Kingdom Come - Editorial @ Press2Reset

Press2Reset has a new article about horse riding in games, and uses Kingdom Come: Deliverance as one example of how it's done right.

Earlier this week, Warhorse Studios released a video showing the horse mechanics for its upcoming medieval sandbox RPG Kingdom Come: Deliverance. They look hugely impressive. The animations are interesting and the actual movement of the horses is lifelike.

When the dev turned his horse, it looked especially good. From a stationary start, the horse dipped its head as the rider tugged the reins to the right. As the head turned so the body moved to follow. It was an elegant reversal of direction that took place in a very small area. This is the action so many game horses bungle: a turn is, in practice, two movements, not one – head, then body. Some games make a mess of this, placing a single pivot point through the center of the horse, like a carousel, and then giving it a massive turning circle as if it were some equine oil tanker.

Skyrim is a particular failure when it comes to horse movement. I still shudder at the recollection of those times when, halfway up a mountain pass, a nearby quest or onrushing powerful monster would require me to turn around. There soon followed the farcical sight of my horse turning in a wide circle, climbing the steep walls of the ravine as though he were a wall-of-death motorcyclist.

It was, in short, a mess. And Bethesda knew it, cheekily explaining away the poor mechanics with a tiny piece of lore that pointed out that the horses of Skyrim were of sturdy farmstock given to neither charging into battle nor nimble negotiations of the high passes – Shires horses, not destriers. Okay, Bethesda, we’ll let you have that one but, next time, proper horses, please.