development update #1
Fishery WILL be released this month (September 2019). The exact date will be announced here in a week. The date is already locked into steam and will NOT change.
This is the first of the weekly development updates that we will be doing from now on. Every week we will tell you of all the progress we have made with bug fixes, new features, new content etc so you can see how things are shaping up. We will also be keeping a closer eye on the forums on a daily basis answering questions and reading any and all the feedback as well as any bugs or problems you find. We will most likely be addressing bugs especially if they break the game but we will certainly try to read every post.
Once the game is released we will aim to release an update every Friday that would fix bugs and make small "quality of life" improvements to the game that may also include new or improved art content like new fish, plants and/or decorations. So every Friday you can play a new version of the game.
At the same time we will be working on larger features and content updates which we will aim to release at least once a month. These monthly updates will include larger or more complex changes like the fish breeding system, career mode/objectives etc. We will also be spending time improving current systems and art already in the game based on your feedback.
so just to recap the update schedule:
Updates every Friday will include - Bug fixes, fixes for small annoyances, new fishes, plants or decorations.
Updates every month(on a Friday) - Larger game features, larger more complex collections of art content,
Next week we will give you all a more detailed list of game features and art content that will be coming in the first release. we will also begin updating the steam page with all new screenshots and perhaps a new trailer.
Now we will give you a little peak at what is actually in the game right now.
Plants:
They are a critical part of any ecosystem. There will be 17 different species of plant available in the first release. Each plant has 3 model variations. This is to help make things look less repetitive if you have lots and lots of the same species of plant in your aquarium. Each plant has a different "visual language" to it. There are a very large number of aquatic plants that we could put into the game but there are a lot of plant species that look very similar to each other. What we want to do is have as many different plants in the game as we can that look quite different from each other.
Below are screenshots of all the plants in what's called a "palette" scene. We position them like this so we can inspect that the correct models are in use and their textures and shaders are correct.
What we hope you notice is that all the plants have different shapes, silhouettes and variations of colour. (We definitely need more non-green plants.) This is important to us because it makes sure that we are not wasting time making lots of plants that are only slightly different from each other and from a design point of view it allows players to create a very specific personality for their aquariums. All of the plants are stylized versions of real life aquatic plants but we will be adding plants that we design ourselves to fill any creative gaps.
Here is an example of the species known as "Dwarf Hygrophila". In the above image you can see it's status panel. Everything in the game (apart from inanimate objects) have a set of needs and effects. Plants have needs which must be satisfied in order for the plant to stay alive and healthy. Healthy plants will produce oxygen which of course is vital for fish. but we will go more into detail about this next week when we talk a bit more in depth about the ecosystem simulation features. The image below shows what plants look like when their needs have not been met for some time and they are close to dying.
Well that wraps up this week's development update. Expect another update towards the end of next week and we will announce the final unchangeable release date and more.
The Fishery Team
This is the first of the weekly development updates that we will be doing from now on. Every week we will tell you of all the progress we have made with bug fixes, new features, new content etc so you can see how things are shaping up. We will also be keeping a closer eye on the forums on a daily basis answering questions and reading any and all the feedback as well as any bugs or problems you find. We will most likely be addressing bugs especially if they break the game but we will certainly try to read every post.
Once the game is released we will aim to release an update every Friday that would fix bugs and make small "quality of life" improvements to the game that may also include new or improved art content like new fish, plants and/or decorations. So every Friday you can play a new version of the game.
At the same time we will be working on larger features and content updates which we will aim to release at least once a month. These monthly updates will include larger or more complex changes like the fish breeding system, career mode/objectives etc. We will also be spending time improving current systems and art already in the game based on your feedback.
so just to recap the update schedule:
Updates every Friday will include - Bug fixes, fixes for small annoyances, new fishes, plants or decorations.
Updates every month(on a Friday) - Larger game features, larger more complex collections of art content,
Next week we will give you all a more detailed list of game features and art content that will be coming in the first release. we will also begin updating the steam page with all new screenshots and perhaps a new trailer.
Now we will give you a little peak at what is actually in the game right now.
Plants:
They are a critical part of any ecosystem. There will be 17 different species of plant available in the first release. Each plant has 3 model variations. This is to help make things look less repetitive if you have lots and lots of the same species of plant in your aquarium. Each plant has a different "visual language" to it. There are a very large number of aquatic plants that we could put into the game but there are a lot of plant species that look very similar to each other. What we want to do is have as many different plants in the game as we can that look quite different from each other.
Below are screenshots of all the plants in what's called a "palette" scene. We position them like this so we can inspect that the correct models are in use and their textures and shaders are correct.
What we hope you notice is that all the plants have different shapes, silhouettes and variations of colour. (We definitely need more non-green plants.) This is important to us because it makes sure that we are not wasting time making lots of plants that are only slightly different from each other and from a design point of view it allows players to create a very specific personality for their aquariums. All of the plants are stylized versions of real life aquatic plants but we will be adding plants that we design ourselves to fill any creative gaps.
Here is an example of the species known as "Dwarf Hygrophila". In the above image you can see it's status panel. Everything in the game (apart from inanimate objects) have a set of needs and effects. Plants have needs which must be satisfied in order for the plant to stay alive and healthy. Healthy plants will produce oxygen which of course is vital for fish. but we will go more into detail about this next week when we talk a bit more in depth about the ecosystem simulation features. The image below shows what plants look like when their needs have not been met for some time and they are close to dying.
Well that wraps up this week's development update. Expect another update towards the end of next week and we will announce the final unchangeable release date and more.
The Fishery Team