Track King - The Home Straight
A$4,045
of $4,000 targetyrs ago
Successful on 1st Nov 2013 at 12:00AM.
Track King is a FREE-TO-PLAY simulation game... Players run their own stable, race their horses, train, breed, and manage all the small details. There's an entire world of depth and strategy here. This Crowd-Funding campaign hopes to take the 'dated' design and layout of Track King and add a generous dab of 'modern web design'. The game has proven to be stable (sic) and enjoyable to a legion of players.... but the time has come to drag this behemoth into the modern age of web and smartphone - and subsequently build on the already loyal userbase.
The Journey So Far
Track King was born in 2007, when a bored Public Servant named Tony Carbone (that's me!), dared to resign the security of a government job and chase his entrepreneurial dreams. The goal was to create a Free-to-Play sports simulation game that would be easy to play, but feature enough detail and depth to keep challenging even the most dedicated players.
Over the course of many "beer-coaster" sessions with friends, and countless hours spent scrawling ideas in his diary while catching the bus to and from work, the backbone of the game was designed.
Over the next 6 months, buzzing with ideas and enthusiasm, Tony - a hobby programmer until now - literally worked 10-hour days fine-tuning his HTML and CSS skills, learning how to write effective code in PHP and MySQL, and more importantly, converting his multitude of ideas into reality.
In July 2007, Track King opened as a limited Alpha, and then in September opened to the public. Response was overwhelming.
During coming months and years, Track King evolved and grew, not only attracting new generations of players but also adding many more features and depth to the gameplay - a Tote-style betting system using play money, enhanced Artificial Intelligence for the Jockeys and a Jockey Apprentice/training system, Breeding using a realistic gene-based system, a 'newspaper-style' Racing Guide for each of the weekends events, various Community-sponsored Cup events, Tools to allow detailed analysis of in-race performance.... and even external support sites such as Track Vision.
In 2009 we were voted as the "Best Simulation Game of the Year" by a large online gaming website. In June 2011 we were even featured in the Australian magazine "Inside Racing"
And now, entering the 6th year of existence, it's time for Track King to get a make-over. To be brought into the modern era of the Web, allowing Tony (me!) to apply coding best-practices and acquired knowledge to the monstrously deep beast that Track King has become!
But of course, being a free-to-play game has its' drawbacks. Namely, it's difficult to fund further development with a restricted income..... and hence, the idea to crowd-fund.
The Journey So Far
Track King was born in 2007, when a bored Public Servant named Tony Carbone (that's me!), dared to resign the security of a government job and chase his entrepreneurial dreams. The goal was to create a Free-to-Play sports simulation game that would be easy to play, but feature enough detail and depth to keep challenging even the most dedicated players.
Over the course of many "beer-coaster" sessions with friends, and countless hours spent scrawling ideas in his diary while catching the bus to and from work, the backbone of the game was designed.
Over the next 6 months, buzzing with ideas and enthusiasm, Tony - a hobby programmer until now - literally worked 10-hour days fine-tuning his HTML and CSS skills, learning how to write effective code in PHP and MySQL, and more importantly, converting his multitude of ideas into reality.In July 2007, Track King opened as a limited Alpha, and then in September opened to the public. Response was overwhelming.
During coming months and years, Track King evolved and grew, not only attracting new generations of players but also adding many more features and depth to the gameplay - a Tote-style betting system using play money, enhanced Artificial Intelligence for the Jockeys and a Jockey Apprentice/training system, Breeding using a realistic gene-based system, a 'newspaper-style' Racing Guide for each of the weekends events, various Community-sponsored Cup events, Tools to allow detailed analysis of in-race performance.... and even external support sites such as Track Vision.
In 2009 we were voted as the "Best Simulation Game of the Year" by a large online gaming website. In June 2011 we were even featured in the Australian magazine "Inside Racing"
And now, entering the 6th year of existence, it's time for Track King to get a make-over. To be brought into the modern era of the Web, allowing Tony (me!) to apply coding best-practices and acquired knowledge to the monstrously deep beast that Track King has become!
But of course, being a free-to-play game has its' drawbacks. Namely, it's difficult to fund further development with a restricted income..... and hence, the idea to crowd-fund.
