HGG Community Forums

Why is white factor going away?
WF has been part of this game for as long as we have had visible markings. It has always represented untestable accumulated mutations that cause white markings to express at higher or lower amounts. These days with 10 known splash variations, 40+ known KIT mutations, and these new HPS5 variants, WF is simply no longer needed. Those once mysterious genetic factors are now known.

What will the new system be?
There are three known versions of HPS5 so far. That makes things really straight forward when it comes to converting WF to inherited HPS5. The WF amount a horse has will just be swapped for an equivalent HPS5 combo.

The three versions of HPS5 that have been found are EW1, EW2, and EW3. To make this transition easy I am going to be making EW1 worth 1 point of WF. EW2 is going to be worth 2 points, and EW3 will be worth 3 points.

To be clear, that is not how these genes work in real life. There is no evidence EW3 is louder than EW1 but in the name of making something playable as a game that is how it will be handled.

How will your horses change?
What genes your horse receives will be based on the white factor they currently have. They will be assigned one of the genetic combinations listed for their WF. This will not follow pedigrees. If your horse is WF none but has two WF extensive parents the game won't check for that.

None: -/- [0 points]
Minimal: EW1/- [1 point]
Light: EW2/- or EW1/EW1 [2 points]
Medium: EW2/EW1 or EW3/- [3 points]
Large EW2/EW2 or EW3/EW1 [4 points]
Extensive: EW3/EW2 or EW3/EW3 [5+ points]

How will this be inherited?
Once WF becomes HPS5 it will inherit like any other gene. While any horse created before the switch will have HPS5 alleles assigned based on the WF they had, all breeding that happens after the switch will only inherit HPS5 alleles from their parents. Like any other gene you only be able to access the alleles the parent horse has in the GMT lab.

What's the timeline?
This won't be a particularly complicated update, but I am also not in a rush to get this one out. When I have a free day or two of work time I will squeeze this in. Expect this some point in the coming weeks.

The company that discovered these is notating them as EDXW#. To make things a bit cleaner for the game will be using EW# instead.