Essential creatures locked behind very tight requirements. Why?

[Deputy Dawg]

Edited by the author with an update relevant to version 1.0 (see new text at the end)

I need a Legendary fish that only spawns for two weeks in any given year, (15th to 28th Spring). This is made even harder because it's dependent on a rainy day as well.

I need it to complete a final Alter requirement, and so far I've gone two in-game years and it hasn't rained once during the critical date range. During my Beta playthrough I played eight in-game years before I got a rainy day at the right time, and was finally able to catch one.

If I only needed it for a museum donation, it wouldn't bother me too much. I could live with that. What grinds my gears is to be unable to complete one of the goddess alters because of an ultra rare fish being stuck behind an very rare weather type as well.

Considering that it's relatively easy to complete 99% of the game's quests and goals within two to three in-game years, it seems wrong to make an essential catch so punishingly difficult to catch. I'm guessing most players just won't bother, and end up with negative feelings about the game as a result.

I think essential catches should always be challenging, such as requiring osmium quality nets and rods, and maybe restricting their hours and location, so they need to be carefully hunted down.

But I would ask the devs to please, please make them appear in good weather, and not hide them behind extremely rare weather events that are tied to RNG.

EDIT:
I wrote this after failing to catch a Gator Gar for the "rare fish" goddess alter. I was working with information that was correct through the Beta version of the game. I've now discovered that in the latest 1.0 version, Stairway has adjusted some of the spawn conditions for creatures throughout the game. In my case, this knowledge would have greatly improved my chance to catch one, but sadly I didn't even start looking till the 15th Spring, thinking that was the beginning of the spawn-in window.

I still believe that fixed days for unusual weather, at least once per season, would be a great QOL improvement. It would help players bring home those super rare catches.

[Pathetic]

They just need to learn from their predecessors. Stardew has days with guaranteed weather so you always have a window to fish certain species, it also has a rain totem which forces the rain. Im sure they could find some way to factor in a rain ritual, especially with the merfolk.

There is a cheese some other players tested, in which you cut out your back up save from the day before the 2 week period, then play the two weeks, if you dont get rain, then delete save and replace with the cut back up and the weather will be re-randomised.

[Deputy Dawg]

Originally posted by Pathetic:

They just need to learn from their predecessors. Stardew has days with guaranteed weather so you always have a window to fish certain species, it also has a rain totem which forces the rain. Im sure they could find some way to factor in a rain ritual, especially with the merfolk.

There is a cheese some other players tested, in which you cut out your back up save from the day before the 2 week period, then play the two weeks, if you dont get rain, then delete save and replace with the cut back up and the weather will be re-randomised.

Having to roll the game back two in-game weeks, then rinse and repeat, just hoping you get a lucky roll of the RNG seems like a contortion of reality to me. I mean... that's seriously NOT fun. It shouldn't be necessary to go to those lengths, to have to work around bad game design. We always get fixed days of rain in the Spring, so the code is already written. The devs should give us at least one fixed rainy day, during any period when a creature required by the alter is due to spawn. Then we could re-start the day if we were unsuccessful.

[Rappeldrache]

What fish is this? I don't know a fish that spawns in this short periode of spring and ONLY on rainy days.
ONLY the Red king arowana ... and he is on WINDY days, too.

https://coral.guide/journal/caught/fish

All other fishes are on sunny days, too.

[resonance]

two weeks? you don't need to redo that much. get a save from earlier and then just redo the one day over and over until it shows rain when you wake up.

So have your save for the 15th and create a backup. Play the 15th (do only the minimum) and then when you wake on the 16th, check to see what the weather for the 17th will be. If not rain, paste in your backup and do the 15th again. Repeat till the 17th has rain. It may take a few tries. but that is why you only do the minimum you need. (crops, animals, whatever else you NEED to do that day and then sleep early).

Best to save this for a day where you have very little. So no cutscenes when you wake up and no tools you have to go collect by waiting till 9am or such, and no birthdays where you have to find people and so on.

[Mabbie]

I'll patiently wait for the fishing mods. Sorry, not sorry.

[Jouchebag]

Originally posted by resonance:

two weeks? you don't need to redo that much. get a save from earlier and then just redo the one day over and over until it shows rain when you wake up.

To be clear, the day's weather is set the previous day. You would need to load the save, check the TV for tomorrow's weather, then decide to reload or not. If you just keep reloading the same save, that day will always have the same weather. The next day's weather is randomized but set on the previous day.

[resonance]

Originally posted by Jouchebag:

Originally posted by resonance:

two weeks? you don't need to redo that much. get a save from earlier and then just redo the one day over and over until it shows rain when you wake up.

To be clear, the day's weather is set the previous day. You would need to load the save, check the TV for tomorrow's weather, then decide to reload or not. If you just keep reloading the same save, that day will always have the same weather. The next day's weather is randomized but set on the previous day.

Did you even read the rest of the post? you load and play the day. then when you wake up the next day you check for rain on TV for the day after. If you get it great and if not you reload the backup and try again.

[Deputy Dawg]

Love all the replies, thanks guys. I was halfway through Summer before I realised I'd missed the window to catch the Gator Gar. I'm not willing to go back a month and a half to reload the backup save I made for the 1st day of Spring, Year 2. In all other aspects of the game I've made waaay too much progress to want to do that six week period all over again, just for one fish. I'm in Coral Island for the long haul, so I will wait till Year 3 and then I will do whatever is necessary to catch one.

Thanks again