Levels Boredom, chem=Adrenaline, thresh=232, samp=25, gain=7, features=Analogue

312 27 0 You B MutDupCut Creature, Sensorimotor, I'm Asleep, chem=Boredom, thresh=0, samp=42, gain=16, features=Inverted Analogue
312 27 0 You B MutDupCut Creature, Sensorimotor, I'm Asleep, chem=Boredom, thresh=0, samp=47, gain=8, features=Inverted Analogue

Most of these genes say basically the same thing: Lloyd gets more bored more quickly than normal. "Samp" refers to the sample rate, or how quickly the chemical is released into the system. "Gain" affects the amount released. Gene 287, however, is a little different: Lloyd gets stressed about being bored more slowly than normal. I wasn't sure how huge these other changes would be, and I didn't want to cause him undue stress and the consequential rapid aging and infertility just for my genetic experimentation!

103 14 0 Emb B Mut 'I've Activated1' causes sig=0 GS neu=255 int=0, , ,  => 3*Tiredness++ + 22*Boredom-- + 0*<NONE> + 0*<NONE>
103 14 0 Emb B Mut 'I've Activated1' causes sig=0 GS neu=255 int=0, , ,  => 3*Tiredness++ + 16*Boredom-- + 0*<NONE> + 0*<NONE>

104 15 0 Emb B Mut 'I've Activated2' causes sig=0 GS neu=255 int=0, , ,  => 3*Tiredness++ + 22*Boredom-- + 0*<NONE> + 0*<NONE>
104 15 0 Emb B Mut 'I've Activated2' causes sig=0 GS neu=255 int=0, , ,  => 3*Tiredness++ + 16*Boredom-- + 0*<NONE> + 0*<NONE>

These two stimulus genes come into play when a Norn "pushes" or "pulls" an object. Lloyd gets more boredom decrease from these activities than average. He also has the Forest Norn gene that makes hearing new words more interesting. So, while he gets bored more quickly, he can also satisfy his boredom easier.

The following genes were directly inspired by similar genes in one of the genetically modified Norns available from the Norn Underground before it closed.

134 4 0 Emb B MutDupCut Drive i/ps Boredom + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Stay => 188*Punishment
134 4 0 Emb B MutDupCut Drive i/ps Boredom + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Stay => 177*Punishment

Lloyd suffers a bit more punishment for doing nothing when bored.

325 33 0 Emb B Mut Cut General Sensory i/ps I am in a vehicle + Stim source i/ps Mover + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Come => 127*Reward
326 34 0 Emb B Mut Cut Drive i/ps Boredom + Stim source i/ps Lift + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Come => 255*Reward
327 35  0 Emb B Mut Cut Drive i/ps Boredom + Stim source i/ps Red + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Push => 127*Reward
328 36 0 Emb B Mut Cut   Drive i/ps Boredom + Stim source i/ps Mover + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Come => 255*Reward

These genes are all new and encourage Lloyd to use movers, buttons, and lifts, especially when bored.

Emil is primarily a normal Forest Norn, with a few modifications. As I've mentioned before, these have a surprisingly strong effect on his in-game personality.

The first change made to Emil's genome is the addition of the "flight" ForF genes. This half of the gene suite converts anger to fear and causes him to flee from things he considers dangerous, stressful, or frightening. Without the "fight" genes, he rarely chooses violence in such a situation. In addition, he has the following altered and new emitter genes.

141 10 0 Emb B MutDupCut Creature, Sensorimotor, Crowdedness, chem=Crowdedness, thresh=0, samp=75, gain=60, features=Analogue
141 10 0 Emb B MutDupCut Creature, Sensorimotor, Crowdedness, chem=Crowdedness, thresh=0, samp=75, gain=51, features=Analogue

336 29 0 Emb B MutDupCut Creature, Drive Levels Crowdedness, chem=Fear, thresh=160, samp=49, gain=8, features=Digital

Emil becomes more crowded than a normal Norn. In addition, when he is very crowded, he becomes fearful. At best, he dislikes crowds, and at worst he has a phobia of them. This certainly hasn't crippled him when it comes to interacting with others, but he is definitely a loner by comparison.

