Genes

Niche - Breed and Evolve features realistic genetics. A gene is a hereditary trait that is passed from parent to offspring through breeding.

There are 15 different types of genes, each of which affects a different part or ability of the Nicheling. These types of genes are:

Ears, Horns, Eyes, Snout, Paws, Hind Legs, Tail, Fur Color, Mane Type, Mane Color, Eye Color, Horn Color, Pattern, Pattern Color, Pattern Density, Pattern Size, Mask Size.

Each Nicheling has two copies of every gene. They inherit one copy from their mother and one from their father. When they breed, each parent will randomly pass on one copy of each gene. If a gene is dominant, then only one copy is needed for it to be expressed. If it is recessive, then two copies are needed. In the case of co-dominance, both genes are expressed. Note that if there are multiple variations of the same gene, some genes are more dominant than others. For example, brown eyes are dominant to green eyes, but recessive to black eyes. Therefore, a creature with genes for brown and green eyes will have brown eyes, but a creature with genes for brown and black eyes will have black eyes.

Genes are either linked to an ability (perception, foraging, strength, swimming, fishing, heat resistance, cold resistance or poison resistance) and appearance or only change the appearance of the Nicheling (like color and pattern genes).

Genes, which influence an ability, can mutate, which will make the mutated gene stronger.

Ears
There are 7 different ear types that can be found: Medium Ears, Big Ears, Fluffy Ears, Round Ears, Pointy Ears, Floppy Ears and Rabbit Ears.

Horns
There are 4 different horn types that can be found: Goat Horns, Ram, Savanna Horns and Antlers.

Eyes
There are 3 different eye types that can be found: Normal Eyes, Shortsighted Eyes and Blind Eyes.

Snout
There are 12 different snout types that can be found: Short Snout, Big Snout, Bird Beak, Purr Snout, Poison Fangs, Boar Tusks, Sabertooth Fangs, Sticky Tounge, Digging Trunk, Cracker Jaw, Platypus Beak and Derp Snout.

Paws
There are 7 different paw types that can be found: Nimble Fingers, Hoof, Diggin Paw, Claw, Fluffy Paw, Strong Paw and Deformed Paw.

Hind Legs
There are 3 different hind leg types that can be found: Normal Hind Legs, Carnivor Hind Legs and Webbed Hind Legs.

Tail
There are 8 different paw types that can be found: Medium Tail, Warm Tail, Fishing Tail, Long Tail, Stinky Tail, Swimming Tail, Scorpion Tail and Hammer Tail.

Colors
There are 9 main colors: Brown, Black, White, Beige, Dark Brown, Chestnut Brown, Moss Brown, Yellow, Orange and Red. The color genes are co-dominant, which means that both of the genes will eb expressed. A Nicheling with a gene for brown and white fur will express both genes and have a light brown fur color. The same goes for pattern, mane and horn colors.

Mane Type
There are 3 different mane types: Straight Mane, Curly Mane and Shaggy Mane. The mane genes are only expressed in male Nichelings.

Eye Color
There are 13 different eye colors that can be found: Black, Brown, Hazel, Green, Ligth Green, Blue, Light Blue, Yellow, Orange, Purple, Red, Pink, Teal.

Pattern
There are 7 different patten types that can be found: Spots, Dots, Blotches, Leopard Spots, Jagged Stripes, Wavy Stripes, Marbled Stripes and No Pattern. The No Pattern gene simply disables the pattern of a Nicheling.

Pattern Density
There are 5 different patten densities that can be found: Very Sparse, Sparse, Medium, Large and Very Large.

Pattern Size
There are 5 different patten sizes that can be found: Very Small, Small, Medium, Big and Very Big.

Mask Size
There are 7 different mask sizes that can be found: Very Small, Small, Medium, Large, Very Large and No Mask. The No Mask gene simply disables the pattern of a Nicheling.