• reach Home Island and assimilate all Adam's relatives you meet there into your tribe with at least one creature of your tribe having these genes:

1. ☆ immunity (I use X symbol in the guide and in the game)
   
2. no horns
   
3. poison fangs or saber fangs
   
4. medium or big body
   
5. runner or velvet paw (deformed allowed)
   
6. normal hind legs
   
7. medium tail
   
8. visible darker-than-fur stripes
   
9. all shades of orange fur colour

• have all mutators unlocked
  
• reach 1000 daycount
  
• live on all possible islands al least 50 days each
  
• have fun

What gem colours to use is up to you, but you will need to reserve some colours of them to mark important technical things:

• infertility gem - specified in basic baby rules part
  
• banished gem - is applied to nichelings that are banished and can't be accepted back - specified in basic baby rules and royal rules parts

You don't really choose a default wanderer or baby colour (first on the colour list - green), but it is also the colour of fertility if it is a middle gem.
This colour shouldn't be used as clan colour, as well as infertility and banished ones.

• side gems are for clan colour marking or banished status marking
  
• middle gem is for fertility status

I use dark green for infertility gem and black for banished gem.

You can use my colour list or compile your own. Using default colour list is probably possible, I just find it too short for my play style with many clans and families.


copypaste this colour list into the actionpointcolors.ini file!
this computer / disc / users / your username / hidden folder appdata / locallow / team niche / niche - a genetic survival game / actionpointcolors.ini

old colours
#1f7a1f dark green
#5cd65c green
#3366cc dark blue
#80d4ff blue
#eafafa white
#0A2A29 black
#4d0099 dark violet
#b3b3ff violet
#ac3973 dark pink
#d98cb3 pink
#990000 dark red
#ff3333 red
#cc6600 dark orange
#ffb84d orange
#e6e600 dark yellow
#ffff66 yellow

Instead of (or together with) using gems to mark status you can chose to use titles Renegade for banished status and Old for infertile. It becomes cumbersome when you use many titles or just have many nichelings in your family tree, so I don't use it.

To change the available syllables you can edit animalnames.ini file that can be found in the same place the gem colours one is.
You can also add full names there, and that makes possible for your nichelings or wanderers to be born with a full, nonrandomised name.

Most of the rules have different options, or are optional.

There are some limitations, but every time you migrate to the next island you can chose new rules to follow.

In the description of this challenge I mentioned costs of travelling and mutations.

There are four type of costs in this challenge:

1. amount of babies a female can give birth to
   
   • can be reduced be using mutators without discounts
     
   • can be increased while following specific rules
2. taking undesired mutators when taking undiscounted mutators for males
   
   
3. next travelling destination forced when breaking travelling rules
   
   
4. days you are stuck on the current or next island
   
   • basic travelling rule adds days for each nicheling travelling, breaking most rules adds days too
     
   • specific travelling conditions reduce days amount; converting 1000 food to -100 days is optionally possible with cheats (use
     changeberrycount -1000
     to reduce your food count)

https://steamproxy-script.pipiskins.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2306698893

These rules are applied after Adam meets Eve. (Yes, on that tiny island.)

• Travelling has a cost, which is measured in days the tribe must spend on this island before travelling to next one.
  
• If you break travelling rules getting to the island your tribe is on currently, they can only use the left port and they must spend 50 days more on their nex island.

Base cost of travelling is 10 days per nicheling.

Nichelings can travel without guidance only using left port! Any other destination require a guide, that are described in Travelling Guides part.

• Travelling is not allowed when it is raining!

• using left port has base cost of 10 days per nicheling
  
• using right port ups the cost to 20 days per nicheling
  
• using upper port ups the cost to 30 days per nicheling

If the tribe travels with a guide, 10 days per nicheling is deducted from total amount of days the tribe is stuck on the next island. Travelling with two different guide types ups this reduction to 20 days per nicheling.
This means that travelling to the left with two different guide types can reduce the total amount of days the tribe must spend on target island.

There are two types of travelling guides - a Seer/Priest type and a Flyer/Bird type. The higher is the goal island's difficulty the more requirements a guide must satisfy.
A guide is not required to use left port.
You need any Bird type guide to travel from whale island!

