Leaderboard

So basically I've seen a couple of people doing playthroughs (idk if thats what its called or not but I'm just going to go with it haha) of their Niche saves so I think I'll do that too (in story mode, by the way), since it seems like a neat idea!! By the way, I'm new here so if I do anything wrong, please tell me!! Also, quick warning, I'm not exactly familiar with the terminology of all the different things in the game, so if something's unclear, sorry!!

My brain literally will do anything to get away from doing something productive. Basically yesterday I went to Target, got some gelato, did my makeup, took it off because it looked bad, painted my nails, ate some pasta, drew a whole sketch, played Niche for an hour, and texted for a bit so I didn't have to do homework. Am I the only procrastinator here, and if you procrastinate too, what's the worst bit of procrastination you've ever done?

Hi, my name's caracaal and I'm new! I'm not exactly sure how this place works, but I've been looking around the Niche discussions for a couple days and this seems like a pretty cool place!! idk how I didn't find this place sooner; I've been playing Niche for around two years (I found Niche in November 2016) and I've loved it ever since!! So anyways, I don't quite know how this whole thing works but I suppose I'll figure it out soon enough, haha

Alright so I've created my new save and named it "Playthrough Boi" so that's fun So of course we're starting off with stripey child Adam, as usual.I'm not sure why my mouse pointer was that far up, but moving on.. He's so far away from the port! Anyways, Adam ended up getting to the new island on the fifth day of his existence? time away from his home island? either way, it's been five days. It's fairly big for only the second island!And I've found Eve!! She's actually very pretty, and I'm not sure if its visible, but she has blue eyes. Maybe she can pass those on to her kids (hopefully).On the seventh day (Adam's second day on the second island) Eve is pregnant. I was looking at memes a second ago so I'll be using memes for the names of their kids So Adam and Eve's first baby is born and he's an unfortunate shade of yellow, but that's ok. He's called Kuvan, and since I'm feeling uncreative, I'm going to wait to give him his meme nameAnd there's the second baby, Vankukir, he's pink. And much prettier than his brother, honestly..On day 12, Eve is pregnant again because I want a baby girl or at least one with a claw; claws could be useful on future islands.So it's ANOTHER boy.. But, I mean, he has a claw and poison fangs, so I'll take it! He also looks essentially like a clone of his oldest brother (at least in colouring), Coincidentally his name is Vanku, which is basically his brother's when you reverse the syllables, so that's kinda fitting. Anyways, I'm going to breed Adam and Eve one last time before I move everyone to the next island, so Eve will be pregnant when they get there.The whole family's ready to move to the next island! Off topic, but I've decided not to give them meme names unless I have some massive wave of motivation to think properly within the next five minutes. Anyways, fifteenth day, next Island:To be continued when I have a functioning brain and have made a dent in the massive pile of homework I'm currently suffocating under.

They always take the good babies... 😿

I actually had a picture commissioned for a character I played. This was Vincent Dru'gotti, who went by the moniker of Lurker, to those who hadn't earned his name. He's a rogueish sort who was a teddy bear to those he knew and trusted, but I aimed for 'unmitigated brutality' in his dealings with people he didn't know well. The art is by the talented Gin May, who it appears hasn't posted new artwork in a while. Her B&W work is fantastic, which is why I decided against color on this one.

I remember playing a couple FFRP chatrooms for years; it's good to be able to just drop in to someplace active whenever the mood strikes you. But we got a lot of exactly what you describe, even with rules written about the need not to 'godmode'. (Eye Dee Dee Cue Dee, game over!) There was enough lameness to go around. We had one nerf-herder who played a character that couldn't die, but still went and dramatically committed suicide on a regular basis. We all started making a joke of it, competing to be the most nonchalant while he was lamenting his fate. One of my favorite lines in response was 'Huh. It must be Tuesday.'

