Hello everyone!
It’s been a little while since the last proper development update, mostly because I’ve been extremely busy working on 0.4, which is shaping up to be the biggest update to Fathom’s End so far.
There’s still a bit of work left to do, but I wanted to share a few of the things I’ve been working on and give you an idea of what’s coming.
Fishing is getting a complete overhaul
Fishing has been completely reworked for 0.4.
Rather than simply waiting for a catch, fishing will now involve a proper bait system and a new timing-based mechanic for successfully hooking and landing fish.
There’s also a new species to catch, European Seabass, which produces more raw fish when prepared.
Skill Books
A new series of Skill Books will allow you to permanently improve certain abilities by purchasing and reading them.
The first set focuses on fishing, with improvements to things like hooking and landing fish, catching larger specimens and attracting bites more quickly.
This is a system I can build on with many more additional skills in future updates.
More life on the radio
Ships passing Fathom’s End will have another reason to get in touch, with a new radio call type being added alongside the existing requests.
There are also more than 10 new ships currently being added, complete with new names, voices and vessel cards to collect.
So if you thought you knew everyone sailing past the lighthouse, that won’t last much longer.
A few other things...
I’ve also been working on a new notification system, as well as contextual interaction prompts, to make important information much clearer without relying quite so heavily on tooltips and guesswork.
Some of the lighthouse’s ladders are being replaced with spiral staircases, making getting around feel a little more natural and realistic.
There’s new music on the way too, along with plenty of smaller additions, balancing changes and fixes that I’ll talk more about closer to release.
0.4 is still very much a work in progress, but I’m really happy with how it’s coming together.
As always, thank you to everyone playing, leaving feedback, reporting bugs and generally helping me figure out what Fathom’s End should become.
In the mean time, don't forget to join the Discord server and subscribe to the YouTube channel: