Showdog.com Forum · General

If a new dog show simulation game inspired by ShowDog were created, would you be interested in playing it?

Future of Dog Show Simulation Games — Community Poll

Yes — if it keeps the realistic dog show focus.		26.58%
No — I wouldn’t want to lose my current dogs/kennel.
Yes — especially if early players could help shape it.		2.53%
Maybe — I’d try a beta version.		2.53%
Yes — but I would probably play both games.		46.84%
Yes — I would definitely play a new version.		12.66%
Maybe — I’d want to see screenshots or details first.
Maybe — if enough other players joined
No — I don’t think another version would feel the same.
No — I’m loyal to this site.		8.86%

How many people use the obedience? Or better question, for how many people is obedience their primary way to play?

Over the last few days I’ve been quietly sketching out what a modern revival of the game could look like, and I wanted to share a few early hints about the direction I’m exploring. My goal is to stay very true to what people loved: breeding dogs, raising litters, and competing in conformation shows as the core gameplay.

One concept I’ve been thinking about is a structured show calendar, with consistent show clusters each year so players could actually plan their campaigns and strategy the way real exhibitors do, because I’ve also been playing with the idea of adding a geographic element to the game. Shows might run several times per day, but in different districts, which could introduce some strategic decisions about where your dogs are being shown.

I’ve also been looking at ways the sport itself could better reflect how AKC showing works today — things like the Grand Championship levels, Select Dog/Bitch, Puppy and Veterans classes, more Owner Handler options, and the many breeds that have been added.

There are also a few other mechanics I’ve been considering that would make the dogs feel a little more like living animals rather than static game pieces — things related to genetic health, aging, longevity, and the passage of time in the kennel. Those ideas are still very much in the “thinking through it” stage, and I’m curious how players would feel about changes like that.

Overall, the goal would be to preserve the spirit of the original game while modernizing the mechanics enough that it could grow again. I’d especially love to hear from longtime players about which parts of the experience are most important to keep.

One thing just off the top of my head is that currently the owner/handler judge issue is a mess. There will be many days with none and then there will be several days in a row where there are 2 or 3. There needs to be a guaranteed O/H judge every single day. Just wanted to throw that out there while I am thinking of it.

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posted by NovelWeims
One concept I’ve been thinking about is a structured show calendar, with consistent show clusters each year so players could actually plan their campaigns and strategy the way real exhibitors do, because I’ve also been playing with the idea of adding a geographic element to the game. Shows might run several times per day, but in different districts, which could introduce some strategic decisions about where your dogs are being shown.

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For me, this doesn't have much interest but I guess it would depend on how it would present itself.

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posted by NovelWeims
There are also a few other mechanics I’ve been considering that would make the dogs feel a little more like living animals rather than static game pieces — things related to genetic health, aging, longevity, and the passage of time in the kennel.

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I would suggest not introducing too much at the beginning. There would likely be a lot of bugs to work out at first. Remember Jeff didn't have colors at first, and in the beginning pups didn't settle until 14 days. I would start with basics and make sure everything is going smoothly and then introduce more details. I hope it will work out because this is exciting to think about!!

Re the obedience, when I first started here almost 20 years ago I did do some obedience after I finished some dogs but didn't find it particularly challenging.

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posted by DoggyPanache

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posted by NovelWeims
One concept I’ve been thinking about is a structured show calendar, with consistent show clusters each year so players could actually plan their campaigns and strategy the way real exhibitors do, because I’ve also been playing with the idea of adding a geographic element to the game. Shows might run several times per day, but in different districts, which could introduce some strategic decisions about where your dogs are being shown.

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For me, this doesn't have much interest but I guess it would depend on how it would present itself.

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Yes, I am going to need to rely on a lot of beta testers, and I'm hoping some of you will volunteer. Version 1 will be very close to what we enjoy here with some attempts to move mitigate some issues we have now. I can tell you what I think those are, but, I'd rather here from you guys what the problems are. Because I realized today, the second I open the page for gameplay I lose the ability to play...
I can't play the game when I know all the secrets.
It was actually kind of a terrible moment.

Geography will not appear initially, but, the idea behind it is to add a challenge of strategy.

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posted by Aldeberan

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posted by NovelWeims
There are also a few other mechanics I’ve been considering that would make the dogs feel a little more like living animals rather than static game pieces — things related to genetic health, aging, longevity, and the passage of time in the kennel.

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I would suggest not introducing too much at the beginning. There would likely be a lot of bugs to work out at first. Remember Jeff didn't have colors at first, and in the beginning pups didn't settle until 14 days. I would start with basics and make sure everything is going smoothly and then introduce more details. I hope it will work out because this is exciting to think about!!

Re the obedience, when I first started here almost 20 years ago I did do some obedience after I finished some dogs but didn't find it particularly challenging.