I started the whole challenge idea because I wanted to use blind nichelings more, and first edition of rules specified that Seer type of guides must be blind to see the path. But later I decided that this guide type should have a little more flexibility in contrast to Bird type. Adding levels made it both more accesible and difficult a the same time.

First type relies on their sensing abilities to track previous travellers and follow them. These nichelings have deep connection to the tribe's ancestors due to their heightened senses.
Minimal randomness and much flexibility - only traits that are dependant on randomness are antenna and bearyens hind legs and paw. Level one Priest guide is available from the beginning.
Higher levels add up ability and specific gene requirements on top of first level.

Shaman (easy islands - flowers on travel ports)

• smelling 4
  
• hearing 4
  
• mask pattern
  
• no horns

Priest (medium islands - no flowers or bones)

• antenna replaces no horns
  
• digging 3
  
• have one of bearyena traits - hind legs or paw

High Priest (hard islands - bones on the travel stone)

• smelling 5
  
• hearing 5
  
• have two of bearyena traits - hind legs or paw

Second guide type sees the right way from the skies.
The core ability of this guide type is flying.
With the requirement of wings, bearyena hind legs and ears AND toxic body colours being randomised this builds are highly relying on luck even after you have all the genes unlocked which is additional FUN.
Big body gene is forbidden for any flying guides. Spiky body is forbidden for bird types.
You need a Bird to travel from whale island!

Bat (medium islands - no flowers or bones)

• can have bad eyes
  
• bat head
  
• two bat wings
  
• bearyena hind legs
  
• no horns

Any Bird (medium islands - no flowers or bones)

• normal eyesight
  
• no horns
  
• two wings
  
• bird beak
  
• peacock tail
  
• bearyena hind legs
  
• bearyena ears

Blue Bird (hard islands - bones on the travel stone)

• normal eyesight
  
• no horns
  
• BLUE toxic body (random)
  
• two wings
  
• bird beak
  
• peacock tail
  
• bearyena hind legs
  
• bearyena ears

This guide is super nice and also there are pictures of travelling ports!
https://steamproxy-script.pipiskins.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2505176938

To be able to travel to the next island all nichelings must have movement ability of certain level.
Breaking this rule costs 10 days per nicheling.

Flyers (maximum ability level is 8, can be reduced by having big body):

• flying ability of 8 is the level for any type of ports
  
• flying ability of 8 is required to be able to carry one baby or travelling pregnant (not both)
  
• if flying ability is reduced by having big body, carrying babies or travelling pregnant isn't possible

Swimmers (maximum ability level is 8):

• swimming ability of 4 is required for easy ports (flowers)
  
• can't help anyone and can't be pregnant

• swimming ability of 6 is required for middle ports (no bones or flowers)
  
• can help other nichelings in pairs or can be pregnant (not both)

• swimming ability of 8 is required for hard ports (bones on the travel stone)
  
• can help other nichelings solo or help in pair while being pregnant

Jumpers (maximum ability level is 6):

• speed ability of 4 is for easy ports (flowers)
  
• can't help anyone or be pregnant

• speed ability of 6 is for middle ports (no bones or flowers)
  
• can't help anyone but can be pregnant

• jumpers can't travel to hard ports without help

Travelling from whale island requires max level swimmers or flyers. Jumpers can't travel from whale island without help.

Basic baby rules are applied unless specified otherwise:

• males can have unlimited babies

• females can have only three babies at the same time! (you can check the family tree)
  
• if some of her babies got dissappeared from family tree (by travelling to the next island or death), a female can give birth to more
  
• after giving birth to all her allowed babies a female must be marked with infertility gem and is not allowed to mate any more
  
• if female excedes the amount of allowed babies (by birthing twins on her last allowed pregnancy for example), she must be marked with infertility gem and be banished

• nichelings which are marked with infertility gem are not allowed to mate
  
• if a rogue male mates with a female that is marked infertile, she is allowed to give birth but must be banished right after
  
• if a rogue male mates with a female that is not marked infertile, the baby counts for her normal baby limit

Breeding clan members can only have parnters from the same generation in the family tree.
Royal clan members, nobles and members of other clans can only have partners from the same or neighboring generations in the family tree.
All clanless nichelings can have any partners they want.

