@knifelife said in How to make the addition of Fishing interesting. (IDEAS THREAD):
What suggestions and ideas do you have which could have Fishing introduced into the game and not be the usual boring mechanics?
Requesting exciting new mechanics for the non-exciting nature of actual fishing might be a bit of a stretch. I believe fishing was mostly requested as something to do while sailing from A to B, which limits you to what is possible from your ship.
I did look around a bit and found this: https://www.pcgamer.com/best-fishing-games/ which basically shows that a lot of games try to either go for excitement or for relaxation and it's hard to find a balance between those.
The "boring" fishing experience
How it'll probably be implemented
You get a fishing rod as a tool with the LT/RT options to throw out and reel in. Once the floaty thing goes under, you have to reel in. Fish you catch will be an item you hold in your hands which can be deposited in a crate or something and ticked off in the commendations screen somewhere.
What could be done to do it different
Although I have no issue with just a simple fishing mechanic, there are some ways to make it more interesting or give it a Sea of Thieves spin.
Add Boss fights
One thing I remember from fishing in World of Warcraft is standing in a huge circle with 40 people from my guild, all fishing on a specific spot in a dungeon to fish up "The Lurker Below", a really big fish boss.
I can imagine that fishing from your ship would give you a possibility to fish up Megan, Karen or any other new aquatic creature. After fishing it up you'd have to kill it in a normal way in order to get rewarded.
Make it a crew experience
Instead of making it just a solo thing, turn it into something to do with the entire crew. I'm not completely sure how this could be done, but I'm thinking about something like:
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Teamwork makes it easier
Make reeling in the fish hard, while reeling it in the fish will surfuce so the crew can either grab/catch it or shoot at it to make it struggle less.
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Reeling in the fish together
Make the "fishing rod" part of the ship, make reeling in similar as raising the anchor and have the crew attack the fish to capture it.
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Multiple fishing rods attached to a single piece bait
Have each crewmember attach his/her fishing line the a single piece of bait, so you have more force to reel in the fish
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Use a crewmember as bait
Trying to capture dangerous fish? They love living targets, so attach your line to one of the crewmembers and let them attract the fish.
Personal barrels
If each person has a personal fishing barrel, you could organize fishing competitions with the crew to see who could capture the most fish in a certain time. Each member should be able to see the content of the personal barrels, although you can only put stuff in your own barrel. To make this interesting the fishing mechanic should be more skill than luck though.
Fish are like chests/skulls/crates
It would be amazing to have fish in a similar way as chests or skulls, hoarding massive amounts of fish on a single ship would show a huge visible pile of fish. Not only would this look amazing, it would also give others the chance to steal fish.
Capture fish alive
If fish are like the pigs/chickens/snakes you should be able to capture them alive and let them swim freely in the bottom of your slightly water filled ship.
Alternative ways of fishing
Spearfishing
If we could be given a speargun as weapon, it would add to the weapons arsenal and offer a more exciting and personal way of fishing. As a weapon it would have the ability to pin players to the floor for a short time.
As a fishing tool it would require you to actually dive and swim around to find fish. After a fish is found you'd have to shoot several spears in them to kill them. I can even imagine going on fishing expeditions with the crew like that, especially if you're hunting stronger fish.
The speargun should have a clear benefit for fishing, otherwise people would just use their guns instead. Maybe larger ammo capacity or it comes with a way for stay underwater longer.
Fishing net
Similar to spearfishing, give players a net as a thrown weapon/tool. As a weapon it would trap pirates in place. As a tool it would capture fish. Unlike spearfishing a net would have to be retrieved, but has no ammo.
Passive Netting
Hang a net behind your ship and scoop up all that fish from the sea, efficient and safe. Lowering and lifting the net would be done in a similar way as raising or angling the sail. After the net is full, take it from the water, kill any living fish or mermaid and sell that stuff the one willing to pay for it.
Harpooning
Basically the same as the AC4 reference: Shooting or throwing harpoons from the safety of your ship or a rowboat. Being tagged along for the ride while you try and kill the fish with more harpoons or other weapons. Reeling the harpoon in like an anchor to get the closer to the fish.
Simple Pirate fishing
Add more types of fish to the game similar to the sharks, let pirates "fish" for them with their normal weapons or even gunpowder barrels. The only change that has to happen is that kills are registered or can be retrieved.
Fishing Rewards / Purpose
Apart from the usual resources (bananas, planks, cannonballs), empty cages, chests, crates and skulls, there should be something to make fishing worthwhile apart from just wanting a laid back experience.
Commendation challenges
One of the obvious ones will probably be commendations for capturing certain fish or the total number of fish. Although I personally would like to have these in a way that would allow you to show these off to others.
Merchant Alliance Reputation/Gold
If fish can be sold, they probably can be sold to the Merchant Alliance for reputation and gold.
Ship decorations
I would love to be able to have locations where you could hang your prized fish. On certain spots on your ship you'd have spots where anyone in the crew could open a context menu where it allows you to select a fish from the collection of fish you've ever caught.
New food source
Certain fish should be able to be stored and used in a similar way as bananas.
Cosmetics
Apart from decorations for the ship it would be nice if capturing certain types of fish or collecting a certain amount of specific fish part could reward you with specific fishing cosmetics.
Crafting
A nicer option of getting cosmetics or food would be if there's some sort of crafting system that lets you create the items yourself instead of just getting them as a reward for completing a certain commendation.
Well that's about everything I could think about now. I won't be adding or editing my post as I believe the editing bug hasn't been fixed so it would be useless to do so :)
Feel free to give feedback though :)
Signed,
Captain FishSt1ck
