Hi, my name is Jonas, or, as you can find me here, NobleCourt. I’m the developer of the game EQUIRE which has probably brought you here. In this channel, I want to keep you up to date about the state of the game and my plans. But first, let’s start with the basics: Who am I, what on earth is an EQUIRE and why am I making that?
I’m not some kind of industry professional, nor do I have a big programming background. I’m a 23-year-old student living in Germany. I got into game development about a year ago and started developing some small projects just to learn the basics. There were small prototypes about robots swinging on ropes and an American football management game that never got to the point where you could play a game, let alone actually finish a season. These projects were neither well planned well nor did I have the know-how to finish them, but what they did was teach me a whole lot about what I can and (mostly) what I can’t do.
From the moment I started game development, making a Horse Ranch game was in the back of my head. When I told my girlfriend about the stuff I was doing, she would always tell me how much she enjoyed old horse games like Horse Life and My Horse and Me 2 and how frustrated she was at times that so many horse games lacked quality and maturity. We talked more and more about what a modern Horse Ranch game could look like and what features would fit together. I love playing management games and she is a part-time Sims fanatic, so the game quickly had its three main pillars defined: ride, build and manage.
Although I have lived my whole life with horses, I wouldn’t call myself an expert. I do, however, have tons of expertise around me. Besides my girlfriend, who has owned a horse for 6 years, my mother is my best advisor. She owned horses all her life and worked on a ranch very similar to those you can build in the game for most of it. She is (as you may expect) very happy to answer all the questions about horse care, riding and the benefits of expensive horse food that her usually football-loving son has for her.
Since we started discussing ideas and I started development, the project has grown into a passion project for me and my girlfriend, who is creating the music for the game. Seeing the landscape of games in this genre, I believe there is a need for this game and a community that would really enjoy a game that is more than “Oh look, cute horse” and doesn’t treat their players like fools or wallets. This is the type of game I hope to provide and I would love to have you here for the ride.
On the EQUIRE Discord-Server you can already find an additional Dev-Update. I will make sure to post future Updates here as well.