Bass Fishing Tournament (WIP)

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

BOOM!!! GOT THAT LAST FISH!! Perfect game?

I didn't touch any other fish except for the biggest ones, went straight down and straight back up each time and only had to let out my reel a TINY bit three times delaying me by maybe 2-3 seconds.  At the end of the game I had the biggest fish on the hook again but only for a couple of seconds, nowhere near enough time to get it up to the top again, even if I didn't let out my reel those times..

 

Edited October 31, 2019 by ZeroPage Homebrew

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

Wow, it's REALLY hard to catch the Lunker, but I just did it!!

 

It's challenging to get it to the top but it's NEAR impossible to get it past the top fish. I don't think you can do it in one pass, you have to get it as far up as you can in one go and then catch it again on your second try JUST after the smallest fish passes it and then you MIGHT make it. Enjoy the video below and maybe you too can catch the Lunker!

 

The big question is... is it worth the 800 points? No. It's WAY harder than catching 4x 200 point fish and way riskier with your time. It took me about half my total time to catch it and I could have caught 5 or 6 x200 point fish in the same time. Maybe if you REALLY skilled at catching it, maybe it'll be worth it, but then again it only shows up once in a while (I was resetting over and over until it appeared in order to practice it with full time left).

 

(SET VIDEO TO 1080P60 FOR FULL QUALITY)

 

[+sramirez2008]

5 minutes ago, ZeroPage Homebrew said:

Wow, it's REALLY hard to catch the Lunker, but I just did it!!

 

It's challenging to get it to the top but it's NEAR impossible to get it past the top fish. I don't think you can do it in one pass, you have to get it as far up as you can in one go and then catch it again on your second try JUST after the smallest fish passes it and then you MIGHT make it. Enjoy the video below and maybe you too can catch the Lunker!

 

The big question is... is it worth the 800 points? No. It's WAY harder than catching 4x 200 point fish and way riskier with your time. It took me about half my total time to catch it and I could have caught 5 or 6 x200 point fish in the same time. Maybe if you REALLY skilled at catching it, maybe it'll be worth it, but then again it only shows up once in a while (I was resetting over and over until it appeared in order to practice it with full time left).

 

(SET VIDEO TO 1080P60 FOR FULL QUALITY)

 

You deserve the Lunker patch!

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

11 minutes ago, sramirez2008 said:

You deserve the Lunker patch!

Oooh a Lunker patch! Nice!

[+TwentySixHundred]

1 hour ago, ZeroPage Homebrew said:

Wow, it's REALLY hard to catch the Lunker, but I just did it!!

 

It's challenging to get it to the top but it's NEAR impossible to get it past the top fish. I don't think you can do it in one pass, you have to get it as far up as you can in one go and then catch it again on your second try JUST after the smallest fish passes it and then you MIGHT make it. Enjoy the video below and maybe you too can catch the Lunker!

 

The big question is... is it worth the 800 points? No. It's WAY harder than catching 4x 200 point fish and way riskier with your time. It took me about half my total time to catch it and I could have caught 5 or 6 x200 point fish in the same time. Maybe if you REALLY skilled at catching it, maybe it'll be worth it, but then again it only shows up once in a while (I was resetting over and over until it appeared in order to practice it with full time left).

 

(SET VIDEO TO 1080P60 FOR FULL QUALITY)

 

Wow well done and thanks heaps for reporting your findings and breakdown. Yeah i have been trying to get the correct balance of risk vs reward and with hours and hours of testing to iron out the issues. Problem is it's a bit hard doing the testing solo so this feedback is worth it's weight in gold!

 

Ill have to make some adjustments, so the lunker is worth his weight and i like the fact it takes a couple of goes to land him in the boat. Issue now is tying to not be overly generous with the reward but make him worth while.

Edited October 31, 2019 by TwentySixHundred

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

2 hours ago, TwentySixHundred said:

Wow well done and thanks heaps for reporting your findings and breakdown. Yeah i have been trying to get the correct balance of risk vs reward and with hours and hours of testing to iron out the issues. Problem is it's a bit hard doing the testing solo so this feedback is worth it's weight in gold!

 

Ill have to make some adjustments, so the lunker is worth his weight and i like the fact it takes a couple of goes to land him in the boat. Issue now is tying to not be overly generous with the reward but make him worth while.

You're very welcome, game testing is a super important part of any development of a game. Too easy, it's not fun. Too hard, it's also not fun.

I'd say the Lunker would have to be worth at least 1500 points if I was ever to bother trying to catch him again to make it worth while. Then again, even at 1500 points he's not even a guarantee without a LOT of practice. At 2000 points he might be worth a little too much as people would just reset over and over to game the system like I did to practice. You might also want to make sure he can never appear at the beginning of a game and also not too late in the game that there wouldn't be enough time to catch him, approx 1/2 your total time!!

Edited October 31, 2019 by ZeroPage Homebrew

[+TwentySixHundred]

Ahhh yes checked the source on my phone that i find handy to cross reference at work for ideas and i had forgot to re-enable my cheat prevention code to disable him from appearing on startup. I remember changing some code for testing then must have forgot to change it back before posting the bin lol.

 

I will have to repost a bin tonight after work with cheat prevention enabled, thanks for letting me know. Was wondering how you managed to break my code by resetting the console as there should be noway of making him appear.

 

Also level 2 is in the works and hoping i can get everything sorted over today, tomorrow or the weekend. So the plan is by the 6th there should be another level if all goes well. ?

Edited October 31, 2019 by TwentySixHundred

[+TwentySixHundred]

Ok so after enabling cheat prevention and having a couple of rounds the lunker only appeared right near the end. I managed to land him in the boat after with about a second or two to spare and scored a 2390 with his reward of 800. I was also picking random fish, however as the developer and knowing the mechanic well i probably have the advantage. Still might need to raise his reward, anyway new build with cheat prevention enabled in the first post or here Bass Fishing Tournament 20191031-b.bin

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

Great score! Just for fun, let's see if I can break this down mathematically to maximize the score based on the points for each fish:

 

A full game lasts approximately 240 seconds (4min) and let's base the game on a 2400 point score.

 

Fish Scores (to get 2400 points):

Fish 1 = 5 points | 480 fish | 0.5 sec/fish

Fish 2 = 20 points | 120 fish | 2 sec/fish

Fish 3 = 50 points | 48 fish | 5 sec/fish

Fish 4 = 90 points | 26.7 fish | 9 sec/fish

Fish 5 = 200 points | 12 fish | 20 sec/fish

Lunker = 800 points | 3 fish | 80 sec/fish

 

I recorded a playing session and calculated perfect timings for catching each fish, see video below.

(WARNING: there are some jump cuts on some fish due to imperfect playing. The video is only to demonstrate a full length of time to drop the hook and reel in each fish. I gave the Lunker a lot more leeway in terms of an imperfect reel-in because of its difficulty)

 

Approx Fish Timings for a perfect catch (Hook down + reel in):

Fish 1 = 1 sec/fish (and the boat has to be lined up and timed with fish)

Fish 2 = 3 sec/fish

Fish 3 = 5 sec/fish

Fish 4 = 9 sec/fish

Fish 5 = 19 sec/fish (with zero reeling out)

Lunker = 63 sec/fish (with minor letting out of reel + catching top fish and going back again for Lunker. You might be able to do a little better depending on fish positions.)

 

(SET TO 1080P60 FOR FULL QUALITY)

 

Based on how long it takes to catch each fish vs. points the Lunker is definitely the winner, even at 800 points BUT the odds are against you getting a Lunker more than once in a game. If you see one, go for it!

 

If there's no Lunker the next best thing would be to go for Fish 5 (the bottom biggest one) as you get an ever so slight time advantage. The top two are a complete waste of time and are really there to get in your way. You can't catch them fast enough and you'd have to catch 120-480 PERFECTLY if you could catch them fast enough. The next two down, fish 3 & 4 are fine to get but again you have to catch them perfectly and catch 26-48 of them in a row perfectly, that's a LOT.

 

So, it seems the best strategy is to go for Fish 5 the whole time as you only have to get 12 of them and they have a slight time advantage, and then head for the Lunker if you see him.

 

NOW, let's calculate an absolute perfect score based on this! ?

 

Let's say you only get ONE Lunker in a game and you are able to snag him pretty much perfect at 60 sec, that leaves you 3 more minutes to catch fish 5 as many times as you can.

 

1 Lunker + 3 minutes of Fish 5 = 1*800 + (3 min @ 19 sec)*200 = 2600 points!

 

Let's say you get REALLY lucky and get two Lunkers.

 

2 Lunkers + 2 min of Fish 5 = 2*800 + (2min @ 19 sec)*200 = 2800 points!

 

So if all my calculations are correct, the top score in the game is somewhere between 2600 and 2800 points!

 

Fun stuff!

 

[Linndrum]

This is awesome, I love the gfx so much!

[+TwentySixHundred]

8 hours ago, ZeroPage Homebrew said:

Great score! Just for fun, let's see if I can break this down mathematically to maximize the score based on the points for each fish:

 

A full game lasts approximately 240 seconds (4min) and let's base the game on a 2400 point score.

