This guide explains basic vine genetics. By the time you are through reading it, you should be able to derive the entire tend table of most crossbred vines from no more than 1-3 tendings. The author's hope is that anyone using this guide will be able to spend less time recording data and more time raising good grapes. He wouldn't complain at all if some of those grapes ended up in wine he gets to drink.
Attributes: Acid, Color, Grapes, Quality, Skin, Sugar, and Vigor. The numbers that determine a vine's current condition.
States: The term for the description of a vine's current appearance. These are commonly shortened to: Sagging, Wilting, Musty, Fat, Rustle, Shrivel, and Shimmer.
Tend: One of the seven actions that can be used to modify a vine's current attributes. They are: Aerate the Soil, Mist the Grapes, Pinch off the weakest stems, Shade the Leaves, Spread out the Vines, Tie the Vines to the Trellis, and Trim the Lower Leaves. They are commonly abbreviated as: AS, MG, PO, SL, SV, TV, TL. The order is as presented on the vineyard menu during tendings.
Vine: A particular type of vine cutting. Examples are Balance, Distraction, and Calixes#27.
A phenotype is an expression pattern for a set of genes. If you have blue eyes, that's your eye phenotype. The genetics underneath that could be any of a variety of things, but whatever genes you have, your eyes turned out blue. Vines have phenotypes for each of the seven attributes: Acid, Color, Grapes, Quality, Skin, Sugar, Vigor. In addition, they have an eighth phenotype: Initial Grape count.
This is the tending table for Balance in the Sagging state.
| Grape | State | Tend | Acid | Color | Grapes | Quality | Skin | Sugar | Vigor |
| Balance | Sagging | AS | -6 | -4 | 4 | 5 | -2 | 8 | -14 |
| Balance | Sagging | MG | -3 | 5 | -1 | -4 | -4 | -6 | -3 |
| Balance | Sagging | PO | -1 | 0 | -3 | -6 | 3 | 3 | -9 |
| Balance | Sagging | SL | 3 | -6 | -3 | 7 | 0 | 5 | -12 |
| Balance | Sagging | SV | 7 | -4 | -1 | 5 | 5 | -6 | -8 |
| Balance | Sagging | TV | -2 | -6 | 4 | 5 | 8 | -3 | -10 |
| Balance | Sagging | TL | -6 | 8 | -2 | 4 | 7 | -6 | -8 |
This is the tending table for Distraction in the Sagging state.
| Grape | State | Tend | Acid | Color | Grapes | Quality | Skin | Sugar | Vigor |
| Distraction | Sagging | AS | -1 | 4 | -2 | 3 | -2 | 3 | -14 |
| Distraction | Sagging | MG | 2 | -2 | 3 | -2 | -2 | 3 | -3 |
| Distraction | Sagging | PO | 2 | -3 | -9 | 4 | 3 | 3 | -9 |
| Distraction | Sagging | SL | -3 | 1 | -1 | 4 | -1 | 0 | -12 |
| Distraction | Sagging | SV | -3 | -3 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 3 | -8 |
| Distraction | Sagging | TV | -2 | 1 | 4 | -2 | 1 | -2 | -10 |
| Distraction | Sagging | TL | 3 | -1 | 4 | 2 | -3 | -1 | -8 |
At first glance, they look almost totally different. However, there are similarities: the Vigor costs for particular tendings are identical. The reason Vigor costs are identical for these two vines is that they have an 'identical Vigor phenotype,' which we will call the Vigor Wild Type, or V-wt for short. If we look at the two vines' tending statistics for all seven states, we see that the pattern continues: Vigor is always the same, while every other column shows a different pattern. This is because they have different phenotypes for every other statistic.
To summarize these vines, we can say they have the following phenotypes, where -B indicates the attribute comes from Balance, -D indicates it comes from Distraction, and -wt indicates it's a wild-type.
| Name | Acid | Color | Grapes | Quality | Skin* | Sugar | Vigor |
| Balance | A-B | C-B | G-B | Q-B | K-B | S-B | V-wt |
| Distraction | A-D | C-D | G-D | Q-D | K-D | S-D | V-wt |
(*: I am using K for Skin, to differentiate it from S for Sugar.)
