Hello everyone,
Beta Build 02 is now available and the change log is available below.
We’ve done quite a bit of work on the UI and other bits you might not notice straight away but the next beta build should be a lot more gameplay oriented.
The latest content has not been polished and debugged to the same standard as our previous Phases, which allows us to concentrate on production and only worry about fine debugging at the very end of the process (the game will then be thoroughly polished and debugged right before launch).
Please note that Multiplayer is currently unstable.
Please follow the instructions below to access and enjoy beta content, bearing in mind that you cannot have version 6.1 and Beta Build 01 installed on your computer at the same time. If you already switched from 6.1 to beta for Beta Build 01, your beta build will update automatically
Please also make sure you have a look at the Know Issues below. This is a beta build and nothing is set in stone at this point.
Thanks,
Kevin
Patch size: 1.8GB
- New Features:
- Rod bending has been overhauled with a completely new algorithm which allows for bending in all directions. It also enables us to provide different rods with different test curves and actions some of which are now in the game for you to test. Because of the new bending you will likely have to release the bait later than before to reach a long distance.
- Roach has been added to all lakes.
- Catfish have been added to St Johns and Presa Del Monte Bravo.
- A variety of new boss fish for each species have been added to some of our lakes. (Except for L’Arene and Roach)
- Profile Screen - Angler’s log is now in and working. It shows all the different species of fish as well as all the boss fish in the game. Can you catch them all? Caught fish should be unlocked here.
- Multiplayer - Multiplayer has been expanded to all lakes. Select your lake from the appropriate screen. This may be slightly flaky at the moment as it was a last minute inclusion.
- Single Player Tournaments - Work In Progress but now playable but as yet unbalanced. Hit Esc in game to bring up the leaderboard.
- Equipment - New rods and reels are now visible in the game and perform differently.
- Maps:
- General for All Lakes - All lakes are still a work in progress and should NOT be considered 'finished'.
- We're playing with various graphics settings at the moment and so lakes look at different quality levels. This will be improved over time as we add more detail to the levels.
- Digger Lake - Ongoing work with framerate and also final placement of assets. Updated bed types have been implemented.
- L'Arène Lake - This is now fully playable with placeholder gameplay. Lighting work is placeholder which makes the world look flat. Artists are actively working on this. Progress will be shared in the next beta update.
- The Observatory - We're overhauling the environment so it's up to to the same quality as some of our more recent lakes. Lighting is placeholder.
- User Interface:
- UI - We're still actively working on transferring all screens to the new UI system. We're getting closer to completing this but you may experience some issues.
- Freedom Fishing has a new HUD implementation. It's still a work in progress but you'll notice the tension gauge widget has moved to the bottom left of the screen.
- Added some additional player characters to choose from. Character selection screen still placeholder.
- Bug Fixes:
- Tackle Point reward bug has now been fixed so you get much more TP and XP for a catch. Feedback on this would be appreciated.
- Lots of bug fixes.
- Known Issues:
- Fish & Fish AI:
- Fish AI - We're actively working on a number of things surrounding Fish AI (updates to bait and rig preference) and Movement and so there may be unexpected behaviour. This will be worked on throughout development and may sometimes appear worse as we tweak areas and add new functionality. Please let us know what your thoughts are on how the game is playing at each Beta update.
- Multiplayer:
- Multiplayer sessions are currently unstable and crash prone. We're aware of the issues and will fix them in the next build.
- Multiplayer Settings - some MP settings aren't hooked up so you won't be able to change these.
- Multiplayer Chat - Functionality has been improved. Awaiting new UI update. Partial match of filtered words is still on which will be addressed before launch.
- Angler Missing from Presentation screen - at some locations in a multiplayer session the angler may be missing from the catch presentation screen.
- Miscellaneous:
- UI - We're actively working on transferring all screens to the new UI system. We're approx 75% complete on this but you may experience some issues with game settings not functioning as expected and old style screens still in evidence.
- The UI does not correctly scale with certain resolutions.(4:3)
- Character Selection - We've added placeholders for the additional characters being worked on. If you select any characters other than 'Male' or 'Female' then your character will not appear on the Post-Catch menu.
- Academy - We're adding VO to tutorial 1 and subsequently it's very fragile. If you do exactly as asked it should work but any deviation will lead to a null state where nothing will happen. Work is ongoing on this.
- Academy - tutorial one can’t be finished when using an xbox controller
- Single Player Tournaments - Work In Progress and not functional beyond selecting a tournament and having the option to change to a different peg. Swim limitations are placeholder. AI opponent scores cannot be viewed currently.
- Store / Tackle Shop - Work in Progress but should now be functional. Use the arrow keys to move the equipment grid around to see all the different options available. Pricing and XP / TP awards are placeholder and will be tweaked based on your feedback / internal metrics.
- Metric display bug: if you change your unit settings to metric distance will not be shown properly. Reinstalling the game does not fix this.
- The wind has a really weird effect on some of the tree's across several lakes, this could be a work in progress as well.
- Changing Pegs after casting multiple rods. There is an issue with the bait of rods on rests remaining in the water at the previous location.
- The distance indicator has become a bed type indicator and the image may be the wrong resolution.
- Rod and reels: hands of the character aren’t gripping the rods in the correct place and the wrist of the character can look weird when reeling with some reels.
To install the beta version and content:
- Open Steam
- Open the Library tab
- Right click on Dovetail Games Fishing
- Select Properties from the menu
- Select the Beta tab at the top
- In the password field, type YG9fdfYwKPFQTh3g
- Click the Check Code button
- From the drop down menu, select beta - Closed Beta Branch
- Dovetail Games Fishing will now update to the Beta version
- In the Steam Library, your game will be listed as Dovetail Games Fishing [beta]
To uninstall the beta version and content:
- Open Steam
- Open the Library tab
- Right click on Dovetail Games Fishing [beta]
- Select Properties from the menu
- Select the Beta tab at the top
- From the drop down menu, select NONE - Opt out of all beta programs
- Dovetail Games Fishing will now update back to version 0.6.1
- In the Steam Library, your game will be listed as Dovetail Games Fishing
- Fish & Fish AI: