In our last devlog, we discussed the auction implementation, user interfaces, announcing and team updates.

You've Got Mail

In our last devlog, we mentioned developing the inbox system, a key feature for any management game. This turned out to be very complex, as we guessed. But at least we've begun implementing the start of the inbox system. This system will keep you informed about important events, notifications, and messages within the game world. While we're still in the early stages, we're excited about how it's shaping up. For now we have added the news articles for a race result and also, while a bit macabre, the horse death event. Our talented developer, Janne, has really built a good foundation to add more news. And we have then used AI to add differing news articles, with a different degree of "variance". There is already a massive amount of "news text data", to give you a sense of scale, when we put it into a text editor we got around 185 pages of text with a font of 11. This will probably still increase in the final game. The variance basically tells how shocking or unusual say an result was, and we want the news to reflect this. So if the race was an upset or just a normal Sunday - we want to report it in that way. We have to do this for every type of event, you can see how it quickly becomes complex. News should also be "clickable", so if a horse, race, auction, person or stable is mentioned, you should be quickly be able to jump to that entity just by clicking it. This adds complexity to the news event, but we think that it's crucial for a functional user experience.
The early implementation of the inbox system - we took inspiration from Football Manager. Still needs polish.

Horse Redesign

One of the most exciting developments is our new approach to horse design. We're moving towards a puzzle-like system that will allow for greater variety and uniqueness in each horse's appearance. This system will tie into our breeding mechanics, ensuring that offspring inherit visual traits from their parents in a realistic way. We are also dabbling in coat colors a bit, and how to make those semi-realistic. I say semi-realistic, because I think it could add some flavour to also have more rare colors for the horses - even if this is maybe not the most realistic for say the thoroughbred breed. But let's see, and we are obviously also taking input from you, the fans.
Comparing old and new designs.

Custom tables

While we had a slight hiccup in staffing, that hindered our progress on the tables we have in the past week made significant progress on our custom table system. As mentioned in our previous devlog, we believe that a game filled with data needs exceptional tables. Our new system allows for greater flexibility, enabling players to sort, filter, and customize the information displayed. This is still early, but we still wanted to show you a bit of the functionality. We also want the player to be able to build their own views. We are also thinking if we should give the player some way to say graph data, but we are still unsure on how to do it or if we are doing it now or in future iterations. Anyways, we're putting the finishing touches on the table feature and can't wait for you to try it out.
New table system

I have a monkey on my back

Are you guessing what I'm talking about? Optimisation. We have started to do more long-time simulations and noticed that some of the functions did not scale with in-game time. For example the hiring process that is ran everyday in-game, started ballooning from 200ms to 2000ms in just a couple of years of game-time. There were other functions, that we had not "finished" so no new races where being generated after 5 years etc. We have now fixed most of these, and this also means that we are closer to beta (or should I say Alpha) than ever. More on this later.
Around a month of simulation on a M1 Macbook Air

Racing Refactor

For our expo, more on that later, we wanted to make a playable version of the live racing scene. This needed much love, since the live race scene was something that I had programmed at the start of this journey. We have now refactored it completely, and next up we are going to balance it. We also built it with balancing in mind, so all the variables are exposed so that it's easy to change. At the expo, we also saw how people were playing the live race and we still have to make some changes to make it more interesting. You can see some of the new race logic UI here, we are moving to a target speed - basically how much power you are inputting. Then the stamina will be different for sprinter and long-distance horses. Where if a horse is long-distance stamina will unlock more as the race progresses. This is to make long-distance horses good at sprints vice versa. It's a balancing game, but we are going to still make the horse fight you a bit depending on it's temperament and your skill. Obviously you can just put a jockey to ride the horse - if you are more of the managerical type. We will talk more of the racing in another devlog.
Start of a race

PG Connects Expo in Helsinki

Some of you might have seen us at the expo, and we officially now have a couple of people who actually own the game. The expo was okay, and we met with a ton of developers. It was however different from what we had thought originally, we were thinking that it was more consumer focused, while it was more B2B focused. But all in all a nice experience, mainly since we found two new employees and we actually met with some team members live.
Our expo table - thanks to Finnish brands Namitupa and Mad-Croc for helping us out! Try them out if you have the possibility.

Injuries & Illnesses

For horse injuries and illnesses we started work, and the internals are now done as a first draft. We have not yet tested and balanced it. But there are features like contagion and we then want to add quarantines to the game also. Currently it works in a way where based on the medical staffs capabilities a "daily healing rate" is calculated. Every injury and illness has "points". Once those points reach zero, the horse is healthy again. This means, that if the player wants to have a higher healing rate (horses healing faster), they need to hire the best veterinary's and nurses for their stable. They will require a higher salary, so the player has to decide what they prefer. We like this method, and it's pretty simple to understand. It's maybe not the "most" realistic, but as a game-mechanic I think it works pretty well. We also implemented game-ending injuries and illnesses. They are rare but can happen, and the risk is higher if the horse has a high-level of injury/illness risk. This risk increases if you race the horse too much. We had some feedback to make these optional, and I think that's true since everyone might not want to play on "hardcore" mode. Everything is starting to "tie-together" more, and brings naturally more complexity and depth to the game.
Code of some of the illness and injuries, we are still thinking if these are going to be the ones in the end.

