Suggested Improvement: Group Fish by Compatibility

[Nerdchacho]

So, personally for me, who knows nothing about fish at all... I think it would be really helpful if there was an obvious way to see what fish are compatible with what inside the same tanks. I know that the description already says this, but it's not clear until it is too late. I really wish there was a way of grouping the compatible fish together so that you know it is safe to put them together..

For example, the star fish feed when the other fish in the tank feed... but... what fish can I even put with them!?

[BU4U Gaming]

Originally posted by Aaron Tuckwell:

So, personally for me, who knows nothing about fish at all... I think it would be really helpful if there was an obvious way to see what fish are compatible with what inside the same tanks. I know that the description already says this, but it's not clear until it is too late. I really wish there was a way of grouping the compatible fish together so that you know it is safe to put them together..

For example, the star fish feed when the other fish in the tank feed... but... what fish can I even put with them!?

Some things might need a little more clarification, but I am not a fan of this suggestion. The entire point is to read the descriptions and figure out yourself based on them, which fish you can put together. If the game matches the fish up for you, then it becomes pointless to even pay attention to the traits.

This could be something for a "creative" mode...in which you can build and place animals together without having to worry about, who eats who for instance.

[Nerdchacho]

I see what you mean.. The trouble is, there are a LOT of categories of fish to trawl through, if you're not marine-minded... And within some of them categories you can't even group them together. So, where do you start?! I know that it's meant to be a bit of a puzzle, but actually, when it starts to take some of the "fun" away from a game, then maybe it needs to change.

Even if it were different icons for world regions that give you a hint of which ones belong together or even a tool to check compatibility before you place them.. Or even a marker to stop you from placing them in a tank together if you attempt.. That would be better than the current guesswork needed.

[Flishster]

How is it not clear until it's too late? You can literally read the info given to you and know within seconds most of the information. The only one that isn't always clear is size of things predators will eat when fully grown, and even then you can usually make a good guess.

[BU4U Gaming]

Originally posted by Aaron Tuckwell:

I see what you mean.. The trouble is, there are a LOT of categories of fish to trawl through, if you're not marine-minded... And within some of them categories you can't even group them together. So, where do you start?! I know that it's meant to be a bit of a puzzle, but actually, when it starts to take some of the "fun" away from a game, then maybe it needs to change.

Even if it were different icons for world regions that give you a hint of which ones belong together or even a tool to check compatibility before you place them.. Or even a marker to stop you from placing them in a tank together if you attempt.. That would be better than the current guesswork needed.

Did you jump straight into sandbox? If you go through the campaigns, then you are kind of presented with at least some of the different traits over time and not all at once.

I am not marine oriented either, but I wouldn't want to have something stopping me from putting them together. Then there would be no learning curve to the game...because I could never make a mistake and get my fish eaten or killed. Yes you have to look at the traits and figure out yourself, which fish go together, but to me that is kind of the point.
There are some features missing like being able to search for a specific species or trait, but adding a compatibility tool or simply blocking the player from placing the wrong species together would completely ruin the game for me. Then there is no challenge in it at all. I hope that is not something Tim will add to the base game...sure for a creative or easy mode or something, but not the standard difficulty.

[tokar86a]

Yes i want something like this to. What fish work together?

[Fortuna]

I don't want this, as part of the fun for me is indeed working out what fish I can put together and what fish that eat other fish that I can risk putting together and not growing too big too fast and the like.

The only thing that I would like that might help with this is a filter in the fish menu. Something that'd filter by warm or cold water, or by what kind of food the fish eats.

But aside from that, working fish out by their traits is half the point of the game, I feel. You can read and compare traits and work out from there what can and can't go together. Starfish can go with anything that doesn't have "eats: starfish" for example, and it's not hard to check the fish list to see what has that trait on it.