Rift Fishing News

[p]Hello fishers! :)

Rift Fishing will be opened for community playtesting and the Steam Playtest sign-ups are live now! You can go to the Steam page of Rift Fishing [/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink] and click the green 'Request Access' button to sign up.

The Playtest runs January 9-11, with possible extension based on community feedback. It's open for everyone to join. There is no NDA, you can talk about and share Playtest footage freely.

On the first day of the Playtest, I will make another announcement about more details on what is and isn't in the Playtest. But one thing you can expect is a completely new map with a smooth landscape, unlike the blocky prototype map from screenshots and the trailer.

Whether you play for 5 minutes or 5 hours, this is your chance to shape Rift Fishing's development and be part of our growing fishing community. Your feedback and testing matters![/p][p]
Much love

[p]Hello fishers! :)[/p][p]This devlog is quite delayed, the Steam page launch and everything surrounding it (social media, marketing) kept me really busy. Sorry for that! Most of the customization features shown here can be seen on the Steam page trailer, but there are some new things I've been working on like emotes and a new head model for the cat.[/p][p]TLDR;[/p]

• [p]Added emote system and 17 emotes[/p]
• [p]New cat head model, old one available as 'Football'[/p]
• [p]Some new customization items (since the trailer two weeks ago), especially in the Eyes section and a simple bunny tail[/p]
• [p]Improved Lighting system[/p]
• [p]Painting system performance improved[/p]
• [p]Various bugfixes and polishing[/p]

[p]Let's start with the emotes![/p][p][/p][p]I've implemented 17 different emotes, of which 3 are to play Rock, Paper, Scissors (a community suggestion!). The emote menu is a combination of an emote wheel and a more regular menu. I've chosen this layout to implement more emotes immediately instead of programming a register-to-slot system. If you have the emote unlocked, it will simply show up here. You open the emote menu by holding X. You cancel an emote by pressing X. Sitting is also bound to a normal X press when no emote is playing. You can rebind the emote menu to a different key if you prefer. Emotes work while standing or sitting, as shown with the 'Rock!' emote as part of the video:[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p]What is currently still missing are sound effects. Only the 'Happy' emote has a short sound effect. So, I could add sounds but I need to find some good sounds, re-work them with Audacity and Metasounds etc.  I also added a volume slider specific to emote sounds.[/p][p]It was pointed out in Discord, that the cat head shape isn't super appealing. And I totally agree. I've made a lot of prototyping assets while developing the game. My focus was (and still is) getting the game systems to work properly. But here is a video of the reworked cat head model. The old cat head will still stay in the game, lovingly named 'Football'. I've also included the wolf head in the video. I do appreciate feedback on cat and wolf head very much. I'm not 100% happy with the wolf head yet.[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p]I've done work on this system shortly before the official announcement trailer, so you'll already see it in there. But I've also uploaded a video:
[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p]Basically, the games shading relies on Unlit materials. Which means that the materials don't receive light or shadows. My solution uses the same principle as the Rifts spawning in the world. I'm drawing a mask into the shader at the positions where lighting influences of the day/night system should be prevented (especially darkness). Like lanterns, campfires etc. This is toggled based on player position towards lights and only supports point light (spheres)  for now. I need to observe the performance impact. This light gets combined with my previous light that uses a stepped gradient to color surrounding objects. In the future I would like to combine both systems. In the video you can also see that the fishing line isn't influenced yet by the light. The emote material also has this problem. Something to fix![/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Customization[/h2][p]Currently there are these customization categories:[/p][p]General
The game uses a self-built synthesized voice system. You can adjust Voice pitch and voice speed. I want to expand on this in the future by recording more sets of sound samples for different base voices.
You can adjust the general character scale, but I will explore scaling your character into all three axis separately down the line.
The last option is Liveliness. When I started developing the game I implemented a head and eye tracking system. Liveliness makes your characters eyes behave more chill or more frantic.[/p][p]Face
You can choose different textures for Mouth, Nose, Eyes and Pupils. The thumbnails are RGB color-coded and you can set your own colors for each element. Not all face elements make use of all colors. A lot of eyes use only red and blue, and a lot of mouths use only blue at first glance. That's because teeth and gums / tongue use the other color channels. But this does mean you can color these elements. In case you want black teeth for whatever reason![/p][p][/p][p]Additionally you can move each element up, down, left and right as well as scale them. On top of that you're able to mirror elements on X and Y axis. This creates the possibility for completely different shapes! Keep in mind that facial expressions and mouth movements or eye blinking use specific textures. And these un-mirror to look correct. I'd like to provide options to adjust these in the future, but that will be much further out.[/p][p][/p][p]Here is an example of a single eye shape being transformed to look like different eye textures. The shader behind this is quite complex (and took a lot of experimenting, sweat & tears!) and is occassionally still a little buggy. Especially since the pupil has to react to the eye changes. This can still lead to problems when only one element is mirrored and is challening for the eye tracking, once the eye is very offset. But the player freedom is there and I'll expand on it![/p][p]Body
The customization elements for the body are: Ears, Heads, Tails and Body Patterns.
There are 3 options for these elements: The 3D model, the pattern and the colors. For simplicity and control over the texture, 3D models and patterns are linked. That means, for example,  that for the cat head there are different variants: Cat \[Plain], Cat {Tuxedo], Cat\[Spotted 1] etc. Over time this might lead to a really full menu, and I'll need to use sub-categories. But with the different shapes for ears, tails and heads it just didn't seem feasible to use a single UV texture for a pattern and hope it looks good. Fixing UV seams would have been a nightmare.[/p][p]Similar to the face customization, you can change up to 3 colors on each element to whichever color you like![/p][p]Clothing
The elements for body are: Head, Inner wear, Outer wear, Legs and Feet.
Like the other categories, clothing allows you to change clothing colors to your preferences. There are different types for coloring. Some can be colored however you wish, others can't be colored at all or only tinted. This applies when they have specific textures (images, text) on them. [/p][p][/p][p]Clothing still needs more work to be honest. What I really like to add very soon is attachments for your face and body. The system will work similar to Tools customization with slots to choose from to put the attachment onto.[/p][p]Tools
I've talked about Tools (like Fishing Rods) customization in the last devlog post. So, I'll just say that you can customize Spool, Bobber, add up to two physical attachments which you can customize the attachment slot, scale and offset for. Other options are Fishing line color and thickness.[/p][p][/p][p]Color palettes
The last section (for now) for player customization are color palettes. Here you can mix and save your own colors which you can re-use for your other customization plus the drawing feature. The RGB ink used for this system can be acquired by trading fish for ink (the amount of ink depends on size and base color of the fish) or from completing research expeditions (quests). Each palette can hold 12 colors and the amount of palettes you can create and name is not limited. When you delete a color or palette you'll get the ink back[/p][p][/p][p]Thank you so much for reading :)!
I'm currently working on different core systems, some bug fixing and polish in preparation for the playtest in January.
Much love - Saia[/p]

