Call of the Wild: The Angler™ News

Fish amid stunning waterways and mighty canyons when the South Africa Reserve releases March 26 on PC and consoles.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Bond with friends whilst exploring South Africa's diverse biomes, immerse yourself in the challenge of catching 16 native species (13 of which are brand new), or complete missions at the newly introduced Fishing Hubs.
Wishlist now!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2500370/Call_of_the_Wild_The_Angler__South_Africa_Reserve/

[h2]Fish for 16 fish species[/h2]
South Africa's beautiful waterways are home to 16 unique species, including 13 all-new discoveries like the African Sharptooth Catfish, African Mottled Eel, and Spotted Bass. Go catch these new species, adjust your technique based on their habits and characteristics, and feel the thrill of the fight as your skills are put to the test.


[h2]Master new missions[/h2]
Complete missions and hone your skills at the newly introduced Fishing Hubs. Exclusive to South Africa, Fishing Hubs present a new way to improve your fishing techniques. Visit each Hub, tackle their individual missions, and earn exclusive rewards inspired by the reserve itself.


[h2]Invite a friend[/h2]
Fishing is more fun with friends. When you purchase South Africa, not only can you invite a friend who owns the base game to join you for free, but this offer also extends to our other reserves too!


[h2]Discover South Africa [/h2]
Experience the breathtaking natural beauty of South Africa as you discover stunning landmarks, explore the prehistoric Dino Park, or navigate through mighty canyons and vast savannahs. All while discovering picturesque fishing spots, peaceful vistas, and learning more about South Africa.


Also coming on March 26, the free 1.6.0 update introduces Vehicle Storage, a Customization UI Overhaul, Fast Travel to Vehicle, and more. Read more below!


Here’s a snapshot of what will be arriving with the free update:

[h2]Vehicle Storage[/h2]
Vehicles will act as your portable storage. Avoid unnecessary trips back to the shop and swap out your gear on the go from either your boat or 4x4.

Dev Note: Having to go back to the Shop to access your storage or even swap reserves so you don't lose your fishing spot (yes, we know!) interrupted the fishing experience, so we've made the storage accessible from your vehicles at any time.

[h2]Customization UI Overhaul[/h2]
As we've expanded our range of cosmetics for your avatar, the old list-based customization menu has become bloated and unwieldy. To remedy this, we're adopting a tile-based menu so you can clearly see everything you own and instantly switch to what you want without having to scroll through a long list.

Dev Note: Out with the old text based lists! In comes a new customization suite that has icons for players to easily see their item collection.

[h2]Fast Travel to Vehicle[/h2]
You'll be able to fast travel to any of your spawned vehicles within a reserve whenever you choose. Getting around has never been easier!

Dev Note: We love exploring the beautiful reserves, but sometimes you want to get around quicker and spend more time fishing. Fast traveling to a vehicle is possible by selecting any vehicle currently spawned from the map screen.

Stay tuned for more details soon!


[h2]Fish or Dare![/h2]
We’ve teamed up with our friends at Dare Drop once again to create an exciting campaign filled with activities. More information about when this Dare Drop event kicks off will be revealed soon!

[h2]Stream[/h2]
Join Jaxy on Wednesdays at 6 PM CET / 12 PM EST for The Tackle Box live streams. We might even take you on a short trip to South Africa ;) Catch us on Twitch and YouTube – you won’t want to miss it!
And if you haven't done so already, don't forget to enable notifications to receive alerts for the weekly Tackle Box live stream!

[h2]Join the Angling Community[/h2]
Make a splash in our official Discord community. Stay up to date with all things The Angler, participate in weekly competitions, and celebrate your most impressive catches with us! You’ll even find helpful resources whether you’re a veteran or a novice. Just remember to read the #faq and pick your #roles before diving in!

Loving the game? Let us know via review!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1408610/Call_of_the_Wild_The_Angler/

Having issues? We’re here to help! Head to our Support Portal to submit a report.

[h2]In Case You Missed It[/h2]

[h3]Patch 1.5.5[/h3]
In February, Patch 1.5.5 went out and brought some exciting new features! If you missed it you can now fish for four brand new species in Norway, customize your look with more beards and hair, enjoy more fresh-looking menus, and we added the much requested 3rd person camera to vehicles. There were also some casting improvements that have been touched up a bit in our latest fixes!

Jaxy is really lovin' the new beard!