1. It depends. Sometimes I leave them be if their genes are super awful and they are ugly, but if they are cute I will invite them in regardless! (See my last post of my journal to see an example) 2. I would isolate it from the others or release them far away from my tribe. 3. I agree. If I have a nice setup I will try to fight it off. If not I would run. 4. Most definitely wait! Unless everyone is about to die. 5. Keep the child!! Especially if it was in my bird tribe... I NEEEEED those bearyena hindlegs

Unless it's a horny male, I'd just ignore it. I'd make the nearest creature alpha and the sickly child an omega two days later. Then bing bing boom, they're exiled and I have them killed. Just run. It's not worth it. If they can only move one tile, then I'd just abandon them. INVITE THE BABY AND ENSLAVE IT FOR ITS GENES

So, here's some questions for everybody. Answer with how you would normally react if the event occurred in your tribe. A Wanderer with bad genes appears. What will you do with them? A sickly baby is born, and you don't want it in your tribe. What will you do with them? A Bearyena appears, and all your creatures only have one strength. Do you fight it off and suffer the consequences, or run and hope for the best? One of your favorite creatures is really slow, and gets left behind when the tribe heads for the port. Do you wait for them, or go on ahead without them? A Bearyena appears, and you kill it. It has a baby, and the tribe has an okay amount of food. What do you do? My answers: Well, I have a habit of killing the creatures I don't like, soo... If they're really cool, I'll probably keep them. If not, I usually let them get taken by a bluebird, or if I want to be really extreme, say they 'absolutely LOVE the water' and drown them. Probably fight it off while my best creatures run. Probably wait. Unless I really wanted some Bearyena Genes, I'd kill the baby.

1. They can still join my tribe anyway. Besides, it's still a chance to bring fresh blood into my tribe if I breed them with someone else to produce better children. Now, if they're bad enough that it's not worth breeding them and they can't be used for anything, then they become ape/bearyena/balance bear fodder. 2. I think it's cruel to kill or banish a baby just because it has bad genes. A few bad genes can be corrected if they breed with someone with better genes. Besides, I almost never have totally useless creatures. 3. If I have a decent amount of creatures, I fight it. In the bleak situation where I do have to run, then it's usually because my tribe is too small, in which case I'm pretty much screwed anyway. 4. It depends. If I intend to breed them, or if their ability to do something outweighs their slowness, then they're staying. If they're one half of a close couple, I don't like separating them from their partner. Otherwise, if they are very old or truly useless, then I leave them. 5. What if I end up in a situation where there aren't enough males to breed with my females?

1. Usually ignore it but if they take my food, kill or attack it. If it's a male and he doesn't have the worst genes or has new immunities or is pretty I'll have one of my females breed with him then ignore him. 2. Usually put it by a berry bush and have it collect there until it dies. If there's another sick baby I'll put them together and they can be friends. 3. Check the amount of time the Bearyena has left till it dies, and if it's low, gather my least favourite creatures in a circle around the Bearyena and kill it, even if it takes two days. Then stop the survivors' bleeding and go on with life. 4. It depends on how many days it'll take for it to get over. If I have a pair of mates that would get too old to have more than one or two kids, I'll leave the other creature behind. 5. Invite the baby immediately, Bearyena genes can be super useful, especially if the tribe has a lot of shared immunity genes.

