So because the world is so small and the creatures breed so fast, I often have to export my norns to save them for later or to stop them breeding like rabbits with each other. Three times now, I've exported norns, then imported them to have them instantly die. Sometimes, they appear aged up (one stage older than they were when they were exported) I made sure to export them healthy, having recently eaten and with no diseases, but when they are imported they just die. It doesn't happen all the time, but it's happened enough that I'm concerned. Is this a function of the game, to stop you from importing/exporting too often? Or is it a glitch?

This is actually a somewhat uncommon glitch that doesn't seem to have a fix. The Creatures Developer Resource includes one of the few accounts that might explain this glitch: "I've noticed that when a norn is born the emitter is processed at least twice. So even if the sample rate is set to almost never the emitter will be processed.

Sometimes the emitter is processed when importing a norn. A norn with an emitter set to almost never had the emitter processed when imported. Could this be related to import deaths in some way?"

After exporting a Norn, do you ever create a backup of the export file? You can do this by simply copying the .exp file. That might help you out a bit! Note that pregnant Norns often have more issues with importing/exporting. I've never successfully imported one, although I haven't tried this out all that much! Still, I would recommend avoiding the import/export of any pregnant Creatures.

It's interesting that you're finding that your C1 Norns breed so quickly: This is more of an issue in C2 and C3/DS. If you're finding it to be a big issue, there are ways to edit genomes to make pregnancies last longer and whatnot. Let me know if you're interested! There is also a fix to allow you to increase the population in your world, although the import feature is hard-coded and won't work beyond 8 Norns in the world. Hopefully this helps you out!

Thanks for the info. If the glitch can't be fixed then I'll just back up my norns, so thanks for the tip. I suppose it's not a matter of the norns breeding so quickly as much as it is how long they live - I've had norns continuing to breed well into hour 15. So I end up with a stack of 20 eggs by the end of one generation, and I can only have 8 of them alive at a time so I end up just not hatching them all or else exporting the extras.

Right now I'm managing, but I've been thinking about tinkering with the genetics kit, though I don't really know where to start.

Ah! I forgot about that: The Norns (and Grendels) that come with the GOG version are missing the "die of old age" gene. So they will live forever, whereas the typical life span is supposed to be 8-12 hours. I recommend picking up the updated genetics to fix that issue!

I have a series of genetics lessons that can be found here, although I definitely need to get back to writing some more about them. I'm a complete nerd with this game series... Should you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Also, the 24 Creature Population Patch (and related incubator patch) should allow you to have more Creatures in your world. I don't recommend too many, since the Observation Kit will crash with around 18 Norns... I typically find that keeping a maximum of 10-12 Norns works! You might also consider pausing any eggs and hatching each generation completely separately.

A lot of rambling there, but I hope it helps. Good luck!