Team Update

We had a couple of people leave and a couple of people join. I think we now have a more stable team. Additionally, we are also all located geographically in the same country (Finland), so it's easier with timezones. An UI/UX designer is also joining us after a around a month, our game is heavily focused on that so I think it will be great. We like some web frameworks, they look very clean. For example a style similar to shadcn, is something that we think would look very nice.

Alpha

We are still thinking on when to do the alpha, as said before, it's pointless if we just run into bugs when playing the game ourself casually. So we still need to do some polish before that and also add some additional news. The race scene and game world still also still needs balancing. The alpha version won't be perfect, but we at least want to strive for "playable". My brother actually asked me if I'm nervous for the alpha - yes, I am. It's a big moment when people actually start playing your game after a year of development and decisions, I'm most afraid of the game not meeting the standards the fans are envisioning. I have recently been playing when I have some free-time in the evenings FIFA, or FC as it's called now, and it's quite an shallow shell with lot's of bugs. I can feel as a player, that they don't respect the game modes that I'm playing (mostly manager), when I read online that a bug has been precent for years. I do not want my game to ever be this or become this - and I hope that people don't experience the same sensation when playing my game, ever. If you ever see the game going in that direction, please email us at help@sheepmeadowroad.games and remind us of this devlog. Players expectations are high, and we want to deliver as a very small team. If you are interested in alpha testing, join our Discord! More info below, we will inform there when we test it.

Discord Server

Some of you have already found it, with an impressive member count of over 120 already. If you have suggestions, ideas or something else you want to talk about, it's a great platform and an easy way to reach us. Join the server here!

Funding & Racecourse Contacts

Funding

We have made steps in some funding, we are applying for a government grant to be able to pay our developers before launch but also to make the game even better. We have high hopes for this.

Racecourse Contacts

Our second outreach was not succesful either, we got some contacts, but they never really went anywhere. I think they first want us to see that we can make a quality product, so let's deliver that, before wasting more time on this.

In the Pipeline

Upgrade from Godot 4.1.1 to 4.3

Some of you might know we use Godot, and if you are ever feeling like you want to try game development, give it a go! It's an easy to use and open source engine, meaning that it does not have any licenses or costs. We are upgrading our game engine, because we found out that FMOD does not work with our current version. We want to use FMOD for the music in game, but also to make race scene and auction scene sounds more dynamic. We expect the upgrade to be pretty simple, fingers crossed.

Finishing custom tables

We are finalising the custom tables, and then implementing them around game. We also want them to have some additional functionality still, like selecting what columns are visible and then improved data presentation. Like in-table graphs, progress bars, text coloration and more.

Finishing news system

We knew when we started the news system that it would take time, it's the most complex system in the game. We are trying to finish it in the next devlog, but it might also be a feature that is constantly developed as the game progresses.

Finishing UI for medical UI

We also want to implement the UI for the medical area, where you can see statistics of health points and more. You should be able to quarantine horses, maybe give preventive medicine, research new methods/drugs or other things. We are still thinking of how to make it more interesting that just "sick horses".

Maybe, just maybe, alpha?

We might start alpha testing at the end of the devlog, or atleast more extensively testing it internally, but as said we still want it to be a somewhat playable experience. But more of this in Discord.

Implement actual game logic

Now development has mostly been done from the perspective of a stable owner/manager. So there are a lot of bugs/crashes if you are not a stable owner, or if you don't own any staff or if you don't own any horses. So we have to make the game safe to play also when you are not an owner. This is not that hard, more of a chore to go to every single page and making it crash-safe.

Cleanup of code, reorganising and static typing

During this month we have also started to cleanup the code, while doing this we have actually fixed a lot of bugs that we never knew where there. Static typing will also help with this, and make the game a bit faster since the computer does not have to guess data types. Again, this is not hard to do, more of just taking time.

Whats next

Next is finishing the features we have started in this devlog, and the as said possibly an alpha. At some point, we are also starting work on the stable facilities, and we might already in the next devlog talk about them more. We are continuously working to enhance Horse Racing Manager, and your feedback is invaluable. Our goal is to make this franchise the most realistic horse racing simulator in the world. Don't forget to add Horse Racing Manager to your Steam wishlist! Your support is crucial for us and greatly appreciated. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2740170/Horse_Racing_Manager/

In our last devlog, we discussed an interface for trading horses and the auction system. The auction system is now fully implemented into the game, but team updates pushed the interface for trading forward.

Auctions

In our last devlog, we mentioned developing the auction system. This system has now been fully implemented into the game. Both in in-game UI (user interface), but also as a separate scene for the auction. The CPU stable managers also now uses auctions instead of straight trades with each other. We are also happy that the game features these separate scenes, it really breaks the monotonous nature of the game, with mostly charts and tables. More about custom tables later. The levels of the auction houses are also now implemented. Polish can always be done.
Example of an expensive-level auction.
Example of an medium-level auction.
Example of an cheap-level auction. A bit of a sidenote: one thing we have been thinking of is how to make the game even more "managerical". One thing that is in the idea pool is for the player to be able to manage an auction house and/or racetrack. For the auction house, the player could choose what kind of auction event, try to get horses and bidders by advertising and then balancing making money with a high enough fee to cover costs. For racetracks, the player could make a yearly schedule, try to get sponsorships, balance upkeep cost and staff for the track etc. It would be a completely unheard (at least to our knowledge) of mechanic in a horse racing game, or other sport management games. But we won't make any promises that it will come in the first version, as said, this is still in the "idea"pool. But we think the idea is cool, what do you think?

