From the Past: Baby Swarm II - The PowerThirst Incident

I'm back again with the sequel...

Baby Swarm II: The Powerthirst Incident

This portion of the guide explains how getting pregnant actually works, and how semen and paternity is handled. I wanted to leave open a lot of possibility, both for my own planned content and any submissions, so the liquid system (component of sex system) is rather robust in what it will allow you to do. From getting various liquids on different places on/in the body, to having them smeared around, or scooping/wiping them up for another character.

The use of lubricant, as well as natural lubricant, is all part of the same liquid system, and combined with the extremely modular nature of sex actions/positions, it provides a pretty wide canvas to create some interesting activities. Of course, semen is counted as a fluid, and since it can be transferred around...

I was also asked when all this will be in the game, so to answer it for everyone: portions of the system are already in-game, particularly the menstrual cycle and the unique fertility factors for the PC and NPCs. The rest will be introduced as relevant co-located systems are worked on, primarily in the next 6 months. Birth and other things related to pregnancy will be a bit later. Like usual, I try to do things in an order that is most efficient for development.

So without further ado, here's the rest for your perusal.

Menstruation

Probably not anybody's favorite topic. While periods are tracked, along with the general 'messiness' of the affair that day, there are no plans to require any special action on your part. It is generally assumed that your character will change their feminine hygiene device automatically when using the restroom. (While there is a plan to track the fullness of the bladder, this will only be used for specific content and special random events, rather than forcing a player to find a bathroom every X minutes.)

Sex during the PC's period will be possible, but generally not desired by NPCs. There isn't much in the way of planned content for this, so most things related to menstruation would have to be submitted content.

Insemination

The topic of insemination covers everything prior to ovulation and fertilization. See <<link "conception">> for more information about those topics.

Stages

For the sake of simplicity, information is presented in roughly chronological order. The actions of characters (PC & NPC) can alter this process at different points. These stage functions are called by different areas of the game framework, but exist as functions independent of a specific framework area.

1. Emission (sex scene)

At the time sperm leaves the character's body, it's potency is calculated based on the emitting character's fertility and status variables. These calculations include the total fluid volume. The fluid is passed as an object that contains the following information: Time of emission, fluid volume, and male fertility factors.

2. Exposure (sex scene)

The passed semen or precum object is evaluated initially based on the actions and position in the sex scene. If appropriate the object is 'split' into multiple objects with volumes that add up to the original. The objects are placed in the fluid position arrays for the relevant body or bodies. Fluid arrays can also contain other liquids, which allows for dilution and/or spread.

Vagina

Unlike more generic body parts, the vagina has multiple fluid arrays. These fluid arrays also handle effects from wetness and lubrication. From exterior to interior, they are: groin, vulva, vestibule, middle, deep, cervix. This allows for more accurate tracking of movement and spread, and is also used in calculations determining sperm reaching the womb.

3. Movement (sex scene)

Once in a fluid array, it becomes subject to the effects of actions and activities. This can result in drying, dilution, or movement of the fluid to a different array. Semen on the vulva could be pushed into the vagina, or could "run" resulting in some entering the vestibule array. It can further be moved by deliberate action, such as scooping it up and placing it somewhere else. Finally, several post ejaculation actions can alter the final position of any fluids. (example: elevating hips or using a douche.)

4. Spread (post sex scene processing)

This is a final disposition of semen at the end of a scene. This usually involves spread of liquids with higher volume. Vaginally, this plays out as a spread of semen to the different arrays, weighted toward exiting the body normally. Actions taken during the scene affect this final spread, typically to either increase or decrease the quantity and depth of semen. At this time, sperm values, along with relevant vaginal information, are fixed in a larger single object (as an array with an object for each donor), while liquid values for normal non-sex play are set.

More Sex

Any additional sex scenes proceed as above, however if an NPC with an existing sperm object in the storage array contributes more, this is not added to the same object, as vaginal conditions and other effects could be different. They are treated as unique, and rectified in a later step.

5. Travel (sleep processing)

When all possible sperm for the day has been gathered, including any donations while the player is sleeping, travel processing begins. Sperm are processed by location, starting from the most external position (the vestibule). sperm on/in the vulva are excluded after the spread stage due to an extreme unlikeliness for any meaningful contribution. Any transfer from vulva inward is handled in spread stage.

Traveling from location to location, the percentage of sperm making it from A to B are calculated based on vaginal conditions (which include modifications to vaginal hostility from lubricants and overall liquid volume) and expected percentage of sperm expected to swim in the correct direction. (sperm swim randomly until encountering cervical mucous.)

Thusly, sperm are brought from vestibule to interior, then new calculations are done to go from interior to deep vagina, and finally to on cervix. (note that anatomical structure distinguishes deep vagina and cervix into distinct zones, and a smaller portion of sperm will travel directly from interior to cervix.)

6. Cervical Penetration (sleep processing)

The majority of sperm reaching the cervix will have been originally deposited there or the deep vagina. (Female orgasms affect rate of spread/travel of sperm from deep vagina to cervix.) Once in the cervical "zone", it is calculated how many were able to penetrate into the cervical mucous, leaving the other fluids behind. The quality, consistency of the mucous, along with the size of the mucousal coating is calculated at this time based on other values, and used for this determination along with sperm quality.

