Posts tagged gamedev
5 Crucial Games Industry Tips for Horse Game Creators

This article is an add-on to my recent post about upcoming Indie Horse Games: These tips were compiled while gathering info on upcoming games and noticing a few common areas of improvement. They don’t necessarily only apply to horse games but I do see it in almost every new horse game project launched by new creators without industry experience.

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“We want to tell a story with heart and a wholesome character dynamic” — A Look behind the Scenes of DreamWorks Spirit Lucky’s Big Adventure

In January, we learned of a new upcoming horse game based on Dreamworks’ Spirit franchise and the upcoming movie Spirit Untamed. The Mane Quest reached out to its creators in order to learn more about the game’s development. Santiago R. Bedate from aheartfulofgames takes the time to give us some interesting insight behind the scenes of Spirit Lucky’s Big Adventure.

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Making your own Horse Game – Part Two: Involving Others

When getting into game development, it makes sense to take the first steps by yourself, to practice game creation without relying on others at first. But the moment will come when other other people become relevant: possible team mates, playtesters and eventually the public. Let’s look at some basic guidelines for how to involve other people in your passion projects.

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Making your own Horse Game – Part One: Baby Steps

Starting to make a game based on the premise of “what would be my perfect horse game” rather than “what kind of game can I reasonably expect to make” has its pitfalls. Overcomplexity, feature creep and creative burnout from wanting too much are all too common among passionate newbie creators. Let’s look at some of these challenges and how you can work your way around them.

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“We want to build something that can grow over the years to come” - Windstorm Developer Aesir Interactive talks about New Plans and Past Struggles

Getting approached by the developers of horse games is always something exciting for me. In a call with Aesir Interactive CEO Wolfgang Emmer, I learned a lot about the development and reception of 2017s Ostwind/Windstorm and its 2019 sequel, as well as Aesir’s fascinating upcoming project.

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“It’s a dream come true” — Nika Bender talks about her work on Star Stable Online

Star Stable Online is a massively multiplayer online role playing game or MMORPG that has been out for almost 8 years. Despite the often underestimated target audience of teenage female PC players, the game is a huge success and continues to grow and improve. 

The Mane Quest spoke to SSO Product Owner Nika Bender about the work she and her team do behind the scenes of what is probably the most successful horse game of all time. 

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The Most Popular Unity Asset for Horse Animation has a Fatal Flaw, but it’s Getting an Update

The Unity Asset Store offers everything from code toolsets, over individually animated character models to complete game projects. The quality of these assets varies drastically, with many being created by hobbyists.

In the case of one particular Horse Animset Pro however, the assets popularity has lead to several games having the same problem: the walk animation is completely wrong.

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“Horses are already magical, they don’t need fairy dust!” — Interview with the team of Equestrian: a Horse Game for Adults

Many horse games set the wrong priorities and get the most basic things wrong about horses. By stark contrast, watching the social media updates of Equestrian The Game has been an absolute delight. The Mane Quest reached out to developer Kavalri Games and found a kindred spirit in the team’s Vice President and Co-Founder Molly Ericson.

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