(Ugh, I'm so out of it; this being in the Multi-Topic section doesn't even make sense; what was I THINKING?!)
Quest Fishing in this game blows.
From fishing itself being kind of boring (and occasionally really annoying) to the pure tedium of hoping the Angler likes your face at that particular moment when he gives you rewards, I think fishing as a whole needs a major facelift.
Yeah, that's all you're gonna get this time. Frankly, that's all you need.
Now, I've only heard ideas on how to make getting THESE
buggers less annoying to obtain, from simply making them more common to having alternative means of getting them. But we have a few more problems than that, a few of which I can knock out alongside the Fish Finder accessories with a single idea. But first, lemme just get the easy exploit that lets you catch multiple of a Quest Fish on the same day with a single Chest or whatever (or just your Trash slot, even) out of the way.
As soon as a player catches a Quest Fish, they should have some sort of flag set off on them (I don't in' know how code works, so I dunno if it's that simple), which'll block them from catching the same Quest Fish again unless the fish is somehow deleted. I know this'll upset players who would much rather be off fighting monsters than sitting on their rumpus and waiting every in-game day, but don't worry, you guys.
I have a solution to that, too.
For now though, let's get back to that Fish Finder solution:
The Angler Shop!
Yes, I'm for real. I propose that certain items in the Angler's Quest rewards should be instead thrown into a shop, where you can pick and choose which items you want-for a price. You won't be able to access it right away; after 5 Quests (the same time you get the Fuzzy Carrot), the Angler will tell you he's opened up shop!
"But Bry, you can't just sell these things off for Coins, you dumb!"
Alright, first off, ow. Second off, yeah, I KNOW; that's why I'm not putting them up for Coins. Say hello to the newest in currency mechanics...
Fish Tokens.
<just imagine a paper token with a crudely-drawn fish on it>
What I was originally going to say: "Quest Fish. I mean, why add ANOTHER item with the sole purpose of trading with the Angler if that's the entire point of THESE babies?"
What I then realized: "Wait, , that just makes Quests near-irrelevant."
You get 1 Fish Token alongside every reward the Angler gives you from a Quest, from the very first Quest onward. You still have the guaranteed and chance items you get from the Angler, but if you seriously just want your damn Cellphone parts, you can use earned Fish Tokens to buy them, as well as several other items that you kinda can't really get again unless your luck loves/hates you. If you and your friends want to, you guys can give one person all your tokens to speed up the buying process.
I have, here, a Table with every single item you can purchase as well as each item's Quest Fish price on it. You'll be able to buy some stuff before you'd normally get it via the Angler's Quests, which I have alternate solutions for, too. Tell me what you like, and tell me what you're mildly disgruntled with! (Like the fact that Coralstone Blocks aren't included in this, if you even remembered those exist!)
Quest Fishing in this game blows.
From fishing itself being kind of boring (and occasionally really annoying) to the pure tedium of hoping the Angler likes your face at that particular moment when he gives you rewards, I think fishing as a whole needs a major facelift.
Yeah, that's all you're gonna get this time. Frankly, that's all you need.
Now, I've only heard ideas on how to make getting THESE
As soon as a player catches a Quest Fish, they should have some sort of flag set off on them (I don't in' know how code works, so I dunno if it's that simple), which'll block them from catching the same Quest Fish again unless the fish is somehow deleted. I know this'll upset players who would much rather be off fighting monsters than sitting on their rumpus and waiting every in-game day, but don't worry, you guys.
I have a solution to that, too.
For now though, let's get back to that Fish Finder solution:
The Angler Shop!
Yes, I'm for real. I propose that certain items in the Angler's Quest rewards should be instead thrown into a shop, where you can pick and choose which items you want-for a price. You won't be able to access it right away; after 5 Quests (the same time you get the Fuzzy Carrot), the Angler will tell you he's opened up shop!
"But Bry, you can't just sell these things off for Coins, you dumb!"
Alright, first off, ow. Second off, yeah, I KNOW; that's why I'm not putting them up for Coins. Say hello to the newest in currency mechanics...
Fish Tokens.
<just imagine a paper token with a crudely-drawn fish on it>
What I was originally going to say: "Quest Fish. I mean, why add ANOTHER item with the sole purpose of trading with the Angler if that's the entire point of THESE babies?"
What I then realized: "Wait, , that just makes Quests near-irrelevant."
You get 1 Fish Token alongside every reward the Angler gives you from a Quest, from the very first Quest onward. You still have the guaranteed and chance items you get from the Angler, but if you seriously just want your damn Cellphone parts, you can use earned Fish Tokens to buy them, as well as several other items that you kinda can't really get again unless your luck loves/hates you. If you and your friends want to, you guys can give one person all your tokens to speed up the buying process.
I have, here, a Table with every single item you can purchase as well as each item's Quest Fish price on it. You'll be able to buy some stuff before you'd normally get it via the Angler's Quests, which I have alternate solutions for, too. Tell me what you like, and tell me what you're mildly disgruntled with! (Like the fact that Coralstone Blocks aren't included in this, if you even remembered those exist!)