User Interface

We have made user interface and experience improvements, where the player can now move back to the where they were and it will keep the last view as is. Currently there is no limit on depth, but it resets at logical points, like going to race etc. This means that say in the auctions, it will be very easy to jump into more details into a horse and then just go back when you want to the same screen. This makes the whole experience of navigating the game much smoother. For auction registering, we also made these small cards. We think this is something that could also be used in other places, it's a nice change to just tables. One thing that we want to also keep in mind when developing the game, is to make things clickable and glancable. Meaning that if the player presses a horse name in any context, it should move to the horse profile. Glancable information is also important, where the player will get information if something is good/bad just by icon/color, but can then read on for more details. We also introduced an "Action button", so instead of say separate "Next race" or "Next auction", the next action always picks the nearest event. We can also add other events to this button, making it in our opinion the "go-to" option for most players. You can of course still choose to sim forward a day, a week, a month or a year if you prefer.
UI & UX examples.

Announcing

The announcer is still quiet, but we would want to change this to get the real auction feel (same goes for race announcer). We are still thinking of the best way to do this, but basically we have come down to four solutions:

• Just text
• Mumbling noise
• Text to speech
• Voice actor/s
• AI (e.g. Whisper)

These all have their benefits and drawbacks. Text to speech has always sounded too robotic to us, so that is not an option. Mumbling is again not that immersive, but we might try it. One thing in the game is that there are custom content (like the player being able to set their horse names to whatever they want). This makes voice acting hard, but not impossible although expensive. We will probably try an AI model like Whisper to see if this would be feasible running locally. We don't want to get into an AI debate, but there is something "soulful" missing in this solution, this is why we are still leaning a bit more to voice acting.

Main menu and start of game

What would a good story be, without a backstory? At the start of the game we have now implemented backstories for the players, but these will also be added to all the people in the game (NPC:s). We believe this will bring more immersion, and give replayability for different playstyles.
The game starts by you selecting the backstory of your character, as-well as basic information
You gain a different amount of skill points and cash at start of game depending on the choices.
You can also customize the look of your character.
The final summary of your character. The main menu still needs some work, we need to add pre-made databases for the player to play on quickly (say 10 years of simulation as history), but we will also give the ability to generate a new database. We will also put the appropriate warnings if it will take a long time, since generating lots of data takes time.

Journal

When we have talked with people about the game, sometimes it's clear that something that we thought was obvious, is very much not obvious. We also want to accommodate people more familiar with managerial games, whom are not necessarily the biggest horse racing fans. Therefore we implemented what we call a "journal" you can think of it as a wiki page of the game. We really want to integrate it into the game, so our vision is that if you click on something in the game, say a horse breed, it would bring you to the journal where you can learn about the breed more. As said, this is still a vision and still needs a lot of work. The text now is just generated, and not tied to the game.
Sneak-peek of the journal system.

Huge Team Update

We are growing! As some of you might have known, I have been the sole developer for the game for about 8-9 months now. I also have a day job, so I have developed the game on the evenings and weekends. This has been quite challenging to balance, but fun nontheless and have learned a ton. What I have missed is someone to brainstorm with (someone else than ChatGPT), and someone to review the sanity of my work. In my day job I'm an data-analyst, but I would not call myself a professional programmer. As stated in some devlogs, I have long-term plans for this game, and don't want it to stop with the first release. This is why I took the step to find team members, to give you a higher quality product. After some trials, we now have a team of two programmers, one pixel artist, a musician and me. While this brings more of an administrative burden to the development and has taken some time to setup, I can already say that it was very much so worth it. More of this later.

The performance rabbit is calling again (nerd stuff)

Last devlog I went into detail how I had fallen into a performance rabbit hole. I mentioned that our goal was to get under 500ms (half a second) for a day simulation. One of our new programmers, found in his first week, that we could get there quite easily by making a simple change. This made our performance much better, and we are now getting easily under 500ms times (half of that at times). Here we can see the benefit of having people on-board that know their stuff better than me. Some functions still grow in time, as more data is in the game, this is expected. But some grow too much, meaning that there is something in the functions getting messed up as time goes on. We still have to investigate this.
Simulation times for each daily task.

Discord Server

We are excited to announce our official Discord server! Some of you have already found it, with an impressive member count of over 50 already. If you have suggestions, ideas or something else you want to talk about, it's a great platform and an easy way to reach us. Join the server here!

Funding, Racecourse Contacts, Rattle Interview, Steam Profile

Funding

We're still awaiting news on our government grant application, though chances are slim. Discussions with private investors are ongoing.

Racecourse Contacts

Our initial outreach wasn't successful, but we're not giving up! We've contacted 20 more racecourses with an offer we hope they can't refuse. If anyone has contacts with a racecourse or brand interested in being featured in-game, please reach out to help@sheepmeadowroad.games.

Interview with Rattle

We had an interview with Rattle. We highly recommend checking out her YouTube channel for quality horse game content. Video about us will hopefully be published shortly.

