After the Eruption

Today I noticed that somewhere along the way I picked up a follower. I have no idea when this happened. I wasn't paying attention because I kind of didn't think anyone would actually want to read this! I probably should have put a little more thought into the URL if it's going to turn into a real blog. But thank you if you're visiting, and especially thanks to ArchDragon of The Arch for following!

Anyway, on to Creatures 2!

You can see just from looking at the Hatchery that C2 has a very different aesthetic than C1. Personally I prefer the warmer-toned steampunky look of the first game to the more sterile machinery that dominates in the second, but both games are lovely, especially for their time.

All six of these eggs contain Norns based on JayD's 10-Hour Nova Subterra genome and were created with Egg Maker. Unlike my first generation Norns in C1, I'm not editing their genetics aside from their appearance genes. There are a male and a female of each of the three base C2 breeds (Types H, I, and J). Their pigment and pigment bleed genes have been semi-randomized, so their colors will be a surprise!

After some deliberation, I decided to start with a female. I choose the plainest egg, the second from the left, to hatch first. After a few moments in the incubator, out popped a Creature far less plain than her egg, a little magenta Hebe with lime green eyes! I fell in love with her coloration the moment I saw her. I'm especially fond of her striking eye color. Unlike C1 Norns, C2 Norn eyes can vary drastically in color due to the effect of their new pigment bleed genes (although there is no specific gene for eye color).

Starting a very different naming trend than in my C1 game, I named the new Norn Darwin. I thought it was an appropriate choice! I led Darwin to the verb computer, and she proved to be a very quick learner, grasping all the verbs with only a couple repetitions. She was also a bit distractible, but who could blame her with a whole new world to explore? Her attention was stolen away several times by the various fruits and foods lying around the incubator area, a good sign for her future! As in C1, it's important to get your Creatures eating early in their life so they develop good habits.

Another major source of frustration in both games is convincing Norns they also need sleep, and I think that getting Norns to sleep is especially hard in C2. This was the reason I chose the Novas over the more popular Canny Norns. Both breeds are good and much, much smarter than the default Norns, but I find that Novas tend to be somewhat better sleepers (but worse breeders) than the Cannies. After some tossing and turning, Darwin managed to settle down for a nap. Hopefully she will keep this up well into adulthood!

The Last of Gen 1 and an Illness

Kratos may have isolated himself from the other Norns on his island, but that hasn't saved him from Albia's many diseases! I think he's gotten sick more often than any other Norn so far -- but saying that is almost certainly asking for trouble. This disease caused Kratos's health to fluctuate oddly. Just when his glycogen returned to normal and his status in the Observation Kit would switch to "Healthy," his life force would start dropping and he would go back to being sick.

Here you can see the oddly irregular fluctuations the level of Antigen 0 took in Kratos's system and the speed at which he built up Antibody 0. I suppose the troughs of that line may have dipped below the amount required to qualify as "Sick" to the Observation Kit, but I hadn't considered what the threshold could be until now. Something to keep in mind -- the Observation Kit is useful, but not to be trusted completely!

Luckily, the disease didn't seem to be contagious, as Mithos has apparently avoided infection, and with a bit of extra attention Kratos was able to fight it off permanently.

 In the midst of all this, the youngest of all the first generation Norns hatched. This little white-haired Norn is Genis! He is almost completely normal except for his improved Forest Norn brain. Because I was distracted with Kratos, I wasn't able to fuss over him as much as I would have liked before he reached childhood. He was perfectly content to stay near the learning computer and watch the bees, though!

Genis eventually made his way to the temple area, where he met Seles, Emil, and Marta. However, he didn't seem terribly impressed by the older Norns and soon retreated to the garden with his bees. Why are Norns so interested in bees? You'd think they would eventually learn to stop getting stung.

Now that all twelve first generation Norns have hatched, I hope to make future updates more detailed. So far, each has covered about an hour of playtime on average. I'd like to shorten that to 30 to 40 minutes. If I write it here, maybe I'll actually do it instead my usual "Oh, five more minutes won't hurt!"

Like Night and Day

Albia saw two new additions this time! These are some of the last first-generation Norns -- thankfully, since the world is starting to get a bit crowded! C1 Norns are generally quite self-sufficient, but caring for 11 Norns is still getting to be a bit of a stretch.

Our first newcomer is Forest Norn Emil, shown here with Mithos, his first contact with other Creatures! In addition to the regular Forest genes, Emil has the "flight" half of the Ron Norn fight-or-flight genes. He also has an addition emitter that causes him to become frightened when very crowded. I'm curious how this will affect his personality. Will it cause him to avoid getting stressed over crowding, or just make him a loner?

