Hang onto your saddle...

The main addition in the latest Hooves of Fire update is an often requested feature from our players; permanent item storage.

Item storage means that players will now be able to stock up on items in the Shop and store them in their own Item storage container.

Treats, saddles and shoes can be stored.  However, there is some upkeep required to keep the items. Items in storage or on your horse will degrade on a daily basis, so they will need regular repairs to stop them from breaking and becoming useless (and even more costly to repair!).  Items now also have "levels"  which increase their effectiveness when applied to your horses.

- Item Storage Box - 

Players will be able to swap items around on their horses, so it means your favourite saddle can be worn by any horse in your stable, and it won't disappear when your horse dies or is sold.  

The only limiting factor to swapping items around is a player's level of "Racer Achievement" which determines how many items can be equipped per hour.

Get those race wins up to level your "Racer Achievement" and you will be able to equip up to 4 items per hour at the highest level.

For more details on the new item storage feature, see the Hooves of Fire Wiki.

Halloween Hooves is here!

Barricade your stables, undead horses are on the loose!

Halloween is here and to celebrate, you can turn your favourite horse into a creature of the night to race in Halloween countries... 

To enter the races, select a Jack-O-Lantern treat from the Shop to put a zombie, ghost or vampire curse on your horse. 

Qualify for the Halloween Cup by winning a zombie, ghost or vampire race in the previous hour, and enter the Cup race for a chance to win the stylish and exclusive Jack-O-Lantern saddle (adds +2 strength and +2 endurance to your horse's stats) and remove the curse from your horse.

Free candy treats are also available in the shop - these will cure any curse on your horse and boost its happiness! BUT be aware that you will not be able to turn your horse undead while the treat is active (10 training sessions).  

May the best ghoul win!

Elite Cups

Since the update we have been monitoring player activity in the Elite, Champion and Open rooms, specifically regarding race qualifying for Elite Cups. 

The idea behind Elite Cups is that they are challenging, yet achievable for both casual and hardcore players.   They should also encourage players to race in Elite Countries to get a better indication of their horses’racing performance against similar pedigree horses.

As a result of this analysis, we have concluded that the current qualifying prize money requirement for entry into Elite Cups is not sufficient.  To resolve this issue we have raised the qualifying prize money requirement from $5 million to $60 million.  This change to qualifying will provide the scaling level of challenge that was intended in the Elite Countries and represent an appropriate reward for racing effort.

Breeding horses - what is going on?

We have heard a lot of discussion about the difficulties of breeding presented in the higher pedigrees of the game.  I don't think I will be able to change player's minds on this issue through this blog, but I thought it would be helpful to provide our point of view on the subject.

We are aware that some players are unhappy and frustrated with the difficulties presented in higher breeding and that you preferred it the way it was before the update.  We appreciate your feedback and are not ignoring you. We read the posts, emails and forums.

The bottom line is that Hooves of Fire is an evolving creation.  We want (and had designed) the higher levels of the game to be more challenging for players.  We want players to celebrate breeding a better horse instead of breeding up every time being a foregone and expected conclusion. We want players to race against each other, race their horses till they enter Hooves Heaven and enjoy the game as a racing game instead of just pressing a button to receive a better horse every 48 hours.

The game is designed primarily to be a racing game.  We want players to race and enjoy the thrill of racing and winning against your friends. Find your best horses by actually racing them on the track instead of checking their price, waiting till they are two days old and selling them. Future updates of the game will attempt to move the focus back to racing, as the game was originally intended. We want the game to be challenging and fun at the same time and welcome suggestions from players as to how to achieve this end, whilst keeping the focus on racing.

Hooves of Fire Update Released - June 2011

The long anticipated Hooves of Fire update is now available. The update includes new features, a new standalone website and interface enhancements to the game.

City Hall
A new building has been added to the Hooves of Fire Town Map: "City Hall".

City Hall provides a number of services:

• Hooves Passport - sign up for a Hooves Passport to allow you to sign into Hooves of Fire on multiple platforms using a single log in. Take your horses with you wherever you go...
• Hooves Tokens - Hooves Tokens can be used to purchase premium features. 
• Horse renaming - Rename a horse you purchased from the market or rename one of your own horses

The Mayor from City Hall

Hooves of Fire Website
www.hoovesoffire.com
Hooves of Fire now has a standalone website. Login using your activated Hooves Passport to access your stable.  Customise your stable using Hooves Tokens.

