This is my honest opinion although i expect to get some backlash for this:

I think so5 is a very good game and I respect all the hard work everyone has put into it; however in my opinion this game is so4 with a makeover. I much prefer this new interface and the more detailed stats are a nice touch, although it remains to be seen how accurately they reflect the actual horse!!

Other than the new improved interface i see very little difference between this game and so4 and I know a few other owners of the game who believe the same and, although i will not name names, i hope these people do support me in this post.

Please note this happens with may games, such as football manager, where often it seems like all that really changes is the updated squads and promoted/relegated teams etc.

I have played about 10 seasons on 2 different so5 games now and it feels exactly like playing so4!! Yes i admit i have not tried the owner mode but it seems less than inspiring so far but i may give it a try once it has been improved. The day by day mode in my opinion is neither nothing or something and so I am slightly disappointed that the main game mode feels like nothing more than a small update as opposed to a new game!! Still a great game obviously though

I kind of had the same reaction. I respect the people who put the game together but so far I don't see a whole lot of difference between SO4 and SO5.

Though what you say about a bunch of other games is basically true. In the past, i tended to just skip over an edition or two of a game for this reason. There usually isn't a whole lot of difference between seasons.

i just feel as though i am playing the same game - same inconsistencies in the race builder as well, everything is just so similar to the last game other than the menu interface.

Obviously Mark must have put so much effort into making the game however it doesnt show in so5 in my opinion, it is just too similar - maybe we were spoiled with so4 and there is only so far it can go?!?

As with any new edition in a game series (the Football Manager series is a good example that you used), it is the same idea but with data updates and many new features added, and that's exactly what we have with SO5. You get a new edition of FM every year; you get a new edition of SO every couple of years. I think the extensive list of new features added for SO5 (link below) definitely warrants a new game, and when the remaining bugs have been ironed out it will be without question the greatest horse racing game ever released, far more realistic than previous versions with improved AI, and far more customisable than before.

Considering the fact that it's a horse racing sim, in what ways were you expecting SO5 to be dramatically different? And in what ways would you have wanted it to be dramatically different? All you've said is that the game is similar, without actually stating exactly what you would have liked to see instead. You have acknowledged that you don't think it's any different to what happens with new editions of the Football Manager series, so I'm really not sure what you were expecting with SO5. It's a horse racing sim; new editions of the game are always going to be horse racing sims with new features added! Personally, I would much rather be playing SO5 than SO4, and I think £20 is a very small price to pay for that pleasure.

http://www.startersorders.com/so5/

Also, correct me if I am wrong but didn't Mark as people on the forum what they would like to be included in SO5, that's where the A1 owners came from. So maybe if you wanted to see something different you could have mentioned it back then mate.
People like myself have worked on Mods to make the game even better than ever, the actual schedules done by panther are ASTOUNDING!! Well done mate I take my hat off to you, hard work I can see. The horses by Sabella are nothing short of AMAZING!! and all the countless other people doing mods that make this game in my opinion the best ever!!
You have your opinion Hurricane and I respect you for speaking up but my opinion is that SO5 is the greatest in the series.

I am yet to get into a solid game yet but I am hoping that a lot of the improvements are under the bonnet - e.g. in the race engine, behaviour of horses etc

I started playing SO4 late last year and am in love with the game.

Call me old or whatever, I like the pace of change from SO4 to SO5. Not too much change, not too little. At this rate, I can look forward to an earlier version of SO rather than waiting double the time to play a new version with a whole new different game.

All thumbs up to SO5.

I love the game , I also loved SO4 they are alike in alot of ways but IMO SO5 stands out more with the new features and I am addicted to the new AI owner mode, yes it can be improved but it is what it is and I am sure the next version will build off of this.
The game has really come along way since SO.

I am well pleased with so5 although i have yet to breed anything i am still in season two because i am waiting for the combined schedule to be fixed there is just one thing that is disappointing to me and that is you cant make up your own named race i wanted to name races but i think that is not possible you can change distance age etc but you cant change named races and that is the only thing i am disappointed with.

You can add your own races to the showcase files, or change the name of existing races, but you need to do it before you start a new game. Also, if you change a name in the showcase file, you need to remember to also change it in the schedule file.

The schedules are fantastic, I completely agree!!

I don't know guys, that is why I cannot really criticise because I do not know what major changes I would make to the game, I have never been the guy making good suggestions in the development part of the forum!!

All I am saying is the game feels very very much like so4 when playing it and I have yet to experience the better AI in the game. Also for some reason the sprinters are still underrated in comparison to longer distances, having to win far more g1s to become rated in the 130s and some of the races, like the Oaks, are still so easy to win. What I mean is that a number of so4s main downfalls still remain in so5 and I hear that people are still struggling with the schedule editor which i hope is fixed, as this was one of the major improvements!!

When i started playing the game I did feel the same way HR but now i cant put it down.

The extra detail in each horses profile makes the game more realistic when planning a horses season and even their career, the injuries are much more realistic and work really well.

I think the AI is much better in so5, many races are over subscribed and race sequence has less hard luck stories for me so far.

I'd agree with over rating of stayers, plus who would buy a horse that stays 2m4f for 1.4m.


cheers

I think the new layout and A1 are good.

The only thing that bugs me is, we still dont have gender specific

names.There are still colts with girls names and fillies with boys names.

Apart from that everything is great.

Not been able to have capital letter in second word of stable name has come form so4

game horses in barn only breed for one season