I. GENERAL PRESENTATION A. Concept The game’s concept is to be successively a horse stable owner, jockey and bet on races. This game targets real horse racing enthusiasts as well as casual horse amateurs. Horse Racing integrates three different types of gamin experience more or less linked to each other depending on the player’s choices: bets, the financial management of a stable and the control of horses during races. It allows to manage the finances of a stable by letting the gamer decide upon the new equipment investments (training facilities, new staff, new land,...) and the purchases and breeding of new horses. You are free to create your own lineage by selecting and breeding champions to obtain the best racing horse of all times! Horse Racing lets you participate in 5 race types (gallop, trot, obstacles,...) over more than 100 “tracks” worldwide. It is possible to participate in real time races by controlling your horse yourself. You will have to handle his strengths and weaknesses, and manage his speed and energy while keeping track of your opponents, the climatic conditions and the field type. The world of horse racing is closely linked to betting. Thus, you will be allowed to bet on all types of races (national and international). Thanks to a detailed statistic system, you will have all the tools to analyze over 5 000 horses. This could be a great help to reach new heights more rapidly or your undoing if you lose everything! The gamer will have the opportunity to participate in all three game modes (owner, jockey, bets) or just in some of them depending on his centers of interest. Horse Racing will be playable in solo mode, or multiplayer over a LAN or the internet. B. Genre et Plates-formes GENRE Management with complete control over the stable operations. Action during races. PLATEFORMS The game is currently being developed for the PC. An X-Box port would be technologically easy but would require to redesign in the interface’s ergonomy. II. GAMEPLAY ELEMENTS A. The Stable 1. General This section presents the management side of the game. Its interest and its replayability are guaranteed by the many financial and training options offered to the gamer as well as the unlimited breeding possibilities to create one’s own champion. These three core elements guarantee that each new game will be a different experience. 2. The Stable Owner The player assumes the role of stable owner who is the main character in this part of the game. He takes all the decisions regarding his stable whether financial or sports-related. Owners can go bankrupt due to poor management. The player must manage his budget to keep afloat. He can invest to improve his infrastructures such as new training tracks, various buildings, pastures, transportation means,... He also can invest in new staff such as trainers, veterinary surgeons and jockeys. The owner is also responsible for the purchasing new horses and the “negotiation of breeding” to bring the best horses to his stable. To acquire new champions, he can visit other stables, participate in the numerous annual sales and eventually purchase yearlings off claimers. When the stable earns a few wins, it will be possible to start the breeding process to create a lineage. The owner will have to identify the ideal couple with complementary qualities with the best chances to give birth to a great champion. Revenues are provided by wins, horse sales and breeding negotiations. The player has the opportunity to offer services to other stable owners such as lending his training track or initiate the training of youngsters. The player has the opportunity to create his own jockey. This way, race after race, he can improve his jockey ratings and eventually be offered the opportunity to race for other stables and reach the Jockeys Hall of Fame. 3. Horses Each horse is characterized by a variety of ratings and traits such as its name, age, sex, color, race, lineage, owner and value (which varies based on results). The physical ratings are useful to evaluate a horse’s strengths and weaknesses. Such ratings are resistance (workload), endurance (for long races), power, acceleration, speed, regularity and discipline. In addition, each horse has an hidden potential which allows it to improve through training and races. This potential can also be limited to some ratings. During the race itself, the player must also take into account some other traits such as racing preferences (upfront, in the pack, preferred track type, etc...). 4. Training and Races The owner must register his horses to a variety of races over the course of the year by taking into account the quality of the opposition, the track type, the prizes offered to winners and the fatigue level of each horse. Five types of races can be accessed: gallop, obstacle races, steeple-chase and the two trot disciplines. The player must also manager the training of his horses to make them improve. The training intensity level has to be closely monitored to achieve optimal results and avoid injuries. 5. Fame This is a major element in the world of horse racing. Each stable is characterized by its fame which depends on its race results. Depending on this fame, an owner benefits from bonuses to purchase or sell new horses, negotiate trainer and jockey contracts and find a great stallion for his best mare. This fame ranks from unknown to emblematic figure. Each fame level corresponds to a number of points gained by the owner during races over the year. B. The Races 1. General Information This section presents the action part of the game. The player takes on the role of jockey before, during and after the race. Before the race, he must analyze his opponents, the climatic conditions, etc... During the race, he has to adapt to many elements to earn the win. After the race, he can review the race, receive his trophy or file a complaint to race commissioners. 