Question:
=========
I can do markings (spots or patches), but I can't do making variations 
(ie. individuals have different. markings)

I'm assuming that your markings are all [Paint Ballz] markings.  But first,
you should know that in any area of the .lnz (this goes for default scales, 
sounds pointers, texture lists -- _any_ area!) you can make as many variations 
as you wish. The normal kind of variation set goes like this, starting with a 
# number and then counting downwards to the ##:

#3
< data for this variation>
#2
< data for this variation>
#1
< data for this variation>
##

When you leave one of the variatons blank, like this, where you see that #3 
has no data:

#3
#2
< data for this variation>
#1
< data for this variation>
##

the blank, or data-less, one will use the defaults. You need this if you have 
ball colour variations under [Color Info Override], because if you don't have 
one blank variation # in there then your [Ballz Info] colours won't show.

Now, if you want to make variations within the [Paint Ballz] area, just start 
putting variations in after any items that you want not to vary (such as the 
paw pads which are usually there). So you'd have all the paw pad lines of data, 
or any other non-variable lines of data, and then you would start on your series 
of variations. In the Dalmatian you can see that the game can pick from a whole 
load of different sets of variations, but you don't need to be as complex as that. 
Say you want four variations of spots on the snout, each a different size and 
colour, including one with no spot at all. It could look like this:

#4
#3
56, 70 -.8, -.8, -1 35 (etc -- rest of line of data)
#2
56, 90 -.8, -.8, -1 15 (etc -- rest of line of data)
#1
56, 50 -.8, -.8, -1 65 (etc -- rest of line of data)
##

Right, this is just a straight set of variations. But perhaps you want a set of 
red patches on a black dog, but orange patches on a white dog and white patches 
on a fawn dog, and never the other way around. For this you need to bring in the 
"linking" system. This is simple, but a lot of people get it wrong.

Say your [Ballz Info] contains the black dog data. Your [Color Info Override] should 
be laid out like this:

#3.A
#2
<white dog balls numbers and colours>
#1
<fawn dog balls numbers and colours>
##

Now go to your [Paint Ballz] section and put in a set of variations like this:

#3.A
<red patches data> (will go only on black dogs)
#2
<orange patches data> (will go only on white dogs)
#1
<white patches data> (will go only on fawn dogs)
##

And there you have it -- a set of linked variations.


Question:
==========
To make all the variations I want would involve adding an assload of addballz, 
and I really don't want to since there's already a ton in there and the .LNZ is 
getting huge.

Answer:
======
Add Ballz can be handled a little differently, so you don't need quite as 
much data in there as you might think; you only need to add the ball data 
once there, and you can then use the simple [Omissions] list to include or 
remove them.  Here's how I do it:

Add into [Add Ball] all the added ballz that I'm going to want.  Keep a note 
of which group of add ballz are which numbers; I tend to pop in little 
commented-out line-counts.  Join up everything the way I will want it to 
appear in [Linez].  Don't worry if some variations won't be using these 
balls and linez; put 'em in anyway.  If you want to be absolutely correct 
about it, do the linez as a set of linked variations, so that they link in 
properly with the [Omissions] that I'm about to discuss.

Now, say I want a variation which doesn't include added ballz numbers 90-100, 
another which has those but not ballz numbers 120-123, and another that has 
'em all.  Okay, then I handle it in [Omissions], under which I first keep the 
list of ballz that are _always_ omitted (65-76) and any others that I happen 
to want to be omitted in my breed.  I want the omissions to be part of a 
linked variations series, so I'm going to have a suitable #<number>.<letter> 
at the top of the variation set.  

[Omissions]
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
<ditto all the numbers that are always omitted>
;
#3.A <-this one has no data, so it's the variation containing all ballz
#2
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
#1
120
121
122
123
##

(An important note for anyone who doesn't realise, by the way: when you add stuff 
to a section of the .lnz, make sure that there is no blank line between your lines 
of data, or the game will ignore the stuff that's been separated by the blank line; 
if you want to separate things out to make them clearer, put a semi-colon all by 
itself on what would otherwise be a blank.)

[Omissions] is your friend.  Even when you're not managing [Add Ball] variations 
with it, using that rather than what most people do, which is make ballz 
infinitesimally small, is a much more reliable method and will carry on to 
2nd-gen reliably.

Enjoy!

Carolyn