Color Rarity

[Argent]

Will there be some sort of mechanism for adjusting the ratios of colors produced in the adoption center to keep "rare" colors uncommon in a breed?

[larissar]

The ancient breeds already have genetic restrictions in place although I think they are a bit too restricted right now (you'll notice a lot of chestnuts in the adoption center). For all other breeds the adoption center will choose genes based on the genetic profile of the active population of the breed. So if a gene is relatively rare in the population it will be rare in the adoption center as well.

[Argent]

Do the ancient breeds not have registries that allow players to decide acceptable colors? Or is the genetic restriction something else entirely?
To what degree are you factoring actual colors within a breed into which colors are available in the adoption center for ancient breeds (for example, Berbers -- Barbs -- are primarily grey and brown/bay in real life, but seem to be primarily chestnut in-game.)
Out of curiosity, what genes are currently planned for Berbers?

[Argent]

Also, does the gene frequency function factor in whether the horses of a particular color are owned by many or few players? For example, one player could breed a gene into their stock, but it might not exist outside of their farm, so it wouldn't be entirely accurate for the adoption center to produce horses of that color.

[Guest]

an will the rareof the color affect the price market or that depends on how much the players are willing to pay for?

because (im from portugal) and the most common colors in Lusitano are grey and white, so if a horse is born mainly Black, perlino, cremelo, that are the most uncomon colors then the price of the horse goes up

[larissar]

The ancient breeds do have registries that players can control. They'll be able to set acceptable colours for acceptance into the registry but not for which foals coats are available in the adoption center. I have to put this restriction in place as the adoption center is the only source of new genes. If I allowed players to restrict colours too much then some genes may not get added into the game.

I research as much as possible the history of various breeds and their colours when determining what is available in the adoption center, but also to keep colour distribution somewhat even the foals in the adoption center only get a handful of various genes. For example, if a horse gets a not 'a' agouti his chance of getting 'E' (for black) would be lowered, and his chance of getting another other genes would be further lowered. This is to prevent a single foal from appearing in the adoption center will one of every dilution gene. And to encourage breeding to spread around those genes. I realize this isn't realistic, and may be a little too limiting, we it's still under evaluation.

As for the Barbs, I'm going to assume you are refering to the Spanish Barb. There are actual different Barb breeds in the game: North African Barb, West African Barb and Spanish Barb. I haven't decided on genes yet for the West African and Spanish Barbs. The North African Barb is currently setup to have the following (although this may change)

All light and medium shades of chestnut
Grey
All Bay except Wild-type
Pearl (but no Cream)
Champagne

Also, does the gene frequency function factor in whether the horses of a particular color are owned by many or few players? For example, one player could breed a gene into their stock, but it might not exist outside of their farm, so it wouldn't be entirely accurate for the adoption center to produce horses of that color.

One players farm is going to have very little impact on the overall population of a breed once there are enough horses of that breed for it to show up in the adoption center. So while the chance is very low that the particular gene would appear in the adoption center, it would still be possible.

an will the rareof the color affect the price market or that depends on how much the players are willing to pay for?

because (im from portugal) and the most common colors in Lusitano are grey and white, so if a horse is born mainly Black, perlino, cremelo, that are the most uncomon colors then the price of the horse goes up

This really all depends on what players are willing to pay for the horse. It's not something I can predict or control unfortunately :/

[Argent]

I'm definitely referring to West African Barbs, not Spanish Barbs. And they are, according the the hundreds of photos I've seen over the past few weeks (I've taken a liking to the breed), primarily grey. As far as colored horses: I almost saw more palominos than chestnuts initially, but I suspect that's due to the popularity of dilutes; most of the non-greys are bay/brown, even black on occasion; buckskins crop up every once in a while, and I've seen a pair of duns/grullas and a handful of sabino marked and roan horses, some flaxen chestnuts, and one horse that I suspect carries silver. I've also seen one blue/green eyed, pale chestnut foal that I think might be pearl.

[larissar]

My mistake then
The breed registry can be setup to match what the breed looks like in reality, but foals from the adoption center might not be the "ideal" for the breed. So if you've taken a liking to the breed you could look for foals in the adoption center which are closest to the ideal for the breed, then selectively breed to improve your herd and get a higher rating in the registry.

Although from the description you've written below it looks like all those genes are available in the West African Barb already. Which the exception of Sabino which isn't setup yet. Dun, roan and silver have artwork ready but not added in just yet. So while the breed is setup for those, they don't show up in the adoption center just yet.

[Argent]

Merp, I didn't mean WA Barb, I meant NA Barbs X_X but the colors are essentially the same.
I'm going to use the foal customizer liberally to get the colors I want Though I'm not sure my horses will ever rank well within the registry since I prefer the more baroque type Barb to the lighter type we get from the adoption center. I'm glad to see champagne on the list for the NA Barb; I wanted four dilutions (cream, pearl, champagne, dun) but didn't want to crossbreed to get them.

Thanks for the replies!

[larissar]

Well to be honest I think the NABs in the adoption center need their build adjusted. I had always believed them to be more arab like but recent reading about another breed's history, which was very influenced by the old Barbs, spoke of their heavier build. So I may end up making some adjustments.

Sounds like the foal adoption customizer is exactly what you are looking for then if you want all those dilutions at once