2. Tracks Horse Racing lets the gamer race on 100 of the most prestigious horse racing tracks worldwide. Besides their visual aspect, each track has a variety of characteristics making each unique like the surface type (grass, dirt), the track’s state (muddy, sloppy,...) or wind expostion. The biggest real-life races will be featured in higher categories (Arc de Triomphe, Ascot, Derby,...). 3. Jockey and Horse The player can hire a jockey to ride his horse during the race or ride it himself (if he created his own jockey). In both cases, the player assumes the role of the jockey during the race. This choice has a major impact on the races as each jockey has his own ratings and unique personality traits which can be a good or bad fit with the horse’s preferences. The main jockey information and ratings are his name, weight, height, horse’s control type (harsh, neutral, soft), favorite type of race (fast, slow), motivation, adaptability, luck, career results, latest results and fines. Of course, the best jockeys are also the most expensive. Each jockey earns a percentage of the prize in case of a win. Despite intrinsic ratings, additional elements must be taken into account to evaluate a horse before each race. Such elements are his fitness (that can be influenced by transportation!), his reaction towards his jockey, his favorite position within the pack, his favorite type of race and his favorite field conditions. 4. During the Race Each race lasts between 1 minute and a half and 4 minutes. During the race, the player must manage a good start and then take into account of its opponents and of the general unfolding of the race. He will manage his position in the pack and the horse’s energy, handle the obstacle jumps, keep his horse at trot during such races, try to take advantage of wind protection and sprint for victory. To assist the player in this phase, a detailed interface with all the needed information has been implemented without overloading the screen. It displays the race time, total and remaining length, a position scanner, the horse’s speed, energy level, required effort and the wind direction 5. Various Once the race is over, a podium is displayed to show the final standings and race times. The player has the opportunity to run the race’s replay. He can file a complaint against an opponent and eventually see the latter disqualified or lose some fame himself. C. Betting 1. General Information The player can bet on the next race’s results. To improve his winning chances, he can analyze various information resources. 2. The Race The race and track presentation provides some basic but vital information. 3. Horses It is possible to analyze the latest results of all the competitors as well as their basic ratings. Among these results: • Gains this season • Career gains • Number of races, wins and final positions • Results sorted by field conditions • Results sorted by race type 4. Jockeys To refine his analysis, the player can also watch the jockeys’ stats such as career gains, number of races, wins and top standings, results with a particular horse and fame. 5. Owners and Trainers This section can provide key information for young horses with little racing experience as it gives an idea of the potential of a horse. 6. Professional Opinion The player can also collect information and opinions on the upcoming races from journalists, jockeys and owners. The quality of such information depends directly on his fame and the tips he provides himself. However, providing good tips will drop the « line » for some horses and can significantly reduce gains so this is a major trade-off. 7. Other Information and bets Other information will display the latest betting lines, horses not participating at the last minute and rumors. D. Multiplayer 1. General Information Multiplayer games are handled through peer-to-peer or dedicated server. The player can create or join a « private » or public game in career mode or for a single race. Dedicated servers only handle career modes. In peer-to-peer, the host player sets up the game parameters like starting cash, races,... All modes (jockey, owner and betting) are available in multiplayer. 2. Dedicated Server Each season is divided in 12 months of races. Each month has 30 races of each major type (gallop and trot). A new player can join the game at any time during the season. The owners must register their horses to the races they want to participate in but when registrations exceed the maximum number of horses for a given race, a selection will be made upon the fame rating. Each race will never exceed 20 owners and/or jockeys on a given race. The number of people betting is not limited. 3. Betting Each gamer is given a certain of money that he can use for betting as he sees fit. The races will take place based on a static calendar to provide everyone with enough time to gather information. The rumor mill and information exchange system takes on a unique dimension in multiplayer. 4. Jockey Mode only There are two levels : novice and expert. The player will only be given the opportunity to ride horses and will not manage a stable. He will have to find contracts with owners (CPU or humans). The player will have the opportunity to improve his ratings based on his wins. A ranking of the best jockeys will be available at any time during the game. 5. Owner mode-only Similar to the solo mode but the player only manage his stable and will have to find jockeys to ride his horses. When will it be released, were, and in wich languages? it will certainly be released in: Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, benelux,Denamrk, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Spain and UK languages: probably french, dutch, english and deutch release date: March 2003