STAT GLOSSARY
One of the core components of Railbirds is the array of stats given to each horse. This broad category refers to base stats, fitness, drain, tenacity, and more. The following guide provides a breakdown of each subcategory under the umbrella of "stats." It also functions as a guide to understanding the Registry, as each of these stats are present on the spreadsheet. Feel free to follow along by clicking here - the guide follows mostly the same order.
★ Performance: Refers to the number that is actually rolled for your horse during races. Performance is calculated by multiplying Fitness by Reputation, then adding total Base Stats. The performance value can be thought of similarly to raffle tickets - in a race with Horse A having 10 Performance and Horse B having 5 Performance, the generator will first add up all numbers in the field (10 + 5 = 15). Then, an integer is rolled from 1 to the total (15). In our example, Horse A places first if the generator rolls 1-10, while Horse B places first if the generator rolls 11-15. Since races consist of more than just two horses, the generator will continue to roll until all placings have been filled in, ignoring already-placed horses.
★ XP: Points earned from art and literature (read more here). Added directly to Performance.
★ Base Stats (Speed/Stamina/Strength/Intelligence/Movement): With a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 20 per category (giving a possible grand total of 100), Base Stats are the core of your horse's ability. Starters are rolled 5-10 in each stat at creation, while foals' base stats are determined through inheritance (read more about that in the Breeding tab). Bred foals are capped at 15 points per base stat at birth, but can still improve through schooling. Keep in mind that your horse's total Base Stats do not directly determine how it does in a race - in order to maximize the use of Base Stats, you'll need to increase your horse's Fitness. T/POSS is Total/Possible, with Total being the sum of all currently earned Based stats, and Possible being the highest sum possible once all Potential points are allotted.
★ Potential: A pool of points available to be added to your horse's Base Stats. These points are not officially allotted to Base Stats until they've been earned and applied via Schooling (read more about that here). Potential is rolled 5-10 at creation if it's a starter, (10% of Tenacity)-10 if it's a bred foal, and 1-(10% of Tenacity) at each division rankup (except Maiden->Allowance). In the case of rankups, unused points are not carried over, so it is wisest to empty your Potential pool before moving up to the next division if possible.
★ Tenacity: Scored out of 100, Tenacity is a fixed stat that contributes to Drain, Potential, and Reputation Cut. Starters are rolled 50-75 at creation, and foals' Tenacity ratings are determined through inheritance.
★ Fitness: One of the most malleable stats, Fitness is represented by a percentage. This stat can be increased - or decreased, if you get unlucky - via Conditioning (see Training Methods), and directly determines what percentage of a horse's total Reputation is added to Performance. This is a very important stat to keep an eye on, as it is also drained by racing and will need to be brought back up intermittently.
★ Min/Mid/Max: This value determines how much Fitness is impacted by Conditioning. Minimum is Fitness-10%, Midpoint is Fitness+10%, and Maximum is Fitness+20%. When Conditioning is rolled, there is a 15% chance of Min-Fitness, 25% chance of Fitness-Mid, and 60% chance of Mid-Max, making it most likely that your horse's Fitness will decrease on a roll. Keep these values in mind to avoid overworking your horse!
★ Conformation: Each horse has five ratings for Conformation - Head/Neck, Shoulder, Topline, Hindquarters, and Legs/Hooves. Starters are rolled with a 30% chance of Fair, 40% chance of Good, and 30% chance of Great in each category. Poor/Excellent are not possible for starters. Foal conformation is determined through inheritance. These stats are included for the sake of immersion - after all, not every horse is perfect! - and also impact Drain. Confo Drain is determined as follows for each of the 5 categories, with positive values being more detrimental (meaning that you should breed for the largest negative number possible!):
- Poor: +3 drain
- Fair: +1 drain
- Good: +0 drain (neutral)
- Great: -1 drain
- Excellent: -3 drain
★ GS (Genetic Strength): Breeding-related stat that consists of Base Stats, Tenacity, XP, and Division. Click here for more information.
★ All-time Record: Lists placings 1st-8th, as well as total races entered. Pretty self-explanatory!
★ Fame: Determined by All-time Record; each placing has a weighted value, providing differentiation between horses of varying success. Placings are weighted as follows:
- 1st: 128 points
- 2nd: 64 points
- 3rd: 32 points
- 4th: 16 points
- 5th: 8 points
- 6th: 4 points
- 7th: 2 points
- 8th: 1 point
- + Birth Rep modified by Rep Cut (see below)
★ Reputation: Similar to Fame, but determined primarily by the current division after it is modified by the Reputation Cut (10% of (Tenacity/2)). Also adds a bonus for 1st-3rd placings in the previous division, with a direct stack of 64/32/16 respectively. This extra bonus is not modified by Rep Cut.
★ BR (Birth Rep): Inherited value from parent fame, which is then modified by Rep Cut to provide a boost to both Rep and Fame. Capped at 1000.
★ RD (Races in Division): Tracks how many races the horse has entered in its current division specifically (used to determine rankup eligibility).
★ AR (Average Rating): Denotes how far the horse's Reputation is from the division's average performance number (found on the Leaderboards tab). This serves as a helpful metric for how well the horse is doing against others in its division. If a horse's AR is negative, it will not be ranked up to the next division until AR reaches 0 or higher OR the owner decides to voluntarily rank them.