Genis is the youngest male Norn in Albia. After the last few, it's a relief to say that Genis is almost complete unaltered! He is just a White-Haired Pixie Norn with a Forest Norn brain. Like Kratos, I can't say I really see a difference in his intelligence level compared to the others.

This discussion is continued with the females here.

Genetics Discussion: Forest Norns Part 2

Continued from here.

Half-Lives

1 1 0 Emb B MutDup NFP 248 Hunger 248 Sleepiness 248 Glucose 248 Glycogen 248 Hexokinase 248 Dancing 48 Activase 48 Turnase 56 Collapsase 56
1 1 0 Emb B MutDup NFP 88 Hunger 144 Sleepiness 255 Glucose 128 Glycogen 176 Hexokinase 56 Dancing 255 Activase 255 Turnase 255 Collapsase 255

Forest Norns have some changes to their half-life gene. Mostly, this adds half-lives for previously unused chemicals like dancing and Activase. The preexisting drive chemicals need for pleasure, hunger, and sleepiness have different half-lives -- all of them have been set to 248, which is close to the maximum value of 255. Glucose and glycogen also have higher half-lives. This means that these chemicals decay more slowly, except sleepiness, which hasn't actually changed because the Genetics Kit sees half-lives of 248 and 255 identically. I suspect the developers wanted the half-lives of the drive and energy chemicals to be meaningless on the scale of our short-lived Creatures -- a chemical with a half-life of 248 would take 52 years to reach zero. 

Stimuli

92 1 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*<NONE>
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++

Forest Norns react differently to being tickled by another Creature. They experience a lower increase in crowdedness and no increase in sex drive compared to other Norns. Maybe this was an attempt to reduce the "breed like rabbits" syndrome!

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*<NONE> + 0*<NONE> + 0*<NONE> + 0*<NONE>

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*<NONE> + 0*<NONE> + 0*<NONE> + 0*<NONE>

Forest Norns react to seeing a new object or hearing a new word by becoming less bored and lonely. They also experience a decrease in sex drive, possibly because they are really, really easily distracted by shiny things.

Forest Norns also have a couple other stimulus changes that are part of the Ron Norn fight-or-flight package. Without the associated reactions, I don't believe these have any effect on the Creature, so I'll be discussing those when I get to the Rons. 

Instincts

328 20 0 Emb B MutDupCut Stim source i/ps Herb + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Come => 127*Reward
329 21 0 Emb B MutDupCut Stim source i/ps Weed + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Come => 127*Punishment

Forest Norns have two additional instincts involving herbs (good plants) and weeds (poison plants). The "herb smells good" gene rewards them for approaching herbs;  the "weed smells bad" gene punishes them for approaching weeds.

330 22 0 Emb B MutDupCut Stim source i/ps Food + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Come => 255*Reward
331 23 0 Emb B MutDupCut Drive i/ps Sleepiness + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) + (Lobe/Cell=0/0) and I Rest => 255*Reward

These last two new instincts should make Forest Norns better eaters and sleepers than normal Norns. The first rewards them for approaching food. By default, Norns are only rewarded when they eat the food. The second rewards Norns for sleeping when sleepy. Normal Norns are only rewarded for sleeping when tired.

And... that's all for the Forest Norns! Did you notice anything strange about every one of these changes? I pointed it out with the brain lobe gene, but it goes for all of them. None of these genes are gender-specific! Despite the way the official description tells it, Forest Norns are no more sexually dimorphic on a genetic scale than regular Norns. This one goes in the rumor pile right alongside the myth that Grendels are evil!

Genetics Discussion: Forest Norns Part 1

"Forest Norns are a new breed of Norn, related to the Purple Mountain Norns. The male and female are quite different:

"Male: New genes provide the male Forest Norns with a curious dreamer appearance. They tend not to react harshly, and prefer instead the simple, peaceful solution to problems.

