This week we want to tell you a little bit about horse fertility in Legacy. One of the devs, Lydia, is actually a reproduction and fertility research scientist, and she did not hold back designing this aspect of the game!
The entire stud and broodmare management system in the game is a bit complex, so we will stick with just horse fertility for this post. If you’d like to read more about managing your breeding horses, we recommend you check out this wiki page: https://wiki.legacyhorsegame.com/en/horse-breeding
Now, back to fertility. Just like almost every horse trait in the game, fertility is genetic. In total, there are 30 fertility genes in the game, but each horse is only affected by 20 of them. 10 genes will affect both mares and stallions, while another 10 affect only stallions, and the final 10 will affect only mares. For an extra layer of complexity, 2 of the 10 genes common to both mares and stallions affect mares and stallions differently!
Why did Lydia design it like this? In real life, males and females have different reproductive systems and gametes. Some genes are expressed only in the male reproductive tract, while some are only expressed in the female. Legacy is designed to mimic this.
Because of the complexity of this system, you may encounter some interesting scenarios. For example, maybe you have a mare with poor fertility, but her sons have decent fertility. You might think then that you’ve bred out the problem, right? While that is definitely possible, you also must remember one key thing: even though only 20 of the genes are expressed in males, they still have the other 10 genes which affect mares. So, that infertility issue your colt’s mother had may pop up again in his daughters…
For another layer of complexity, fertility in real life is also highly sensitive to inbreeding, and there are 4 genes in particular in the game that tend to decrease your horse’s fertility if you inbreed a lot. So be careful!
If you are wondering then, can horses in Legacy be completely infertile? The answer is no. Because breeding is such a focal point of the game, we didn’t want to take that from you. However, horses in Legacy can be so sub-fertile that they will be extremely difficult to get a foal from. After all, where’s the fun if we don’t add some challenge?
Interested in playing the game? Legacy is currently in alpha testing, but you are welcome to join in!
To join the alpha testing, simply go to https://legacyhorsegame.com/register.
We also have a Patreon, where you can support the development of the game and receive exclusive perks: https://www.patreon.com/LegacyHorseGame
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