horse racing simulation game
 

anyone know of a good one. I love hooves of thunder but I want to find something more in depth that has a breeding option, etc...

any suggestions?

starter's orders

Actually...starter's orders pro

Is it worth $35.00?

ping: QuikSand

Starters Orders Pro is good is you don't mind that it's a UK simulation of UK racing, and if you don't mind that the game will probably kick your ass repeatedly.

None are any good.

That price tag is why I didn't buy it. If it was USA instead of UK, then maybe.

Again I recommend the horse racing sim at www.simulatedsports.com I've been playing for 5 years, so it has to be good if I stuck around that long. :) It is technically free to play, but there are things you can pay for (breeding credits, buying a race, etc) to increase your chances of doing well.

It is a simulation, not an arcade game, so you don't get to ride horses yourself. But several of us have been "recreated" as jockeys at various tracks, so at least we can pretend we are riding them ourselves. :) It is a very overwhelming simulation at first, lots of rules and forms to get used to, but well worth the effort.

I will gladly help any newbie who wants to join.

I tried that simulatedsports, way too intense for me.

what do you not like about starters orders pro? I am not a horse racing expert but it seems pretty good to me.

seconded.

Hooves is the only one ever that was decent.

I'll confess it never clicked for me. I gave it a couple tries, never really gained any momentum to get much of a feel for the game, and dropped it. So -- that might be short shrift, perhaps I owe it another shot.

If you could get a copy of Hooves of Thunder cheap these days, it woudl be worth a few bucks. It's not a bad game, overall, and it does severl things rather well. But it's a game that just screams for a good "patch." Quarterpole Plus is clearly based on the same source code, and is an improvement on Hooves in many ways, but there are several stubbon areas where that game, too, is rather lacking. WHen I play either one, I find myself just being frustrated more than anything else.

Yes, but that's why its so good. :) In the last year or so tools have been developed both within the sim itself and by outside sources that make the game a lot easier to get into.

And hey its free! Doesn't hurt to check it out.

If anyone wanted a cheap copy of Hooves, I'd be willing to send it to you for shipping only. Fun game, just not my bag.

maybe I'll do a Starters Orders Pro dynasty to see if I can get folks interested

fine idea

i would be very interested !

I'm gonna check out the simulated sports one, but I may break down and get starters orders pro, I am going to try the demo when I get some time.

Started it. Check the Dynasty Forum ;)

Some translation to American terminology will probably be advisable.

One of these days, I'm gonna crack open that VB.net book I got and learn how to program a decent horse racing sim...

Agree on all counts. I actually liked HoT better than QPP because one thing: it provided more of a challenge to pick out good claimers. In QPP, one had to be suspicious of any claimer because the AI would drop good horses into low claimers for no valid reason.

The only thing I don't like about Hooves is that when you have a good 3 year old to many races get cancled.

One last bump to see if anyone checked out the simulatedsports.com game. :)

I had like 4 stables at one time on there... got really into it... did all the credit-purchased breeding and race sponsorship and such. It still wasn't that great. I had a few dozen mediocre horses for my trouble, and it's just too much of a pain in the ass to get them into races regularly. Racing once a week is impractical - the game has gotten too overpopulated.

I understand where you are coming from with this. The game probably is overpopulated. The sim has recently expanded somewhat with races on two more days, but only 2 races on the "off" days" and smaller fields. (and you may have to pay to get into them too in the future, though currently free). A new race entry tool has recently been introduced into the sim that makes finding races much easier and gives you a real time update as to whether your horse will make the field in a race or not, and the ability to switch to another race if you won't.

It is difficult to get a very good horse, but that's how it should be in my opinion. But by paying attention to the breedings of successful horses and doing some "research" into which sires work best with which dam-sires, you can increase your chances. I've had an entry in the sim version of the Kentucky Oaks and Derby (finished second in the Oaks and led the Derby for a long time before fading to 7th) as well as winning the first leg of the English Triple Crown, and finishing second in the next leg. And I have next to no horse racing/breeding knowledge. For me the challenge of getting such a horse is what makes the game so much fun.

I'd pay good money for that game if he made a single-player version. Frankly, I don't enjoy having to compete with 10,000 other human-controlled stables in the game. There are too many wiseguys on there with too much time to spend on the game, making it impossible for the casual gamer to get any real satisfaction. But that's just my opinion.

Come on man...get coding. I've been waiting on this for years.

i used to play that game years ago and they said a single player version was in the works but it never happened. Its a darn shame.