Getting Started: Genos and Imports

17 min read

Deviation Actions

PippinDraws's avatar
By
Published:
2.3K Views

Introduction


Hello! Welcome to my Genos and Imports guide! This guide is here to teach you how to understand your genotype, and how to get your first tokota all ready to submit to Design Central. This guide will go over everything in detail, and if you have questions please feel free to leave a comment! Whether you're new to the group and dealing with your very first genotype, or a veteran player just looking for a brush up, this guide is here to help.


For this guide, we'll be using one of my own tokotas as a "live" example. This tokota will be our example:




Part One: Understanding Your Geno, and Ownership


Unless you've purchased or gotten an already uploaded tokota, what you most likely have is a genotype. This can seem pretty confusing at first - what is this big jumble of letters and words? How do you take turn that into an uploaded tokota that you can draw, write, and use? Though it may seem overwhelming, it's really not! 

     A genotype, or "geno" for short, is basically a blueprint for your tokota. It tells you your tokota's health (whether it's inbred or not, and if it has any health defects), sex (is it a boy or a girl?), hierarchy status (average or submissive?), mane type, its base coat and markings, and any applicable traits. Let's take a look at Rochford's genotype! Every genotype starts with a breeding comment. (Unless you've purchased a semi-custom, of course - those are assigned genotypes by the admin you've purchased it from.)

This is the breeding comment that Rochford came from: comments.deviantart.com/1/6195…

  • If you've bred the geno yourself, save that link as your proof of ownership. Don't lose it, you'll need it for Design Central!
  • If you've purchased the geno from another user, they will have given you the proof of ownership. Save that comment and the breeding comment! The breeding comment will be needed so you can access the geno's parents later down the line, and you'll need your proof of ownership when you submit the designed geno to Design Central.

Now let's look at Rochford's genotype from top to bottom, and break it apart. 

1) Male, Short Mane
Submissive - Healthy
ee/Aa/TT/MM/AA/nG/nPb
Marked greying tawny piebald with accents


On the top line, you'll see "1) Male, Short Mane". Rochford is male, and he is a short mane. Short manes are one of the many types of manes available! They're a bit more rare than Natural manes and Half manes, but not so rare as a Sphinx or Curly would be. If you want to know more about other mane types, you can read about them here: Breeding and Genotypes Guide

On the second line, you'll see "Submissive - Healthy". Rochford has the hierarchy status of "submissive". Submissive, or "sub" for short, is the lowest hierarchy status, and is what most tokotas start at. (There are some exceptions, which I'll tell you about later!) He is also healthy, and that's great! If your tokota was inbred, or had a health defect like spinal problems or blindness/deafness or infertility, this would be listed there. But Rochford is good to go health wise!


If you want to learn more about hierarchy status, you can look at this journal: Hierarchy System 
If you want to learn more about health conditions and breeding, you can look at this journal: Breeding Your Tokota

Now down on the third line is where things get a bit messy. Just to break it apart from the rest, that would be this section:

ee/Aa/TT/MM/AA/nG/nPb

This big ol' jumble of letters is the "meat" of your tokota, so to speak - this section is what the actual genotype is. It's a set of letters that indicate your tokota's genes and base types. Directly underneath that, "Marked greying tawny piebald with accents", is the "phenotype"! The phenotype, or "pheno" for short, reads out for you exactly what all the nonsense of letters and slashes means! Each "set" of letters between the slashes on the genotype line refers to a specific part of your tokota. "ee/Aa/TT" gives it the tawny base coat. "MM/AA/nG/nPb" are all markings - Marked, Accents, Graying, and Piebald. 


If you're confused about how to read a genotype in more detail, please [CLICK HERE] to view a separate guide to genes and genotypes!

