Summer Update - What's new, and what's next?
Hey, friends! I just wanted to share an update on Black Hole Fishing. It's been a little while (I got to learn about burnout 🙃), but I'm back and updating again. Here's what's new, and what's still coming:
Do you hear that?
Right before the game launched, Peter from BerryNote (View game page) reached out and offered to make us a custom, dynamic soundtrack for the game. He came through just in time, but I was swamped with launch day bugs and wasn't able to get things integrated right away. Well, the wait is over - the OST is in. This one features a lot more ambience and nature sounds, which works well compared to a more traditional set of songs. In case you prefer the original, there is a toggle in the settings menu to switch back and forth.
Happy summer! Is it too late for spring cleaning?
One other "launch day leftover" was the large pile of minor tweaks and fixes that didn't make it in the game right away. Our artist had given me more than 40 tasks to clean up - visual artifacts, UI weirdness, etc. I finally got started on this list, so the visual quality is a little better, and will continue to improve as we go.
I also squashed a fair number of bugs, including a major one affecting auto-saves. In short, the game could get into a state where the backup auto-saves stopped working. This doesn't matter for 99% of players, but of course, when it matters (something happens to the main save), it matters a lot!
Also fixed: fish lab cost displays were weird; using a color bomb was changing the visual size of the fish.
Re-spec time!
Finally, I added a small change to the Prestige screen. The "undo all" button now allows you to refund your spent gluons, meaning you can re-spec and try different upgrades. This is a part of a larger ongoing overhaul of the prestige screen. I want to reduce the need for rapid prestige spam. It's not the intended way to play, and most of the negative feedback I get comes from people who grind out gluons as fast as possible instead of focusing on longer prestiges.
This turned out to be a pretty big change, and I realized I want player feedback before I completely gut the existing upgrades shop. If you are interested in seeing updates before they hit the public, please check out the beta branch and let me know what you think! I'll be pushing changes frequently, so keep an eye out for new content. Also, you can join our Discord if you want to leave feedback, or just hang out.
What's next?
In the last announcement, I shared a roadmap update. The information there is still accurate, with the exception of the dates themselves. I needed a lot more time off than I was expecting (shipping a game and a baby at the same time will do that to you...), but I'm finally back and feeling energized again. So the long-term goals haven't really changed. In the short term, I'm going to break up the coming changes into smaller pieces where rather than doing one "mega update". I'm planning on updating again before the end of the Summer Sale, hopefully more than once.
My areas of focus over the next few weeks are
1. game balance (especially the prestige screen),
2. re-distribution of mass - I am experimenting with allowing the LHC to boost the mass of any fish, breaking the current "one best fish" meta. I've also made a few new fish that I just need to give a home :)
3. showcasing existing features better. For example, did you know that certain fish will swim directly into the black hole while other fish will avoid it? The next update will include small icons indicating this, along with biome affinity and other important tidbits. I just need to add tool-tips on hover, so this will probably be the next update.
Anyways, that's it for this one. Thank you for playing the game! If it's still on your wishlist, this might be a good time to pick it up (25% off for the summer sale). Enjoy the new soundscape, and stay fishy!
~Matthew