I don’t like the idea of having all breeds/disciplines in the game. I joined FF b/c it’s RACING. Not dressage, not h/j, not cow cutting. On the other hand, I would be okay with seeing Arabs, Paints, Appies, Quarter Horses, and Standardbreds added since they are all racing breeds.
And a note on donating. I donate when I have the money, but I don’t always have the money (I’m sure you can all relate to college debts & days of eating only ramen)
The rest of the ideas, I’m okay with. But since Cheq suggested to those of us who donate (when we can) to comment on the subject, I thought I would. Sorry if I’m stepping on toes here.
Just to clarify: FF would not change…it would still be TBs racing on dirt/turf/steeplechase. And, as long as I am able to afford it, Final Furlong will always be free/donation-based.
These ideas are for a separate game that would charge money for varying levels of membership.
lol I’m glad all my ideas gave you inspiration for things NOT to do, Shanthi. But hey, if no one suggested it, you wouldn’t know that you didn’t like it 
Oh. Well. I feel silly now. :roll:
~Panicking P.A.
At the time of posting I wasn’t really trying to think about the money issue, I was thinking about what I look for in a game. I personally don’t like the huge games at all (though I suppose that could be different if it was a really good game, unlike some I can think of). I just can’t see myself really wanting to pay for a game with (hundreds of) thousands of members that is really difficult to get into. I think the game would definitely have to have some sort of way to make it more personal, as Cheq said above.
Shanthi, for the racing aspect of things, will horses still be injured? If so, I think perhaps the whole vet thing (or Ask A Vet Tech) might be helpful. Perhaps not general vetting fees on a monthly basis, because when your horse bows a tendon (or whatever) you don’t just throw him out to pasture for three weeks and it’s magically better. Though, I wish that were the case.
All in all, it sounds super cool, and I wish you much luck coding it. I’m afraid I don’t have much suggestions that wouldn’t be silly at the moment. I mean, who says we’re racing thoroughbreds? I’m racing chicken-pocked, four-legged, people eating monsters that have MAGICAL powers and can roller skate should the need arise. I don’t know what the rest of you are racing, but that’s what is in my barn.
But you see, by saying silly stuff like above, I might hijack a productive thread, and that would be bad.
I understand the concerns about the breeding aspect. I’m not sympathetic to it, particularly (I have to wait another year and a half for Madame Pele’s babe to run…argh!), but one would want to this to appeal to the masses. And sometimes the masses have short attention spans. Like flea-size. Am I putting my foot in my mouth yet? Good. If you look at the massive SIM games (Yes, horseland does come to mind), you get a bunch of younger players who con their parents into paying for the premium membership. Younger folks seem to be the large basis of the horse SIM “industry.” But again, “Stable King” also seems to be pretty big with an older member set, so in goes foot number two.
What I am saying is that I think you should anticipate a younger crowd if you want to have a large, sustainable base. They have the free time, and potentially the parents willing to finance their after school activities. I think, however, the game proposed will be sophisticated enough to lure in older players, but not in the same proportion, due to lack of disposable time. Or grumpiness. At least I’m more grumpy as I get older. See? Grumpy. GRRRRRR…
This is, of course, dependent on publicity and how you advertise. Ideally, you will get a large mixture of all age groups. What makes horseland appealing to the young ‘uns? I think it’s the fast paced-ness of the game that acts primarily as a drawing power. I mean, when you’re twelve or thirteen who wants to wait three years for ol’ Bessie’s baby to be able to hit the track, or three weeks for Bessie to be able to jump/go to the races, etc.
HL has the benefit of everytime you go on, there is something you can DO. Even if it’s just enter your horse in 50 billion shows. Therefore, there should be something you could do when you login, even if you only own ol’ Bessie and she just raced yesterday. Perhaps this would fit under the grooming/being prettiful/training. However, you shouldn’t be penalized if you neglect to log in for a couple days (read: positive reinforcement!) or even a week or two, as some members will try to have a life from time to time.
What makes FF or stableking or WR appealing to us old, grouchies? It’s more than just automation. For me, it is the forum and the realism. I don’t mind waiting the three years, because I have patience…and the attention span of a flea (who is that pretty pony, and what do you mean I bred it?). Perhaps, this goes hand in hand with training, requiring weanlings/yearlings to be trained. You don’t want to start them too soon (burn out) or too late (not ready for the season/futurities). The ornery ones could be a pain to halter train, trainers can get hurt from a good toss by that demon-possessed stud colt and you have to pay for his medical fees. I’m sure Emma could give you lots of ideas for the ground-work and breaking parts of this training. This way Bessie’s baby is still required to hang around for three years before the bugger can be used, but one must fiddle with her to make sure she’s not possessed when the time comes to go out of the gate.
Just a thought.
Oh, and Bessie is a cow. You’re going to have cow/heifer racing, right? Maybe a running of the bulls. It’ll be grand. You should be able to cross species breed and get how or a corse.
Cheers.