Moving to Corporate Steam Profile

You might notice some changes in who responds on the Steam community in the future (mainly in terms of logo, etc.). We're transitioning to a corporate Steam profile to better manage our community interactions and have our game under a corporate account.

In the Pipeline

Improved horses

Improved horse look system, with multiple body parts so that each horse looks "unique". This also includes realistic coat colors, that will be integrated into the Pseudo-DNA breeding system. Here is a draft our new artist made, keep in mind this is not the final version.
Left is new model, looks way better already in our opinion, but the proportions need work.

Advanced custom tables

A game filled with tables needs to have extremely good ones. That is why we have started to build custom tables that we can use in the game easily. They should look good, but also be flexible for the player. So maybe the player wants more or less information, this should be customizable. The player should also be able to sort and filter data.

Save system

We have been working on a save system, and it's almost finished. I think it turned out good, where we have it organised per character/game, and in a game you can have multiple different saves. We wanted to make it like this, to make it more organised for people who make multiple different saves in multiple different games. But more of this in the next devlog.

Main menu music

Currently the main menu music is being composed, we have chosen as a theme a "epic/heroic" style, to set the tone for your journey. Music during the game is still something we are thinking about, what music is fitting for a game like this? But there will obviously be the option to also mute the music, I know some people like to watch shows/listen to podcasts/music while playing games like this.

Video Devlogs

Last time we asked about video devlogs. There was some interest so we started to make a video. But after around 10 hours to make 2 minutes of content we are putting it on hold for now. We have still not given up on the idea, but this will be down prioritized. Last time I said that our goal is to make this franchise the most realistic horse racing simulator in the world. This continues to be the goal.

Whats next

Our next update will likely continue to focus on the interfaces for buying and selling horses. I expect the save system to be ready as-well as custom tables. For big features the next thing is to start work on the news/inbox system, and make the race scene actually playable and balanced. Once these two systems are in-game, the game should be ready to be playtested. We will inform you more about this in the future. If you are interested in joining the beta, you can say so in our discord group (there is a dedicated channel for that). We are continuously working to enhance Horse Racing Manager, and your feedback is invaluable. Don't forget to add Horse Racing Manager to your Steam wishlist! Your support is crucial for us and greatly appreciated. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2740170/Horse_Racing_Manager/

In our last devlog, we mentioned focusing on visuals and UI, and while this remains true, we also dove into a deep efficiency rabbit hole. How fast can we make the game? This became an obsession, but more on that later.

Auctions

In our last devlog, we mentioned developing the auction system. While the system is still in it's early stages, the visuals for the auction houses came from the artist, and they look stunning. We wanted different tiers of auctions, so as the player progresses, they can access more expensive auction houses. The visuals represent this progression, and the final result is pretty cool.
Example of the different auction houses.

Financials

We also worked on the financials page, mainly line charts. The charts are custom-built since ready-made solutions didnt work. We plan to add bar graphs for more informative visuals and to make data "glanceable" in the game. The charts still have bugs, like negative numbers performing oddly (lines going out of bounds). Currently, the financial page is simple and a bit barren. For now, it serves its purpose of giving the player a picture of the stable's current financials. We plan to improve this page later but believe our time is better spent elsewhere for now.
The financial overview.
You can make a deep-dive into the income and costs.
The assets and liabilities, the option to take loans are now in the game.

Efficiency (skip if you don't care for nerd stuff)

We went deep into optimizing efficiency. Previously, a year took 30-40 minutes to simulate, meaning a day took 5-6 seconds. By moving many functions to pure SQL, we drastically improved this to 1 second a day, or 6 minutes a year. We handle bulk transactions rather than individual ones, reducing thousands of transactions to just a few. This required rewriting some custom logic, and while the code isnt as universal, its much faster. For instance, paying all employees monthly in a large stable now takes 1-2 transactions instead of thousands. However, our first round of optimizations broke many functions, so it took a long time to fix these issues. It's also very tedious to code stuff like this, since you don't really see any "new" progress.
You can see where some of the optimizations were made. Our goal for a day simulation is under 500ms, but well revisit this once the game is finished. Here are the current execution times for daily functions:

• Daily training: 359 ms, 36.56% of total
• Daily race register: 154 ms, 15.68% of total
• Monthly salary payments: 102 ms, 10.39% of total
• Monthly breeding: 94 ms, 9.57% of total
• Horse value calculation: 90 ms, 9.16% of total
• Need to liquidate horses check: 82 ms, 8.35% of total
• Hiring daily process: 35 ms, 3.56% of total
• Role-based stars daily update: 22 ms, 2.24% of total
• Get stable economic factors: 22 ms, 2.24% of total
• World economics: 9 ms, 0.92% of total
• Births daily: 5 ms, 0.51% of total
• Horse death daily: 5 ms, 0.51% of total
• Monthly loan payments: 2 ms, 0.20% of total
• Racing daily: 1 ms, 0.10% of total

Game Balance

We also improved the data tracking in the game, developing 121 different metrics tracked daily. These include metrics from the average cash of the stables to the total prime racing age horses. This foundation will make balancing the game easier in the future. We can now generate a 300-page PDF on the game worlds performance in under a minute. This will be improved further during actual game balancing.
Example of a graph that tracks the number of foals and yearlings in game.