[h3]Online is Back[/h3]
We had issues with our servers during the busier hours for a while there, but they have since been fixed. This was mostly affecting multiplayer functions. It took a while for us to confirm that everything is back in order, but we want to let you folks know that you should be all good to play with your friends again.

[h2]Coming to a Patch Near You Soon™[/h2]

[h3]The Next Reserve[/h3]
We can’t wait to go on our next adventure with you. We’re almost there! We’re bringing our finest bucket hat, lures, and a free can of worms we had laying around. Does that help you pack your luggage?

[h3]Character Customization Screen[/h3]
The character customization is getting a shiny new menu! We jazzed it up so that you can see all of your loot at a glance instead of having to scroll through your items to find the one thing you’re lookin’ for!



[h2]In Early Development[/h2]

[h3]Multiplayer Parties[/h3]
Multiplayer parties are getting there! To make playing with your friends easier, we’re working on an entirely new invite system. We want to make it much easier to crack open a cold one with the anglers 🎣

[h2]In VERY Early Development[/h2]

[h3]Changing the Time of Day[/h3]
We heard your feedback about being able to choose when in the day you fish, and we agree! It came with its own challenges as changing time of day freely in a multiplayer server would cause chaos, which is why we’re working on implementing a way to choose your server based on the time of day you want to fish.



Well with all of this being said, keep your eyes peeled for news about the new reserve, cause it’s coming real soon! Aaand…

Happy Anglin’,

Gaz & the Community Team 🐟

P.S. If you're enjoying The Angler, leave us a review! It helps us a ton.

P.P.S. If you’d like to inform us about your feedback or bugs, we highly recommend joining the Official Discord. We read your feedback just about every day!

[h2]Patch Notes[/h2]

[h3]Gameplay[/h3]

• The bail arm no longer closes automatically when using a lure or jighead spinning rig, which used to prevent players' bait from sinking.
  

[h3]Audio[/h3]

• We’ve fixed a bug with the boat engine audio that would cause it to play continuously in certain instances.
  

For some time now, there have also been online issues across platforms. We assure you all that we're working hard to understand the cause and swiftly solve this. We want to be transparent that it will take some more time to get these online features back to where they need to be, but we are working to get our servers running properly again as soon as possible.

Thank you for all your feedback & happy fishing!

Hotfix 1.5.6 is live and addresses multiple issues discovered after Patch 1.5.5 release last week. Read the patch notes below for more information.

[h3]Gameplay[/h3]

• We've fixed a crash that occurred for some players returning to Golden Ridge Reserve, Norway, or Spain after leaving and saving the game in a boat before Patch 1.5.5.
  
• We've resolved an issue that previously caused the first 25% of the Accessible Cast feature's power bar to be unusable, leading to delayed or failed casts.

[h3]Graphics[/h3]

• The issue of pixelated reflections on water when using Ultra graphical settings, caused by an SSR problem, has now been resolved.
  
• We’ve fixed an issue with broken extended/painted shadows sometimes seen on the ground.
  

Thank you to everyone who gave us feedback for 1.5.5 and enabled us to get this hotfix out as soon as we could! Happy fishing :)

[h2]Welcome to Patch 1.5.5![/h2]

We have exciting updates waiting for you in this one. A new vehicle camera perspective, undiscovered fish species in Norway, and fresh customization options with new hairstyles and facial hair. Plus, we've tightened up gameplay with key bug fixes. More details below!

[h2]Highlights[/h2]

[h3]Hit the roads and waterbodies with a new perspective[/h3]
The third person camera option has been added for all vehicle types. Whether you're navigating the land in a 4x4 or traversing waters by boat, you can now enjoy a new camera point from above and behind the vehicle.

Dev Team’s Notes: We had already added a selection of extra static cameras to vehicles, but we saw that some players were still suffering from motion sickness over the rugged terrain. Hopefully, the all new 3rd person camera will offer a smoother ride as you explore the various reserves.

[h3]New fish species discovered in Trollsporet Nature Reserve[/h3]
Four new fishes have arrived in Norway - Alpine Bullhead, European Bullhead, Common Dace and Ruffe.

Dev Team’s Notes: With bottom fishing added as a new fishing technique recently, we wanted to offer more bottom lurking fish in Norway, so there's more to catch while down in the depths. We’ve also recognized that most of the fish in Norway were larger species, so we've added some smaller fish to balance it out as seen in other reserves.

