HARPG Gameplay Guidelines

HARPG Gameplay Guidelines
Official HARPG Newsletter
Roleplay Challenges
Artsy Challenges
HARPG News

Overview

HARPG is G-rated in general but we do have artists of ALL levels playing, from beginners to teachers, youngsters, teens and adults.
Our goal is to help encourage art practice, art growth and imagination.  And to have fun. HARPG is a place where you can have your very own dream horse.
HARPG is a slow-paced game, for people to do in their spare time. Be it in the weekends, holidays, breaks between commissions, breaks at work, whenever YOU feel like it.
HARPG does not have any deadlines per-say, monthly challenges are up to you if you want to participate but we will not pester you to do it. Breedings and or other art have no deadlines. Member-held competitions will have deadlines - join in only if you feel you can participate within those guides.  If not, don't stress!
We encourage artistic growth and art practice.  Try drawing different breeds, colors, etc. If you feel you cannot draw many horses, then create just a few horses. If you like, concentrate on one or two horses and fine-tune your artistic skill; you will be surprised at how fast you improve! Even the most skilled artists still need to practice.

Where to start?

You can create a journal/blog on your current DA account; or create a new DA account or make a Group account.
Stable is a loose term; you can be a barn, stables, ranch, equestrian center, or a castle! The sky's the limit!
You can type add a description and/or information about your stables.
Co-owning stables is fine.
You can have more than one stable.

On to the horses!

Your horse can be any breed, fantasy or realistic. What is your dream horse?  Do you want a prancing stallion? A mischievous mare? A loyal gelding?  Ever wanted a Unicorn? Or your dream horse was an Appaloosa? This is where you can make your dreams come true!

All art mediums and art techniques are accepted!
Traditional, Digital, Photo-Manips, Figure Making, Figure Painting, Animations - What do you love to do?

Photomanips are allowed, please cite/credit references.  Use only free stock - and get creative!
If tracing, please cite/link to the image you referenced with copyright info to the photographer.  We will list some great stock images for free use for any artist. Tracing other artist's artwork or photos without permission is not cool!  
Gridding is allowed!  As always, cite/credit the photo reference you used.
Model making with clay and/or painting figurines is accepted - please cite/give credit to the manufacturers if using a store-bought figure!

Customized Horse Figures Extended
List the brand/make of the figure you painted (due to copyrights of manufacturers).
Only custom your own horses and foals.
If you custom someone else horse for a 'breeding pic,' ask for permission first, owners might prefer to be the only ones to have a figure of their horses.
If you have made a custom of someone else's horse, consider offering to give it to them and have them pay postage, or ask if they'd like to purchase the finished figure (up to the people involved to decide, HARPG does NOT moderate transactions of this sort).

We offer tutorials in our gallery folders as well as featured talks.  We even have Livestream and Join-Me sessions from a variety of artists that you can watch in on!
We offer helpful hints to Digital and Traditional artists, and we can hunt down awesome links for those who love painting figures or making stuff out of clay!

Scan and or upload your art files and photos to your DA account where your stable is, and then share it with us!  Pick a gallery folder and submit; yep, that easy!  Don't worry if you accidentally submit to a wrong folder, we can help move it to another one.

In the description section when uploading, you can add information about your dream horse.  You can start with something like this:

Name:
Breed:
Height:
Color:
Gender:
Bloodlines: (Sire - father, Dam- mother: if you bred it, link to the sire/dam )
History/Personality: some people love to make up fun back stories!

And you can go with whatever format you like for your character's information.  You can add more details, like favorite treat or discipline.  Anything you want!

We love seeing a full-body view of your horse for your main reference, but headshots are accepted, too.
No premade linearts for the main ref!  However, you may use lines for the face markings, or for the other side of the horse (as long as they're within the main reference).  For example: this ref sheet is perfectly acceptable because it's the artist's lines, and she only doubles it to show off the reverse side markings.
Please, no vulgarity, swearing, drug references or sexual references in your horse names.  HARPG is a G-rated game!
When submitting a stable to the Gallery, please have at least one horse listed in the stable.  It can be 1 horse or 10, or even a link to horses.  Just so long as we can get to said horse/s from the stable journal.
Since submitting your stable to the gallery folder is how you will be accepted, your horse references should follow the rules or your stable cannot be added right away.

Note: HorseArt-RPG is no longer a registry. These small rules only apply to submitting works to the Gallery folders, they do not dictate how you play the game.

What can I do with my horses/stable?

You can breed your horses.
You can compete your horses in shows.
You can hold your own show!
You can sell/buy horses.
You can register your horse in a group for its breed/discipline/etc.
You can collaborate to make art with another artist.
You can roleplay via art or text with other artists.
You can design/create staff to care for your horses.
You can design/create your dream property for your horses/stable/staff.

Breeding Horses

Contacting the stables owner via Note is most often the preferred method in requesting a breeding.
Make sure you have read through the stable's rules on breeding. Not all horses may be open for breeding and/or owners lay out specific breeding rules in their stable journal.

Once Contact is Made and Both Owners Involved Know Breeding is to Take Place:

The one requesting the breeding draws one piece of artwork with the chosen stable's stallion and your mare together.
This is known as your 'breeding picture', it's like a photo and proof the two were together.
Artwork is to be drawn by the person requesting the breeding, unless another agreement is made on who does the breeding image.
The stable owner has the right to decline any breeding applicant.
Keep your 'breeding pic' G-rated.
Points are not encouraged for fees. All 'fees' are supposed to be in the form of artwork.  
If points are involved as a breeding fee, this is between you and the breedee - it is not to be modded by us.
There is no 'deadline' for breeding pictures.
Sometimes the breedee will want to design the foal.  Ask about this in your breeding Note.

The Foal

Offspring can be drawn as a foal or an adult.
Bloodlines should be posted in the artists comments, if applicable.
The offspring does not exist until you draw it.
Breeding to a horse does not give you permission to create a clone of that horse in the foal.  Copying another design directly will not be tolerated.
Be creative.  Think carefully on what the combination of horses would look like as a foal.

Competing Horses

More info to come!!!!

Hosting a Show

More info to come!!!!

Selling Horses

You can sell a horse you already own.
You can create horses to sell, called 'adopts'.
Selling rules are determined by seller - not modded by us.
When selling a horse, it is common respect to contact the original creator of that horse to ask if they would like it back.  Original owners of horses, foals, and created breeds may not want their horses or designs to be sold.
If selling a horse or foal - please consider offering it back to the original designer/person you bought it from/or owner of one of the parents. Even if they decline, it's kind to be given the offer.
Purchase of horses usually is confirmed by you drawing an artwork of your newly purchased horse.
If points are involved, this is between you and the seller/buyer - not to be modded by us.

Registering Your Horse in Other Groups

More info to come!!!!

Collaborating with Other Artists

More info to come!!!!

Roleplaying

More info to come!!!!

Creating Staff

More info to come!!!!

Creating Stable Maps

More info to come!!!!

There you go! So much you can do with your horses!

FAQ

This is great! How do I play?
You can read the guidelines here, or you can visit other people's stables and see how they run. It's completely up to you how you play!

Can I submit my stable to the group if I've reused my own lines for references?
Yes, you can. Just don't submit those individual pieces to the gallery.

My horse has a vulgar name, can I still join/play the game?
Yes, you can still play the game, but your horse can't be showcased in the gallery.  Also, your stable may still be registered, but your horse should not go to the Gallery.

I'm a very slow artist. Can I still play the game?
Yes. The HARPG is set at your own pace. You only need to do as much work as you want.

I want to submit my stables but I run it through a group. How do I do that?
Just affiliate your stable's group with this group.

I use dA points when managing my horse stable, can I still play the game/join the group?
Yes you can!  While we don't encourage the use of dA points, we do allow them.

So... You're not a registry anymore? Why should I submit my work to the gallery?
To show off your amazing horses and be proud of the work you make.

My horse is a made up breed. Can I still submit it to the gallery?
Yes, we accept all breeds whether they're real or not.

I really want to improve my work. What can I do to help myself improve but still play the game?
There are many tutorials around DA and in our gallery to help with things like anatomy and background skills.  We also have a few artistic challenges that you can take part in.  Check out Artsy Challenges and Roleplay Challenges.