(The guide will repeat a lot of information found here, as I made it prior to writing this guide; please bear with the repeats. It does go into further detail on how to read your genotype and what each letter means!)
You can read more about base coats and genotypes in these journals: Breeding and Genotypes Guide || Design Guide Handbook




Part Two: Getting Your Design



So now we've figured out exactly what your tokota is, yeah? Let's move on to designing! Designing your tokota is the first step to getting it uploaded and ready to use! If you feel up to it, you can reference the Design Guide Handbook and Tutorial: Designing and Approving Pups to learn how to design the tokota yourself. You must have a program that can open the PSD file type to design your tokota. To my knowledge, those programs are: Photoshop, Paint Tol SAI, the GIMP, Medibang, and Clip Studio Paint. (If you know of any other programs that can open PSD file types, please let me know and I will add them to this list.)

But what if you're not able to design your tokota? Well, plenty of people offer design services! You can pay someone to design your tokota for you. There's a whole folder in the group for people who are offering design commissions! So look them over and commission one, if you want.

Once you have your design, we can proceed from there. The designer will likely give you your designed tokota as a .PNG image - that's great, it's exactly what you need! They may also provide the .PSD file as well. Save that if you get it! I will be important for your tokota down the line. To save your tokota design to your computer, right-click the picture, and hit "Save As". Save the tokota somewhere you'll remember it! Your best bet is to make a folder just for your tokotas.

After that, you need to upload your tokota's design to sta.sh. The sta.sh file with your tokota's import and import information in the description is how the admins of Design Central approve your tokota! At this point you're almost there!




Part Three: The Import Information


Now, you need to set up the description! The description is where you put all of the information about your tokota. Copy and paste the Import Information form from Import Information Template into the description of your tokota's design. The import information template looks like this, from top to bottom:

Registered Name: add information here (What is your tokota's name? Keep in mind that names must be PG-13 and cannot include swear words.)
Nickname(s): add information here (Does your tokota have a nickname? You don't need to fill anything in here, but if you want to, you can!)
ID Number: DO NOT WRITE (Admins fill this in when we upload your tokota!)
Owner: add information here (This should be your own username. Fill it in with either : devyourusername : or @ yourusername - without the spaces!)
Species: Tokotas
Breed: add information here (Canarctos venatori if normal built; Canarctos dirus [##%] if dire built)
Gender: add information here
Mane Type: add information here (natural, half, short, sphinx, curly, yeti, barbary)
Genotype: add information here (This is that jumble of letters that I showed you earlier! Copy/paste all of it into this space!)
Phenotype: add information here (This is where you put the "Marked graying tawny piebald with accents" part!)
Height: you choose between: 75-130 cm for toki ; 140-190 cm for normal ; 190-210 cm for dire builds
Hierarchy Status: add information here
Rites of Fertility: 0/3
Rites of Dominance: 0/3
Health Status: add information here. (add "inbred" to the start of the line if the tokota is inbred; add "Dwarfism" if the tokota is a toki. You can also list eye color and anything specific about the tokota's body here - fat or skinny, tall or short, etc.)
Items: DO NOT WRITE (We'll put stuff in here if you choose to apply tack or decorations to your tokota down the line!)

Personality: add information here (What's your tokota's personality like? You can leave this blank if you choose!)

Traits: add information here (If a geno came with hereditary or physical traits, you can list them here.)

Lineage: 
------------------------------------------ SSS: Unknown
----------------- SS: Unknown
------------------------------------------ SSD: Unknown
Sire: Unknown
------------------------------------------ SDS: Unknown
----------------- SD: Unknown
------------------------------------------ SDD: Unknown
------------------------------------------ DSS: Unknown
----------------- DS: Unknown
------------------------------------------ DSD: Unknown
Dam: Unknown
------------------------------------------ DDS: Unknown
----------------- DD: Unknown
------------------------------------------ DDD: Unknown

Design (c) _____

Most of it is pretty self-explanatory, right? Copy and paste the whole thing and fill out any part that says "add information here". A lot of the information that goes into here, you can find right on your geno! The hardest part for most people is the Lineage section. It really isn't as bad as it looks - if you can copy and paste, you can fill out a lineage.




