And for real this time! I’ve had my computer for a couple of days now but didn’t get it online until today.

As usual, the next entries are going to be backlog from my time offline. I hope you guys enjoy!

I’ll also be doing some work trying to improve the layout of the site, the downloads pages in particular.

~Kez

I hate to admit it, but it’s been so long since I’ve been able to use a proper computer that I’d nearly forgotten how to type on a conventional keyboard or how to run the game. I did have some limited success running DS standalone on a small laptop that my husband brought with us for the move but the game was jittery and would freeze for seconds at a time only to jump up to where it should have been.

Anyway, to combat this I went ahead and created a no-obligations world that I’m calling “Learning Again”. Playing Creatures 3/DS is hard enough, but I have to re-learn how to use the Garden Box and Room Edits again. Unfortunately, I still don’t have internet access so I can’t look up how to do certain things just yet. Bear with me, though, at least I’m back for sure this time.

I loaded the game up and headed to the agents room. I installed the Garden Box and the Room Edits agents right away, and looked for a while for a room to try them out with. Unfortunately, I found that Magic Words wasn’t working on my computer anymore! Go figure. After spending a little more time trying to get it to work, I gave up and decided to play with a world that didn’t have Magic Words. These eggs have been waiting long enough to hatch, after all. Room Edits still seemed to work, though. At least I had that.

I had a lot of eggs on my hands, that was certain. Once all the babies were checked and exported (one of them didn’t survive. She died shortly after birth) I set out for the new world.

It was the Grendels’ turn to be played with so I set up a world just for them. Their numbers were considerably smaller than the norns’ so I planned for a smaller group. There were only 7 of them and that left me room for one first generation grendel to help keep the genes relatively stable. With the new grendel, it would also give me a nice even number to work with.

I limited the ladies to two eggs and prevented them from breeding before adulthood and set up the world with fast growing plants. Hopefully, I wouldn’t be swamped with eggs like I was with the norns.

The Norn Meso is where I chose to start my little ones off.

First came Garth. He comes from Flawless Color and Elite Cap. His head seems a little detatched but it’s purely cosmetic. About 6 minutes into his life, he was already an adolescent. Those boney genes really seem to have made an impact. He didn’t take very long to push the HLM. Like my other grendels, his first instinct was to smack a norn but he still considered ‘left something’ a good solution to curing anger. It was a little off. I did look for my giant calm balm but couldn’t find it in the agent list.

Carrie was next. She’s Garth’s full sister, which means that Flawless Color and Elite Cap are also her parents. Get used to this. Flawless Color and Elite Cap had 4 eggs together! After using the HLM, she seemed to get stuck in a loop with the force field I set up next to it. Since she couldn’t reach the thing, she just kept butting against it! I wonder if the force field actually creates “bump into wall”… stimulus? It’s been a long time.

Since they were both adolescents before long, I stuck both of them in the norn terrarium to explore. There would be no norns for them to hunt down, but at least they’d be safe.

Bart was next. His parents are Bethany and Gifted Waves. It’s good to see some relatively new genes in the pool. He didn’t seem to want to push the HLM at all but when he did, he wouldn’t stop complaining about boredom and anger. He ate fruit in the bottom of the meso and did an angry dance like the banshees before him. I checked the agents I’d downloaded and injected the giant calm balm. Maybe I could teach this generation to drink potions when they’re angry, too. It didn’t take long for me to pass potions along to everyone.

Lisa soon followed. She’s Bart’s full sister and looks like a full Amarok Grendel. She seemed a little shy and complained that she was crowded when she was standing next to her brother. It wasn’t long before they were slapping and pushing each other. Babies are so cute. Before she could say Bart’s name properly, she called him brat. It was really cute.

These two wouldn’t grow as quickly as the boney mixes, so I decided to go ahead and import the next baby.

Another of Flawless Color and Elite Cap’s children popped into the incubation chamber. This time, it was Tiffany. I took her to the HLM and watched her bounce between it and a force field. She met Bart before long and started to complain about homesickness. I wasn’t sure how to fix it besides putting her in the grendel home but I didn’t want to do that to her just yet, especially since she was just a baby. Before long, she and Bart spent their time together eating bramboo berries.

She was sent to the Norn Terrarium before the other two since she reached adolescence so quickly. She complained about being homesick and I heard a tiny sneeze. I injected the medical monitor and found that Tiffany, Carrie and Garth were all sick! Off to the medical bay. Carrie was first. I put her into the vat and sprayed her down with disinfectant. She still had Histamine B and alcohol in her system so kept coughing. I couldn’t remember the chemical numbers and had to rely on the medicine dispenser. She was given some cough syrup and temporarily put in confinement to protect her from the other sick grendels.

Tiffany was next to go into the tank. She was also given some cough syrup to clear up her system. She didn’t have any alcohol in her system so I wasn’t especially worried.

Garth was put into the medical bay last but I couldn’t get him to go into the vat. I sprayed him down as best I could and waited for him to finish sleeping off the sleep toxin. The two girls were free to go. When he woke up, I would feed him cough syrup.

