Genetics Guide

Why are Genetics Important?

Genetics are a core system in Beasts of Inallo. A beast's genetics will determine how they look, and will likely impact how you play the game.

All that said, genetics can be a huge learning curve for new players. Inallo uses genetics heavily inspired by real life (specifically Mendelian inheritance), and it can be quite complex. We hope this guide can help serve as a good introduction!

To see the full list of genes in Inallo and how they appear in phenotypes, check out our design guides!

Genetics Breakdown

To start, we think it'll be helpful to introduce you to some of the common vocabulary!

Genotype	This is a pattern of letters (technically loci and alleles) that represents a complete list of your beast's genetics. The first two sets of loci on the left (K and A) control the base color, and all the loci following will either affect pattern or dilution. Example: K/k^b A/A St/St n/Mb Trm/Trm n/Tr
Locus	The locus usually appears in the genotype as two sets of letters. Every locus controls a single part of your beast's phenotype, and will usually cause a certain coloration or pattern to appear on your beast. Can also be called a gene. Example: St/St
Allele	These are the individual sets of letters that display on either side of a locus. A gene will sometimes have multiple different alleles that can occur, and they can cause the marking to appear differently depending on what combinations of alleles they have. Example: Trm
Phenotype	The phenotype is the human-readable description of the genotype. It describes the base color and markings of the creature. Example: Sable Brown with Rosettes and Pangare

Zygosity

A locus can have one or more alleles, and the combination can affect how they express in the genotype. These allele combinations are described as the zygosity.

Heterozygous	K/k k^b/k a^g/a^r	Describes a locus where the allele pair does not match. A leading lowercase n is a null gene, meaning it’s an unknown gene that does not express in the phenotype.
Homozygous	A/A k/k a^g/a^g	Describes a locus that has a matching allele pair.

Dominance

What phenotype is produced by a locus is dependent on the dominance of the alleles. Every allele has a dominance type.

Recessive	Recessive alleles are always lowercase, such as the k^b allele in the K locus. The trait caused by recessive alleles will only occur in the phenotype if the locus is homozygous.
Dominant	Dominant alleles are always led by a capital letter, such as A in the A locus. The trait caused by dominant alleles will occur in the phenotype regardless of if the locus is homozygous or heterozygous.
Incomplete Dominant	Like dominant alleles, incomplete dominant alleles are always led by a capital letter, except it appears differently in the phenotype depending on if the locus is homozygous or heterozygous.

Codominance will typically occur when multiple dominant genes occur on the same locus, the result being them both expressing in a combined form. But phenotype combinations are not exclusive to codominance. Sometimes genes from two or more separate loci will combine in the phenotype.