Obviously, there are expenses involved in running any webgame, notably server space (the need for which expands with the number of players and with the number of things that take up space in the database - e.g. horses, jockey silks, etc.).
The goal of the ITA Racing developers is to create a horse racing game that is, among other things, free. We want the game to be playable and enjoyable even if you never spend a penny on it but we also want to be able to support the game with its own earnings. To that end, we've come up with the following system:
The game is free. No areas of the game are restricted to paying players, nor are paying players privileged in the game beyond whatever advantage they obtain from the actual purchased game items. Players have the option to purchase "tokens" (as of right now, they cost $.25, less if purchased in bulk) which enable them to do two things:
-Purchase Reports: The ITA racing database includes information (name, pedigree, race record, color, etc.) on every horse that has ever been in the game, including dead and retired horses. While some of this information is free - clicking on a horse will allow a user to see its pedigree and race record, for example - some of the information has to be purchased with tokens. What we envision is something similar to what is available on real life thoroughbred race/pedigree databases Equineline or BRISnet - users could look up mare's produce records, more extensive pedigrees, sales histories on horses, race records on dead or retired horses, pedigree "nicks" and stallion progeny reports, each for the cost of one token. Once a report is purchased, it can be saved or printed.
-Purchase Game Money: Players who go bankrupt and don't want to sit around waiting for money to re-accumulate, or players who just want more money in the game, have the option of turning tokens into game money.
So readers and potential players, what do you think of this system? Do you think this is fair? Do you see yourself being interested in either use of real money?
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Breeding and Genetics
I've just finished coding the basic structure of the breeding engine! We're still working on the genome, adding genes as we think up more features, but the machinery that will take two horses and generate a new one is complete and functioning!
The genetics system is very important to ITA Racing. We both studied genetics and want the game to be realistic and fun in this regard. We've got oodles of genes for conformation, color, markings, temperament, muscle fibers, bone density, and metabolism, just to name a few. We've tried to make this as realistic as possible, given that we haven't mapped the horse genome and there's no way we could know exactly how many genes affect every trait and in what way.
One area of horse genetics that we do understand fairly well is coat genetics. For example, we know there is one gene with two alleles that affects whether a horse is black or chestnut. We then have another gene, the agouti gene, that tells us whether a black horse is bay or not, but that doesn't affect a chestnut horse. There are other genes that only come into play on either a chestnut or a bay. We've tried to make this as accurate and interesting as we can, such that if you have a good understanding of real-world horse genetics, you should be able to breed for color (although you'll want to breed for winning races, too!) Here are some of the factors we're including for coats:
Chestnut (bright, regular, or liver)
Flaxen manes
Black
Bay
Dark Bay
Brown
Grey (which will get whiter with age!)
Dilute (which makes Buckskins, Palaminos, Cremellos, etc)
Sabino (which makes body spots, Pintos, and if you are very lucky, the rare White horse)
There are more factors we could include, like rabicano, but it's just too much art for me to make alone! For this reason, we also can't include conformation information in the horse photos, but it will be listed in your horse's information! And every horse picture will show its coat color and markings, like socks and stars, plus reflect its age, meaning there will be hundreds of unique pictures!
The genetics system is very important to ITA Racing. We both studied genetics and want the game to be realistic and fun in this regard. We've got oodles of genes for conformation, color, markings, temperament, muscle fibers, bone density, and metabolism, just to name a few. We've tried to make this as realistic as possible, given that we haven't mapped the horse genome and there's no way we could know exactly how many genes affect every trait and in what way.
One area of horse genetics that we do understand fairly well is coat genetics. For example, we know there is one gene with two alleles that affects whether a horse is black or chestnut. We then have another gene, the agouti gene, that tells us whether a black horse is bay or not, but that doesn't affect a chestnut horse. There are other genes that only come into play on either a chestnut or a bay. We've tried to make this as accurate and interesting as we can, such that if you have a good understanding of real-world horse genetics, you should be able to breed for color (although you'll want to breed for winning races, too!) Here are some of the factors we're including for coats:
Chestnut (bright, regular, or liver)
Flaxen manes
Black
Bay
Dark Bay
Brown
Grey (which will get whiter with age!)