"Female (Nancy): Female Forest Norns have larger concept lobes in the brain than any other Norn. Their neuron dynamics are quite different, leading to increased intelligence and bigger memories. Stress ages female Forest Norns rapidly, so it should be avoided."

This is an overview of the genetic differences between Forest Norns and regular hatchery Norns. Once again, the Forest genes are listed first, followed by the equivalent gene in the normal genome.

In addition to the changes described here, Forest Norns also include the genes for geddonase poisoning and dancing described in the discussion on Purple Mountain Norns.

Brain Lobes

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

Whew! There's a lot going on in this gene! Let's start with the simple things. The X and Y values determine the location of the brain lobe, and the height and width determine its size. This is the "expanded concept lobe" touted by the description. Notice, however, that the gene is still marked "B," which means it is expressed in both males and females.

The Forest Norn concept lobe also has a higher "Max" value. This is the maximum number of dendrites that connect the concept lobe to its source lobe, the perception lobe. That means that a Forest Norn can make more connections between these two lobes and should be able to learn concepts better.

The "Spread" value describes how dendrites are able to make connections between the lobes. In normal Norns, this is set to the "waS" pattern, while in Forest Norns, it is set to "normal." Unfortunately, even after extensive Googling, I'm still not sure what is means beyond that fact that, in Forest Norns, the perception and concept lobes are wired up slightly differently. Perhaps I'll come back to this at a later time.

Receptors

325 44 0 Emb B Creature, Circulatory, floating chem 2, chem=Glycogen, thresh=0, nom=0, gain=255, features=Analogue
327 45 0 Sen B Creature, Somatic, die of old age, chem=Ageing, thresh=5, nom=117, gain=255, features=Inverted Digital

These are two novel genes in the Forest genome. The first of these is a receptor that stores the level of glycogen in the Norn's system. This will come into play below. The second is the "die of old age" gene. This causes the Norn to die when its level of ageing chemical reaches a certain point. All of my Norns have a variation of this gene. It may be counter intuitive, but many people consider the inclusion of this gene kinder than its exclusion. The original hatchery Norns could only die of starvation or poisoning. They would "die of old age" when they grew old and refused to eat.

Emitters

326 28 0 Emb B MutDup Creature, Circulatory, floating chem 2, chem=Hunger, thresh=0, samp=5, gain=2, features=Inverted Analogue

This is another new gene, and the other half of the way hunger is controlled in Life Kit Norns. This emitter releases hunger based on the level of glycogen in the Norn's system. Remember that glycogen is the long-term energy storage chemical in C1 and the chemical that determines a Norn's life force. Life Kit Norns become hungry when their glycogen is low and don't become hungry when their glycogen is high.

Reactions

58 2 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*NFP++ + 1*<NONE> => 1*NFP + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.
58 2 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*NFP++ + 1*<NONE> => 1*NFP + 1*Punishment; half-life = 8.

59 3 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Hunger++ + 1*<NONE> => 1*Hunger + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.
59 3 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Hunger++ + 1*<NONE> => 1*Hunger + 1*Punishment; half-life = 8.

62 6 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Tiredness++ + 1*<NONE> => 1*Tiredness + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.
62 6 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Tiredness++ + 1*<NONE> => 1*Tiredness + 1*Punishment; half-life = 8.

64 7 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Sleepiness++ + 1*<NONE> => 1*Sleepiness + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.
64 7 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Sleepiness++ + 1*<NONE> => 1*Sleepiness + 1*Punishment; half-life = 8.

68 11 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Boredom++ + 1*<NONE> => 1*Boredom + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 8.
68 11 0 Emb B MutDupCut 1*Boredom++ + 1*<NONE> => 1*Boredom + 1*Punishment; half-life = 8.

These reactions all describe how the drive raising chemicals (ex. hunger increase or hunger++) increase the actual drive chemicals. Regular Norns are punished for an increase any of their drives, but Forest Norns are a little more logical: they aren't punished for raising drives that go up on their own over time, like hunger and tiredness. Notice that the pain/pain increase reaction isn't included in this list, so Forest Norns should still learn to avoid situations that cause them pain. ("Should" being the operative word -- all Norns love bees.)

