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riverdrifter · 1 year ago

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Fisherman's Log: 8/23/2023

All rested up nice and early today (comparatively), so it's time to fish! I already played a little before typing this up, since I was waiting for my Totino's Party Pizza to finish cooking. So let's get right into it!

📋 Info Board - Catch 9 fish Reward: +1 gem - Catch 7 x Plastic Bottle Reward: +525 coins - Catch 2 x Muskie Reward: +2 gems

Notably, the specific Plastic Bottle it wants from me is the one from the Great Lakes, so that's our base of operations for today. As of writing this, I've completed "catch 9 fish", and I'm working on the other two. I've gotten some nice gains, with a 2-star Lake Trout and a 3-star Brook Trout to add to the tank, among others that I must not have felt were significant enough to write down. I was having a hell of a time finding my daily NPC, though, until I saw some shady fucker standing on the shore and went up to talk to him. This is Agent S.; he doesn't give you literally anything, and apparently nobody knows what his deal is so everyone just ignores him??? Despite not giving me a quest, he appears to have taken up my slot for the day.

Right now, I'm in Muskellunge Struggle Tweets hell. I had something on my line that I could've sworn was one, but my pole snapped as I was dragging it up to the boat, so I'll never know. I did get a 3-star Alewife, which I weirdly didn't have in the Fish Tank yet. This means the only things I'm missing are a Goldfish, Bessie, and that damn Muskie. A bass fishing tournament came up during that visit home, but... the entry fee is 500 coins, and with me saving up for Alaska and other unlocks, I can't really spare that when the lowest prize tier gives back half as much.

I seriously caught a Lake Sturgeon before even having seen a Muskie yet! After being led to believe that that bitch only shows up at night! No, no, no, update: three Lake Sturgeons! What the hell is happening? This cannot continue. New plan: I'm getting a garbage grabber rod and farming trash until Temporary Luck procs. This is insane.

Update from just before nightfall: I give up on this damn Muskie. I used two Rare Bait and I got Lake Trout both times. Fuck this noise!! I was able to get a little closer to the Plastic Bottle goal, but then my rod broke and I hit Temporary Luck again so I decided I was going to get a Carbon Rod and go back to Costa Rica to try for the Black Marlin again.

And I did it! I caught one!

But um. J...just one question.

What's with the human teeth?

Ignoring that evil, evil, evil face, I'm happy enough with this to close the app for the night. My Luck (mechanic) hasn't run out yet, but I'm feeling yucky and making myself play this is making it worse so I'm going to draw instead. As a parting gift, enjoy these two player names that really tickled me:

#river plays #video games #creatures of the deep #infinite dreams #mobile #long post #100%#journal

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riverdrifter · 1 year ago

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Fisherman's Log: 8/21/2023

Uhh, hi! You probably don't know this, but I've been working on a long retrospective of Pikmin 4 as I play through the game. That was intended to be my first post on this blog. However, I quickly realized something: writing my thoughts about a game without exhaustively journaling my experience while playing it is excruciating. I grew up playing games for an audience, be it my mom watching me play some obscure Wii game, or me liveposting my playthrough of said game to whomever I was talking to on the Warrior Cats forums at the time. So, to remedy this, I'm going to be posting more hands-on "stream of consciousness"-type logs while I'm playing something. And what better to start with than a game I play very regularly: Creatures of the Deep.

A friend put me onto this quirky little game, knowing my propensity for fish and other aquatic creatures. It's been a fun little way to relax throughout my day, while also engaging my completionist hubris. I will confess: the reason I was iffy on posting journal entries alongside retrospectives is because I was feeling a bit of sunk cost fallacy. After all, if I've already completed a good bit of the game, why start now? But I'm nipping that in the bud. So! I'm going to catalogue my progress up until this point, then get into my daily session.

🗺️ Location Progress

Legend ⦾ Common ◈ Rare ✧ Epic ☆ Legendary

Please note that any inconsistent capitalization or spelling is just me noting things down exactly as the games have them written.