The Hooves of Fire website at www.hoovesoffire.com

Stables
Customise the look of your stables by repainting them using Hooves Tokens.  Stable repainting is only available on the www.hoovesoffire.com website.

Stables of Flame! One of the custom stable designs available on www.hoovesoffire.com

Stud farm
Stud farm has a new look, expanded price filters and the added ability to filter horses to show only those with DNA certificates. 

The new look Stud Farm.  Take a seat, we'll be right with you...

New players
New players joining will now receive $5,000 starting cash and start off with a horse already in their stable. 

Social features

• Active friend filter -  View only active Hooves friends. Select the "Hide inactive" button at the bottom of the 'friends' window to only show those friends who are currently playing the game
• User display in "Players online" window.  VIPs will now display in gold, chat active users display in green highlight, chat inactive users show in grey highlight
• Those players without chat enabled will see the upcoming race list

And there's more... see the full changelog here.

Selling Horses in The Horse Market - The Experiment: Part I

As an avid Hooves of Fire player as well as being on the 'inside' of the game and its workings, one of the aspects of the game that interests me greatly is the Horse Market and Horse Selling License.  After being met with what could only be regarded as trepidation by players on its initial release ("who will buy my horses in the market?!?")  I set out, from scratch (that's right, pedigree 1) to see how I would go selling my horses in the horse market, using the Horse Selling License. 

To be non scientific, EVERYTHING sold.  Pedigree 1/2/3 would sell in sometimes 5-10 minutes on the market.  In fact, every horse up to approximately pedigree 12 would sell the first time I put it in the market, within 24 hours.   Granted, this was a few months ago.  So I decided to run the experiment again.  This time, I have documented it and I present the findings to you below:

Parameters to note:

• I am an "unknown" player, not a famous breeder by any means
• I have not run any form of advertising for these horses on the forum or otherwise
• Horses were named using the "random horse name generator" so there's nothing particularly special about their names
• No DNA certificates were used (that's a whole other experiment!)
• Horses have been raced minimally, and not necessarily on preferred tracks.  Most have no wins or less than 5 wins at best (i.e. they won't have a superb track record)
• Only mares and stallions were used for the experiment (no geldings)
• Sell price figures are rounded to whole numbers
• Most of the horses were 2-3 days old when first being put into the market

The results:

Pedigree 1: Mare; 0 wins; Sell price: $800; Sell time: < 1 hour
Pedigree 2: Mare; 0 wins; Sell price: $2000; Sell time: < 1 hour
Pedigree 2: Stallion; 0 wins; Sell price: $2000; Sell time: < 1 hour
Pedigree 3: Stallion; 0 wins; Sell price: $3500; Sell time: < 1 hour
Pedigree 4: Mare; 0 wins; Sell price: $10,000; Sell time: < 1 hour
Pedigree 4: Stallion; 0 wins; Sell price: $10,000; Sell time: 6 hours
Pedigree 5: Stallion; 0 wins; Sell price: $19,000; Sell time: 3 hours
Pedigree 5: Mare; 0 wins; Sell price: $14,000; Sell time: 2 hours
Pedigree 6: Stallion; 0 wins; Sell price: $35,000; Sell time: 3 hours
Pedigree 6: Mare; 0 wins; Sell price: $54,000; Sell time: <10 minutes
Pedigree 7: Stallion; 0 wins; Sell price: $200,000; Sell time: 12 hours
Pedigree 7: Stallion; 0 wins; Sell price: $200,000; Sell time: < 1 hour
Pedigree 8: Mare; 4 wins; Sell price: $430,000; Sell time: < 1 hour
Pedigree 8: Stallion; 1 win; Sell price: $330,000; Sell time: 12 hours
Pedigree 9: Stallion; 0 wins; Sell price: $780,000; Sell time: 12 hours
Pedigree 10: Stallion; 2 wins; Sell price: $1mill; Sell time: 2 hours
Pedigree 10: Mare; 3 wins; Sell price: $1.5mill; Sell time: 2 hours
Pedigree 11: Mare; 0 wins; Sell price: $4.8 mill; Sell time: 4 hours

So there you have it.  Every single horse I put into the horse market sold in less than 24 hours.   I realise that these are relatively low pedigree horses.   In Part II of the experiment I will document horse market selling of Pedigree 12 + horses.  Stay tuned!

