Description
ATTENTION: This mod requires Fishcat's Genetics to run
This mod adds a little biodiversity to the Nether by introducing three new sub-species of Striders, each with its own unique traits. All can be found in the same places as regular Striders.
The Curly-Whiskered Strider is named for the shape of the "whiskers" on its head. It is often less talkative than other species, and has been known to sport symmetrically patterned scales, or even scales that look like gold!
The Spotted Strider is recognizable by the orange blotches on its skin. Less obvious is their taste in fungi: not only do they consume Warped Fungus, they'll eat just about any mushroom out there.
The Sooty Strider is named for the black speckling pattern on its skin. This feature, along with its fraying "whiskers", can make it appear diseased or aggressive. But don't let this fool you; they're just as healthy and sweet-tempered as other Striders.
Even within the same species, you will find different combinations of traits in individual Striders. Once you've seen one, you have definitely not seen them all.
You might even find some rare traits out there! Legend has it that some Striders will shed their stringy "whiskers" or even their scutes over time, and some have claimed to see a Strider with no scales at all...
And if you aren't satisfied with what nature gives you, try breeding some Striders together to get the perfect best friend. But beware--you may not get the outcomes you expect, and crossing species with each other can lead to both delightful and unpleasant surprises.
Genetics
The goal in creating this mod was to experiment with genetics partially inspired by real life, but also fun and wacky as a Nether animal should be.
Striders have 9 different genes affecting their appearance and behavior, allowing for many combinations of traits. Some are obvious, some less so, but if you see a variation, chances are it can be bred for (or bred out, if desired).
For those interested, they also have haplodiploid genetics, meaning that some Striders have two copies of each of the 9 genes, and some have only one. About 30% of the time, breeding will result in a haploid offspring that has only one parent's genes. In short, not all matings produce crosses, and some even produce clones of their parents. Some of the alleles (variations of a single gene) also produce a different appearance based on whether one or two copies of that same allele are present, allowing for even more variation.
Some genes interact with other genes, and certain alleles from different species are incompatible with each other and can cause the generation of offspring to fail. This adds a bit of a challenge to selectively cross-breeding the species, similar to some kinds of hybrids in real life.
Currently, there is no way to bring up a Strider's genetic information in the game (except by mods that can reveal an entity's NBT tags), but I may add this ability in the future.
Mod Conflicts
Strider Species should not clash with other mods, but it does add AI to vanilla Minecraft striders so that they can breed with mod striders. Thus, there is a chance it could behave undesirably with other mods that change mob AI.
Data Packs
This mod defines an item tag for the mushrooms that Spotted Striders like to eat. Feel free to add new items in your own data pack or mod to allow Spotted Striders to eat even more mushrooms.