🏝️ Paradise Island 🏝️

41% | Discoveries: 36/37

🐟 Fish - 12/12 ⦾ Bluefish - ★★★☆☆ ⦾ Blue Trevally - ★★★☆☆ ⦾ Bonefish - ★★★☆☆ ⦾ Clownfish - ★★☆☆☆ ◈ Green Humphead Parrotfish - ★★★☆☆ ⦾ Largetooth Flounder - ★★★☆☆ ⦾ Longtail Tuna - ★★☆☆☆ ✧ Pacific Footballfish - ★☆☆☆☆ ✧ Pelagic Stingray - ★☆☆☆☆ ⦾ Snubnose Pompano - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Spot-fin Porcupinefish - ★★★☆☆ ◈ White Tuna - ★☆☆☆☆

🦐 Creatures - 5/5 ⦾ Flower Tube Sea Anemone - ★★★☆☆ ◈ Mimic Octopus - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Peacock Mantis Shrimp - ★☆☆☆☆ ⦾ Red Starfish - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Sand Striker - ★★☆☆☆

🗑️ Trash - 19/19 • Can • Can Fish • Chest With A Skull • Chips • Empty Bottle • Flip Flops • Gear • Kelp Leaf • Key With A Skull • Mask • Message In A Bottle • Old Phone • Pinacolada Drink • Plastic Bag • Plastic Bottle • Rubber Duck • Sea Weed • Straw Hat • Wilson Ball

🏕️ Great Lakes 🏕️

41% | Discoveries: 62/63

🐟 Fish - 23/24 ⦾ Alewife - ★★★☆☆ ✧ American Eel - ★☆☆☆☆ ⦾ Bloater - ★★★☆☆ ⦾ Brook Trout - ★★★☆☆ ⦾ Brown Trout - ★★★☆☆ ⦾ Channel Catfish - ★★★☆☆ ◈ Chinook Salmon - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Coho Salmon - ★★★☆☆ ◈ Flathead Catfish - ★★☆☆☆ ✧ Goldfish - ★☆☆☆☆ ✧ Lake Sturgeon - UNCAUGHT ◈ Lake Trout - ★☆☆☆☆ ⦾ Largemouth Bass - ★☆☆☆☆ ✧ Longnose Gar - ★☆☆☆☆ ◈ Muskie - ★★★☆☆ ⦾ Pink Salmon - ★★★☆☆ ⦾ Redear Sunfish - ★☆☆☆☆ ⦾ Round Whitefish - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Sea Lamprey - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Smallmouth Bass - ★☆☆☆☆ ⦾ Walleye - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ White Bass - ★★★☆☆ ⦾ White Crappie - ★★★☆☆ ⦾ Yellow Perch - ★★★☆☆

🦐 Creatures - 9/9 ⦾ Beaver - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Bullfrog - ★☆☆☆☆ ⦾ Chinese Mystery Snail - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Common Musk Turtle - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ North American River Otter - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Quagga Mussels - ★★★☆☆ ◈ Queen Snake - ★★☆☆☆

🗑️ Trash - 29/29 • Al'Capone Hat • Arrow • Baseball Hat • Beaver Hat • Beverage can • Boom Floppy Disc • Can Soup • Chip Bag • Cobra Sunglasses • Colorful Headdress • Concrete Shoe • Fish Can • Glass Bottle with XXX Sign • Green floppy disc • Grey Casette • Hot Dog • Meat Can • Mouse Glove • Old Branch • Old Tire • Pipe • Plastic Bottle • Toxic Barrel • Treasure chest • Vegetable Can • Video Cassette • Vinyl Record • Wilted leaf

🌅 Costa Rica 🌅

27% | Discoveries: 41/62

I've elected to not list the undiscovered entries in Costa Rica and any future locations, as I prefer to go into newer areas as blindly as possible. For the Great Lakes, I already know the one fish I don't have is that damn sturgeon. I'd rather leave the rest up to mystery though.

🐟 Fish - 16/22 ⦾ Barracuda - ★★★☆☆ ◈ Blue Marlin - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Broomtail Grouper - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Cubera Snapper - ★★★☆☆ ⦾ Dorado - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Jack Crevalle - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Pompano - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Roosterfish - ★★★☆☆ ⦾ Sierra Mackerel - ★☆☆☆☆ ⦾ Snook - ★★☆☆☆ ◈ Striped Marlin - ★☆☆☆☆ ⦾ Tarpon - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Tripletail - ★★★☆☆ ⦾ Wahoo - ★☆☆☆☆ ✧ Whitetip Shark - ★☆☆☆☆ ⦾ Yellowfin Tuna - ★★☆☆☆

