Ultimate Fishing® Simulator 2 News

Welcome to this pre-holiday, different time than usual.

You probably know what this post will be about - yes, that's right, the Demo version will not be released this year. I could go on about why, what influenced - but there were so many factors, including COVID-19 and Q&A feedback, that we're not ready to give you game in the current state.

Not that the demo version is not playable. You can play, you can catch fish - but WE decided that we wanted to polish the demo version even more.

Therefore, the demo version will be postponed to January 2021. I hope you will stay here with us for about 5 weeks. Many of you are pushing us to release Early Access as soon as possible - because it builds the community. That's right, but we don't want to give you a product that gets bugged 2077 times (😉 good game tho).

But...that I don't like to leave you with any in-game content reveal, I decided to take some screenshots and record video from the Jackson River map, which will be available in a demo version. Remember that we are still making some corrections here and, for example, fish animations, line physics or water animations are not final yet.

[h3]FYI - everything was captured in the latest demo build :) [/h3]



[h3]Sometimes fish move to fast and I can't get a non-blurred photo :> [/h3]


[h3]Nothing special but still a video ;) [/h3]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

We are as disappointed as you, but you will have to wait about 4-5 weeks.

I wish you Merry Christmas & Happy New Year. I hope all of you and your families are safe & sound.

Until next time!
Rafal

Hello everyone!
It was 2 months, 7 days since last update so..it's a quite long time! But don't worry - we're alive, we're healthy (maybe except Marcin, who "dies" after visiting the dentist) and we're working hard on the game.

So today I would like to share with you some in-game screenshots, information and reveal one of the new in-game features!

Almost forgot - before I will move further, I would like to thank you for all your suggestions and activity on Steam forums. We DO read your feedback and suggestions, keep going!


As you may know, we introduced the underwater camera in Ultimate Fishing Simulator 1. Many of you liked this feature, some of you didn't - but we decided to keep this feature and make it better!

To make it look good, we not only need underwater effects and fish models but a whole underwater bio top with plants, rocks, tree boughs and more!

To make it right it takes more time to develop a single map (location) as we have to manage the "underwater" space. It can't be random, as some fish species prefer special places underwater like sandy bottom or dense vegetation.

Here you can see the effects of our work. And yeah - it looks good! I know and you know what is better? It's a 101% in-game screenshot!






Many - like really A LOT of you always pointed out that the weakest point of UFS1 was fish A.I.

After last Q&A some of you asked about if fish can grow up. And you know what? We decided that they will do that!

I bet you are now curious how it will work. So, let's make it clear but before it, two information about fish roaming and need-zones (yep, new features):

• [h3]Need Zones & fish roaming[/h3]
  Each map will have special zones: feeding, resting and free roam. Feeding & resting zones may be different or same for a few fish species.
  
  Once you enter the map, fish will spawn randomly on the map with random age & hunger. When fish hunger level will reach a specific hunger level, it will swim to another location to find new feeding zone. Once they are fully fed, they can free roam or rest.
  
  
  
  
• [h3]Fish growth & age[/h3]
  After your suggestion, we decided to add fish age and growth system. That means - each fish will grow up in real-time!
  
  As I mentioned earlier fish will spawn with random age & size and they will grow up. Feeding is really important here as it allows fish to grow up faster.
  
  Fish will grow up, will be older - which means it will also LOOK different witch each "stage" and at the end, they will die...and come back as a "fry".
  
  
  
  
• [h3]Feeding[/h3]
  Here we have a small surprise for you. Most of the fish will swim to the feed-zones to satisfy hunger but what about predators? They will eat other fish! Once predators like pike or bass are big enough to swallow other fish - they will do it, and it will make them bigger.
  
  Predators will be allowed to roam after their prey to their feed-zone but if they will find, a small fish during their free-roam it's also possible that they will eat it.

