Devlog #13 for 0.3.0.0 - Horse variety, calendar rework & performance boosts

Since the last info post we've been working on several core systems to improve structure, immersion, and overall performance. And of course on the horses as well! Here's a breakdown of what's new:

Horses

One of our main priorities has been refining the horse coat colors. We've spent time improving how colors and shades work together, allowing for more natural variation and depth. In this update, we're showcasing images that demonstrate how horse colors can vary in hue and tone, giving each horse a more unique appearance.

We also want to demonstrate how these two breeds can look in the game. The Haflinger and the Fjord. As you can tell there is differences in both how the Pangare/Mealy and the Dun can appear on the horses. This allows for much more diverse horses.

We also recently hosted a community event where players were invited to create reference images for different horse markings, such as Tobiano, Splashed White, and more. It was amazing to see the creativity and engagement from the community. In this Devlog, we're sharing some of the results from that event and how those references are helping shape the markings in the game.

In addition, we've been hard at work on a major overhaul of the riding school. This includes a wide range of new decorations, as well as a completely redesigned stable and an all-new indoor arena. The goal is to make the riding school feel more alive, detailed, and immersive than ever before. Some of the decoration items you can see here might also be used as decorations and functional items in the future in your own home stables.

Job System Updates

Jobs are now tied to specific time windows based on days of the week, giving us more control over when certain activities are available.

Jobs can be assigned to specific weekdays If a job runs from Monday to Sunday, it can be completed daily This opens up more variety for future content and scheduling

Calendar System Rework

We've replaced the old Gregorian-style calendar with a system that better fits our gameplay:

• Each season now acts as a month

• The game features 4 months: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter

• Each month lasts 30 days

This allows us to build more dynamic systems around:

• Weekday-based gameplay

• Events and seasonal activities

• NPC dialogue variations

• Subtle world changes depending on time and season

Riding System Improvements

We've also made a wide range of improvements to the riding experience. Instead of focusing on single features, the goal here was to make everything feel more natural, responsive, and immersive.

You should notice:

• Smoother and more dynamic camera behavior while riding

• More realistic horse movement across different terrain

• Improved feeling in turns, acceleration, and jumps

Performance Improvements

Performance has been a major concern for many players, even on high-end systems. We've taken the time to develop a new automatic optimization system.

• Optimizes meshes and actors across the entire game

• Significant performance gains in our internal tests

• Expect +40 to +60 FPS improvements

• In some cases, a stable 120 FPS is now achievable

Tested with

GPU: NVIDIA RTX 3080 (12GB GDDR6X)

CPU

Intel i9-9900K @ 3.6 GHz RAM: 32 GB Storage: SSD Resolution: 1920×1080 @ 144Hz

Once a test branch is ready, you'll be able to try these improvements yourself. Over the past weeks, we've been focusing on several exciting areas of development, and we're happy to share a closer look at what we’ve been working on.

Note

Everything shown is still a work in progress. Not all features and visuals are 100% finalized, and some elements may change or look different by the time the update is released. If you'd like to stay up to date and be the first to hear all the latest news, we highly recommend joining our Discord server, that's where we share updates first!

As always, you can follow our progress live on our public roadmap:

>> View the public roadmap here <<