February Issue (2020)

Note: The HEE newspaper would like to shoutout to Eve for creating this amazing community that has become a routine of our everyday lives, it can be a safe haven and a place to have a good laugh, taking a break from reality for a while- Thank you from the bottom of our hearts Eve <3

Ho boy, what a month. I apologize if the newspaper isn't up to your standards this month- I've been quite busy. Between taking some me time, and putting myself first for once (eating better, going to the gym, therapy, etc.) Working and being a full-time student , (not to mention helping on on the family ranch.)

Anyway, this month we are welcoming Arrowhead Valley who is writing an article about real life horseback riding!

Find their article below!

Also congrats to the Sexy Sven Winners of this month- Thunda and I have decided this will be a tri-monthly event! The next contest will be year 130.

Scroll to read an interview with Eve!

Thats all for now, stay safe and take care of yourself! <3- from an very sore gym goer.

Cassa Belle

Hey guys!! Welcome to one of the newest columns on the Horse Eden Newspaper! I would love to get started on some basics when it comes to riding horses.

One of the most important aspects of riding is balance. Being able to balance through your legs and your core will not only make you more stable, it will also make the ride much smoother for both you and your horse.

The easiest way to stay balanced on a horse is to find your basic balance position. In an ideal setting your shoulders, hips, and heels should all be vertically aligned as shown in the diagram below. If a rider is well balanced (middle) you should be able to erase the horse out from under them and they will land on their feet. If they are sitting too far forward (left) and they land on their face, too far back (right) and they fall on their butt.

TIP: To easily identify if you are balanced or not have someone take a picture of you.

To help improve your balance try strengthening your legs and core. While it comes more naturally with experience you can always improve on yourself by strengthening your muscles. Practicing some yoga poses or riding a bike are some simple ways to work on building your balance.

There will for sure be more Tips & Tricks in the future! If you have questions, please PM me!!

Arrowhead Valley (221322)

This time around, I went around greeting new players and asking what questions they have about the game. The first player to respond was Cinema. They asked me how to best keep up to date with the best leaderboard horses. Here was my response.

“The leaderboards are always changing because new horses debut every year. Actually, the top horses have been changing in these last few game years. The best way to keep up to date with the best horses is to check the boards regularly.

If you were looking at the boards just a couple game years back, Corazon’s stallion Ignite would have been the #1 eventing sire in the game. That boils down to the fact that he was the strongest EEE+ producing stallion in the entire game. Then, in year 117, Ignite was replaced as number one by Sassyk’s stallion Fred’s On Fire. Fred ruled the board for a couple game years until year 124, when Purple Fluffins horse Broken Glass took the #1 throne. Then, just the year after, he was replaced by Fox Haven Farm’s horse Belanglo. Bel is still #1, but there are many promising two-year-olds that will debut next year, meaning his spot could be taken. At the very least, ABLB spots will shift.

All of this change in the eventing stallion board just covers the number one spot. Tons of new stallions switch this board around every year because new freshman keep being tested. These leaderboard stallions produce the colts that will take their places and kick weaker studs off the board entirely. Older studs retiring from breeding also changes the boards. If Belanglo was to retire (he has a long way to go, but this is a “what if”), Hemlock Farms’ stallion Samhain could be the one to take his place. Though, Samhain and Bane, Whitethunda_cat’s horses, keep switching with each other for second place, so perhaps Bane would make number one if Random Factor was in his favor.

Basically, there’s nothing else to do but pay attention! One day the horse you thought would be the ‘best’ is now booted down to tenth place. Well-bred horses are only getting stronger these days. You can also go to the page of a leaderboard horse and see their Awards section. It keeps track of where they have been placing at the end of every year if they were actively bred. It’s very helpful for seeing the growth of the boards each year.”

Next, I received a response from Diamond Spur Ranch. They had played years back and were curious about the new additions to the game, remarking that they had noticed the W rating. Once more, here’s my response.

“On the game’s opening page, and Cassa Belle’s section in the newspaper, you can read up on the latest updates and bug fixes. Eve and the art team have been active on getting us new updates, rather it be new markings, tack, or game features. For one, we have a new rating. World Class is now better than Elite. It transformed horses that were strong enough in their rating to Ws. For example, Tricksters Choice’ leaderboard stallion Erskine changed from EEE to WEW when the new rating was added. If this confuses you, think of the ratings as a point system. While this isn’t accurate, it’s a decent example. Picture the previous point system to be like this:

Sub-par = 0-10 points

Average = 11-20 points

Superb = 21-30 points

Premium = 31-40 points

Elite = 41+ points

In this system, it gives a rating based on the horse’s strength points hidden behind the actual rating we see. You’d never know how many points the horse has. But, if it rated the horse SPE, you’d know that their dressage rating is between zero and ten points, their cross-country rating is between thirty-one and forty points, and their show jumping rating is forty-one points or above. With the E rating, the horse could have many high points and we would still think they’re the same as a horse with low points. So, a horse that has forty-one points in all ratings will look the same as a horse with 140 points in all ratings, but the horse’s strength and production will be wildly different. That 140 point horse is likely on the leaderboard while the forty-one point horse is not.