The important change here. We decided that fish will not hang on the walls anymore. Each fish you would like to keep, or will be your Personal Best - will be put in the aquarium that will be located in a trophy room.

Unfortunately, we don't have a screenshot for this feature yet :(


Right now we are under finishing brand new 5 fish locations:

• Rentyny (Poland)
  
  
  
• Wild Forest (Russia)
  
  
  
• Jackson (USA)
  
  
  
• Mountain River (Canada)
  
  
  
• City Strait (Germany)
  
  
  
• In-progress / early development (Thailand)
  

Free DEMO will be released by the end of this year, and the Early Access version should be available in early January 2021.

Early Access is really important for us as we have SO many features to be added!

Regards,
Rafal

Good morning everyone!
It's Sunday and it's time for Q&A part 2! :)

Remember that some texts visible on the images are in the Polish language as we didn't translate the game into English yet.

[h3]Q: Dovetail's new fishing game has been getting lambasted in reviews for being a copy/paste of their previous game. Have you done anything to avoid this or are you happy with small changes to the previous version?[/h3]

UFS2 is not using files or source code from UFS1. It's a completely new game.

[h3]Q: Is there a progression system - does buy new gear feel like you're actually advancing and getting more equipped, or just an advertisement ploy like in every other arcade fisher these days?[/h3]

Yes, there will be a progression system based on experience. It will affect items in the store and skills that can be unlocked. A higher level is synonymous with the possibility of purchasing better equipment and other types of equipment.

[h3]Q: You said the fish are already in the water and not generated. Does this mean there is a limited amount of fish available in one session? Are the fish sizes pre-determined? Doesn't seems fun to know exactly how big the fish is via the underwater cam before you try to catch it.[/h3]

No. Fish are randomly generated on the map once you entered it but when you take out the fish from the water and will consider to sell it - new random fish will be spawned on its place.

[h3]Q: Have you considered making a more realistic, in-depth fishing game, or are you guys happy with the simplistic arcade trend?[/h3]

We are considering creating one more difficulty profile called "hardcore realism" but it is too early to say anything about it.

[h3]Q: How will US2 be different from the other fishing games? What have you learnt? Please discuss the exciting new feature that never has been seen before?[/h3]
It's hard to answers this question. All fishing games are similar but what we learned from the previous project is to Listen to The Community. Most of you have incredible ideas (including ones that are really hard to develop) and we would like to support players that are really devoted to supporting this project with feedback.

[h3]Q: Early access?[/h3]
Early access is all about collecting players feedback, ideas and share our ideas about game development. We have our roadmap and development process that we stick to but there is also a place for collecting and implementing players ideas.

[h3]Q: Will bait be more challenging in the game?[/h3]
Interesting and unique idea. We will have to talk about this. Challenge will be provided for sure by implementing dynamic (migrating) fish spawns.

[h3]Q: Will there be real weight in the game? The harder the fish splash the more pressure and weight gets put on the rod.[/h3]
Weight and fish sizes will affect rod bend and reel drag.

[h3]Q: Will fish be able to run into a log like bass and get your line stuck like in real life?[/h3]
The underwater environment will be varied and we would like to assign some spots to certain fish species. At these moments it's too early to talk about it.

[h3]Q: Interaction with the water?[/h3]
Yes, fish will interact with water-like ripples, bubbles or splashes. Same with fishing line and lures.

[h3]Q: Underwater camera?[/h3]
Yes, UFS2 will have a new underwater camera. We hope it will be more advanced than the previous one! We will introduce here follow camera after bait throw! :)



[h3]Q: Will fish have lives and growth?[/h3]
No. Fish will be randomly generated but they will have dynamic spawns and need-zones. So they will roam around waterbody.

[h3]Q: Tag your fish! It is good if you can tag that fish you caught so if you caught it again it be special! It means the fish is really in the water.[/h3]
Second interesting idea but as there will be a trophy room, fish tagging may not be an urgent need. We will create a few surveys where you will be able to vote for the next features.