Our second baby Norn is Marta, a Banana Norn who arrived with an enormous smile. The first Norn I ever hatched was a female Banana Norn (named Kay), so I have a special attachment to them. Marta has a few little genetic tweaks that make her more of a people-person -- or a Norn-Norn, I suppose. She becomes crowded slowly and has an extra instinct gene that encourages her to seek out others when bored. I wonder how she and Emil will get along?

After a short time with Marta and Seles, Emil had to go take a rest on his own. He goes off alone more frequently than the other young Norns. After leaving them to check up on the others, I often return to find he's gone to the garden or kitchen to get away from it all. He doesn't seem very interested in adventuring much beyond the temple. His personality definitely reflects his genes!

I was glad to see that Emil was able to get along with others, at least in small doses. The Forest Norn expression really suits him -- he looks so uncertain about this situation! Should he run, or would that offend her? On an unrelated note, look at those adorable little pointed ears of his!

Marta, too, acts much like I'd expected based on her genes! You can barely see him, but here she's cornered Emil in the garden area. She was very pouty before this, but when she found someone to play with, she perked up immediately! (Seles, meanwhile, had the good sense to escape to the treetops.)

Here's one last picture of these two. As you can see, Emil is a tad older. That doesn't stop Marta from bossing him around. He seems tolerant of it -- I'm glad he's able to smile even while running away!

Three Smiling Babies

First, there are a couple new introductions to make! It's about time I got around to these two. This is Lloyd, a red Banana Norn. He gets bored more quickly than your average Norn, but to counter this, he gets more enjoyment out of pushing and pulling objects. He also has additional instincts that encourage him to travel and use lifts when bored. He gave me such a huge grin when he popped out of his red and yellow egg! It took several seconds to get his attention, he was so focused on smiling for the camera.

The second newcomer is happy little blonde Colette! She also has several minor genetic changes. First, when slapped, she gets less angry than other Norns. In addition, in her system, pain decrease reduces pain more effectively. Finally, her reward/punishment system has also been slightly tweaked -- she converts the chemical "punishment" (short-term learning) into more "punishment echo" (longer-term). Will this make her learn better, discouraging her from bad behaviors more quickly? I teach mostly though tickles, not slaps, so in practice, this will probably affect very little!

Regal fell sick yet again while I was teaching Colette, forcing me to leave her alone for several minutes. He recovered quickly and the disease didn't spread. Luckily, Colette didn't prove very adventurous, choosing to stay near the computer and play with the top! Maybe she likes the way it spins and spins and spins.

Raine laid two more eggs around this time, one fathered by Kratos and one by Regal. She has since moved into the garden area and taken to playing with the youngsters! She may be disappointed her eggs won't hatch soon, but she seems to enjoy playing the role of mentor. I'm still surprised she isn't more self-sufficient, as she's a Forest Norn. She eats when told, but frequently needs to be reminded to do so, especially when other Creatures are around.

Regal, too, has taken to hanging out with the youngest Norns. He currently has three eggs by two mothers. I had hoped to control their breeding a bit more carefully -- not their choice of partners, which I've influenced very little, but the number of offspring produced. All of these Norns include a gene based on one from the Conservative Norns that reduces sex drive when they slap each other, but seems to have slowed their reproduction only slightly.

At this point, Sheena is slightly behind in the competition for the title of Champion Egg Layer with two eggs, both fathered by Zelos. These two are the most cheerful Norns in Albia right now, with rarely a frown on their little faces. (Except when Sheena feels "gaa" over laying an egg!) However, Sheena had a little rendezvous with the youngest male in Albia, Lloyd, and is currently pregnant again, so she may pull ahead yet!

Zelos seemed surprised to find a little almost-clone of himself in the temple area! This is yet another new first-generation Norn, Seles, who is also a Wood Norn. Seles is sort of an experiment because she has only the "fight" half of the Ron Norn fight-or-flight genes. I find this suite of genes especially interesting, hence why I've included them (or modified versions of them) in several of my Norns. How will they pass down? Will Seles have a mean streak and/or be unlikely to run from danger?

Speaking of Zelos, have a look at his life force. When he hit adulthood, it seems to have shot up to around 90 and stayed there! 76-78% is far more normal for a Norn without one of several immortality-granting mutations. Could it be some trait of the Wood Norn genome? We'll have to see if Seles turns out similarly. Notice also that Presea's life force is unusually low; she continues to eat poorly, even when offered Slink's Strained Carrots, which I've used to get stubborn Norns to eat in the past.

I've now hatched nine of the twelve Norns I intended for the first generation. Caring for many Norns at once is challenging, and it means that each individual gets less attention. I've spaced out hatching new Norns by about 40-50 minutes instead of the recommended 20-30, which I think has helped me get to know them a bit better, even though there are now nine of them. Mostly, they seem to care for themselves effectively and keep their drives low. Hopefully things will continue to go well as the last three first generation eggs hatch!

