So here is my quick preview. Please note this is really only about 4 hours of work, and is a complete work in progress. Right now it is only front displaying of data, I still have to actually make the functionality of evolving a pet, or changing a pets name, or even getting an egg work. This is just the start of displaying database information on the front-end.
Seeing your pet on the thread:
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As you can see, your active pet displays on the postbit under your avatar. Please note that I used the Pokemon Go graphics since I needed something that works closely with the idea of how things will work. You can see my little Bulbasaur egg sitting there. I called him MyBulba cause I am not original like that
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You will have an Adopted Pets tab on your Profile:
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As you can see, this will display your pets in a list (I only have one at the moment), and gives you the image, the name (and current stage of evolution which is Egg in this case - and the description for that stage), current power, and some options. Right now he is my active pet, but if you had more then one, there would be a link instead to set the pet to be your active pet. Evolve will only show up if you can Evolve the pet. Evolution is based off how much Power the pet has absorbed, so it will only display if there is an evolution(s) that your pet has enough power to evolve into.
The WIP Evolution Modal:
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Here you can see what happens when I click the Evolve from the previous screenshot. You see my pet in it's current form, then you can see the form (or forms if more then one next to it). When done, there will be a radio button next to the available forms to allow user choice, as well as a tooltip with a description for that form.
To explain where I am going with Evolution:
Here are my thoughts on Power and Evolution... and feedback is welcomed.
I want users to be able to choose the route of evolution, and even choose to not evolve. So that is why Evolution is this voluntary feature, and isn't necessary. Now, this can complicate matters, as if you choose not to evolve your pet, you can continue to absorb power well beyond the stages of evolution. To handle this, the evolution screen will only show you the next step in your evolution tree at a time. If you choose not to evolve for a very long time, you can always play catch up by evolving multiple times in a row. I think that is a reasonable system that won't punish users, or force skipping of stages of a pet because a user chose not to evolve a pet.
As a thought -- I am toying with ideas to provide (most likely in a premium option) items that will provide power boosts to a pet, or even allow the pet to be reset to the first stage (usually egg) for those users who wish to reset their pets. Normally, I would expect most users to just grab a new egg of the species and level it up, but for those who want to skip the time and effort, for a price and cost they can basically do so. Ideas?