Game Play

Last update: Friday, April 11, 2003.

Please note, none of this game is meant to be confusing. If anything below confuses you in any way, please do not hesitate to email me questions at thoroughbreddreams@hotmail.com

Sections:
1. Starting
2. Horses
3. Abilities
4. Training/Racing
5. Money/Points
6. Breeding
7. Auctions/Selling
8. Retiring Horses
9. Injury
10. End of the Year

1. Starting

• Once you are accepted into this game and receive a welcoming letter, you will be added to the list of stables and be given 10 randomly created 2 & 3yos to get started.
• Please Allow up to 24-48 hours for your join form to be processed. Normally it'll be much less than this, but sometimes I get caught up in other things or real life and am unable to create your horses.
• Upon getting your welcoming letter and the list of horses, you will be required to submit the horse's names within one week of getting it. This is just to make sure that you are actually interested and not just taking up space.

2. Horses

• The horses you receive upon joining will normally be 5 2yos & 5 3yos, all of which have different strengths & weaknesses which you can view when you check your stable under the stable link on the side.
• Every horse has the ability to improve or get worse by the racing and/or training you put it under. (more about both under appropriate sections)
• If you wish to acquire more horses, the best way to do so is either to buy from another stable that is currently selling or wait for the auction which will offer horses every 6 weeks OR put a claim on a horse in a claiming race.
• Max total of horses anyone can own is really still being disputed. If you want to have 1,000 horses and manage them all, be my guest, just make sure you can handle every aspect of them.
• Ah, too lazy to make another section for this. If you have a male horse you'd like to GELD, email thoroughbreddreams@hotmail.com with the horse's name and that you are SURE you wish you want to geld them as it cannot be undone. Upon doing so, the horse will need 1 week of rest from everything (no racing, no training).

3. Abilities

• Each horse's abilities which are listed have an effect on how the horse will run. You are given the ability to improve any three of their abilities by training once a week until the horse is 5 years of age (horses at this age will slowly have their abilities decline, the rate at which is random depending on the horse)
• There are 12 different abilities which is shown for the horses, they are: Heart, fitness, injury, sprints, middle, long, dirt, turf, mudding, special, running style, & experience. Each ability is discussed in detail below.
•  Heart (max: 100): This ability involves how much your horse puts into each race. Even if every ability is maxed out and this one is low, your horse still may run poorly on occasion because it won't put forth the 'heart' needed to tie everything together.
•  Fitness (max: 100): This ability may be what every active member will love, it involves how much Rest is needed in between days it can race. Obviously, if you've looked at your stable you will see the status of your horse, if it can race, needs rest and can only train, or if it is injured. The higher this rating, the less time needed for your horse to rest. Once it is maxed out, your horse will need one week's rest in between normal races and 2 weeks rest between very big races (g1s)
•  Injury (max: 95): Self explanatory, the higher this number, the less chance there is of your horse getting injured.
•  Sprints (uncapped, chance to improve slows after 200 however): Self explanatory, higher the number, the greater ability your horse has in sprint races (5-7 furlongs)
•  Middle (uncapped, chance to improve slows after 200 however): Self explanatory, higher the number, the greater ability your horse has in middle distance races (1-1 1/4 miles)
•  Long (uncapped, chance to improve slows after 200 however): Self explanatory, higher the number, the greater ability your horse has in long distance races (1 1/2-2 miles)
•  Dirt (uncapped, chance to improve slows after 200 however): self explanatory, higher the number, greater ability your horse has in races on the dirt.
•  Turf (uncapped, chance to improve slows after 200 however): self explanatory, higher the number, greater ability your horse has on the turf.
•  Mudding (uncapped, chance to improve slows after 200 however): self explanatory, higher the number, greater ability your horse has on OFF tracks (mud)
•  Special (uncapped, chance to improve slows after 300 however): This is the 'mystery' ability because I'm not going to provide any information on it aside from each horse has one Special ability. The greater this number, the better they are at it. Not stating what the special abilities are however, find it out for yourself ;).
•  Running Style (max 250 combined. meaning out of all of the running styles listed below, the total number of points can only be 250.) (note: total number of pts for style is listed just after the 4th style on your stable site).
  
    Front Running (Style 1): prefers to stay in the front of the pack
    Stalker (Style 2): prefers to stay just behind the front runners, pressing the pace
    Mid-pack (Style 3): prefers to stay middle of the pack and strike around the last turn/just before it
    Rally (Style 4): prefers to come out of the back after the last turn
•  Experience (max: unlimited): This ability cannot be trained. It is gained only by racing and aids horses in Grade I performances in front of the big crowds.

