Melbourne Cup Challenge

[dobrien7]

omg this is seriously badass guys.

had 3 races on the demo so far.

1st race went too fast and had nothing left for the home straight and finished 13th

second race lasted a bit longer but still went a bit early and got run down with 250m too go amd finished 12th

third race started off fast early then slowed down and waited in behind the leaders then with about 400 to go went around the leaders and had enough to win fairly easily.

I am not into horse racing games at all but this defintely has everything I like in a game. you have to think about where you are in the race etc and your horse even has prefered postioning on where it wants to be. you have to decide when to make your run otherwise you get mowed down by going to early. will defintely consider buying this game now
[/b]

Similar story to tell, went too hard early, got a miserable 15th, then timed it better to fade to 3rd. Enjoying it so far, realise the real deal will be better, it is only a demo after all. Keen to get the betting going...

 

[dobrien7]

Todays form: Blew my $100,000 with silly bets, none of which came even close

Racing - got 5th, last, then 6th.

Woosaah - what tactics are you doing, as I always get mowed down with about 200m to go?

 

[woosaah]

tactics? what tactics. mainly i sit behind the top 3 or 4 try stay in touch with the leader and with 500m to go run wide pump up the speen and near the end get out the whip

 

[dobrien7]

tactics? what tactics. mainly i sit behind the top 3 or 4 try stay in touch with the leader and with 500m to go run wide pump up the speen and near the end get out the whip
[/b]

So you leave whipping till the end? I whack away as soon as the icon pops up, maybe I'm thrashing my poor old nag and using up energy too quick...

Generally enjoying it though :cheers:

 

[esoj]

it's quite easy with a horse that likes to be out in the front. just take the lead or be near it and your horse should like it which builds up your potenial. just wait a bit on the back straight and from about the 500-400m use the rest of your stamina up then just use the whip and you should win easily as your potential will have built up nicely during the race. just remember to keep an eye on both stamina and potenial before going otherwise you will use both before reaching the 100m and will proabbly lose

winning with horses that like to hang back is a bit trickier. you have to leave your run a bit later because your horse will prefer sitting back and you won't be able to just blast through like you can with a front running horse.

I am loving this game and tried the betting out was quite cool seeing my horse get up for a place .

 

[dobrien7]

I got 6th with a horse that likes to hang right back... was leading but got run down, but then that's racing isn't it

I tried a $1,000 quinfecta = a $99,960 bet! Got 5, 7, 9, 11, 12 lol

 

[dobrien7]

Woohoo! My best finish yet, thanks to Woosaah and Esoj's advice, cheers guys

 

[esoj]

no problem dude you will get the hang of it of when to run and when to hang back.

 

[C A Iversen]

Gotta say, I've got back from my weekend with Any & Kimberley and I downloaded it quick and had a go on Betting Party. It's def not random, as it's about adding up all the factors and making an educated guess. I think this feature will have more value in groups, hence the name betting "party".

I picked a horse for a place and it got third, and in my second race I bagged a Quinella. I think this game will have a lot of promise when the actual release comes out.

I agree with Woosaah about the animation, (It's all fairly similar) which doesn't worry me to be honest, as horses are not as easy to animate as cars etc.

I don't agree about the commentary. It's pretty good as the games doing a lot of positional changes at once whilst trying to seemlessly integrate theose changes into a smooth commentary. In my opinion it's a helluva first effort for that kind of vocal performance.

 

[ak47]

i am druling over these posts

this is special

 

[esoj]

oh hell yes it is special.

and this is just the demo we are talking about here. the full release will be even better.

 

[woosaah]

am i allowed to still be scheptical? i will still by the game though

got to support fellow new zealanders doing stuff i love

 

[C A Iversen]

No worries, Woosaah, course you can be sceptical. It's not perfect by any stretch and we don't want to rave about a release before it's even out there. Thats been done before, and has been a mistake in the past.

Was just showing where my view contrasted with yours. I agreed about the animations though as they don't show a lot of variation. Might be just to keep the demo down to a managable download.

Those of us who are already praising it, may end up picking a few holes in it later, for now though, it's a whole new development in NZ gaming.

 

[ak47]

boys i have heard the demo's quality is subject to ur PC specs

ie different pc's get different audio and gameplay quality

read the sidhe forums - alot of mixed reports from alot of people, which has come down to ones pc performance or something

perhaps this is why woosaah's and ivo's opinion on sound differ

at the end of the day i have extreme confidence to like this game

whether it be not as good as G1 or Gallop in games overall quality

the fact its a local release with local races and tracks just make me drule

there will be no doubt dispite the 10 year limited career lifespan, i shall still be playing this game next year 2007 in my 40th career, simply because there is still that chance i can breed a better horse

 

[C A Iversen]

That would explain things if my sound cards better than Woosaahs or whatever. I'm sure that Wooz is a great judge of a game, as has been in the past. I think he'll make an awesome jockey when the final game comes out.

I'm sort of predisposed to liking this kind of game though, as horse-racing is a life-long interest of my old man and I had to pickup a little of that. Just a little though.

All in all it's good to have something to finally comment on about this game.

I'll certainly be set for a start in the cup. I hope they have that trumpet tune that you always hear at a racetrack.

 

[woosaah]

i have my pc pushed right up to max settings the course looks sweet its just the animations of the horses.

nothing wrong with my pc specs, its quick enough and i get an average fps of 60+

as for the sound, its bearable, and it definatly is needed but i am pretty picky when it comes to games now days. with all the games out there some things need to be done pretty well for me. thats why i bagged the rl2, it was rubbish

 

[C A Iversen]

Thats good horse-sense Woosaah. We've got to be sure on these things, and judge them on the home turn to finish, not what it's like going down the back straight.

Sure it's just cantering now, but can it raise the strong gallop required?

 

[ak47]

Woohoo! My best finish yet, thanks to Woosaah and Esoj's advice, cheers guys
[/b]

Doobee you great general

any chance u can youtube a race for us to see??

u came good on the game trailor, thanks man

come on son!!! :cheers:

 

[esoj]

well one small thing i noticed a few times while being near the front next to the rails is that it seems to freeze now and then. it looks very strange and is proabbly a faulty animation or something but it can be a bit off putting and defintely doesn't look right.

 

[woosaah]

havnt had mine freeze yet.

i did capture a race and a bet for upload to youtube. i need to compress it though.

i can do that as i found some new software ill try and do it tonight when i am not busy (doubt that) also i have to watch the cricket tonight, even though shane isnt playing so i have plenty of time to caputre that and stuff for the torny

a good 8 hours anyway