Make Fishing Simple and relaxing -- (Dev) Replied

I've never played Fate or Torchlight 2, but all I do remember about Torchlight 1's fishing system was thinking it was super boring and being especially displeased by the lack of variety between fishing holes.

 

***HOW ABOUT FLYCASTING***

I like the idea about preparing the bait before hand, then just casting the line in a relaxing way for "NORMAL FISHING".

However for those who like to be active maybe they can add a different style of fishing like flycasting for those who want to be more active while fishing. And maybe both types of fishing can catch different types of fish. Flycasting is a type of fishing that is also relaxing but requires a different style and effort.

Let it be a different skill in the same tree.
(I'm not a fisherman in real life so I really don't know what I'm talking about but it sounds good to me.)

 

****DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FLY FISHING AND REGULAR FISHING****

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090420173710AASwrXy


Now with fly fishing I can understand the minigame because it sounds more complex. It also seems like it would be really fun in game too.

 

I second the idea about fly fishing. It would make fishing more complex, but you could still have the relaxation aspect by making the actual fishing automatic. The challenging, skill based part would be crafting flies. A casual fisher might just buy or craft some standard flies and be on their merry way, while someone a little more dedicated could invest in higher crafting skill, better materials and discovering/buying/creating new tying patterns.

As in real life, particular fly patterns and materials would be better at catching particular fish, under particular conditions. A fly should resemble the usual food for the fish you're trying to catch, so different places would afford different flies (based on the local insects). A really rare/valuable catch would naturally be really picky about what it eats, so you'd have to be a very skilled fly-crafter to make something that would make it bite and the materials needed might be rare as well. Someone skilled at crafting could also sell, trade or give advanced flies to other players, allowing them to get the good stuff as well.

This would preserve the relaxation of simple, automated fishing, and still allow for an extra dimension to the game through making the hunt for those super rare fish require more action that just hitting the 'fish' button. The more elaborate the crafting system is, the more Id like it. A fisherman?s journal was mentioned by redfish, it would be cool to have a journal entry the first time you catch a fish for the first time + trying to get as many types of fish as possible in you journal.

Here is a video of someone tying a simple fly pattern:
http://video.answers.com/how-to-make-the-flying-ant-fishing-fly-276853903

And here is a general overview of fishing fly crafting:
http://www.answers.com/topic/fishing-fly

 

Id like fishing to take a leaf out of casino slot machines. Slot machines have been designed to be addictive and not requiring much effort (relaxing) but also intense as to have some selection of lines to bet etc. I don't know exactly how you can transcribe the psychology of what makes slot machines so simple and addictive to a video game mechanic that replicates this but without the money aspect. At any rate, I'm a proponent of the simpler kind of fishing model compared to the mini-game style complexity. As of course, fishing in real life is relaxing as OP pointed out.

 

There's some great ideas on this thread to make it interactive and relaxing. I'm looking forward to see what they choose to do with that skill.

 

I like both the "flies" idea, to make skill based on how you craft your flies and with what material. But I also like the whole idea of a minigame to make the fishing harder + less skill based and more MY skill at the minigame based.

 

Lineage2 and a complex fishing minigame and everything was more difficult and backwards at night. It was definitely challenging. And improving your skill actually made the whole thing harder (because better fish in theory). In the end, only bots fished.

I actually died fishing a few times because you could catch sea monsters.

 

...continuing the fly-fishing ideas...

I think I have a possible solution to the rift between those who want the actual fishing to be wholly relaxing and those who want it to be an engaging minigame.

My solution is to satisfy both ideals based on different environments. In order to bite the fish needs first be aware of the bait. It has to see it, and if you can cast the line in a way that makes your fly land in the fish's path it will be more likely to bite. And so it follows: in places where the fish can be seen (such as shallow rivers, close to the edge of waters and shores, small ponds etc.) you'd have to use your casting skill actively, for example by moving your mouse to guide the rod, simulating real fly-fishing. You'd be forced to look actively for fish, and then skilfully act on the visual cue to trow the fly to the optimal spot.

In this minigame, whether you catch any fish at all will depend on the flies you use, and on the skill with which you cast. Particular types of fish will have different speeds, swimming patterns, visibility and rarity, and will therefore require different skill levels (obtainable through practice and practice only), strategies and degrees of patience. I believe this would be an immersive and engaging system

However, what about places where the fish cannot be seen (such as deep/wide rivers, far from the edge of waters and shores, big/deep ponds etc.)? Here you can only use the optimal flies for the job, wait and hope for the best. Catching fish here would be based on time and probability, calculated based on the type of bait you use, the total number and ratios of different fish in your location and factor such as weather and time of day.

