I realize that the side events were supposed to bring a nice change to the consistent rhythm of the game.. but I found them distasteful. I kept thinking "I hope that this is over soon". Isn't that a sad thing to say?
The first side event is when you have to go fetch a book from the chapel, and there is a time limit to returning it. I found that it was quite frustrating to figure out what to do when the bridge breaks under your character, and suddenly you become your horse. I had to search through the internet for some hints. For those of you who are looking for some guidance on this, I will tell you that you need only gallop farther along the roadway past a house, you will notice a pile of boulders, some fencing, and a small field. Just keep running until you get to the northeast edge of the field. If you found the right place, your horse will automatically jump over a chasm, and then you only need to run up to your character. She will mount the horse, and now just retrace your steps back home.
The second side event is to go to the little pond following a map, and get a rubber ducky that is floating on a pond, and return it to the library to win the prize of taking care of a young colt. It sounds simple, but takes time to accomplish. OH.. here is a warning for this week.. The game forces you to go to the library on the day that you receive your colt... so honestly, I don't bother going to the library on Monday as I usually would do. Which also means that I do not bother training in Dressage that Monday because there would be question marks in those movements that I haven't "studied". Remember to take notes of the books that explain the various motions of a colt. These may come in handy when you need to take care of your colt.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
Training with the horse
I found that I enjoyed the dressage section the most out of the three training options that one has in this game.
It was similar to DDR as that you have to match the timing of the strikes on the buttons with the arrows entering the little circle. However, there is a pleasant pause, or resting moment, when you can just watch your mount do the various cadences that you have achieved. I loved how the camera showed more than one angle, and how the character/horse moved together.
I wasn't as thrilled with the show jumping course. That bar of green on the ground with the red stripes just seemed too fickle.. maybe it was me, and my lack of skill, but I found myself becoming annoyed. After many tries I still had troubles figuring out how to get a perfect jump. OH sure.. when I hit that perfect jump, I was happy.. but it happened less frequently than I had hoped even with much practice.
The Cross country race was a nice combination of the Show jumping, and Dressage challenges. The only issue that I had at first was realizing the lay of the course, and how those little tiny signposts were guides. When I was concentrating on galloping, and how far the jumps were, at first, I would tend to ignore the little white signs showing me which way to go.
It was similar to DDR as that you have to match the timing of the strikes on the buttons with the arrows entering the little circle. However, there is a pleasant pause, or resting moment, when you can just watch your mount do the various cadences that you have achieved. I loved how the camera showed more than one angle, and how the character/horse moved together.
I wasn't as thrilled with the show jumping course. That bar of green on the ground with the red stripes just seemed too fickle.. maybe it was me, and my lack of skill, but I found myself becoming annoyed. After many tries I still had troubles figuring out how to get a perfect jump. OH sure.. when I hit that perfect jump, I was happy.. but it happened less frequently than I had hoped even with much practice.
The Cross country race was a nice combination of the Show jumping, and Dressage challenges. The only issue that I had at first was realizing the lay of the course, and how those little tiny signposts were guides. When I was concentrating on galloping, and how far the jumps were, at first, I would tend to ignore the little white signs showing me which way to go.
Friday, June 13, 2008
The different breeds of horsez
Honestly, I've tried the game with each breed, and I haven't seen a difference in how they move, how they respond, how well they do, etc.
It seems that it is only an esthetic thing such as how big the horse looks in comparison to the rider. This would be similar to the fact that you can change the color, and shape of the saddle. For me, this is disappointing. I would have like that the Arabian would have a certain attitude/movement that you would see as classically different from a French Saddlebred.
It seems that it is only an esthetic thing such as how big the horse looks in comparison to the rider. This would be similar to the fact that you can change the color, and shape of the saddle. For me, this is disappointing. I would have like that the Arabian would have a certain attitude/movement that you would see as classically different from a French Saddlebred.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Week 1 : First day
I'm not going to go through all of the details of this program. In fact, there is a splendid walkthrough being offered by the GirlsHorseClub.com Blog which explains quite alot of things. My blog will give some little additions to the information already provided.
Week one:
I understand that many hours may have gone towards putting together this game. I appreciate all of the time, and effort that went towards it's creation. However, I would have to say that I found the video scenerios to be more annoying, and negative in the gameplay than productive, and impressive.
The opening moment when your character, Flora, flies off of her bike, and then suddenly you are the horse, and you have to "do" something was bothersome. There was no indication as to what you could do, or how you could do it. I stood there watching the world swirl around me for minutes tapping different keys before I realized that I had to hit the space bar again just to have control of my horse. After only a few seconds of moving forwards until you reach a door, turning right, and heading for what looks like a small bush, you can activate the hand icon that appears by striking the spacebar again.. and ONTO another long video scene. I had to shake my head and ask "Why?"