[h3]Q: Could they be animals added later in the game to bring out the realism of the fishing series?[/h3]
Yes, we plan to add more life to the waterways and maps.

[h3]Q: Could they be an aquarium in the game later on?[/h3]
Possible ;)

[h3]Q: Can lakes be maintained? So you need to add in more fish and you can customize what fish you want to catch![/h3]
Once we will introduce level editor in the game, you will be able to create and customize your maps.

[h3]Q: Will you bring in real lakes in real life?[/h3]
Our maps are usally based on real-life locations.

[h3]Q: What types of fishing will there be in the game? Will there be fly fishing or river fishing?[/h3]
As in UFS1, we plan to add many fishing techniques including fly fishing, bottom fishing, etc.

[h3]Q: Physics & behaviour - bad rod & fish physics and behaviours break the immersion every time - pay as much attention to getting this right as possible.[/h3]
As I wrote above - it will be changed. All game mechanics are redone - so everything is basically new.

[h3]Q: Bite rates & simulation - as many of the posters have noted, it is impossible to please everyone with one mode. I believe that the best solution here is to create a couple of different modes/difficulty levels - ideally with separate rankings. In a simulation model, fish densities &/or bite rates could be dropped accordingly to cater to those who want to be as close to the real experience as possible. For those who need to cram the experience of a full day fishing into an hour after work bites &/or densities can be much higher so that the action is relatively constant. Things like the hunter sight and underwater camera could be disabled by default in Sim mode but they really do add something in UFS so wouldn't lose them from the game.[/h3]

Bite rates, game difficulty and "simulation level" will depend from chosen difficulty during creating a game profile.

[h3]Q: Progression/currency/experience etc - it is great having a number of different mechanisms in the game to give a consistent sense of progression (FP/TF does this well with all of the challenges and missions in addition to levels, and the "RPG" elements of UFS are nice too - don't rely on one mechanism only, and don't let it become a "grind-fest") - you should ideally have a feeling that you can achieve something most if not all times you play. (This doesn't just have to be levels - you could extend and refine the RPG skill tree, build out far more achievements, allow earning of particular skins/outfits & gear that looks differentiated etc - each could have their own path to earn)[/h3]

We have learned that there needs to be a long-term motivation for players to keep them interested in the game. Some of the players may feel good only with catching fish but some of them are expecting adventures like missions, quest or something else that would interest the player or give them an alternative way to play the game.



[h3]Q: Reward per fish - every game seems to load the rewards onto the absolute rather than relative size of the fish. This means that although many devs pop smaller species in the games once you have caught one of each it is pointless fishing for them - this is a real waste of effort for the devs, and also means the fishermen aren't getting the most benefit from the diversity. Rather than absolute weight, reward players on the relative weight of a catch within the species - i.e. if you get a record-breaking minnow that should serve you as well as a record-breaking marlin - that way, you reward and encourage players to explore and hunt down every species that you add. For competitions, have more varied win conditions than total weight, and allow solo competitions vs bots just to give another game mode.[/h3]

Each species have it's own body weight-length multipliers. So if there is a small fish, that is really hard to catch it may give you more experience but not much money (due to its small weight). So for example, if you would like to progress fast - you will catch fish that is potential "hard" or "extreme" to find or fight with them require a lot of work, and from the other side you have popular fish species which with higher weight will give you more money but you will receive less experience. It's just an idea but we think about it seriously.

[h3]Q: Diversity - FP/TF have managed to cram a huge variety of locations and species into their game and this really pays off. Putting aside the issues with the game for a minute - it takes a huge number of days to explore all locations and catch all of the species (particularly if you are also collecting the trophy and unique of each where available) - by contrast in just a couple of days I had fished every location in UFS and caught one of each - a real shame as I start to feel that there is not much left to explore after only ~14 hours or so (vs. the 500+ that I have spent on TF to date). In the same vein, the more different techniques the better.[/h3]

We will also have waterways located around the globe. We will not only limit maps to rivers and lakes. You will be able to fish on the seas, oceans, deltas or marshlands! And don't forget about ice fishing! About fish species - it's a long process, as our new models will have more animations but as always we would like to reach over 100+ species in UFS2 (including DLC's).

