Fishing Mega-Game news & patch notes

Fishing Mega-Game has been out for 1 week as of today and the reception and support has been wonderful, thank you everyone! From reviews, community posts, and discord there have been a few points of the game that people would like to see improvements on. I am planning on a few updates to address these! From QoL updates, to brand new features, here are some of the items you can expect within the next few weeks.

UI Updates

Here's a brief sneak peak at some of that. As you can see, "Catch Meter" is being replaced with the name of the fish, making it clear who you're about to catch. Also at the bottom right the current shiny chance will be displayed! Beyond this I am looking into the best way to make it clear to the player which fish they have and have not caught while underwater, having up to 3 silhouettes can be confusing.

Level-Up Endgame

A few players have noted that upon leveling up too far, they were being presented with no options for level ups. I've decided to make that experience a bit more interesting by letting the player gain more money, increase shiny odds, or just heal if they really need it. I expect this to change how players tackle shiny hunting and money farming. These values are subject to change!

The above features can be expected sooner than later as the first post-release update to Fishing Mega-Game! I still have more ideas for later enhancements to the game, and I will always consider player feedback!

Hello and thanks for playing!

I am happy with the smooth release for Fishing Mega-Game, I have begun looking for minor bugs and adjustments to increase the player experience!

One major bug has come to my attention, so I have quickly cleared it. In the process I also released two smaller discrepancies that were safe for release.

Bug Fix: Gauntlet Spawner

In the gauntlet levels a bug was discovered where enemy fish would stop spawning under certain conditions. Because gauntlet levels require a certain number of defeated enemies, this would force the player to restart. This is now resolved and the gauntlets will spawn enemies until you, your bait, or your PC can't handle it anymore (The PC comment is mostly a joke ːsilentslimeː).

Minor Fix: Salmon Run

The level display for Salmon Run was displaying a confusing order of fish, this was causing player confusion when the spawn points in the level itself, did not match. I have now corrected it to the below.

This is minor, but I feel it's important to the player experience. I will take some time to identify whether or not this issue is apparent in other levels.

Minor Fix: Enchantment Achievement

I have fixed the achievements for catching a fish with active enchantment modifiers to properly account for the active enchantments.

Thank you for your support!

As of today 1.0 of Fishing Mega-Game is released on steam!

The full version features 65 fish to catch and over 30 levels spread across two new overworld areas. The full version also features some quality of life adjustments and visual enhancements that were needed from the demo.

I will keep my eye out for any possible issues that may arise, so please reach out with any bugs or suggestions!

I have just released a pre-release patch to the demo to include some adjustments made to the overall experience of the game.

Loss Screen

Previously, sand dollars were only earned upon catching a fish successfully. With this update I have decided that sand dollars can be earned even when a fish is not caught. Good luck with the money!

Meta Upgrades

I have changed the demo meta upgrades to contain the first level of all 6 meta upgrades that will be in the full release. The full release will allow these to continue to level up to 5!

Treasure Fix

A bug was identified where the "Skip" button was active before any treasure was displayed, this was causing users to accidentally skip treasure by accidentally clicking too fast. I have made the adjustments to this screen so that the skip button is not initialized until upgrades are shown, and that the first upgrade will be auto-focused!

Music

The two main fishing themes have been extended! The composer did a great job making a longer and more satisfying loop. I personally can't get enough of the music for "Fresh Start."

Thank you! Please enjoy the full release January 21st!

I have released a minor patch for the demo which aims to make the treasure chest experience more fair to the player!

Treasure Markers

When you are within a set radius from a treasure chest, a marker will be displayed to let you know where it is, additionally a sound effect will play in order to alert you. I hope this addition makes finding treasure easier in your runs. Treasure chests contain powerful upgrades that can juice up any build.

Additionally a sound effect has been added to boss fish in order to give them a more "menacing" presence

Demo patch 1.4 is out now and is full of various updates! At the beginning of Fishing Mega-Game's development I had planned to release the treasure feature, but felt it wasn't ready. Well, now it is!

Changelog

Major Changes

Some more information on these will be posted below!

• Treasure chests have been added to each level, seek them out!

• Each level has had it's visuals improved to feel more vibrant and aquatic.

• Balances have been made to the combat system to make some upgrades more viable. (Nothing was nerfed!)

Minor Changes

Bugs and QoL

• Fixed an issue where under certain circumstances, fish could spawn outside of the level.

• Level-Up choices can now be skipped so players aren't forced to choose an unwanted attack.

• Tutorial text has been changed to address updates.

• Experience shells have been adjusted to increase performance.

Detailed Changes

Treasure Chests have been added!

Keep an eye out in every level for treasure chests which are mostly randomly populated! These can be picked up the same way that shells are, but instead of experience points, they offer one of three exclusive powerful upgrades. These upgrades can either be large stat upgrades, or unique alterations to your current attacks.

These upgrades correspond to what attacks you currently have equipped, so choose carefully. These can turn the tide of a level quickly!

Visual Enhancements

I have created a shader that makes levels look more aquatic! Furthermore I can apply colors to it to give the world a more colorful look. We have also edited our level tilesets to have different color themes. The demo features a mossy green! The new trailer showcases some of the new level looks that use these colors, please take a look!

Balances

I am striving to make Fishing Mega-Game a balanced bullet heaven full of over powerful builds and fun challenges. To do so I have changed every enemy's health and speed values as well as how they scale throughout the level. In accordance with this, I have also increased the damage of many player attacks as well as how they scale. Please try them out!

