Apassionata - Die Galanacht der Pferde

Summary
Buy horses, train them and participate in horse shows; repeat.

Description from Steam:

On your riding stable, you and your horses will prepare for the show. Here you train your dressage pieces and choreographies. Soon the big night is here. But before it comes to the gig, you have to style yourself. Matching costumes and the right accessories for your horse are almost as important in the glamorous show as the riding itself. Let's Go! Fascinates the audience in which you master the most difficult exercises in the spotlight. Roaring applause rewards your successful appearance - at this moment you feel what it's like to be a star at the Galashow of Horses. Features:
 * Countless costumes and Avataroutfits
 * 5 different horse breeds: Lusitanos, Friesians, Hanoverians, Icelandics, and Shetland ponies
 * Theme-Specific horse accessories
 * First ever Horse Show simulation
 * Detailed horse dressage animations (e.g. Pesade, Piaffe, Compliment, Pirouette,...)
 * Glamorous shows combined with horse husbandry and breeding
 * Complete video recording of the show
 * Learning missions

Game Design
A 3D world with a barn house to change your clothes in and start shows, a path to town, a path to a riding field, a training barn, and a paddock with an attached stable.

Horses
All of the horses are different, some coming in different colors, however, you can only own one color of the horse at a time if given multiple options. There are (coat names from game files): All breeds can learn all moves, except the tölt that is exclusive to Icelandics.
 * One Friesian: black. Cost: 4 500 thalers
 * One Shetland Pony: silver dapple. Cost: 1 000 thalers
 * 4 Icelandics: black, chestnut, palomino, silver dapple (all with brown mane). Cost: 2 000 thalers
 * 3 Lusitanos: brown, cremelo, palomino. Cost: 3 500 thalers
 * 2 Hanoverians: brown, chestnut. Cost: 10 000 thalers

Gameplay
Buy horse and equipment, feed and groom horse, train for and then ride in show to get money; repeat.

Riding Mechanics
When zoomed out you move around/steer the horse with the mouse, while max zoom allows for "first-person" riding with the arrow keys. The arrow keys are usable at all zoom levels but are much harder to control, with the WASD keys for walking and pressing and holding SHIFT to canter.



Training is done by moving the mouse - representing a "magical staff", totally not a longe whip - in a certain pattern.

When riding in a show, either you follow the line, or press the right key when going through a circle. Winter Spell show includes vaulting and some other shows include Haute Ecole figures. If you fail, the horse shows its discontent.

Locations
There are six locations in the game.
 * Paddock, where horses waiting for the player
 * Stable, to groom horses
 * Training field, to increase horses endurance
 * Barn house, to dress up and enter shows
 * Indoor arena, to train horses
 * Town with the shop, to buy equipments and items

Locations are all accessible on horse back.

Horse Care
Take care of the horse in the stable: groom the body, mane and tail, and clean hooves. Only one hoof is enough to clean them all.

Shows


The original show names are:
 * Celtic Folks
 * Sparkling Diamonds
 * Spanish Passion
 * Atlantis
 * Spirit of India
 * Moulin Rouge
 * Winter Dreams
 * Trip to the Stars

All shows have their own requirements (horse, moves, equipment) and theme. The improve your score, you need a horse fully groomed and with full shine. Shine is combination of all horse needs (eating, affection, endurance, grooming).

List of figures


Horse figures
 * Tölt (only available for Icelandic)
 * Capriole
 * Compliment
 * Canter pirouette left
 * Canter pirouette right
 * Piaffe Pirouette Left
 * Piaffe Pirouette Right
 * Left canter
 * Right canter
 * Courbette
 * Passage
 * Pesade
 * Piaffe
 * Reference
 * Spanish Step



Vaulting figures
 * Candle
 * Flag
 * Flying Angel
 * Basic Seat
 * Shoulderstand
 * Mil
 * Stand
 * Scissors

Tricks & Hacks
To get back to your original clothes, simply unequip the current clothes.

If a horse cannot be buy, check your money and the horse price.

Shows can be replayed at any moment. For that, open "Open show-list" menu and select the show. The next playing show wil be the selected one.



Winter Dreams sequence (easy)
Winter Dreams show is a little tricky, as the numbers are visible lately. The sequence for the easy stage is: 2 5 3 8 1 6 3 2 8 1 2.



Messing with Game Files
Game files might be modified to make shows easier.

In Steam, the game files are in  folder.

Modify scoring
To modify how scores are computed, go to the  folder and open the   file.

Change the following parameters to improve scoring rate:
 * : the score/money ration. Initial value: 5. Increase the value to have more money with the same score.
 * : score how player accessories are fitted to show. Initial value: 1. Increase the value to higher better score if the accessories are appropriate to the current show.
 * : idem as player accessories but for player clothes.
 * : idem as player accessories but for horse accesories.
 * : idem as player accessories but for horse tacks.
 * : score the horse groom state. Initial value: 50. Increase the value to has more influence of horse groom state on the score.
 * : idem as groom but for horse shine state.
 * : value of each passed check points in the score (the command interval). Initial value: 10.