4. Training/Racing

• Once a week, you will have an option to either Train or Race your horse (s), one or the other, not both. This is accomplished by emailing thoroughbreddreams@hotmail.com with your stable, horse's id#, and 3 abilities you wish to improve upon
• A good idea before deciding what you want to do (race or train), check your horses and their abilities surface and distance wise as well as their status then compare to the available races this week to see if your horses fit any of them. If they do and are ready to run, my suggestion is to do it. If there aren't suitable races, don't miss out on the training that week ;).
• If you decide you wish to train, first go look over your horses and pick out the 3 abilities you wish to improve on the ones you want to train that week. Then email all the info to the link listed a few dots above.
• Training will take place after the races and each ability can improve from 2-16 points per ability.
• If you decide to race, go look over the races and decide which horses you want in each race then follow the directions on the race page as to how to enter.
• Currently, Racing will only take place on Tuesday nights when i have the time.. For season two, plans of increasing this amount are currently in the making
• Races are run with abilities programmed in as well as a small randomness factor. All are done by a program which produce a rating, placing is determined by which horse has the highest rating on those conditions on THAT race day.
• NOTE: For my sanity, please please combine all the training orders & race entries in one email. ALL are sent by Email, so please just make it in one email to save space in my email box.

5. Money System/Points

• As you may have noticed, I didn't give you a balance total that you start out with ;). That's because you don't get any money to start with.
• Only way to acquire SM (abbreviation for sim money for this game), is by racing to start. The top 5 placers in races receive the a percentage of the purse. (50% to winner, 20% to second, 15% to third, 10% to fourth, 5% to fifth). This may not please some, but every single horse can improve to beat about any by training, so do not despair.
• Points will determine which horses are able to enter the special races every few months as well as the end of the year awards. Points in 2yos determine a 2yo championship near the end of the season, points in 3yos determine who can enter the Triple crown.
• Points are given as follows: (type of race: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th)
  Maiden Races: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
  Allowance Races: 8, 5, 3, 2, 1
  Claiming Races: 3, 2, 1
  Stakes Races: 15, 8, 5, 3, 1
  Grade III Races: 25, 15, 8, 4, 1
  Grade II Races: 30, 20, 10, 5, 2
  Grade I Races: 40, 25, 15, 6, 3

6. Breeding

• Breeding will not begin until season two.
• To breed horses, both sire and dam must be retired from racing and on one of the farms at the stable. You must own the broodmare and breed to either a home stallion or an outside one.
• For Stallion Owners - If you retire your horse to stud and wish it to be listed publicly, email thoroughbreddreams@hotmail.com with his ID#, Name, your stable, fee, & number of breedings you want to be offered..
• Stallions may be bred 30 times a season
• Mares may be bred ONE time per season.
• For Mare owners - After finding a suitable stallion to breed to your mare via the Stud Book or from your stable, email thoroughbreddreams@hotmail.com with BOTH horses id#'s, names, & stables they reside in. When your email is received and processed,  you will be sent a response back and your foal will be posted as a two year old on your stable site. This foal will be race or train ready within one week.
• Abilities of the sire and dam do carry over, to an extent, to their offspring. Some horses will mix well and produce alike them, others may not be good breeders.
• For Breeders: When you do breed, please allow up to a week for your breeding to be processed. If my schedule permits it, I will deal with breeding two-three times a week; but if my schedule does not permit, it may take slightly longer.
• Tips: Match horses that pretty much favor the same distance/surface.

7. Auctions/Selling

• Auctions are held every 6 weeks with randomly created horses of various ages. Auctions last 2 weeks with bids being sent in by email. After the auction, 6 weeks later another will be held. All horses are purchased with the money you have earned from racing.
• Selling, If you wish to sell a horse, hop on the message board and post a quick message saying HORSE FOR SALE and post the horse's info in there. Once you and someone come up with a deal, the SELLER must email thoroughbreddreams@hotmail.com the details of the selling (horse id, name, price, to <full stable name here>, and if possible the url to the thread the transaction went on or the email that took place).
   

8. Retiring Horses

• Any horse may be retired at any time after their 3yo year unless they had an injury suffering during 3yo year. All horses are automatically retired at the end of their 7yo season unless you've retired them before that of course..
• If you wish to retire a horse before their 7yo season, email thoroughbreddreams@hotmail.com with the horse's name stating you wish to retire him to Breed or to Pasture.
• Stallions automatically retire when they turn 21. (they can breed during their 20th year, but retire after it to pasture)
• Broodmares automatically retire at the age of 16 (can be bred through their 15th year, but retire after it to pasture)

9. Injury

• If your horse does sustain an injury during a race, it will not be life threatening in this game. Depending on the type of injury, your horse will require 1 - 2 weeks of rest from racing and training then be able to come back good as new.
• Abilities may slightly fall if your horse is injured, but not by much.
• Injury formula is still being worked on and will not matter until season two. Usually if your Injury rating is 70 or above, you will be safe most of the time.

10. End of the Year

• This game has 16 weeks to a year (4 months roughly.) Once the end of the year has come, there will be a break of 1-2 weeks depending on the time of year and the amount of updating needing done.
• End of year awards will also be given out to appropriate horses.