Here are some design rules that the markings of dracovix have to follow when you're designing your import!

File Quality: Your import needs to be saved as a PNG and at its maximum resolution. (4000x2000 px)

Other Side: By default, most dracovix are symmetrical, and it is assumed the other side of the character reflects the side shown in the import. However, this is not a rule! Any marking which allows asymmetry can be drawn differently on the other side. Some markings are even restricted from being symmetrical, and the presence of the mutation Heterochromia usually implies the eye color on the other side is a different color. A dracovix's other side design must still follows its marking rules, and any markings on the limbs and/or crossing the mid-line of the body should match up on the other side in approximately the same places.

When submitting your design to design approvals, you may, but you do not have to if you don't want to, submit a reflected version of the import file showing the design of the other side of your dracovix. Both sides will be checked in design approvals. You must host this other side view in your own deviantArt Sta.sh.

If you decide not to submit the other side in design approvals, you can do so later in import updates.

You can alternatively design an asymmetrical character's other side when you create their reference image for their Proof of Self. This design will again be checked for marking rule conformation, with slightly looser range restrictions depending on anatomy art style variance, as long as the markings still appear to be within the range they should be.

When handling characters with odd-eye heterochromia, the other eye color is decided during design approvals and assumed until the other side is drawn, and must match up to the colors written in the import information. If your dracovix's shown eye is green, and their eye color is "green and red" thanks to heterochromia, then when you design their other side, the other eye must have some red in it.

Lineart: You can color the lineart, but it needs to be darker than whatever part of the dracovix it is over, and it must be visible without squinting.

Glows, Borders, and Shadows: You can add a soft pale glow, a thin dark border, and/or a drop shadow behind the whole character artwork that borders the outside of both the flats and the lineart together. These effects must use almost completely de-saturated tones.

Base Coat Color

We have official sliders for our Base Coat Colors, which you can reference to decide your dracovix's base coat color. But you are allowed to deviate a little from these sliders. You don't have to strictly use a base coat color that is pixel perfectly color picked from the sliders. As long as it looks close enough and isn't drastically brighter, darker, or more saturated than the parameters of the base coat slider for the base coat in the dracovix's geno, it will most likely pass in design approvals.

By default, markings can be lighter or darker than the base coat, but many markings state that they can only be darker than the base coat or lighter than the base coat, not either. Some markings are restricted further to only black or white tones, and a few rare markings may even break all color limits, allowing unnatural and saturated hues like green, blue, and purple!

White and Black Markings

Any marking which is allowed to be darker may also be colored black, and any marking which is allowed to be lighter may also be colored white.

When coloring exclusively white or black markings such as Free White or Ash, you are allowed to use a faintly tinted off-white or off-black. The white or black needs to clearly read as white or black respectively in local lighting, even while tinted. Off-white markings still need to be clearly brighter and less saturated in value than any other markings or base coat color in the design intended to be a color other than white. You can not use multiple different tones and tints of off-white, you have to pick one and stick to it for all of your character's white markings.

When coloring black markings, you may not use pure, #000000 black. For the sake of visibility, we recommend using a value of at least 5%. Anywhere in the 10-25% range is a highly acceptable value of "black" or off-black, as long as markings intended to be black are clearly darker in value than any other marking or base coat color in the design intended to be a color other than black. An exception to this rule is Free Black used around the eye to create stylized eye lines, which may be pure black to match the lineart.

Coloring Physical Features

Claws, ears, horns, and most physical mutations are Free Design Areas, but are also allowed to depict markings that the dracovix has that have global range, such as Luminous, Cobblestone, and Iridescence.

Marking Inheritance

Markings, also referred to as "genes," (or 'alleles' if you wanna be extra nerdy with me) come in four categories: Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Ultra-Rare. A dracovix with a lot of common markings can be considered a normal representative of its species. Dracovix are very likely to pass on their common and uncommon genes to their offspring when they are bred. Rare and ultra-rare markings are not inherited as easily.

The rarity categories also indicate whether the marking is dominant (or co-dominant) or recessive. Common and rare markings are dominant, while uncommon and ultra-rare markings are recessive. In this way, genetics as a game mechanic in Dracovix ARPG are somewhat closely modeled after the nature of genetics in real life.

So what do "dominant" and "recessive" mean for markings in Dracovix ARPG?

First, understand how the gene notation works. A dracovix can carry one or two copies of any gene in the game, regardless of rarity. If they carry one copy of the marking, Dun, their genotype would include the code nD/. If they carry two copies of Dun, their genotype would instead say DD/. Whether a marking is dominant or recessive determines how the marking behaves when there is one copy verses two.

Dominant markings behave as you would expect. If a dracovix inherits one copy of the gene from its parents, that marking will be shown on their design. Many markings are co-dominant. If the dracovix inherits two copies from its parents, the marking may have bonus properties which you can optionally portray in your character's design. Two copies of dominant markings will be denoted with the prefix "super-" in the phenotype to differentiate them from their single copy forms.

When there is only one copy of a recessive gene, unlike with dominant genes, the marking will be invisible. Recessive markings will only show up if there are two copies of the gene. When a dracovix is born, any of its recessive markings for which it only has one copy will be completely invisible and hidden in the genotype and phenotype. This means that your dracovix, depending on its parents, could have secret genes, also known as "hets", that can be passed to its offspring!

There are ways to find out if your dracovix has any hidden genes. One method is to complete their Proofs of Self. After a dracovix's Proofs of Self are completed and approved, any hidden genes will be revealed and added to its genotype, and be denoted as "het-" in the phenotype. A second method of learning a dracovix's hidden hets is via genetic testing, a feature that will be purchasable with embers later as Dracovix ARPG develops.

• Keep in mind when breeding for visible recessive markings: offspring can only inherit two copies of a marking if both parents have at least one copy of the marking. A dracovix with a visible recessive marking cannot alone produce offspring with visible recessive markings, for example, unless the other dracovix it is being bred to also possesses at least one copy of the marking.

• Dracovix with two copies of a gene have a higher chance of passing on their marking to their offspring and a higher chance of creating offspring carrying visible recessive genes with other dracovix carrying the gene.

For the sake of game balance, there is an upper limit to the actual number of rare and ultra-rare markings that a dracovix is capable of passing onto its offspring.

If a dracovix is born with more than 4 rare and ultra-rare markings, randomly selected rare or ultra-rare markings will be rendered uninheritable until the number of inheritable rare and ultra-rare markings is down to 4. These markings still show up in the design, so you can have fun designing your genobomb! They just won't be able to pass to that dracovix's offspring if it is bred.

Normally, markings are shown in the genotype like nAp/ or ApAp/. An uninheritable marking will show up like [Ap]/.