Dilute (which makes Buckskins, Palaminos, Cremellos, etc)
Sabino (which makes body spots, Pintos, and if you are very lucky, the rare White horse)
There are more factors we could include, like rabicano, but it's just too much art for me to make alone! For this reason, we also can't include conformation information in the horse photos, but it will be listed in your horse's information! And every horse picture will show its coat color and markings, like socks and stars, plus reflect its age, meaning there will be hundreds of unique pictures!
Time
ITA Racing will be a mostly real-time game. Here's how it will work:
Every real-time day will equal 2 game weeks. At the end of each day, the game clock will start over and advance two weeks, and the horses will age, stats will change and events will take place based on the players' actions for the previous two weeks (the previous real-life day). Then the next set of actions will be available for the players.
This allows us to do several cool things. It allows us to have seasonal events. Since everyone's game is moving at the same speed, we can have events in which everyone can participate at the same time, such as special races, auctions (more on this later), breeding seasons.
This also means that everyone's horses are aging at the same rate. This means that there will be "crops" of horses, just like in real life. The same horses will be competing against one another throughout their careers (until of course they get old enough to enter non-age-restricted races). For example, in real life the Triple Crown races are for 3-year-olds only. You follow the same group of horses as they compete with each other for the right to enter the Kentucky Derby. Our game would have the same style of competition.
The auction system can also be real-time based this way. I don't mean like ebay, where you race against other bidders to get the highest bid in just before the timer runs out. That's not how horse auctions really work, and that's not how you figure out what the horse is really worth. In real life, you keep bidding until the price is such that no one wants to bid anymore. This is how our game will work. The bidding starts on a certain scheduled auction day (say the first two weeks of January in game time) and continues until no one bids on the horse for, say, 12 real life hours. The bidding could theoretically go on forever, but eventually the price will get high enough so that no one wants to bid anymore, just like in real life. You get what your horse is really worth.
What do you think about these features?
Every real-time day will equal 2 game weeks. At the end of each day, the game clock will start over and advance two weeks, and the horses will age, stats will change and events will take place based on the players' actions for the previous two weeks (the previous real-life day). Then the next set of actions will be available for the players.
This allows us to do several cool things. It allows us to have seasonal events. Since everyone's game is moving at the same speed, we can have events in which everyone can participate at the same time, such as special races, auctions (more on this later), breeding seasons.
This also means that everyone's horses are aging at the same rate. This means that there will be "crops" of horses, just like in real life. The same horses will be competing against one another throughout their careers (until of course they get old enough to enter non-age-restricted races). For example, in real life the Triple Crown races are for 3-year-olds only. You follow the same group of horses as they compete with each other for the right to enter the Kentucky Derby. Our game would have the same style of competition.
The auction system can also be real-time based this way. I don't mean like ebay, where you race against other bidders to get the highest bid in just before the timer runs out. That's not how horse auctions really work, and that's not how you figure out what the horse is really worth. In real life, you keep bidding until the price is such that no one wants to bid anymore. This is how our game will work. The bidding starts on a certain scheduled auction day (say the first two weeks of January in game time) and continues until no one bids on the horse for, say, 12 real life hours. The bidding could theoretically go on forever, but eventually the price will get high enough so that no one wants to bid anymore, just like in real life. You get what your horse is really worth.
What do you think about these features?
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Welcome to the ITA Racing blog!
This blog was created as a way to organize ideas and get feedback from people on the horse racing game "ITA Racing" currently in development.
ITA stands for the International Thoroughbred Association, our imaginary breed registry for our game. This free web browser game will attempt to be the most realistic (and fun!) horse racing sim out there. Check back frequently for questions and updates!
ITA stands for the International Thoroughbred Association, our imaginary breed registry for our game. This free web browser game will attempt to be the most realistic (and fun!) horse racing sim out there. Check back frequently for questions and updates!
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