River progress

[paul]

Friends,

I'm working on the first river. It's far from finished (no detailed textures yet) but you can get a sense of the landscape. I'm designing this one for trout fishing. I'll be adding some moving textures to make the current more evident, too. I'm starting to think a river like this needs a drift boat or maybe a canoe. Maybe no motors allowed? I'm also making improvements to the lake (& river) editing system along the way.




Paul

[gonefishin]

(Drooooooool)
Looks great!

[reelfish074]

wow! It looks great! any idea when it might be done?

EDIT: a canoe would be great to go with it =)

maybe costs about the same as the first boat?

[paleodust]

How about a pontoon boat http://www.outcastboats.com/outcast/? That's how I like to fish medium-sized trout rivers. They're the most versatile option and allow you to row, drift, anchor, or just kick around like you would in a float tube. I absolutely love my PAC 1000 (Ferrari Series) and think it would be a perfect fit for a river like that.

[reelfish074]

any new trout to go with the new river? or just rainbow/ lake trout?

[paul]

I'll get at least one more species of trout in here. Probably browns for now. I might release a beta of just this first river with trout before adding the fly fishing and other rivers, catfish, etc.

Paul

[big jake]

cant wait to try it out the pics remind me of hunting games that have that stream that goes through the middle of the map except with upped graphics always wanted to fish them never did of course

since your adding fly fishing does that mean we will have slack line in a future update and not have to lock the view on the lure?
so that way you can see the line move and not the screen?

now i have to be a little kid "is it done yet"

[paul]

Not done yet, but steady progress. I've built a current mapping system. In the editor mode you drive the river, following the path you want the current to flow and moving the mouse up or down to set the current speed as you go. The system creates current effect emitters that each create semi-transparent surface effects that fade into and out of existence. The effect is that the water moves like it should, and the faster the water, the whiter and more opaqe the surface. Your boat also drifts with the current now (unless you're anchored.)

The last couple of days I mostly worked on other changes to the editor system. It now has an on-screen menu, and you can add an object (boulder, house, whatever you have a model of) and reposition it, scale it, rotate it, even tint the color, seeing the model in the game as you're changing it. I'm going to add a lot of boulders to certain stretches of the river.

I still have to make the fish and lures react to the current, make at least one more species of trout, and add some barriers at the ends of the river. I'm going to put a dam at the downstream end near the bait shop where the river widens into a small lake. The river gets narrower the further upstream you go. At the upstream end I plan to add a waterfall to keep people within the world.

Then there's walking. That would be simple except that I want the characters to adapt realistically to the slopes. Think about the way your legs move when walking up or downhill, or on a side hill. I've got the math worked out to control the joints, but now I've got to make it happen. Then there's adding waders to the characters.

We're probably at least a three weeks from having this river available for walking, wading and fishing with existing tackle. A few more weeks for fly fishing and some sort of drift boat or pontoon, etc.

Paul

[codafish]

I like the concept of no boats on the river. I enjoy the peace and serenity of fishing in areas where there are no boats. A canoe might be nice.

[reelfish074]

does the current grow stronger as you go upstream closer the waterfall?

[paul]

Yes, overall it gets faster further upstream. There are some pools where it's not as fast. Basically I've got it moving at 10 feet per second in the fastest places, most of which are shallows between pools. The pools flow at 1 to 2 feet per second. To put that in perspective, the little V hull boat in reverse can't keep up with the rapids, but it can easily motor forward up them. The trolling motors can't keep up with the fast water in any direction.

I'm still trying to figure out the best way to model the waterfall to get the motion right, but I'll get it worked out.

Paul

[Fisherman]

Canoes...Why did it have to be canoes? There is no more ungainly critter upon the water's surface(when it stays upright), than a canoe. I'd like to see a kayak, and an small inflatable boat on the river as well as a *shudder* canoe. The photos look great, and a river is going to be wonderful. Was hoping for smallmouth and walleye, but I have fond memories of river and stream fishing for trout in Colorado and California, so that's ok to start. My bother and I took a kayak down a small river and caught over 100 trout each. Small spinners and super-dupers(Paul, ya gotta add super-dupers now-there is no better lure for small river and stream fishing) did the job. All fish were released.

[reelfish074]

Canoes...Why did it have to be canoes? There is no more ungainly critter upon the water's surface(when it stays upright), than a canoe. I'd like to see a kayak, and an small inflatable boat on the river as well as a *shudder* canoe. The photos look great, and a river is going to be wonderful. Was hoping for smallmouth and walleye, but I have fond memories of river and stream fishing for trout in Colorado and California, so that's ok to start. My bother and I took a kayak down a small river and caught over 100 trout each. Small spinners and super-dupers(Paul, ya gotta add super-dupers now-there is no better lure for small river and stream fishing) did the job. All fish were released.

HOW DARE YOU!?!?!? CANOES ARE GREAT! *looks away in indignation*

[paul]

I promise I'll never make canoes mandatory in the game. =) I do enjoy fishing from them myself, though. I caught my first 18" trout from one, as well as my first musky.

Now the Super Duper - there's a lure I haven't thrown in quite a few years. When I lived in Oregon I used them now and then and certainly caught some rainbows on them. In the game I avoid exactly duplicating any name brand lure, but there are several other U shaped metal lures like that. I know Luhr Jensen has something similar, and I've seen some generic ones, too. I'll put it on my list to add a lure in that category.

Tight lines,

Paul

[Fisherman]

Thanks, Paul! The Super-Duper really is a great lure, also used to troll it behind flashers(hey, how about flasher rigs for when you get trolling up?) for trout too. Ahem* Being of normal height, 6'5 1/2", and somewhat increasingly noble girth, canoes seem somewhat the Anti-Boat to me. The seats are generally set too far forward and too high for boating comfort, much less safety.. They send 'em out by the boatloads in places, tourists and vacationers full of adventure. The current sweeps them into the trees or into the rocks and over they go! And the motorboaters consider them fair game when making big wakes. Seriously, I am either too big or canoes too small. I find that most folks who like them sit in the back seat, the only seat that is placed properly, IMO. My creepy brother makes me sit on the front in his canoe, so I got an inflatable boat in retaliation. He has not complained. Ah, trolling motor comfort...