The first two days are scheduled for you by your instructors. Honestly, don't follow their pattern of placing events. I found that the best routine is to go to the Center, and Library in the very first two slots on Monday. Then you can look up the weather on the student computer (www.online-weather.ubi), check up the news (), and information on the racetracks (www.horse-sports.ubi). Next, in the Library, you can find the latest dressage techniques, and foal care information. Save the third slot for Horse care to bring up your horse's status to 100 percent. If you do the care well,you will not need to do Horse care again until near Friday, or Saturday. If you choose to bring up your money, and popularity, I would suggest an extra day of really well done horse care. Knowing the weather ahead of time makes horse care an easy thing. You can choose to take care of the horse on a sunny/cloudy day so that you can hose the horse down, and bring up his/her strength.
I found that choosing a light colored horse made brushing or showering much easier as the dirt was a grey color. If I picked a grey, or mottled colored horse, I had more difficulty seeing the dirt, and getting it off. OH.. and you have to clean the tail. I didn't know that at first, and I was surprised that my horse wasn't clean.
Dressage is a nice part of the play. It's similar to Dance Dance Revolution where you have to hit the arrow keys at the right time. I even enjoyed the replay portions where you can watch your horse perform.
Cross country is lovely, and well done. I especially enjoyed the Matrix moments when the horse just freezes in place, and you can see it in full jump. Beautiful. The muscles of the horse just look so active... and the sounds of the gear jingling, the hooves pounding..the horses breathing.. awesome!
Show jumping was more demanding, I found. It was more meticulous on timing, and execution. I found my patience lowering as I had troubles getting my horse to perform properly. I still cannot tell you if you have to hit the space bar just before your horse hits the green, or exactly when it hits the green part of the section before the fence. It really seems to be linked with the way your horses feet land on the ground.
Warning: On the second day right after the third event, you will notice that your character, Flora, is a sore loser. She is a selfish, uncaring, ungrateful, awful person that I would be ashamed to have representing me in reality, and I cringe at having to roleplay her in this game. This video scene is one of the nasty moments of the game where Flora throws playing cards into a fire, and has to replace them. (There are more.. much more coming up..) I honestly wish that I could skip these vignettes, and just play the game, but that isn't possible.
Week one:
I understand that many hours may have gone towards putting together this game. I appreciate all of the time, and effort that went towards it's creation. However, I would have to say that I found the video scenerios to be more annoying, and negative in the gameplay than productive, and impressive.
The opening moment when your character, Flora, flies off of her bike, and then suddenly you are the horse, and you have to "do" something was bothersome. There was no indication as to what you could do, or how you could do it. I stood there watching the world swirl around me for minutes tapping different keys before I realized that I had to hit the space bar again just to have control of my horse. After only a few seconds of moving forwards until you reach a door, turning right, and heading for what looks like a small bush, you can activate the hand icon that appears by striking the spacebar again.. and ONTO another long video scene. I had to shake my head and ask "Why?"
The first two days are scheduled for you by your instructors. Honestly, don't follow their pattern of placing events. I found that the best routine is to go to the Center, and Library in the very first two slots on Monday. Then you can look up the weather on the student computer (www.online-weather.ubi), check up the news (), and information on the racetracks (www.horse-sports.ubi). Next, in the Library, you can find the latest dressage techniques, and foal care information. Save the third slot for Horse care to bring up your horse's status to 100 percent. If you do the care well,you will not need to do Horse care again until near Friday, or Saturday. If you choose to bring up your money, and popularity, I would suggest an extra day of really well done horse care. Knowing the weather ahead of time makes horse care an easy thing. You can choose to take care of the horse on a sunny/cloudy day so that you can hose the horse down, and bring up his/her strength.
I found that choosing a light colored horse made brushing or showering much easier as the dirt was a grey color. If I picked a grey, or mottled colored horse, I had more difficulty seeing the dirt, and getting it off. OH.. and you have to clean the tail. I didn't know that at first, and I was surprised that my horse wasn't clean.
Dressage is a nice part of the play. It's similar to Dance Dance Revolution where you have to hit the arrow keys at the right time. I even enjoyed the replay portions where you can watch your horse perform.
Cross country is lovely, and well done. I especially enjoyed the Matrix moments when the horse just freezes in place, and you can see it in full jump. Beautiful. The muscles of the horse just look so active... and the sounds of the gear jingling, the hooves pounding..the horses breathing.. awesome!
Show jumping was more demanding, I found. It was more meticulous on timing, and execution. I found my patience lowering as I had troubles getting my horse to perform properly. I still cannot tell you if you have to hit the space bar just before your horse hits the green, or exactly when it hits the green part of the section before the fence. It really seems to be linked with the way your horses feet land on the ground.
Warning: On the second day right after the third event, you will notice that your character, Flora, is a sore loser. She is a selfish, uncaring, ungrateful, awful person that I would be ashamed to have representing me in reality, and I cringe at having to roleplay her in this game. This video scene is one of the nasty moments of the game where Flora throws playing cards into a fire, and has to replace them. (There are more.. much more coming up..) I honestly wish that I could skip these vignettes, and just play the game, but that isn't possible.
Hi there
I started this blog ( with little time to dedicate towards it's fulfilment) to share the various things that I enjoy, have conquered, and dislike about this Horsez game. Also, I have found it difficult to search up various hints, and strategies on the internet for this game. I thought that it might be a positive thing to have a blog where people who are playing the "Horsez" pc game, and might need a little help could come and discuss the various challenges together.
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