I’ll volunteer to be a beta tester or am I already :lol:
I’m late getting to the post ^^; and i looked through the recap but umm…what about different occupations… Some people like to just show/race and what not it’s what they like…but they are not so good at training or breeding. Other Live for bloodlines, and know who to breed to who, and what lines to stay away from.other like to train, and some can do all because they are so awesome…but i think that if a person is say ‘Training Stupid’ and they just don’t like it, or they don’t like to race, and just want to breed…why couldn’t they pay some one else to do that stuff for them. It would also keep a nice flow of player to player currency because in order to have a trainer you would have to pay them so much a month… or something >>; or you could set a gaol of what you wanted to be started out as a stable hand/groom, and worked you way up or something to that sort…OK I’m done… 
ops:
We’ve been brainstorming jobs, since in the show world, you don’t really get any money for showing unless you’re in the Olympics or something (and even then, you generally need sponsorship to afford to get there).
At the moment, I think that Training and possible Veterinary/Farrier stuff will be kept automated by the game. This is because while you may have someone who’s really awesome at/into training do a great job with your horse, you might also get someone who’s just in it for the bigger paycheck, or even potentially wants to screw other peoples’ horses over to reduce the competition for their own. (Not to mention that I have no clue what sort of stuff you could “do” as a trainer…)
Jobs we’re thinking of include (roughly in order of salary):
- Groom - required for every 5 show/race horses owned, or every 10 breeding horses owned
- Stud Manager (in charge of advertising the stud, handling bookings, etc.) - required for every 5 stallions owned
- Breeding Manager (in charge of finding studs for mares, checking on pregnancies, etc) - required for every 10 broodmares owned
- Barn Manager (in charge of entering shows, handling barn-wide disasters/surprises/etc) - required for every 100 horses owned
The other thing I didn’t want to get into was jockey/show rider/handler type of jobs…like with training/vet stuff, there’d be varying levels of quality, and (again) I have no clue what you’d really “do”, since I’m not going to have any sort of first-person GUI (riding the race, jumping the course, and so on).
It would be nice to not only pick the jockeys but give them orders. Do you want the horse to set the pace come from behind etc. Or if it’s just a tune up how much do you want you horse to put into winning if the jock determines it has a chance going into the stretch. Do want the horse pushed 100% to win or just 80% or 90% or even less because you want him in peak condition for the race your pointing to. There would be of course those riders that do what they want and ignore you
That’s all set to go for the 2010 racing code, it’d use the same racing engine FF does. Well, everything’s set but you giving jockey orders, but that’ll be in there by “go” time.
Wow that’s great
If we are able to give jockey instructions, will we be able to have some idea on where our horse likes to run in a race? So a GOT line that says something like…
“This horse likes to lead”
“This horse likes to be on the pace”
“This horse likes to mid-field”
“This horse likes to be off the pace”
“This horse is an alrounder - runs well positioned anywhere”
etc.
etc.
etc.
I think we already have something like that, Jase. I remember a line that says something like “Runs steady, stalks the pace” or “this horse is definitely a sprinter”…something along those lines.
Well Jase I play in a game that uses a system like that, and what I do is let the jocky make the decision for 2 or 3 races. Than look at the race(s) and check to see where the horse is positioned at each marker, and see where he makes his move or doesn’t We do the same thing here trying to decide if a horse seems to want more distance. By the way not GOT in that game. It’s just like Color Wars figure the horse out from scratch 
Yeah, I wouldn’t mind doing away with GOTs altogether, actually. Possibly once I add training in I’ll do that (since right now you’d have to just race your horse in tons of races to try and guess what s/he likes, but with training you can do workouts to decide).
Actually in one game I tried (can’t remember which one) they had a trainer you go to periodically, and he would give you advice as to what you should train your horse in for that training period. I don’t know if that’s a good idea or not. It might help non-horse people. It would have to be limited though. Once a week or month or whatever.
One of the things you should consider is the Standardbred or Harness Racing aspect of this. Obviously you have the same sort of structure when it comes to the horses, so that won’t change. The difference is that the race is standard. 1 mile and that’s it. The fastest one gets the money. No worrying about other distances, turf or dirt or weight of the driver(jockey). Although you seldom see a driver over 200 lbs even that has an advantage in that the sulkies that they sit in “lift” up on the harness producing somewhat less strain on the horse. The nice part of the 1 mile races is the tracks that they run over. 1\2 mile (2x around) 5\8 mile (1 1\2 times around) 3\4 and 7\8 and 1 mile tracks(1 x around) and the speed demon track of them all the 1 1\4 mile track (Colonial Downs 1 turn). The question for most drivers is do have a fast enough horse to reach the top or do I sit and wait in line for cover to go after the leader as he pushes the pedal a little faster on his horse to make my trip on the outside faster and longer. Watch races from the Meadowlands for all out speed (mostly) then watch some from Maywood Park in Chicago for a half mile track. A world of difference when it comes to tactics and horses ability.
Just my 2 cents worth!!
Myles
Umm, this was covered on page one…in fact, in post #1. :roll:
I guess my point was a stand alone harness game. Much the same as FF. With all the new stuff you are putting into FF in regards to the jockey trainer things. This would allow you the owner to drive the horse and not give it to a simulated driver. Just thoughts and maybe aimless ramblings.
Myles