[h3]Q: Modding tools - if you can invest the time and energy in getting the underlying engine, physics and behaviour models right, hopefully, this would allow your dev team to then more rapidly add new environments and species to help address point 5. If this were possible to extend further to allow community-created content it could lead to a huge range of options to build a long-living and engaged community.[/h3]

Modding is cool - but we didn't plan it at any stage. If we will do a Level Editor, we will want to integrate it with the Steam Workshop.

[h3]Q: Can they be spectators in the game? So other players can watch other players fish? They can record their fishing while playing and have players able to rotate their cam view to see a different angle of the player. It could be restricted too only a few views from the owner but this could prove exciting so the player can get the first-hand action on the catch! :)[/h3]

It's an interesting feature. We talked about it and it is possible to do after full game release in one of the future updates.

[h3]Q: Will it have a better display of other players? I want to see how my friends use the fishing rod to fight (including the splash on the water of other players.) I hope the VR mode can simulate the feeling of two friends fishing/.[/h3]
Yes, you will be able to see other players and their actions/movement.





[h3]Q: Are you gonna answer all those questions that all players are asked?[/h3]

I will try to talk with the team and answer all the questions!

[h3]Q: Are there visible or can you see AI fisherman bots in tournaments?[/h3]
It's possible to implement bots but we didn't focus on it right now. If it will be requested by the community we will do it. There will be a lot on surveys, where players will be able to vote for the next feature.

[h3]Q: Can you add or see AI fisherman in free form mode?[/h3]
As above.

[h3]Q: Option to choose Male/Female fisherman when you create your game profile?[/h3]
It will be possible.

[h3]Q: Multiprofile support?[/h3]
Yep! Same as in UFS1.

[h3]Q: Can players get at least "15-25%" -loyalty discount if you own the "UFS 1" -game?"[/h3]
Yes, UFS1 players will receive a loyalty discount.

Kind Regards,
Rafal - COO in Ultimate Games S.A.

Hello everyone,
today is a great day for fishing. We have good weather, temperature and fantastic atmospheric pressure but I am not fishing outside - this time I was preparing answers for our first Q&A.

To be honest some of you posted a really long essay but what is most important for me - you wrote really nice, substantive and constructive questions.

As there was a lot of questions and many answers I allowed myself to divide this news into two parts.

Here is the first one! Enjoy - and remember if you have any questions just post them on the forum. If I will be able to answer them I will do it but you must remember that we can't reveal some development details :)

Ps. Text visible on the image is in the Polish language as we didn't translate the game into English yet.

[h3]Q: Will the game be playable offline?[/h3]
Yes. The game will be playable offline but it will also contain the complete multiplayer experience.

[h3]Q: Will there be a map editor like ufs1?[/h3]
We talked about it and this is still considered. It will be not available in the early access release but maybe it will be added as separate DLC or future update.



[h3]Q: Will you have imperial and metric units?[/h3]
Yes, we will support both.

[h3]Q: Will there be a much more interesting and useful skill system? Can you give examples of which skills there will be?[/h3]
UFS2 will have different skills from UFS1. We are still planning most of them but here is one example:

"Strongman" - allows you to carry more equipment and keep more fish in the net.

[h3]Q: Will it support VR and will there be a mask option in the character creator?[/h3]
VR support will be added in one of the future updates. About character customization - you will be able to choose gender (male/female) and change clothes.

[h3]Q: Will owner of UHS 1 get a little discount?[/h3]
Of course! There will be a loyalty-discount after release for owners of UFS 1.