Looking at the full tend table (The Big Book of Tendings) of a number of different grapes, we see that the A-D, C-D, G-B, Q-D, K-D, S-D, and V-wt patterns are very common across different vines; these patterns comprise the 'Wild Type' vine (which doesn't exist in the game, unless someone's crossbred it accidentally). The Wild Type vine has a Sagging tend table that looks like this:
| Grape | State | Tend | Acid | Color | Grapes | Quality | Skin | Sugar | Vigor |
| Wild Type | Sagging | AS | -1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | -2 | 3 | -14 |
| Wild Type | Sagging | MG | 2 | -2 | -1 | -2 | -2 | 3 | -3 |
| Wild Type | Sagging | PO | 2 | -3 | -3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | -9 |
| Wild Type | Sagging | SL | -3 | 1 | -3 | 4 | -1 | 0 | -12 |
| Wild Type | Sagging | SV | -3 | -3 | -1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | -8 |
| Wild Type | Sagging | TV | -2 | 1 | 4 | -2 | 1 | -2 | -10 |
| Wild Type | Sagging | TL | 3 | -1 | -2 | 2 | -3 | -1 | -8 |
In addition to the wild type patterns, there are also a number of additional patterns -- we discovered a bunch of these on the Balance vine. Balance has non-wild type phenotypes on Acid, Color, Quality, Skin, and Sugar. By examining all the vines, we can determine that there are a number of special phenotypes, as shown on this Phenotype Table.
(Note to self: figure out how to inline that table.)
Anyone who has a new vine and has painstakingly attempted to determine how best to tend it understands how much of a chore this is. Fortunately, using phenotypes, it's possible to very quickly build a full tend table for most vines from only a few data points. Take the following sample data from Calixes#24, a vine of unknown tend statistics, crossed from Balance x Distraction.
| State | Tend | Acid | Color | Grapes | Quality | Skin | Sugar | Vigor |
| Wilting | AS | +1 | +4 | +2 | (0) | (0) | +2 | -14 |
| Fat | AS | +4 | +4 | +10 | +1 | (-3) | (-5) | -13 |
Comparing this vine to Distraction in The Big Book of Tendings, we see that it has the same Acid, Color, Grapes, Quality, Skin, and Vigor costs as Distraction Wilting/AS. Its Sugar does not match Distraction's Wilting/AS result, however (+3 versus Calixes#24's +2). When we compare it to Distraction Fat/AS, we confirm the Sugar mismatch. When we look at Balance Wilting/AS, however, we see matches on Grapes, Sugar, and Vigor. We know Distraction and Balance have different Grapes phenotypes, so this vine can't match both in Grapes. To disambiguate our results, we have to look at a second tending. We check Grapes on Fat/AS for both Balance and Distraction, and see Balance has +4, while Distraction has +10, like our vine.
Eureka! Calixes#24 has the Acid, Color, Grapes, Skin, and Vigor columns from Distraction's tending table, and the Sugar column from Balance's tending table. In 'only two tendings', we now know the full tending table for Calixes#24!
Here are the known vine phenotypes, and the standard vines that have that phenotype.
| Attribute | Wild Type (Max +4) | Max +8 | Max +12 | Max +15-16 |
| Acid | Amusement Appreciation Contemplation Distraction Wisdom | Balance | Frivolity | |
| Color | Amusement Appreciation Contemplation Distraction Wisdom | Balance | Frivolity | |
| Grapes | Appreciation Balance Contemplation Frivolity Wisdom | Amusement Distraction | ||
| Quality | Amusement Distraction Frivolity Wisdom | Balance | Contemplation | Appreciation |
| Skin | Amusement Appreciation Distraction Frivolity | Balance | Contemplation | Wisdom |
| Sugar | Amusement Appreciation Contemplation Distraction Wisdom | Balance | Frivolity |
Vigor works a little differently; all standard vines are wild-type (max Vigor loss of -14 for a single tend) except Amusement, which has a unique Vigor phenotype that caps Vigor loss at -12.