Focus

We received mail from a fan about the games complexity, suggesting we focus on creating a working product before adding complexity. We agree. Weve discussed many features still in the pipeline: countries, trotting, steeplechase, breeds, jockey mode, and more. Last devlog, we spoke about the grant application and the game design document. A game design document is a detailed document describing the game in detail, that helps to scope the game to avoid scope creep. It's a living document, but the "frame" should not change. We also submitted the grant application, we will get the information if we got the grant or not on July 1st. Let's keep our thumbs up! It made clear that we are making a horse racing managerial game first and foremost. It should be made clear, we want to make this the most realistic horse racing simulator in the world. But we have to be realistic, we don't have the resources to make that in the first iteration of the game. As a comparison, Sports Interactive Inc. (the developers of Football Manager, a huge inspiration), currently employs around 300 people. In contrast, Sheep Meadow Road Games currently employs one (1) part-time employee, me. So it's clear that we can't reach that level, yet. We have been discussing with a Swedish game development school about a possible intern, but nothing has been decided yet. While the intern would work for free, one of the company ethos is to pay everyone fairly for their contribution. Since the company bank account is close to zero, we will probably pay them with a revenue share programme, if they do a good job. But as said, nothing has been decided yet.

Real-Life Racecourses

Speaking of the level of detail, one of the top wishes from the fans is realistic scheduling and racecourses. But as they also point out, we can't just put whatever we want in the game since we would then have licensing issues. Just for fun, we tried contacting 10 world-renown racecourses. None of them has yet answered our emails, and there is a slim chance that they will, but let's follow up on this in the next devlog. If anyone has contacts with a racecourse or brand interested in being featured, please reach out to help@sheepmeadowroad.games.

Summer & Video Devlogs

With summer vacation approaching, devlogs might be less frequent as we take some time to relax. Were also considering video devlogs, despite lacking experience in making YouTube videos. Its a learning curve, but it might be more relaxing to consume than text. Let us know if this is something that you would be interested in. StayAtHomeDev featured our game in one of his videos, I would recommend you to check him out, he has fantastic content!

Whats next

Our next update will likely continue to focus on the interfaces for buying and selling horses and the auction system. The next new key feature will likely be the news system, after that a overhaul of the race simulation system. Once these two systems are in game, the game should be ready to be playtested. We will inform you more about this in the future. We are continuously working to enhance Horse Racing Manager, and your feedback is invaluable. Don't forget to add Horse Racing Manager to your Steam wishlist! Your support is crucial for us and greatly appreciated. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2740170/Horse_Racing_Manager/

This month, the focus was on the game world and making it alive. We also introduced crowds into the game.

Crowds

In our last devlog, we mentioned plans to enhance the racing scene in the upcoming update. We believe that the inclusion of crowds is a fantastic addition. They bring more life to the scene, and you can truly feel the excitement when a crowd is roaring. There are now five different crowd sizes.
Example of cheering crowd.

Game World Simulation and CPU strategies

The work on CPU strategies done this month included a lot of different tweaks under the hood. Currently, the functionality is roughly implemented, but balancing is needed. This also means that the game is pretty close to reaching a level where we can start to test long-time simulations and where one could theoretically play the game. We say "theoretically" because even if the game world is moving, the player needs to be able to interact with it better. Once the interfaces are ready, a demo/playtest could be performed. We will inform more about this in the future, but from what we have read, playtesting is crucial to iron out bugs and, more importantly, to make the game enjoyable to play. This would probably bring other things, like a communication channel, probably Discord. A comment was also made about more philosophical strategies for each stable, like preferring to buy ready top performers or developing them from foals themselves. We are not sure yet how this would be implemented, but it could be a good addition to give the stables some more "personality." Some CPU strategies

• If low on funds, the CPU will first try to get a loan from the bank. If this is unsuccessful, it will start selling horses and firing staff, beginning with the least valuable horse/staff. If high on cash, it will start buying horses and hiring staff.
• The manager's skills also affect how well he/she is able to make deals. A manager capable of making good deals would have a cheaper overall wage bill than a manager who is poor at making deals.
• The CPU manager will also breed horses. First, it will check if any appropriate horses are owned, and if not, then look at the market. It will try to find a suitable partner that is on the same level.
• Depending on age, ability and health of horse, the CPU will adjust training. A very high-ability horse will be splurged on, while a horse with a low capability will not.
• The CPU stable manager will register the horse to an appropriate race, depending on its grade.

World Economics

Closely tied to the simulation and the CPU strategies is the functionality of loans, ratings, and liquidation.

Loans

The functionality for taking loans is now technically set up, and the CPU tries to obtain loans from the bank. The transactions system discussed in the last devlog serves as the framework for all these financial interactions. The implementation mirrors real-life scenarios where you have credit and debit accountsif any accountant is reading this.

Ratings

When we mention attempts to secure loans, it's important to note that stable ratings in the game now range from AAA to D, modeling a corporate rating system like those in the real world. The rating considers the stable's income to expense ratio as well as assets to liabilities. Interestingly, this also allows us to measure the global economic rating and how balanced the simulated world is. We conducted our first extended simulation for fun (just under two years) and noticed that the current game is unbalanced as expected. We tracked the average economic rating for each day in the game; you can see a visualization of it below. There is a clear downward trend, which is somewhat expected since all stables start as AAA. The distribution of stables' ratings is very skewed, and our goal is to achieve a normal distribution. Overall, the change is quite slow, and it would be interesting to see if the situation stabilizes after, say, ten years.
Around two-year simulation of the game world, a downward trend in the avg. economic rating.
Stables divided into economic ratings after the simulation. The results are highly skewed. A one-year simulation (hands-off) takes around 30-40 minutes. This could be further optimized by moving some of the calculations directly to the database instead of performing them in the Godot game engine (to clarify, this is not a fault of the engine itself but rather suboptimal design on our part). Keep in mind that the game is designed to simulate day-to-day activities; currently, one day takes about 2-5 seconds to simulate depending on the workload, but we are hoping to improve this.

