Virtual Horse Ranch Kickstarter Status

It's been a few days and the total is now up to $4622.00! 

We're really excited to see the progress that the community has shown because that means that people really want this game. 

Please share from the Kickstarter page! For every 100 shares, they are adding one new color and two new horse breeds!

That means that all the players receive more variety in the game! 

Please consider backing the Kickstarter by at least one dollar. Just think of the developers that want to give their players the best 3D experience they have dreamed of in their horse game. Really. A buck can make a big difference when enough people chip in!

Have a great day, everyone!

Virtual Horse Ranch 3D Kickstarter Has Launched!

META 3D STUDIOS AND ORBIS GAMES SADDLE UP

Yesterday we handed the final Kickstarter video to the team at Orbis Games for their crowdfunding of Virtual Horse Ranch 3D. It's a 3D update of their super successful Virtual Horse Ranch game that plays through a text interface in a web browser.

WHAT'S VIRTUAL HORSE RANCH?

Their original game is a web-based text game that has been running for 10 years with 600,000 accounts, and has been honed over time to be a great experience, but since it doesn't "show" your horses, it's lacked what many people have always wanted. 

The 2D Original Version of VHR

The most exciting thing to me about the original game is that you can raise, breed, and sell your horses. What's fun is that you can start a horse, level it up, and when it is ready to breed, the parent's traits are passed down to the next generation. 

Players can start a "clean bloodline" so their horses are special to them and any further horses that are born from them take that along with them. Breeders can make a real difference and build a reputation for themselves. It's really a great concept. 

However, stats on a page doesn't really make it in today's world, so going 3D was the next step.

Orbis contracted Meta to provide them art, animations, and a video for their project, and we delivered all of those this week. 

LOGO TREATMENT

We started the project by creating a new logo. 

The Original

Here's the original. It's nice and I like the motion that the horses convey. 

Final Treatment Of The New Logo

We discussed the "feel" they wanted for the lettering and they wanted something that "hinted" at a western theme that would cover everything from a ranch to an upscale horse ranch and more high end riding activities. 

SO WHAT DOES THE 3D GAME LOOK LIKE?

I'm glad you asked!

For the game itself, they are using Unity so they have cross platform delivery of the game and I'm glad to see that. Unity is a great engine. Way to go Unity!

You can see that there are multiple horses in the scene, trees, hills, water with awesome reflections, and lots more. 

The game can simulate daytime, nighttime, and anything in between. It's been very exciting seeing every new change and addition as they become live.

I can't wait to hear what the long time players think!

KICKSTARTER VIDEO COMPLETE!

When we discussed the video, we determined that we need to appeal to the players of the original game. They have a relationship with Shannon (who goes by the name Nefertete in the forums) and we wanted to open with her description of who she is and how important it is that they are keeping the core of the game alive. 

Then we decided that it would be fun to give a little "behind the scenes" of what the horse models looks like to the computer and the animators. Having the horses run across the screen and into a "realized" version of the 3D game was the result of one of our animators, Niall, pitching the idea and we ran with it. The results are striking, I think.

Finally, we go to the in-game footage which shows off the horses, their animations, the world and all its various environments and variations of the current coloring of the horses. 



During all of this animation, we also wanted to be sure that everyone knew for sure that the core features of the 2D version are made clear and that we could expand on the additional features of the 3D version. 

We ended the video with Shannon describing a little about the rewards for backers as well as a little peek at some of the stretch goals. 

WHERE IS THE KICKSTARTER SO I CAN BACK IT?!?

It's right here! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/orbisgames/virtual-horse-ranch-3d

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