Creatures Caves

I started work on Abyss Dragons v2.0 using the TWB Bloom Norn genome as my base. For the most part, things are working out all right, but I'm having a serious problem with unexplained premature mortality. At first I thought the way I'd set up their feeding stimuli and instincts was to blame, and I did find and fix a couple of mistakes in going over and adjusting them. But in the last few hours I've realized that while both sexes are generally not living as long as I'd like, it's the males that are consistently crashing and burning a lot sooner than the females. Since adjusting the nutrition stuff the females have done fairly well. (I keep exporting or removing them as I edit the genome because they're only testers, so I can't say how long some of them would have made it left alone, but the oldest female in the current test group is a youth, about an hour and a half old. Yet even as I typed this paragraph one of the other females suddenly went belly-up.)

For a while they had an issue with antigen 3-type bacteria being especially nasty for some odd reason, but I significantly altered their immune stuff so that shouldn't be a problem anymore, at least if I understand what I'm doing correctly (which it's entirely possible I don't LOL)

Then I thought they might be having temperature related organ death so I increased their organs' temperature resilience, but that doesn't seem to have helped. (It's an edit that makes sense for them anyway though so I'll keep it regardless.)

Et cetera... I've combed my edits looking for what I could have done to cause the problem but I just can't figure it out. This is NOT an issue I had with the TWB Blooms, so it must be something I did... but what? Any thoughts? Here's my list of change notes though I might have forgotten to include everything I did... This was written as the beginning of the text file to include in their zip file when finished, so sorry it's a bit lengthy, but I figure it's the best I can do short of actually making you guys look at the genome itself. x.x

ABYSS DRAGONS 2.0 - NORN VERSION EDITS

- Playing with bugs and critters reduces Boredom as normal, but they don't lose Loneliness, because for Abyss Dragons this is the equivalent of playing with their food rather than interacting with a pet or friendly animal. (Their reaction to dangerous animals is unchanged because as far as I know they have no more resistance to Beast-inflicted harm than any other Norn. If, in testing or longer term gameplay, I discover this to not be the case, I will change how they react to beasts as well.) I am experimenting at the moment with also having them become a tiny bit hungrier after playing with a bug or critter - again, playing with their food and all that. I don't think that's the cause of the dying issue because I've gotten rid of it and put it back without noticing much difference, but it's possible it's contributing.

- Their interest in gadgets and machinery is reduced, though not eliminated.

- Playing with toys is slightly more fun for them, and it also reduces their Anger a little bit. This should encourage them to use toys more as a way to blow off steam as well as for general entertainment purposes.

- When they hear the Hand say 'yes', they get slightly more Reward than the base, and they gain some Comfort drive reduction instead of losing Anger. This is to aid you in training them to defend themselves against Grendels in particular, but also just combat training in general, since normally saying 'Yes' will reduce their anger and thus their inclination to fight at all. This also means you can soothe homesickness and loneliness by verbally reassuring them.

- By the same token, hearing the Hand say 'no' gives a stronger hit of Punishment than the base, although it is less frightning, and it slightly reduces their Anger. This should help you direct their aggression if you don't want them to hit other Norns.

- Interacting with a dangerous plant is painful and frightening for them but does not cause injury in and of itself; they have to actually eat the badplant to be harmed by it, in short, thanks to their tough, scaled hide. If you are hand-raising them (as opposed to feral or wolfling runs), you may want to encourage them to 'pull badplant' so they learn right away that messing with badplants is very unpleasant; this should make it less likely that they will ever eat them.

- Interacting with goodplants makes them feel more at home and less bored, but does not impact their sense of loneliness.

