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Edit: I removed the [img] tags because the picture stretched the page.

Horses are an idea that I've had for a long time. Maybe a year ago I posted a well thought out suggestion on RuneHQ, that got positive reviews. I feel like rewriting it now because it's a great suggestion.

There will be 3 parts to having a horse, and using it. The horses themselves, the stables that they will live in, and the location of the stables. The main purpose of having a horse will be for transportation. We already have teleports to pretty much ever main city, either by a spell or by jewellery, but we don't have ways of getting to those obscure places in the middle of nowhere, like a specific spot at a hunter ground, or somewhere that you just go often but don't like walking to.

The Horses

The horses will be tied into the summoning skill, however horses will not be pets nor familiars, because they won't follow you. A horse will always remain in one of the stables that you construct, and the amount of horses that you can own at one time will be dependent on your summoning level.

1 horse = 1 summoning
2 horses = 26 summoning
3 horses = 59 summoning
4 horses = 81 summoning
5 horses = 99 summoning

There is no real need for more than 5 horses, which will be understandable as you read this suggestion. There will also be types of horses, each coming with their own advantage and disadvantage.

Baby horse = 1 summoning
Colt = 15 summoning
Horse = 30 summoning
Mature horse = 50 summoning
Fit horse = 70 summoning
Mustang = 85 summoning

Each horse can only travel a certain distance at a time. I don't know of any RuneScape measurement system so I'll use my own. 1 "city" is the distance between Falador and Varrock if you walked directly from the big north Falador gate to the gate of West Varrock (passing through the Barbarian Village).

A "run" is when you use your horse to travel from one stable to another.

"Recovery time" is the time that a horse needs to rest. Each horse can do up to a certain amount of runs without a break, after that the horse MUST rest for the recovery time IF the time between each run was LESS than the recovery time. For example, a horse does 6 runs with only 2 minutes of break between each run. After the 6th run, the horse MUST rest. However if there was a 10+ minute break between run's 2 and 3, run 3 would start the 6-run counter again, as the horse has had time to rest.

Baby horse

The baby horse is the most basic horse that you can buy. He is available for purchase at the price of 5k gp from the horse tamer. He is only capable of 2 runs at a time, and requires 15 minutes of recovery time . He can only travel the distance of 1 city at a time.

Colt

The colt is obtainable by 2 methods. He can be purchased for 50k gp from the horse tamer, or if you have had a baby horse for 7 days, then your baby horse will have the option of growing up. He is capable of 4 runs at a time and requires 15 minutes of recovery time. He can travel up to 1.5 cities in 1 run.

Horse

He's pretty much the standard horse that most will use. Cheap and cost effective; every horse after this one would be a bonus but not necessary. The horse is available for 500k gp from the horse tamer, or if you have had a colt for 31 days, you will have the option for your colt to grow up. He can do up to 6 runs at a time, with only 10 minutes of recovery time, and is able to travel 3 cities in 1 run.

Mature Horse

This horse is available for 2m gp from the horse tamer, or you can have your horse grow up after 62 days. This is an old horse, hence the name "mature" horse. He has one major disadvantage, but one big advantage. He can only do up to 1 run at one time with a recovery time of 1 hour, however he can travel the distance of 9 cities (approximately the distance across RuneScape, not including Soul Wars). Because he is such an old horse he can't travel for long, but when he travels he is steady, and he knows all the short cuts through experience.

Fit Horse

This horse will meet the needs of most players. You can purchase him for 2m gp from the horse tamer or you can let your horse grow into him after 62 days (he does not grow up from a mature horse). He is pretty much the opposite of the mature horse. He can do up to 15 runs at a time and he only has a recovery time of 5 minutes. However he can only travel 1.5 cities in one run.

Mustang

This is the most powerful horse of all. He combines the power of the mature horse and fit horse. He is available for purchase for the nifty price of 7.5m gp. There is no horse that grows into him, because the mustang is a rare breed of horse that only the horse tamer can tame. He can run the distance of 6 cities (3/4 of the way across RuneScape) in one run, and can do up to 10 runs at a time. He only has a recovery time of 3 minutes.

You can only have a certain amount of horses at one time, and it can be a mix of any kind. For example, you can have 5 baby horses, or 4 baby horses and 1 mustang, or 5 mustangs, or any other combination, depending on your summoning level.

The Stables

The stables are just as important as the horses themselves. The stables keep the horses safe from thieves (who wouldn't want to steal a 7.5m horse?), the climate and it gives them a place to sleep and live. Each stable has basic necessities, and as the stables get higher leveled, they can take care of more powerful horses. The stables will be tied in with the construction skill. Below is a list of all the stables, what kind of horse they can carry, and the construction level needed to make the stable.

Wooden stable: Baby horse; 1 construction
Stable: Up to horse; 30 construction
Advanced stable: Up to mature and fit horses; 50 construction
Master stable: All horses; 75 construction

Wooden Stable

The most basic, simple stable of all. Can only hold up to one horse at a time. Can be made from any wood.

Stable

Can hold up to 2 horses at one time. Must be made from maple logs or higher.

Advanced Stable

Can hold up to 3 horses at one time. Must be made from yew logs or higher.