🦐 Creatures - 7/9 ◈ American Crocodile - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Brown Sea Cucumber - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Nudibranch - ★☆☆☆☆ ⦾ Olive Ridley Sea Turtle - ★☆☆☆☆ ⦾ Pacific Land Crab - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Pink Jellyfish - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Yellow-Bellied Sea Snake - ★★☆☆☆

🗑️ Trash - 18/30 • Anchor • Bicycle Frame • Bikini Top • Bottle Santa Maria • Broken coral • Chip Bag • Coconut • Costa Rican Vase • Fish Can • Flipper • Oil Barrel • Orange Cassette • Palm Leaf • Scuba Diver Mask • Surfboard • Volcanic Rock • Watermelon Vinyl Record • White Bottle

🏅 Achievements Board

Fish Catcher ★★☆☆☆ 156/500

Explorer of Sea Creatures ★★☆☆☆ 21/40

Recycling Master ★★☆☆☆ 390/500

Trash Catcher ★★☆☆☆ 66/100

Days in the Game ★☆☆☆☆ 23/50

Master Reeler ★★☆☆☆ 7/50 My fucking white whale.

Monster Hunter ★☆☆☆☆ 1/10

Monster Collector ★☆☆☆☆ 1/2

Tournament Lover ☆☆☆☆☆ 0/5 Please don't make me use social functions I am just a humble fisherman

🎣 Fish Tank

I may very well make a spreadsheet for this in the future like some sort of deranged lunatic, but for now I just want to play the damn game so have some pictures.

I'm not sure what else to note. That I haven't bought any character customization yet? That all my stats are 1 except for Luck, which is 2? God forbid, my lure stats?? I don't know, but I'm done cataloguing! Now let's get into what you came here for!!

🗒️ Gameplay Log

📋 Info Board - 4 reel in a row Reward: +2 gems - Catch 5 x Brook Trout Reward: +500 coins - Catch 3 x American Eel Reward: +3 gems

Those gems are so, so valuable, so you know I'll be gunning for those. Although it does mean that I have to remember to play at night if I want to do that eel task. Those are kind of a pain in the ass... I should probably spend some time grinding garbage so that I can get Temporary Luck for eel time.

Well, first thing's first: off to Paradise Island to collect wood and see who our quest NPC is! As it turns out, Sir Joseph Bellywise is waiting for us, with a request for 3 Largetooth Flounder. That should hopefully synergize well with my consecutive reeling task.

I end up getting both tasks done without too much trouble, although I did break my reel chain and I don't want to talk about it. I handed in my three shittiest flounders for a nice 407 gold. I spend the rest of my visit hanging out in the Garbage Patch so that I can take home a full inventory and work towards that Temporary Luck. Once home, I quickly deposit two wood in the next section of the fish tank; that's where I'm focusing my efforts right now, as I've not found myself filling up the item storage yet. But with that, it's Great Lakes time!

Our daily NPC for this area is Mike "Lock" Smith, who just tells me to go fuck myself and that he's looking for someone more experienced. I'm level 7, what the hell do you want from me?! I also encounter some stress early on in the form of Sea Lampreys; the game doesn't recognize this, but I the player know that they're an invasive species, so morally I will not throw them back in to save bag space. Which means I may have to spend more gold going back to free up some slots.

...Or my rod could break and make us have to go back anyway. Neat. I'll plan ahead and go for the cheaper Garbage Grabber Rod; it shouldn't impede my catching too much, and I want to be able to hit a 50 cleanup streak by nightfall. The rest of the Brook Trout search is a cakewalk, but I swear the longer I know my reel streak is, the more scarcely I breathe during the hooking sequence. This is in spite of me purposefully not checking the number because I know it'll psych me out.

While I'm trying to catch one more thing to bring home, I wonder about the internal formula the game must use to calculate rod wear. I know for a fact different rods have different strengths, and I imagine that fish weight must factor in somehow, because some fish will be too strong and will pull the line out of range and break free. Does player strength get taken into account? I see people on the Discord saying that they still lose fish even at 8 or so strength. I don't know. Food for thought.

With the Brook Trout task now complete, I'm able to deposit a two-star into the fish tank, as well as adding some more wood onto the Alaska pile. Seeing as how I've not unlocked that area yet, building that section of the fish tank is not a priority. But I do need something to do with all that wood.

