Creators aim to bring back a genre that has been marred by subpar games and even worse anatomy with their ambitious new ideas.
When it comes to video games, horses typically play a function that is not overly complicated, at least in the more popular titles. They are frequently used as little more than a means to make the player travel quicker, jump further, or occasionally break the rules of physics. This is similar to the way that semi-sentient meat bicycles are described. Horses in video games are typically emotionless props, and they are known for having janky motions and unnatural anatomy. The only exception to this rule is Red Dead Redemption 2, which is a standout that is cherished for its equine verisimilitude and the breadth of activities associated to riding.
The majority of players will find it to be satisfactory; nevertheless, for individuals who are drawn to particular games in part because they feature horses, there is a great deal of room for improvement. The alternatives, which are games that are specifically devoted to horses, have not been shown to be significantly more effective. Graphics that are of poor quality, narratives that are not creative, and lengthy, repetitive caretaking duties such as hoof-picking are all problems that afflict this genre. Despite the fact that horse games from the 2000s, such as the Barbie Horse Adventures series, sparked a long-lasting interest in the niche for a lot of young gamers, we have not yet seen what their maturation can look like for the now-adults who are still seeking that high.
The massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Star Stable Online, which has been around for ten years, is uniquely geared for tween girls. To argue that there is a gap in the market that is as large as a Clydesdale would be an understatement. On the other hand, there are a few engineers that are highly dedicated about changing that.
A community of “horse-interested gamers and game-interested equestrians” has been cultivated over the course of the past five years by Alice Ruppert, who runs The Mane Quest, the blog that is the go-to for everything related to horse games. Ruppert has done this by publishing news, reviews, analyses, and wishful editorials covering the most recent developments in the genre. Due to the fact that she has been an equestrian for her whole life and also has a professional background in game creation, she has become a voice of authority at the junction of these two types of activities.
Ruppert is of the opinion that dedicated horse games have been stagnant for a considerable amount of time. Based on the notion that these games would only be successful with a very specific subset of players, specifically young girls, the budgets for new titles have been kept extremely small over the course of several years. The limited resources that were available led to the production of games that were of poor quality and contained “basic mistakes of game design and usability,” which resulted in the games being negatively received. As a result of poor sales and unfavorable reviews, it was guaranteed that subsequent projects would not receive larger expenditures, and the cycle continues.
As she puts it, “as the game development space is getting democratized and more people start trying to make games,” there has been a shift that has occurred more recently. Despite the fact that this has resulted in a plethora of new problems, such as “very amateur teams launching really big projects… and not being able to deliver,” Ruppert believes that this is “a better problem to have than just nobody making any games at all.”
Immediately following Ruppert’s negative review of Aesir Interactive’s Windstorm: Start of a Great Friendship (which was originally titled Ostwind and was based on a movie), the company reached out to her and subsequently hired her as a consultant and then as a creative producer for its upcoming title, Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch, which is scheduled to be released in 2022. Even though Ruppert joined the project at a rather late stage, she claims that she was able to make some contributions toward the creation of an experience that might be enjoyed by those who truly know and love horses. Although the game is far from perfect, Ruppert concedes that she was able to make some contributions.
This included assisting in the correction of peculiar features that might not have been noticeable to someone who was not involved in the equestrian world, but would be noticeable to anyone who was involved in that world. For example, a peculiar transition that occurs when changing the leading leg of a horse when it is in a canter. “I was like, okay, no, we need to fix this because the horse game crowd is going to care,” she adds. “Every time I noticed something that was wrong, I was like, okay yeah, we need to fix this.”
Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch is an open-world adventure game that allows players to explore the area on horseback, tame wild horses, breed and train horses, and administer their very own ranch. The breeding and genetics aspects are approached in a realistic manner, and each of the horses possesses distinctive characteristics of personality. Horse names were also crowdsourced by the team, which means that the game’s automatic name generator will produce names that are based on the actual horses owned by members of the community.
Nevertheless, the game was met with a number of scathing criticisms after it was released, and the reviews in general have been mixed. The most common complaints have been about issues that cause the game to crash and a world that offers a sense of emptiness. (In April, the development team published the final patch for the game, which was only focused on adding bug fixes.) However, it does have its supporters, and if there is one thing that players appear to be in agreement on, it is that the horses and the controls for riding them look fantastic.