Master Stable

Can hold up to 4 horses at one time. Must be made from magic logs.


The entire point of a stable is to hold your horses between runs. For example, you construct a stable outside Falador, and a stable in Yanille. You have a mustang in your Falador stable. You can go to your stable, and chose to ride your mustang to any other stable within the allowed distance. Lets say you chose to go to the Yanille stable. So you choose Yanille and you will ride your mustang there. Now your mustang will be in your Yanille stable, not the Falador one. You just completed one run. Having multiple stables means you can travel to any one of them at any time, assuming your horse is not in a recovery period. However the point of horses is not to travel to cities, but to the obscure locations.

Locations

Below is a map of RuneScape, cordoned off according to how accessible it is for horses. A stable can not be built in the red zones. Obvious reasons for islands. I chose to cordon off the Elven lands because anyone who has done the quest Roving Elves knows that it's no place for a horse. A stable can be built in any other zone, but only fit, mature and mustangs will be able to reach stables located there.

http://i42.tinypic.com/30l14s2.png

You can build any amount of stables, but keep in mind that they will cost upwards of 250k each for an advanced stable. I still haven't set any prices for stables because I hate construction.

So tell me what you think.

PS..forgot to add... actually riding a horse is instant, like teleporting. You don't actually see yourself riding a horse lol.

Interesting, and as you said, well thought out. I too have considered the idea of horse for RuneScape. It just seems natural that they should be included in the game. What I also find quiet telling is the fact that they are not included in the summoning skill either as a framilar or a pet. This suggests to me that maybe the people at Jagex are planning something to do with horse, or at the very least, leaving the option open for consideration. I too, about a year ago, posted a horse idea on my blog RunesScape Thoughts. Here's what I had to say, but I do think your ideas are a little more realistic than mine.

Quote:This next idea is one that just recently started formulating in my brain, unlike my other ideas about weather and healthcare that have been festering for years. I think we should have true beasts of burden, not just the nominal activities we get with the Summoning skill.

Anyway, it occurred to me the other day that one thing that seems to go hand-in-hand with medieval times is horses. Knights rode horses. Contests were played on horses. Goods were transported by horses. Everyone had a horse. Why not add horses to the RuneScape mix?

Of course, thanks to Summoning, owning and caring for a horse would fall squarely under that sad skill set. I guess I’ll just have to deal with that aspect. Yet, I think the inclusion of horses (and donkeys and camels, and other beasts of burden) would be a nice addition to RuneScape and would certainly fall within the realm of reality for the time period. Right now we are expected to accept that farmers take their goods to market via push carts. That knights ride into battle on… their feet. That ores we mine are transported via, at the most advanced, carts on tracks that lead to locations that are not strategically located to any place that ores need to go.

Here is my view of horses in Runescape. I see players with a high enough summoning skill (cough) earning the right to care for horses and keeping them as pets (raising them from birth). As the horses get older they would develop the ability to carry players as riders (players would be able to travel faster and further without depleting energy as quickly). Of course players would need to dismount before entering buildings. As the horse gets even older it would begin to be able to carry items in an inventory of its own (like the current beast of burden routine). Maybe players would be able to attach carts to the horses and transport loads of goods around RuneScape. Over time the horse would reach a peak productive age, and then its abilities would lessen and eventually be of little “work” value. At that point the horse could be put out to pasture to make way for younger horses. I’m not suggesting sending the old horses to the glue factory (though, now that I think about it, that could be a new feature in the crafting skill… sorry, bad joke. I really do love horses). We’d just send them to Farmer Ted’s Ranch for Elderly Livestock.

Some restrictions would be needed. Players would not be able to put horses in their inventory. Lets face it, stuffing a horse in to your backpack just looks weird (and is already illegal in many cities). Also, players would need to build homes with special stables attached. To ride the horse, a player would need to have at least one hand free (so a shield or weapon would have to be in the inventory or not brought along at all). Also, a large animal working so much would require a good amount of food.

Your idea seems like it's more realistic, which would be good for real life, but not RS. I don't see anyone actually using a horse to transport items, seeing as there's a bank in every major city. I do however like the idea that you can ride them around. That would be very useful if we couldn't already teleport everywhere. Perhaps we could ride to to the middle of no where, but then what would we do with it? That's where my idea comes in with stables in places you want to build them.

Wow, you got nice ideas! And a young horse is a colt

(05-27-2009 07:35 PM)Sylvie Wrote: [ -> ]Wow, you got nice ideas! And a young horse is a colt

Thank you! I changed it

ya cool ideas guys horses would be a brilliant addition to rs and think of the mini games. face each other mortal combat on the jousting fields and dual for the fairest maiden's hand. lol

Thats one of the things i find would be really interesting to see play out over the course of runescape.... it definately seems to go along the lines that Jegex wants money to be filtered out of the game. But the only worry i have about this is that it may change the total gameplay... kind of like summoning did. I think it would be a good idea but with this type of update, i feel that the game would change more than what we take it for and may turn off alot more other players from the game. It sucks knowing that some people cannot adapt to the change of the game and i feel that they are trying to make the new skill one that pertains to the interest of many. Just like they said that they didnt want to even give a change in character classes like to be a dwarf and etc. But i do like it... i just wish there was a way to test it before =)