 

Fish Scores (to get 2400 points):

Fish 1 = 5 points | 480 fish | 0.5 sec/fish

Fish 2 = 20 points | 120 fish | 2 sec/fish

Fish 3 = 50 points | 48 fish | 5 sec/fish

Fish 4 = 90 points | 26.7 fish | 9 sec/fish

Fish 5 = 200 points | 12 fish | 20 sec/fish

Lunker = 800 points | 3 fish | 80 sec/fish

 

I recorded a playing session and calculated perfect timings for catching each fish, see video below.

(WARNING: there are some jump cuts on some fish due to imperfect playing. The video is only to demonstrate a full length of time to drop the hook and reel in each fish. I gave the Lunker a lot more leeway in terms of an imperfect reel-in because of its difficulty)

 

Approx Fish Timings for a perfect catch (Hook down + reel in):

Fish 1 = 1 sec/fish (and the boat has to be lined up and timed with fish)

Fish 2 = 3 sec/fish

Fish 3 = 5 sec/fish

Fish 4 = 9 sec/fish

Fish 5 = 19 sec/fish (with zero reeling out)

Lunker = 63 sec/fish (with minor letting out of reel + catching top fish and going back again for Lunker. You might be able to do a little better depending on fish positions.)

 

(SET TO 1080P60 FOR FULL QUALITY)

 

Based on how long it takes to catch each fish vs. points the Lunker is definitely the winner, even at 800 points BUT the odds are against you getting a Lunker more than once in a game. If you see one, go for it!

 

If there's no Lunker the next best thing would be to go for Fish 5 (the bottom biggest one) as you get an ever so slight time advantage. The top two are a complete waste of time and are really there to get in your way. You can't catch them fast enough and you'd have to catch 120-480 PERFECTLY if you could catch them fast enough. The next two down, fish 3 & 4 are fine to get but again you have to catch them perfectly and catch 26-48 of them in a row perfectly, that's a LOT.

 

So, it seems the best strategy is to go for Fish 5 the whole time as you only have to get 12 of them and they have a slight time advantage, and then head for the Lunker if you see him.

 

NOW, let's calculate an absolute perfect score based on this! ?

 

Let's say you only get ONE Lunker in a game and you are able to snag him pretty much perfect at 60 sec, that leaves you 3 more minutes to catch fish 5 as many times as you can.

 

1 Lunker + 3 minutes of Fish 5 = 1*800 + (3 min @ 19 sec)*200 = 2600 points!

 

Let's say you get REALLY lucky and get two Lunkers.

 

2 Lunkers + 2 min of Fish 5 = 2*800 + (2min @ 19 sec)*200 = 2800 points!

 

So if all my calculations are correct, the top score in the game is somewhere between 2600 and 2800 points!

 

Fun stuff!

 

This is brilliant! Alot more detailed then the notes i have been using to work out the balance. It's looking like i have a decent risk vs reward based off your calculations and that's considering the player doesn't have a hard time avoiding most the fish. So easy to play yet hard to master and exactly what i have been aiming for.

 

Yeah the top two fish i wanted to ruin runs but with precise movement they can still be avoided (atleast for level one and the exception of the lunker). I like the fact that 90% of the time it will take more then one go to bring the lunker up.

 

Level 2 on the other hand is alot faster paced and avoiding the top two fish with the forth and fifth fish is hard to say the least. I plan on three levels of difficulty with basically the third as a get what you can type stage (break the player stage and collision is unavoidable). Like most Atari games they end up breaking the player but there is always room for improvement.

 

Now it's just a matter of dialing in level by level to keep that replay ability. Thanks for the time, effort and detailed information it's much appreciated ?

[+TwentySixHundred]

Latest Build: in the first post or here Bass Fishing Tournament 20191101.bin

 

Ok so i have added level two that can be accessed by scoring 1,800 or greater in round one. The sun continues to set and everything gets darker while the fish get faster.

 

I have also raised the probability of the Lunker because he was very rare and still kind of is. However having the extra level also raises the chance of his appearance. Unfortunately due to technical limitation he still heads from right to left unlike the other fish. Way it goes when working within the limitations of the system.

Edited November 1, 2019 by TwentySixHundred

[Atarian7]

I haven't tried it yet but the game looks awesome.

 

I've done some fishing in my life.  The largest bass I've caught is 4 lbs 12 oz.  

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

4 hours ago, TwentySixHundred said:

Latest Build: in the first post or here Bass Fishing Tournament 20191101.bin

 

Ok so i have added level two that can be accessed by scoring 1,800 or greater in round one. The sun continues to set and everything gets darker while the fish get faster.

How do you get to round two? It didn't automatically start in the screenshot below when I got over 1800, it ended normally with no sunset.

 

Does round two mean an extended period of time to fish or the same amount of time and you get to see a sunset?

