Inbreeding

[Argent]

How will inbreeding be handled on HWO? Will there be COI, or penalties?

[larissar]

COI will be included on the horses pedigree.

Due to the way we've implemented genetics in the game, and there being positive and negative genes, inbreeding effects occur naturally without us having to even program them in. I'd like to do more with random mutations etc, but more research is needed before any decisions are made.

[Argent]

Wonderfully prompt replies

How does the way genetics are implemented produce inbreeding effects, if I may ask?
What are these positive and negative genes, and will we be able to test for them?

[larissar]

Every gene has an effect either positive or negative. Inbreeding increases the likelihood of having two copies of the same gene, this increasing the effect of the gene. So if you've got two copies of a negative gene you increase the negative effect. The opposite is also true though, as in real life inbreeding can also enhance the effects of positive genes. The key to making a genetics system like this work out is in balancing the quantity of positive and negative genes so as not to make inbreeding necessary a good or bad thing; not black-and-white, but instead a grey area.

Some genes will have tests, but most will not. You'll get a breeders report for each foal which is like a summary of the horses potential. You can see if a horse has poor genes by looking for poor comments in the breeders report.

[Horser01]

Will those random mutations include reduced lifespan, fertility, health, etc? Those are apparently random, except for the higher the COI the more affected they are... As well as miscarraiges (or still births, like the Overos...), increased aggression, etc.

[larissar]

Yes, if I add in effects from high COI they will include reduced Health, Fertility etc. This will require some testing during our alpha period but I don't see any problems with this.