Liquidation

What happens when a stable does not have enough funds to continue, and the bank refuses to extend more credit? The answer is liquidation. The CPU will try to stay afloat by selling horses and laying off staff. However, if these measures fail, liquidation will begin. During liquidation, all staff are fired and horses are sold. Afterwards, the old stable becomes more of a shell. We have not yet decided whether we will remove these stables from the game after some time. Once a stable is liquidated, a new one will be generated. One aspect still not in the game is a sort of free agent situation for horseswhere no one wants to buy them but you want to get rid of them. Our likely solution is to introduce a shelter stable, where you can offload unwanted horses and also purchase horses cheaply that other stables have offloaded.

Always be closing

In Alec Baldwin's words, let's talk about something important... put that coffee down. The functionality to list horses for sale and buy available horses is technically in the game now, although no interface exists yet. The CPU is using this feature to purchase and sell horses. In the next devlog, we hope to introduce the trading interface and our planned auction system. Currently, we're designing three different auction houses for various levels of auctions: high-end, medium, and inexpensive. The auction scene will also be illustrated in pixel art. Although the game is heavily UI-based, we believe that transforming the auctions into an actual "event" rather than just another menu will add fun and variety.

Whats next

Our next update will likely focus on the interfaces in general, but more specifically, it will enhance the interfaces for buying and selling horses, the auction system, and the economic page of the stable. While we continue refining the CPU strategies, we expect the next update to be quite interface-heavy. We have also decided to pursue a grant from IDGA Finland, the Finnish chapter of International Game Developers Association, a non-profit professional society dedicated to advancing the careers and enhancing the lives of game developers. This grant would help cover the expenses of purchasing art for the game and provide us with professional feedback and advice. Even if the grant is denied, we will create a game design document and pitch deck, which will make future endeavors like this easier and help clarify our vision for the games look and feel. We are continuously working to enhance Horse Racing Manager, and your feedback is invaluable. Don't forget to add Horse Racing Manager to your Steam wishlist! Your support is crucial for us and greatly appreciated. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2740170/Horse_Racing_Manager/

This month, we introduced the Pseudo-DNA feature into our game, marking a significant advancement in how we simulate genetics within our game world. This innovative approach has already shown promising results in enriching the gameplay and realism of horse breeding mechanics.
Pseudo-DNA feature illustrated

Initial System Overview

Previously, our system modeled horse skillssuch as speedby averaging the skills of the parents. This method, while simple, led to predominantly average outcomes and encouraged players to breed horses somewhat indiscriminately, prioritizing quantity over quality due to the randomness of outcomes. This approach, visualized in our first graph, displayed a uniform distribution of skills across 1,000 horses, emphasizing the limitations of averaging parental skills.
Two-parent average system, it's random values

Introduction of Pseudo-DNA

Drawing inspiration from real-world genetics, the Pseudo-DNA concept was introduced to simulate the inheritance of traits more dynamically. In nature, traits are passed through alleles, with each parent contributing one allele to their offspring. This model allows for a more nuanced and realistic representation of genetic inheritance. For example, considering stamina, a parent with high stamina represented as "TT" and another with medium stamina as "Tt" could produce offspring with either high ("TT") or medium ("Tt") stamina. There is also a small chance for genetic mutations, just like in nature. This new system results in the emergence of distinct bell curves for skill distribution, as shown in our second visualization with the same amount of horses, effectively demonstrating varied genetic outcomes with some predictability.
Pseudo-DNA feature, values are more predictable but it's rare to make a legend. Features of the Pseudo-DNA System

• Traits and Alleles: The game simulates ten different alleles, including speed, stamina, acceleration, and more, with color to be added in the future.
• Gameplay Integration: The visibility and accuracy of the Pseudo-DNA information depend on the player's stud manager skill level, adding depth to the role and decision-making process in breeding.
• Balancing and Testing: Ongoing adjustments and testing ensure a balanced and engaging experience that mirrors the complexities of natural genetics.

New game cover art

For the past month, we've had the pleasure of collaborating with an exceptionally talented artist and studio, Imad Awan & Rayven Studios, on the new cover art for our game. While the previous cover was created using AI, and we remain neutral in the AI versus human art debate, there's an undeniable charm and depth to artwork crafted by human hands. We are absolutely thrilled with the final product; it beautifully captures the spirit and excitement of horse racing. Working with Imad was a delightful experience, and his professionalism and Rayven Studios creativity exceeded our expectations. I highly recommend exploring more of his work and considering him and Rayven Studios for future artistic endeavours. Their ability to bring our vision to life has truly enriched our game's visual appeal. Rayven Studios website & Imad's instagram profile & website.
New artwork. With the new cover art setting a high standard, our attention is now turning towards enhancing the art within the game itself. Our goal is to elevate every visual aspect, starting with the racing scenes that feels empty, we look forward to sharing a sneak peek of the improved racing scene in our next devlog.

