Design Guide
You finally have a dinosaur! It’s now time to design it - as with most ARPGs, Primeval Age has its own design rules and guidelines that must be followed.
Designing can sometimes be stressful, and that's ok! Break things down and approach markings one at a time, and always feel free to ask for design help!
Designing can sometimes be stressful, and that's ok! Break things down and approach markings one at a time, and always feel free to ask for design help!
Step 1: Uploading Genos to the Site
Designs cannot be submitted without the geno being on the site, so this is the first step!
Since we recently moved to the site, some Genos are still on DeviantArt. If your geno is on DeviantArt, you will need to have it migrated to the site in order to use it! To do this you simply go to User > My Claims, and submit a claim with a link to the geno. One geno per claim, so if you have a thread with multiple genos, you will need to make separate claims! It will then be uploaded by a mod to your account! |
Step 2: Species and Coverings
To start your design, first look at the Species, than head over to the Import Templates page.
From here, click on the species you want to design to download the Base - you will see several options, one large standard base, and two “variant” bases
From here, click on the species you want to design to download the Base - you will see several options, one large standard base, and two “variant” bases
Primeval Age dinos come in two different Coverings: Bald and Feathered
Of these Coverings, there are Variants, which is how the covering is expressed:
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Most Genos will start out as a Standard Variant. To change them to one of the other non-Standard Variants, you will need an applicator item. These can be purchased from the Relic Bones Shop, or crafted using common quest-drop junk items
Step 3: Base & Marking Color
Now that we have the base downloaded that we want to use, the next step is to find the base color. This will be on the geno as an rgb code - so for the example rgb(153,144,144)
NOTE: If you have an old geno from DeviantArt, it might have a color written out next to the genes - this color is the base color, and has no affect on the marking colors! Markings use their own color guidelines separate from the base color!
The base color is what you must use for your dinosaur’s base.
On bald dinos, it’s the skin color, on feathered dinos, it’s the feather color.
Feathered dinos can have a slightly lighter or darker skin color if desired, a more in depth guide can be found here.
Base colors cannot have accents nor nuances - this means you cannot add slight gradients to the base without the presence of a marking!
Marking colors are not based on the base color, and instead follow their own individual marking rules!
You can choose any color as long as its not more saturated than the color palette here, though they can be less saturated. Keep in mind some markings have their own unique palettes, like Appaloosa, that must be adhered to!
Markings cannot be pure black; the darkest they can be is from the Curse swatch, found here
Markings cannot be pure white; the lightest they can be is from the Piebald swatch, found here
NOTE: If you have an old geno from DeviantArt, it might have a color written out next to the genes - this color is the base color, and has no affect on the marking colors! Markings use their own color guidelines separate from the base color!
The base color is what you must use for your dinosaur’s base.
On bald dinos, it’s the skin color, on feathered dinos, it’s the feather color.
Feathered dinos can have a slightly lighter or darker skin color if desired, a more in depth guide can be found here.
Base colors cannot have accents nor nuances - this means you cannot add slight gradients to the base without the presence of a marking!
Marking colors are not based on the base color, and instead follow their own individual marking rules!
You can choose any color as long as its not more saturated than the color palette here, though they can be less saturated. Keep in mind some markings have their own unique palettes, like Appaloosa, that must be adhered to!
Markings cannot be pure black; the darkest they can be is from the Curse swatch, found here
Markings cannot be pure white; the lightest they can be is from the Piebald swatch, found here
Step 4: Genes & Marking Ranges
Every Geno has Genes - these are the “blueprint” for what markings you are allowed to use on that particular character.
So for example lets look at this Geno: RMRM / Si / Sl
This means it has Rimmed in the Hom form, Siamese in the Het form, and Sleeves in the Het form
Every marking has two possible forms: Het or Hom - this denotes the different ranges the marking is allowed to present in, and sometimes differences in how they can be colored.
