Stars V.2 • Genetics & Design Guide

[Mythz]

please note that this is still a wip !!

x

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Hey there! Bees and I are working on a genetics and design guide for Stars.
This is still a major wip, so please do not post ! feel free to keep an eye on the page tho <3

Please note: This is a guide for the Warriors-based community “Stars”. The information
provided may not be the most “accurate” to real-life cat genetics, and may exclude
particular genes, theories, etc that occur in real-life. It may also include particular genes,
theories, etc that do not occur in real-life or have otherwise been disproven. It is
important to keep in mind that Stars is not 100% realistic.

Please also note that stars is also not a genetics-specific arpg, and more "your cats need to
be mostly realistic to be approved". You don't need to understand or know all of the
information listed here, and you can usually get by simply using real-life references and
asking for advice. however, if you want to be able to learn on your own or need help with
more complex coats and gene interactions, this is here to help ! <3

if you ever need help with something specific, feel free to ping me in
#Genetics in the Stars discord

[Mythz]

Table of Contents:


• Basic Information + Necessary Knowledge
⤷ Terminology, Dominant vs Recessive,

• Eumelanin: Base Colours
⤷ Black, Chocolate, Cinnamon

• Dilute and Dilute Modifier
⤷ Normal Dilutes and Caramelisation

• Pheomelanin
⤷ Red, Cream, and Apricot

• Torties + Torbies
⤷ Legal combinations, calicos/calibies

• Agouti
⤷ The basics + charcoal

○ Mackerel vs classic
⤷ rah
○ Spotted + Broken Mackerel
⤷ yay
○ Ticked
⤷ The Types + Breakthrough Tabby
○ Bengal Modifier
⤷ "Wildtype"
• Colourpoint
⤷ Colorpoint, Mink, Sepia, Mocha, Albino

• Inhibitor
⤷ Silver vs Smoke

• Wideband
⤷ Golden, Sunshine, Bimetallic

• Extension
⤷ Amber, Carnelian, Russet

• Gene Combinations
⤷

• How Do I Put Together a Phenotype or Genotype?
⤷ Including how to read/translate genotypes to phenotypes and vice versa

• How Do I Make a Cat from a Coat Description?
⤷ How to actually piece together each part visually

• Mythical Coats
⤷ Chimera, Blue-Ginger, etc

[Mythz]

There’s a couple different terminologies and knowledge assumptions that will pop up along the way, so here’s a couple things you should understand before continuing:

• Phenotype
⤷ this is what the cat's coat is visually; for the sake of Stars, we call this the “Coat Description”

• Genotype
⤷ this is the genetic makeup of a cat that causes their coat to appear as their phenotype. For stars, this is less important, however users are welcome to create genotypes for their cats. Breedings which are “Genetics-Based” will use genotypes, whilst breedings which are “Appearance-Based” will use phenotypes.

• Dominant vs Recessive
⤷ a dominant gene is a gene that only requires one copy to show visually, whilst recessive genes need two copies to show. Dominant genes can “hide” recessive genes beneath it, whilst visually appearing as the dominant gene (for example, a genetically black cat can “carry” the chocolate allele, but will visually appear black)
⤷ Basically: Recessive = 2 copies to show, Dominant = 1 copy to show

• Self vs Solid
⤷ You may hear the term “Self” or “Solid”; they both mean the same thing! Cats that are “self” or “solid” are genetically non-tabby (although, genetically solid cats can "show" tabby markings, but this will be covered more later).


• For ease of reading, each section will have the genes that it discusses at the head of its page.
⤷ These will be listed from most dominant through to least dominant, with the “phenotype” version listed first, and the “genotype” version listed second.
⤷ For example:

Black > Chocolate > Cinnamon
B > b > b1
⤷ This means genetically, black cats are B_, chocolate cats are b_, and cinnamon cats are b1b1

[Mythz]

Code: Select all

[center][i][b][size=150]Eumelanin[/size][/b][/i][/center]
[size=95][list][left][list][b]Intro[/b]
[list]Black > Chocolate > Cinnamon
B > b > b1

___ Paragraph:
[img]https://via.placeholder.com/500x20[/img]
[/list]

[b]Special Notes:[/b]
[list]_________[/list]

[b]Artistic Tips:[/b]
[list]_________[/list]
[/list][/left][/list][/size]

[Mythz]

Eumelanin

Intro

Black > Chocolate > Cinnamon
B > b > b1

When completely unmodified by anything else, a cat's coat will comprise of one of three colours. These are Black (B_), Chocolate (b_), and Cinnamon (b1b1). This is generally referred to as the “base colour”. All other aspects of the cat will be influenced by their base colour. Please note that a cat can only show one of these eumelanin colours at a time.