Easier shows
Show files are in  folder. Each file correspond to a show and to a difficulty level (easy, normal, hard).

Show names in file are:  (even in Steam files).

Open a  and go to   part.

For all shows, the value of  is the number of checkpoints not passed before the show is considered as a failure. Increase the value to allow more failed checkpoints.

For "follow-the-line" shows, parameters are:
 * : distance from which the player will fail if too far from the spotlight.
 * : time outside the spotlight before failing the show.
 * : available area in the spotlight. Increase the value to ensure more breathing room around the center of the spotlight.

For "press-key" shows, parameters are:
 * : distance from the check points where the input is correct. Increase the value to have more time before the circle to press the correct key.
 * : how many times around the check points where the input is correct. Increase the value to have more time after the circle to press the correct key.

Steam Release


The game was re-released on Steam in 2017 as "Equimagic - Galashow of Horses". Since the "Apassionata" brand is now defunct, I would expect the many mentions of it to be gone in that version.
 * The Apassionata main menu & loading screen has disappeared and been replaced by a more classic loading screen featuring the NPC horse and rider from the final show.
 * The show becomes "Galashow of Horses".
 * Money is now called "Show Thaler".
 * All shows are renamed (see below).
 * The "Care Complete" sound is changed.
 * The original release featured a narrator named Peter the Pony, while the Steam release has no narration and a name change from Peter the Pony to Paul.
 * Player vaulting figures are automatically learned.
 * Menus are slightly modified.

Show Names
The original show names are Celtic Folks, Sparkling Diamonds, Spanish Passion, Atlantis, Spirit of India, Moulin Rouge, Winter Dreams, and Trip to the Stars. As compared to the steam version, where the names are: Scottish Folks, A wish upon a Star, Andalusian Passion, Deep-Sea Silence, Journey to India, Can-Can in Paris, Winter Spell, and Through Space and Time.

Steam achievements
Steam version comes with some achievements:
 * Into the Scottish Highlands: Achieve the show 'Scottish Folks'.
 * A Wish Come True: Achieve the show 'A Wish upon a Star'.
 * Mounted Flamenco: Achieve the show 'Andalusian Passion'.
 * Well Arrived: Achieve the show 'Journey to India'.
 * Emerged from the Oceans: Achieve the show 'Deep Sea Silence'.
 * Shaking a Leg: Achieve the show 'Can-Can in Paris'.
 * Enchanted: Achieve the show 'Winter Spell'.
 * Timeless: Achieve the show 'Through Space and Time'.
 * Perfect Show: Ride a perfect show 'Winter Spell'. (see tip section for help)
 * Success in Paris: Earn 950 show thaler in the show 'Can-Can in Paris'.
 * Time is Money: Earn 1400 show thaler in the show 'Through Space and Time'.
 * Grub First...: Feed your Lusitano.
 * A Lot of Love: Achieve 100% of affection on your Hanoverian.
 * Shiny Shetty: Achieve 100% of shine on your Shetland pony.
 * First Ride: Take your Icelandic horse on a long ride.
 * Grooming: Achieve 100% of grooming on your Friesian.
 * Tolting Around: Teach your Icelandic horse to tölt.
 * Full Trained: Teach your Lusitano every trick.
 * Highscore: Achieve an overall show highscore of 7350 points. (update when going to the score menu)
 * Gala Show Tycoon: Own 100 000 show thalers.

Most of achievements are earned during the game.

Nintendo DS Version
The Nintendo DS version of Apassionata is a lower-quality graphical version of the PC game. In the beginning, there is only one Icelandic to choose from, the red roan, rather than 4 options. The layout of the DS version is changed to have more loading screens, as well. The paddocks are split into three rather than just one that all the horses are in, and the training barn switches places with the town entrance. the riding controls are similar to the PC version, with movement being from the touch screen and timing presses using the directional keypad.

Trivia
Based on the (no longer existing) horse show Apassionata.

Credits are shown when you quit the game.

System Requirements & Compatibility
PC (minimum) OS: Windows 10/8/7 Processor: Intel Pentium IV 2 GHz or compatible Memory: 512 MB RAM Graphics: DirectX 9c compatible, 128 bzw. 256 MB RAM, Pixel Shader 2.0 DirectX: Version 9.0c Storage: 1000 MB available space

Languages
In Steam version, available languages are: French, English, Italian, German, Spanish and Russian. Only the text corresponding to your Steam interface is downloaded.

Accessibility
Inputs cannot be changed. The time to press input during shows can be a little short. The show timing can be changed in game files.

Official links

 * Official Trailer
 * Page on developer website

Availability

 * Steam page
 * Download for German demo

Database

 * MobyGames Entry
 * Video Games Museum Entry
 * GameTDB Entry
 * Review on Jeuxvideo.com (French)

Review and Gameplay

 * Gameplay by TSM Channel
 * Gameplay by TSM Channel (French)
 * Gameplay by DerPeci (German)