142 27 0 Emb B MutDup 1*Starch + 1*<NONE> => 2*Glucose + 1*Hunger--; half-life = 64.
142 27 0 Emb B MutDup 1*Starch + 1*<NONE> => 2*Glucose + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 64.

144 28 0 Emb B MutDup 3*Glucose + 1*<NONE> => 1*Glycogen + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 56.
144 28 0 Emb B MutDup 3*Glucose + 1*<NONE> => 1*Glycogen + 1*Hunger--; half-life = 56.

145 29 0 Emb B MutDup 1*Glycogen + 1*<NONE> => 3*Glucose + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 64.
145 29 0 Emb B MutDup 1*Glycogen + 1*<NONE> => 3*Glucose + 1*Hunger; half-life = 64.

This series of reactions improves the way digestion influences hunger in Forest Norns. Here, the conversion of starch to glucose prompts a decrease in hunger. Starch is the main energy source found in food in C1. The original C1 Norns didn't derive a hunger decrease from consuming starch. In addition, the conversion of glucose or glycogen and vice versa no longer affects hunger in Forest Norns -- that relationship is controlled by the receptor/emitter pair described above.

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*<NONE>; half-life = 24.

This reaction controls the byproducts of movement and energy use. In Forest Norns, this creates an additional chemical, Activase, which shows up in other Life Kit genes.

292 50 0 Ado B MutDupCut 4*Adrenaline + 1*Ageing => 1*<NONE> + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 128.
292 50 0 Ado B MutDupCut 1*Adrenaline + 1*<NONE> => 1*<NONE> + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 88.

In the regular genome, this reaction simply causes adrenaline to leave the system. In Forest Norns, adrenaline has a nastier effect: it breaks down the ageing chemical, accelerating, well, ageing. Adrenaline is produced when the Norn is stressed, hence why stress ages Forest Norns quickly.

332 64 0 Emb B MutDupCut 8*Adrenaline + 1*Activase => 1*Fear-- + 1*Anger--; half-life = 32.

This novel gene causes Activase, which we saw is produced when energy is used by muscle activity, to react with adrenaline to decrease fear and anger. Moving around reduces stress and calms the Norn down.

This discussion will be continued in a later post!

Genetics Discussion: Purple Mountain Norns

"Down from the mountains of Albia, these purple Norns have developed differently. Indeed, these Norns even have some new genes."



The Purple Mountain Norn (PMN) was the first official breed to have a distinct genome from the original three breeds. (Although the original Santa Norn was infertile, he didn't have any novel genes to discuss.) Those changes were later carried over to the Life Kit breeds, the Forest and Ron Norns. Purple Mountain Norns were available as a download from Cyberlife's website, and some later copies of the game (like mine) came with them as part of the hatchery. The second Norn I ever hatched was a PMN named Aaron, by the way.

Below are excerpts from the output of a dDNA Analyzer comparison of a PMN genome (top) to a default Norn (bottom).

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

This is a change to the seventh brain lobe, the attention lobe. Those commands are the State Variable Rules (SVRules) that affect how that lobe functions. As I understand it, the normal Norn's braid combines information from both type 0 and type 1 dendrites, while the PMN uses only type 0. Dendrites, connections between brain lobes, store information. In the attention lobe, type 0 dendrites connect to the stimulus source lobe, which identifies external stimuli (ex. "that is a Norn"), while type 1 dendrites connect to the noun lobe, which stores words the Creature has learned. By default, a PMN is therefore unable to make the connection between a word spoken by the hand and that it should look at the associated object. As described on the Creatures Developer Resource, this is a mistake made in very early copies of the game! Apparently, the executable itself was modified to work around this, which is why Sheena and Kratos don't have any trouble understanding when I want them to pay attention to the food I brought them, but the gene persists!