I checked on the babies to find that Bart was now an adolescent. He joined the others in the Norn Terrarium. Carrie came down with another bacteria that I quickly eliminated and after I fed Carrie some anti-oxidant, trying to figure out how to get her alcohol down, she told me that she disliked me. I was a little disheartened.

Bart came down with a bacteria next. I sprayed him, fed him cough syrup to stop the coughing and looked for a vitamin potion to help him work through Antigen 5. Before I could manage that, he fought off the infection on his own. Good for him!

This is running a little long, though. I’ll get you guys updated again soon!

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Everyone made their way to the Norn Terrarium. It seemed fitting since most of the norns called this home. It seemed like exploration came to a stop once everyone reached old age. Well. Except for Nami and Rave. These two stayed together in the C2 incubation area. I fed Nami some cheese and honey and then she was gone. She had Rave and me with her when she passed away so I know she wasn’t alone. I scooped up Rave and took him to the Norn Terrarium.

There, he died next to Grant and Belle. I don’t think I connected with him much. He was always sweet to Nami and that certainly counts for something. Off the top of my head, I don’t remember him becoming especially ill, either. I don’t think he ever got violent, either, but he was welcome to the bunch anyway. I’m going to miss you, too, Rave.

Sylvia still refused to eat when I asked her, despite her complaining about starch. I eventually gave up and moved her to the rehab area to teach her to eat again. I waited for her to look at something and simply said ‘eat’. Without all the distractions, it worked. With food in her belly, I sent her to the others.

Sadly, though, she died in the Norn Terrarium near Tiara.

Sylvia and I had something of a love hate relationship. I tried my best to help her and she blew me off, I’d spank her, and then she hated me. She gave me more trouble than any creature I can remember (not counting C1 creatures). Still, she was a beatiful norn and seemed to know it. Farewell, Sylvia. I hope your children come out healthy.

Soon, I had three happy old norns in a very lively Norn Terrarium. Belle and Grant were both 5 and a half hours old when I last checked and Tiara was 4 hours, 50 minutes old. This generation felt like it went by in a flash, probably because I was so busy.

The next death was Belle.

At 5 hours, 40 minutes, she lived a full norn life. She had Tiara nearby. She had her eggs all at once it seemed and I’m sure her eggs will hatch into babies that are as smart and kind as she was in life. Good bye, Belle. I miss you already.

Next was Grant. He lived to 5 hours, 39 minutes old. I also remember Grant being very sweet, though he did catch many colds. I’m glad to see he died of old age near Tiara, a norn he could call a friend. Sleep tight, Grant.

This left me with a lonely Tiara.

She aged gracefully and only ever dealt with EE syndrome rarely. I was glad I got to spend some time alone with her and take pictures. With all the havoc I’ve had to deal with today, it’s a very welcome break.

It was still a very sad time, though. She didn’t move much after her last friend died. I took her away to the rehab area to get her to eat. Afterwards, she was in light spirits again and even played with the toys in the norn terrarium. After some play and food, she stopped moving again to rest. I got the idea. She wanted to be well rested when she left us. A full tummy was just a bonus. As something of a parting gift, I ran to Albia to get her a jar of honey. It was the least I could do. I’d already felt so guilty about the deaths of other creatures. Theo, Geoff and Cheddar all come to mind when I think about how neglectful I felt.

Eggs

Mother Hannah Mary Nami Belle Rachael Tiara Sylvia
Eggs 4* 4 4 4 5 4 2*

Fun Fact: Norn Generation 2 was recorded in a single, heart breaking, stressful day. We’re still in back log and I probably don’t have my computer back yet!

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There were suddenly three death notifications. Theo and Geoff had both drowned within seconds of each other. I didn’t catch them walking off of the pier and I didn’t find them in time to save them. Rachael died of old age amongst a small group of 3 other norns: Nami, Cheddar and Mary.

I was sad to see all three of them go, but I was glad that at least two of them had lived to old age. Theo, on the other hand… I was really hoping to give him a better life than he had previously but I feel like I’ve failed utterly. Drowning seems like such a horrible way to go and it hurts me to think that he was just chasing after his friend. Good bye, you three. I’ll miss all of you.

It took watching Sylvia walk off of the pier to realize what happened to Theo and Geoff. She walked into the water looking for seeds, likely the coconuts on the other side. To prevent this happening again, I built a (terrible) bridge across and had Sylvia test it for me. Success. I even went ahead and built another on the opposite side.

Before I could celebrate, Hannah passed away. I’ll always remember that crazy walk of hers, the walk that got me seriously thinking about a norn’s gait. Thankfully, she wasn’t badly affected and she’ll live on in my memories. Farewell, Hannah.

Now I was down to 10 norns and half of them were ancient. They were also approaching the life expectancy and soon, Chase was dead as well.

