Hey! It has been a while since I have posted a Fishblast for you all. From now on Fishblasts will be coming out every 2 months rather than every month.
Community build
Whenever you are playing a map, it is often a big challenge to keep staff active but not overworked. User Jasper found a great way of planning their aquarium and placing the filtrations and such on strategic points as shown at the end of this video! Jasper created a 30 minute video to show their big build. And the thing I want to praise here is the great layout. It must take a lot of time to plan such a build.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo1pzO37PD4
Try and build this!
Often people are looking for challenges. Sometimes having no idea what to create. This short segment will give you some guides to unfold your very own creativity. Are you ready to give it a try?
Try and build this: Presentation Arena
How to build this:
Place a podium near a tank.
Place benches around this podium (around 2 tiles away from it)
Place stairs and platforms behind these benches to create multiple layers
These layers will give the impression of multiple seating heights
Have fun building!
Mod Spotlight
The many waters on our planet are either saltwater or freshwater. However, there is an in between. It is called brackish water. One of the most important ecosystems in our world is the mangroves. Unique flora and fauna living in harmony while the flora is keeping the ocean away from claiming more land.
Amazing Mangroves by Anubite and the H.A.A.I. Team
This is a fan-made expansion that adds animals and plants from this unique biotope. Both for freshwater and saltwater. So definitely worth a look as it adds animals such as: Horseshoe crabs, Fiddler crabs, Scats, Whistling ducks, Upside-down jellyfish and for plants a huge variety of trees and grasses!
Range: Western Indian Ocean Habitat: Reefs Size: 30cm (1ft) Diet: Meaty foods such as squid, shrimp and small fish.
Needs in Megaquarium:
Tropical waters
Water quality at least 65%
Eater of Crustaceans, Starfish, Clams, Gorgoians, Stony corals.
Feeding Skill: 1
Territorial
Bully
Nibbler
Explorer
Fun facts:
The Picasso Triggerfish is known in Hawaii as: humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa
With powerful jaws and sharp teeth, Picasso triggerfish are formidable guardians, and have been known to nip at divers who intrude on their territory.
The Picasso Triggerfish is able to grunt. This is a sound they make to get attention from others (with aggression).
How does it work?
In this segment we are looking into the life behind the scenes of machinery or tasks that happen in public aquariums. We might ponder the question: How do UV filters work? Or investigate the breeding progress of a certain species.
For this edition of “How does it work” we will be looking into how PH meters work.
All the water in the world has an acidity, also known as pH. Aquaria in the world need to measure the acidity to make sure the fish they are planning on adding, will survive. The reason for this is that everywhere in the world, the water has a different acidity. Some water can have more acid in it than other places in the world. Some places even have alkaline waters. The water's pH even changes from time to time in smaller bodies of water. It is important to measure this once in a while, even in your home aquarium!
The pH meter shown above is an electrical version of a test that can also be done with fluids on a special piece of paper. In the pH meter is a piece of glass that works with specialized electrodes. Very complicated! The electrodes measure the acidity of the water while another electrode is a reference to a fixed sample that is set as a base. The voltage in these machines is measured and is linked to a pH level.
But if you do not have a machine available testing strips work just fine.
Have you ever measured pH in any type of water?
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Want to be more involved in our community? Join our [Discord] and share your works, we love seeing what you created and maybe we will feature your work in the next FishBlast.
See you in the next one! Your community liaison, Anubite
Freshwater Frenzy DLC coming soon to consoles!
Today is a day I've been looking forward to for ages. SO thrilled to finally announce that Freshwater Frenzy - the first deluxe expansion for Megaquarium will be coming to Switch, Playstation and Xbox on 1st March 2022!
I know most of you reading this will be familiar with the fan-favourite expansion, but for anyone new to the world of Megaquarium, feel free to head on over to the official Megaquarium website for a full rundown of what's contained.
Just like the console edition of the base game, I've partnered with Auroch Digital to develop this expansion. Check out what they have to say about the new DLC in this blog post!
EDIT: When this post was initially published we were hoping to release on the 25th January. Due to issues outside of our control we made the difficult decision to delay the launch until 1st March 2022. Click here for further information.