Since our final daily task is locked to nighttime, and I'm writing this at 3:15 pm, that means our last stop for now is Costa Rica! I'll be honest, this map is so huge, I don't even end up finding all the daily wood half the time, and I don't exactly bother. It's just sooo much effort to comb through all that water... based on the size progression so far, I can only imagine Alaska will be downright nightmarish.

I immediately eat my words and find two wood floating right next to each other.

While it's a nice bonus for sure, this still leaves me in the dark on who and where our Daily Slut Encounter is. I eventually give up and bring home some dudes for the tank: a Tarpon, a Jack Crevalle, and a Pompano, all sadly one star. The Tarpon has just the most delightfully smug little face swimming around in there.

I returned to Costa Rica to try and find some new trash, and only on my last bag slot did I snag something new: the Ship Bell from Santa Maria. It's only on the way back that I finally find the NPC. It's Sir Joseph Bellywise again, this time wanting 110 lbs of fish for a party tomorrow. I can do that! After I go drop off this trash run. Self-reminder: he is west of the Spanish Shipwreck. Trash payouts barely make up for the price of coming back, but I need it.

Aand it turns out the task's payout was barely worth the trip anyway! 95 coins for 110 pounds of fish? That is straight up daylight robbery. Anyway, after brutally murdering my reel streak, I don't feel like playing anymore, so I'll resume this entry tonight when it's eel time. I place a one-star Broomtail Grouper face-down and end my turn.

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞

Touching base again past midnight, and holy shit, I was actually able to do it! While I was waiting for my T gel to dry, not only did I snag 3 American Eels and claim the gem prize, but I also caught the Lake Sturgeon (2 stars, straight to the fish tank) and got 5 more gems from Aneta Angler for completing the area! I also slapped a 2-star American Eel and a 1-star Flathead Catfish into the fish tank for good measure. With time left on my Temporary Luck, I set out for the Great Depths of Costa Rica.

And I sure reaped the benefits! I brought home a 2-star Barracuda, a 2-star Wahoo to replace the one in my fish tank, a 2-star Nurse Shark, a 1-star Hammerhead Shark, and a 1-star Whitetip Shark. In other news, I need to do wrist stretches now. I also got myself a new creature discovery in the Red-Ringed Clinging Crab; all in all, this netted me another Aneta Angler prize, with her giving me 5 Rare Bait for my efforts. The payout for this trip wasn't spectacular, but it'll be worth it in the future.

... And dear God, to ride out the last of my Temporary Luck, I hit the middle north of Paradise Island, as that's where other anglers on the Discord had been reporting Shredder sightings for tonight. And whaddya know! I actually caught the fucker first try! This got me two stars in the Monster Collector achievement, and I can finally go talk to Cap'n Slappy and finish out the main area quest. I also level up, getting 2,800 coins in all between that and the quest reward. ...Tapping the level-up turns out to be a major mistake, as I was planning on going to sleep, but now I have an hour of temporary luck. e.e I spend my singular stat point on Strength, boosting it to 2; I've been searching for a lot of large targets, and every time a fish breaks free, I lose a bit of my awake time for the day.

Well, I'm not one to waste Temporary Luck now that I'm journaling my grind, so back to Costa Rica it is. I can't tell if this is just copium on my part, but I swear there is an immediate, noticeable difference in how easy it is to control the reel bar when battling a fish that engages the minigame now that I've leveled up my Strength. Either that or I'm getting better at the game, which is also true, but I swear that bar is just steadier. Honestly, I was considering getting a Monster Rod, but I've been doing so well with just the Carbon Rod that it feels unnecessary at this point.

I'm glad to announce that I got even more new discoveries before bed: the Pacific Sailfish (2 stars) and the Bull Shark (also 2 stars). I was trying for the Black Marlin for a bit, but with a sliver of Temporary Luck left, I decided to call it quits because I was getting too eepy. Still, I'd say that was a relentlessly productive day of fishing.

This was really fun to journal! The verb tenses are all over the place, and punctuation is real funky; this certainly isn't editor's portfolio material. But I think it's something I'd like to do more often! I like writing more than I give myself credit for. Hopefully the next post will be much shorter!

#river plays #video games #creatures of the deep #infinite dreams #mobile #long post #100%#journal

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