When he died, I was busying myself by making sure that the world was just the way I wanted, playing around with Room Edits and Garden Box (visit Naturing :: Nuturing). He was always a quirky norn and I don’t think his instincts ever took. He was especially violent and I’m happy to say he didn’t have too many children. It sounds mean, but I don’t want more violent norns.

It was quiet again for a long time. I was free to fix the CA Links in Veridia, properly connect the archways between the Shee Ark and Albia and even install Elevines where I felt they were needed.

I found Tiara resting in the hallway. She hadn’t moved in a long time and she said that she was hungry for starch. I tried to feed her a seed and she just wouldn’t eat it. I slapped her once to let her know I meant it and she ate it right away. I was relieved.

It was hard to say who might be next. With bacteria running loose again, it was anyone’s guess. The only adult I had left was Cheddar, Five Cheese’s son and he was already 4 hours, 32 minutes old. Come to think of it, some of the older norns were Five Cheese’s. Mary was ancient at 5 hours, 32 minutes. It didn’t seem like she’d inherited Cheese’s age genes.

Sadly, Cheddar, the youngest was actually the next to go. There was no warning. I was looking at the other norns to check their ages and then I got a death notification. I fear he may have starved. I’ve tried to get norns to eat when they’re hungry but there was no food in the swamp that he was in. I hope Silicon Heaven treats you well, Cheddar. I always thought you were a great looking and well behaved norn.

Now, I was busy checking everyone’s needs. Bored norns were given toys, hungry norns were given food, EE norns were moved, etc. Sylvia had a problem where she just wouldn’t eat seeds, dispite my pleading and discipline. Eventually, I put her in a field of mushrooms and she ate those instead to sate her need for starch. As I was tending to Sylvia’s needs, Mary passed away.

She was very close to her sisters and didn’t have much of a violent streak. She got sick often and her name is the one that comes to my mind most often when I visit the medical bay. I hope she is happier wherever she is now than couped up in the medical chamber. Thankfully, she died of old age as opposed to injury or illness.

Timber, sadly, passed away in much the same way. As soon as I finished writing about Mary and returned to the game, Timber passed away, eating mushrooms. I hate to say that a weed grew in his place, though he wasn’t eating those. Good bye, Timber. I’ll always remember you as one of the gentler boys. You did get into a tiff with Geoff, but boys will be boys.

Now, Tiara was my only Old norn and the others seemed like they were ready to pass the torch. They continued to complain and give each other bad advice, but they were at least safe. They paired off into groups. Tiara stayed with Sylvia, Nami with Rave and Belle with Grant. I don’t know if they were afraid of dying alone but I knew they had each other.

Eggs

Mother Hannah Mary Nami Belle Rachael Tiara Sylvia
Eggs 4* 4 4 4 5 4 2*

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What a way to start. Grant became ill with Sleep toxin. There were no bacteria so my best guess is that he got bitten or stung by something. He was cured before long and sent on his way.

Meanwhile, a bored Theo was given a toy to play with and an absent Cheddar had every norn in the mob talking about how much they disliked him.

Every time I passed, it seemed like all of the norns joined in telling me how much they loved me. As much as I appreciated the sentiment, my ears certainly didn’t.

Then, for the first time, I had an illness on my hand that scared me. Chase became ill with Glycotoxin. When I found him, he was eating weeds in Albia. I wasn’t sure if this is what caused it, but there was no bacteria. Geoff had no side effect to his bacteria and once he was disinfected, he was sent back into the halls.

I returned to Sylvia to see how she was doing and saw that she was starved for protein on the bridge. I carried her to some mushrooms and she gorged on the fruit without my advice. I felt like I’d bonded with her while she was young and I thought it was silly for me to worry about her fertility now. It turns out she’s just picky about her mates, at least as far as I can tell. It’s unfortunate that I might not get to use her’s or Hannah’s eggs in the next group of Norns, but if their babies carry this bad gait, I don’t have much choice. They’ll all be allowed to live on their lives in other games. I still like the idea of using the Norn Meso for this type of creature, but it’s hard for me to catch problems without Gene Compare.

She and Theo still seemed to enjoy each other’s company. I wasn’t expecting any more eggs from these two, especially in Sylvia’s advanced age, but I wasn’t exactly against the idea, either.

Minor infections became an after-thought and I became very effecient at treating colds in my norns. Nobody got sick for very long and I was starting to get bored again. Time for some planning.

I hit Ctrl R, opened up Garden Box to save before I broke the game and headed for the agent injector.

Veridia looked like a good candidate for creatures with bad genes and I could feel free to add them to this world whenever I wanted, so long as they got along with each other. It’d be something of a waste to send Sylvia and Hannah here at this point in their lives, though. They weren’t having any more children so there was no harm in letting them stay.

Their children would have their gaits tested before being welcomed into the next group and if they couldn’t walk, they would be sent to Veridia to stay. There are definitely worse places to end up.

Eggs

Mother Hannah Mary Nami Belle Rachael Tiara Sylvia
Eggs 4* 4 4 4 5 4 2*

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