Item Functionality

Multiple items are now fully functional and no longer require claims or application through design submissions. You can use them freely!

These items can now be used from your inventory:

- Hypnotic Cuttlefish

- Variant applicators

- Herb Paste

- Breeding Slot Applicators

- Minimal marking applicators

- Bitterroot

Additionally, Growth Serums have been updated: they now can be used as a standalone item to age your imports up by one age stage. This means that you no longer need to attach them to a quest to use them, and can use them directly from your inventory- for a maximum of 3, since there are only 3 age-ups required.

Remember that use of these items will cause a permanent change to a geno/import - be careful that you select the right one when applying items, as we won't refund them (unless in the case of a bug)!

All variant and min. mark applicators are now only usable through your inventory. You won't be able to attach these items to design submissions anymore, so make sure you use them in advance!

Item Notes

Herb Paste has been updated to be limited to one use only per geno/import.

Please note that the Hypnotic Cuttlefish is a limited-use item (one per geno/import)- if you've previously used one on a geno or import, we ask that you let us know so we can update the tag that appears on each geno/import! We've already gone through and marked off some based on our logs.
If your geno/import already has a fish icon present at the top of their page (see example), then it means we've checked it off and you don't need to notify us!

All items tagged as "applicators" in their name have been moved to the "Applicator" item category (some were previously set as geno editors)

Mottled applicators need a couple of bug fixes before they are fully functional, but they'll be coming very soon! In the meantime, you may still submit claims if you'd like to apply mottled to a geno/import.

Layout Update

Along with item updates, we've also been working on layout updates. Import pages have received a facelift under the "Info" tab- this area is now more organized and displays more cleanly!

We've got more layout updates planned for various areas of the site, so you may see things moving around or changing.

We hope you enjoy the item updates and refreshed layout! We're always keeping an eye out for any bugs, so please feel free to leave a comment here or on our Discord if you encounter anything wonky with the items.

Hello everyone! We've got a bunch of site updates and some news on current bugs. Let's get right into it!

What's new?

Site navigation
Our navigation bar has new dropdown options and a new layout to better organize our pages.

Geno sorting
You can now sort and rearrange your genos!

Folders for imports
Now you can create folders and add your imports to them to better sort your characters! Check out the Primeval Age account for an example. To create/edit/sort your imports, go to your import page. If you view your public import page, you'll need to click "Sort View" in the top right corner to be able to edit the order.
- Sorting within folders currently isn't working; we'll be updating this to work correctly later!
- The public view of your imports currently has a different order than your sorting page; this is a bug that we plan to fix soon as we can

Import profiles
Your character's "profile" information now appears as a main tab under their import image, labelled "Bio". When you edit your import's profile, this information will appear in their bio, making it more easily viewable!

Alternate import views
Imports can now display an "other side" or other alternate view for your import image! This can be used for asymmetrical designs, showing a character without scars/accessories, etc. At the moment, you can only have one "other side" displayed for your import, so choose wisely!
- If your import already has an approved "other side", please submit a claim! If the image already exists on the character, nothing else is needed! If the image is not already uploaded (such as other sides from back on dA), then you will need to provide a link to the image! This also includes "alternate versions" such as the design without scars or etc.!
- If your import does not already have an approved "other side", please submit a design update with a link to the image you want to use for your "other side"!

Loot delivery
Rewards received from quests will now go directly to your user inventory and bank, instead of to your import's inventory. Unfortunately, this means that imports will no longer be able to "hold" most items, but this should make it easier overall since you'll no longer need to manually transfer items from your imports!
- You will still be able to transfer items and currencies that are still in import inventories to your own inventory/bank as needed!

Breeding
- Imports without slots can now be used to preview clutches
- Imports with illegal base colors will now receive an error message preventing them from being submitted for breeding; to fix this, you'll need to submit a claim, and staff will correct the base in the system so that it's legal
- Breeding permission slots now only unlock once an import reaches the adult age stage, so non-adult import breeding permissions are not able to be created (permissions which already exist can be transferred freely, but new ones cannot be created until adulthood now)

Layout
Various layout fixes and adjustments around the site.

Problem Areas

Unfortunately, with the update some bugs have popped up, and not everything is working quite right. We hope to fix all of these things soon!

Breeding
Currently we're dealing with a bug that is adding a chance for clutches to roll 0 offspring. As a precaution, we've closed the clutch queue for the time being to avoid any possible issues, but will be trying to fix this bug ASAP so it can reopen!

Import folders
Previous sorting has been reset, and imports will need to be re-sorted. They will all start out in an "Unsorted" folder.
Additionally, you are currently unable to sort within a folder, and need to sort all imports from the main sorting view to determine their order (even those in folders). We're looking into ways to fix this up and make it work more smoothly!