Getting fish under the latter, more relaxing conditions ought to occur at a more sedated pace for realism and as a tradeoff for the lack of skill required. The two modes of fishing should also be balanced so that both are just as rewarding, but with differences in the types of fish they yield and the ratios of the fish they have in common.

How does this sound? Combining engaging crafting, strategy, mini-gaming and simply waiting, into a single experience of fishing in SotA.

 

I missed this thread previously. Thanks for the all thoughts on fishing! Many great ideas in these comments.

 

+1 for these fishing ideas.

I love relaxing gaming.

 

bait, lure, fly, snag fishing.. all different, all fun.. In Real Life.. It can become tedious and not fun in a game.

generally when I fish I just throw a bait in the water and drink some beer and watch the pole... and then when i get bored i put a lure on it and throw it out there till my arm gets tired then its back to bait and beer... I'm more about a relaxed fishing than an intensive fishing experience where i have to do 1 more multiple things regularly.

so.. im good with that system

there are some fish you can only catch with a snag hook.. (or a net)

 

I went fishing this weekend at a bay and it got me thinking how fishing would be or some of the mechanics/ideas that could be included. There was a dock and that started to get me thinking of a village cabana sitting in the water.

I fished off the edge of the land for a little while. Then I fished off the dock. Different fish were biting. Depending on water level and how far I was off shore. We are only talking about 30 feet into the bay from shore, but there was a difference.

The bay feeds into a lake. The lake feeds into a river. The river into the ocean. Each location significantly different on how to approach fishing.

Someone told me that when the apple blossoms are out, it is time to fish for Rock Bass. As the seasons change, so do the locations of the fish. It would be interesting to have fish move as the seasons are implemented.

Fishing can be very simple but also complex. You can make it more complicated by adding bait, location, boats, ect. Personally, I would like to have the option of how much user interaction would be needed to fish. Each day might be different. One day I might want to just relax compared to jumping on a boat and sailing out into the middle of the ocean for a longer adventure.

There are great ideas already written on this thread on how to differentiate the rewards of the complexity chosen to fish. I agree with most of them. Basically the more complex, the greater the reward.

Keep it simple and give the option to add the complexity for a greater reward.

 

I'm really looking forward to this skill. I hope the skills workout so that I can still be all I want to be and still be a great fisherman. I want the relaxing experience, and I'm also looking forward to the more challenging aspects of fishing brought up in this thread too.

 

Someone said look it up.
So I did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLXjcAx5sjk

 

And I found another fun looking fishing game.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=28988667

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g95VQe9b4IA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ufz8ISt25BY

 

 

@jondavis The Family Fishing game looks nice

I'd also like the weather to have an effect on fishing. Maybe some fish bite more easily while it rains, but it's harder or impossible to catch others. If there is a minigame option then rain would make it a lot harder on visibility of course. It would aslo make you think "Oh, what a nice day for fishing" when logging in, which would feel good, I think, and also make it a bit more immersive. Since we've been promised seasonal weather it would aslo be nice to ice-fish on frozen lakes.

http://www.taiga.net/reports/traditional_fisheries/Icefishing1.jpg

@Eternal Knight - I think there is reason to disagree with the 'more complexity = bigger reward' notion. As someone has pointed out, if you know you won't get good fish by relaxing you'll feel/be forced to engage in the more complex forms of fishing. Having two equal systems, one challenging and one relaxing, yielding equal but different rewards and at different rates may satisfy both camps. The relaxing system should have a slower bite rate, and also rare and valuable fish you wont get in any other way. The complex system should be rewarded with being able catch fish faster.

This way anyone really serious about fishing will have to deal with many situations, strategies, timeframes and environments (as in real life), while someone who just wants to relax can do that while anticipating rare fish, and those who just want a fun and engaging minigame can play that as well.

And I second your idea about integrating seasonal locations for the fish. Btw, from spring to autumn in japan you can find catfish in many rice fields: http://vimeo.com/21077544

 

@BeyondSleepy great post! Love the idea about weather! I also agree about reward.

As long as there is a reason for it in the game it doesn't have to be stressful or a constant grind to get the goodies. Some of us just need to relax and let our imagination take over for a while.

Like you said there can be different rewards. Some people want the action, but might get bored with the slow paced fishing. However the slow paced one should have it's own rewards that those who pursue that field deserve.

 

@Isaiah *MGT470* - Yes, patience is a virtue as well! It would be bad if it were to be forsaken

 

could also make it time of day... much higher catch rates at dusk and dawn.

 

It looked like in that animal crossing video (had day and time in the game) that some fish could only be caught at certain times of the day.
Maybe some more rare creatures might bite on a certain day or time of season.
Not sure if were going to have spring, summer, winter, fall.