Do you like Arabians? No seriously do you REALLY like Arabians?!? In that case I have the e-mail/forum based horse sim game for you! Ignore the references for 2006 on the front page, it really is active and up-to-date. Although the game does have all sorts of different breeds of horses (Marwari anyone?) The Arabian fans have taken over and have done a marvelous job at promoting the breed, you can easily find all flavors of Arabians in the game. (My favorite is watermelon....*ducks*). But seriously, Egyptians, Spanish, Russian, Polish, (haven't seen Persian yet but might be in there.), Domestic (of course), etc Arabians are very popular in the game. (Shagya Arabians are a separate breed btw). You can find all sorts of different half-Arabians as well.
The members are very friendly and are quick to help you out. The show system is a bit unique, and takes a bit of time to get it down right. ISG (Impulsion Sim Game) also has a very nice automated banking system which is quick to learn and easy to use. The horse registry is up-dated almost instantly which is lovely. Another unique aspect of ISG is that it is also a dog sim game and although the dogs are a smaller contingency they do have an active show scene!
If you're like me, when you join a new game you automatically gravitate to the humane society to see what equines are kicking back in their pastures waiting to be adopted. ISG doesn't have any disappointment there, many different breeds from the usual Arabians, TBs, stock horses, WBs, to other more unique breeds such as Marwaris, Swedish Warmbloods, New Forest Ponies, Dales Ponies, Knabstrups, Salernos, Welshes of all sorts, Irish Draughts, Hackneys, Fjords, Miniature Horses, Gypsy Vanners, Falabellas, Peruvian Pasos, etc, etc, etc. Most of them have show records, quite a few of them have titles in the game once you do the research on their show records.
Into the racing scene? ISG has an incredible competitive racing circuit, and there's chances to make alot of money by racing a few horses. The show scene is also extremely competitive and titles are fairly easy to obtain.
The downside is that the color of the font of the main page can be hard to read (light blue with a white background), however it doesn't distract playing that much. Lots of support in this game and a friendly atmosphere. It is for mature players (not a kiddie game) and can be alot of fun!
This is a fairly unique type of game, the typical e-mail/forum based sim horse game with some twists, some things are automated, some incredible PHP coding, and a supportive community makes ISG worth exploring! :)
Showing posts with label SIM Horse Games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SIM Horse Games. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Review of Heaven Sent Simulation
First off, I'm sorry for being MIA, I've been suffering from a gout attack in my right shoulder, much pain and suffering. But enough of me whining...
Heaven Sent is a nice little game that's restarting from an older existing game. As it is a restart from an older game there's plenty of chances for running quality businesses that will make money in it. It's a primarily forum-based game with members building their own websites if they so choose. It's run by an old cyber-friend of mine. (Pardon me while I show my age...)
If you enjoy the relatively quick paced style of 1 rl week = 1 sim month, this would be a fun game for you. Currently there's a nice sale for horses for new members with some nice stock available as well as a generous $200K starting money. There's currently a Quarter Horse Association and a Jockey Club, so there's tons of different breed associations that can be started up!
El presidente of Heaven Sent is friendly, very approachable, and available for questions and suggestions. Knowing her, this game is just going to get better as it gets older! This is a good chance for you to get on the ground level and be one of the 'original' members! So far there are some Paints, Quarter Horses, Classic Shetland Ponies, and a Thoroughbred and Arabian so the possibilites are endless!
It's a nice, friendly, fun sim game run by an Admin who has been there/done that. Looking forward to seeing how this game turns out! :)
Heaven Sent is a nice little game that's restarting from an older existing game. As it is a restart from an older game there's plenty of chances for running quality businesses that will make money in it. It's a primarily forum-based game with members building their own websites if they so choose. It's run by an old cyber-friend of mine. (Pardon me while I show my age...)
If you enjoy the relatively quick paced style of 1 rl week = 1 sim month, this would be a fun game for you. Currently there's a nice sale for horses for new members with some nice stock available as well as a generous $200K starting money. There's currently a Quarter Horse Association and a Jockey Club, so there's tons of different breed associations that can be started up!