A Tsundere Norn

Kratos and Mithos have now spent multiple hours on the island and show no sign of wanting to leave. Every so often Kratos will take a bite of the ampanula weed and scare me by showing up as "sick" on the Observation Kit for a few minutes. He never learns! But then again, he never learned to sleep well either!

Unlike Kratos, Regal is an excellent sleeper! In fact, I've repeatedly been worried that he's gotten into something containing sleep toxin, he sleeps so often. However, he too hasn't proven himself to be too adventurous, preferring to stay in the area around the lighthouse. I sometimes catch him quietly watching the fish in its bowl.

Of course, things couldn't remain quiet for too long! This is Zelos, one of two new additions to Albia. Zelos is a Wood Norn, a third-party breed by Frimlin available, once again, from the amazing Treesprite's Creatures Grove. The Wood Norn genome has some tweaks to their drive chemical reactions, which Zelos maintains.

He also has the fight-or-flight genes, which some small changes. In his system, the Turnase reaction occurs slightly more quickly than normal. Recall that Turnase converts fear to anger and is produced when a Creature is cornered. He also has an extra emitter that produces Turnase when his level of pain gets high. Theoretically, I think this means he will run from danger until actually attacked, in which case he'll quickly become angry and fight back. He doesn't seem very prone to anger, though! While I was off worrying over Raine and Presea, he was exploring the garden and cellar. Judging by that adorable grin, he was having a great time!

 The next first generation Norn to be hatched was another Purple Mountain Norn, a female named Sheena. She has slightly altered temperature-related emitters -- she gets hot more slowly than the average Norn, but is more susceptible to the cold. In addition, like Zelos, Sheena has the complete set of fight-or-flight genes. However, hers are unaltered. In fact, other than those small changes, she has a Ron genome.

After they both grew up a bit, I let Zelos and Sheena meet in the temple area. Can you guess how Sheena reacted?

She slapped him!

I couldn't make this stuff up. It didn't really seem to faze him at all, though, and they started to get along a bit better after that rocky start. I'd like to take this opportunity to point out that, while I may be theme-naming my Norns, they make their own decisions, especially about interacting with each other.

Presea has finally come out of her bout of depression and begun eating again! She also laid another egg, this one also fathered by Regal, and recovered far more quickly from this pregnancy! Hopefully, we won't have another scare like that with her. Like her first egg, this one also appears to have no mutations! Compared to the confusing mutations detailed in my last entry, no mutations is a pleasant surprise.

Lifts are Really Toys

Kratos has grown into an adult while parked on his island! He did take brief trips on both the dinghy and the submarine, but returned to the island both times. He spends a great deal of time playing with the lifts. He's so fascinated by them that he often neglects his needs, requiring me to remind him to eat and play! Unfortunately, he still sleeps only reluctantly.

Regal was significantly more adventurous, but he too has found a place he likes! He has set up shop in the lighthouse, where he likes to shoot the cannon over the ocean. Is this cannon the reason there's no boat that travels between the lighthouse and island? Was the underwater cart invented to work around the pyromania of some rogue Shee? Judging by Albia's structure, it is the kind of solution they would come up with.

As promised, the next Norn introduced to Albia was a little girl! This is Presea. The white-haired breed has always been my favorite -- just look at that little tail! Presea has altered chemical emitters that cause her to be come crowded more quickly than a normal Norn. However, she also becomes lonely more slowly. She should also have a slight magenta tint, but, like Regal, she doesn't look especially different from any other Norn of her breed to me.

I left Presea alone very briefly, as it was Kratos's turn to come down with a cold, and when I returned, I discovered that she has wandered all the way to the cave of the deathcap mushroom! This weed contains a large dose of glycotoxin, a poison that quickly breaks down glycogen. Glycogen is the chemical reflected by a Norn's life meter, so clearly it's quite important! Luckily, Presea was more interested in the lift than the weed, and with some coaxing I was able to lead her away.

Presea wasn't to remain the only baby Norn for long. This is Raine, a forest Norn. Forest Norns were originally sold with the Life Kit addon for C1, which is now available for free from Gameware. I never had the Life Kit as a child, so I chose to hatch a plain forest Norn this time. Forest Norns have an expanded concept lobe and additional instincts that should make them smarter as well as better eaters and sleepers. We'll see.
 
Forest Norns may not be as fuzzy as white-haired norns, but they have their own charm! Look at those little freckles. Raine is a little less smiley than the last two Norns hatched. Maybe her thoughts are constantly shifting and taking her mood with them? She hasn't shown any exceptional aptitude for learning words, but she has a natural aversion to weeds and seems a bit less inclined than the others to grab at bees.

