This model was conceived by the marvelous Maulise (#32469) and I over a few months of chatting back and forth, and with the implementation of the new genetics model, we thought it was time to propose our eye color model, too. The basic concept of this system will be familiar to most of you, as it has a similar structure to the current base coat model.

We felt that, because base colors have an inheritance system, eye colors should follow suit. Although a lion/ess' eye color makes up a tiny fraction of its actual surface area, many of us have come to appreciate eye color as a lovely finishing touch that can make or break the overall appearance and value of our pride members. Eye color is relatively expensive to change and can also carry high market value, and we believe that Liodenners would appreciate a model that would allow us to have some control over the inheritance of eye color while allowing for variation and even a slight chance to be surprised with a rarer form than either parent (Hetero eyes). With that said, this is the model we're proposing:

Like the coat color inheritance system, this model uses the factors of Color Group (Warm, Neutral, and Cool), Shade/Range (Dark vs Light), and Rarity (Common, Special, and Hetero). These factors are inherited exactly as they are in the base coat model (based on parents' Group/Shade/Rarity only). Here is the organization we're proposing:




You will notice that the Neutral/Dark/Special color, Charcoal, doesn't exist on Lioden. We're proposing it here because it not only fills out the model, but because we both like the color, which is based on a base field of Gray with a center of Jet.

Commons and Specials could behave exactly like their base color counterparts, i.e. Commons have a higher chance of yielding Commons and likewise with Specials and Heteros (perhaps the same drop rate %'s could be adopted). Hetero could behave as the group commonly referred to as "Super-Specials" (Celestial, Blush Rose, Sepia, etc) where one parent must have Hetero eyes in order to produce them except in a rare circumstance discussed below. Sectorals could behave like Common, Special, or Super-Special bases, depending on the wishes of the dev's.

Hetero colors are sorted by which color is listed first, i. e., Brown/Blue is Warm/Dark like Brown whereas Blue/Brown is Cool/Dark like Blue. Sectoral colors' placement are based on which color is most dominant/covers more surface area. Amber and Ice was placed in the Warm/Light Composite category because there's more Amber in the base layer than there is Ice. Glass and Jasper, colors that contain Brown, Blue, and Green, were placed in Cool/Dark because Green and Blue are Cool and Brown and Blue are Dark. Placement can be difficult at first, but once the categories are set, most fall into place rather logically!

We have three ways in which this model varies slightly from the coat color model.

* First, we'd like to suggest Hazel as a breed-only or customizable color that can be obtained by breeding a specific combination of eye colors together (we suggest Warm/Dark X Cool/Light, as Hazel appears to be a combination of both of these colors) or maybe Olive and Brown. Perhaps breeding two Hazel parents could yield a higher drop rate of Hazel in the offspring. It could also be attainable via an Eye Changer or in customized/Oasis individuals as it is now.

- Jan. '16 addendum: while chatting about this model with Xylax, he expressed a desire to have certain eye colors be the result of specific combinations and not available simply by customizing. I liked this idea, so I came up with combinations for each group (warm vs neutral vs cool; dark vs light):

Warm/Dark: Albinoid + Cognac = Tyrian
Warm/Light: Bronze + Earth = Sunstone
Neutral/Dark: Jet + Malachite = Charcoal
Neutral/Light: Gray + Seafoam = Silver
Cool/Dark: Green + Olive = Jade
Cool/Light: Mint + Ice = Paradise

Obviously, not all of these are necessary, but I wanted to give plenty of options, especially on behalf of the creator of these lovely colors (and a helluva pal to boot!).

* Second, we'd like to propose a rare chance (perhaps as small as 2%) of Hetero eyes occurring in offspring of non-Hetero parents. Depending on the wishes of the dev's, there could be a correlation between the eye color of the parents and the type of Hetero that is passed on to the offspring. For example, if a Green-eyed lion is bred to a Blue-eyed lioness, any Hetero's born would have a higher likelihood on being Gr/Bl or Bl/Gr. Another method of determining what type of Hetero could be produced might include those in their Color Groups. Here's how this could behave:
~ Blue (Cool/Dark/Common) X Green (Cool/Light/Common) = Blue/Brown, Blue/Green, and Green/Blue
~ Sapphire (Cool/Dark/Special) X Green = Blue/Brown, Blue/Green, Green/Blue Ice/Sapphire, Green/Emerald, Emerald/Green, Sapphire/Ice
~ Sapphire X Emerald could yield the same possibilities as Sapphire X Green, but perhaps increase the chances of Hetero eyes that contain a Specials color, such as Ice/Sapphire, etc.

* Third, Maulise really liked the idea of a correlation between Blue/Green and Green/Blue and Albino (also possibly White and/or Vanilla), which mirrors Odd-Eyed White in domestic cats. Perhaps the incidence of these Het's could increase slightly from 2% to 3% in a single-parent (Albino/White/Vanilla) breeding and perhaps increase to 5% in Albino/White/Vanilla X Albino/White/Vanilla breedings.

Note: I'd like to refrain from suggesting any other drop rate percentages here because we'd prefer to leave that up to the dev's!

We hope that this model appeals to all players the way it does to us, and we look forward to hearing your feedback! Thanks for taking the time to read this suggestion! {:o)