Additionally, Aesir made the announcement that it will be releasing a remastered version of Windstorm: Start of a Great Friendship the previous month. Among the enhancements that have been incorporated into the reworked game is the replacement of “those horse animations that I’ve been complaining about for the past five years,” as Ruppert, who has since left the firm, stated in a blog post. A release date of June has been set for it.
“The really promising developments are going to come when either those amateur projects learn and grow into something better, or when more experienced indie developers start picking [them]up,” Ruppert adds. This is because the horse gaming community is making an increasing number of efforts.
One such example that she cites is The Ranch of Rivershine, which is a horse game that is now in Early Access and was created and released by the Canadian studio Cozy Bee Games. As the name suggests, the studio, which was established by the developer Éloïse Laroche, is primarily focused on creating games that are characterized by a sense of coziness, such as Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing. Prior to the release of The Ranch of Rivershine, the firm had already produced a number of titles that received great ratings. The Capybara Spa and the baking simulation Lemon Cake are both included in this.
According to Ruppert, “I do think it does a lot of things really well,” despite the fact that it might not be “the horse game to end all horse games.” Horses are incorporated into the Ranch of Rivershine, which is a format that Cozy Bee Games has demonstrated its ability to succeed in. The players are tasked with constructing their very own ranch, where they can breed, care for, and train horses. Although it is not a novel concept, it does not necessarily have to be for the game to be considered groundbreaking. Trail rides, cross-country events, interacting with villagers, auctions, and a large number of beautiful horses are all part of the weekend’s activities. The Ranch of Rivershine, in contrast to many of its contemporaries, has received a majority of good reviews.
Even though it is not strictly a horse game, Red Dead Redemption 2 is still largely considered to be the best horse game available. This is the case even though it was released in 2015. As a result of organized in-game meetups, trail rides, horse shows, and other activities that are oriented around horses, Red Dead Online has attracted a large number of players who are interested in equestrian activities during the past few years. The horses themselves, despite the fact that they have some shortcomings, are significantly more lifelike than what other people have accomplished up until this point. Additionally, the game lays a significant emphasis on getting to know them better.
Because of how good it is, it has become a source of frustration for projects that have come about as a result of it. According to Jonna Östergren, a 3D animator working with Mindev Games, a developer located in Hungary, which is working on Unbridled: That Horse gaming, AAA games such as Red Dead Redemption 2 establish a bar that is “almost impossible for an indie game studio to reach.” This puts a lot of pressure on developers. Despite this, they have lofty goals with them.
Over the course of a recent Discord group conversation, Newtechmania was able to catch up with the Mindev crew. “For as long as I can remember, I have had a deep affection for horses,” Östergren says, adding that horses have “played a significant role in my life.” She began learning how to create video games in 2017, utilizing programs such as Unity and Blender. Video games have also become increasingly popular. When Östergren was working on her own horse game, which had reached a point of no return, she happened to meet Jasmin Blazeuski, the founder of Mindev, by chance. This happened many years later. Despite the fact that I was by myself and attempting to learn everything from code to animation, I had a lot of goals that I wanted to accomplish. According to Östergren, it was quite a substantial amount.
As a result of my conversation with Blazeuski, I made the offer to assist them in the creation of some 3D models if they want it. There was a chain of events that led to my being a far more significant member of the team than I had first envisioned doing.
It is the intention of the developers of Unbridled that the game would provide the player with a great deal of freedom. According to Blazeuski, “You decide how you want to play and manage your stables,” and he mentioned this. “Whether you want to make money through farming, breeding horses, or competing in competitions, the decision is entirely up to you.” They are attempting to achieve realism, not only in terms of the horses’ outward appearances but also in other aspects of the horses. Until now, I have never played a horse game that featured a detail that was both straightforward and endearing, such as horses staring out the stable. “We want all of them to be a part of the game, both in a casual and real sense.”
The emotional components are quite important. In games where horses are the primary subject matter, it is frequently observed that they lack individuality and energy, as stated by Östergren. “In reality, they are not their own beings, equipped with their own minds… With regard to our game, that is something that I would really like to see changed. It is not about making the horse a nuisance that never does what you want it to do; rather, it is about making it such that your horse seems alive in the world that you are in as your character.