7. Migration (sleep processing)

The general effects of cervical sperm storage are ignored, and the entire process of migration is handled as a single step. The benefits to simulation accuracy from more detailed migration are minimal. The amount of sperm that are able to migrate to the ovarian space is calculated based on established ratios modified slightly for immune response and other factors. successful sperm are stored in an object containing a property for each donor father. The property contains an array of contributions with age for each.

8. Endurance (sleep processing)

Each day, sperm are aged and experience population decline based on their survival factor and to a lesser extent vaginal hostility. Sperm populations shrink this way daily until all have expired. Highly fertile NPCs can combine for a longevity of up to 7 days, though in most circumstances 5 days would be the maximum. By 72 hours sperm population will have decreased precipitously.

Waiting (not a stage)

Sperm wait until either ovulation occurs or they all die. At this point there is nothing that will affect them, so only contraceptives to prevent ovulation would make a difference for conception.

Killer Sperm

There is a myth that exists about "killer sperm". A long time ago, it was hypothesized that some sperm from one male would try to kill sperm from competing males in order to help ensure that the egg was fertilized by the original male. At the time, this hypothesis was intended for lower-order life forms such as insects. Despite this, the idea was inappropriately applied to mammals, humans in particular, and made it into popular culture. While certain limited examples of sperm competing directly have been found in some species (typically insects), extensive study has found zero evidence for direct sperm competition in humans.

Conception

The topic of conception covers everything from ovulation to implantation. For earlier stages, see <<link "insemination">>, and for later stages see <<link "pregnancy">>.

For the sake of simplicity, information is presented in roughly chronological order. In certain special circumstances, the game may bypass one or more stages, or may override the settings of a stage. This is typically done to ensure a certain story-driven result.

Stages

1. Ovulation Monitoring (sleeping)

In regard to the timing of this stage, monitoring occurs after the migration stage(7) of insemination, but before the endurance stage(8). This is because if ovulation occurred, it happened during the day, and a full cycle of sperm aging would be inappropriate. Ovulation monitoring references the cycle information for the character in question to determine if ovulation was scheduled for that day. Ovulation is scheduled by the menstrual cycle function suite. NPCs all undergo similar checks during their daily asynchronous processing phase. If ovulation is scheduled, processing continues to stage 2.

2. Ovulation

Ovulation occurs as a 2-part process. First is checking to see if at least one ovum is released, which is based on base ovulation chance (modified by other factors such as fertility drugs and health). If ovulation does not occur, but odds of multiple ovulation are very high, ovulation is given a single additional chance to occur in lieu of checking for multiples. If ovulation still does not occur, the Conception process ends. If ovulation does occur, the potential for multiple ovum release is checked. The odds are based on a combination of the multiple release factor, and computed ovulation odds. This is continually checked, with an increasing handicap after 3 ovum, until ovulation of an additional egg fails.

The second part of the process is determining when ovulation occurred during the previous day. This is a primarily random determination, but is used for final calculation of sperm available for fertilization.

3. Sperm Gathering

Any sperm contributed after ovulation was determined to occur is processed and set aside. Waiting sperm is aged to the age of ovulation. Because different groups of sperm are likely different ages, this will likely alter the ratio of sperm from different donors.

4. Fertilization

If there are sufficient sperm in the ovarian space, the egg is automatically fertilized. If not, a scale of probabilities is used based on total sperm count. While the saying goes that it only takes one sperm to fertilize an egg, this isn't actually correct. While theoretically true, it's also astronomically unlikely.

There are numerous layers that first must be penetrated (including acid, jelly, connective matrix, membranes, and protective cells surrounding the ovum) before fertilization can occur. You could think of this as layers of armor, and the sperm as torpedoes. The front half of a sperm cell is essentially an enzyme warhead (acrosome). Enough sperm cells have to weaken this protection before one is able to eventually break through and fertilization can occur. This is why low sperm counts in men can cause issues of fertility; it's not too difficult to get a couple sperm to the target, but considerably more difficult to get a hundred or more. Still, the odds of fertilization are very high unless it has been a considerable amount of time since intercourse.

5. Second Chance

If sperm do not fertilize the egg after ovulation, either because they aren't there, or there was an insufficient quantity, the new sperm that were added after ovulation are given a chance. There is approximately a 12 hour window after ovulation for an egg to be fertilized, so any potential sources will already be present by the time the check is ran. If this check also fails, the process ends until the next ovulation.

6. Waiting

When an egg is fertilized, the father is chosen based on the ratio of each donor's sperm to another, which is first modified by the quality and age of sperm in each group. The corrected ratio is used to determine the father by randomization. After the egg is fertilized, it is stored as a simple object with relevant details until time for implantation (Genetics isn't determined until successful implantation).

7. Implantation

Approximately 6 days after fertilization, there is a check for implantation. In an ideal case, only about 50% of zygotes implant. Implantation odds are calculated at the time of implantation, based on the implantation odds factor and present conditions such as stress, health, and unique drugs in effect at the time. If implantation is successful, a baby object is created, and attributes are procedurally generated based on the parents. Implantation odds are improved for the initial zygote for every extra zygote (stronger hormonal signaling), and the odds for implantation are dramatically increased for following zygotes after each implantation.

Pregnancy

Certain variables are set or toggled after implantation now that a pregnancy has begun. Pregnancy for the player could be detected as early as the following morning with expensive home add-ons, but will eventually be detected by a normal smart toilet at about the time the period is due. NPCs will generally "discover" their pregnancy at this point as well.