[h3]Q: Are known exploits such as pumping the rod and pushing it to the red then re-pumping to reset line tension planned to be removed entirely or a new system implemented? Are measures being taken to prevent future exploits?[/h3]
Physics, fishing line and all other systems are made from scratch. We will do our best to avoid exploits but we like always count on players and their feedback. It is a very important part of development, and as I said before - player feedback is always our priority.

[h3]Q: Is this going to be another professional fishing or is this a dedicated project?[/h3]
It's a fully dedicated product, supervised by Ultimate Games S.A. It will receive long-term support as UFS1.

[h3]Q: Will there be Multiplayer interaction, will we be able to see the complete model of the other players or will it be like in UFS # 1?[/h3]
Yes and no! Multiplayer in UFS2 will have complete 3D models with full-rigged animations and models. About interaction between players on the map - it's a bit more complicated. If we would implement interaction between players and their equipment there would be probably a lot of problems caused by other players like tangling your fishing line, taking your boat, etc.



[h3]Q: Can we create Fishing Clubs?[/h3]
We are still considering social features that should be implemented in the game. It will be probably available after full game release in one of the future updates.

[h3]Q: Will we also have a Trophy Room ?? (the biggest differential of UFS # 1)[/h3]
Yes! There will be a complete new Trophy Room system with some new features!

[h3]Q: Will this project be for a closed development game like UFS # 1(with only X DLCs) or will it be a Multiplayer-focused game with periodic content updates and DLCs?[/h3]
It will receive new DLC's like new maps (with new fish species) but we didn't plan any of them yet. So far we are focusing on creating a basic game with the best possible player experience. It is too early to say anything about DLC, their price and quantity. About multiplayer - it will be a complete system.

[h3]Q: Why did you abandon the UFS # 1 logo and colour patterns, it was much more beautiful?[/h3]
We just found out that it was hard to fit in many places on Steam or in media. We had a few proposals and we liked this one.

[h3]Q: Will there be any kind of shark fishing? Can we customize our characters for online play? How do you plan to expand upon the first game (will this new game just be new maps)?[/h3]
UFS1 already had sharks (goblin, Greenland or blacktip reef shark ) but as far as I know, many players are talking about fights and just "experience" while catching sharks which isn't so good in UFS1. Here we are focusing on making fights more unique and unpredictable. Hope you will like sharks jumps over the water and rod work!

About character - I wrote about it above. UFS2 will be mostly a brand new game but we are still keeping offline mode, underwater camera, game modes (normal, realistic, sandbox, etc.). You will not find any old maps in UFS2 - every map will be a new one. We will try to implement here features that were requested by UFS1 players and of course your ideas&suggestions collected after Early Access release.

[h3]Q: Will there be bass and such in the future?[/h3]
Yes, there will be many bass species: largemouth, smallmouth, black crappie, white crappie, pumpkinseed, peacock bass, striped bass.



[h3]Q: Will there be an overhaul of the menu/UI?[/h3]
UI/GUI/HUD will be new. Here are some examples:


[h3]Q: Will u be doing any sort of beta testing to help pinpoint bugs?[/h3]
The game will be released in Early Access but we will release also a free demo version (with one map) before it. Early Access is made to collect users feedback and share our ideas about game development. We want to consider every Yes & No against new features and ideas.

[h3]Q: I found money FAR too easy to acquire in UFS. Is the currency system, assuming there is one, going to be more fleshed out and rewarding, instead of throwing cash in the players face?[/h3]
Economy balance has to be redone. It will require a lot of feedback from players but we think it will be also different depends on game mode selected (normal, realistic,etc.)

Kind Regards,
Rafał - COO. Ultimate Games S.A.

Hello everyone,
I would like to invite you to take part in some kind of AMA in this thread. You can post all your questions in this thread and we will try to answer all of them (if possible).

You can post your questions here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1136380/discussions/0/2577696996222344891/