- In my original design, they were supposed to eat critters for protein, bugs for carbs, and food for fat, with a little overlap (i.e., critters also gave a smaller hit of fat, and so on) and they were just as sensitive to detritus as a normal Norn. However, that didn't work as well as I wanted for several reasons, but in part because there is no separate 'ate a bug' stimulus, meaning the 'ate an animal' stimulus was used whether the Norn ate a bug or a critter. The individual agent properties helped, but in general, it just didn't work quite how I wanted it to. Plus, when kept aquatically, they made a HUGE mess with fish skeletons, which they then tended to experiment with eating and got themselves sick a lot as a result. I was going to add a Punishment hit to eating detritus to make them less inclined to eat it - but then I realized that there was no good reason they shouldn't be able to gain some nutrition by eating skeletons and other organic debris. Dragons have tough stomachs, after all, yes?

(NOTE: This system has taken a LOT of tweaking but seems to be working fairly well at this point, though I do think the 'grab' instinct and possibly stimulus need to be dialed back slightly, or else the Eat stimulus made more rewarding. But it's basically fine. They go for critters, they go for bugs, with some encouragement they go for detritus and food.)

So! Abyss Dragons V2.0 should now be fed as follows. They remain predators first and foremost, deriving Protein and Fat from consuming animals. They should still seek bugs and pests as their primary source of carbs/starch - however, they are now also capable of consuming detritus without any harmful effects, except any that might be coded into a specific detritus object - the ones not specifically designed for Toxic Norns to eat seem to have some kind of punishment or disappointment built into them, which is why detritus is not their primary source of carbs. I tried that during development but it didn't work well because of that problem. So while they are still *able* to consume detritus for carbs, I restored bugs and pests as their primary focus. Still, don't be surprised or alarmed if you notice your Abyss Dragons browsing on detritus - they'll be fine! If they specifically complain about being hungry for starch, you may want to encourage them to eat both bugs/pests and detritus, to help them know what their options are. I also added a small hit of Reward and a reduction of Disappointment for detritus eating to help overcome whatever punishment and/or disappointment reaction is discouraging them from eating most non-Toxic Norn-agent detritus. It's an imperfect fix, but they are less hesitant to eat detritus now, especially if given the Toxic Norn stuff first.

Plants/seeds provide almost no nutrition other than any inherent properties of the agent in question and do not meaningfully satisfy hunger. Fruit is -mostly- the same, but because of the starch issue I have given them the ability to extract a moderate amount of starch from fruit as a backup food supply in case bugs, pests, food, and detritus are not available in large enough quantities.

'Food' class edibles are not strictly required, but they are a reasonable source of both starch and fat and can be used to supplement prey and detritus as with fruit. I did this because in the Deep Abyss there are all those crunchy little food things at the bottom and it seemed a shame for them to go to waste when I'm having so much trouble finding enough aquatic bugs to keep them happy. :p

- Speaking of eating, they get a bigger Boredom reduction after eating than normal, to encourage them to actually eat their food rather than just chasing and grabbing it. (This worked for a while but I'm noticing that some of the recent testers are becoming a bit grab-obsessive as they age for unknown reasons. Planning to either tone down grabbing or buff eating again.)

- The Walked into a Wall stimulus and the Impact Post-Fall stimulus have been silenced to help avoid a problem I have encountered with swimming breeds.

- Being hit by another creature causes less pain, fear, and wounded than normal, but more anger. They also take less wounded from being hit by the hand, but more pain and punishment. You should not have to resort to slapping to make them obey since they are so tuned to 'yes' and 'no', but if you do, it should get their attention right quick. On the other hand, landing a hit of their own reduces their anger, fear, and boredom.

- Being patted by another creature tends to give them randy thoughts (a small hit of Sex Drive). It will also help soothe their anger a little more than usual. They are not able to soothe each other's Fear in this way (for Abyss Dragons, fear is best relieved through taking aggressive action), but they do provide each other with Comfort drive reduction instead. Unlike Blooms and presumably other Norns, Abyss Dragons' gains to these drives are not silenced, so they will learn sooner or later that being patted gives them those benefits.

