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Friday, March 07, 2014 at 11:01:39 AM
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Since it's been a few weeks - Just and update.. :)
Posted by administrator under DerbyFever.com Blog
Hey folks!
I hadn’t posted an update in a week or two, so I though I should let you guys know what I’m up to!
3D Viewer Info -
I have been digging through the Unity viewer code and have found the problem with the viewer. Unfortunately, the fix isn’t an easy one it appears. It has to do with Unity updating times and the logic the viewer uses to move the horses. I have been trying some different updating methods (FixedUpdate versus Update) to correct the issue, but it also requires changing around the placement methodology of the horses. I just haven’t been able to nail this one down perfectly yet (one fix corrected the viewer, but caused a lot of horses running through one another and “correcting” their paths - it wasn’t the prettiest thing). I am going to keep banding away at it.
The good news at least : I believe I will be able to easily employ the more traditional camera angles. I am also confident that I can mute the “Dogs of War” music the viewer starts with. So when we get a viewer update (hopefully soon), it should be a good one.
Eclipse Awards -
I will likely be releasing something within the next week or so in regard to this. I am leaning heavily towards making more divisional titles similar to the way the races are broken up when choosing stakes entries for older horses. 2 and 3 year olds won’t have as many splits. All in all, I am looking at 20 awards + the HOY (so 21, really..). It’s not a massive increase, but will go a long way in keeping the cross-distance rating debates from occurring. The "sponsored/restricted grade" races (which are currently only Equinics races, but need to be accounted for in the even that regional bred grade races are introduced) will also be recast a bit upon completion.
Instructions -
Thanks to sledge4 and volunteers for helping with this project. It really is important for us to have better documentation to help retain new players. I will vet some of them soon and hopefully get them posted before the end of the month. I’ll have to take some time to fill in the holes, which I don’t mind doing except that a ) my instructional writing style is about as interesting to read as a set of vacuum cleaner instructions and b ) it will take time away from other upgrades. That’s why I’m encouraging our seasoned players to give it a crack.
Other Stuff -
I have some other things I plan on adding soon as well. For starters, my next site update will include some links from horses / races to the BTB articles related to them - that’s always fun. ;) Secondly, sponsored grad races will be flagged in PPs. I also plan on adding some sortable lists for player records, etc. I will be allowing players to toggle between results in hot races / non-hot races / all races. I have received several concerns that hot racing “skews player success rates.” With the addition of the filter, that will only be true if you focus only on aggregate racing; using the filter will allow you to remove ignore those results if you prefer.
Finally - a big thanks!
I have mentioned this privately to several players recently, and I firmly believe it - I know that the memories are fond, but I would argue that we are in a golden age for our humble game. The game interface and backend is easier to navigate than ever… we have more players, horses, and races than ever… almost all players are really respectful and understanding of each other's opinions and differences… I couldn't personally be much happier with it. I realize I can only take a small bit of the credit for this - our game couldn’t exist without the support and attitude of our community and, similarly, our community wouldn’t exist without it’s great player base. Thank you again for making this game a pleasure to maintain and operate!
--Mike
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Sunday, February 09, 2014 at 10:17:08 AM
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Mobile viewer patched + Equinics thanks + Exclipse
Posted by administrator under DerbyFever.com Blog
Whew! Busy weekend in the game!
For starters, the Equinics was awesome as always! Thanks to everyone that made it a reality, with a little extra love thrown the way of mano, ldyssecret, and the BTB staff and writers.
The mobile viewer picked a bad to flare up - it had to do with query length. I think it's fixed now. Sorry for the oops. :/
Also - a note on the Eclipse voting : Everyone did a great job with the voting - no obvious scamming and, if there was, it was overridden by the real voting. I may be tweaking the formula slightly in the next couple of weeks - nothing major, but in a perfect world my formula this year would match the voting results this year. It did in most instances, so I may mess with it slightly (nothing major). Just keep running in the best races guys... you can't go wrong racking up big G1 wins. :)
Finally, don't forget the Eclipse Show, hosted by our friendly
neighborhood rodent, on Monday Night February 10th at 8:30. The chat
room has a 50 person limit, and we've hit it a few times - get there
early!
Thanks guys!
--Mike
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Monday, February 03, 2014 at 2:14:28 PM
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Eclipse voting extended a bit +The Show!
