tl;dr: to kick my butt into gear a bit, i’m looking for folks who are interested in testing a very early browser-based virtual pet site!
in the community, we have some known fans of virtual pet sites, so i wanted to include this project i’m working on in our community projects since it touches on nostalgia and creating what we want to see on the web. :)
what is it? — visit riverton is a virtual pet site & ranch simulation browser game around owning horses, horse-racing, and co-existing in a town seemingly centered around horses. you don’t have to own a horse to live in riverton, but there will be 16 horses and other animals to adopt. you’ll be able to have a job doing tasks around the town for money, collect certain items, do quests to level up your pets and earn money, trade items with players, and grow your ranch!
completed or in-progress features —
adoptable collection + level system
care system for your pets (with real consequences!)
stats for horses
owning a ranch or house + level system
gardening
jobs, paychecks, & dailies
horse racing/competition with other players
seasonal events
quests & plotlines
npc shops
browser games
original art (including from our very own @solaria !!!)
in-character and out-of-character forum
what’s needed? —
at this stage, i’ve done all the research i think i can do on my own. i’m looking for hands-on testers. if you have ideas that would be realistic to implement for a single person, i’m all ears! i’m looking for things that folks would like to do on a virtual pet site. when i was younger and playing more regularly, i always found that i wanted more from neopets, and other pet sites have done a great job of adding things to do on the site to feel more interactive and immersive. now i just want to fulfill a childhood dream of having a horse game. :)
please let me know if you have bandwidth around december 15th to do some initial testing and feedback! :) i’d love to hear your thoughts!
Oh this is so exciting!!! I’ve been wondering about the game you keep talking about!
I shouldddd be available around December 15 but it depends how much work I end up getting for my winter class… Which starts on December 15 lol. Keep me in mind, I’ll let you know :p
thank you everyone for your enthusiasm!! that is super motivating to me. <3 @Ninaiso, that’s so sweet of you to say! <3 i really hope it comes close to what i’m thinking!!!
great question! so far, i have four:
speed (for racing)
endurance (for racing)
intelligence (for showing)
reactivity (for showing)
i’ll probably start with these four initially, but this might expand into further skilling for the pets! :)
the game is definitely 50% done for launch. i have a running list of features i want to have for the game to be “playable,” and every day, i’m working on something, even if it’s just one feature! i might be pushing back the beta testing just because i want the adoptables to be finished by my artist and uploaded first. but!!!
here is a sketch of what the adoptable horses will be like!
