MOOBREEDER HELP
===============

MooBreeder is a simple cowbreeding game designed for educational use at
Key Stage 3. It demonstrates the basic principles of selective breeding.


AIM

The aim of the game is to breed a cow that is `excellent` for your chosen
use. At the start of the game, you are asked to select this goal from
the options "dairy", "meat", or "plowing". You will be notified once you
have achieved your goal, and told how many generations you took to do so.


COWS

Each cow may be male or female and has four traits: "milk", "meat",
"strength" and "aggression". Each trait is given an integer value -
generally, higher is better (except in the case of "aggression").
Each cow also has a unique ID number and a record of its generation
and who its parents were.


THE HERD

The herd is the accumulation of all the cows you own. Initially, it
will consist only of four cows that are not very good at anything;
as if you had just tamed four wild buffaloes. As you breed your cows,
your herd will continue to grow.


BREEDING

When a bull and a cow breed, they produce either one or two calves.
The calves' traits will depend on their parents', modified by a random
factor. So if you breed a strong bull with a strong cow, you are more
likely to get a strong calf.

There are some restrictions to which animals may breed together.
Obviously, you need a male and a female. Secondly, they may not be
direct siblings, as in real life this would be likely to lead to
genetic and developmental problems. Thirdly, they may be at most three
generations apart.


INTERFACE

On the left you see a list of your entire herd. Double-click on an
animal to have it added to a parent slot on the top right. When you
have selected two parents, click on the `Breed` button to have them
mate. Their offspring will then appear in the bottom right area.
Double-click on a calf to add it back to your herd. Right-clicking
on any animal will bring up a context menu that allows you to remove
this animal from your herd.

If you wish to save your game progress, you may do so via the
`File` menu. Restoring a previously saved game may be done from the
same menu.