Fishblast – Happy New Year – January 2022
Click-Clack, Click-Clack… Oh hi! Long-time no see, first off Happy New Year! Welcome to my office! Here I carefully write your Fishblast’s every month! I am still recovering from an amazing New Years party, so ignore the empty soda bottles and popcorn laying around. But I think we have quite a bit to catch up on. We had a new DLC release in November, the holidays came, and I think just many amazing things happened. I hope you had a great time as well!
Community build
To celebrate the new year we hosted a unique building challenge. Asking all members to build a facility in the shape of the year 2022. And people had so many ideas, and it was a tough pick. Here we are though: The winner of the 2022 build is: Sardine. They created such a compact version of the theme, but with unique use of the new Architect’s Collection bridges. We just could not let it slide.
The smart use of smaller tanks under the bridges created a dynamic but interesting walk for all the guests. Maybe this is something you could try too!
Try and build this!
Often people are looking for challenges. Sometimes having no idea what to create. This short segment will give you some guides to unfold your very own creativity. Are you ready to give it a try?
Try and build this: Dining area next to a reef tank
How to build this:
Create a reef tank that covers a whole wall.
Place benches facing each other against the window.
Have a buffet-type area with all the food options you want to give your guests.
Too much central open space? Add a small tank there too, so all guests can have a similar experience.
Have fun building!
Mod Spotlight
We started this year with a fantastic release of a huge new mod pack for you creative people. One that allows second floors to your builds and more tools to create heights in a way you have never seen before. I am talking about the:
Rickreptile Building Kit by RickReptile
This mod adds various tools (and even has expansion mods) to change your game into literal new levels. There are almost no words to describe the possibilities with this mod, and I could only recommend it for you to try and make something yourself.
Range: The Amazon Habitat: River Basin Size: Up to 3 meters (10 ft) Diet: Fish and other animals on the water surface
Needs in Megaquarium:
Tropical waters
Water quality at least 60%
Acidic Waters
Feeding Skill: 1
Greedy
Heavy Armored
Likes floating cover: 9
Likes Caves: 11
Open Space: 3x3
Fish and Crustacean Eater (minimum size: 4)
Fun facts:
The mouth of an Arapaima works like a vacuum. When hungry, it opens its mouth to suck up nearby food.
Arapaima can breathe air and stay submerged for 10-20 minutes at a time. It can survive up to 24 hours outside of the water!
Arapaima are mouth brooders.
How does it work?
In this segment we are looking into the life behind the scenes of machinery or tasks that happen in public aquariums. We might ponder the question: How do UV filters work? Or investigate the breeding progress of a certain species.
For this month’s “How does it work” we will be looking into how public aquaria introduce new fish to a tank.
When visiting a public aquarium you might notice empty tanks, or even new fish in an already established tank. Sometimes they are changing their collection, and sometimes it is just another fine addition to a tank. But do they just drop the fish in the tank and let it live its life?
When adding a fish to a tank, it is very common to first quarantine the fish. Meaning to separate it for a while to make sure it does not hold diseases and to make sure it eats fine. Quarantine is often a room behind the scenes with multiple tanks on separate filtration systems. Separate because if there is a disease, you do not want this disease to end up in all tanks linked to that filter system. After a few weeks with the fish showing healthy behaviour, it could be ready to move it to the display tank.
Do you have quarantine tanks in your Megaquarium builds?
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Want to be more involved in our community? Join our [Discord] and share your works, we love seeing what you created and maybe we will feature your work in the next FishBlast.
See you in the next one! Your community liaison, Timmiegun
v3.0.6-v3.0.8 patch
Mostly bug fixes this time around. Thank you for all your feedback. :)
A special welcome to all the new players. I hope you're enjoying your time with the game. If you're enjoying the game and feel like helping out, please feel free to leave a review for Megaquarium and/or its 2 expansions. This can be done directly on each of the store pages.
v3.0.6 Changelog
UX: Decorations can now be placed even where there are no viewable locations.
Fixed bug: Mods with non-capitalised folder names were not being read correctly on Linux OS.
Fixed bug: Could not place underground tunnel in a position where walls would be against the middle edges, at some angles.
UX: Slightly tweaked code for positioning decorations in tanks with raised or lowered substrates.
Modding: Container 'adjust bounds' variables no longer apply to land-based animals when they are on land.