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

This is an altered receptor gene that makes PMNs react to a new chemical -- chemical 80, "Dancing," also known as "Purple Mountain Alcohol." As you can see, it replaces the normal alcohol receptor. Like regular alcohol, it causes PMNs to "stagger" -- however, in these Norns, "stagger" has been replaced with, you guessed it, dancing. This also necessitated several changes in pose genes. The dancing concept was carried over into C2 through the Golden Desert Norns and Boney Grendels.

The following reaction genes are all novelties in the PMN.

308 51 0 Emb B Mut 1*Hunger-- + 1*Hunger => 1*<NONE> + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 32.

This gene, labeled "Hunger Reaction from Purple Mountain Norns" in the Genetics Kit, is present in addition to the regular hunger-reducing reaction, which goes 1 Hunger Decrease + 1 Hunger => 1 Reward. The two genes together mean that hunger decrease reduces the hunger drive more efficiently without triggering the release of any more reward than in a normal Norn. I suppose the same effect could have been achieved by altering the existing gene -- I can't really think of a good reason to have an entirely new gene.

321 60 0 Emb B MutDupCut 5*Geddonase + 5*Glucose => 5*Geddonase + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 72.
322 61 0 Emb B 2*Geddonase + 3*Glycogen => 1*Geddonase + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 88.

This is a very dangerous set of reactions, and the reason I've refrained from adding the cave fly cob to my world. Geddonase is a poison that has no effect on normal hatchery Norns; in PMNs, however, it reacts with both glucose (suger) and glycogen (long-term energy storage and the chemical behind a Norn's life bar). This makes geddonase quite dangerous, but luckily I believe there are no non-cob sources of geddonase in C1. Geddonase is also present in C2 -- it's injected by those irritating red gnats from one of the biodomes -- but, due to the more complex digestive system of C2 Norns, it's far less dangerous. Note also that the geddonase-glycogen reaction is set to be immuatable, un-duplicatable, and un-deletable.

323 62 0 Emb B 1*Dancing + 1*NFP => 3*Dancing + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 128.
324 63 0 Emb B 1*Dancing + 2*Boredom => 1*Boredom + 1*<NONE>; half-life = 112.

These two genes make dancing fun! It reacts to reduce need for please and boredom.

1 Half-lives 1 0 Emb B MutDup Dancing 48
1 Half-lives 1 0 Emb B MutDup Dancing 255

This is a change to the half-life gene. This gene describes the half-lives all the chemicals in the game will have in that particular Norn. A half-life is exactly what is sounds like: the time it takes for half of the amount of the chemical to decay. In real life, half-lives come up most frequently when radioactive materials are being discussed. That's how carbon dating and other radiometric time proxies work -- by measuring the relative amounts of different radioactive chemicals and working backwards to find out how much time it would take for them to decay that much. Impromptu science lesson! Anyway, in PMNs, this gene includes a half-life for the dancing chemical. Since chemical 80 was unused in the original Norns, it simply had the default value of 255 in them.

And that's it! Those are all the genetic changes made to the Purple Mountain Norns. The other two genetically modified official breeds, Forest and Ron Norns, have more complicated changes that maybe I'll address at a later time.

A Tale of Two Eggs (and Their Mutations)

In a short but exciting period, my Albia has seen its first two eggs! The blue one is the child of Kratos and Raine, and the green one is Presea's and Regal's. I don't intend to hatch any second generation Norns until I get through all the first generation genome files, so we won't be seeing what's inside these for a while. However, in C1, the .gen file is created at the moment of conception, so we can take a peek at what's in store!

The Norn in the first egg has some very strange mutations. Here is the dDNA Analyzer output comparing the new baby Norn's gene (top) with its father's (bottom):

305 Emb B MutDupCut Creature, Sensorimotor, Invol 5='sleep', chem=Sleepiness, thresh=230, nom=1, gain=255, features=Analogue
305 Emb B MutDupCut Creature, Sensorimotor, Invol 5='sleep', chem=Sleepiness, thresh=230, nom=0, gain=255, features=Analogue

This is a receptor gene that triggers an involuntary action, sleep, when the Norn is very sleepy. According the the write-up on receptors at the Creatures Developer Resource, the nominal value "defines the default or base value used to stimulate the locus." Since this is only a change of 1 out of 255, I would generally write this off as a minor mutation, but since it's gone from 0 to a positive value, there may be something to it.

