I started the game playing the UK Flat/National Hunt game, at a standstill now due to the Breeding Barn crash.

Whilst I am very impressed with the courses, camera angles, really the graphics in general I'm disappointed that there has been no significant improvement anywhere else compared to SO5. That's not to say there was a great deal wrong with SO5 but points that have continually been raised within the Development Discussion forum such as breeding/auctions etc could/should have been improved.

I'd hoped that there would be significant changes in the actual purchase price of yearlings. Finance allowing I only ever tend to buy yearlings with a reserve of £700K+, the top price tends to be £1.4M. This perhaps should have been changed to as some yearlings go for £5-6M upwards. Also you can be certain if you buy a £100K or cheaper yearling it's pretty much useless, this should not always be the case. Look as Canford Cliffs as a recent example or California Chrome in the US.

As for the breeding it seems despite numerous requests over the past couple of versions of the game it's still unsuitably basic.

Once the major bugs/crashes have been resolved it would be nice to think that a few tweaks could be made to improve what appears to be on it's way to being a cracking game.

I have just brought a 2yo for 4.7 mill but that was half way through the season it had won a listed race

I have purchased similar but really I was referring to the end of season sales. Ideally there would be yearling, two year olds & older horses in training sales. But alas that's not the case.

Hi Unfuwain

I have not yet bought the game, so may not be considered to hold a valid opinion, but I think the fact I haven't yet bought the game carries its own message:

I love Starters Orders, even though I did not know it existed until so4; but I was absolutely hooked from day one and played it religiously right up until the release of SO5. I was massively disappointed with SO5, and thought it was nothing more than a makeover on its predecessor. Although I won a free copy of the game in a prize from DancingBrave, I hardly played it and got bored of it so quickly.

So, when SO6 came on the horizon, I was excited by the thought of new 3d graphics and new features (like new breeding and auction systems as you mention) but at the same time I remained slightly sceptical about whether SO6 would just be about the new graphics. My thinking therefore is to wait for the game to come out of beta, and hear what others have to say about the game, before deciding whether to go ahead and purchase.

I saw somebody on another thread call this new game 'SO1 3D' and I agree with him; now Mark has the 3d graphics engine, he will look to use SO7 and 8 to revamp major aspects of the gameplay.

I think its pretty poor that the only thing that has been changed and improved is the graphics. I know you'll all say "oh look there's that horrible keithbeaky again being nasty" but if a game reviewer reviewed this game he would just say its the same game with better graphics.

The breeding has not changed for several versions. I was led to believe this would be changed? Maybe im wrong and it will be? Also the auctions, being horses privately are all things that should have been looked at. Have they been?

for once I do agree with you keith if it wasn't for the 3d it would be exactly the same as 4 & 5 although the 3d does look amazing

Hi HurricaneRun & KeithBeaky.

All in all the game is worth purchasing but only if you want SO4/SO5 with 3D graphics.

I guess we shouldn't have expected more as http://www.startersorders.com/so6features clearly states what "features" have been added. Let's just say I'm a little underwhelmed, I know some will enjoy the additional "transport features" but I cannot ever recall that being a major request. Unlike improvements in auctions, breeding etc.

I didn't buy SO5. When I had bought SO5 I would be a little bit angry. The 3D graphics are great but I don't think SO players are players which are looking for graphics in first place.
I think some changes in breeding and auctions would have been essential and also some jockey characteristics but everything has been collected in many threads, wondering that so less has been changed didn't expect it.
But don't get me wrong, SO6 is still a very nice game when all bugs are fixed, don't regret I bought it.

I agree 200% with you the game is a very disappointing - once you scratch the surface and look beyond the graphics your stuck with the same game we already had in SO5. Far to much time and effort was put into the graphics and nothing has been done with the gameplay a massive shame.

Fingers crossed for some major gameplay improvements coming in patches but i fear this will not be the case.

Buying horses privately would ruin the game. An improved auction system would be good, but more should have been said about this and the other issues then if you wanted them rectified, there was no mention of breeding and auctions on the graphics and I don't remember much being said about breeding by anyone on here when SO6 was in the early stages of development. Perhaps you all underestimate quite how long it will have taken Mark and his co-worker to produce the 3D graphics and get them running correctly. Many people have requested 3D for many years so logically that would have seemed the next step.

Buying horses privately wouldn't ruin the game, you can still choose not to do this in your game.

There was no mention of breeding? I personally started two separate threads on breeding in the development forum, outlining a whole new way of breeding. I also mentioned several times that auctions should be changed, as did many others. The majority of the people who play the online league WANTED breeding changed and voiced this hundreds of times on the forums. Mark actually started a thread himself and said breeding would be changed for the online players.

But once again you speak for everyone and say 3d was the way to go. I can assure you now that anyone who plays the online league will not be happy with the SO6 in its current state regarding breeding and the online league.

So once again, Freud, you're wrong. Your quoting of everything I post is getting a bit weird, stalker like if not homo-erotic. Give it a rest will you.

Funny how so many posts by different people say they are disappointed with the few improvements in gameplay and that is what they were looking forward to seeing. Maybe they should have said something before.......

Maybe there is hope. It "could" be changed in 3-4 months time.


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Theres nothing to complain about at the end of the day theres only so much you can do when your really a single handed dev, at the end of the day its only £20-£25 think of fifa manager 14 that is just the same as 13 but with team updates and kits updates yet that still was the normal price of £40.
If no one likes the fact its more of a update with 3d graphics then don't buy it, i will be buying defo. just need to wait on the error getting sorted.

I too have not bought it yet, but that is not by choice just unable to right now. But I am happy for the game to be the same as so5, of course some improvements would be good, but overal im happy for it to be the same, as long as one thing has improved and that is the horse database, which has got bigger. So that i am very happy about it, being honest though, i am not completely sold on the graphics, perhaps this is just my laptop, and also the race sequences seem to be a little worse than so5, however for me the database is the biggest improvement as this will allow for a far more realistic game.