[UPDATED] Devs' Corner: February 2025

Our developers have something to tell you! Every three (3) weeks, our devs will provide you with information about their work in the “Dev’s Corner.”

This publication is a way of keeping everyone updated on what’s happening with the game. We invite you to discuss and leave your feedback for each of the publications.

Note: All posts must adhere to the forum guidelines and be constructively made.

Take a look at our very first Devs' Corner publication!

Warm wishes,

The Howrse Team
 
Ow
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I didn't want to believe it but holy horses the new log in is horrible... The art is fuzzy and looks messy. Now this could be due to it being designed for mobile and I get it, I do. But in this day and age there isn't a reason the desktop version can't have a log in page that suits browsers.

Now I could very wrong and overly skeptical these days but the longer I look at first image of the 5 horses at the top of the page the more I wonder if AI was used in at least part of the process???

My reasoning being the odd angles of the legs and hooves in the center horse and the white fire/lave coated one (for example: the front legs attached strangely to the body).
The foal looks to be an actual asset same with the images below but the other 4 of the 5 horses at the top just don't look right.

Again I very well could, and completely accept if I am, be wrong.
kachar
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What absolutely kills me about the new login page is the image on the phone of the mobile login page with the horse wearing both the 3*** classical bridle and the 3*** western bridle stacked on top of one another. So, that WAS a deliberate art choice this whole time??default smiley xd
wynter12
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I only ever play on classical and the log in page did give me a bit of a fright when I first logged in yesterday. It really doesn't work on a desktop PC, which is what I use most of the time but does fit a bit better on a tablet, which I use some times. Unless Howrse wants to eventually force everyone to play on a mobile version only, I don't see the need to change the page at all as I bet most people don't really look at it when logging in. If the day comes when I can't play on classic, that will probably mean I stop playing as I find mobile difficult to navigate - I suspect I'm not alone in that, particularly among older players and those with visual impairments. I hope this isn't a step towards that as I've played for a very long time and Howrse is definitely a part of my daily routine.
minkthepink
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When I went to login, for a few seconds I actually thought that the page had been hacked.
The layout screams mobile game and then some. With each change we're getting closer and closer.

A mobile interface simply does not work on a PC. The higher resolution your on, the worse it gets.
I'm not surprised to see this, especially since one of the Ubisoft partners are infamous for turning everything into mobile games.

I do not use the app. I have tried it on maze events in the past, I do not like how it works. The navigation and layout puts me off big time. I've checked working horses on the app, I do not like it. Classic on the app makes no difference.
So when we do turn mobile layout entirely, there is no reason for me to continue playing.
With the current change, I can already see that you have once again changed the font size and the background color. Once again ignoring that all your players do no have 20/20 vision.
I don't know what happened to actually try to code a GOOD user interface. It's clear that best practice, KISS and even using the best color palettes have been thrown out the window a long time ago.
Asfridur
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I have been on this game for 15 years. I most generally play on a tablet. I do not go on Facebook, it has generally too much negativity for me. I like the sign it the way it was. The horses look funny and it took me a bit to sign in. Why not just leave well enough alone. Horses don't even look like horses anymore. It is difficult for me to figure out how you can race a horse that has no back legs instead it has a fish tail or snake legs.
Thanks for listening.
jazzygirl59
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Don't mind the new look but the only thing with me is my eye sight is not the best thing in the world and the green name on my home page still looks rather black default smiley xd maybe they should be a little bolder?
diabolo121
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minkthepink wrote:

I only ever play on classical and the log in page did give me a bit of a fright when I first logged in yesterday. It really doesn't work on a desktop PC, which is what I use most of the time but does fit a bit better on a tablet, which I use some times. Unless Howrse wants to eventually force everyone to play on a mobile version only, I don't see the need to change the page at all as I bet most people don't really look at it when logging in. If the day comes when I can't play on classic, that will probably mean I stop playing as I find mobile difficult to navigate - I suspect I'm not alone in that, particularly among older players and those with visual impairments. I hope this isn't a step towards that as I've played for a very long time and Howrse is definitely a part of my daily routine.


I'm a younger player and I will absolutely quit if Howrse becomes mobile only. Mobile is simply inferior to the classic version. Even on days it's not glitching it just isn't nearly as fun to play on.
Royale
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Royale wrote:

I'm a younger player and I will absolutely quit if Howrse becomes mobile only. Mobile is simply inferior to the classic version. Even on days it's not glitching it just isn't nearly as fun to play on.


That's not really feasible because connectivity isn't stable enough given the heavy nature of I/O.
Ruffian
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Just noticed the phone in the new login page is in French still. Not sure if that was intentional but it doesn't seem like it.
Royale
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i'm bit disappointed that the dews seem to always skip over daily objects when doing the updates. tasks that come later during the week are practically _impossible_ for new players who don't have ridicilous amounts of different tack and horses with black market items, while the others are based on pure luck. here are some of the tasks i've came across including their flaws:

- removing a water of youth from a horse (pretty self explanatory, WOY are hard to get)
- removing an horn from an unicorn (the horse's market value practically disappears)
- covering a donkey unicorn (you can do only 3 covers during their lifetime anyways...)
Mari
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Mari, these kind of objectives are the to encourage you to expand your horizons kn the game and basically to hoard some stuff,. Sure when you're in the beginning stages thse are difficult tasks, but once you have enough of divines and recources for example WoY isn't difficult to find any more
EviTA
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@Mari - it can definitely seem that way when you're new, but many of the objectives were put on the game with a practical purpose. The Water of Youth one is a very old objective - many players buy a horse with a WOY on and want to take it off because it slows down their BLUP and the only way to do that is with that objective. I believe it used to be in the Great Challenge before it was put in the dailies instead. The unicorn one was because unicorns were getting so numerous on the game their market price was dropping; so it was a way to increase their rarity a bit. The donkey unicorn and Draft unicorn ones are indeed fairly new but are mostly there to encourage players to branch out and start experimenting with other aspects of the game.

