Horse Runner DX News

Hey everyone! 🙋‍♂️

This update finally brings an online leaderboard where you can compete with players from all over the world! In addition, there were also some small improvements and optimizations.

[h3]Online Leaderboard[/h3]

• Compete online: Every new high score is added to the online leaderboard. There you can compare yourself directly with other players and gradually climb the ranks.
  
• Local leaderboard: In addition to the online leaderboard, the local leaderboard remains as a fallback. As before, a high score for each horse will be saved there.
  
• Offline support: The online leaderboard requires you to be online and logged in to Steam. If you're offline on Steam, only the local leaderboard will be available.
  

If you haven't played the game (or the demo) in a while, you can get a quick overview of the latest improvements here. I've tried to incorporate all the feedback over the past few weeks.

[h3]Previous Improvements[/h3]

• Increased precision when jumping: In previous versions, there was a slight inaccuracy when jumping with the herd. Now, all horses jump with pixel perfect precision. Additionally, several improvements have been implemented to ensure the controls always respond precisely, even in the wildest situations.
  
• Improved balancing & progression: Based on playtests and feedback, the balance of challenges, bonus horses, and many other aspects has been adjusted. This ensures the game remains challenging without being too difficult or tedious.
  
• Unlockable bonus horses: In addition to the regular horses that can be found in the levels, there are a whole range of bonus horses. These horses allow you to start a run with one or more power-ups right from the start.
  
• Improved camera movement: The camera movement was sometimes a bit uneven in previous versions. Several improvements have been made to make the camera smoother while still tracking the herd better.
  
• Improved background music: Some parts of the music tracks were incorrectly identified by YouTube as other licensed music. Therefore, all tracks were carefully reviewed and replaced where necessary. Now, no Content ID warnings are displayed for any tracks.
  
• Improved performance: Performance was already very good, but has been further optimized. This keeps your PC cooler and your Steam Deck battery lasts even longer. On my own Steam Deck, the game runs at 60 FPS with a TDP of just 3W.
  
• Improved settings menu: The settings menu has been completely redesigned to make it easier to navigate between settings. The retro filter and screen resolution are now easier to adjust.
  
• Improved UI navigation: The in-game controls have been improved so that you can control the entire game with a mouse, keyboard, controller, and touchscreen. You can scroll through lists using the mouse wheel, Page Up/Page Down, L1/R1, or LB/RB, for example.
  

Thanks again to everyone for playing and for all the feedback! 🤗 Feel free to share your suggestions or questions in the discussions.

Mat

Hey everyone! 🙋‍♂️

This update brings improved balancing, a bit more polish and new music tracks.

Update 1.0.7 contains the following improvements:

• Improved balancing & progression: The prices of the horses (in the levels) and some challenge tasks have been adjusted so that the progression in the game feels better. As a result, the difficulty and progression are now more balanced - not too difficult, but not too easy either.
  
• New background music: Some melodies in the game are incorrectly recognized by YouTube as other licensed music. To be on the safe side on YouTube and when streaming, the music in question has been replaced. The new tracks have been checked on YouTube and can be used without any problems.
  
• Improved retro filter: If you have a heart for retro games, you can now choose from three settings for the retro filter: 0=off, 1=low, 2=high. The highest level is particularly suitable for small screens such as the Steam Deck. Depending on the level, there is now also a chromatic aberration effect, which further enhances the CRT look.
  
• Improved particle and sound effects: The particle effects have been further refined and the sound effects have been adjusted in some places. In the leaderboard, your latest high score entry is highlighted with a pop-up effect so that you can see it better.
  

If you have any feedback or suggestions, please let me know. Thanks for playing and happy golloping! ☺️

Mat

Hey everyone! 🙋‍♂️

As always, I've carefully reviewed all the comments and requests on Steam and YouTube. Therefore, this update addresses virtually all requests regarding jumping accuracy and losing horses.

Update 1.0.6 contains the following improvements:

[h3]Precision Improvements[/h3]

• Increased precision when jumping: In higher levels, it could happen that the following horses would jump off with a 1-2 pixel difference compared to the lead horse. This difference has now been reduced to 0 so that all horses jump off at exactly the same location.
  
• Improved ground contact: When going downhill quickly, horses sometimes slip and fall, briefly losing contact with the ground. To make jumping easier in such hectic situations, ground contact has been improved. Now, contact is only briefly lost on steeper edges.
  
• Improved jumping off slopes: At very high speeds, when the herd is falling more than running, it was sometimes difficult to make the jump. Now, it's easier for the lead horse to jump from a slope. The following horses can now also more easily make jumps that were otherwise too close. This makes jumping more predictable, and it's less likely to lose horses.
  

[h3]Technical Improvements[/h3]

• Dynamic animation & sound: Previously, the horse animations were not adjusted to the horse's speed. The animation and sound when galloping now dynamically adapt to the speed of the herd – slower and quieter at low speeds and faster at high speeds.
  
• High refresh rate support: As before, the game runs at 60 FPS by default and should run smoothly on 60 Hz monitors and those with FreeSync or GSync. If you want to use your monitor's full 144, 165, or 240 Hz, you can now use Ctrl+U to toggle uncapped FPS. This will increase the FPS to your monitor's maximum refresh rate.
  
