In the last devlog we talked about Social System, Succession, Training and Nutrition overhaul and Race Engine.
Worldwide
We added the first version of the worldwide system, where horses, persons, stables, racecourses and auction houses all have locations and horses and people also have nationalities.
A new map page allows players to view the world map and manage horses and staff travel. From here you can control travel options, set automatic rules, and move between entities across different regions.
Preview of Map
Cities and countries now have their own detail pages, and races and results show racecourse names and location flags for better clarity.
Countries view
Travel system was also expanded with options for how many days in advance horses or staff travel, bulk travel controls, and automatic settings.
Race Engine Improvements
These changes are currently on experimental game version, coming soon to main version.
Preview of overtaking
We have several improvements to the race engine to make races behave more realistic. Speed and stamina burn are now tied to horse's preferred distance and the race distance, meaning sprinters perform better in shorter races while endurance horses are stronger over longer distances. Horses running beyond their preferred distance are more likely to run out of stamina before the finish, while horses running shorter races than their preference may run slightly below the optimal speed for that distance.
Track curves are now simulated, so horses running wider from the inner lane slow down slightly to reflect the longer path around the bend.
We also introduced a horse pack logic layer, horses with similar optimal speeds can form packs when running close together, which helps races look more natural. While packs provide the base behavior, each horse still makes its own decisions such as overtaking slower runners, leaving the pack, or reacting when boxed in.
To prevent unrealistic runaway leaders, horses that move too far ahead on their own now receive a stamina penalty.
Horse movement has also been adjusted to feel less robotic, with small speed variations added so groups no longer move at exactly the same pace.
Additional race features include a race minimap, blocked indicators to warn when horse is about to be boxed in, more slow-motion finish options, and starting chutes where racetracks support them.
These changes are still work in progress, and we still continue refining the system based on feedback.
Road to Owner
We added new system, Road to Owner, giving an option to begin career without owning a stable and instead work as a manager for another stable.
Preview of job interview
While working for an owner you manage horses, compete in races, and build your personal reputation through results. If you perform well, owners can offer better contracts, equity, bonuses, or improved terms during yearly reviews. Owners also consider your relationship and performance when deciding whether to renew contracts or fire you.
Strong results can also lead to headhunting offers from other stables, while weaker results may cause the interview process to end early or prevent larger stables from hiring you.
The system includes yearly performance reviews, goals and bonuses, giving clear progression towards eventually creating or purchasing own stable. Alongside this we added person reputation, which functions similarly to stable prestige and influences hiring opportunities.
Real-Life Schedules - Experimental
We added the first experimental version of real-life race schedules, which can be enabled when starting a new game.
Enabling real-life schedules, full tutorial on Discord #guides
This system allows the game to use real-world inspired racing calendars instead of fully procedural schedules. The feature is still work in progress and currently intended for testing and feedback.
Racecourses and Custom Racing
Players can now construct racecourses, trade them, manage their finances, and create custom races directly from the racecourse detail page.
Constructing a racecourse
Racecourses operate with their own financial accounts, and if they fall into debt a monthly sweep can pull funds from the stable to cover short-term deficits.
We added tools for saving race templates, creating race days with multiple races, and cancelling created races. Race generation parameters can be adjusted in new amenities settings or during gameplay.
Economy, Shares and Finances
We added equity and share management tools to financial system, including IPO's, secondary offerings, share buybacks and dividend changes. Minority shareholder can no initiate votes related to these decisions.
A dedicated shares page was added where players can view all stables, their valuations and their own investment portfolio.
Shares page
We also introduced horse syndication, allowing horses to be owner collectively and shares to be purchased through the market.
Economy system was expanded further with taxation, including yearly taxes for both stables and persons, options to challenge tax decision, installment payments and automated pre-payments.
Breeding, Traits and Contracts
We added random events and traits for horses, which can be inherited genetically or influenced by staff working with the horse. In future updates we plan to introduce race behavior traits, such as running style tendencies e.g "likes to lead", which will affect how horses behave during races.
Preview of horse traits
Breeding views have been improved with additional filters, breeding ability columns, upcoming foal visibility and breeding contract tracking.
Breeding filters
Existing breeding contracts can now also be traded between stables and their value changes over time.
Assets
Players can now own houses, luxury items and other personal assets, which can also be traded with NPCs through universal trade.
Preview of Assets
Properties are connected to cities, and items can appear as part of sponsorship and brand systems.
Interface, Tables and Tools
We continued expanding the UI and interaction systems. A peek panel was added, which displays quick information when hovering over entities in tables.
Peek in action, can be activated/deactivated by pressing P
Tables gained new functionality such as select all rows, adjustable row height, contrast settings, and persistent navigation behavior when returning from entity pages.
Preview of adjustable row height
Additional UI improvements include financial graphs, better economic summaries, milestone emails for career progress, and improved navigation in the inbox and results screen.
Audio
The game received many new UI and interaction sound effects, including sounds for unlocking DNA in breeding, trade proposals, inbox devisions and starting a new game.
Additional sounds were added for hiring events, map interaction, trading actions and other moments.
Roadmap
Discord Server
We have member count of over 1100 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!
What’s next
We have planned for Early Access phase to last around six months, but as game development often goes, things tend to take longer than expected. We will confirm the final game's release date once we've made more progress during Early Access.
Development is ongoing, and we will keep you updated on our progress. 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. Your support is crucial for us and greatly appreciated.