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Aldebran, you are exactly right. In fact I tried to delete my post above when I realized I had put out too much giving the idea perhaps that it was going to be radically different, and I can guarantee, that all of my thought process is to strengthen what we all know we love, breeding and showing dogs. I aim to make changes, gradually, that will modify and mollify some of the things that over time have become barriers in the game. IF you want to know exactly what I think those are, please, anyone, send me a message.

Because the game most be coded from the ground up, yes, there will be bugs. There are always bugs. And as the developer sometimes its hard for me to find them, when the code works, right? That's where you all will come in.

As it stands I spent about 12 hours in game mechanics design in the last 24 hours so that I don't block anything off from expansion later on.

What I think can be both helpful, and a hindrance, is that I've played this game for 20+ years, AND, I've shown real dogs to sometimes moderate success in AKC for almost 40 years. There are areas in the original game that diverge from reality. My beta testers will need to help me decide how much reality we want, later.

What Jeff created is so solid. Think about all the changes and advancements that have happened in technology in two decades! And this game survives, not because of how snazzy it looks, but because the game was truly beautifully written.

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posted by Tarot
One thing just off the top of my head is that currently the owner/handler judge issue is a mess. There will be many days with none and then there will be several days in a row where there are 2 or 3. There needs to be a guaranteed O/H judge every single day. Just wanted to throw that out there while I am thinking of it.

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This is interesting. Hmmm... Let me think on what should/could change so that this won't happen.

I would ditch OH judges all together. Replace it with an OH skill that players can increase the skill the compete against the handlers.

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posted by BarStar
I would ditch OH judges all together. Replace it with an OH skill that players can increase the skill the compete against the handlers.

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What about something like how AKC handles it now, there's a separate OH competition running concurrently with the judging?

-or-

As part of your sessions you could increase your own handler skill that would carry over no matter what dog you showed?

A separate system where the owner gets more judge influence as they show more owner handled.

Been here a while and love the game even after all these years. My experience is only show related and I do not use the obedience side. I also have shown in real life in the UK for over 40 years. Although my daughter has taken over the reins now as a bad RTA put paid to my showing days !

My thought would be to take it slow, as suggested before OH needs some work as skilled handler/ owners are not being recognised enough in my opinion. So a skill base would be good there.

Some new breed would be good too. As here in the UK we have what’s called the Import Register so breeds on there get over looked.

Junior handling could become a thing too ?

Just a few ideas

Re the O/H thing, back when the judges were on a regular rotation and the dead ones didn't keep coming back, it worked fine. Then when that all fell apart and ones that had retired or died years before came back it all just went to hell. I think as long as there is some kind of a schedule set up where there is a set number of shows per day with a nice variation of preferences it will work like it did here at first. Also, once the breeds hit 100 the judges preferences stopped making a difference.

Right... SOP should never hit 100. I mean it kind of takes the idea of the game away.

I have the very first **public alpha test** running online, and I’d love a few experienced showdog players to take a look at it.

Right now this is **very early development**, so please don’t expect a full game yet. What you’ll see is essentially the **core genetics and breeding engine running in the browser**.

At the moment you can:

• Generate foundation dogs with trait values
• Breed selected sires and dams
• Generate litters
• See the puppies created from those parents with inherited traits

The point of this alpha is to prove that the **underlying simulation system works** before the rest of the game is built on top of it.

Some important things to know:

• There are **no accounts, kennels, shows, or points yet**
• Nothing is saved — everything is just generated for testing
• The UI is temporary and very basic
• You may find bugs or odd results

What *is* real is the engine behind it. The breeding system, trait inheritance, litter generation, and dog records are the foundation that the full game will use.

If you’re curious and want to see where it’s at, come over to my discord server for the game, I have the link on the announcement page.

https://discord.gg/kcpDRCkv

If you take a look at the alpha site, I’d especially be interested in hearing:

• Whether the trait outcomes look reasonable
• Whether the litter results feel believable
• Any bugs you encounter

This project is still very early, but the core engine is alive, which is a big milestone.

Thanks to anyone willing to poke at it and give feedback.

Just come across this post and would be very interested in the alpha/beta. I started this game over 20 years ago and took a break for the last 15. I have deliberately chosen breeds not at 100% SOP as development of breeds was one of the main attractions to me. However discord link appears invalid

Sounds fascinating, esp as having got myself in a right pickle when I tried to have a family account as the inability to move dogs between kennels drove me up the wall, so I went back to standard but for a while nearly stopped altogether!

https://show-ring-game.vercel.app/signup

Come sign up.

As long as you have Teddy Roosevelt Terriers and Toy Fox Terriers, I'll be there to at least take a look.

The progress made in just a small amount of time as been outstanding. Excited for what the future holds for Show Ring.