[p]Hello fishers and welcome :)![/p][p][/p][p]This is a little catch-up on from the devlog that exists on Rift Fishing's itch.io page. This isn't particularly new information (4-6 weeks old), but I'd like to have the same devlog on Steam and not miss any entries. I will simply copy over the entry from itch.io for these first two devlogs, and in the future I'll be posting new devlogs on both sites simultaneously.[/p][p][/p][p]Keep in mind that everything you see is subject to change. I'm currently considering massive changes to the map in particular. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Hello :)[/p][p]My first devlog is about online functionality and the title menus, that I've spend the last weeks with. Kind of dry. But it should work, and it should work well.[/p][p]TLDR; Things implemented:[/p][p]General: Main menu, options menu, player profiles, loading screen, create, stop & continue offline games[/p][p]Online: Hosting and joining lobbies, lobby codes, steam invites, filters/tags, quickplay, host migration, rejoin after crash, ingame lobby management / player list[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]The video showcases host migration after the host disconnects.[/p][p][/p][p]Title menu
For the background of the title menu I've wanted to show the actual ingame world. Since I have a Day & Night system I wanted to make use of that by having the time be your local time. If you start the game in the night, the main menu will showcase night time.[/p][p]Player profiles was next on my list and I wanted to get the save game questions out of the way. Players want to make new characters and all of their progress is tied to the selected profile. Options like graphics, audio etc are saved separately and not tied to profiles. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Options
In regards to these options I've implemented keybinds and some convenience features for gameplay and accessibility, like camera shake and color deficiency. For audio I added many different volume types (7), so that players can adjust it exactly to their liking. In the graphics options I have multiple post-processing toggles and I would like to experiment in the future with more styles. For example, during earlier development I made an Outline shader. But the game looked cleaner without it. Nowadays I'm not so sure anymore what I like better.. so I've left it as an option. I will have to come back to this point regularly to add new options.[/p][p]Singleplayer
I've separated solo and online play. Singleplayer will let you set some basic world options and you can continue from this simple save if you like. But since the game is multiplayer and session-focused, there aren't really any game states to save (for now). Continuing in singleplayer will simply let you continue during the game time and with the game speed you have set previously.[/p][p][/p][p]Multiplayer
For multiplayer lobby hosting and joining I've implemented a tag / filter system and a bunch of options that let you find the right game for you. I've also exposed Steams lobby distance filter, which lets you find games that are much further away around the globe. This will inadvertedly lead to some lag, but in my lag emulations it didn't seem like a deal breaker. So, for now I want to give players this option, so that they can interact with players all over the world. You can also join a semi-random game by using the Quickplay option or join your friends lobbies via a lobby code.[/p][p][/p][p]Host migration. One of the most important features to me (video above). I really dislike that everybody gets kicked when the host leaves in some smaller online multiplayer games. I've been implementing a system that assigns a 'backup host'. If the host disconnects and everybody gets kicked, the client who is the backup host will automatically recreate the lobby with the previous settings. All other clients will wait for that lobby to be ready and rejoin. This usually takes only seconds. On top of that I've added that a player who's game crashes will remember the last lobby they were in. When they restart the game, they will be prompted if they want to rejoin the old lobby.[/p][p]Like this, even if the host crashes, players won't be split. The host crashes, the backup host creates a new lobby and has the old clients reconnect. The previous host restarts their game and gets a prompt to join the new lobby.[/p][p]Finally, I added a transitioning loading screen with tips between the title menu and ingame, as well as added an ingame menu for game options etc. Oh, and a menu for lobby management, where the host can kick, ban and unban. In the future I want to add more options to manage the lobby and player interactions.[/p][p]I'm thinking of doing these devlogs bi-weekly. So, thank you for reading and see you next time![/p][p]- Saia[/p][p]Hello fishers! :)[/p][p]The last 2 weeks were all about improving the fishing experience and weaving Rifts into it. Basically, the previous implementation of the fishing mechanic was a bit wonky. I’ve completed a rework that makes fishing gameplay look and feel really smooth during offline and online play.[/p][p]TLDR;[/p]