Once you're established and know which ones to expect (so you keep resources on hand to complete them) they do all get a lot easier. And remember you can also trade one per day if you're unable to complete the ones you have. default smiley :)
Crookedstar915
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Hi! I'm trying to figure out why I can't select a time frame in activities now? I used to be able to do a mountain ride for example 'x' hrs whereas now it just gives me a set energy % for the activity. I now also need to pick my own level and competition when I decide to competite with a horse. I honestly don't know what I'm doing in regards to picking. What do the levels mean? Is it better for the horses to compete in certain ones or does it matter?
I honestly hate this setup now. It's a bit confusing and odd. Anybody able to help me understand what happened or how to deal now?
Thanks
ashleydawn
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ashleydawn wrote:

Hi! I'm trying to figure out why I can't select a time frame in activities now? I used to be able to do a mountain ride for example 'x' hrs whereas now it just gives me a set energy % for the activity. I now also need to pick my own level and competition when I decide to competite with a horse. I honestly don't know what I'm doing in regards to picking. What do the levels mean? Is it better for the horses to compete in certain ones or does it matter?
I honestly hate this setup now. It's a bit confusing and odd. Anybody able to help me understand what happened or how to deal now?
Thanks


On mobile? If so, what you're describing has to do with the auto features available to everyone on the app. If the autos are on, your horse will do a preset amount of training or rides, and you will automatically be entered into whichever comp discipline you tap on. Luckily you can turn the autos on or off. It sounds like you turned the auto feature on for rides/training, and turned it off for comps. There is a little icon on each of their tabs at the top (above the words), it looks like a gear, just tap on the little gear icon to turn autos on or off. You'll know it's on when it's highlighted in blue, and it will be black when it's off.

Also, not sure if you have this issue I do, but I've noticed that messing with the gear icon for rides and training turns the autocomp off. So, if this also happens to you, you have to go into the comps tab right after and turn it back on again every time you touch the gear icon for both rides and training. Just thought I'd mention this because it might be why your autocomp is off. It's not supposed to be like that, but they either don't know it happens, or just haven't gotten around to fixing it. The gears are also very easy to tap on without realizing. I've done it many times before when doing lessons and comping my divines lol.

Oh, and for your latter questions, that setup is actually how the game works without auto features. It looks a little disorienting on the app, but it looks much better and simpler on desktop Howrse. You can organize comps by the lowest difficulty, highest difficulty, the kitty (the amount of equus you win from the comp), and by the amount of participants. You can also enter into comps for all breeds, or choose to exclusively compete with horses of your horse's breed. Oh, and you can check off the box for low-level comps, for horses that qualify. You can use all of these to help find specific comps and to get wins on your horse.default smiley :)
wynter12
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Anyone else feel the game page is too loud now. The original on was far more relaxing.
SusanG
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Hello,

The game was updated!

Check out the latest features in the newest Dev’s Corner!

Have fun playing Howrse!
The Howrse Team
AmOwzing
  • Posted messages: 88
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I absolutely do not(!) like the updated popup when adding skills to divines
Why am I seeing passes when I'm adding skills earned through waking/actions?!
The others are tolerable, but that was a really bad idea
quokka
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I'm everyone else lets go back to the old log in page. Lets hope Howrse listens to us.
pidge
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Do not like seeing the passes under skills when the horse doesn't gain skills by passes. It freaks me out as I think I'm using passes. It's also confusing in determining which horses actually use passes and which don't to improve skills.
NoTW26
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NoTW26 wrote:

Do not like seeing the passes under skills when the horse doesn't gain skills by passes. It freaks me out as I think I'm using passes. It's also confusing in determining which horses actually use passes and which don't to improve skills.


I had a moment of panic when I saw the passes when giving skills to my Mars
I had to rationalize with myself "you can only give 9 points and he earned 9 so it's not passes" and then I still double checked by refreshing the page

Doing that was genuinely not well thought out at all on the devs end
quokka
  • Posted messages: 561
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The skills pop-up correctly displays the star/skill icon on Classic version, so hopefully it's just a temporary display bug on Mobile, as I only see it there.

I've asked Admin about it
Legacy Ann
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MyLittlePonyLover
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@Legacy Ann (on mobile)

Since the update finished it now correctly shows the star for earned skills instead of passes, thank you for reaching out to the admin team to let them know!!
quokka
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I'm just saying, it would be very nice if we could disable community wanderers. I know they allow you to enter them in competitions and buy their coat, but as someone that has more than enough divines to work and coats, it's just another banner. There's also the fact that a couple of them make me uncomfortable because of the art. No disrespect to the artists or anything, but it's just something that would be appreciated.
Oathkeeper
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Oathkeeper wrote:

I'm just saying, it would be very nice if we could disable community wanderers. I know they allow you to enter them in competitions and buy their coat, but as someone that has more than enough divines to work and coats, it's just another banner. There's also the fact that a couple of them make me uncomfortable because of the art. No disrespect to the artists or anything, but it's just something that would be appreciated.

Hello,

I'll forward your feedback to the team.default smiley (ow)

Have fun playing Howrse!
AmOwzing
AmOwzing
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