The following is a model for how vine genetics actually work intended to make it easy to describe a vine's genome. The basic Wild Type vine is a string of bases, none of which are ordered to create mutations. Vines with non-standard phenotypes have one or more mutations that increase the range of a specific attribute. So, hypothetically, the genome of the standard vines look something like this, where capital letters indicate a mutation to one of the vine attributes:
A = Acid mutation, C = Color mutation, G = Grapes mutation, Q = Quality mutation, K = Skin mutation, S = Sugar mutation, V = Vigor mutation
Wild Type: (none)
Amusement: GGVV
Appreciation: QQQ
Balance: ACQKS
Contemplation: QQKK
Distraction: GG
Frivolity: AACCSS
Wisdom: KKK
Amusement is VV and not V through empirical testing -- there is a Vigor phenotype with a max Vigor loss cap of -13 that can be produced by crossing Amusement with any other non-V vine. By inference, it is probable that this means Amusement has two V mutations.
Note that these are NOT intended to be gene maps; just lists of genes present in the vine. However, position of mutations on the vine genome is important to determining the final cross. In a cross, the resulting vine is created by snipping both parent vines' genomes in a random (possibly identical) position and concatenating them. The left splint contributes the left side of its genome, while the right spint contributes the right side. Mutations nearer the left or right side are more likely to be inherited consistently, while those near the center may or may not be picked up depending on the location of the point where the genome is cut.
To illustrate this, theorize that Appreciation's genetic map looks like (Q--Q-Q) and Frivolity's looks like (ACSACS). If crossbreeding splits both vines in the middle, and Appreciation is the left splint, the product vine will be: Q--ACS (one Quality mutation). If Frivolity is the left vine, the product vine will be ACSQ-Q (two Quality mutations).
New phenotypes arise when the number of attribute mutations in a vine increases above that in any of the standard seven vines. If Frivolity (unordered genome, AACCSS) and Balance (unordered genome, ACQKS) cross and produce a vine with three S mutations, it will have Sugar tend results with maximum gain of +15, exceeding that of any standard vine. The author has seen two of these SSS vines already: MomMouse#12 and Phoenixwcu#7. Similarly, if Distraction (GG) is crossed with a vine without the G mutation, and only one G mutation breeds through, we will see a vine with max possible Grapes gain of +8 (versus Distraction's +12).
In addition to simple concatenations, the author has also seen one cross where Distraction (GG) x Balance (ACQKS) produced a vine with the unordered genome ACQKSS. The most likely explanation for this, based on how Tale 2 genetics worked, is that mutations are coded for by specific patterns of 'bases' (as detected by Revelation Solvent, and the point where the two genomes were grafted together created a new pattern that codes for a mutation. For example, in the above example, if YYY codes for a Sugar mutation, and the snip point attaches ...YYY- to -YOR..., then the product vine will have a YYYY string coding for two Sugar mutations.
Our discussions on this topic were getting long and I don't want to obscure Shelyak's fine contribution, so I have moved our discussion here. ~Calen
Calen has done extensive Genetics testing with revelation solvent, and produced some useful analysis. In the spirit of science, I am going to use this section to evaluate his results. Revelation solvent digests a vine and produces a fragment of colored bases; by lining up overlapping fragments, it is possible to reconstruct the full sequence of a vine's genome.
Calen's Balance data is ideal for examination because Balance shows five unique mutations (ACQKS), and once digested, reveals a sequence with relatively few repetitive regions. It appears to have been commonly known in prior tellings that K (black) is a terminal base, only and always appearing at the start and end of every genetic sequence. Based on that, and using Calen's data, I'd propose the following sequence for Balance, with my suspicion on coding tags underneath:
KYYYGGGRYYRGGGYROGGGRROOYYGGGOORK (33 bases)
xSSS---QQQ?---KKK---ACACAC---gggx
YYY as the Sugar gene seems indisputable to me, given the ease with which it increases in crossbreeds and the tight left-linkage of Balance's sugar mutation when crossed. To get another Sugar mutation, all it takes is tacking on another Y base on either end of the repetitive Y sequence. RYY, YYR, or RYYR look like the candidates for Quality to me. That leaves YRO, RROOYY, and OOR as interesting sequences; my pick for them based on Calen's Wisdom, Frivolity, and Distraction data is: YRO = the skin mutation; RROOYY is Acid and Color; and OOR is a partial Grapes mutation that Teppy nerfed before Balance went into the game.