124 Chi B MutDupCut Brain, Decision i/ps, # Loose dens/cells type 0, chem=decASH1, thresh=0, samp=1, gain=255, features=Analogue/Clear Source
124 Emb B MutDupCut Brain, Decision i/ps, # Loose dens/cells type 0, chem=decASH1, thresh=0, samp=1, gain=255, features=Analogue/Clear Source

This is a mutation that affects learning. In Creatures, learning is quite complex, and my understanding of it is limited, but here goes. The gene involved is the decASH1 emitter. DecASH1 is short for the very cumbersome decision layer atrophy suppressing hormone, which seems to have the fairly uncomplicated role of freeing up dendrites in the brain's decision lobe so new connections can form. In an unmutated Norn, this gene switches on when the Norn is born. However, this mutation causes it to be dormant until childhood, which begins at about 20 minutes old. I think this Norn will have difficulty making decisions, but only as a baby.

226 Emb B MutDupCut 2*Antigen0 + 4*Glucose => 1*Antibody1 + 1*Hotness; half-life = 88.
226 Emb B MutDupCut 2*Antigen1 + 4*Glucose => 1*Antibody1 + 1*Hotness; half-life = 88.

This mutation causes the Norn to produce Antibody 1 in response to Antigen 0 instead of Antigen 1. This leaves him or her with no defense against an infection that produces Antigen 1.

109 Emb B Mut 'I've stated need' causes sig=0 GS neu=255 int=0, , , Sensed Even When Asleep => 66*Tiredness-- + 77*Sleepiness-- + 16*Boredom++ + 16*Coldness++
109 Emb B Mut 'I am sleeping' causes sig=0 GS neu=255 int=0, , , Sensed Even When Asleep => 66*Tiredness-- + 77*Sleepiness-- + 16*Boredom++ + 16*Coldness++

This stimulus mutation is really weird. It means that, instead of receiving a decrease in sleepiness and tiredness from sleeping, this Norn gets the same benefits from complaining about high drives! I can't decide if this is helpful or not. On the one hand, the Norn shouldn't need to sleep, just complain about being tired. On the other hand, he or she will still have instincts to sleep when tired. In addition, I've read that Creatures process learning and instincts while asleep, like real animals, so sleep is a necessity for other reasons than satisfying needs. Coupled with the sleep-related mutation above, I'm just not sure what to think.

244 Emb B Mut 'Invol 1='lay egg' causes sig=0 GS neu=255 int=0, , ,  => 32*Pain + 8*Tiredness + 8*Fear + 16*Hexokinase
244 Emb B Mut 'Invol 3='cough' causes sig=0 GS neu=255 int=0, , ,  => 32*Pain + 8*Tiredness + 8*Fear + 16*Hexokinase

Did I say that last one was weird? No, this mutation is weird. This replaces the stimulus "cough" with "lay egg." I think this means the Norn gets no discomfort from coughing, but feels the effects of coughing when laying an egg. The other "lay egg" gene is intact as well.

Whew! Now on to the green egg. It has... absolutely no mutations! There, that was painless.

Raine recovered quickly from her pregnancy and took off on a journey back across the ocean to the caves. The Norn in the blue egg is hers and Kratos's. I'm glad there will be some Purple Mountain/Forest crosses in the next generation. Surprisingly, Raine is one of the worse eaters so far. As a Forest Norn, I had expected her to eat more readily, but I often have to remind her what to do with food. I suspect she simply feels she has better things to think about.

Presea has not fared so well. She doesn't look it here, but she must be suffering from post-postpartum depression, because since laying her egg, she refuses to eat! I've brought her carrots and cheese, and she's currently living right next to the beehives, but she won't touch any of it. She just wanders back and forth, watching the bees. Her health has dropped all the way to the low 40s, becoming a serious cause for concern.