Hi everyone! It is finally time for us to open our anticipated Unbridled: That Horse Game playtest! In this post, we will explain how to join the test branch on Steam, what you can expect, and what we would especially love for you to test and give us feedback on.
Before You Start
First, we want to put out a small disclaimer: not every aspect of the new features is finished yet.This is a playtest after all!
This includes things like the mane, tail, and forelock. Disregarding their movement, we would still love to get your feedback on the general look of the models and the behavior of the textures.
Something not feeling quite right with a specific coat? Let us know so we can look into improving it for the update!
Horse Interactions & Animations
When it comes to mounting and interactions between the player and horse, there is also some fine-tuning that still needs to be done.
For example, brushes can sometimes go through the horse's body, and the player's hands may hover around the hoof when picking it. These are known issues.
With that said, we would still love to know what you think about the general feeling of the animations.
Make sure you test brushing and hoof picking on all four hooves with every personality, as they have some special animations!
Mounting
We are aware that the character can sometimes flicker before actually mounting the horse.
Apart from this known issue, let us know if there is anything else you notice or have thoughts about when it comes to the mounting animations.
Horse Manager, Genes & the New Ability System
Make sure to have a look at the Horse Manager, the new gene table, and our brand-new ability system!
You will get some guidance on how to use the new system, how to gain and exchange points, and what the new ability system is all about.
You will begin with a handful of ability points that you can use however you like.
You will also be able to use our new point exchange system!
Don't like dressage, but like a skill that its ability path grants? No problem! You can now train jumping and still spend jumping points to gain Agility (Dressage) points.
There will be some loss of points in the exchange, but at least you will be able to focus your training on what you prefer while still unlocking abilities from another path.
Important for the Playtest
During the playtest, you will get new points with every regeneration of your horse.
New horse = new points.
The skills you unlocked on the old horse will not carry over to the new horse.
Test the New Dressage System
With the new skills and our brand-new riding mode, you will be able to perform dressage movements in new ways.
Some skills take multiple unlocks to be perfected, while others are a one-time unlock.
Test out the animations and controls and let us know how you like them!
Try different skills, different horses, and different levels of progression to get a feeling for how the system develops as your horse improves.
Test the New Jumping System
The jumping system has also been redone!
You can jump at stride or without it, just like before, but this time the horse has new skills to unlock.
A new horse will not be able to jump at larger angles, but this can now be trained and improved.
The horse also has new refusal animations, so make sure to fail a few times as well to check those out!
Just like before, the horse cannot jump obstacles above its unlocked skill level.
Don't Forget the Usual Horse Interactions!
Feed your horse snacks, tack them up, pet them, hug them, and try all the interactions you already know so well.
We would love to know if anything feels different or strange with the updated horses and animations.
Explore the New Forest Campground
The new forest campground is also open for exploration!
Let us know what you think.
We already have plans to add more vegetation variations and other details, but we are also very open to feedback about what you feel could make the experience even better in these types of maps.
Explore, look around, and tell us what you would like to see!
How to Give Feedback
Your experience is important to us, and letting us know what could be better is a really good way of helping us grow and improve the game.
Join our Discord server and leave your feedback in the designated playtest forum channel.
Of course, you can also tell us what you like!
We would love to hear that too. These comments can be posted in our Discord #unbridled-chat channel.
This way, we can keep the playtest forum focused on feedback, issues, and things that could be improved while still having a place to talk about the things you enjoy.
How to Join the Steam Playtest
Navigate to your Steam library and right click on the game and select Properties.
Click on Game Versions & Betas and select the "ridingtest" branch, then you can close the window again.
Your download should start immediately.
To check if you are on the correct branch, look what is behind the game name, if it is showing [ridingtest], it is correct!
And that's it!
Thank you again for all your support and for taking the time to help us test these new features. We are really looking forward to hearing what you think!
We will be back again after Gamescom!
Have fun testing!