El presidente of Heaven Sent is friendly, very approachable, and available for questions and suggestions. Knowing her, this game is just going to get better as it gets older! This is a good chance for you to get on the ground level and be one of the 'original' members! So far there are some Paints, Quarter Horses, Classic Shetland Ponies, and a Thoroughbred and Arabian so the possibilites are endless!
It's a nice, friendly, fun sim game run by an Admin who has been there/done that. Looking forward to seeing how this game turns out! :)
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
El Caballo Review
First off I must say MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Now back to the regularly scheduled review:
I have to admit what drew my original interest in this game was the name itself, spanish for The Horse. Most games are called something similar to gaits of the horse (Trot, Gallop, Canter, so where's Walk?), sounds of the horse (Neigh, Clip Clop), or simply Equine + (Insert Word). So when the words El Caballo Sim came up on my search engine I had to investigate further, especially since the short blurb regarding it indicated it was for 'mature players' only. So I clicked on the link to find myself looking at the stylish, simple website known as El Caballo. With a blue and grey theme everything was easy to find, and the background didn't interfere with the readablility of the text. Very easy to read, the rules are straight forward and easy to understand. I have to admit I'm rather partial to the model horse breeding type of sim game regarding breeding rules. (One foal per year, back-breeding permitted).
Applying to join was an easy process and my application was replied to quickly, I had made an error in my application however the administration dealt with my idiocy with grace and very quickly I was a member of the game. I made my obligatory first introductory post and quickly found out that the game was dominated by stock horse breeds with a small Thoroughbred racing and Arabian following. Just my style, I love my Polish Arabians, Appaloosas, overo Paints, Quarter Horses, and fancy colored Thoroughbreds. (OK, anything fancy colored as the poor, unsuspecting existing members found out rather quickly). But they made me feel very welcome in their intimate community, the administration likes to keep the membership to a small but active group.
I found out that the members of the group are a fun-loving, insane (in a good way), group of young adults who have been involved in horse simulation games for several years and they had a good grasp of what it takes to run a successful game. I found an older suggestion thread on their forum and proceeded to bombard it with various ideas which were well received, some ideas were put into motion, others were put out of their misery. (I didn't say all the ideas were good ones after all, he he he).
The showing scene of the game is bustling, heavily concentrated on western events, however the dressage, show jumping, eventing, etc scenes are getting more popular. There's also a small draft horse population, mostly of colorful Gypsy Vanners, but there are other more traditional heavy horses as well. Although the game is mostly stock horses the members love the rarer breeds as well and embrace them quickly. Both associations/registries and barns host shows on a regular basis, keeping the members busy with show results and other events.
Unlike some other games (or like them, depending on the game) they do not allow non-horse equids (donkeys, zebras, and other asses). (I know, rats no zonies or hinnies, oh well, nothing's perfect).
I've run my fair share of games and this game is very smooth running, no melodramas, no politics, no cliques, all are welcoming and helpful. Ask a question and quickly you'll get multiple replies to assist you. They also love to celebrate special occasions and milestones. (The Christmas goodies were very pleasant and unexpected!) There's many contests available to compete in for extra sim cash and possibly other goodies. It's still a young game so there are no millionaires yet, however it is easy to maintain your initial $100,000 through showing, contests, etc, despite not having the monthly allowance that other games have in place.)
Overall I highly recommend this game for the more experienced simmer that prefers the type of breeding rules that this game has. It has a very approachable administration, easy to read, yet colorful layout, and full of interesting surprises!
I have to admit what drew my original interest in this game was the name itself, spanish for The Horse. Most games are called something similar to gaits of the horse (Trot, Gallop, Canter, so where's Walk?), sounds of the horse (Neigh, Clip Clop), or simply Equine + (Insert Word). So when the words El Caballo Sim came up on my search engine I had to investigate further, especially since the short blurb regarding it indicated it was for 'mature players' only. So I clicked on the link to find myself looking at the stylish, simple website known as El Caballo. With a blue and grey theme everything was easy to find, and the background didn't interfere with the readablility of the text. Very easy to read, the rules are straight forward and easy to understand. I have to admit I'm rather partial to the model horse breeding type of sim game regarding breeding rules. (One foal per year, back-breeding permitted).