Posted by administrator under DerbyFever.com Blog
Hey guys!
There seems to have been some confusion on when the Eclipse closes... from the CPU side and player side. :)
I am extending it through tomorrow... the last votes that can be cast are 2014-02-04 at 23:59:59. No further voting will be allowed after that point.
Also -
The resident rodent Squirrel will be hosting the annual Eclipse Awards on Monday, February 10th at 8:30 PM EST. Don't miss it!
Thanks guys!
--Mike
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Wednesday, January 22, 2014 at 10:05:51 AM
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2013 Eclipse Voting is Here!
Posted by administrator under DerbyFever.com Blog
Hey guys!
In previous years, players were responsible for voting in our end-of-year awards. Starting in 2014, our End of Year awards will be determined based on a systematic formula (you can see the formula by looking at the EOY Award Points link - it's ugly, but there's a link to it). For the 2013 awards, we will be using a blend of formula and player input for determining these awards.
The EOY Award Points formula was used for determining 4 horses in each EOY category (8 were selected for the Horse of the Year). Only stable groupings active as of 2013-12-31 with 100+ races run are allowed to vote. I will scrub the votes for duplicates, but please make my job easy
and simply vote once - I really do have a decent idea of who runs what stable, and I have better uses of my time than to audit data. :) Also, please vote your conscience - a lot of these categories really should be cut and dry.
Voting will conclude on 2014-02-03 at midnight. You can modify your vote up until this time, but once you vote for a category a vote must be registered for that category. You can vote (or see your most recently updated voting) by logging in and going to :
Ratings > Vote 2013 Eclipse
Once voting has concluded, I will blend player voting (66 2/3 %) and a modified EOY Award Points voting (33 1/3 %) to determine the winners.
The formula I will use to apply the EOY Award Points probably looks like greek, but understanding it isn't necessary - I'll be the one using
it to blend the actual and CPU votes - all you need to do is vote. It is included because I'm sure I'll be asked and wanted to disclose it. :)
Each horse eligible for voting in a category will be awarded a fractional vote based upon a formula using their EOY Award Points as a
percentage of their category. To determine the fractional votes awarded, I will :
* Take the overall votes cast by players in the category (TVC)
* The EOY Award Point value will be raised to the third power for each horse in the category (EOYm[1], EOYm[2], etc)
* These will be summed for all horses that can be voted on, and will be used to determine a weighted EOYm[x] score, where x is the horse in the category (EOYm_total)
* Each horse will be awarded an extra (TVC * EOYm[x]) / (EOYm_total * 2) votes
..in essence, fractional votes = 1/2 a vote will be applied for each real vote (leading to a 2/3 & 1/3 split).
Winners will be announced no later than 2014-02-17; I will talk to Squirrel and see if she has the time to have a presentation show.
Good luck to everyone! Thanks guys!
--Mike
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Tuesday, January 21, 2014 at 9:43:56 PM
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Eclipse Voting Starts 2014-01-22 + slight downtime
Posted by administrator under DerbyFever.com Blog
Hey Guys!
Polar vortex.. winter.. blah blah.. whatever.. too much bad weather and school closings.. not enough DerbyFever coding... but don't rat me out to the wife and family... :P
Anyway - I'm done with the Eclipse Voting code, but I want to wait until tomorrow to release it to ensure nothing goes wonky overnight. Plus it gives me a chance to back everything up tomorrow as well... merging the online code update, patches, and site backup makes good sense.
Since I'm a couple days late (my bad - I deplore being late, regardless of the excuse), I'm going to extend the Eclipse voting through 2013-02-02.
Thank you for you patience.
--Mike
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Monday, January 20, 2014 at 8:48:53 PM
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Need another day for Eclipse ballot..
Posted by administrator under DerbyFever.com Blog
..sorry guys. Had the kids a lot this weekend. I think another day will allow me to get it out.
Thanks!
--Mike
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Sunday, January 12, 2014 at 11:43:08 AM
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2013 / 2014 Eclipse Update
Posted by administrator under DerbyFever.com Blog
Hey Folks!
The 2013 Eclipse awards are here... almost... :)
I have a formula in place that I like for picking the winners going forward. Still, I'm not sure that using it exclusively is the right thing to do for 2013 given that no public formula existed at that time. But I did say I would use the formula for 2013, so I kind of should... so.. here's what I'm planning.
