Still a ways to go (Bass Fishing on the big lakes)

[JoeBudd]

I can't help but to get bored with this game. One thing that was done right in the last update was fish bite less frequently and the bigger fish are less likely to bite. That is a good fix. I posted previously that the size of the fish on average are simply way too big. A largemouth and smallmouth bass on average are around 1 1/2 to 2 lbs., in this game the average is around 7-8 lbs. a 7-8 lb. bass is a bass of a lifetime for most people and in this game that is what you catch 90% of the time. I fished for 2 hours and in that 2 hours I only caught 1 fish under 4 lbs.. I caught more 15 lb. fish than I did fish under 5 lbs. This aspect of the game is so unrealistic it simply takes the excitement out of catching any big fish. A 11-15 lb. bass should be like one in 1000-3000 chances in the game if not more rare ( If you catch a fish in the 11 - 15 lb. range IRL you're looking at lake records and state records across the US.), a 7-10 lb. bass should be 1 in 500-1000 chances and a 4-6 lb. fish should still be 1 in 50 chances and 75% of the time if not more you should be catching fish in the 1-3 lb. range. The Bass seriously need to be dubbed down, its a game breaker for me as far as realism and excitement is concerned.

The size of the fish on average doesn't stop with just the bass. It seems to me pretty much every fish in the game is way oversized on average.

Another thing, why put a trolling motors on the boats if they don't work? This is a feature that needs to be added on the big lakes with the boats. everytime you want to move you have to use the outboard. Trolling with a bass boat is what you do 90% of the time once you get to your fishing spots IRL.

Also you need too add a fish jumping out of the water animation. This is something that's simply part of fishing. Fish don't skip across the top of the water, smallmouth, largemouth and pike will jump out of the water and spit hooks. Smallmouth are notorious for jumping out of the water and spitting hooks, it's a very real aspect of fishing that should never be missed in a fishing simulation game. What's funny is the picture that comes up when you load the game is a picture of a bass jumping out of the water yet you don't even have that animation in the game lol.

I really hope you take this type of thing serious, because this is a great game with some short comings that are game breaking in my honesty opinion. That's my 2 cents. Thank you.

[SmokinJo]

I loved this post!! Coming from Minnesota I love to fish Bass mostly but also Walleye so I know a fair amount on how they act.

[DTG_Stephen]

Thank you for the post and the detailed feedback najoro. We are taking the feedback on board to make improvements to the bass fishing experience so we appreciate you sharing your knowledge with us.

The trolling motor is being worked on and you will be able to start using it in our next update. We also want to work on adding in the bass jumping to the fights in future.

[JoeBudd]

I bumped this discussion simply based on the Developers holding true to their word. But also as a reminder of what things still need improvement.

I want to say, the bass jumping animation is beautiful, to be honest it's the best animation I've seen of a fish jumping out of the water I've ever seen in a fishing game. Great job and thank you!

I will also say I'm very happy you introduced the feature to use the trolling motor. It's a bit tricky at first, but once you get the hang of it, it works quite nice. Thanks again for listening to the community and improving the game.

Now to the things that I feel still need work and I really hope you do fix some day. The average size of the Bass (and most other fish) is still way to big and the bite rate is still way to high. I want to have to search and search and search and grind and grind and grind (and maybe a little bit of luck) to catch a trophy or big specimen fish. With how easy and common big Bass are to find and catch in this game and how the average sized bass is well above the real life average I still get bored of this game quite quickly and don't find it to be a rewarding game. That's the reason I quit playing in hopes you would fix what I personally find as a game breaking aspect of it. I'm not trying to say this game should be real to life in every way, I just want to feel rewarded based on my skill and my time put in and feel challenged, which this game does not do for me at the moment.

I also want to point out the simplicity of rigging your rod and reel setups. I can use any rod and any reel together with any fishing line with any lure and it really doesn't effect anything other than how long it takes me to reel a fish in. It doesn't decrease my chance of catching fish or the size of fish I catch and if it does it's very minimal and practically unnoticeable.

I look at this game and see nothing but potential, but this game just doesn't have that much depth to it or nearly challenging enough to have a great deal of replay value (at least the bass fishing which is the only reason I would play this game). I am glad you've improved certain aspect of the game and you did a great job on it. I just hope you continue to listen to the community and improve the game. Thank you.

[dmoreno78]

najoro04님이 먼저 게시:

I bumped this discussion simply based on the Developers holding true to their word. But also as a reminder of what things still need improvement. (...)

It sounds like you and I are both looking for a true bass fishing simulator. I haven't played such since Trophy Bass 4 which came out about 20 years ago.