Applying to join was an easy process and my application was replied to quickly, I had made an error in my application however the administration dealt with my idiocy with grace and very quickly I was a member of the game. I made my obligatory first introductory post and quickly found out that the game was dominated by stock horse breeds with a small Thoroughbred racing and Arabian following. Just my style, I love my Polish Arabians, Appaloosas, overo Paints, Quarter Horses, and fancy colored Thoroughbreds. (OK, anything fancy colored as the poor, unsuspecting existing members found out rather quickly). But they made me feel very welcome in their intimate community, the administration likes to keep the membership to a small but active group.
I found out that the members of the group are a fun-loving, insane (in a good way), group of young adults who have been involved in horse simulation games for several years and they had a good grasp of what it takes to run a successful game. I found an older suggestion thread on their forum and proceeded to bombard it with various ideas which were well received, some ideas were put into motion, others were put out of their misery. (I didn't say all the ideas were good ones after all, he he he).
The showing scene of the game is bustling, heavily concentrated on western events, however the dressage, show jumping, eventing, etc scenes are getting more popular. There's also a small draft horse population, mostly of colorful Gypsy Vanners, but there are other more traditional heavy horses as well. Although the game is mostly stock horses the members love the rarer breeds as well and embrace them quickly. Both associations/registries and barns host shows on a regular basis, keeping the members busy with show results and other events.
Unlike some other games (or like them, depending on the game) they do not allow non-horse equids (donkeys, zebras, and other asses). (I know, rats no zonies or hinnies, oh well, nothing's perfect).
I've run my fair share of games and this game is very smooth running, no melodramas, no politics, no cliques, all are welcoming and helpful. Ask a question and quickly you'll get multiple replies to assist you. They also love to celebrate special occasions and milestones. (The Christmas goodies were very pleasant and unexpected!) There's many contests available to compete in for extra sim cash and possibly other goodies. It's still a young game so there are no millionaires yet, however it is easy to maintain your initial $100,000 through showing, contests, etc, despite not having the monthly allowance that other games have in place.)
Overall I highly recommend this game for the more experienced simmer that prefers the type of breeding rules that this game has. It has a very approachable administration, easy to read, yet colorful layout, and full of interesting surprises!
Monday, December 24, 2007
Introduction
In the spirit of the fuglyhorseoftheday blog which I am hopelessly addicted to I have decided to go ahead and post about the various sim horse games you can find online. I have been actively involved in sim horse gaming for over 10 years as well as horse rpging. I therefore feel qualified to honestly rate games/rpgs and hopefully get more attention to them as far as new members go. For new people to the gaming/rpging worlds here's a few definitions:
Automated sim horse game: The game is completely run by a computer, the user hits keys to enter their horse(s) into shows, train them, breed them, etc. No human/human interaction necessary, however usually they have forums and chat rooms in case you wish to talk to a fellow human being.
E-mail based sim horse game: This game is mainly run off of a central forum and the website designed by the game's creator. You use e-mails primarily to enter shows, arrange breedings, etc. Human/human contact is necessary for this game and most games pride themselves on being a small community.
Horse RPG: This game is run off of forums and/or chat rooms where people role play as horses. Rules vary widely in this genre and the rpg might be focused on realism completely, fantasy completely, or a mixture of both. (The famous example from my past where stallions bowed to mares and offered them roses comes to mind.) There is no right or wrong way to role play, only matters of taste.
I will be taking requests for reviewing games, otherwise I'll be going down the list of those games I know of personally and then those I find on webring.com and the various horse sim top lists!
Automated sim horse game: The game is completely run by a computer, the user hits keys to enter their horse(s) into shows, train them, breed them, etc. No human/human interaction necessary, however usually they have forums and chat rooms in case you wish to talk to a fellow human being.
E-mail based sim horse game: This game is mainly run off of a central forum and the website designed by the game's creator. You use e-mails primarily to enter shows, arrange breedings, etc. Human/human contact is necessary for this game and most games pride themselves on being a small community.
Horse RPG: This game is run off of forums and/or chat rooms where people role play as horses. Rules vary widely in this genre and the rpg might be focused on realism completely, fantasy completely, or a mixture of both. (The famous example from my past where stallions bowed to mares and offered them roses comes to mind.) There is no right or wrong way to role play, only matters of taste.
I will be taking requests for reviewing games, otherwise I'll be going down the list of those games I know of personally and then those I find on webring.com and the various horse sim top lists!
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