The formula will be used to determine the 4 nominees in each category. I will be working on an in-game voting mechanism that will be posted with the Eclipse nominees no later than 1/20/2014. I will also be posting the formula I used publicly at this time as well. This
formula will be the gold standard for 2014 and on - no more voting these things in (which will make an exciting year end scramble for Eclipse points next year, IMO).
Only stable groupings active as of 12/31/2013 with 100+ races run will be allowed to vote. I will scrub the votes for duplicates, but please make my job easy and simply vote once - I really do have a decent idea of who runs what stable, and I have better uses of my time than to audit data. Also, please vote your conscience - a lot of these categories really should be cut and dry.
Voting will conclude on 1/31/2014. At this time, I will blend a combination of player voting (66 2/3 %) and formula voting (33 1/3 %) to determine the winners. I will explain how the formula voting will be blended in with the player voting when I post it; explaining it now would make little sense.
Winners will be announced no later than 2/14/2014; I will talk to Squirrel and see if she has the time to have a presentation show.
Yes, I am aware that we are running later than the real Eclipse awards, but look on the bright side : next year we can announce these on 1/1/2015. So being late this year to be fair with the winners is probably the right thing to do... :)
Thanks guys!
--Mike
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Monday, January 06, 2014 at 11:28:59 PM
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Button change on RaFi - Local Races
Posted by administrator under DerbyFever.com Blog
Hey guys!
There were 2 hot buttons searches on rafi. Since there aren't a lot of these races and they disappear quickly, using the "Any Hot Fit" button works pretty well on it's own.
Removing the other "Hot" search button allowed me to add a "Any Local" button (thanks Roys for the idea a while back!). This will allow you to search all upcoming Local races your horse fits. This should help some with people focusing on the Local circuits.
You will need your browser to get the new float.js file. Refresh your browser or go to a different page momentarily, dump you
cache, close your browser, and come back to the site. If all else
fails, try one of our alternate URLs until your browser gets the newest
file (ex : http://smartacre.com/horseracing ). Until you get the new javascript, your "Any Local" button will work just like the normal race search button.
Thanks!
--Mike
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Sunday, January 05, 2014 at 12:18:18 PM
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Sire Upgrades / Downgrades
Posted by administrator under DerbyFever.com Blog
Hey guys!
Over 3000 sires were rerated this year. Most shouldn't notably affect performance for offspring, but it is crucial to keep the balance of sires in check since, in most cases, upgrades tend to get applied faster than downgrades.
So, by popular demand - the most notable upgrade / downgrade list!
Upgrades : As of this posting, all upgrades have been applied
War Front : Yes.. War Front. He was already knocking on the door of elite in the game. It's safe to say he's there now
Kitten's Joy : Just in case you weren't aware, this guy is in the elite group.
Macho Uno : Nice year; seemed like a bump was in order
New Approach : Already a top notch sire.. getting better every year
Teofilo : Coming into his own as a producer
Mastercraftsmen : Proving to be better than advertised
Darci Brahma : Producing stakes horses at crazy rate in NZ
Snitzel : nice year and a well-deserved bump
Downgrades : These will NOT be applied until 2012-01-12 or later
Big Brown : What has brown done for breeding: Not much. A true dud thusfar.
Moon Ballad : Redefining the term "flop as a sire." Probably should have gotten the downgrade before now, but at least he's finally getting his due.
Bluegrass Cat / Corinthian / Afleet Alex : all were likely overrated a bit when they entered the game; this should get them closer to their actual sire levels
And lastly, a downgrade worth noting but probably isn't earth shattering -
Most Japanese Sires : This is more of a "broad stroke" than an individual rerate. In aggregate, I had these sires rated higher than I should have. Don't expect a nosedive for any sire based on this; the good Japanese sires are still very good: arguably the top class in the world across the board. But getting them closer in line with the sires in other regions made sense.
So that's it for the moment! Thanks guys!
--Mike
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Wednesday, January 01, 2014 at 9:18:49 AM
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2 year old shares are here!
Posted by administrator under DerbyFever.com Blog
Sorry for the goof.
I know how to keep the problem from occurring going forward. For old sires, I set the sire-active field to "yes", but didn't update the last year standing. For new sires, some of the first year fields didn't get populated - that's a wikipedigree thing I have to look into. The game throws those out as invalid.
Sorry again.
--Mike
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