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Feranix Genetics System
In a game with so many different types of pelt colors and markings, some of you might be wondering how our breeding system will work! We’ve given a lot of thought to it over the past months, and have come up with something we hope everyone will find fun to play. We’re not giving everything away quite yet, but as of August 2018 these are the specifics of our genetics system. Even if you’re not interested in the nitty-gritty details, there’s a sample breeding with randomly generated parents and their 3 cubs at the end, so go on and check it out!
Please note: Feranix is still pre-alpha, and these mechanics and/or percentages are subject to (and likely will) change. We will be balancing and tweaking pass rates and such during Alpha and Beta testing, though players will be notified immediately if that happens. Thank you!
MARKINGS
A marking is a pattern on a cat’s pelt that has a certain Color, Opacity, and Rarity. A cat can have a maximum of 15 markings, each divided into their own “slot”. A cub can only inherit markings from its parents, including color.
Color:
The color of a marking will be a 50/50 split between the colors of the two parent markings.
Opacity:
The opacity of a marking is measured in a percentage. When breeding, the cub’s marking will have the average of the parent opacities, plus or minus 15 percent. For example: two parents have a marking at 100 and 1 percent opacity respectively. Since the average of the two is 50, the offspring’s marking will range from 35 to 65 percent.
Rarity:
Markings have four rarities, each with their own chance to pass to the cub. If the parents both have a marking in the same slot, your chances to get a marking there are increased! The rarities and their pass rates are as follows:
Common: 100%
Uncommon: 30%
Rare: 5%
Divine: 1%
If you’re concerned about unwanted Common markings muddying up a cat, don’t worry! Marking removers will be cheap and easy to obtain.
PELTS
A pelt is the base color of a cat that has been sorted into a Color Group, Shade, Tone, and Rarity; there are a total of 54 specific categories a pelt can reside in, though it’s not as complex as it seems. A cub will inherit either parent’s pelt, or a random one with the correct genetics. Cubs will always have a chance to inherit a parent’s pelt, regardless of rarity.
Color Group:
Feranix has 6 Color Groups, each separated by their basic colors. Whether or not the cub inherits a specific pelt, it will always be in one of the two color groups its parents are in. The color groups and their themes are as follows:
Aqueous: Blue and Green
Incandescent: Red and Orange
Tempestuous: Grey and Black
Terrestrial: Brown and Cream
Xanthous: Gold and Yellow
Empyrean: Special
(All Divine rarity pelts reside in the Empyrean group.)
Shade:
In each color group, there are 3 Shades: Light, Medium, And Dark. (For those familiar with genetic terms, shades operate roughly on a basis of incomplete dominance.) When breeding, there will always be a combination that will be guaranteed to get you a certain shade (unless the cub inherits a parent pelt). Light x Light will always make Light, Dark x Dark will always make Dark, and Light x Dark will always make Medium.
Tone:
In each color group, there are 3 Tones: One, Two, And Three. (For those familiar with genetic terms, tones operate roughly on a basis of incomplete dominance.) When breeding, there will always be a combination that will be guaranteed to get you a certain tone (unless the cub inherits a parent pelt). One x One will always make One, Three x Three will always make Three, and One x Three will always make Two.
So with shade and tone combined, there are plenty of outcomes for breeding randomly; and that’s not even counting rarity!
Rarity:
Feranix has 4 pelt rarities, each with their own odds to passed on. Though there’s a chance a parent’s pelt will pass, it’s not guaranteed; it also gets much harder to pass a pelt as its rarity advances. If a parent’s pelt isn’t inherited, one of the correct genetics is chosen based on the cub’s color group, shade, and tone. The pelt rarities are: Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Divine. Divine pelts are an anomaly, rumored to have come from the gods themselves; perhaps from an illicit pairing between an aspect and a mortal?
RANDOMLY GENERATED BREEDING:
For this experiment, we generated two smilodons with 15 markings of a random rarity, color, and opacity. With the help of a wonderful excel sheet our coder Kay made in their spare time, we’ve created 3 possible offspring for this pair! Let us know which one is your favorite- the third one really surprised me!
-Alex
Father:
Genetics: Aqueous Medium Two-Tone
Pelt: Parakeet (Uncommon)
Mane: Arctic
Eyes: Blue
Paws: Lavender
Nose: Lavender