- If tickled (as opposed to patted? they're two different stimuli) by a creature of the OPPOSITE sex, their arousal potential reaction is normal, but they also gain some Comfort drive reduction, Loneliness reduction, and a tiny bit of Crowded decrease. (In short, they are more willing to tolerate crowding if they're getting positive attention from potential mates.) When tickled by the SAME sex, they do not get aroused, but they do get a significant reduction to Comfort and Loneliness, plus a much smaller reduction to Boredom. They also gain a very, very small amount of crowdedness. Abyss Dragons are social, non-territorial, pack-oriented Norns, and this is reflected in their ability to provide each other with Comfort rather than having to go to the Norn Home to get it. (If they are getting attention mostly from others of their own sex, they will feel crowded a bit more quickly than they would otherwise, to prompt them to seek out members of the opposite sex - but this effect is a bit weaker than the Crowdedness reduction given by tickles from the opposite sex, so groups with a good mix of both sexes should not be driven apart by same-sex interaction.)

- Their instincts specifically prompt them to approach and get bugs and critters, as well as eating them when hungry for carbs or protein respectively. They do not have instincts to 'hunt' food, since food is generally not alive and in a form to need hunting, but they do have an instinct to consume it when hungry for fat. They do have 'hunting' instincts to approach and get detritus when hungry for carbs because I noticed in testing that they seem to get some sort of punishment or disappointment effect from eating detritus (except those items designed specifically for Toxic Norns - the Cack in a Box is handy), so I decided they needed some encouragement to go for detritus. These instincts are weaker than those which prompt them to hunt live prey, though.

- Abyss Dragons are not overly aggressive, but when they become angry, watch out; they have an instinct that prompts them to lash out at other Norns when angered, although I have done my best to set this up so that Grendels are a higher hitting priority if any are present. Their instincts to run home or to another Norn when frightened have also been significantly weakened. By the same token, the 'sit still when hurt' gene has been removed in order to keep them from freezing up when they need to be defending themselves. They can still reduce their pain by going quiescent, but they are not instinctively prompted to do this immediately as a high priority anymore. (They do smack each other around fairly often, but not in a serious enough way to cause death. Anyway, I'd know if they were killing each other by the obvious corelation of the deaths with a recent slap-fight :p)

- Playing instincts altered to reflect their predatory nature, as with their stimuli. They can still play with plants and flowers to decrease Loneliness and Boredom, as predatory animals will do, but playing with critters and bugs increases hunger as well as decreasing boredom and does not affect loneliness.

- Being around grendels causes Adrenaline release, but no fear or crowdedness. They are wary of grendels, in short, but not inherently afraid of or repelled by them. They aren't good to keep with Grendels still because, even if trained up together from babies, the first violence from the Grendel will trigger the dragons' own aggression and most Grendel breeds are simply unable to face an Abyss Dragon in combat on equal terms. I would keep any valued Grendels away from Abyss Dragons except for Dark Banshees and similar. Basically, if a given breed of Grendel would be killed by Hardman Norns, it'll be just as squishy to Abyss Dragons. BUT they have no specific drive to hunt down and kill grendels the way Hardmans do. Rather, they will generally ignore Grendels, although being slightly stressed by their presence, until and unless the Grendel attacks. (My testers are isolated from Grendels, so I doubt this has anything to do with it.)

- The genes that make TWB Norns feel cold underwater or when standing in the rain have been deleted, as they makes little sense for this primarily aquatic breed. For the same reason, they have no 'drowning causes fear' gene; as amphibious creatures with both lungs and gills, they cannot ever drown under normal circumstances, so such a gene is useless to them.