Using Mutations menu has a cost, and it is different for males and females.

Each mutator used on a female reduces the amount of babies she can have, down to only one, if both mutators are chosen.

Using mutators on males must be balanced with linked trait, if one is good then other must be bad:

• fertility is linked with blood clotting (example addind good blood clotting mutator balanced with adding low fertility one and other way around)
  
• any eyesight or eye colour mutator -> shortsighted
  
• any horns type or colour mutator -> no horns
  
• ears or head mutator -> derp snout
  
• body or paws type mutator -> crippled paw
  
• hind legs or tail type mutator -> webbed hind legs
  
• fur colour and all pattern related mutators -> no pattern

Since derp snout, webbed hind legs and shortsightedness can be desirable in some situations I made an only bad traits edition.

• blood clotting - fertility
  
• eyes, ears, head, horns - no horns
  
• body, paws, tail - crippled paw
  
• any colours - no pattern

• the King and the Queen (and the Queen's Consort) can have one mutator for free
  
• a nicheling who has albinism or melanism genes active can have one mutator for free
  
• (a male doesn't have to use balancing mutator and a female still can give birth to three babies)
  
• these two discounts stack
  
• (an albino King can have two positive mutators and albino Queen can have three babies with two mutators active)
  
• Breeding Clans have alternative mutator costs and rules!

When your tribe travels to a new island, you can choose to have a breeding clan. It is important decision, so think and plan carefully.

• basic cost for having a breeding clan is 20 days (on this island)
  
• if your breeding clan dies out, you can have half of the days cost (including mutators) back

• each breeding clan have one breeding pair per generation
  
• this pair can have unlimited amount of babies, BUT
  
• none of their children are allowed to have babies unless they are the next generation's breeding pair
  
• you can't import any outsiders into the breeding clan
  
• you can't export any members to other clans

• the only way to get new genes into the breeding clan during your stay on one island is using mutator slots
  
• for each mutator slot you are allowed to use for your breeding pair in this clan you must add 20 days to the basic cost (all 4 slots = 80 days + 20 days of basic cost gives 100 days per fully unlocked breeding clan)

• the only way to import or export breeding clan members is to reshuffle nichelings during travel
  
• if you chose to take nichelings that were the breeding pair AND have their mutator slots already filled during their breeding clan membership to the next island, they must be marked infertile or used in a breeding pair again (their mutators must be paid for on the new island! no free goodies)

Once you reach day 50 on the island you are currently on, you must choose a monarch. I use Queen and King titles, you can make up any other instead.

The royal clan is leading the whole tribe to the prosperous lands which they heard from their ancestor, Adam.
This means that only one of Adam descendants can be a monarch, preferably one with X gene and of noble heritage (if you still have nobles (or even royals) from the previous island around) - no wanderes allowed, only their kids (not if both parents are wanderers).

When the time comes to choose new King and Queen, Princes and Princesses have absolute priority over any bastards, highest priority is for ones that carry X gene.


No new King and Queen are chosen untill both previous ones are dead.

• the King must breed with all females in his generation unless they are marked with infertile gems
  
• if the King is also the Queen's partner, the rule above is not applied
  
• the King's bastards can be chosen as heirs when there are no Prince or Princess to inherit
  
• the King's bastards inherit their mother's noble title

• the Queen follows basic baby rules
  
• if the Queen breaks baby limit she must be marked with infertility gem and can't have any more babies even if previous ones get mystically dissapeared
  
• the Queens babies get Princes and Princesses titles

• the Queen's Consort - the Queen's partner if he is not a King - can breed only with the Queen
  
• if the Queen's Consort breeds with another female he must be marked with infertility gem and get banished

• the Queen, the King and any Princes and Princesses can not be banished or sacrifised

• all children of Princes and Princesses that haven't inherited the ruling position get noble titles

• Princes and Princesses prioritise any nobles as their partners
  
• nobles prioritise any nobles as their partners

All that Very Important Nichelings, such as royals or nobles can become Very Annoying Nichelings, since you can't banish or sacrifise any of them and they just sit in their nests and eat and waste your time and family tree space. Ergh! No more!