• [p]Much smoother fishing mechanic[/p]
• [p]Fishing rod animations and visual improvements[/p]
• [p]New Customization: Bobber, spool, Dangly attachments, fishing line color & thickness[/p]
• [p]Spawn system for Rifts and active fishing spots[/p]
• [p]Visual improvements for water / rift shaders[/p]
• [p]Phased fish! Get them from the Rift![/p]
• [p]Sc… roll down for the last new feature :)[/p]

[p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]Left: Old animation, Right: New animation[/p][p][/p][p]Improved Fishing Visuals & Customization
While doing so, I took the chance to improve the visuals and customization. Fishing rods have animations now (before this, the rods were stiff without bending motions) and your fishing line can be seen while carrying the fishing rod around. Fishing lines are also visually influenced by wind. While it was possible before to use different fishing rods, now you can change the bobber and spool as well as the color and thickness of the fishing line. And my favorite part of it: Dangly attachments. These are little trinkets with physics that you can attach to your fishing rod! You can use two at a time, there are 4 slots on the fishing rod to choose from to attach them on. You can then scale them and change their distance to the attachment point (maybe some of you can get creative with this!).[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Rift rework
Next, I wanted to rework Rifts a bit as well. Their visuals have been improved, and since these are built into the water shader I've also improved that as well. The water looks nicer, the waves and foam on the shore more beautiful. I've added a swirly effect to the Rift and implemented a system to spawn them periodically. This system also handles the spawning of active fishing spots, which are indicated by bubbles underwater and speed up your fishing.[/p][p][/p][p]When you fish, there's also a small chance to spawn a smaller Rift underneath your bobber.[/p][p]Phased fish
To finish it off, I'm introducing phased fish. These types of Riftlings can only be gotten from Rifts and are special versions of normal fish. They come with extra purple-blue sparkly shine, and more effects, and will be needed for specific quests.[/p][p][/p][p]This was a lot of progress in 2 weeks and I'm really happy with it. The next 2 weeks will focus on improving player customization. And with these closing words one more feature scooted itself into the devlog…[/p][p]- Saia[/p][p][/p][p]Scooting[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]That's it! I hope I can pick up the pace again with devlogs, there hasn't been a new one in a month. But the Steam page launch has kept me busy. See you soon![/p][p]Much love

[p]Hello fishers and welcome :)![/p][p]I'm really excited to introduce Rift Fishing to the world![/p][p]As you may know, the games' focus is on fishing, chatting, socializing! With a twist of mystery and fantasy introduced by the Rifts. So far, the Early Access release (containing everything mentioned on the Steam page) is still upcoming. Once a stable base game is finished that all of you can enjoy, I'd like to expand on the concept and the content. More activities, species, customizations, different creatures to catch, and more. Housing is something I'm really excited to develop after the initial Early Access release.[/p][p]In the Steam Discussions forum, I've created a megapost that talks about many of these topics, including questions and suggestions that I've seen people ask a lot.

FAQ Megapost: https://steamcommunity.com/app/4061090/discussions/1/705506282737658393/[/p][p]
Additionally, if you'd like to give your own suggestions, say "Hi!", or stay up to date on the latest developments, Discord is a great place for that: https://discord.gg/3fZfRx7W6r[/p][p]I'm developing the game solo and it's difficult to stay on top with all the different social media channels and forums. I apologize if I miss your questions. I'm focusing my attention on Discord, where you can also find a place for your suggestions. I'd love to develop the game with your input and feedback in mind![/p][p][/p][p]Much love