 

[+TwentySixHundred]

21 minutes ago, ZeroPage Homebrew said:

How do you get to round two? It didn't automatically start in the screenshot below when I got over 1800, it ended normally with no sunset.

 

Does round two mean an extended period of time to fish or the same amount of time and you get to see a sunset?

 

Just fired up the laptop and had a look and yes you're correct it did the same for me with a score of 1930. It's been doing this on and off today and i haven't narrowed down the issue yet. hhmm ok ill quickly tweak some code and set the goal lower and see if it works for testing purposes.

[+TwentySixHundred]

Ok so i have changed some code to just let it play through without a score requirement. I will take a good look into what's going on later today, not even sure how i want the game to transition into the second round yet anyway so that requirement may change. Yes as of how i had the game set if the score was met the second round would start and replenish the timer. Thanks for letting me know. -Anthony Bass Fishing Tournament 20191101-a.bin

Edited November 1, 2019 by TwentySixHundred

[thank you]

If you scale up the score, you could add variance to the fish weight without messing with the balance too much.  For example instead of being 5, Fish1 could be 50+-random(8).

 

Mostly for flavor but this would also introduce a little luck only as a tie breaker between equal runs.

[+TwentySixHundred]

10 hours ago, thank you said:

If you scale up the score, you could add variance to the fish weight without messing with the balance too much.  For example instead of being 5, Fish1 could be 50+-random(8).

 

Mostly for flavor but this would also introduce a little luck only as a tie breaker between equal runs.

Thats a great idea, i might actually look at implementing that feature down the track. It would add alot more chance rather then flat rate scoring per fish. I will write it down in my notes and may start delving into a bit later, for this moment i will dial in the transition from level to level and need to decide what method i think is best/makes sense. Nice idea

Edited November 2, 2019 by TwentySixHundred

[+TwentySixHundred]

Ok so a new updated build with the score requirements fixed, was a simple issue i was overlooking. Same as before achieving an score of 1,800 or greater will allow accesses of level two, your time will replenish for another 4min round.

 

• Faster fish
• Fish travel in opposite direction
• Sun slightly sets lower
• Overall darker scenery
• Boat angler switches direction for return route

Latest build: Bass Fishing Tournament 20191102.bin First post also updated with latest binary

 

Enjoy cheers -Anthony

[+TwentySixHundred]

So another new build

• code crunching (not that i really need to but always handy)
• optimization - program flow - structure
• Level 2 Lunker now worth 1,000 points
• Level 2 - Angler wields a slightly lager catch on weigh in screen
• Something else i cant remember

 

Latest build: Bass Fishing Tournament 20191103.bin Updated binary in first post aswell

Edited November 2, 2019 by TwentySixHundred

[Gray Defender]

You have a nice game idea, fun to play and pretty unique.   I like it because it takes perfect timing and dexterity to do well.  If you were taking suggestions, I would like for there to be some sort of indicator of when time is about to run out completely, like color flashing or a sound.  I know there is the red bar on the bottom right but, almost everytime when the game ends I was surprised.

[MrBeefy]

This is looking great. I always loved bass masters classic.

[eizner23]

This looks fantastic!

[+TwentySixHundred]

10 hours ago, Gray Defender said:

You have a nice game idea, fun to play and pretty unique.   I like it because it takes perfect timing and dexterity to do well.  If you were taking suggestions, I would like for there to be some sort of indicator of when time is about to run out completely, like color flashing or a sound.  I know there is the red bar on the bottom right but, almost everytime when the game ends I was surprised.

Thanks, yeah that has been one issue i have ummed and ahhed about, i still want the meter on the bottom right though. Might have to add an audio notification to give the player a heads up. I agree when concentrating on landing a fish it's easy to get distracted from how much time is left. Also very hard to judge how much time is really left, sometimes i think the round is about to end yet i could have snagged a couple of extra small fish in the mean time. Thanks for the input ?

 

7 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

This is looking great. I always loved bass masters classic.

Thanks Beefy, yeah that's what gave me the inspiration ? (i was actually playing it the day before). It's one my favorite games on the SNES when wanting to sit back relax. IRL im not really into fishing yet BMC is incredibly fun and rewarding. I wanted the same sort of experience in 2600 form, however this game has become one of it own.

 

5 hours ago, eizner23 said:

This looks fantastic!

Thanks for checking it out ?

Edited November 3, 2019 by TwentySixHundred

[+TwentySixHundred]

Latest Build: Bass Fishing Tournament 20191103-b.bin First post has new binary and update too.

• Slight changes to colours for the extra rounds
• Easter Egg 1 - Extremely easy to find
• Easter Egg 2 - Extremely hard to find

Round 3 is in the works and will be the last round, i think 3 four minute rounds is a nice concept.