Horse Fable :: Development Update Part 2

Development Update Part 2

6/07/2025 1:29 pm

Message from Bedouin

I want to take a moment to sincerely acknowledge everything that’s been shared and address what’s been happening from my side.

First and foremost, I owe a genuine apology to the team - Roze, ERA, and Curly - for my lack of communication over the past couple months. You’ve each carried this project forward with dedication, creativity, and heart, and I recognize how frustrating and disappointing my absence must have felt. I’m sorry for leaving you without answers and for not showing up when the team needed clarity and collaboration most. That is entirely on me.

While I’ve been traveling and managing an in-person event for the past 2 weeks, I understand that none of that excuses silence on the latest offer. It felt very aggressive from my side so I was trying to diplomatically find a way to respond without squeezing it in the tiny time between meetings. I’m currently the backbone of five active businesses and consulting on a sixth, with three of those in rapid growth. Just this past month, I onboarded three new team members for one company. I let my responsibilities spread me too thin, and HoFa paid the price for it. That was never my intention, but I know impact outweighs intent.

That said, I’ve been quietly working behind the scenes since mid-week. I’ve fixed a wide variety of bugs in this latest update and will continue doing so until the game is stable again. I am not abandoning HoFa. I will be keeping the game for now, and once all major issues are resolved, I’ll re-evaluate what makes the most sense moving forward - including the potential for a sale or other options. It doesn’t make sense to sell a game with bugs that would burden the next owner and would only set them up for failure.

Back in April, I had shared a new set of development tools with the team to help streamline our process. At the time, we were all swamped and didn’t get the chance to explore them together. That one slipped through the cracks, and I take responsibility for not following up when it counted. I’m now using these new tools which have helped speed up several bug fixes.

I want to be clear: Thunderbolt and Brumby are both staying on board, and I’m grateful for their continued commitment. Despite everything, there’s still a foundation worth nurturing here, and I’m hopeful we can still move forward.

To the players: I apologize for how everything has gone down. I know this game means a lot to many of you - and it means a lot to me too. I’ve worked on it for over a decade myself with over 10,000 hours spread over all the versions of the game. I will do better, not just for the code, but for the community and the people who’ve poured themselves into HoFa for over a decade.

More updates will come as fixes roll out. Please know I’m actively working. I will let my work speak for itself without any other excuses.

Discord Server

The existing Discord server is now the unofficial Discord server. No new updates will be posted to it, but you’re welcome to stay. I have left this server because previous staff have removed my permissions so it may seem like I’m ignoring you when I actually just can no longer respond.

If you want to continue getting Discord updates, you can join the new official server here: https://discord.gg/DNn3NtDb5Q

The State of Art

We have several bases in progress. The campaigns will be completed. I will need grace on the tack since I’ve never personally been involved in that process, and that will be the one thing that requires a bit of wait time on these completed bases.

Bases and markings complete:

NSH
Pintaloosa
Irish Cob

Bases in progress:

Cobian
Elven Warhorse

Boosts & Achievements

Achievements with boosts as rewards no longer cancel out active boosts. They will now stack on top of each other.

This now fixes bug #1464.

Bug Fixes

If you still encounter the issue again, please mark the bug report as Fix Failed.

Bug #1620 - The “Add Breed” button now works when starting new campaigns.
Bug #1165 - Enter All 1 should now work for halter horses with less than 100% energy. This is one in particular that I’ve struggled with tracking down for years but the new dev tools helped me locate it. 🎉
Bug #1438 - Stud and brood achievements are now being tracked.
Bug #287 - Aren Gee should now be fixed.
Bug #1011 - Horses should no longer be kicked from boarding when saving.
Bug #1154 - Moving forward, there should be no more Dun Dunskins. I’m in the process of updating existing horses in the game.
Bug #1638 - Train all button should now work with career only horses.
Bug #1431 - Mailbox pages should now be sorted correctly.
Bug #1307 - There is now an extra check for making sure no extra halter shows are created.
Bug #1357 - The “Breed Now” button should now populate the mare and stallion when clicking from the foal predictor.
Bug #1469 - Put in a fix for foals still aging while frozen. I didn’t mark it as fixed because I’m not 100% confident it is fixed but will continue to monitor the report.
Bug #1631 - Halloween items will no longer appear in random events.

To be completed soon:

Foal predictor - This is a performance issue and will need some refactoring.

Moving Forward

I have checked my travel schedule and here are the next few updates (I have added them to my calendar and will shift things around as needed to fulfill this):

June 14
June 21 - very small update, will be traveling
June 28 - no update, will be at an event
July 5 - larger update to catch up
July 12

Updates will be on Saturdays (like the old days) due to my crazy schedule during the week. First and only priority right now is bug fixes and to finish up in progress art.

Thanks,

Bedouin

Kobold Platinum Upgrade

Post Count: 48

6/07/2025 1:38 pm
Will the Celtic Cob Campain and other, wich needs only the last few Coins to submit, finished after submitting and get new arts? "Fan of Légèreté" Do you like special horses? Join the " World of Crossbreed" Club https://eqcetera.com/club/139

Bedouin Platinum Upgrade Admin

Post Count: 66

6/07/2025 1:40 pm
@Kobold - Yes, all campaigns will get art. The ones on this list are the ones currently in progress.

Maki

Post Count: 1,108

6/07/2025 1:44 pm
It seems like you have a lot on your plate and I am not sure that sticking to your guns is going to be the best thing for the game. There is already a team of people who love the game and will take it as is and make it what it was meant to be. That would take something off your hands that could put more time into your more important businesses. . . . Come Join the Equisar Discord https://discord.gg/n67Ctp6Gpd

6/07/2025 1:44 pm

It seems like you have a lot on your plate and I am not sure that sticking to your guns is going to be the best thing for the game.