After you reach 100 days on the island you are currently on, you can decide that you don't want any royals any more. There are some ways:

• easy but situational - mating female noble with bearyena unnobles her hybrid baby

• long - after the time has come to appoint new King and Queen, you make all Princes and Princesses to keep their titles -->
  
• their babies get noble titles, as usual -->
  
• after all royals dissappear from family tree you can stop giving noble titles to newborns -->
  
• congrats! no more pesky nobles!

Remember, after you travel to a new island, on day 50 you will get fresh new royals to care for.

Changes the rules around the idea of the crowns.

• royal clan must have non-ram type of horns as their crown
  
• royal clan is started by obtaining a nicheling of Adam's ancestry with this horns type
  
• any other clans can't have this horns mutated in
  
• nichelings with this horns type are prioretised as partners of royal clan, even if they are not noble or their other traits are not that great
  
• royals and their descendants can't have horns mutated out
  
• as long as royal descendants carry their crown, you can't get rid of them

As a bonus, replaces no horns and antenna requirement for your Seers/Priests to ram horns; antenna is shifted to the Bird type guides instead.

Not black, really, any colour would work, you just must stick with it.

Choose pattern and horn colours for your Priests and royals. Any other clan works too, you are just limited to the amount of possible colours.

• those of outside chosen clans can not use that pattern and horn colours (no mutating in)
  
• if outsiders have claimed colour, they are prioretised as partners or must be banished
  
• you can mutate out chosen colours from the clan, but why would you?

By resting i mean not spending all of their action points.
By nesting I mean both making nest and giving birth.

• by the end of turn all creatures must spend their action points
  
• resting is allowed in a nest, on travel port tiles
  
• if your nichelings are surrounded and unable to perform any actions (even if that actions are undesirable, like banishing or mating someone thay shouldn't mate or breaking stuff you don't want to break or even doing something harmful like picking catci fruits) or go anywhere they can rest

• preferable temporal nest location is under trees, near rocks or bushes, or in the regrowing grass
  
• much less desirable places to nest are near termite mounds, cacti, spokis, stinky or carnivore plant
  
• can't nest on mole hole, bunny hill or in a mud puddle

You can chose each time you travel if permanent nest:

• are not allowed to be used
  
• are allowed only to royal or noble nichelings
  
• are allowed to anybody if they are in preferable nest location
  
• are allowed to anybody regardless of the nests location

These rules are for additional roleplay. You can chose if you will follow them every time you travel to a new island.

• flying creatures may only nest on high place - trees and treestumps
  
• nesting in usual preffered places is allowed only if there are no high places

• nichelings with water breething ability must live in the water and may only be out of water if they are on the beach tiles for gathering some beach food or fighting
  
• water nichelings can only nest in water tiles or (when there is no water tiles) - if it is raining

• horned creatures are herbovores
  
• they can totally kill, but are not allowed to gather meat piles
  
  
• saber, purr and hyena headed creatures are carnivores
  
• only food gathering that is allowed is from meat piles or fish
  
  
• other animals are omnivores and can gather all kinds of food

Just read this guide, it is awesome!

https://steamproxy-script.pipiskins.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=799896214

Plans:

there are probably still some veirdly phrased stuff and typos - fix this
sort and number all the rules PROPERLY (I'm a perfectionist ._.)
add random events (more fun)
pretty pictures!

Updates:

29-01-2023 overhauled the guide to version 2.0
31-01-2023 minor typo fixes
16-02-2023 readded clear weather requirement for travelling; removed my outdated and incomplete gene dominance short reference list
05-06-2023 reworked whole rules, move version 3.0 to new guide later when it is finished, leave 2.0 version for archeologic purposes

less reliance on many gem colors and lots of notes
less sitting on the same island
less clone nichelings
more randomness in genetics
adaptation factor

============travelling============
change travel price from next island days to current - as if nichelings needed to rest some time before travelling again - no more renaming one of nichelings to "must stay here for 170 days" when logging out

easy (left) islands are close, need only 10 days to rest
medium (right) are further, need 20 days to rest
hart (up) are the really far away, need 30 days

moving ability of 4 is required to travel
6 to travel while being pregs
8 to carry a 1 gem baby with you

((need swimming or flying to go right and up - can use jumpers to travel left only))

waterbreathing level lowers swimming level req (4 swim + 2 water breath = 6 actual travel) - because there is much randomness and getting enough swimming ability is unproportionally harder than getting 2 wings and fly even if unlocking wings is harder and random by itself
waterbreathing is mandatory for swimmers to go north because they will need to rest

============action points==============
all nichelings must spend their action points before tha day ends
exceptions - poisoned, sick, preg or resting in nest/travel port or while the leader is lazy

============breedung basics============
monogamous nichelings
females can have 3 babies simultaniously
rogue babies not welcome, except whan leader is blind
>>>> balance - what about raplacing dead partner?

