I have been working on the Gemcrafter Family for almost a month now, and I am trying to find a way to create a good visual family tree for all of the members AND the lineages of creatures who join the family via breeding partnership. My main document for tracking this so far has been using a Google Drive Drawing (linked here if you'd like to view it). I have also tried a few online family tree makers, a Google Sheet, and a handwritten notepad. It's been a bit of a mess because it is an evolving document, and I am hoping to find something that looks good and isn't too difficult to update. I've also been using the Magistream family page and the Pedigree Checker from MS tools.
Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas on tracking a growing family in this way? Particularly in a way that includes unofficial outside families so I can more easily keep up with which outside families have already been introduced into different branches of the Gemcrafter family to prevent any one creature from appearing on both sides of a creature's lineage (no inbreeding, but families mixing in on different branches). For example, if you look at the Google Drawing, you'll see that the 1st Gen Blue Crystalwing named London Fog is partnered with 1st Gen Rewin Dragon Jasper Gemcrafter, but London Fog's offspring Lone Fog Balancewing (Blue Pygmy Gemdragon) is partnered with 2nd Gen Gold Pygmy Gemdragon Goldmoon Gemcrafter from Sardonyx Gemcrafter's branch (meaning that London Fog is an ancestor on two different branches, but never appears on both sides of a single creature's ancestry).
I'm open to hearing anyone's suggestions, no matter how off-the-wall they might be! I have a grand vision of a huge complicated family tree that captures the feeling that the original Magistream family - the Darksea Family - instilled in me before family creation became an available feature. I just want to be able to track/plan the tree as I'm growing it, and I'm hoping that the Google Drawing I'm using currently isn't the most efficient way.
Overall, I probably should have collected more SB & QB Creatures before starting, and I probably could collect more to help with bloodlines, but it's been sort of a fun puzzle of a project to work on in my downtime on the site.
Thanks!