Keeping your Hooves of Fire account safe

One of the topics of discussion on the Hooves of Fire forum has been account theft and hacking of Facebook accounts.  To try and combat this problem we have compiled a list of tips to help players keep their accounts secure and hopefully avoid account theft.

1. Always use a strong password
Don’t make your password and obvious one (e.g. your pets name, your birthday etc).  Make sure your password has more than 6 characters and includes both capital and lowercase letters, number(s) and/or symbols. 

2. Don't let your browser "remember" your password
Selecting “remember me” will store your login information after you log out.

3. Don’t tick the “Keep me logged in” button on Facebook
This will store your login information on your computer meaning you will automatically login to Facebook without entering your login information.

 4. Always log out when you leave Facebook or the Hooves of Fire website
Don’t close the browser to log out of Facebook or the Hooves of Fire website, make sure you log out first. Then close the browser!

5. Change your password every few months
If you change your password regularly, there is less chance of someone guessing your password. Also, if you have logged in from someone else’s computer and changed your password, there is no chance for that ‘old’ password to be retrieved from that machine later and used to access your account.

6. Don't save your password on your computer
Don’t save your password anywhere on your computer, in a file or email.  If your machine is compromised, it is possible that your password can be retrieved and used to access your account.

7. Don't sign in to your Facebook Account or Hooves of Fire website from any other computer except "trusted" machines
There may be malicious software installed that can ‘harvest’ your account details.

8. Don't login in to your Facebook Account from any other link except www.facebook.com
Don’t login to Facebook from unfamiliar sites or from links in emails.  Hackers can develop login sites that mimic the Facebook login pages and if you enter your details into these sites, your account details can be stolen.

9. Add two emails to your Facebook Account and use the security question feature
Adding the secondary email address, security questions and your mobile phone number will help retrieve your account if it is compromised.

10.  Only add people you know as friends
If you don’t know someone, don’t add them.  If one of your Facebook “friends” starts harassing you or becomes threatening or abusive, block them and then remove them from your friends list.  Beware of accounts that may mimic someone already on your friends list.

11.  Set your security settings in Facebook to “only my friends” or “only me”
This prevents your information being shared with people outside of your friends list and the rest of the world

12. Do not download unknown or unsolicited files to your computer
You may be inadvertently downloading and installing malicious software on your computer that can harvest your account details and other important information.

13. Make sure your antivirus/antispyware software is up to date
Prevention is better than a cure!

14.  Sign up for Hooves Passport and set a secret question for your Hooves of Fire account
Setting a secret question will help us identify you as the account owner in case your account is compromised. See: http://wiki.hoovesoffire.com/hooves-passport  Never enter an email address that you do not own into Hooves Passport.

Hooves of Fire Racing Club

The Hooves of Fire Racing Club is a Facebook group that anyone can join and post information about their studs or horses for sale. Players can also post tips and give advice about the game, ask questions, write about their horses and what they have achieved or feel free to discuss any aspect of the game with other Hooves of Fire players. Join by visiting this link: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_217565468270255&ap=1

Most wanted feature requests

Thank you to our players who provide us with many ideas and suggestions on how to improve Hooves of Fire.  I have been reviewing these suggestions and have pulled together a list of our 'most requested' features and created a user poll for players to vote on their most wanted feature for Hooves of Fire.

http://hoovesoffire.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=features&action=display&thread=2144 

Login to the forum to have your say!

Albert Einstallion And More...

Artist Erin Hunting has been working on some fabulous character designs for the game over the last few months including Albert Einstallion, the Shopkeeper and some yet-to-be-revealed additions to the game.  To see more of Erin's Art, visit her blog here: http://erinhuntingart.blogspot.com/2011/03/hooves-of-fire.html

Hooves of Fire Merchandise at Zazzle

We have launched a range of Hooves of Fire merchandise at Zazzle, including snazzy t-shirts, mousepads and drinking apparatus (mugs). Check it out at: http://www.zazzle.com/rubberducksoftware

Green Horses Lead The Charge

It was definitely easier being green on St Patrick's Day, with all green coloured horses receiving a performance boost, just for the day.  I paid a visit to one of the countries on the day and took a screenshot of the green horses lined up ready to race!

Celebrate St Patricks Day with Hooves of Fire

Celebrate St Patrick's Day with Hooves of Fire. To mark the occasion, all GREEN horses (must be both the horse and the mane) will receive a performance boost on March 17th.

Read more: http://hoovesoffire.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=genannouncements&thread=1768#ixzz1LSjWfiCH