Countdown to Beta Testing

[larissar]

Earlier this year I gave an estimate that we could begin Beta Testing in August.
I still believe this is a reachable goal.

The last month+ of development has been focusing on the core components
to control the game and make everything work. I have invested a lot
of time into this, and it has set us back somewhat, but I believe
that putting the extra time into designing the core backend and
implementing a a good quality, custom front-end will make for a better
game experience.

So, with the most of the core front and back end development in place that
leaves us with adding and reconnecting the rest of the game.
Not every feature will be available during Beta Testing, but the main
features will be in place and functioning. Allowing us to let you
play the game while we finalise, test and launch the additional features.

So, here is our count down of what needs to be completed in order to launch
for beta testing.

I'll edit this list as features are completed so you can check back to see our progress.

Server
- setup temporary image compression solution
- install image compression software

Pre Beta Polish
- verify sign up process (logic, and layouts)
- change email handling
- create friendlier emails
- verify password reset process
- verify account invitation process
- fix news feed layout for logged in users
- let player choose male or female avatar (silhouettes only for now)
- empty pasture links to adoption center or sales page
- farm -> pasture -> farm navigation
- js drag restricted to draggable areas
- draggable ares indicated with arrows
- edit farm mode indicate farm areas
- player inventory view
- allow players delete inventory items
- upcoming competitions display "waiting for more entries" for events past run date
- competition images missing
- better linking from forum profile and player profile information
- link to players farm
- competition creation fee rebalancing
- suggested entry fees
- game economy tracking
- game added purse on events
- fill word censor list
- validate word censoring on entity names and descriptions
- remove all extra horizontal scroll bars
- read player notifications
- purchase confirmations (adoption, items)
- more details on market pages (including foal adoption details)
- implement rankings
- scroll to first horse in pasture view
- fix side nav highlighting when in forum
- "not authorised to read" error on help section
- fix missing training button highlighting
- add training stars back
- adoption horses "bred by" a default stable
- competitions "no eligable horses" explain why/what event is looking for

Horses
- name horses
- change horse breed (if possible)
- enter horse colour
- enter horse description
- allow players to move horses between areas (pastures)
- breeding with public studs
- displays on summary page (breeders report, competition record)

Farms
- add new decorations
- save decoration coordinate changes
- edit farm name and description
- add farm size restrictions
- add new farm areas (pastures)
- farm size expanding

Players
- correct javascript response to start/pause/complete courses
- add player inventory view
- fix player profile view (showing abilities)
- rebalance study time for courses
- determine which player skills should apply to which courses
- give each course a cost to begin studying
- view notifications in dropdown

Market
- buy new farm decorations and areas (pastures)
- stallions at stud pages
- horses for sale display page
- search horses for sale
- buy horses for sale

Competitions
- competition creation to be restricted by player skills
- view competition details
- enter horses into competition
- add in discipline data
- calculate horse competition score
- convert raw competition score into readable realistic score
- cron to "judge" competitions / award competition winnings
- send notifications to users when competitions run

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Wish List
- training reactivated
- pasture breeding
- world records
- top horses/breeders/etc pages
- private breeding requests
- purchase offers
- more horse colours (sooty, dun, silver, grey)
- add horse white patterns (sabino, dominant white, tobiano, frame, splash, appaloosa)
- horse colour changing (with growth: grey, silver, falxen, sooty, mealy, varnish appaloosa)
- add different manes/tails/feathers

Legend:
Green Text: Features I'm currently working on
Red Text: Features on hold until something else is completed

[Argent]

Regarding entering horse colors: Does this mean that colors will not be pre-defined, or are us beta testers simply giving the name to different colors for future use?

[larissar]

It means that its up to the owner to describe the horses colour. There will eventually be genetic testing which gradually reveals the colour but it isn't given out. I think it takes away some of the surprise if its just spelt out since some colours can mimic others.

This was something we tried in one of the original versions of the game and it seemed to be quite liked by players. But I am open to players opinions of the feature after a good period of trial.

[Argent]

Could there be a list of possible colors that we choose from? With an auto-complete feature? So you could call a chestnut horse black if you really wanted to, but you couldn't call it red or rainbow? Also, how will this work with registering horses?

[larissar]

Yeah I can restrict the colour names to a list of terms. But I don't want to be too restrictive. I want it to be more like a colour description than a colour name. Especially once I add in the patterns.

I haven't decided all the details for registries yet. What I'm envisioning is that the registry curator (whoever approves the horses) would see the owners colour description as well as any supporting genetics testing and the horses image, which they would use in their determination if the horse should be registered or not. I'm leaning towards making a rule that a horses colour can't be changed once a horse is registered, or something like that, but haven't made any decisions yet.

[Argent]

Also, can we get the exact cm height of our horses, as well as the hands, since that is the measurement used for creating new breeds? Or change the breed heights to hh?

[larissar]

Pasture Switching is now functional, but it's not very user friendly yet. I'm working on that next but at least you can move horses around in your pastures.

[its.olivia123]

how can I become a beta tester?

[Ashara Storm]

how can I become a beta tester?

This thread is from 2014.