Avid readers may recall my interest in fishing video games. It's a niche, quirky genre that I've enjoyed for years - and now I've produced my own!
As a child, I spent hours playing Trophy Bass and other angling games. While certainly not a replacement for "real" fishing, such games provided plentiful enjoyment when weather/circumstances prevented getting outside.
I also dipped my toes into the world of video game development. I worked on a few small role playing games (RPGs), strategy games, and even a mobile game for Palm Pilot devices. I was often the artist, producing retro pixel art. This was fun but few projects actually led to finished products (the Palm Pilot app was a nice exception, resulting in a Mech Warrior-esque Turn-Based Strategy game).
Fast-forward several years and all of that had mostly stopped - aside from "real" fishing. It was until I read an interesting article about fishing video games at Rock Paper Shotgun (aptly titled "A River.Exe Runs Through It") that I started looking into what was currently available. Fishing Planet and Fly Fishing Simulator HD helped scratch the fishing "itch." However, I still wanted something with a bit of exploration to it, something more consistent with old RPGs rather than modern fishing games. I thought back to my old attempts at video game development and started mentally bouncing ideas around about making a fishing game, thinking of what would make it truly "fun" and capture the "what's-around-the-corner" excitement of wild trout fishing.
A pixel art forest
Around this time, I came across a post on a popular fly fishing website talking about how Far Cry was the "Best" fly fishing game currently available. It was humorous and inspiring at the same time - and made me think why not make a fly fishing video game? I posted some of my thoughts on the topic here, specifically when it came to a fly fishing virtual reality game. Since I had no idea how to make a VR game, I dove into a more manageable project - a retro fly fishing game with pixel art graphics. I found a very talented programmer that was familiar with fishing and the game development took off. After many months of intensive development, I finally had a playable product for mobile devices (Android). There were several rounds of testing, making changes along the way based on feedback, and, after 9 months, released River Legends: A Fly Fishing Adventure on PC and Android in August 2019.
Trailer for River Legends: A Fly Fishing Adventure
I learned a lot through this process, not only about game development and design but also interesting insights into the video game and outdoor industry relationship. I'll be sharing these in coming posts. Making River Legends was a great learning experience and the game has been well received, garnering praise from a variety of media outlets, and positive reviews from players on both platforms.
For now, if you would like to check out River Legends, take a look at the following links:
tl;dr I love fly fishing and I love video games. So, naturally, I made a fly fishing video game.
Coming up next: Part 1: Gamifying Fishing
Coming up next: Part 1: Gamifying Fishing