Fruition Online- Pets
I love playing games where you can permanently tame your own pet. Even better if you get a bunch of them! Know what's better than that? Having genetics- both genetic engineering and animal husbandry. Yes Pokemon does this, and a few other games, but no where near as awesome as I wanna do it.
Even better, I wrote the code and it works already. If only I had the art... and better code so it could be 3d. But anyway- pets are not textured models. They are combinations of textures and body part models- so you can have a scaley dog with bird wings if you want. Up to what your pets are and what you do with them.
Or just take DNA samples from creatures in the game you see that don't have "Unstable DNA". That term just means you aren't allowed to sample it; you have to tame it. Not everything is tameable though; those creatures have to be cloned via samples. Some creatures you can't get in either way! However, sometimes you can still get them in other ways, like through combining alchemy, necromancy, and gardening skills; or special events.
Animal Husbandry
Don't think about what pets you currently have; think about what pets you will eventually want! Then start breeding them. You don't get to do it directly, though. See "Personal House Map" to learn how. Each parent will pass 100% of its DNA to the baby. Its genetic makeup will be each trait (say, 100% scale, 100% fur) in half, then randomly select one possibility. This will be the dominant trait, and will gain a 10% greater chance of this becoming the dominant trait in any children the pet might have. All other traits are randomly decreased by a sum total of 10%. Over a few carefully considered generations, unwanted genes will no longer be recessive, and will just cease to be in the descendant pet's makeup.
Body parts, colors, diets, and abilities are all genes.
Animal Taming
A game I played didn't allow you to tame adult creatures; you had to find babies at a nest, and tame and raise those. I liked that idea. So I'm doing it too. Also that game got rid of all its pet-related everything. Stupid MMO. I actually talked to one of the developers in person and he said that the whole team knew how dumb it was (and other changes) but the publishing company forced them; and they are almost bankrupt now with no fans. See a creature in the wild you want? Find a nest, and look for a baby or egg or something. Take it home and raise it!
Summons
Summons are effectively pets made of pure magic; they never wander your House because they only exist locked within gemstones. Read "Magic" to learn more. Either that or just click on the pic and be directed there.
Robots and Golems
Robots are technological constructs; but artificial life didn't originate there. Magic can turn dirt and clay (and other natural materials added in) into a pet as well. These have to be kept in a special type of storage display; they don't get to wander but will activate if there is a threat to your Personal House Map. You can also take them on adventures like your other pet types, unless stated otherwise.
Genetic Engineering
The better you are at genetic engineering, the better you can do it- but never more than 65%. What is the percent? It has to do with turning pet recessive traits into dominant ones, and dominant traits recessive. You can also erase recessive traits with chances low enough that your ability can erase it to begin with. Something else's percentage has to compensate, though. Doing this, you can speed up but not fully replace Husbandry.
Event Pets
There are very few Event-Only pets planned. I can actually only really think of one! But more will be thought of eventually. These cannot breed or be sampled. So it's the pure Event pet, or you just don't get one- unlike some other rare pets that can be bred for you.
Lemon Pets
Whether breeding or cloning, there is a 1 in 1000 chance that a pet won't have any of its parents DNA. Instead it will be a totally useless pet. You can't even travel with it. I've so far come up with Snailpooch, which is a dog and a snail at the same time. It has no legs so it can't move like a dog, but it can't move like a snail, either. Its eyes are on long eyestalks like a snail, but they're dog eyes. It's pretty pififul. They don't take up pet slots which is nice, but you can't get rid of it no matter what you do.
Siege Pets
If you get multiple Lemon Pets, and breed them (they only breed with each other), there is a 1 in 1000 chance that instead of another useless Lemon Pet, you get a Siege Pet. These pets are idiotically powerful, and don't take up stable slots because they're just plain too big! Plus they can't breed, and you can't sample them. They exist for one reason only- when you are in Guild vs Guild Warfare (see Combat) you are gonna want a pet so powerful that no single player, no matter who it is, is meant to be able to win against it. In fact, a full-size party is meant to fail fighting it as well. Just, you know, look out for enemy guild members that happen to be Dopplegangers (see Races). There are a lot of behavior possibilities of even the same Siege breed, but none of them can leave the House Map.
Necrotic Plants
I haven't decided exactly how to do it, but with the right combination of fertilizer, seeds, and potions- you can convert skeletal remains into a grassy pet that can go on adventures with you or guard your house. They don't get to breed and you can't sample them, though.
House Map Stock
You can have a moat, and a few other similar things you'd expect animals of some kind to be in. You can stock your moat with fish you catch out in the game world. There is even a fishmonger that stocks fish for you, so you can have fishing matches with your friends. More is described in "Personal House Map".
Passing Along Genes
Let's use a single example of a "gene" a pet might have, and what happens with it.
In another game I played, there was a trait that some pets had, called "Pack Instinct". I'm going to bring that trait as a gene to my own game.
What did "Pack Instinct" do? It increased attack accuracy, attack speed, damage, and evasion. Not a lot, but the more creatures with the same Pack Instinct (Feline, Demon, etc) attacking the same target, the better- it really stacked!
Well, we're only going with Pack Instinct as a single thing, because of the crossbreeding and genetics and such. Also a character can only have one active pet in their Ally slot anyway, so to gain benefit of Pack Instinct, you'll have to incite natural creatures to join you in battle against a foe. Far more likely you'll just make sure everyone in your party has a pet with Pack Instinct and gain the benefit that way.
Yes, a crossbred spider and genetically engineered dragon can boost one another's abilities.
Ally and Mount Slots
Characters get two slots to do with as they please.
A motorcycle counts as a vehicle, but how to you equip it? Attach it to your "Mount" slot. Now when you Mount, you'll be on your bike.
A hired NPC or pet can help you in battle in one way or another- that's the "Ally" slot.
But many people over the years (including me) have really wanted to be able to ride a pet who also fights while you're riding it- and you can do that here.
Certain pets, or robots, are sufficient to ride. They also fight. Attach the same pet, as an example, in both your "Ally" and "Mount" slot, and you can swashbuckle some monsters to death while riding by on horseback, or something.