This is the follow-up (not exactly a sequel) to "Expression" and "Unarmored". Remember the infuriatingly persistent guy our heroine hated so much from the first entry? They finally go to the woods he mentioned. I really like this one. There's good chemistry in these two. The personalities really intertwine into an experience for the reader, I think. I hope. I'm 99% certain that's supposed to be a girl on the guitar, (I seem to recall from comments on the art,) but the first rule of writing prompts is that you don't have to stick to the prompt. Impression Artwork:RV, by Kleg(DeviantArt) Original The RV – and me, laying on top of it – came into sight on the laptop’s screen as I piloted the drone up the hillside. My fingers danced over the keyboard, angling the camera to keep the RV in view. I eased the drone into the corridor that the road carved through the forest, and had it shed altitude as it closed in for a landing. As it settled to the roof beside me, I saw myself through the drone’s camera, shadowed but illuminated by the laptop’s screen. I smiled to see myself, and I watched my lips twitch into a smile. I’d never quite get used to that. I turned onto my side to dismounting the camera from the drone, connecting it to my laptop. I heard the ping that indicated the footage was downloading. It was a digital camera, of course. I typically shunned digital cameras as being the tool of the unskilled, but I needed lightweight video, and lightweight video meant digital. I looked up from my perch atop the RV’s roof and looked at Brian’s back. He was perched on the hood, playing his guitar. The drone’s noise hadn’t disturbed him – I wasn’t even sure he’d noticed it. He looked entranced, and suddenly I didn’t want to interrupt him. I watched him and listened as he played. He’d seemed so shallow when we met. A boy is looking to get friendly with a girl. But his interest in my photography had been genuine, and he respected my boundaries; boundaries that shrank, as my trust in him grew. Though we had different talents, we were each interested in each other’s work, and we both wanted to be good at what we did. You could tell how much he put into his music just from moments of listening, the notes sweet and smooth as honey, each one carrying you into the next. I couldn’t see his face, but I knew his eyes were closed, his brow furrowed with focus. The last notes trailed off, and I knew it’d only be a few moments before he started something new; this was my chance to interrupt. “I got the video.” “Oh, cool!” He hopped off the hood, setting the guitar carefully in its case. “Let me see. Where did you go?” He climbed up the ladder to join me on the roof, laying on his stomach beside me as I cued up the footage. “I took it down the hill to the river, and kept her low,–” “Her?” “–Yes, her.” My tone challenged him to laugh – to his credit, he did not. “I kept her low all the way up over the river, and came back when the signal got weak. Look. I caught a bear.” He smiled, and I felt his arm around my waist, felt his warmth close as he watched with me. With anybody else I’d dated, I would get uncomfortable, but with him, I trusted his intent. I couldn’t let him get too confident, though. He’d get cocky. “Watch it there, mister.” “Yeah, yeah.” He knew I wasn’t too serious. But he also knew that I wasn’t a ‘no means maybe’ kind of girl. He lifted his arm, settling it between us, and his fingers laced through mine as we watched the video run. “You weren’t afraid it’d go down in the water?” “I was terrified. It was worth it.” I felt my cheeks heating up as he squeezed my hand. Sometimes I hated the way I couldn’t keep myself from smiling or blushing around him. Nothing else made me feel less in control of myself. But nothing else made me feel like he did, either. It was terrifying. It was worth it. The video was ending, and I saw the scene where I came into view. I watched the girl on the screen see herself on the screen. She smiled to see herself from an unusual perspective, and then the image froze, the video over. “I don’t know how you do it. You always just seem to know how to look at things.” “It’s not about me knowing how to look. Well, it’s that, too.” I squeezed his hand, then pulled his arm over my back, leaning into his warmth. The same grip I’d warned him about before, but this time it was my choice. For some reason, it was better that way. “You also like looking at things the same way I like to.” “If I recall, the very first time I met you, I said that your choice of subject matter was ugly, and stank. But that photo was amazing.” “If I recall, I also told you I didn’t need you.” “And now?” I was quiet for a minute. His question was . . . complicated. “I don’t . . . I’m not a girl who needs people. But I want to be with you anyway. Is that okay?” He smiled, and I felt his lips brush my temple, and my cheeks burned. “That sounds exactly like you, so honest it hurts sometimes. But don’t ever stop being you. I wouldn’t like you so much if you weren’t you.” I pulled my laptop closed, and burrowed into his side, wishing I could hide my face. “Will you play some more, tonight?” I felt his fingers scratching at my back. I tried not to give away how nice it felt, but I’d already let out a contented sigh. Where did that come from? His voice was close enough to feel his breath on my ear when he replied. “Sure. For you.” I shivered from the spill of his breath over my skin. How does he do that to me? He got up, then, and climbed back down to the ground. It was getting darker, and we’d have to go in soon. For now, he perched on an old fallen tree and lifted the guitar from the case. He strummed the strings, and I climbed down to sit on the steps by the vehicle’s door, watching him. I could see his thoughts on his face as he sought a song. He was listening to the lingering notes, and I could see him looking for a song in them. I saw it in the furrow of his brow when he found it, the moment his seeking became determination, and his fingers began to dance on the strings. He opened his eyes to look at me, and I knew he wasn’t just playing for me, but to me. I once found myself surprised that this boy might have a chance with me. Tonight, I felt the same thing all over again when I realized that I might love him.

So this is kind of random but I have a question-- I've seen a few people doing playthroughs (if that's the right word, I'm not quite sure), and I realized that they were for a challenge that's closed. But I was wondering if it's okay for me to do something similar but unrelated to the challenge, like just documenting a new game that I'm starting? I just want to make sure I don't do something that I shouldn't, lol

for some reason, I saw 'the meaning of home' and thought 'Ohana means family'. Then my demented mind took a side detour through the wrong part of town, and I was suddenly stuck with an image of a marine with akimbo machine guns firing into the night screaming "OHANA MEANS NOBODY GETS LEFT BEHIND!" I'm done. That will be all.

