Genetics

"This page will be under heavy construction for a while, as it is a culmination of my years long project of determining what can be considered the 'genetics system' of this game. The information presented here is purely optional for reading, as it is rather advanced. These guidelines have been devised over hundreds of my own mass-breeding projects. If you have further questions, please feel free to drop me a message. - Luvia"

The genetics system of Hi!Kitties is thankfully rather simple in comparison to real-world genetics. Because markings are simply a texture applied over a model, the system itself has no need to be complex. In addition, the markings themselves are somewhat randomly chosen within a defined set, which further simplifies this system.

Value Determination
When a kitten is born, there are several different values that must be determined:


 * Breed - The kitten's breed will be randomly chosen between the mother or the father. This will determine what picture is shown in the kitten's summary, as well as what model and primary texture it will use. (Main Page: Cat Breeds)
 * Gender - This will be randomly chosen between male and female.
 * Generation - The parent with the highest generation value will pass it on to the kitten. The kitten's generation will be that of the parent plus one.
 * Mixed Rate - This is a rate of how densely the kitten's bloodline is mixed with other breeds. It is not simply a count of how many breeds are in its ancestry. A First Generation cat always has a mixed rate of zero. High mixed rate cats tend to birth high mixed rate kittens. In the case of very different mixed rate parents, the mixed rate of the kitten tends to be somewhere between the two.
 * Number of Markings - This will vary in number. The minimum number of markings is one, but I have seen cats with as many as four different markings. High mixed rates have a higher chance of having multiple markings. The parents' markings (or lack thereof) do not influence this random selection.*
 * Marking Type - This is purely dependent on mixed rate. It has absolutely nothing to do with generation. Each mixed rate value has a pool of markings available to it, and because the pools bleed into each other, it will take a while to fully document. The parents' markings (or lack thereof) do not influence this random selection.*
 * Breed Percentage - If the kitten is has at least 50% breed content in any one breed, it will be displayed in its summary screen. If it does not, it will be labeled as "Mixed".

* Note that if the parents are two purebred cats of the same breed type, the markings shown will not be visible, as the same texture is being overlaid onto itself.

Models
There are several different models available in Hi! Kitties, and no markings are model-specific. In other words, any marking can be applied to any model; it will simply be stretched or contracted to fit. Eye and nose textures are tied to the model itself; for example, all Ragdoll cats will have the same eyes and nose. The only exceptions are via exploits. Every breed of cat will also have its own primary texture that cannot be changed.

There are as many models as there are breeds of cats, though it is worth noting that the Bombay Cat and both Bakeneko breeds are variations of the same model, with different eye, nose, and primary textures. (Main Page: Cat Breeds)

Textures and Overlays
For ease of explanation, I will divide up textures into two categories: primary and secondary.

The primary texture is that which is inherent to the model itself. It is unchanging, displayed at full opacity, and cannot be removed under any circumstance. This texture will always be a 1:1 match to the purebred texture of the cat's breed. For example, all Siamese cats will have some variant of Himalayan Albinism, as the primary texture has such dark colour points in comparison with the rest of its body. Regardless of what texture is overlaid on top, the underlying colour values in this case are so stark that they drastically affect the resulting colour palette.

The secondary texture of the kitten is inherited from the primary texture of the other parent. In other words, the kitten will always inherit its secondary texture from the parent which it did not inherit its breed and primary texture from. The exception is that in the case of two mixed parents of the same breed type, the other parent may pass down its secondary texture for markings, instead of its primary. It is used purely for markings, and its opacity is determined by the type of marking. Most markings are a set opacity, but some, like the full coat marking, can vary widely in opacity. Regardless, the opacity of the secondary texture will always be lower than that of the primary texture. When two or more markings are overlaid, the opacity is greater in the overlapping areas.

Demonstration


For this demonstration, we will use the aforementioned example of Siamese cats.

On the left is a purebred Siamese, which is clearly indicated by its mixed rate of zero and its breed percentage of "Siamese (100%)". It is the offspring of two First Generation Siamese, making its generation have a value of 2. Since both parents are Siamese and purebred, their offspring will always be purebred Siamese. Purebred cats have no visible secondary textures, so in this case, only the primary texture (Siamese) will show.

On the right is a mixed Siamese cat, Tao. His father (Sho) is a 25th Generation Tabby Cat with a mixed rate of 5 and two markings. His mother (Bastet) is a Generation 15 Siamese with a mixed rate of 6 and three markings. Because the kitten will inherit its generation from the parent with the highest generation value, Sho uses his value of 25, resulting in 26th generation kittens. And since mixed rates tend to average out between parents, Tao's mixed rate is well within our guidelines. This means that every one of this pair's kittens will be 26th generation and have a mixed rate of 6. Because their bloodlines are so densely mixed, all of their offspring will be simply labeled as "Mixed".

But if all of the above are the case, what makes Tao unique from his siblings? For one, gender is randomly determined, so only half of this pair's offspring will be male. The same is true for breed; only half of the offspring in this pair will be Siamese, and the other half will be Tabby Cats. In addition, the number and types of markings are randomly generated. Tao has two markings — one in the form of a full coat overlay, and one in the form of a forehead tattoo (“爽”, or “cool” in Chinese). Because Tao inherited his breed (and primary texture) from his Siamese mother, he will inherit his secondary texture from his father. Thus, his secondary texture (markings) will be taken from the primary texture of a Tabby Cat. When overlaid on top of his primary texture (Siamese), the colour points show through. In the region where the two markings overlap, the opacity of the Tabby Cat overlay is greater, making it appear more orange.

Perhaps you may be wondering about the markings of the parents. I have purposely omitted them here as they are irrelevant to the offspring's fate. In this case, the markings of the parents drastically altered the appearance of their fur, yet it made no difference, as the offspring of two different breeds ignores all secondary textures of the parents. As stated previously, primary textures are tied to breed and are unchanging, and these are what are used for the offspring's primary and secondary textures. These two textures are what overlap and combine to produce the visual uniqueness you see in mixed cats, but the individual textures themselves will always be reminiscent of purebred cats.

Other Notes
If two cats are too closely related, they cannot interact. This includes siblings, half-siblings, parents, grandparents, etc. As a result, they are unable to form relationships or breed. Even if the cats are all moved to separate accounts, which erases the parent names from a kitten's summary screen, they are still identified as being related.