What's next?

In regard to the demo, I am not planning any more major updates! I will however be making minor changes as I see fit. Fishing Mega-Game will be featured as part of October's Steam Next Fest, so if you see any bugs or inconsistencies in the demo, please reach out on discord!

For the full release, the remaining overworld maps are about 80% done at the moment! I also have a few new levels developed, some of which can be seen in the trailer.

With demo patch 1.3 I have aimed to heavily improve the onboarding process. Feedback from playtesters and content creators have made it clear that this was lacking. This update should give an new and returning player a better explanation of how the game works, as well as what is in the demo and what may come after!

Changelog

Major Changes

These changes will be explained with further detail down below!

• Default difficulty adjustment.

• The fish menu now contains all fish to be added at release.

• UI has been added to indicate if an area can be enchanted.

• When applicable, music correctly loops now.

• SFX and music volume settings will now be saved.

• UI has been added to show active attack abilities while fishing.

• New player experience has been improved.

Minor Changes

Bugs and smaller adjustments

• Text has been modified for clarity.

• Shell color has been adjusted for visibility, new tiers of shells have been added.

• Corrected an error where having a shiny fish would block you from selecting it's basic form unless you toggled it on first.

• Enchantment rates have been adjusted.

Detailed Changes

Default difficulty adjusted

All three available levels have had their spawn rates changed, and the crayfish have been slowed down a degree. Previously there was a big issue, especially in the second level where crayfish would appear too early, putting a huge strain on the player as they searched for a catch. Crayfish still spawn after some time, and they are still very fast, but now they will spawn later, giving the player time to build up their defenses.

All fish have been added

While the demo only contains 4 catchable fish, the full list of 65 is visible. Certain details are kept hidden, their shadow and base area are revealed for now. Please look forward to their full appearances later on!

Enchanted UI

Enchantments exist to alter the difficulty and increase shiny probability for fish. Enchantments are only available on a level if every fish in that level has been caught. UI has been added to show whether that is the case or not.

Enchantments are available.

Enchantments are active.

Music looping

Most music in Fishing Mega-Game was meant to loop. The composer has made adjustments to the existing songs so that we can loop them properly. This creates a better auditory experience while fishing.

Sound settings can be saved!

Previously when adjusting the music and SFX volume levels, they would revert to 100% after restarting. Now they will save and reapply automatically to save player's the hassle or re-doing it.

Active attack UI

While fishing, you may select 3 attacks in addition to the base attack. This was not very clear originally, so UI has been added to display all active attacks.

New player experience and tutorial windows

While the core gameplay loop of Fishing Mega-Game is similar to popular survivors-like games, there are unique differences that were not made clear. To combat this, tutorial windows are now available. When beginning Fishing Mega-Game for the first time, tutorial windows will automatically display to nudge the player into catching their first fish. Once they have, these tutorials can still be read from the pause menu. Additionally, tutorial windows have been added to the fish, shop, and enchantment menus under the "?" button. These should answer all questions related to the mechanics.

What's next?

I have one more planned demo patch. Currently the demo is lacking "treasure" that will appear while fishing. These treasure chests will contain more powerful upgrades for the player.

I will also implement minor changes such as:

• Skipping level up upgrades when you do not like the selection.

• Damage scaling to make some upgrades grow in potential faster than their stronger counterparts.

After that, I will continue solely on the remaining zones, levels and fish! I will still be updating the demo based on feedback, so as always, feel free to join the discord!

Demo Patch 1.2 is released!

Here is a list of what has changed:

• Minor text corrections

• Attack damage adjustments

• Corrected an error where cage amount upgrades didn't register

• Experience shells updated to be pink for better visibility

• Corrected a drop rate bug

• Fixed an issue where multiple menus could open at the same time

• Properly implemented music loops

• Adjusted certain sound effects

• Changed sand dollar calculation to no longer be health dependent

• Added idle animations for the player and NPCs

Future Updates

While I continue work on the rest of the game I will be releasing another larger balance patch soon. This will adjust the difficulty, especially for "First Pond" which can be very hard at first! I will also implement better tutorials so that players can be onboarded much more seamlessly.

Thanks!

These updates come from videos and streams as well as player-given feedback. Feel free to join the conversation, here!

Thank you!

With Steam's Fishing Festival coming to an end I wanted to thank the 1000+ players who downloaded Fishing Mega-Game's demo! This is a wonderful milestone and will help development greatly.

Feedback

Throughout the week of the festival I received a lot of very valuable feedback regarding the demo experience and any bugs that were discovered. I have made myself tasks to address these comments and concerns. I would like to let everyone know that if you are interested in seeing game updates, or sharing feedback, please join my discord, where I have channels set up for this purpose.

Additional thank you, creators!

I had a lot of fun watching the VODs and Youtube videos of those who played the demo. If you're interested in seeing these, there are several Fishing Mega-Game videos on Youtube!

What's Next?

Fishing Mega-Game is currently planned to be released by the end of the year. Beyond the demo content, there will be about 50 fish to catch, two new large zones with levels, many enemies and a new level type!

While I continue development on these features, I am also improving the demo and tutorial experience to properly introduce and explain gameplay mechanics in addition to balance and bug fixing. I will announce demo updates here and on discord!

I hope to see you there!