With introducing the W rating, the system is the same, but the numbers are different. They might be something like this:

Sub-par = 0-10 points

Average = 11-20 points

Superb = 21-30 points

Premium = 31-40 points

Elite = 41-50 points

World Class = 51+ points

So now the elite ratings that were fifty-one points or above are turned to world class. The horse’s points are the same, but they are represented differently.

Now, to stray away from the ratings, other things were added to the game. Eve added a new text editor in the forums and blogs making fancy messages possible and general typing easier on us. Important information like the game’s Terms Of Service and Rules were updated. We were all asked to review them, so go read up if you haven’t already. You can find them as hyperlinks at the bottom of HEE’s page. We also got lots of new tack and decor, such as the swirl patterns and wild foals.

This is all I can recall happening. If you go back through the news page, Cassa Belle’s write up, or the Announcements section of the forums, you can see everything else that has happened.”

If any of you would like to turn in some questions about the game, PM me at 248208 (Amhain Dull Liath). Would love to know I’m sending out the right info!

Column 004: Creating a Simple Background

Backgrounds can be as simple or as complex as you’d like. Most of the time, I will choose 2-3 images to create a background. It really all depends on the finished image you have in mind. For this column, I have uploaded a video showing the process used to make a simple background for Jello’s Кошкa (Kitty).

First, you’ll want to visualize what you want your finished image to look like and grab the stock for it. Next, lay them out how you want. I’m very biased towards night scenes, so that’s what I went with. As you can see in the video, it wasn’t originally a night scene, so that’s where adjustments come into play.

The Quick Selection Tool was used to select the clouds, and I applied a Layer Mask to hide them. I wouldn’t recommend the Quick Selection Tool for close up objects, but it works well enough for the background. A Layer Mask will hide parts of your image you don’t want to show but will not delete that part of the image. Masks are handy little tools.

Next comes the Adjustments. These can be applied directly to the image or through a separate layer. I prefer using Layers and Clipping Masks because I can always go back and change them if I need to. I normally use the same Adjustments: Hue/Saturation, Brightness/Contrast, and Color Balance. Exposure is not always used, but it's helpful to really darken or brighten an image. Adding a light or heavy blur to the furthest areas of your background will allow more focus on your subject. It’s unnecessary, but it is really your preference and style. Once I’m satisfied with my background and setting, I move on to the main subject(s) and finish out the image.

If you have any special requests you would like to see included in The Art Corner, please contact me through Horse Eden (#28845).

Until next time,

Coldwater Meadows

Welcome to HEE! This is an amazing community with some amazing people! Just a few friendly reminders;

• Read all Rules and Regulations; We want you guys to stay happy and safe from warnings or bans while you’re here!
• Ask for help! Members of the community are always willing to lend some advice or a helping hand.
• Have fun!

We look forward to seeing you around!

If you ever have questions, please PM one of us or a moderator.

Happy Eventing,

Star Catcher Estate [294151] and Moonglade Manor [296475]

We have 132 new members this month!

Interview with Cadence Farms (1)

By Tanglewood (283617)

Topic: Creation Of HEE

Q: How long did it take to create HEE?

A: So far, 10 years. ;) The initial version was coded in a few months.

Q: When did you begin creating HEE?

A: I do believe it was around June of 2009. But I don't remember the exact date.

Q: How much time per day do you usually spend on HEE? (updates, bugs, etc.)

A: That is a difficult question to answer because every day is different. I usually spend 3-4 hours in the office doing development and then more hours doing all the other work that goes with running a business. (Customer Service, Bookkeeping, Planning, Research, etc)

Q: What is your favourite part of creating a game such as this?

A: I enjoy coding the most as it's very fun to create something and see it come alive and watch people enjoy it.

Q: Of all the updates throughout the years, which one is your favourite?

A: Probably the Forum. For many years we had offsite 3rd party forums. When the in-game forum was launched it brought the Community together in a nice way and we can customize it how we like. It's central to the Game.

Q: What was the update which took the longest?

A: Probably the one I'm working on right now. (Palettes). Most of the codebase is very old and I'm having to revamp so many things. It's taking forever to complete.

Q: How did you find such wonderful people to join your mod & art teams?

A: We are just lucky to have such an awesome Community that always likes to contribute and help. Everyone who works for the game is so very generous with their time.

Q: Is HEE, WP & DT your main source of income?

A: Yes. I work fulltime on my Games.

Q: The design of HEE is beautiful! How long did it take you to create the first design?

A: Thank you. The original version of the Game took a couple months.

Q: Anything else you'd like to say?

A: I just would like to thank everyone who plays and helps with the Game. Because you guys allow me to have a job that I love.

Check out March's monthly stud- Vote here!:

https://horseeden.com/forums.php?f=6&t=36318