The Challenges
The beautiful part of this project, is that there are no foreseeable risks. Essentially, if the goal is achieved then I am financially enabled to make the necessary improvements and additions to the game.
There are no obstacles other than financial, and no risk to the existing website - in fact, I intend to keep the existing interface design as a legacy design for players to continue using if they choose....although of course, I'd be expecting the vast majority to want to migrate to the new improved layout!
There are no obstacles other than financial, and no risk to the existing website - in fact, I intend to keep the existing interface design as a legacy design for players to continue using if they choose....although of course, I'd be expecting the vast majority to want to migrate to the new improved layout!
Get listed on a new publicly accessible "Track King Thanks" page, which will feature a name/pseudonym of your choice, and optionally a link to a website of your choice.
6 chosen / 494 available
Est. delivery is Nov 13
Name a Tipster! - Track King features over 100 Tracks, each with a dedicated race tipster. You get to name a Tipster at the track of your choice!
12 chosen / 88 available
Est. delivery is Nov 13
5 Game Credits gifted to a Stable of your choice in game - and a warm fuzzy feeling as thanks for your help!
11 chosen / 489 available
Est. delivery is Nov 13
Unlock the complete genetic information about any horse in your stable - as if generated by an Awe-Inspring level genetic facility.
35 chosen / 165 available
Est. delivery is Oct 13
Rename your jockey! - rename any jockey (that is not the product of someone elses Academy) to a name of your choice - non commercial and non-offensive of course!
2 chosen / 198 available
Est. delivery is Nov 14
Rejuvenate your jockey - select a current, non-apprentice jockey from out of your own Academy to drink from the fountain of youth and have 5 years wiped from his age!
33 chosen / 167 available
Est. delivery is Nov 13
Add your face to the game! Your own face will be worked into an existing jockey photo, and put into use throughout the game. Oh, and you'll also get a month of Owners Club for a stable of your choosing.
1 chosen / 49 available
Est. delivery is Dec 13
Become an easter-egg! All players know that at Christmas, Easter, April Fools, and the TK-site Birthday, there are "little hidden goodies" around the site. Well, your non-commercial image can be permanently added as one of them (selected times of every day of the year!)....and you'll have to go searching for it!
1 chosen / 9 available
Est. delivery is Dec 13
A Commercial Billboard - Provide your own commercial billboard image to feature on the rails of most Stakes Race replays in the continent of your choice!
1 chosen / 4 available
Est. delivery is Dec 13
Have your input into the new design!! These pledges will receive previews of key pages as they are created, will be asked for opinion about styles and layout, and if they are able to come to Adelaide, can meet in person to discuss their views. As all current players of Track King know, I have a history of listening to - and regularly implemetning - input that I receive from users. You'll also be credited prominently on the "TK Thanks" page ;-)
0 chosen / 20 available
Est. delivery is Oct 13
Place your company's 468x60 advertising-banner on 10% rotation throughout the HoldingTheBall.com game for all of 2014! All metrics will be transparent and available through the Google Doubleclick platform. Great to target an Australian demographic
0 chosen / 5 available
Est. delivery is Jan 14
Place your company's 468x60 advertising-banner on 10% rotation throughout the entire Track King website for all of 2014! All metrics will be transparent and available through the Google Doubleclick platform. A truly international demographic
1 chosen / 4 available
Est. delivery is Jan 14
Major Sponsor of HoldingTheBall.com! - Have your company banner/link in the header of every page throughout the new Web game HoldingTheBall.com - until the end of 2013/2014! Perfect way to advertise to an Australian audience. All metrics will be available to you through Google DoubleClick.
0 chosen / 1 available
Est. delivery is Jan 14
Have your Company Logo and link added to the Front Page of Track King as the games Major Sponsor for the whole of 2014, along with a small banner in the header. Track King attracts some 17,500+ unique visitors per month worldwide! All metrics will be available to you through Google DoubleClick.
0 chosen / 1 available
Est. delivery is Jan 14
Become the Major Sponsor of Trackvision.org, a key website supporting Track King. Your sponsorship will be visible on site for all of 2014. Metrics will be fully available to you through the Google DoubleClick platform.
1 chosen / 0 available
Est. delivery is Jan 14