There is already a team of people who love the game and will take it as is and make it what it was meant to be. That would take something off your hands that could put more time into your more important businesses.

Come Join the Equisar Discord

https://discord.gg/n67Ctp6Gpd

Kentucky241 Bronze Upgrade

Post Count: 95

6/07/2025 1:46 pm
These are just pretty words. Don't fall for it. There's a proven pattern where Bed says things like this and then commits for a small time before ghosting again. I would like to point out that this has occurred AFTER a staff walk out and pulled subscriptions. For those that are unaware, nothing was done until Bed's staff left and significant amount of people cancelled their subscriptions. Don't trust this.

6/07/2025 1:46 pm

These are just pretty words. Don't fall for it. There's a proven pattern where Bed says things like this and then commits for a small time before ghosting again. I would like to point out that this has occurred AFTER a staff walk out and pulled subscriptions. For those that are unaware, nothing was done until Bed's staff left and significant amount of people cancelled their subscriptions. Don't trust this.

redd

Post Count: 636

6/07/2025 1:52 pm
Bedouin, this means nothing until there is action and consistent action behind these all-too-expected new posts. In your apology to staff, you left out the part about calling them liars in front of the community, and went silent when you were proved wrong. Curly, Era, and Roze have deflected and defended you for years, and insinuating they had lied I'm sure felt like a kick in the teeth. This game could absolutely not have dragged on this long without them - the community has them, and them alone to thank. I cannot fathom any other community or staff sticking around for this long with little to zero bare bones communication in return. While the bug fixes are great, it's beyond disappointing and a little insulting to everyone involved that it had to take an entire uprising, as well as the threat of all financial support being pulled, to get you to listen. It spits in the face of your community, it spits in the face of your staff, and it certainly paints you in a horrible light. This game has so much potential, and I fear that due to your actions, the brand itself cannot recover. This will forever tarnish it, and has already pushed away your extremely loyal player base - those of whom were more than happy to crowd fund a new owner. We are tired of these posts, we are also tired of pouring our own money and time into something, only to be met with yet another life is busy/I'm burned out/I got overwhelmed/I got distracted/I got demotivated new post - they aren't good enough anymore when you've failed to deliver time and time again. Life will always happen, that's to be expected and is realistic - but continuing to have accepted player money when you, lets be realistic, had no intention of really returning, was slimy. I really do hope that you just consider selling the game as is, or handing it off to a team with the time, passion, and capability to handle it, instead of stringing the player base along for another year or more until the game is “stable” again.

6/07/2025 1:52 pm

Bedouin, this means nothing until there is action and consistent action behind these all-too-expected new posts. In your apology to staff, you left out the part about calling them liars in front of the community, and went silent when you were proved wrong. Curly, Era, and Roze have deflected and defended you for years, and insinuating they had lied I'm sure felt like a kick in the teeth. This game could absolutely not have dragged on this long without them - the community has them, and them alone to thank. I cannot fathom any other community or staff sticking around for this long with little to zero bare bones communication in return.

While the bug fixes are great, it's beyond disappointing and a little insulting to everyone involved that it had to take an entire uprising, as well as the threat of all financial support being pulled, to get you to listen. It spits in the face of your community, it spits in the face of your staff, and it certainly paints you in a horrible light. This game has so much potential, and I fear that due to your actions, the brand itself cannot recover. This will forever tarnish it, and has already pushed away your extremely loyal player base - those of whom were more than happy to crowd fund a new owner.

We are tired of these posts, we are also tired of pouring our own money and time into something, only to be met with yet another life is busy/I'm burned out/I got overwhelmed/I got distracted/I got demotivated new post - they aren't good enough anymore when you've failed to deliver time and time again. Life will always happen, that's to be expected and is realistic - but continuing to have accepted player money when you, lets be realistic, had no intention of really returning, was slimy.

I really do hope that you just consider selling the game as is, or handing it off to a team with the time, passion, and capability to handle it, instead of stringing the player base along for another year or more until the game is “stable” again.

Matcha

Post Count: 228

6/07/2025 2:05 pm
You left your staff hanging without so much as a private apology and explanation. Your staff has kept this game running in your absence and you have repaid them by, as Redd said, painting them as liars to the community. This is simply the start of another cycle and, to be frank, you've already lost the trust of most of your most dedicated players. Please stop with the excuses about your other business ventures; we already know that HoFa is not a priority to you.

6/07/2025 2:05 pm

You left your staff hanging without so much as a private apology and explanation. Your staff has kept this game running in your absence and you have repaid them by, as Redd said, painting them as liars to the community. This is simply the start of another cycle and, to be frank, you've already lost the trust of most of your most dedicated players. Please stop with the excuses about your other business ventures; we already know that HoFa is not a priority to you.

goddesscube

Post Count: 5

6/07/2025 2:16 pm
damn

Rocksteady

Post Count: 2

6/07/2025 2:41 pm	Edited 1 times
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Kobold Platinum Upgrade

Post Count: 48

6/07/2025 3:18 pm
@Rocksteady I think this is not a good idea, because only Bedoiun knows the codes and can fixe bugs and a lot of other things. "Fan of Légèreté" Do you like special horses? Join the " World of Crossbreed" Club https://eqcetera.com/club/139

Harambe

Post Count: 29

6/07/2025 3:22 pm
You have no shame and lack of soul. Sincerely, get bent.

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