What's this? What's happened to the still? Here you can see Presea fleeing the scene of the crime, but I happen to know she was an innocent bystander. The perpetrator of this raid was none other than Mithos, the grendel! He was last seen haunting the beehives, and now seems to have moved on. Hopefully he's smart enough to sleep off all that alcohol before trying to operate the lifts!

Two New Arrivals

Using the wonderful Multiple Grendel Button cob (available from Treesprite's Creatures Grove), I was able to select my world's Grendel! This is Mithos. He uses an updated Grendel genome that includes the fight-or-flight and die of old age genes. I also have the third-party baby Grendel sprites (available from the Universe of Ettins). And I accidentally altered his color, making him much darker and grayer than a normal Grendel. Grendels have long been misunderstood by Creatures fans. The manuals always paint them as heartless, red-eyed monsters bent on the torment of your kind, furry Norns. In the first two games especially, this is a complete lie! Grendels are more prone to anger than Norns, but, given the chance, they can prove to be just as lovable as their more traditionally cute cousins.

Mithos spent a great deal of time hanging around in the treetops near the grendel mother, happily chowing down on honey. When it was empty, I took it to the beehives to refill it. I'm sure he thought I was stealing his precious honeypot permanently! When I returned it a moment later, he promptly went to sleep, as if to show he was never worried at all.

Meanwhile, my second first generation Norn hatched from a nice green mottled egg! This is Regal, who has normal Norn genes with only the few edits I made to all my starting genomes. He's supposed to have a very little bit of a greenish tint, but he doesn't seem to have turned out that way! As soon as the little horse Norn hatched, he sat down and struck this contemplative pose. He was slightly slower at learning his verbs than Kratos was, but he seems to be a less reluctant sleeper.

Regal is learning to multitask! Here he is picking up a piece of cheese and playing with the ball. I've never started a world with a male Norn before, and due to the theme I chose, now I have two! Because females mature more slowly and tend to be somewhat fertile even into old age, people generally recommend starting with a female, but I wanted to mix things up!.

When he grew into a child, Regal took off to explore the temple and caves below. He seems to be a budding entomologist, as much time as he spends watching the butterflies and chasing the bees! Even being repeatedly stung didn't deter his investigations. He would grab at the bees, get stung and cry "ouch!", the turn to me and frown, as if it were somehow my fault! Maybe he will learn eventually?

Regal also contracted a brief illness, but recovered quickly after eating several carrots and pieces of cheese. I was surprised at how quickly his heath began to drop, but luckily it never even dipped much into the 60s. I think Mithos was also ill but had an easier time shaking it. While all this excitement was going on, Kratos was far away on the island, watching the sealife. I've been bringing him food frequently, as the coconuts that grow on the island don't constitute a balanced diet on their own.

Kratos is now over an hour old! I'm not worried about breeding my Norns -- males are generally fertile until at least seven or eight hours old, I think. The next Norn I hatch will be a female, though! I hope they all get along.

First of Many?

I'm using the C1 Genetics Kit to inject genomes into my game as eggs. This bypasses the hatchery, which by default contains only the three original breeds and allows for mutations to occur. Because I've made some edits to these genomes, I'd like to avoid that for my first generation. The little guy in this purple egg also has some additional genes. I never had the Life Kit breeds as a kid, so I incorporated some of their genes into my first Norn. His brain is that of a Forest Norn, which will hopefully improve his memory. He also has the fight-or-flight suite of genes from the Ron Norns, which make use of two new chemicals to regulate a Norn's behavior. Collapsase converts anger to fear and encourages a Norn to run away. Turnase is the opposite, turning fear to anger, and is produced when a Norn is cornered.

He also has his pigment genes altered to make him unusually and adorably dark colored! People often recommend naming your Norns alphabetically to keep track of generations, but I always run out of A names, so this time I'm doing theme naming for each generation. This little Purple Mountain Norn is called Kratos! He started pacing in excitement immediately upon leaving his egg.

After easily mastering all the verb concepts taught by the computer, Kratos developed a fascination with the red and white ball. He would push it, then stare at it for several seconds, as if daring it to make its move. Teaching him that food, herbs, and toys were good was simple, but he proved to prefer drinking from the coffee mug to sleeping -- not that I can blame him, as there are far too many interesting things to do to be wasting time on sleep!

Kratos did eventually get to sleep, but I'm worried he may be a little bit stubborn. If you've never played Creatures, here's the scoop: Norns make their own decisions. You can give them commands and teach them good behaviors, but you can't force them to do something. They rely on a combination of instincts and learning to make decisions, just like a real animal.

If you don't teach your Norns well, they won't be able to survive when you turn your attention elsewhere. However, Kratos seems to be sleeping and eating fine. When he reached childhood, his focus switched to lifts and movers -- he's now made it all the way to the island!