• Improved camera movement: The vertical camera movement now automatically adjusts to the speed. This means the camera remains steadier at slow speeds and better follows the path at high speeds, even during fast downhill sections.
  
• Improved landscape generation: When generating the landscape, there were sometimes small edges between different biomes or after bridges. These areas have been fixed to make the landscape look more natural.
  
• Further performance optimizations: The game's memory usage and CPU load have been further reduced, requiring even fewer resources. This keeps your PC quieter and extends your Steam Deck's battery life.
  

If you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know in the discussions.

Thanks for playing! 🤗
Mat

Hey everyone! 🙋‍♂️

This update implements many smaller but equally important points that I've collected as feedback. As always, thank you for your feedback and all the suggestions!

Update 1.0.5 contains the following improvements and fixes:

[h3]Gameplay Improvements[/h3]

• Acceleration in the bonus area: After each level, your horses slow down to give you a chance to catch your breath. When you jump in the bonus area, your horses now regain speed more quickly.
  
• Improved level end: Previously, the horses would slow down before reaching the flag at the end of the level to slow down in the bonus area. The end has now been improved so that the horses pass the flag at full speed and only slow down afterward.
  
• Fixed speed in higher levels: If you had a lot of horses with the "Slower" power-up, the speed was much too slow in higher levels (15, 20, etc.). The effect of the power-up has now been slightly reduced so that the speed continues to increase in higher levels and the game remains challenging.
  

[h3]Technical Improvements[/h3]

• Improved Linux / Steam Deck version: The native Linux version of Horse Runner DX has been further optimized. The game's size has been reduced from 117 MB to a tiny 66 MB. The full game download is now just 38 MB.
  

[h3]Usability Improvements[/h3]

• Improved settings menu: The Settings menu now features improved toggles for changing all settings in both directions—e.g., volume up and down. This makes everything easier to control with a mouse, keyboard, and controller.
  
• Improved resolution settings: The resolution can now be easily adjusted to standard sizes (e.g., 720p, 1080p, full screen) in the settings menu. This feature is very useful when recording a gameplay video. You can still resize the window to any size by dragging a corner.
  
• Easier scrolling in lists: You can now scroll in all lists (leaderboard, horses, etc.) using the mouse wheel. With the keyboard, you can scroll using the Page Up and Page Down keys. With a controller, you can scroll up and down using the shoulder buttons.
  
• Leaderboard in title screen: To make it easier for you to view your previous high scores, the leaderboard is now accessible directly from the title screen.
  
• Leaderboard sample entries: If your leaderboard is still relatively empty, there are now a few sample entries for you to compete with. Your own entries will gradually replace the sample entries.
  
• Adjusted default settings: To be on the safe side, the "Reduced Motion" setting is enabled by default. Your previous settings will, of course, remain unchanged.
  
• Updated the demo: The text within the demo has been updated now that the game has been released. The demo will continue to be updated with the full game, but only contains a limited portion of the full game.
  

If you have any problems or suggestions, please let me know in the discussions.

Thanks for playing! 🤗
Mat

Hey everyone! 🙋‍♂️

The time has finally come - the release of Horse Runner DX is here! 🐴 I am very excited to release the game and would like to thank you for all the lovely feedback and the many good suggestions.

Version 1.0.4 contains the following improvements and fixes:

• Improved chance of survival: One much-requested feature was that the whole herd is not lost in the event of a mass crash. Previously, you lost all the horses if you jumped right into an obstacle and the horses could no longer avoid it. This has now been mitigated so that only the first horse is lost and the rest of the herd survives.
  
• Compatibility with demo: If you have already played the demo, your progress will be carried over automatically. But if you want to start again from scratch (which I recommend), you can reset your progress individually under Settings\Data. You can, for example, keep the leaderboard and only reset the challenges and your apples.
  
• Improved performance: The game has been further optimized so that it runs very smoothly even on slow PCs. On the Steam Deck, for example, the game still runs smoothly at 60 FPS with 3W TDP. For Steam Deck users, this means even longer battery life.
  
• New logo and Steam image: The previous logo and image, which were a bit too generic, have been redesigned to better reflect the retro and pixel art character of the game.
  
• Adjustment of the speed bonus: The speed bonus at the end of the levels is no longer offset against the "Slower" power-up. Now you always get a bonus for every "Faster" power-up, even if you have "Slower" at the same time.
  

If you played an older demo of the game, there are now a few new features:

• Unlockable bonus horses: By completing challenges, you can gradually unlock bonus horses. Some of these horses come with several power-ups that you can use right from the start.
  
• Local leaderboard: Your best high scores are now saved in a local leaderboard so that you can better compare your runs.
  
• Screenshot mode: To create a nice screenshot, you can go to the new screenshot mode in the pause menu, which hides everything else.
  
• Tutorial hints: When you play for the first time, you will see short hints that explain the game. You can reset these hints under Settings\Data so that, for example, someone you let play also sees the tutorial.
  

I hope everyone has a great time with the game. If you have any questions or problems, I'll be happy to help you in the discussions. Feel free to post a screenshot of your leaderboard :-)

Thanks for your support 💝
Mat