- Abyss Dragons are less attached to particular landmarks or places as their 'home' and more prone to a group-based identity. Their Comfort drive is reduced when they 'find company' (that is, reach the source of a gradient of norn smell), as well as the usual reduction to Boredom and Loneliness. Reaching the source of Norn Home smell is much less Comforting than usual for them, by the same token, although they do derive some benefit from it and will still tend to bring their eggs to a source of Norn Home smell on occasion (I did not alter the 'egg homing' genes). The gene that normally causes them to approach the Norn Home when in need of comfort has been changed to cause them to approach other Norns when in need of comfort - this activates in Adolescence. When a scared Abyss Dragon decides to run rather than fight, it will head for other Norns rather than the Norn Home. (Note that the tendency of the young to stick near their parents, and of adolescents to avoid their parents, has not been altered.) They do not have the 'go home when hot' and 'go home when cold' instincts found in other TWB breeds.

- Similar to the original Abyss Dragons, v2.0 have some enhanced healing abilities tied to quiescence, resting, and sleep, although these are not as dramatic as in the originals for balance reasons. When Quiescent, their pain levels drop faster than normal. While Resting, they do not become more bored, as with normal Norns. Instead they lose Pain (though much more slowly than when quiescent) and their Wounded level goes down. The pain decrease is lower because this accelerated healing is an inherently painful process, so the total pain the creature is experiencing while fully relaxed and prone is more than when they just hold still (quiescence). This process is at full manifestation when sleeping - pain relief is reduced even more, but the Wounded reduction is higher. These effects are not silent, so the Dragons should eventually learn to take a nap or at least rest when they have been wounded.

- In lore, when an Abyss Dragon female's body is forming an egg, it includes a large batch of the mother's own immune cells. These do not survive overly long after the egg is laid, but even after dying they leave behind a tide of antibodies which fade in time but which last long enough to provide the young with significant protection against disease. In the game, this is represented by having Abyss Dragons hatch with full supplies of all seven antibodies in their system. These will naturally decay at a normal rate, but this initial protection will keep them from getting sick too early even in a relatively bacteria-rich world. Their ability to heal when under stress is also less impaired than for a normal Norn.

- When sick, it takes an Abyss Dragon's body slightly less resources to produce antibodies, allowing them to fight off disease more efficiently with less cost to their bodies. Additionally, their organs are less susceptible to damage by antigens; a small threshold has been added to each organ's antigen receptor and the gain has been slightly lowered. This means that their organs do not even react to the presence of antigens until they have risen to a certain concentration, rather than reacting to the presence of any at all, and even when that concentration is reached, the organs suffer less damage from it. (I did not do this by consistent amounts, so you may find them to be slightly tougher for some diseases than others.) They are far from immune to disease, but you should not lose many to bacteria.

- To allow Abyss Dragons to eat pests such as Stingers safely, and to reflect another aspect of their dragonish ability to heal themselves, their reaction to Geddonase has been significantly altered. Instead of reacting with adipose tissue (and thus destroying it), geddonase now reacts with air to produce air and prostaglandin. In short, whenever the Norn is not drowning (which in this breed should be always), any geddonase the Norn ingests will be converted into prostaglandin on a one-for-one basis. This means that eating Stingers and similar geddonase-bearing things is not only not poisonous, it's actually good for them, helping to repair any organ damage they may have suffered. By the same token I have silenced all genes that caused geddonase to damage organs.

- Glycotoxin is still bad for them, but slightly less so; if they manage to get glycotoxin into their systems despite no longer getting it from eating detritus, they will shiver and suffer but should not die from it.

- Note that they are still susceptible to cyanide and ATP decoupler as normal, but the reaction time for both as been slowed, giving you a little more time to try to cure them. Both reactions now have a half-life measured in seconds rather than milliseconds. Still not very much time, but much more than normal Norns get. Carbon monoxide poisoning remains a serious problem for them, as it interferes with their ability to breathe regardless of whether they are on land or underwater, so they are no more resistant to carbon monoxide than a normal Norn. (Fortunately, exposure to that chemical should be fairly rare in most worlds.)

- As True Warmbloods, these Norns are able to sense ambient temperature. They are capable of tolerating a wider range of temperatures than Bloom Norns, however, with thresholds altered for both heat and cold damage to their organs (although they are more able to tolerate cold extremes than hot extremes).