Color (C): RRO seen in Balance and Frivolity; supported by "New Balance" experiment (see below)
Grapes (G): OOOR, seen in Amusement, Distraction, and "New Balance" experiment (see below)
Quality (Q): RYY or YYR or RYYR, seen once in Balance; seen frequently in Appreciation; seen twice in Contemplation
Skin (K): YRO, seen once in Balance; seen frequently in Wisdom; seen twice in Contemplation
You can see our discussions related to the Skin (K) gene question here. ~Calen
Vigor (V): ROOO or ROOOR, seen in Amusement. Probably ROOOR
Initial Grapes (I): Unknown. There are 4 GGG sequences in Balance = 9 grapes. No idea what to make of this.
You can see our discussions related to the 'GGG' filler and overall genetic sequence length here. ~Calen
Appreciation (QQQ, 10 grapes)
KGYRYYRYYRYYRK (14 bases)
Balance (ACQKS, 9 grapes)
KYYYGGGRYYRGGGYROGGGRROOYYGGGOORK (33 bases)
xSSS---QQQ?---KKK---ACACAC---gggx
I bet the OOR on the right side was almost a G gene, but it got nerfed.
Contemplation (QQKK, 9 grapes)
KRYYRGYROGGG..GRYYROK (19+ bases)
xQQQQ-KKK---..-QQ**Kx
Distraction (GG, 8 grapes)
GGGGG’s +OORGG + GGGGO + OORK
Frivolity (AACCSS, 10 grapes)
KRROOYY + YYGG + YGGGYYYRROOYY + YGGGG + OOYYG + YRK
(RROOYY must code both A and C. Note that Calen has two K- sequences in his data, so I'm not putting too much analysis into this.)
You can see our discussion of the two "K-" base sequences in Frivolity here. ~Calen
Wisdom (KKK, 9 grapes)
OGYROG + GGGGG
Calixes#22 (ACQQS, 11 grapes, supposedly Appreciation x Frivolity)
KRROOYYG + YGGG..GGY + GYYY+ YGYRYYR + YYRK
(Friv left K) + ??? + (Sugar) + Qapp + (App right K)
I bet this was actually Frivolity x Appreciation.
Eigam Copper (GGQKS, 9 grapes)
KYYYGGG + GGOOORGG + RYYR + GGK + more
"New Balance" #1 (ACGQKS, 8 grapes)
KYYYGGGRYYRGGGYROGGGRROOYYGGOOORK (33 bases)
xSSS---QQQ?---KKK---CCCAAA--GGGGx
"New Balance" #2 (AQKS, x grapes)
KYYYGGGRYYRGGGYROGGGRRGOYYGGGOORK (33 bases)
xSSS---QQQ?---KKK---cc-AAA---gggx
Balance x Balance + K#1 toxin of calico,fuzzy first product. Toxin of Calico and Fuzzy swaps the final G with the first O in the RROOYY sequence. The first product is ACGQKS; the second is AQKS. This convinces me the Grape mutation is OOOR, RRO is Color, and OYY is acid.
When planning a cross, I suggest considering the following as desirable products:
Good luck! I look forward to tasting the fruit of your labor.
Thanks to Calixes and MomMouse for providing the initial crossbred vines I used to do this research, and to Tilana, Haqikah, and Lyra for reviewing this guide.
Calixes' Crossbreed Tending Data: Vines
Vine-Specific Tend Results: The Big Book of Tendings (no longer being updated)
Phenotype-Specific Tend Results: The Little Book of Tendings (still being updated -- build your own tend table)
Shelyak's Phenotype Table