Horse Illustrated: Championship Season, Riding Champion: Legacy of Rosemond Hill, Pippa Funnell: Ranch Rescue, My Horse Friends, and Pony Girl (1 and 2) are some of the games that the team, which also includes Sara Wermuth, a 3D artist and a longtime equestrian, cites as sources of inspiration. Sara Wermuth is also a member of the team. It was necessary for Amon Ahmad, the programmer of Unbridled, to watch “a lot of gameplays from different horse games” in order to get up to speed. Ahmad is the only person who comes from a background that is not related to horses or horse games.
“I noticed that nothing has actually ever changed between the old games and the new games, apart from the graphics or the style,” Ahmad added. “I thought that was pretty cool.” The game is lacking in terms of new gameplay, new functions, and new ideas in general. With the implementation of Unbridled, which is being painstakingly constructed with the Unreal Engine, the team intends to steer clear of those trappings.
Horse games have a propensity to involve duties or mini-games that are monotonous and repetitive, which can be detrimental “no matter how much detail and love was put into it,” according to Östergren. They do not wish to engage in such course of action. Additionally, according to Ahmad, Unbridled will feature one-of-a-kind systems for dressage and jumping in order to present gamers with a challenge. These systems will not include predetermined points that will ensure a leap is done correctly. As an alternative, players will be required to train their horses and develop a sense of timing for the game.
On the other hand, the process of creating a game of this magnitude that is not just entertaining but also realistic and engaging may be a time-consuming and costly one. In light of the fact that the team’s most recent Kickstarter effort was unsuccessful in reaching its financing target, the group is now dependent on other funding sources, such as Patreon, to see the project through to completion. It was mentioned in an update that was published in February that fifty percent of the crew had taken on part-time work in order to bring in more cash.
The animation is a significant achievement in and of itself. According to Blazeuski, “getting the gaits right and all those little details of movement is very difficult [to do]by hand.” This is due to the complexity of the bone structure of horses, as well as all the bending points. When it comes to perfecting things, however, “we will take our time.”
A closed beta version of Unbridled: That Horse Game has been available since November, giving the makers the opportunity to receive direct feedback from the community. However, the team expects that it will be several years before the game is made available to the general public.
Astride is another horse game that is being created by a small team with large goals. It is distinguishing itself from other horse games by concentrating on Nordic horse breeds, such as the Norwegian Fjord Horse and the Norwegian Dole, in addition to gaited horse breeds, such as the Icelandic Horse. The company that is responsible for it, known as Raidho Games, was established in 2021 when Maja Nygjelten, who was the Chief Executive Officer and concept artist, and Mathilde Kvernland, who was the Community Manager and 3D artist, made the decision to take their idea seriously in order to develop the horse game that they had always been looking for.
After spreading the word on a Facebook community for gamers in Norway, they eventually grew the team to include five members, one of which was fellow equestrian Tirna Kristine Mellum, who joined the project as a 3D artist and Project Manager. Mellum stated, “We are hoping to have a horse game where the horses feel like horses.” For the purpose of guiding the process, they drew upon their combined experience with horses in real life.
“We are aware of what to look for in references,” said Nygjelten, in order to supply their animator, Marius Mobaek Strømmevold, with the necessary information to ensure that the gaits and other motions of the horses appear authentic to life. “I believe that it is very important to [not]take a random animation from YouTube,” he said. Instead, they should supply him with references that they are certain would reflect the correct conclusion.
The primary focus of the game at launch, which is significantly reduced from the initial concept, will be on breeding horses in the fictitious town of Eldheim, which is located in Scandinavia, and preparing them to compete. “The majority of horse games, including ours, have show jumping as the first feature,” adds Nygjelten. “However, I believe that we will stand out a great deal with the breeding and everything else.” According to Mellum, “We have very realistic horse genetics,” and this will be the aspect of the game that will initially be emphasized the most.
The early sections of the game focus more on the stable and the interactions that take place inside the Eldheim community than they do on the epic expeditions. As it is being developed to be a multiplayer game that can be played online, users will also have the opportunity to get together with their friends. Additionally, in the future, it is intended to incorporate more intricate storylines and objectives in order to continue expanding the scope of the experience.
There have been some successful attempts to raise funds for the project, such as a Kickstarter campaign that took place in the spring of 2022; yet, there have also been delays. During the month of June of last year, an Early Access version of the game was published behind schedule, and it received highly mixed reviews. However, the team stresses that it is still a work in progress at this point.
According to Nygjelten, “Astride still has some years left of development,” and he also says, “The game will continue to grow every single day, and it will probably be very different in a year.”