Even if the bite rate was reduced and even if the average bass catch size was reduced... the game would still get boring. Because there's not much strategy. Literally, the only tips I've encountered for catching bass in the game are:
- Locate bass near different visible structures (weed lines, lilly pads, points, etc.).
- Use the fish finder to find fish.
- Use shiny colors during clear sky, and bright colors during cloudy sky.

This is the type of game where, without extensive bass fishing strategy implemented, you're gonna see the same people high up in the leaderboards, doing the same thing over and over (perhaps farming 'secret' spots) or cheating. Meanwhile, having extensive knowledge of bass fishing strategies from real-life pros and personal experience only gets you so far in a game like this, because that's just not implemented.

For example, water temperature. I don't think the bass AI even uses it. I'm not even sure if the temperature shown is water temperature or air temperature. Water temperature is extremely important in locating and catching bass. Another thing is season. Are the bass in the spawn period? Are they filling up for the winter? Or how about fishing line. Is it realistic to use 30+ lb. braid for everything on any reel and rod? No. But the game doesn't care. When you fish topwater lures in real life, for example, you should be using line that floats (mono), not braid or flourocarbon, which sinks. How about line visibility to fish? How about finesse fishing when fish are spooked or inactive due to cold water? How about all the different lure retrieval types that go well beyond what the game knows of? Or how about water clarity? Fishing clear water vs. stained water involves changing up strategies. How about underwater cover? Bass will be suspended above underwater rock ledges, trees, weed lines... Or they could be buried in underwater weeds or brush... Jigs? Nope, none in this game. In-line spinners? Nope. Trailers for spinnerbaits and jigs? Nope. Different lure action and retrieval speed based on the reel gear ratio? Nope. The list goes on and on. I've studied it. I've lived it. I know bass fishing. And this game only goes so far with it. It's limited. It's not as good as Trophy Bass 4 in terms of challenge and strategy. But damn, does it look good.

I feel the developers have hit that 6-month mark where they just throw in the towel and release DLC going forward. I've seen it with too many other fishing games before. I hope I'm wrong. I hope they fix the lure physics, implement a proper fish finder, and add the other things that could cure the boredom and provide more of a challenge (snags, better fish AI, more difficult to locate and catch those BIG bass, etc.).

Who knows...

[JoeBudd]

dmoreno78님이 먼저 게시:

najoro04님이 먼저 게시:

I bumped this discussion simply based on the Developers holding true to their word. But also as a reminder of what things still need improvement. (...)

It sounds like you and I are both looking for a true bass fishing simulator. I haven't played such since Trophy Bass 4 which came out about 20 years ago.

Even if the bite rate was reduced and even if the average bass catch size was reduced... the game would still get boring. Because there's not much strategy. Literally, the only tips I've encountered for catching bass in the game are:
- Locate bass near different visible structures (weed lines, lilly pads, points, etc.).
- Use the fish finder to find fish.
- Use shiny colors during clear sky, and bright colors during cloudy sky.

This is the type of game where, without extensive bass fishing strategy implemented, you're gonna see the same people high up in the leaderboards, doing the same thing over and over (perhaps farming 'secret' spots) or cheating. Meanwhile, having extensive knowledge of bass fishing strategies from real-life pros and personal experience only gets you so far in a game like this, because that's just not implemented.

For example, water temperature. I don't think the bass AI even uses it. I'm not even sure if the temperature shown is water temperature or air temperature. Water temperature is extremely important in locating and catching bass. Another thing is season. Are the bass in the spawn period? Are they filling up for the winter? Or how about fishing line. Is it realistic to use 30+ lb. braid for everything on any reel and rod? No. But the game doesn't care. When you fish topwater lures in real life, for example, you should be using line that floats (mono), not braid or flourocarbon, which sinks. How about line visibility to fish? How about finesse fishing when fish are spooked or inactive due to cold water? How about all the different lure retrieval types that go well beyond what the game knows of? Or how about water clarity? Fishing clear water vs. stained water involves changing up strategies. How about underwater cover? Bass will be suspended above underwater rock ledges, trees, weed lines... Or they could be buried in underwater weeds or brush... Jigs? Nope, none in this game. In-line spinners? Nope. Trailers for spinnerbaits and jigs? Nope. Different lure action and retrieval speed based on the reel gear ratio? Nope. The list goes on and on. I've studied it. I've lived it. I know bass fishing. And this game only goes so far with it. It's limited. It's not as good as Trophy Bass 4 in terms of challenge and strategy. But damn, does it look good.

I feel the developers have hit that 6-month mark where they just throw in the towel and release DLC going forward. I've seen it with too many other fishing games before. I hope I'm wrong. I hope they fix the lure physics, implement a proper fish finder, and add the other things that could cure the boredom and provide more of a challenge (snags, better fish AI, more difficult to locate and catch those BIG bass, etc.).

Who knows...

x2

You are spot on and really touch base on what Bass fishing is all about, you said it much better than I could have.