Papyrus 115, the oldest known copy of revelations, notes the number of the beast as 616 - other ancient sources, such as the Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus agree, and some Greek translations noted 616 as a variant. General wisdom accepts 666 as the correct number, though. Irenaeus in the second century wrote a text suggesting that the greek character Xi was mistranscribed into the character Iota early on, which in the numerical system turned a 50 into a 10, and most people knowledgeable about the subject conclude that 666 is probably the correct translation.

I had that happen to me too. Sucks. Luckily a teck savy friend of my mom saved all of my data. Hope you get it all sorted

1. I invite them in. Don't need to breed them but usually find something for them to do. 2. Keep it around but make sure it doesn't get anybody else sick or if there is a bluebird see if it wants the baby (they usually only want my tribe babies and not rogue male babies pfff) 3. Fight it. I fight almost everything. 4. If it is one of my favs, I probably need it for the journey so we'll wait. 5. Depends on the story. Usually I invite them in but the last few tribes I had usually killed it because of revenge and stuff.

Depends on their age,aesthetic, immunity, andhow bad i need new blood. probably ignore it I always check my gene immunity before i breed, but usually i kill or banish them if it does ever somehow happen. Fight it off and suffer the consequences. Depends on how old they are. Tame it! I love bearyena genes.

If I have a lot of food, I'll take them in. If I don't love it, I'll leave it to the birds. If it survives, it will live it's life far away from everyone else, maybe even find love? Everyone repeats this: Move next to it -> Attack once -> Flee If It's the only one with an important gene, I'll wait Of course I'll tame it! It will hunt for me, protect my nichelings against other bearyenas and it could be a good mate!

1. There are always jobs open in grass cleaning. 2. If there is a bluebird around, I'll risk it. Otherwise, they can just collect food or help explore. 3. I've murdered a surprising amount of bearyenas with only one strenght for challenges. I don't mind if some die, as cruel as it is, it's expected. 4. I like to move with as few creatures as possible. 3 in the jungle, 2 everywhere else. 5. They're invited.

1. Kill it. We don't need it stealing our food. 2. Keep them at least one tile away from everyone else, but use them as a normal nicheling. If they have good genes aside from the immunity, perhaps breed them with someone. Maybe use them to pick toxic berry bushes. 3. Attack it with the creatures closest to it one time, then have everyone run as far away into the grass as possible. 4. Wait for them if their genes would be useful in the place we're going to, but leave them if not. 5. Take it in if we don't have enough strength already.

I actually did some research and the number 666 is associated with Satan, and that idea was first brought up in the New Testament and the Book of Revelation that it was Satan's number. It was later popularized in modern culture as such. Also no I totally didn't go on Wikipedia

Me: Oh, I wanna draw [insert somebody's name here]! *starts to make out the face. all seems to be well, except...* Damn! The right eye is too big! *erases right eye and makes it smaller so it compares to the left eye* wait... that smile with the new eye makes him look drunk. *erases smile and fixes it so he's frowning* now he just looks mad. *erases and tries to make a smile again... casually fails and makes him look drunk again* GAHHHHHHHHHHH *erases mouth and throws sketchbook out of window*

I think it would be really cool if there were some reptile-inspired genes in the game! Some reptiles these genes could come from might be: Camouflaging skin (Patterns Section) that gives added camouflage in any environment. Inspired by chameleons. Prehensile Tail that gives +3 Climbing to climb coconut/oak/jungle trees, to hide from predators or collect extra coconuts/acorns. Inspired by many climbing reptiles. Independent Eyes that give +3 Eyesight. Inspired by chameleons. Scaly Body, a negative trait that causes the creature to become too hot or too cold easily in extreme environments. Inspired by reptiles in general.

A Wanderer with bad genes appears. What will you do with them? I often kill nichelings with bad genes unless im desperate for genes A sickly baby is born, and you don't want it in your tribe. What will you do with them? I either send them off on their own, or feed them to birds/predators at a young age A Bearyena appears, and all your creatures only have one strength. Do you fight it off and suffer the consequences, or run and hope for the best? i have some attack/destract it, while others run One of your favorite creatures is really slow, and gets left behind when the tribe heads for the port. Do you wait for them, or go on ahead without them? i always make my best go first, so this often never happens. If were not in a rush, then we wait. If we are, we leave them. A Bearyena appears, and you kill it. It has a baby, and the tribe has an okay amount of food. What do you do? By "ok" i assume you mean mid amount (say alot is 100, ok would be 50) i would probably invite it, then if we need food later well eat the baby

Hi! Welcome to the forums @caracaal! This suggestion is similar to these:

Oh no! That is a very bed number...

