Egg Olympiad Feral Run

Egg Olympiad "Feral" Run

Sometimes feral runs explode into population growth that's near-impossible to comprehend. Sure, sometimes one might have a norn breed that's extra virile to spurn a big bang of second-gens, but this can be more desirable in some runs than others. While making a feral run more dangerous is one fix, I had to wonder if there was a way to better control the population than this. Amaikokonut's ingenious cos files make for excellent support in a C3DS world, but even then, population booms are (very) occasionally an issue, and sadly, those agents do not work for C2.

So why not make a run where only certain eggs are allowed to hatch?


THE CONCEPT:


Whether someone considers this a feral run or not is up for debate, as it does require some creature interaction. For the most part, once a norn is born, they are left to their own devices as with a regular feral run -- they go where they want, breed where they want, and die in a way I'm pretty sure they don't want. However, this run requires someone to stay alert for any new eggs to catch and put underwater the moment they're laid.

In an Egg Olympiad Run (which I comically call an "E-OR," pronounced "Eeyore"), every so often, the hand hatches a few eggs of the same color pattern. This will determine what babies are born to conquer Albia or the Shee Starship. After a lot of testing, I found it an odd and effective method to select random norns to continue a run. And with a proper range of times and norn breeds, it could really turn into survival of the fittest.

If you want to try it for yourself, skip to the section labeled "Recommendations" before reading "How to Play." If you want to read about trials and testing, check out the section directly below!


THE TRIAL RUNS:


My first trial runs for both C3DS and C2 failed intensely. At that time in testing, instead of hatching only a small range of numbers for the eggs, I would hatch all that were in a certain color. In both cases, populations exploded just as much as before. It was disappointing, to say the least.

Once I added a cap to the number of eggs you could add at a TIME, however, the run became much more interesting and a lot tighter in numbers. Only the strong could belong, or so the saying goes, and that made for a more intense feral run overall -- and that's considering that I'm normally a little generous in my feral run worlds in terms of food and toy resources. This kind of run, combined with a more "hard core" world for norns to live in, could be like a gripping drama of possibilities.

This run may be grendel/ettin friendly, if you're inclined, although that has so far not been tested.


RECOMMENDATIONS:


In order to make a run like this work, there are some things that are more recommended than others.

• For C2, the 40 norns cheat is recommended. Even though population explosions are meant to be more controlled in this run, it's better safe than sorry... plus it can be applied to your more personal runs in C2, which is always a nice plus!
• For C2, the COB Neptune's Womb by Jay Dino is recommended because it will continue to hatch eggs even when the normal incubator cannot. This is good, because any egg moved in C2 will freeze.
• For C3DS, the EggLimit cos file is strongly recommended and the Infertility cos file is recommended. Both are available for download in the link at the very top of this page. C3DS is more prone to massive population booms than C2, and these agents will make for much less of a hassle when it comes to excessive egg laying.
• Playing C1 is not recommended for this run. The population limit is too small. If you use a different world like Terra Nornia, however, then this may be plausible with C1... you would just need to find some form of incubator to use when it decides to automatically close.
• Playing undocked C3 is not recommended for this run for the same reason as C1.
• Using aquatic creatures is not recommended.

HOW TO PLAY:

Pre-Game:

1. Set yourself a time interval. Every time the time interval ends, a particular number of eggs of a certain color pattern will be hatched. The intervals could be anywhere from every five minutes, to every hour, to even every day, if you're so inclined. I personally recommend 20-45 minute intervals for maximum entertainment.
2. Set up your world as you see fit. This will be a feral run, after all, and unless you're hatching a few eggs, you aren't allowed to do anything!
3. The next depends on what game you're playing...
• If you're playing C2: Make a list of all your norn breeds, including the ones that come with the game. Assuming you're playing the GOG.com version of the game, go into the advanced editor for the hatchery. Flip a coin to determine whether each breed should get a male or female egg (heads = male, tails = female) and add it to the hatchery. Keep going until you have one egg of each breed. Then, add them to the world and arrange them by color pattern / style in the light blue ocean to the right of the hatchery area. All C1-style eggs must be grouped together, if applicable.
• If you're playing C3DS: Go to the egglayer. Every time you see a norn breed, flip a coin to determine whether each breed should get a male or a female egg (heads = male, tails = female) and lay it. Grab the eggs and arrange them in your inventory by color pattern. Be careful if you're using Muco, as the eggs will hatch VERY quickly after being laid! Keep going until you have one egg of each breed in your inventory. If you have C1toDS, ignore the norns in the main egglayer and use the hatchery kit that comes with C1toDS to add a bunch of C1-style eggs into the world. All C1-style eggs must be grouped together.

In-Game:

1. Start the game. Name all the norns if you wish, or let an autonamer tend to that for you.
2. Set a timer for the chosen time interval. It's highly recommended you stay and monitor the game.
3. Any time a norn lays an egg, grab it. In C2, place it with eggs of a similar color pattern/style in the light blue ocean to the right of the hatchery. In C3DS, place it in the inventory with eggs of a similar color pattern/style.
4. When the timer rings, go to the table below. It will have a list of all twelve default varieties of eggsprites to use. Go to a random number generator from 1-12 or roll a 12-sided die to determine which egg variety will be hatched. Then, reset the random number generator from 1-4 or roll a 4-sided die to determine how many of each egg will be hatched. If you have fewer than that number (ex: you roll 3 but you only have 1), then just hatch as many of that pattern as you can.
• If you're playing C2: Hatch them in the normal incubator if possible. If not, then hatch the eggs in Neptune's Womb or wait for a norn to die before hatching the eggs one at a time. If you have Neptune's Womb and want to ensure randomness of hatching location, move it towards a randomly-tabbed norn each time you hatch one or more eggs after the interval.
• If you're playing C3DS: Place the appropriate number of the certain pattern of eggs outside of the inventory. To ensure randomness of hatching location, it's recommended to tab through norns and place an egg in each location until all of the ones rolled are placed.
5. Reset the timer. Lather, rinse, repeat!

EGG PATTERN GENERATOR:

So the time has come for you to hatch one to four new little eggs, eh? You've come to the right place! Below is a list of all the standard egg sprites that can be rolled in the run.

First, roll 1-4 on a random generator or a 4-sided die. That will be the number of whatever pattern you hatch.

Then, roll 1-12 on a random generator or a 12-sided die. Depending on what number, you'll have to hatch eggs of the following style...

1.  The Cream Dream
2.  The Speckle Freckle
3.  The Blessed Chess
4.  The Wow Cow
5.  The Proud Cloud
6.  The Old Gold
7.  The Lava Java
8.  The Fave Wave
9.  The Swirled World
10.  The True Blue
11.  The Mist Kiss
12.  The Past Blast (This roll includes other C1-style eggs not pictured; if you roll this and there are no C1 eggs to speak of in your game, then reroll).

If you roll a color that does not have any eggs that have been laid yet, then you do not get to hatch any eggs for that half-hour term.

If you roll a color twice in a row, reroll.

In C2 especially, be sure to export any born children so that you are aware of any “game crashers.” Re-import them if they're all safe. If one of the eggs is buggy, well, now you now... and you can put it in some other body of water where it will never hurt anyone again.

OPTIONAL RULES:

• Instead of setting a set time interval, just do it whenever you feel like it.
• If you want to make it more extreme, hold a "death lottery" by exporting one of your norns at random every time you make to hatch a set of eggs.

COMMENTS OR SUGGESTIONS?

Feel free to comment below! I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial on E-ORs, and have an awesome rest of the year!