Welcome to 2022 Anglers!
It’s the first Bass Bulletin of the year, and oh boy, do we have a lot to cover! We are going to talk about the Predator Equipment Pack, Festival of Bass (featuring interviews with Studio Producer, Des O’Connor, and Senior Character Artist, Jansen Turk), core game updates, beards (yes, BEARDS), and a glimpse into the future plans for Bassmaster Fishing 2022.
Oh, and there is more! In case you missed it during the Festival of Bass, Episode 1 of our new series Bass Gaming, hosted by Ronnie Moore (with special guest back-to-back Bassmaster Classic winner Hank Cherry) is below, and as is a new feature, “Did you know?” where we’ll offer you a top tip to help you obliterate the competition.
I don’t know about you, but I’m already exhausted just listing how much is going on! So, take a breath, and let’s cast our proverbial rod into this month’s Bass Bulletin.
Predator Equipment Pack
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1796151/Bassmaster_Fishing_2022_Predator_Equipment_Pack/?curator_clanid=41320073
Sink your teeth into the Predator Equipment Pack, out NOW! Equip yourself with fear-inducing boat wraps, awesome new clothing, lures – including for the first time Bagley and brand-new lures from 13 Fishing, and unique Mastery challenges to complete. This gripping equipment pack is for players who are looking to dominate the competition and conquer the lake. To find out more about the Predator Equipment Pack you can read our full article and find links to purchase here
Festival of Bass
On Jan 20th we hosted our very first Festival of Bass live stream, featuring new content from the Predator Equipment Pack, interviews with the team here at Dovetail Games, and exclusive content made by our Dovetail Ambassadors. If you missed the fun live, fear not, you can catch up on what you missed right here.
We showed some great educational videos from Professor Smooth to help players who are new to the game learn some of the basics, and some more advanced tips that we’re sure will help even the seasoned angler!
We had interviews with our legendary Studio Producer, Des O’Connor on the development schedule, and a first-time appearance from our Senior Character Artist, Jansen Turk, who talked about the challenges of implementing the first beards into Bassmaster Fishing 2022.
There was also a Premiere of Episode One of our new series Bass Gaming presented by Ronnie Moore who takes on the 2 x Bassmaster Classic champion, Hank Cherry, in-game – as well as finding out about what makes this historic champion tick.
We also had an original piece of content made by one of our Dovetail Ambassadors, WobblyCaptain who made a video to help players clutch up the Bassmaster Elite Series at St. Johns River. A must-watch for all those struggling to get to grips with this challenging venue.
To round off the event we played a game of Bassmaster Royale and a fun little game of “Bassmaster Hide & Seek” - a challenge with the new camo clothing included with the Predator Pack. Who will find Ben first, and win a prize?
BEARDS
If you’ve ever seen one of our live streams, you’ll know we have a whole host of bearded members of the team (and those that are follically-challenged, who certainly wish they could grow them), and as such, we understand the importance of being able to rep a strong beard on your character.
We are pleased to announce, that we are very close to having them available in the game! Alongside the addition of beards to Bassmaster Fishing 2022, we are also implementing additional tools to enable you to change your hair and beard colours giving you greater control over how your player looks.
Here are a few sneaky previews of some of the mighty fine beards you’ll be able to rep soon.
Game Updates
On January 19th, we rolled out our first update of 2022 - which included various improvements and fixes including:
- Menu – We have implemented a change that we are hopeful has resolved an issues causing crashes when selecting “Manage” from the main menu.
- Venues – Catch rates have been balanced and we will continue to monitor catch rates across all our venues
- Multiplayer – When a player leaves an online public server, they will be presented with a catch summary
- Angler Hub – Improvements and fixes made to the Progression screen within Player Profile.
- Gameplay – Improvements made to catch shots
This update was primarily focused on improving the overall stability of the game and that, alongside bug fixes and enhancing the overall experience will be an ongoing effort throughout the year. To read the full list of changes in the last update click HERE.
We are already well on our way towards the next update, and we want to take the opportunity to reiterate that we are listening to you, the players and we are working on resolving issues you have been making us aware of. Speaking of which here are a few of the key issues we are currently working on that are most discussed and bought to our attention by the community.
- Career Mode - Players experiencing crashes during multi-day events
- Multiplayer - When a player tries to join a multiplayer game the player is kicked back to the main menu
- Mastery - Mastery challenges failing to complete
If you are experiencing an issue with the game feel free to report it directly to us using this link HERE. The more information you can provide the more details we can pass on to the team that will be investigating the issue.
Game Improvements
We are also working on several of the improvements you have been suggesting. We would add that the timeframes on a project like for example, animating lures are currently unknown. It is a highly technical physics-based system that needs to be designed, tested, tweaked, and tested again.
There are several plans for improvements to the core game that right now we can’t go into the details of (or provide timeframes on), but rest assured throughout 2022, Bassmaster Fishing 2022 will see a host of new, (and, importantly) free updates like beards and seasonal events plus additional content such as equipment packs and venues.
When we have more information about any of these improvements, we’ll let you know.
The Future
This brings us neatly onto the future and what is in store for Bassmaster Fishing 2022.
Now, naturally, we don’t want to ruin any surprises, but what we can say about one of the exciting things coming up is that the real-world Bassmaster Classic is coming up fast. It takes place over the weekend of 4th-6th of March – and, as a little hint, we’d recommend keeping your diaries clear - cancel your “washing your hair” plans, take the phone off the hook, and get prepared - because the competition is about to get real!
Did you know?
To close out this month's Bass Bulletin we are introducing a new monthly segment called “Did you know?” where we will share advice and tips to help players learn new mechanics and possibly even catch some giant bass!
This month's tip comes courtesy of the legend, BigTimerJ, that has helped him reel in some monsters, and even a few Legendaries! Start with the B.A.S.S., Casting Rod, B.A.S.S. casting reel, and 50lb Braid Black line. Now for the business end! Drop Shot Rig 1/2oz (14g) with the soft plastic, Tremor Shad – 7 Inch – and hello, Basszilla!
If you are umming and ahhing as to whether this loadout is worth giving a shot, we think these catches speak for themselves!
Final Thoughts
This was a big one so if you made it this far, hi, and well done. We want to reiterate our appreciation for you, our brilliant community.
We are listening and are committed to continuing to improve Bassmaster Fishing 2022 for everyone, and we’ll have more news on those as we get into future Bass Bulletins in 2022.
Finally, (finally!), we have some great places for you to talk, learn, and ask questions, so if you haven’t already, why not join our official Discord or Forum - there are loads of friendly fellow anglers out there for you to share tips with, get help from, or just sit down with a drink and chat with. See you there!
Tight Lines.