Cat Goes Fishing News

Just a heads up: this update is mostly about bug fixes and performance improvements, with little new content. However, Cat Goes Fishing DOES run at 60 FPS now, so we're calling this a Major Update. I tried to make the changelog as complete as possible, but I'm sure I missed something. We've made these improvements in preparation for future updates, so stay tuned

[h3]Performance Enhancements:[/h3]

• Target framerate increased to 60 FPS (from 30 FPS).
  
• The game is now compiled! (We'll release a more mod friendly branch soon.)
  
• Reworked fish thinning system, GREATLY increasing performance for most users.
  
• Optimized texture sheets to reduce typical VRAM consumption.
  
• Stopped drawing a bunch of stuff behind sonar and then immediately filling over it; greatly increasing performance for users with integrated graphics.
  
• Optimized fish drawing, improving performance when many fish are active but far off screen.
  
• Optimized fish targeting scripts, and many others!
  

[h3]New Stuff and Balance Changes:[/h3]

• Added a new upgrade: Bulbguard. It protects your lightbulb from Bulbeaters!
  
• Fish on rod/boat no longer always load with full health; their value and orientation is saved.
  
• Fish now sink in place when bombed, stunned on the sea floor. (Stunned state is now saved.)
  
• Fish that are floating to the surface now get stuck on rocks. (Floating state is now saved.)
  
• Having the "Attract Worm" rod upgrade on your rod now gives you the effect of Dig hat.
  
• Legacy saves disabled: no save protection for very old saves, and you can no longer gain a legacy.
  
• Phase and Snoutfish no longer go to the chasm to sleep at night.
  
• Increased the value of: Glacier, Tik Tik, Lemonback
  
• Decreased the value of: Snoutfish, Nightfish Sire, Koin, Thistle, Old Cusper, Maw
  
• Plateau fish are no longer revealed in catalog until level 65 (up from 50).
  

[h3]Minor Tweaks:[/h3]

• Discovered hats no longer appear on the map once they are in the hatalog.
  
• Chompy no longer bites Crayfin when Crayfin is held by swimming cat.
  
• Stalker now picks a new early huge target every day of the week.
  
• Worm sprite updated and it no longer makes blood when bitten.
  
• Boom Puff now explodes when bitten, even if not on the hook.
  
• Bombs now detach on line snap (and can later be recovered).
  
• Torby catalog entry now reflects its extinction state.
  
• Bombat can no longer be flicked off the hook.
  
• Fish that are netted are no longer bombable.
  
• Bombat can now escape the caves.
  
• Glow removed from crystalfish.
  
• Cowfish blink.
  

[h3]Bugfixes:[/h3]

• Cavin actually swims in the caves.
  
• Stormy should swim around during storms as intended.
  
• Schools of blinking tetras no longer threaten to crash the game.
  
• There are generally fewer flying coral larges (Tik Tik, etc...)
  
• Ghost will no longer appear if a medium fish is on the line.
  
• Rising lure no longer has any effect if the line is snapped.
  
• Worm can no longer be added to the line when a bomb is attached.
  
• Background music now gets quieter when swimming deep, not just when the lure sinks deep.
  
• Cuddlefish and Skrimp sprites should no longer appear in the other's place in the catalog.
  
• Fish lights stay more closely aligned with their fish, and they shine through other fish less.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused fish to get stuck returning, bouncing up and down in place.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused the rocket to make noise while off after casting backwards.
  
• Fixed a bug that would make Witchy, Dig, and Fennec sometimes spawn inside rocks.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused Puff to count as 133% of a fish towards catalog completion.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused fish to lunge for an empty hook if you detonated a Bombat early.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused a fish to stay full value if it was bit after giving experience.
  
• You can no longer put fish on the lure while swimming if there is a bomb on the lure.
  
• Puff is no longer always inflated; now becomes deflated when held in Cat's paws.
  
• Fish can no longer be placed off the back of Tech Boat and Collier.
  
• Mamo egg now actually detaches on line snap.
  
• There are fewer braindead, misshapen, skeletonized or otherwise malformed fish.
  
• Numerous other bugfixes that there were not well documented.
  

To celebrate Halloween, we've added a few new fish costumes. We've also finally added the long awaited "Witchy" hat, as well as a new Halloween exclusive fish.

While the silo is still firmly sealed, there is a new patch out now!

You will first need to discover how to unlock the Tech Boat before you can set out to catalog the dozens of new fish that our talented artist, Formex326, has brought to life.

I'll keep the new stuff vague, but:

[h2]Balance Changes:[/h2]

• Changed Magnalav approach conditions (easier to attract).
  
• Piercer gets tired of chasing the lure after some time.
  
• Lightbulb lure duration extended (happy exploring!)
  

[h2]Bugfixes:[/h2]

• You can no longer scare fish off the boat with bombs.
  
• Selling a hat from the Hatalog no longer gives double dollars.
  
• Loading the game with Moga or Maw on the line no longer crashes the game.
  
• Selling an Abyssal after loading the game no longer results in crashbug.
  
• Fish no longer jump off the boat on loading the game with a full boat.
  
• Fish should no longer respawn as bones.
  
• Cardina Data (red skitter) bug should no longer occur.
  

[h2]Performance:[/h2]

• Last year I coded a performance enhancement that disabled far-away fish to speed up processing. It resulted in a number of obscure crash bugs, so I've undone the optimization. You may notice a slight performance drop with this patch. For what it's worth, know the fish are having a lot of fun off screen.
  

Made swimming a little more fun, made some visual changes, and patched a few bugs. Even added a few fish, but no major content changes. Save files should be more stable, and they are saved redundantly now, but your mileage may vary.

Maybe more to come soon?