In the last devlog we talked about demo, localization, facilities and new scenes.

The game's UI has seen major changes, improving both functionality and visual aspects. UI is designed to be intuitive, with easy access to key features for pleasant, casual experience. Last devlog we gave you a sneak peek of command bar, since then we have completely implemented it into a game, command bar will offer possibility for quicker actions for players who prefer efficiency. UI is seeing continuous work, but now we've gotten a clear final vision, and we are moving towards it.

Moving in new UI

Command bar in action

We are also working on different colour themes, we will have multiple preset coloured themes, but we'd like to give player option to customise colours of their liking, our goal is to make it as flexible as possible, so each player can modify their surroundings exactly how they like it.

Sneak peek of themes, still work in progress

Our team has been working on a condition system to simulate exhaustion. Horses, jockeys, and staff now tire after certain activities, meaning horses can't race daily and staff can't work intensively for long periods of time. This introduces more realistic expectations for the player as a manager, and requires the player to plan more carefully around schedules and workloads. It has been implemented for horses but not for jockeys and staff yet.

We're in process of finishing pre-race scene, this scene will appear before the race itself. Each horse walking up to their starting positions, common information about horse and jockey will be displayed on the screen. On the side will also appear common information about race location, such as track length and condition. An announcer system will be implemented to introduce each participant, and music to match the race track location.

Showcase of pre-race scene. This is a developer UI used to pull data, the final UI will look different.

Our artist has been doing phenomenal work on new designs. Since last devlog, we've gotten 8 brand-new horse coats added, each with unique patterns and colour palettes. Additionally, new markings for face and legs have been added. Last but not least, new jockey animations implemented into the game.

New coats

Fresh facial markings (blazes, stars and snips) and detailed leg markings (socks and stockings)

New animations

It's been a while since we talked about our DNA system, but we're excited to share our latest progress. We've begun implementing realistic coat color inheritance, bringing a new level of authenticity to horse breeding in the game.

This has been a significant challenge, as equine coat genetics are remarkably complex with multiple interacting genes controlling color expression. Thanks to our incredible Discord community, we've received expert guidance throughout this process. A special thanks to users Billygoatsgruff and Ceenbee for their patience, knowledge, and continued support in helping us understand (read: somewhat understand) equine genetics.

One interesting consideration we've encountered is balancing realism with gameplay. In the real world of thoroughbred racing, the coat color gene pool is relatively narrow, with bay, brown, and chestnut dominating the field. For the final game, we're exploring options to either allow players to adjust genetic frequency weights or implement a slightly more diverse starting pool of coat colors. This approach would ensure that while rare colors remain appropriately uncommon, they wouldn't be virtually impossible to obtain through breeding.

Screenshot of top results

Our world is growing larger every devlog. Two new environments are being added to the game, one is inspired by enormous and beautiful Meydan Racecourse in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and other one inspired by historical Navan Racecourse in Navan, Ireland. Both racecourses bring their own unique atmosphere and feel to the race, from the deafening cheers of tens of thousands at Meydan, to the quiet, muddy charm of Irish countryside racing.

Racecourse inspired by Meydan Racecourse

Racecourse inspired by Navan Racecourse

This system allows player to assign horses and jockeys to different care routines and training regimens. This way we are adding more flexibility to how player could manage their stables and prepare for each race according to what they think is the best. This is a work in progress right now, and operates only partially, but we are excited to see how it will function once everything is done.

Our team has been working a lot on the betting system, taking it step closer to its finalised state. The betting UI is complete, though it may still undergo minor changes, but it is fully functional. Player side of betting is close to being ready, and NPC betting logic is finished. Now we move to polishing the system, we are excited to get to show it in Alpha.

We had amazing suggestion from Discord community about being able to write custom notes about horses, jockeys and staff. So we added something that is purely for the player to have on side panel, you can open side-panel notes and write your plans or other thoughts individually for each horse/jockey/staff member. This tool will especially prove useful with each leap player will take growing stable and creating own legacy.

We are currently cleaning up and merging branches and fixing possible bugs, after that we are updating project to Godot 4.4. We hope that this will solve long-standing Apple compatibility issues.

We are now starting internal testing of the game, soon after it's mostly functional, we will open alpha testing to our Discord community. In this version player will already own a stable, unlike in final version where you start out unemployed.

If you'd like to support our developers throughout the journey, we created Ko-Fi page for Horse Racing Manager. Donations are completely optional and won't grant any perks such as early-alpha, we'd like to keep testing open to everyone in our Discord. That said, any donations are appreciated!

Ko-Fi link here![ko-fi.com]

We have member count of over 300 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![discord.gg]

We will start internal testing in upcoming days, looking forward to sharing playable version with our Discord community somewhere in late April. Our goal is to release early access in late May - early June, and finally full release once early access is in a state we are confident with publishing as complete game. 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. Don't forget to add Horse Racing Manager to your Steam wishlist! Your support is crucial for us and greatly appreciated.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2740170/Horse_Racing_Manager/