Shop Prices |
---|
Fuzzy Carrot 3 feeish tokens | Angler Hat 3 feeish tokens | Angler Vest Only appears once you've obtained the Hat. 5 feeish tokens | Angler Pants Only appears once you've obtained the Vest. 5 feeish tokens | Angler Tackle Bag pieces Only appear after Quest 20, when you would have the full Angler set. 6 feeish tokens each | Fish Finder pieces 5 feeish tokens each, 3 in Hardmode | Fish Hook 7 feeish tokens, 3 in Hardmode | Golden Bug Net 20 feeish tokens, 15 in Hardmode | Golden Fishing Rod You can get this thing 5 Quests early, if you dedicate to it. 20 feeish tokens |
Hotline Fishing Hook You could also get this thing, if you're really feelin' it. 20 feeish tokens | Mermaid Costume parts Only appears after Quest 15, unless the Angler is at the Ocean. They'll each show up individually, but I'm not wasting that space here. 2 feeish tokens per piece; 6 total | Fish Costume parts Only appears after Quest 15. 2 feeish tokens per piece; 6 total | Fishing Furniture Every remaining slot in the Angler's shop will be filled in with a random Furniture item; stock rotates daily. 2 feeish tokens each | Fin Wings Hardmode Only 7 feeish tokens | Bottomless Water Bucket Hardmode Only 12 feeish tokens | Super Absorbant Sponge Hardmode Only 7 feeish tokens each | Enchanted Sundial Hardmode Only Only appears after Quest 50. 10 feeish tokens | Biome-specific Crate Items Hardmode Only Only appears after Quest 60. Only 1 Crate's biome-specific items will be present at any time; the Angler must be in the corresponding biome. 2 feeish tokens per item |
I'm also gonna be making a few additions and changes to the Angler's Quest rewards, just to make a few more of the items more easily obtainable, therefore giving them some more use and making it so the Fish Tokens aren't 100% necessary.
This is also where those "alternate solutions" are; they, uh, actually comprise most of this table.
Fuzzy Carrot Still obtained at Quest 5. If in inventory, you'll instead receive 5 Gold. | Angler Armor pieces Each piece is still obtained at its respective Quest. If a piece is in your inventory during its particular Quest, you'll instead receive an Angler Tackle Bag piece. | Angler Tackle Bag pieces Each piece has a raised chance of being obtained every 4th Quest. Quests will attempt to give you pieces you don't have in your inventory; if all three are possessed in some form, you'll instead receive 3 additional Fishing Potions. | Fish Finder pieces Each piece's chance of being obtained in any non-predetermined Quest is slightly raised. Quests will attempt to give you pieces you don't have in your inventory; if all three are possessed in some form, you'll instead receive 3 additional Crate Potions. | Fish Hook Chance of being obtained is raised to 25% for every 3rd Quest starting at Quest 3; chance raises by an additional 25% every 3rd Quest after that, being guaranteed at Quest 12. Once first obtained, its chance of being obtained is as normal. I know the explanation is confusing, but it's the best I can do; I'm sorry. If in inventory, Quests that would give you it will instead grant you 5 additional Apprentice Bait, or Fin Wings during Hardmode (if you don't have them). | Golden Fishing Rod Still obtained at Quest 30. If already obtained, you'll receive the Golden Bug Net. |
Golden Bug Net Substitutes the Golden Fishing Rod at Quest 30. If already obtained, you'll receive 2 random Fishing Furniture items. | Hotline Fishing Hook Now obtained at Quest 40. If already obtained, you'll receive a Bottomless Water Bucket. | Mermaid and Fish Costumes If any piece of one costume is in your inventory, you'll instead receive the other costume; if you possess pieces from both costumes, you'll instead receive a random Fishing Furniture item. | Fishing Furniture Furniture items in your inventory will be excluded from the possible rewards; if you, for some reason, have ALL of them in your inventory, you'll just get a random one. | Fin Wings Obtained similarly to the Fish Hook, but starting at Quest 18 during Hardmode, instead; chance increases won't occur until your first 3rd Quest in Hardmode, though (to account for anyone who fishes for way too long in PreHardmode). If in inventory, Quests that would give you it will instead grant you 8 additional Apprentice Bait. | Bottomless Water Bucket and Super Absorbant Sponge Quests will attempt to give you the one you don't have, unless you have both, in which case you instead receive 8 Journeyman Bait. |
Alright, that's the Angler stuff out of the way. But I actually have a SECOND proposal in mind, which is for the players who prefer killing things over fishing.
What if, after catching a Quest Fish for the first time...
...you could find it as an enemy?
You'd still be able to fish up the Angler's wanted Quest Fish, sure, but after doing that, you could find that particular fish at any time in areas where you'd normally fish for it instead of needing to wait for the Angler to want it. Each fish would be mostly unique; while a few will share similar AI, they will all have certain defining traits to make each and every fish feel special and worth fighting. I'll even give some of them unique drops; this would definitely encourage players who aren't fishers to at least try it while also rewarding them for doing so!
This would then create a problem with the folks who DO like to fish and would rather not be interrupted by attackers, though. Perhaps an item could be left in the inventory to allow the Quest Fish to spawn.
Now, uh, adding 39 Quest Fish into the game as fully-fledged enemies would take a LOT of work to implement, especially since a lot of them aren't based off of pre-existing creatures in the game at all; WORRY NOT, though, for I already have concepts for... uh, some of them.
...The problem is that I don't know if I should link you guys to the old thread that has those ideas or just redo it all and put it here. That suggestion has more than just Quest Fish, so it might not be the best idea, but I'm also reeeaaally strapped for time because I have a LOT of other work I want to get to before Journey's End gets out.
Just this once, I'll leave this decision to your guys' opinions. You get the main point of what I'm trying to say, at least, so you're only missing out on my ideas for each individual fish.
Sorry.
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