Transaction system

The implementation of our new transaction system has surpassed our expectations. This foundational upgrade has not only met but exceeded our goals, providing a robust platform upon which we can build future transaction-dependent features. Some of these have already been added to game, with the introduction of regular, monthly salary payments to employees. Testing this has brought forward scenarios like what if the CPU player runs out of money? - more about this later. A game-wide refactor that utilizes this new, detail-oriented transaction framework has been done. The precision and depth of the record-keeping functionality stand out, laying a solid foundation for the development of future game mechanics. As you can probably gather, we are extremely happy about this feature even if the player will likely never see it directly.
Sneak-peak into database, nerd stuff.

Employment features

Introduction of work history for individuals, enhancing character depth and history.
Example of work history

Odds

We've introduced our initial iteration of calculating odds, using a mathematical formula with some consistent randomness - meaning the odds for a specific race will always be calculated with the same variables. This makes it so the odds can be show in history without storing all the data for each race. While this marks a first step forward into the world of odds, we recognize that the system hasn't yet reached its full potential. To ensure thorough understanding and transparency, a dedicated devlog will be prepared to delve into the nuances and future directions of our odds calculation feature in the future. Furthermore, recognizing the diverse preferences of our player base, there will be options to allow players to customize how odds are displayed.
Examples of odds calculated in a race, horse form is also now available but needs to be improved with colors to make it easier to read with a glance.

Horse valuation

In anticipation of the forthcoming trading and auction features, we've developed an initial model for assessing horse values. While this model is operational and serves its intended purpose, it's clear that refinements are necessary. One notable issue is the models's current heavy weighting on a horse's age, leading to a dramatic decrease in value as a horse approaches the age of 10-11 years, often reducing its worth to negligible amounts. This devaluation occurs regardless of the horse's substantial career earnings or its potential value in breeding, which can significantly contribute to an owner's assets. The model could also evaluate future stars higher than currently.
Current valuation model, take into consideration that N is only 637 in the table. Recognizing the importance of breeding capabilities and their impact on a horse's overall value, it's evident that this aspect requires further integration into our valuation model. Additionally, our current understanding of real-world horse market values may not fully capture the nuances of actual pricing. Moving forward, we will explore these areas in detail, aiming to refine our valuation process to better accommodate a somewhat realistic value, thereby enhancing the depth and realism of our trading and auction systems.

Sheep Meadow Road Games

During this month we also started a company for the game. This won't effect the game. If you are a talented pixel artist, check out our website and contact us.

Whats next

Our next update is likely set to concentrate on the economic aspects of the game, particularly enhancing the mechanisms surrounding horse trading and auctions. This update will delve into interactions and the dynamic scenarios that arise within our game. A significant focus will be placed on the behavior of CPU players, especially how they manage and balance their financial resources in response to what the simulation throws at them. We understand the challenge of making the game's economy both realistic and enjoyable. Our idea for a solution is to design a variety of simple strategies - what we call mini-strategies - for the CPU players. These strategies, if enough of them, should help them make financial decisions that seem sensible and varied, making the game feel more alive. Instead of just focusing on buying and selling horses, this approach will also cover how to budget for auctions, manage stables, investing in facilities, and invest in horse training. Our aim is to create a game where economic decisions are important and engaging, offering a deep and enjoyable experience. We are continuously working to enhance Horse Racing Manager, and your feedback is invaluable. Don't forget to add Horse Racing Manager to your Steam wishlist! Your support is crucial for us and greatly appreciated. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2740170/Horse_Racing_Manager/

In the last month, we've made solid progress in our game's development, particularly around staff management features. Our efforts were centered on integrating staff roles, refining negotiation mechanisms, introducing a system for CPU-driven hiring and the training page. This update outlines these developments, explains their importance, and briefly introduces our next major concept feature: Pseudo-DNA.

Staff Roles

Staff roles have been refined to offer a more immersive management experience. Here's a brief overview: Manager: Crucial for strategic decisions and overseeing operations. The idea is to make the Manager central to efficiency improvements. Assistant Manager: Supports daily tasks, enhancing the Manager's effectiveness. Travelling Manager: Handles competition logistics, reducing horses' travel fatigue. Stud Manager: Leads the breeding program, offering clearer insights into breeding outcomes. Jockey: Essential for racing, directly affecting track performance. Head Trainer and Trainer: Develop and execute training programs to enhance horse performance. Veterinary and Nurse: Provide medical care, ensuring horse health. Farrier: Specializes in hoof care and shoeing, critical for horse mobility. Groomer: Maintains the horses' appearance and hygiene. Groundskeeper and Landscaper: Keep the stable and track in pristine condition. Scout: Identifies potential new horses and assesses competition.
Inspecting the manager of a stable.

Negotiations

Negotiations for hiring and renewing staff contracts now involve more strategy, balancing considerations like salary, contract terms, and skills. All persons in-game have a salary acceptance threshold, and depending on the balance between the negotiator and the negotiatee, the salary acceptance level can either be lower or higher. This balance is also seen in the CPU hiring process, meaning that stables with managers possessing great negotiation skills will have an overall cheaper workforce, whereas managers who are poor at negotiating will have a more expensive workforce. One possible feature coming to the game is also allowing the player to own multiple stables. Then, the player could delegate the responsibilities of the stable to the hired manager, where it would be crucial to hire not only a competent manager but also an effective negotiator.
A successful negotiation.

CPU Hiring

The introduction of CPU hiring introduces a new dynamic, with NPCs making independent hiring decisions, adding a layer of realism and competition for securing skilled staff. This is the first time we've achieved a sense of the game world being "alive." The functionality still requires balancing, but the decisions made by the CPU are not completely "random." Instead, it attempts to hire personnel suitable for the stable's current status. Thus, the least successful stables won't attempt to hire the top jockeys, and so forth.
An overview of all the stables employees and the new and improved stable details page.

Horse Training

The initial version of horse training has been integrated into the game. Now, you can select staff for each horse individually and customize the training according to your preferences. The effectiveness of the training will be influenced by the staff's abilities, as well as other factors such as nutrition, care, training type, and the effort put in.
An overview of the horse training page.

What's Next: Pseudo-DNA

We're exploring a concept called Pseudo-DNA to enhance the breeding system. This approach simplifies genetics, making breeding outcomes more predictable and strategic without losing the thrill of chance.

Understanding Pseudo-DNA

Pseudo-what? In genetics, traits are passed from parents to offspring through alleles. In our game, we mimic this with simplified genetic codes for key traits:

• Each trait (like speed or stamina) is represented by alleles (SS, Ss, ss).
• Breeding combines one allele from each parent per trait, determining the foal's characteristics.

For example, if a fast horse (SS) breeds with a slower horse (ss), their offspring could inherit Ss, resulting in average speed. This mechanic is mirrored across traits like stamina, agility, and coat color, with each combination affecting the horse's in-game performance and appearance. Consider two horses:

• Horse 1: SsTtAaGgRrEeIiPpLlJjCc (a versatile horse with average traits)
• Horse 2: SSAAGGRRJJLLPPCC (a top-tier horse with exceptional traits)

When these horses breed, the offspring inherits a mix of their alleles. For speed, it might get S from Horse 1 and S from Horse 2, resulting in SS (fast speed). This genetic combination directly translates into the game, where a high-speed trait could mean a skill rating between 70-100. Some mutations will also be added to not make the system more realistic. This Pseudo-DNA approach allows for strategic breeding, where players can plan pairings based on desired outcomes, blending the unpredictability of nature with gameplay strategy. We think that Pseudo-DNA will be the solution to make the breeding interesting and deep, we call it "pseudo" because we try to mimic nature somewhat. Lastly, blending natural processes with a "pseudo" implementation has provided a unique approach to designing this feature. This methodology will be taken into account for future developments within the project. Reflecting on this approach, it aligns well with the principle that sometimes there's no need to reinvent the wheel. We are continuously working to enhance Horse Racing Manager, and your feedback is invaluable. Don't forget to add Horse Racing Manager to your Steam wishlist! Your support is crucial for us and greatly appreciated. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2740170/Horse_Racing_Manager/

Long-awaited, jockeys are finally making a grand entrance into our game! Far from being mere riders, these characters embody skill, strategy, and excitement, significantly impacting race outcomes. A more skillful jockey will adeptly handle a horse with a stronger temperament. Each jockey stands out, adorned in colourful racing silks, brought to life with subtle animations.
Some variations of the colours. Another visual enhancement is the introduction of foals. These young horses add a layer of depth and realism to the game. Players can now observe foals in various stages of growth, from playful youngsters to yearlings in their training days, as they gear up to become the next champions of the racing world.
Some variations of the new horse sizes.

What's Next

We're also giving you a sneak peek at an exciting upcoming feature staff negotiations. This will add a new dimension to the game, where players will engage in discussions with staff members, shaping their roles, contracts, and overall contribution to their stable. Stay tuned for more details in our next updates!
Early look at the staff negotiation interface. We are continuously working to enhance Horse Racing Manager, and your feedback is invaluable. Don't forget to add Horse Racing Manager to your Steam wishlist! Your support is crucial for us and greatly appreciated. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2740170/Horse_Racing_Manager/

During this week's development the start of the weather system was developed. As this is just the debut of this feature, I'm excited about the enhancements and refinements that will come in future updates. I have also expanded the game's environment by introducing diverse ground textures, including various types of grass and sand. This addition brings a fresh feel to the game's landscapes. While I also ventured into integrating lighting effects, it's evident that this aspect still requires a lot of polishing. Lighting plays a pivotal role in crafting the game's atmosphere, giving each scene a unique mood and feel.
Some variations of the tracks and weather. Another exciting feature in this week's update is the introduction of character portraits. This adds a vibrant, personal touch to the game, moving beyond mere numbers and spreadsheets. Each person in the game has a generated unique portrait. The player will also be able to customise their own character portrait.
Some variations of the character portraits.

Next

Our next update will either focus on upgrading the weather and tracks visually or staff logic (how they function, contracts, negotiations etc.). Additionally, I will be taking a holiday break, so this will be the final update for the year. Please consider adding our game to your wishlist on Steam by clicking "wishlist" below. It's free, and it greatly encourages me to keep developing the game! https://store.steampowered.com/app/2740170/Horse_Racing_Manager/