Oh alright, that makes more sense! Thanks for the help!!

Sure. None of these are contests or anything. These forums are pretty open; the developers are basically just providing a space for people to get talking. The rules are pretty much don't be a jerk, don't spam us, and try to avoid obscenity if you can help it. Beyond that, go nuts; people who posted their playthroughs are pretty much just writing whatever they like, so feel free to do the same. Write the story of the glorious battle your nichelings died in, and how they find Valhalla when they arrive, if you like. Go nuts.

Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it! This is later than normal because of the holiday and work and Breath of the Wild and Stardew Valley and stuff. --- 3 - Arya's Era (A.K.A. - Chess Complains About the Kids) Arya and Chess's first child is a little Blueberry boy named Roro. Meisra isn't really sure what to think of her new nephew. Isra decides she'll watch over the new kit. It's not really fair to make her little sister do it. So she makes her way back to the family. The tribe is finally reunited. And so the little mustard child grows up. She finally earns her truename, Marigold. Arya quickly becomes pregnant with her second child. The whole family celebrates the birth of the little striped Kirkuta. Roro, as curious as her mother was as a kit and twice as energetic, wants to know when the new kit can play with him. Even the stagmoles forget their fear to see the new child. Adam sees this as an omen -- surely this means his new grandson will sire great hunters. Later, Eve tells Adam that she's pregnant again, and the whole tribe celebrates. Adam finds a permanent nesting spot for his eldest daughter. At the same time, Arya tells Chess she's pregnant with their third kit. Chess, already feeling a bit overwhelmed by their hyperactive kids, doesn't really know what to say. Meanwhile, Roro and Kirkuta adore their little uncle. They spend all their time with Eve and the kit. They grow up together, more like brothers and best friends than uncle and nephews. Together they get into all sorts of trouble, chasing rabbils and keeping crabbits as secret pets. The stagmoles still visit Kirkuta occasionally. He's now old enough to notice how unusual it is. "I think it's time we retire after this one," Arya tells her mother. Little Dukduk isn't nearly as much of a handful as his brothers were. The strange silver-striped kit is as calm and serious as his brothers are mischievous. "Besides, Chess is a little overwhelmed right now. It would do him good to have a break." "A break from what?" Kirkuta asks. "From trying to rein you in all the time," Chess answers, and pounces on the kit, tickling him. Kirkuta runs off, laughing. Suddenly, he notices something strange at the edge of camp. A strange nicheling is talking to the stagmoles. She's even attracted a rabbil. Kirkuta had thought he was the only one the stagmoles spoke to. Her name is Memeis. She's a shy little orphan. When Kirkuta takes her to the tribe's main camp, she looks around her with wonder. The boys insist that she'll fit right in. She joins their group in their adventures, though she remains a little overwhelmed by the adults. Also, Meisra receives her truename, Draia. She's grown up into a quiet, hardworking beta female who always puts the interest of the clan in front of herself. She takes little Memeis under her wing, raising her as if she were her own. And so another era ends. There is only one problem -- none of Arya's boys are old enough to lead. TBC...

They have Brokenminnow, an intimidating warrior she-cat. The clan is running low on food, and many are starving. Birchstar works to specifically keep himself and Brokenminnow alive, keeping his promise to Yarrowleap to continue her story. it's rough keeping the both of them fed and he has to get aggressive to keep her working, but the both of them keep going. Birchstar is on his fifth life now. Brokenminnow is mated with by a rogue male and has a kit. She has Seedpuddle, a positive kit with talent. The clan finds Slightscar, an apprentice. He is frightened in the rain and is taken in. He grows up with Seedpuddle, and falls in love with her due to her optimism. They become mates. They have Flybite, a peaceful cat. However, the celebration is short lived, for a predator comes after the clan. Seedpuddle leaps into battle, though she is still a queen. She sustains minor injuries but comes out, for the most part, unharmed. Another apprentice enters the clan. Her name is Sparkrose. She is grateful for being let into the clan and is a stalwart defender of it- even if she gets TOO angry sometimes. Birchstar is now on his sixth life. She and Flybite have a kit. She is named Seedfoot, after the likeness to her grandmother. She is a below average warrior, which frustrates her. However, it increases her attraction to a wanderer named Frostpad, an athlete, who comes in when she is also a warrior. They have Hollymist, an anxious she-kit who wants t be like her father.

