fishing help/mod

[sloppytoppy 4 ghostie]

i've never used these forums before so bare with me here, but i seriously cannot get anywhere with fishing in this game.

i hate it, it infuriates me; and for context, i am playing with a trackpad, no mouse or controller and i don't really have the money to spare for either of those things. i didn't understand how the mechanic worked at all when i tried it the first time, and i've only caught one fish (the one the game lets you get with the first try). i've been trying to practice to see if i can figure it out on my own, but im getting no where. in all the time i've spent trying i've gotten one level in fishing.

i've been trying to read forums to figure out how it works, but some people say to click and others say to hold. my problem is that i don't have a clear way to click OR hold with my trackpad with the way it's made. there's no clear button's, just one large rectangle with general areas for right click and left click.

even with the easier fishing mod, it's difficult with my trackpad. can anyone help me out? i really want to just be able to enjoy this game, and i get people like this minigame, but i loathe it. i don't really want to sit through a debate about cheating or something, and i don't really care if it gets easier... i don't want to spend a frustrating amount of time continuing to fail. does anyone know of a instant catch mod that works? i tried the instant fish catch mod but i'm not sure if i installed it right or what, 'cause it didn't work.

[The Space Ferret]

Don't see how you can catch fish with a trackpad. Can you get a really cheapie mouse? Doesn't even need to be a name brand mouse.

[sloppytoppy 4 ghostie]

i could try maybe? i've got some bills this month though and it's also just frustrating that i can't seem to play it at all. i don't even know if i'm supposed to click or hold, still!

it might be that i am just that incredibly stupid, but i don't know, dude.

[The Space Ferret]

I just checked BB's website and there's a mouse on sale for $5.99. You could probably find even cheaper ones elsewhere.

[alicat1235]

I feel like this game in general is impossible without a mouse (what with all the right clicking you have to do) but for sure I couldn't imagine fishing without one.

You can either click or hold. Basically, as the "mouse" is pressed, your fishing bar goes up. Holding it down will make it go up faster but you might not have as fine control. Clicking will take a while to get where you need to but you can control where the bar is better. Normally you have to do some combination of these to get the fish.

I'm assuming that you already know that the green bar needs to be behind where the fish is.

While fishing without a mouse seems nigh impossible, I'm sure there IS some way to do it. First, there is a way to click or hold down on your trackpad. You were able to catch the first fish after all. And all holding down is clicking with a bigger time gap between when you start pressing down and when you stop. So you should be able to do this as well.

Tips for how to fish/get your fishing level up early game when fishing is impossible.
1. you get experience even when you fish in random junk. So keep trying and even if you catch no fish, you'll get experience from the junk. prior to 1.1 you were only able to catch junk in the lake on your farm. I believe this is changed in a new patch for the new farms so you are able to catch fish, but I don't think that patch is fully live yet. So you can try just fishing into your pond and getting junk.
2. Carps are your friends. You can find them in the mountain area (near the mines and where Robin lives) during spring (you can check the wiki for exact times and stuff). They are SOO easy. They barely move at all. You should be able to get those and they will help increase your fishing skill.
3. Crab pots. You aren't able to craft or buy them at first, but (SPOILERS...kinda?) they are available as a reward for the Crab pot bundle at the community centre. And, you don't technically need to have any crab pots to complete the bundle! 4/5 of the slots can be filled by things found on the beach and the last item just hope to get luck and buy them from the cart lady! I managed to complete this bundle before the first spring ended doing this. You WILL have to wait until your fishing is level 2 to be able to use these though, since you will need bait for them. You can craft bait starting at level 2. Once you have them, each time you harvest something from them you'll get experience.

These methods ARE slower than actually fishing, since they don't give you as much as actual fish (and harder to catch fish give you more experience than easy ones like carp) but they're ways you'll be able to get past the hard early levels to when it gets easier without having to fish.

As for mods, most are probably non-functional currently because of the update (which only came out monday). You'll probably need to wait a little longer if you want to be able to use one of those.

On the topic of mouses - I got mine (which is a fairly good on) for 5-7$ at a computer store. So they aren't very expensive. I know for some people that may still be a fair amount, but it is pretty cheap and a good investment if you like to play different games.

[sloppytoppy 4 ghostie]

it'll probably be a bit at least a week before i can afford that, unfortunately, the reason i was able to get this game to begin with is because a friend commissioned me :v

[sloppytoppy 4 ghostie]

thank you for the thorough explanation!! (nice to know how the exp system works a little better as well) i really do love this game but it doesn't do the best at explaining things, imo anyway. does the cart lady sell fish often? until i can get a mouse with some spare money i might just rely on her for a while.

and yeah, playing this game on track pad is.... Not Great, but generally i'm used to this since i just reside to playing what few pc games i have this way. the fishing minigame is truly the only one big problem i've faced using a trackpad. thanks for the crab pot tip, too!!

[bee3001]

Easier fishing mods are available. I've used this one here and can confirm it's working on 1.1

http://community.playstarbound.com/threads/easier-fishing.107819/

This mod makes it so the fish don't jump around as much during the minigame, to the point where the Super Easy version makes all fish barely exceed your green bar when it's at the very bottom.

I maxed my Fishing (Somehow) during my pre 1.1 playthrough but I seriously hate the fishing minigame so much.

[sloppytoppy 4 ghostie]

thank you so much, i hope it works for me as well!!

in the end i think i should probably just cave and get a mouse. but yeah, i suuuuuper do not like the fishing minigame, lol. i wish it worked a little more like how it works in acnl, tbh. much simpler but still a lil challenge 0:

[Desperado]

don't you have a keyboard? I only fish with my mouse when I'm forced to do so, i.e. during the Fair and the Festival of Ice.

[sloppytoppy 4 ghostie]

i do, yeah, is there a way to change the settings for fishing then? i've tried to look for fishing settings in options but haven't come across them (unless i completely overlooked them).

[MysticTempest]

Under the 'Options' settings in game you can remap the keys to something else. But, by default the 'C' key is left-click, and the 'X' key is considered right click. So you can just use 'C' to fish when you have the fishing rod selected.

[I Kinda Fail]

It's kinda like that Flappy Bird game, for some fish - you have to click repeatedly and let go when necessary. Some fish stay at the bottom, some slowly rise, some fly around like crazy.

If it's still spring for you, try fishing at the beach... There's like, sardines or something there that are easy to catch. They never leave the bottom 1/3 of the screen. And fishing gets WAY easier as you go on. I'm level 5 fishing and still have a bamboo pole and rarely have problems with fish... They do get tougher later (squids in Winter, for instance) but for the first half, your level matters more imo.

[Corwin Alexander Gaming]

Easiest way I found to improve fishing without using a mod is to fish in crappy water and get trash... you don't have to play the fishing minigame and you still gain experience in fishing skill. It's slow, but eventually you get to level 2 and can make bait... if you have crab pots (from the community bundle) you can start improving your fishing skill using crab pots... then at level 3 you can make your own crab pots. As you get better, it gets easier and you can eventually fish on your own. Eat "dish of the sea" for +3 fishing and start using lures as soon as you're able and it gets easier still. I used to hate fishing, but now, not so much. It's still difficult when you get a fish darting all over the place.

[Mrrshan68]

there is a super easy fishing mod at the chucklefish forums. easy to install too just replace a file and viola the fish hardly move at all.
i agree the minigame is silly and does not fit with the rest of the game.