============mutators==============
each pair is assigned mutators when they become couple - together thay have four mutator slots

nicheling who is the same gender as leader gets leader assigned mutator
nicheling of opposite gender gets adaptation mutator

then each pair have 2 free slots for mutators - same gender with leader gets good mutator, other gets balancing mutator (reuse mutators prices from 2.0)
<<<< balance - maybe opposite instead of same

breeding close relatives - must add bad mutators (even if immunity genes compatible)
3 lines - hemophilia and bad eyes
2 lines - bad fertility and derp snout
1 line - bad paw and no fertility
<<<< balance - maybe change mutators

============adaptation and leader============
if reached day 40 on current island or 40 nichelings - add adaptation mutator
if reached 50 days or members - chose leader (youngest adult with X gene)

============leader eye colour dependent rules=============

!!!!! REMOVE - reference !!!!!
Black > Brown > Yellow* > Green > Blue > Violet* > Orange
*Exception: Yellow/Violet dominance is parent-dependent - if the offspring inherits Yellow from mother and Violet from father, then Yellow is dominant. Otherwise (if Violet is inherited from mother and Yellow is inherited from father), Violet is dominant. It doesn't matter which allele parents themselves have active (mother with dominant Yellow and recessive Violet can still produce an offspring with dominant Violet).
!!!!! REMOVE - reference !!!!!

black - horni coward - none - adam's island or easier - get off dangerous islands asap
if doesnt have horns - others must have no horns too
if male - males can have harem, of female - females can have unlimited babies
mutator - the best fertility gene you have unlocked for females, horns for males

brown - lazy and nuts - nuts - one with many trees like adam's island or jungle - cant leave island with many trees
all nichelings can rest as long there is no starvation, nesting under trees
mutator - some that gives better cracking

yellow - glass cannon - meat - likes it hot and hunting, dangerous - cant go left
must attack all rogues and wanderers including banished ones, must breed with bearyena if available
mutator - higher attack if male, defence if female

green - grass ninja - none - grassy islands including hot ones - cant leave grass island
can't remove grass and nonregrowing bushes, nesting in grss
mutator - stripes, raise detection stats, sneaky paws

blue - ocean call - fish, clams, worms - hates cold - archipelago one love, oasis is good enough, if whale is available - jump to oasis asap - must leave any island that is bad for swimmers
reject land, return to ocean - unlocking all swimming genes that are not unlocked, nesting underwater, living on the beach if cant breathe underwater
mutator - underwater breathing and swimming

violet - berry eyed - poison berries or smelly fruits if available - swamps or jungle -
mutator - poison resistance
(i kinda wanted to assign smelly fruits to the blind one but this is too bland and blind has too many)

orange - bird spirited - none - trees and tree stumps are good
no protecting babies from birds, nesting on the trees or on tree stumps only
mutator - feather wings and tail, bird beak

albino - overconfident artist - none - cold and hard - any cold port or north
no hiring peaceful bear, must invite wenderer or breed with rigue if they have uniqe colours
mutator - no pattern or mask pattern of different colours, the leader has bad eyes mutator instead

blind - sniffer bat - roots or bugs - savanna or swamps - cant travel
nest only on permanent nests
mutator - digging and bug collecting, armor? bat wings and head

>>>> balance - islands and traits, heavy wip

+++++++++++eyes are dominance-reliant - no go+++++++++++++++

use horn and pattern colours!

horn - no, black, red, brown, white
pattern - no, black, white, brown, red, beige

----write down adaptation mutator rules----
---write toxoc body mods to adaptation mutator---

-- add horn and pattern variations later? --