All right, guys, I will try
and list all the various features I’m planning on including for real-time racing…I may
forget some, but feel free to suggest anything that comes to mind (within reason
).
–Races 2 times per week (Wednesdays &
Saturdays)[*]Dirt/Turf/SC racing (horses will have a preference
score for each)[*]Confidence - horses will have a “mental” score that will be
determined by their quality compared to the quality of the field, as well as previous races
(i.e. if a horse comes off a win they will be more confident next time out, and
vice-verse)[*]Surface preferences - horses will have a preference score for
each surface, rather than just for/against mud[*]Running preference - instead
of having a set “style” (sprinter, steady, closer), horses will have preferences for 4
different styles (on lead, off pace, midpack, and closer). The jockey will attempt to figure
out what their best score is and try and get them to run that way, but all 4 will most likely
be used during a race.[*]Jockeys - I don’t know if this will be fully
implemented by January, but eventually FF will have a “pool” of 50 or so jockeys, all with
different stats/abilities, and these will affect your horse’s
run.[*]Ratability - how much and how quickly your horse will respond to a
jockey’s commands[*]Pissyness - related to Ratability, it also affects your
horse’s confidence level, etc.[*]Stride length - instead of having set
“scores” for minimum/average/maximum speeds, each horse will have a stride length for each
type of running.[*]Acceleration - the rate at which your horse can go from
one stride length to another.[*]Loafing - probably in a stride length, this
will be how hard your horse runs after he has the lead…some horses just slack off, others
keep going and win Belmonts by 31 lengths. 
[*]Injuries - injuries will be
more likely if your horse has a low soundness and/or dislikes the track
surface.[*]Traffic - horses will move in to the rail, get bumped, swing wide
on turns, etc. (Hopefully…this is the most challenging part of the overhaul thus far.
)[*]Competition level - Not yet sure how this will be implemented, but
horses will have a “base” competition level, like allowance or claiming. Some horses (see
Gary’s What A Wonder – he did decently in GIIs, set speed records in GIIIs, and bombed in
GIs) can run well in certain races but you move them up a class, even with the same distance
and same quality of field, and they choke.[*]Fitness - Horses can be
fit/unfit. Unfit horses will be more likely to be injured,
probably.[*]Training - eventually, you will be able to train your horses and
do workouts. No other info as of yet, and don’t look for it anytime soon.
[*]Weather forecast - At the beginning of the week (Sundays, probably)
there will be a forecast for weather for that week. The day before the race, there will be
an updated forecast, and people will be able to scratch their horses after entries close (but
will receive no refund of fee).[*]Post positions - horses will be assigned
post positions for the race, which will be available at the same time as the weather
forecast. Again, scratching will be enabled after entries close without entry
fee.[*]Animation - Eventually (as in, by 2009, hopefully ), you will be
able to view the races with Flash animations.Instead of running it
by distance until the horses have run the full distance (as WTW does now), ATW (At The Wire,
our pseudonym for the overhaul ) will run the race by time until the horses have run the
distance of the race. Hopefully that way we will be able to incorporate things like slowing
down around a turn, etc. Also, this should help fix the random huge margins that WTW likes
to create.
I’m sure there are more things I’m forgetting, but those are the basic
ideas for now.
Comments? Questions? Suggestions?
Very happy and eager member here!