Black is the darkest coat colour in cats, and is basically a very, very dark brown that appears black (this is important to understand other gene interactions later). It is the fully dominant eumelanin gene.


Chocolate can range from a dark brown to a warmer brown, but will generally be on the "cooler" side. I would recommend searching "Havana Brown Cat" to see a good range of chocolate self cats.


Cinnamon is generally a reddish-brown, leaning towards the "warmer" side. I would recommend searching "Cinnamon Oriental Shorthair" to see a good range of cinnamon self cats.



Special Notes:

Since Stars blue cats can appear fairly dark, it is better to choose a darker shade for black cats. Ensure that your color selection appears fully black and not simply really dark gray.

Rusting - Long-term exposure to sunlight can cause a "rusting" effect on black cats, where some of their coat appears more reddish-brown than black. This is allowed to a very limited degree on Stars cats and should not be intense or cover most of the cat.

Artistic Tips:

Colorpicking:

Black colors should be picked from the far left of the Oekaki color picking box, and should be nearly at the bottom left corner of the box to ensure they're dark enough to not appear gray instead. They may have a very slight brown tint, but not so much that they appear chocolate.

Chocolate colors are picked from the orange section of the colorpicking box, generally to the left of a diagonal line drawn from the top left to the bottom right corners (the "cooler" tones of browns).

Cinnamon colors are also picked from the orange section, but generally more to the right of the line described above (the "warmer" tones of browns).

Gradients - A subtle gradient to a cat's coat - where their back is darker than the areas farther from the back - can add a lot of depth to a design! Keep in mind to not make this a significant gradient as you make end up making them look like a "smoke" cat.

Artist Examples:

Black:

Chocolate:

Cinnamon:

[Mythz]

Dilute + Dilute Modifier

Intro

Dense > Dilute
D > d

One of the most common genes is the dilute gene. This, like its name suggests, “dilutes” its base colour to a lighter colour than the original. The dilute gene is a recessive gene and requires two copies to be inherited.

Here is what each dense coat becomes when diluted:
Black -> Blue
Chocolate -> Lilac
Cinnamon -> Fawn

Blue Paragraph:


Lilac Paragraph:


Fawn Paragraph:



Double Dilute > Non-Double-Dilute
Dm > dm
note: double-dilute cats must also be dd in order to appear caramel. if they are DD/Dd and Dm_, they will not visually appear caramel.

Blue-Based Caramel Paragraph: "Caramel"


Lilac-Based Caramel Paragraph: "Taupe"


Fawn-Based Caramel Paragraph: "Tan"



Special Notes:

---

Artistic Tips:

Colour Picking, Gradients
Blues
- Tinting blue cats actually blue is not allowed in stars unless using a [R] Unnatural Colour edit. Please pick from either entirely greyscale colours or slightly tinted in the red/orange colour slider areas.


Artist Examples:

Blue:

Lilac:

Fawn:



Artist Examples:
Blue-Based Caramel:

Lilac-Based Caramel:
[url=link][img]img[/img][/url]
Fawn-Based-Caramel:
[url=link][img]img[/img][/url][url=link][img]img[/img][/url][url=link][img]img[/img][/url]

[Mythz]

Pheomelanin

Intro

XOY/XOXO = Red
XoY/XoXo = Not Red
XOXo = Tortoiseshell

Red Paragraph:


Cream Paragraph:


Apricot Paragraph:



Special Notes:

- Self vs Solid

In Stars, red selfs have very little contrast or countershading compared to red tabbies. however, do not be too concerned with actually listing whether they are self vs tabbied when it comes to red cats, since they show tabby anyway!