Part Three and a Half: The Lineage


The Lineage is the part of your tokota's import information that is basically its pedigree. It lists the parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents from both the mother and father's side. Remember that link to the breeding that I told you to save earlier? Your geno's parents are listed at the top of the breeding. In Rochford's case, that would be this: 

Otis 4649 x Rasha 5931

Otis 4649 is the tokota's sire, or dad.

Rasha 5931 is the tokota's dam, or mom.

Your tokota's lineage can be broken up into two halves. Let me show you:

The first half is the Sire half. All of this information comes from your tokota's Sire!

------------------------------------------ SSS: Unknown
----------------- SS: Unknown
------------------------------------------ SSD: Unknown
Sire: Unknown
------------------------------------------ SDS: Unknown
----------------- SD: Unknown
------------------------------------------ SDD: Unknown

The second half is the Dam half. All of this information comes from your tokota's Dam!

------------------------------------------ DSS: Unknown
----------------- DS: Unknown
------------------------------------------ DSD: Unknown
Dam: Unknown
------------------------------------------ DDS: Unknown
----------------- DD: Unknown
------------------------------------------ DDD: Unknown


Doesn't that block look a lot less scary now? Each of the letters, like "DS", "DD", "SS" are easy to read - D is for "dam", and S is for "sire". So, DS is dam's sire. DD is dam's dam. SS is sire's sire. That's a lot easier to understand! So now let's fill it in.

Filling in the lineage is very easy. All of the information is copy and pasted from the parents. I already showed you where to find your geno's parents, so open them up in two tabs so that you can access both of them. We're gonna just fill the form in like little building blocks. First, let's fill in the easy part, the parents:

------------------------------------------ SSS: Unknown
----------------- SS: Unknown
------------------------------------------ SSD: Unknown
Sire: Otis 4649
------------------------------------------ SDS: Unknown
----------------- SD: Unknown
------------------------------------------ SDD: Unknown
------------------------------------------ DSS: Unknown
----------------- DS: Unknown
------------------------------------------ DSD: Unknown
Dam: Rasha 5931
------------------------------------------ DDS: Unknown
----------------- DD: Unknown
------------------------------------------ DDD: Unknown

Did your parents show up as a picture/thumbnail at first? That's normal! Just hover over the picture, and select the "LINK" box that shows up on the right-hand side of the thumbnail. 

See how easy that was? You're 1/3 of the way to finishing the lineage. The easiest way to do the rest of it is to just copy and paste it over from the parents - so let's start with the sire side.

------------------------------------------ SSS: Unknown
----------------- SS: Unknown
------------------------------------------ SSD: Unknown
Sire: Otis 4649
------------------------------------------ SDS: Unknown
----------------- SD: Unknown
------------------------------------------ SDD: Unknown

Scroll down the sire's import to his lineage! The easiest way to fill it in is to break it down logically. Ask yourself easy questions to help yourself fill it out: "Who is otis's sire and dam?" The sire's sire and dam both go on the "SS" and "SD" spots, respectively. So if I copy the links to their imports, and then paste them over the word "unknown" on your tokota's lineage, I get something like this:

------------------------------------------ SSS: Unknown
----------------- SS: Hermes 3242
------------------------------------------ SSD: Unknown
Sire: Otis 4649
------------------------------------------ SDS: Unknown
----------------- SD: Ylva 3824
------------------------------------------ SDD: Unknown

See? Now the middle line is done! So now you can see your tokota's dad, grandfather, and grandmother. Now just repeat the proccess for the last line! "Otis's sire is Herme's... Herme's sire and dam are..." Put your tokota's great-great grandfathers and grandmothers into the lineage box now:

------------------------------------------ SSS: Zuko 613
----------------- SS: Hermes 3242
------------------------------------------ SSD: Nascha 2189
Sire: Otis 4649
------------------------------------------ SDS: Demon 2859
----------------- SD: Ylva 3824
------------------------------------------ SDD: Chakas 343

That's one half of your tokota's lineage done! Now let's repeat the process for the dam's side! Since I just explained how to do this, I won't list it out in so many steps; here's the completed dam's side:

------------------------------------------ DSS: Goblin 1306
----------------- DS: Vincent 3561
------------------------------------------ DSD: Jazz 942
Dam: Rasha 5931
------------------------------------------ DDS: Unknown
----------------- DD: Firn 1282
------------------------------------------ DDD: Unknown

There's still an "unknown!" Sometimes, there are tokotas with "blank spots" in their lineage - usually semi-custom tokotas, starters, and wilds. In fact, most wilds don't have a lineage at all! As long as it matches up accurately with what's on the sire/dam's lineage, it's fine to leave it as "unknown". I broke it up for you so it's easier to see the two distinct parts, but let's put the two halves back together again! So your complete lineage looks like this:

------------------------------------------ SSS: Zuko 613
----------------- SS: Hermes 3242
------------------------------------------ SSD: Nascha 2189
Sire: Otis 4649
------------------------------------------ SDS: Demon 2859
----------------- SD: Ylva 3824
------------------------------------------ SDD: Chakas 343
------------------------------------------ DSS: Goblin 1306
----------------- DS: Vincent 3561
------------------------------------------ DSD: Jazz 942
Dam: Rasha 5931
------------------------------------------ DDS: Unknown
----------------- DD: Firn 1282
------------------------------------------ DDD: Unknown

It's a lot easier to see when you notice that it's just a list of the parents and their parents, isn't it? So then you have a lineage! When you're done with your import information, you're ready to submit your tokota to Design Central.

Part Four: Design Central


Design Central, or "DC" for short, is where all toko genos get sent to be inspected by the wonderful DC-Admin team, and either accepted or denied. If they deny your tokota, that just means that there's something wrong with either the design or the information - and they'll tell you what that is so that you know how to fix. :) If a problem comes up with the actual design, for example if the base coat isn't correct or a marking is wrong, that's usually fixed by the person who designed your tokota. (However, this isn't always the case, so always check with your designer if they'll work any needed design edits!)

DC can always be found in the Cycling Journals Hub. The Cycling Journals hub is the home of all of the things in the group that get a new journal every month, like the bank, rites of fertility judging, and breeding requests! You can always get to the Cycling Journals hub right from the front page of tokotas. 

To submit your design to Design Central, go to the design approval thread! For your very first tokota, you should use the "Design Approval: New Members" link. If you already have one tokota and you're looking to get another approved, use the "Design Approval: All Members" link. When you go to your appropriate comment link, you'll see a nifty form that looks something like this:

Design (uploaded to sta.sh):
Proof of Ownership:
Base coat from: (a specific relative or guide)

This is pretty easy to understand! In the top line, put a link to the sta.sh file with your tokota's import information and design. 

On the second line, you copy the link that I told you to save earlier that was your "proof of ownership". That's the comment on the original breeding that says "Geno 1) sold to (your name)". This is the proof from the original owner that they gave that geno to you! That's why I told you to save it, it's very important. If the DC admins don't know that you own the geno you're submitting, you'll be denied. In the case of semi-custom tokotas, you will have received a comment from an admin on the semi-custom log confirming the sale.

The final line, "Base coat from", is so that the DC-admins know where to judge your base coat from! Your designer can choose to either use the Design Guide's swatches, or they can pull the base coat color from a parent or grandparent with that base coat. When you commission your design, the person who you commission should be able to tell you where they took the base coat from. If the base coat is from a specific relative, you need to link the import of that tokota.

Then you just submit the form in a comment, and wait! Design Central takes some time to judge. Please be patient with the admins while you wait for your design to be approved/denied or uploaded - if you feel your design might have been skipped, you can report that to the group, and we'll make sure it's on the right list.

Created at simplydevio.us
© 2017 - 2024 PippinDraws
Comments18
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Umbra0Ghost's avatar
I'm still a little confused on Genos.. I got my Tokota from the adoption centre, so how would I find the sire and dam, as well as grandparents?

could I maybe get help filling this part out, if so where do I go to get the help? 

thank you