To see a marking’s info, you go to the Marking Info & Ranges page and click on the marking you want. From there you can download the marking range for the species you’re designing - markings present slightly differently on every species!
So for Rimmed, an example range looks like this
So for example lets look at this Geno: RMRM / Si / Sl
This means it has Rimmed in the Hom form, Siamese in the Het form, and Sleeves in the Het form
Every marking has two possible forms: Het or Hom - this denotes the different ranges the marking is allowed to present in, and sometimes differences in how they can be colored.
- Het Markings will always be two letters, one uppercase one lower case
- Hom Markings will always be all uppercase
To see a marking’s info, you go to the Marking Info & Ranges page and click on the marking you want. From there you can download the marking range for the species you’re designing - markings present slightly differently on every species!
So for Rimmed, an example range looks like this
- Dark Red means that's the Minimum Area a marking must be present in.
It does not need to fill that area completely, just touch it - Light Red means that’s the Het Range. Het markings cannot go beyond this range
- Yellow means that’s the Hom Range. Hom markings can extend into this range if you’d like, but it's not required!
- White means that’s out of range, markings cannot go into the white parts of their range
Step 5: Minimal Markings
Sometimes referred to as “Min Marks”, these are markings that you can apply to your dino that exist outside of the Genes! They follow the same color rules, and are not passed down genetically. There is no limit to how many min marks you can apply, however you can only apply one of each!
Most min marks are purchased from the Relic Bone shop, and a few are purchased from the seasonal currency stores!
A full guide & available marks can be found here
Most min marks are purchased from the Relic Bone shop, and a few are purchased from the seasonal currency stores!
A full guide & available marks can be found here
Step 6: Dimorph Markings
Male dinosaurs can have a special free-form marking with its own rules, that can be passed down to offspring!
They can be any color (natural or unnatural) and may mimic other markings! Dimorphic markings can affect any part of the dinosaur other than the teeth! The dimorphic must also be visible (ie: no colored blood, ect) A full guide can be found here. Female dinos can also have a non-genetic dimorph marking if you apply a Parallel Dimorph item. This means they will show a dimorph on their design, but it won’t get passed down to offspring. Parallel Dimorphs must still follow the normal dimorph rules |
Final Step: Submitting Your Design!
Make sure you save your design as a transparent PNG at the same resolution as the file you downloaded, with a transparent background & the credits. Backgrounds are automatically added by the site, so do not include them!
Once your design is ready to submit, you will hit the ‘Submit Design’ button on the geno’s site page.
You can also save your design submission as a draft if you're not ready to submit it - as long as the design form is not submitted, it will remain as a draft unless you delete!
When a mod checks it, if any edits are needed you will get the request sent back to you as a draft so you can upload a corrected import image. When it's made into an import it'll be added to your page!
Once your design is ready to submit, you will hit the ‘Submit Design’ button on the geno’s site page.
- From there, you will click Create Request, which will bring you to the design request page.
- Here you'll need to go through each of the tabs (Comments, Masterlist Image, Add-Ons, and Adjustments) and add any needed info & hit save. You'll know a tab is good to go when it has a green circle on it!
- In the comments box you can provide links to making breakdowns, "other sides" for asymmetrical designs, or any other comments for the approving mods to consider when checking the design!
- For the Masterlist Image, this is where you upload the import with the transparent bg. You will also use the cropping tool on the page to create your imports thumbnail!
- AddOns is where you'll attach any items such as min marks, or geno editors
- Adjustments are if any items you added changed something like the dimorph color. In most cases you'll just leave this page as-is
- On the Status Tab you can then hit "Submit Request" to submit your design! When a mod checks it, if any edits are needed you will get the request sent back to you as a draft so you can upload a corrected import image.
You can also save your design submission as a draft if you're not ready to submit it - as long as the design form is not submitted, it will remain as a draft unless you delete!
When a mod checks it, if any edits are needed you will get the request sent back to you as a draft so you can upload a corrected import image. When it's made into an import it'll be added to your page!