[h3]Unleash your style with new facial and hair styles[/h3]
We've expanded character customization with four versatile hairstyles and two additional facial hair options, allowing even more ways to personalize your angler. In addition, we've made our original hairstyles compatible with all body types and enhanced the look of the classic mustache.

Dev Team’s Notes: The options for hair and facial hair styles have been somewhat restricted, with only a single hairstyle available for each body type, excluding the bald option. However, the new additions are accessible for both body types and can be modified using the complete range of color swatches.


[h2]Features and QoL Improvements[/h2]

[h3]Gameplay[/h3]

We've improved the casting mechanics to make them more accurate and reliable. Now, you'll find it much easier to cast your line exactly where you want in the water, no matter the angle or distance.
Dev Team’s Notes: Casting is a fundamental part of the experience in the Angler. We noticed that manual casting sometimes seemed too simplistic and, unfortunately, led to many unsuccessful casts. To make it more gratifying, we've updated how the game understands your actions and added horizontal control during the casting movement. This should result in a much more satisfying casting experience for all players.

We're constantly tuning and tweaking fish spawn rates for well-balanced populations across all reserves. We've used your feedback and live data to introduce subtle adjustments, aiming to make your fishing adventures even more fun!
Dev Team’s Notes: As we add new fishing techniques and species, our aim remains to keep the game enjoyable for all players. This is an ongoing process, so expect more adjustment with each update. Your feedback is invaluable in shaping these changes - please keep it coming!

Vehicles you spawn will now stay in place. Whether you wander far on foot, fast travel, or leave the reserve - your vehicle will still be there when you return (unless you've spawned a new one of the same type). This change should greatly simplify your travels, especially when returning to reserves in remote locations.
Dev Team’s Notes: This is just the beginning of several planned improvements to make vehicles more convenient to use. We hope you'll consider this first step as a nice quality of life change.

[h3]Visual[/h3]

Cloud atmospherics have been updated to be more dynamic. You'll now witness a wider range of formations and more noticeable changes as time passes.
Dev Team’s Notes: It might have no impact on the gameplay, but we hope you’ll enjoy the enhanced visual display of the clouds.

[h3]UI[/h3]

We've given a fresh look to the main menu and reserve selection pages.
Dev Team’s Notes: As the game has evolved significantly since its release, we've refreshed the pictures and graphics you see right when you start playing. We hope you'll agree that everything looks even better now!

Button prompts are now clickable using the mouse on PC. Previously a keyboard was required to navigate much of the UI, and now it is possible to only use the mouse.
Dev Team’s Notes: We value creating a game that everyone can enjoy with ease. Acknowledging your feedback about wanting more mouse-based navigation, we've transformed the button prompts into clickable items for easier menu maneuvering.

[h2]Patch Notes[/h2]

[h3]Gameplay[/h3]

• Alongside the third-person camera, we've introduced a new stationary camera at the front of the Ultra Cruiser Jon Boat for a better view.
  
• To make your travels easier, we've placed a new vehicle spawner near the main cave entrance in Spain as there wasn't one close by previously.
  
• We've patched up a gap in the Golden Ridge Reserve map where players could accidentally fall through - oops!
  
• We’ve fixed an issue with some fish getting spooked by the player when they were stood in a Jon Boat.
  
• If you're a passenger on a boat, you won't get caught in an endless respawn cycle when the boat's owner fast travels to another location anymore.
  
• An issue, where some photo challenges were not progressing, has been addressed. In particular, the Ruby River Range Photo Challenge 1.
  

[h3]Graphics[/h3]

• We’ve fixed many minor graphical clipping issues with various water bodies.
  

[h3]UI[/h3]

• We've fixed an issue where the "Take Photo" map markers were showing "Error/Unknown". They now display correct labels.
  
• The thumbnail for the Ultra Cruiser [ADD LIVERY NAME] has been updated to make the appearance of the vehicle.
  
• The soft lock experienced when moving items from the last row of the storage when using a controller has been fixed.
  
• Players can now click mouse button to Release Fish (rather than hold ENTER) to progress beyond the reward screen.
  
• Vehicle spawn location icons are now constantly visible on the map instead of only appearing when player is in proximity.
  

In addition, we’ve also introduced multiple minor bug fixes and quality of life changes to give you the best possible gaming experience. We hope you’ll enjoy what patch 1.5.5 has to offer!

And if you’re looking into expanding your fishing adventures - you can now grab the Norway reserve 60% off on Steam until February 12!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2165500/Call_of_the_Wild_The_Angler__Norway_Reserve/

HAPPY FISHING!