Artistic Tips:

Colour Picking, Gradients


Artist Examples:

Red Solid:

Cream Solid:
[url=link][img]img[/img][/url]
Apricot Solid:
[url=link][img]img[/img][/url][url=link][img]img[/img][/url]

Red Tabby:

Cream Tabby:

Apricot Tabby:

[Mythz]

Tortoiseshells

Intro

XOY/XOXO = Red
XoY/XoXo = Not Red
XOXo = Tortoiseshell

"Tortie" and "Calico" coats are genetically solid, and will only have stripes visible on the red sections of their coat. "Torbie" and "Caliby" cats are genetically tabby, and will show the same tabby stripes on the entire coat. The main difference between "tortie" and "calico" cats is the amount of white visible on the coat (tortie is low-mid white, calico is mid-high white) however in stars, "tortie" is generally used no matter the amount of white visible.

Legal Combinations:

Black-Red, Chocolate-Red, Cinnamon-Red
Blue-Cream, Lilac-Cream, Fawn-Cream
Caramel-Apricot, Taupe-Apricot, Fawn-Based Caramel-Apricot

Special Notes:

---

Artistic Tips:

Colour Picking, Gradients, How different artists do torbies


Artist Examples:
Black > Chocolate > Cinnamon

Dense Tortoiseshells:

Dilute Tortoiseshells:

Caramel Tortoiseshells:
[url=link][img]img[/img][/url]

Dense Torbies:

Dilute Torbies:

Caramel Torbies:

[Mythz]

Agouti

Intro

Mackerel > Classic
Mc > mc

Spotted > Broken > Unmodified
SpSp > Spsp > spsp

Barless Ticked > Barred Ticked > Unmodified
Tia > Tick > ti+

> Mackerel vs Classic Paragraph:

notes notes notes notes notes notes notes notes notes notes notes notes
> Spotted vs Broken vs Normal Paragraph:

notes notes notes notes notes notes notes notes notes notes notes notes
> Barless Ticked vs Barred Ticked vs Normal Paragraph:

notes notes notes notes notes notes notes notes notes notes notes notes



Special Notes:

_________

Artistic Tips:

Colour Picking, Gradients
- base colour vs stripe colour (base colour ≠ coat colour, stripe colour = coat colour)

- One common misconception is whether the cats base colour or stripe colour determine its actual coat colour. The stripe colour (except when affected by extension genes such as amber and carnelian - which will be discussed later) is the "actual" colour of the cat. In black tabbies, the stripes will be black and the base colour either a brown or brownish-grey. In Chocolate tabbies, their stripes will be chocolate and their base colour will be a warmer greyish-brown, and cinnamon tabbies will have a warm light brown base colour. This will be shown with visual examples in the tabby section.
- ghost tabby


Artist Examples:

Mackerel:

Classic:


Spotted:

Broken Mackerel:


Barless Ticked:

Barred Ticked:

Barred Ticked with Breakthrough:

[Mythz]

Wildtype

Intro

Wildtype > Unmodified
Bm > bm

Charcoal:
ApbApb/Apba

Wildtype Paragraph:
Mackerel -> Braided/Candleflame
Broken Mackerel -> Broken Braided
Classic -> Marbled
Spotted -> Rosetted
Ticked -> Wildtype Ticked



Charcoal Paragraph:



Special Notes:

_________

Artistic Tips:

_________



Artist Examples:

Braided:

Marbled:


Rosetted:

Broken Braided:


Wildtype Ticked:
[url=link][img]img[/img][/url]

Wildtype Ticked with Breakthrough:
[url=link][img]img[/img][/url]





Charcoal Examples:

Braided:
[url=url][img]img[/img][/url]
Marbled:

Rosetted:
[url=url][img]img[/img][/url]
Broken Braided:

Wildtype Ticked:
[url=url][img]img[/img][/url][url=url][img]img[/img][/url]
Wildtype Ticked with Breakthrough:
[url=url][img]img[/img][/url][url=url][img]img[/img][/url]