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[Orbotosh]

Since we already have slugs, why not make Hermaphroditism possible ingame? Hermaphrodites would count as both [MALE] and [FEMALE] and thus could both impregnate and be impregnated.

[Dozebôm Lolumzalìs]

Could they impregnate themselves? Or is that just worms?

[Mr Frog]

Could they impregnate themselves? Or is that just worms?

There could be two separate tags for each function -- HERMAPHRODITE for creatures that require a mate to reproduce but can function as either a childbearer or impregnator, and PARTHENOGENIC for creatures that can reproduce without a partner (in which case the children will be clones of the parent). You could also make it so that PARTHENOGENIC creatures without a gender tag (MALE, FEMALE, HERMAPHRODITE) reproduce exclusively asexually, and can go either way as needed otherwise.

[IndigoFenix]

In the name of simplicity, I'd say that creatures with both the MALE and FEMALE tags should count as hermaphrodites that require a partner to reproduce, like snails.
Maybe creatures with no gender tag at all should be parthenogenic by default?  After all, we do have a STERILE tag for creatures that aren't intended to reproduce.

[Thundercraft]

In the name of simplicity...[snip]
Maybe creatures with no gender tag at all should be parthenogenic by default?  After all, we do have a STERILE tag for creatures that aren't intended to reproduce.

If the omission of any gender tags were coded to make a creature parthenogenic, that could be confusing. If things are simplified too far, it becomes confusing or easy to forget. The average person has probably never even heard of the term. And even those who know it would not assume that the lack of any gender tags would lead to self-reproduction. At least if there is a tag for PARTHENOGENIC, then it could be listed on the wiki for modders to understand. (Or they could Google it.)

That said, I like the idea of allowing a creature with both MALE and FEMALE tags to indicate something. I agree that creatures with both MALE and FEMALE tags should count as hermaphrodites, requiring a partner. But there should be a PARTHENOGENIC tag for creatures to reproduce without a partner.

BTW: Personally, I think that extremely rare fantasy creatures - such that encounters are rare and only 1 or 2 are possible in a given area - should be either parthenogenic or hermaphroditic.

[LMeire]

In the name of simplicity, I'd say that creatures with both the MALE and FEMALE tags should count as hermaphrodites that require a partner to reproduce, like snails.
Maybe creatures with no gender tag at all should be parthenogenic by default?  After all, we do have a STERILE tag for creatures that aren't intended to reproduce.

Parthenogenesis can occur in animals that do have multiple sexes though, komodo dragons apparently used it to spread their population over stretches of open water as females will lay clutches of nothing but male clones when placed in isolation.

[Dozebôm Lolumzalìs]

...the hell? I thought only female babies would be laid by female entities parthogenesising?

[Thundercraft]

...the hell? I thought only female babies would be laid by female entities parthogenesising?

Parthenogenesis is strange stuff. And rare. Basically, it's a natural form of cloning. But the Komodo Dragons LMeire mentions in his example are an unusual species, particularly with regard to sex chromosomes and reproduction.

A lot of the animals we are familiar with are mammals and typically have an X-Y sex-determination system. However, Komodo Dragons and birds have a Z-W sex-determination system. The two systems are different, and the differences explain why parthenogenesis in mammals results in female clones and parthenogenesis in Komodo Dragons results in male clones.

[GoblinCookie]

...the hell? I thought only female babies would be laid by female entities parthogenesising?

Male ants are conceived parthogenitically so not always, just usually.

[IndigoFenix]

Also, aphids can produce either female or male clones.  And some whiptail lizard species are all female and reproduce parthenogenically.

Yes, there should be a tag for parthenogenesis.  I stand by my previous statement regarding hermaphrodites.

Honestly I'd like to see more flexible methods for defining reproductive behavior.  We can also have sex changing frogs, spore reproducing plump helmet men, chest-bursting parasitoid wasp people, externally fertilizing spiders, and penis fencing flatworms.  But just plain parthenogenesis would be a good start.

[hops]

In the name of simplicity, I'd say that creatures with both the MALE and FEMALE tags should count as hermaphrodites that require a partner to reproduce, like snails.
Maybe creatures with no gender tag at all should be parthenogenic by default?  After all, we do have a STERILE tag for creatures that aren't intended to reproduce.

What about some system that allow for arbitrary amount of sexes? Weird-ass fantasy bug aliens, anyone?

[Dozebôm Lolumzalìs]

Caste systems would work for that, if a versatile and robust reproduction system is implemented.

Caste A:

Can reproduce sexually with caste c. This produces 50% a, 40% b, and 10% c.

Can parthogenesize.

Caste B:

Cannot reproduce.

Caste C:

Can reproduce sexually with caste a.

[Thundercraft]

I wanted to briefly hypothesize how these tokens might work and how they might be implemented. I'm still not very familiar with the huge number of creature tokens. But, after some digging:

Achieving the mentioned example ratio of 50% a, 40% b, and 10% c would involve weighted values with the POP_RATIO token for each caste.

HERMAPHRODITE should be easy to do. It's basically Breeding as it exists, except the species/caste is treated as both [MALE] and [FEMALE].

A [PARTHENOGENESIS] token might be a bit more difficult. In that case, the usual check for being adjacent to a creature of a compatible species and caste is skipped. Instead, it might be made dependant on other factors, such as after a given amount of time has passed since it last reproduced, after it has killed (and presumably fed), or maybe the beginning of a season, like Summer or Autumn.

Actually, for simplicity, the game could consider the number of creatures of the same species and caste in the area - and (assuming it is an adult) if it is below a certain threshhold, a random (or specified) ratio of them is allowed to reproduce. To prevent overpopulation, tokens such as FREQUENCY and POPULATION_NUMBER are respected.

The question remains, though, whether a [PARTHENOGENESIS] token should result in a clone of the same caste, or of a different caste. Having the game assume the same caste would be easier. Otherwise, for cases where there are more than two casts, some way of indicating which caste is to be cloned would be needed.

[Button]

I think this would work better if impregnation/fertilization were implemented using interactions.

The default impregnation/fertilization interaction would be implied by the [MALE] tag and would be used by non-sterile males that aren't asexual, and valid targets would be non-self members of their own species of the [FEMALE] caste. Just by setting up the ability to impregnate via reaction Toady would enable us to create pretty much any reproduction scheme we wanted.

Castes that can perform parthenogenesis would have a self-targeting fertilization interaction, with varying usage hints varying by species. It could be related to the countdown timer/dummy syndrome from the last time they were fertilized by another individual, or use if alone, or just use if not pregnant for something like an aphid.

[Dirst]

I think this would work better if impregnation/fertilization were implemented using interactions.

The default impregnation/fertilization interaction would be implied by the [MALE] tag and would be used by non-sterile males that aren't asexual, and valid targets would be non-self members of their own species of the [FEMALE] caste. Just by setting up the ability to impregnate via reaction Toady would enable us to create pretty much any reproduction scheme we wanted.

Castes that can perform parthenogenesis would have a self-targeting fertilization interaction, with varying usage hints varying by species. It could be related to the countdown timer/dummy syndrome from the last time they were fertilized by another individual, or use if alone, or just use if not pregnant for something like an aphid.

[USAGE_HINT:GREETING] ... Bonobo Fortress