i just can't

Too... much... yellow... NO While Kinarri distracts it, the rest of the tribe collects their babies and run. Luckily, the Ape spawned in the part with thorns and bushes blocking it from where the tribe is going. No! Kinarri! The tribe has found two sisters who guide the tribe away from the Hearing Ape and to the nearest port. In their haste, the Tribe picks the nearest port, a flower one. They leave behind Neah, Lemar, and Evar, along with the bones of elders who didn't make it (including Milady and the grief-stricken Merlady- Milady had twins on her second-to-last day, who are going to the new island) The new island! (a day later) Woah! Apparently Toxic Body (from Jungla) is dominant over Spiky Body.

😱

Not as grand or silly as other posts in this thread, but I've been experimenting with using spring-cushioned jaws for collection missions.

Since competition is a big part of animal survival, I think it'd be super cool if it was in Niche!

My warriors fursona/OC is struggling with her feelings because everyone is ditching the clan for pathetic reasons lol

I was actually drawing (correction: Trying to draw) Nichlings earlier and I couldn't get THE DING DANG DOODLING eyes to be even.

Literally me. Also it depends on the person you are trying to draw. I can draw one of my younger sisters realistically pretty spot on. Her twin (fraternal ofc) looks either like an old lady or an ape every time I draw to draw her realistically ;-; One of the reasons I stick with cartoon style. Even then it will still fail me sometimes, lol

Sorry this response is super late but here is my Adam clone (Adam's bones are the ones closest to the front of the screen)

Don't forget an input for the reset 👍

The Unity UI Plugin is a pain in the ..... to use, but we also thought about adding the possibility to freely add more input/outputs (as the player wishes). I can't say if we'll implement that, but it would be interesting of course. upvote

This, plus the timing stuff coming up, would make sequential, animated motions a LOT easier. These could control phase 1, phase two, phase three, etc of a sequence of timed motions.

What do you mean "too far"?! For all I know, creatures have amazing- My creatures have the breeding success rate of a rabbit

Rara the Ferncloud...

What do mean, 'no crabbits'?

Share all the stuff that happened to your Nichelings while they were in the jungle here! R.I.P.... R.I.P. a female whose father was a rogue-male, a beloved female, and their two rogue-born sons. Oh, look, an Ape and a Rogue Male are here too. Last and not least, Mekoko, the Goddess of Trickery. (She appeared to the same tribe as the one just above) First of all, she appeared to a Nicheling who was inside a carnivorous plant as his relative tried to help get him out. I thought she was trying to save this poor creature at first, but after the next event it looks more like she was helping the plant eat its victim. Eee. Then, as two females who were pregnant with a Rogue Male's children were searching for a safe place away from the carnivorous plants and sickness bugs, Mekoko appeared yet again. The two females followed her, expecting a safe place. They found a place seemingly safe,and had their sons. Later, as these two mothers were swallowed by carnivorous plants and taunted by a Big nosed Ape, they were mistaken. This 'Goddess of Safety', as they called her, was not a Goddess of Safety. She was a Goddess of Trickery. *dun dun DUNNN*

@Philo understandable, as someone who has no idea how to develop games I'm sure there are some ideas that are cool in concept but very difficult in practice, but maybe someday. Again I have no idea what I'm talking about but to make these 'skin' textures wouldn't they be layered over the base of the body types/face types. which truly sounds like a whole lot of work I have no idea how many artists you guys have but I feel like a whole skin range would take a large team. But by taking the base models of lets say big body and adding going through creating the skin types over it, like scales/no fur/long fur, then going through each body type, leg type, and face type. Writing all this out I feel bad for suggesting now because WOW that sounds like an intense amount of work. Let me know if this makes no sense and this isn't how it works at all but that's just how I've always imagined the fur patterns were implemented.

Cool suggestion! The problem I see with this (which is a problem we have in general), is that the body also changes other body parts, such as the legs. Maybe the best solution here would be to add "Skin/Hair Types". So "Scales" would then the a type of skin. Other types could be long fur, no hair etc.