Other
- A button has been added for searching by markings/genes, but the functionality is not finished yet, so you won't be able to search this way just yet.
- Marking page updates are in progress on site as we transfer all of our genetic info over from the Weebly, but these are still a heavy WIP! Please continue to reference the official marking guide on the Weebly for the time being

We hope you enjoy the new things! As always, feedback is welcome and appreciated with these, so feel free to leave a comment here or on our Discord if you'd like. We apologize for the long maintenance period as well as the bugs; we're doing our best to deal with them as quickly as we can, and will hopefully have things fixed up and working a bit better soon!

Activity Updates

We've made some major updates to our activities, including brand new guides on-site and new rules. 

You'll want to check out the guides to see all the new examples and get the full scope of the new info, but here are the highlights:

You may now submit up to 3 focus characters per prompt! This goes for all activities- aging quests, hunting/foraging, adventure, seasonals, and events. If you are the owner of all 3 characters, you can submit them all together in one submission (any EXP discrepancies will be adjusted manually). At this time, our coding to support focus characters from different owners in one submission is still in progress, so in these cases, each person with a focus character will need to make 1 submission per character- but they can all be depicted together, in one scene, on one background, and all will receive rewards!

Speaking of backgrounds: with the new rule of 3 focus characters per piece, we've decided to disallow split backgrounds (that is, one background with lines across it to make separate entries), since the new focus character rule functionally allows for the same thing without needing to carve the piece up! This means that each entry will need its own background, and cannot be a continuation or portion of another background that's been cut off.

Requirements have been updated! Aging quests and courtships now do not require shading. Hunting, foraging, and adventure quests will still require shading at this time, but is subject to change after the test period. Literature requirements have also been updated: activity quests now require 1,200 words, aging quests and courtships require 1,000 words, and seasonal quests require 800 words.

We've added a submission form for activities just to include some basic info! This will help us for the time being until we have more coding in place for a pre-made form and to note additional focus characters until we get the coding for 3 in one submission.

Check out the guides for the rest of the details!

These new standards are now active and are considered to be in a testing phase. We'd love to hear your feedback on this new system as you try it out! The new rules are subject to change, and we'll be adjusting things that don't end up working well.

Some loot tables were adjusted with this new system, but there were no major changes to drop rates, and the specific items/currency/etc. which drop from each prompt have not changed (besides some new boxes- see more on that below).

Minor Changes

The aging prompt Home Sweet Home has been updated to Homecoming. While similar, we've changed the wording on this prompt a bit to hopefully make it a little easier to follow the prompt! 

To work with the new multiple-focus-character system, we've updated all quest rewards to be granted to the focus character, including currency. You'll need to navigate to your import's bank in order to transfer relic bones and seasonal currency to yourself. This is an extra step that we're sure no one enjoys, but don't worry- we're already laying out plans for faster, mass transfers from characters to users, and will aim to have that coded in sooner rather than later!

As is the case with our other coding projects here- our navigation bar is pending an update to add direct links to the new quest guides! In the meantime, we've added links for the quest guide to each of the activity categories, so you can access them there if you need to check anything. 

Grace Period

Starting from today (Sep 14), there will be a 30-day grace period for pieces which follow the old standards, so if you have pieces in progress which are in compliance with the old standards, but maybe not the new ones, then you don't have to worry about changing them up. Entries with split backgrounds will still be allowed until Oct 15, as well as anything following the older rules. Please be aware that you cannot combine the old rules with the new ones; that is, you shouldn't have split background pieces with multiple focus characters, as they will not be accepted.

If you are submitting something that is following the old standards, please make sure you note it in the submission comments so staff can properly process it!

Treasure Hunt

What better way to test out the new standards than with a little exploration?

Items have washed up on Isla Kela, and the shopkeeper would like some help collecting them to restock his shop! Dinosaurs may discover some lost pieces of a map if they follow his directions. These map pieces may have many secrets to reveal. Each location will reward a certain type of box as loot as well as a piece of the map. Put together all the pieces to craft a new museum background- Time Immemorial!

You can explore each location 1 time (with 1 focus character), but you can join together with your friends if you'd like to have multiple focus characters and earn rewards together!

The new boxes dropped in each of these quests are guaranteed rewards for this treasure hunt- but you'll also be able to find them in regular hunting, foraging, and adventure quests! These boxes each contain one of our activity-exclusive backgrounds announced in the previous update as well as some additional goodies. The activity backgrounds will no longer drop on their own; instead, they'll be found inside these boxes, which you can transfer to your user inventory and open up!

The Treasure Hunt prompts are not included in the grace period and must follow the new quest standards.

TheTreasure Hunt prompts will be available for 30 days (until Oct 15 at 9:00 pm EST)!

We hope you enjoy these updates and have fun hunting for treasure!

As mentioned, we are totally open to suggestions on the new quest standards, and would love to hear your feedback. We've still got some work to do on the backend with coding in some features to help with this system, but this area is our current priority, and we hope to have this coming along soon!

And up next, once we've finished our testing phase and any adjustments with this system, we've got some exciting things in store...