Helpful Tips?

[Atlas]

I just bought Niche and I'm so excited, however I have been having a bit of diffucukty keeping a tribe alive. Any helpful tips to survive and thrive?

[Green Griffin]

Breed like crazy in the begining! The more babies you have, the better your chances are :)

[Kiwasi]

Breed. Breed. Breed. Everything in the game is based around breeding

Every single female should be pregnant all of the time. Keep a few breeding pairs with the best phenotypes near each nest. Put a new pair on a nest as soon as you discover it.

Each turn you should collect all the food you have available. Then your breeding pairs should take their actions. Then everyone else. Don't worry about starving, your breeding pairs should be replacing individuals as fast they die.

Remember the game is about population genetics, not individual genetics. Don't be afraid to starve out any individual that doesn't meet your goals. In particular anybody that's blind, has no attack, or no berry gathering ability should be starved out. In many ways the game is about managing who dies rather then who lives.

[PRESIDENTE]

Remember the game is about population genetics, not individual genetics. Don't be afraid to starve out any individual that doesn't meet your goals. In particular anybody that's blind, has no attack, or no berry gathering ability should be starved out. In many ways the game is about managing who dies rather then who lives.

[mbiggiani]

I usually put the creatures with "bad" genetics (i.e. spit snouts, blind) on berry bushes, and breed up creatures with the best attack and berry picking.

Try to keep your genetic diversity high. If you have a low amount of immunity genes, your creatures will get sick easier.

[TheHamsterWho]

I'm a newbie myself. What I've learned is make sure you have food, make sure you have creatures who have good attack, and keep females who are on the island with wandering males away from the grass. You should also use the mutation menu to help breed better babies.

[ChaoticEnergy]

Well, with my understanding I'd say
1: be SURE to get food! Or else your creatures will get a lot of damage!
2: don't listen to the people talking about breeding, because soon the game will update and having large tribes will be more of a hassle then a need! Breed when needed (ie: low tribe population, beginning)
3: if you have to rely on horny males/etc if your tribe gets too low or you run out of males, do it, don't risk dieing out. Who cares about bad genetics when you're about to die.
4: DO NOT SEND FEMALES OR BLIND CREATURES EXPLORING. THAT WILL ONLY RESULT IN UNWANTED NEWS.
5: keep in mind, blind creatures are of course, blind. If you have them keep them close to other tribe members. Because if they're near a dark tile and a carnivore spawns there, they WILL suffer and you wont see it if they're the only one near it.
6: For god's sake, don't inbreed, especially on the second island. That will lead to double immunity genes and swamps are VERY common on the second island, and will most likely get your creatures sick FAST
7: Don't hit dodomingos unless you HAVE TO. They bring more over, they're hard to kill and they don't give much food

[FroBodine]

richardbgubb - you wrote, "Keep a few breeding pairs with the best phenotypes near each nest."

What are the phenotypes, please?

[ChaoticEnergy]

I believe it means the best genes for the group..

[ChaoticEnergy]

ie: claw/horns/berrypaws/whatever else.

[MerAndFrog]

Originally posted by FroBodine:

richardbgubb - you wrote, "Keep a few breeding pairs with the best phenotypes near each nest."

What are the phenotypes, please?

Originally posted by So done.:

I believe it means the best genes for the group..

Actually, phenotypes are the expression of genes, genotype are the genes. So an animal might have a white/brown fur genotype, which expresses in a light brown phenotype. Biology!

As for strategy, if you are struggling to survive, it is best to first breed a well-rounded animal and secure a good food income, and then you can go crazy with breeding or explore harder islands. I like breeding in one gene and then the next generation by generation.
For me my games always start with putting runner paws in the mutation slot, and trying to breed a male and female that have different immunity genes to get rid of Adam's no-paw gene. Then I put the next gene I want to mutate in the slot, try for a breeding pair that has 1 of that gene between the two of them, next generation I try for both of them having 1 of that gene, so 2 between the two of them, then 3, then 4 so all of their offspring will have that gene. Rinse and repeat for the next gene. I like my animals with runner legs + horns + big body, so they are strong against predators but can still collect enough berries.
As for food, I collect as many berries as I can every turn, the animals that are not collecting will explore, and once they find a berry bush they will spend the rest of their life next to it collecting.

I hope this will help you get started, if you have any more questions, feel free to ask!

[FroBodine]

This is great stuff! Thank you leydaa. I hope the developers plan on adding a tutorial or a good manual at some point. Absolutely nothing is explained right now, except for the very few screenshots with callouts in the ? option, which barely explains anything about the game mechanics.

[MerAndFrog]

Originally posted by FroBodine:

This is great stuff! Thank you leydaa. I hope the developers plan on adding a tutorial or a good manual at some point. Absolutely nothing is explained right now, except for the very few screenshots with callouts in the ? option, which barely explains anything about the game mechanics.

I have no doubt that they will, but rather near the end of the game, because they are currently still implementing new mechanics that will also need to be put in the tutorial ;)

[babeetus]

This one isn't one to help you for survival or anything, but if u wanna make some nice screenshots, press F12. And if u want even nicer ones, press U first, all the buttons and ur cursor will disappear. Just press U again to make them appear again!

[cryptid]

Well, look at my guide, 'Questions???' and ask everything you need to there!

[FroBodine]

Where is your guide please, tameraroberson? I don't see your name on anything in the Steam guides section. Nor do I see any guide titled "Questions???"