Modding: Added hosting.childLayerConverter to allow tanks to adjust the occupation layers of incoming decorations. This is required for tanks which occupy layer -1 or 1 but not 0.
v3.0.7 Changelog
Fixed bug: 'Reptiles' category was not localised into non-English languages correctly unless FF DLC was installed.
v3.0.8 Changelog
Increased stability when encountering errors contained within mods on save game load.
v3.0.5 patch
Some more bug fixes and some balance changes for Sandbox. Thank you for all your feedback. :)
Lots of small, inconsequential sounding things in this list, but when they add together they really do make a difference. Sandbox is now playing better than ever!
If anybody is enjoying the new expansion and would like to help out, please feel free to leave a review. This can be done directly on the store page.
Changelog
Fixed bug: If sandbox reward animal is a breeder it was overriding the minimum number of animals to 2, even if it was a shoaler or group spawner which has a higher requirement.
Fixed bug: Greek Arch and Acropolis can no longer be placed under bridge/jetty tanks platforms.
Fixed bug: Sunken wreck can no longer be placed under roofs, archways and bridges.
Fixed bug: Science poster now says Pairs Only instead of Dither Fish
Fixed bug: Science points cannot be offered as a reward in sandbox before rank 3.
Fixed bug: Adorned Decorator Crab counts as a Decorator Crab for objective and count purposes.
Fixed bug: Science tank version of 'Donation' objective had not been updated in the last patch. It now requires a lower science total, the same as the ecology version of the same objective.
Balance: Added an addition trade rarity range (3 total) so that trade rewards match trade requirements more closely. Rarity (prestige) 1-8 trades up to 9-12 which trades to 13-16 which trades to 17-20.
Balance: Trade objectives offer more appropriate animal numbers based on size. More small animals, less big animals. Exception: minimum requirements for shoaling or breeding.
Balance: Added additional trades which give a supply of an animal instead of a finite number for more variety.
Balance: Reduced rarity of animals available from merchants. Trades and objectives are required for best stuff.
Balance: 'Sponsored exhibit' objective in sandbox is now easier and only targets theme decorations. The science and ecology point totals will only be updated in the objective tracker if the tank already matches the 'x different animals' requirement. This will hopefully reduce the occurrences of multiple tank contributing to the same objectives.
Balance: Trades which unlock animals are added to reward tracker so that you don't get offered the same animal again from another opportunity.
Balance: Sandbox 'Rehouse' objective, animal is counted as a reward as well as an objective so you won't be offered the same animal as a reward for another opportunity.
Balance: Sandbox 'Display using X?' objective, decoration is counted as a reward as well as an objective so you won't be offered the same decoration as a reward for another opportunity.
Balance: Reduced difficulty and increased frequency of FF poster objectives.
Balance: Paints are added to objective tracker so you won't be offered the same paint objective more than once.
Balance: Bridge, poster and archway objectives will only be offered once even if you decline and never build any of those objects.
Balance: Multisize decorations cannot be offered by merchants or objectives. The only example of this is Acropolis.
Localisation: various strings improved.
Modding: Removed requirement for attractions to occupy layer 0.
Modding: Fixed bug where hyphen in mod name was causing standalone custom maps not to work.
v3.0.4 patch
A few bug fixes. Thank you for the reports. :)
Glad to see everybody enjoying the new expansion!
Changelog
Fixed bug: you could place Jetty and Bridge tanks over bridges.
Fixed bug: Tanks not being visited under certain conditions.
Balance: In Full Unlock mode in Sandbox, objective difficulty is tied to your rank even though you have access to everything.
Megaquarium: Architect's Collection out now!
Megaquarium: Architect's Collection is out now. What are you waiting for? Go get it!
To celebrate the launch of the Architect's Collection, I've added three new achievements to the game:
Decorator - Have 1500 Prestige income from decorations and paint. Sell sell sell! - 4000 daily revenue from food, drink and gift shop sales. Helpful - Complete 30 side objectives.
All three achievements can be completed whether you own the new expansion or not. However, I have designed them around the themes of the expansion and the update that comes out alongside it.
Update
As you're probably aware, the game has also got a huge update alongside the launch of the expansion.
Feature: Decorations can be placed outside of tanks.
Feature: Paints generate prestige.
Feature: Added one-way gate.
Feature: Improved arrow behaviour.
Feature: Guests will actually steal from gift shop supply boxes now. ;)
Feature: You can place guests and staff at different heights e.g. platforms, bridges (AC).
Feature: 1st person mode respects height. But you can still walk through walls.
Feature: Added 3 new objectives.
Sandbox: Improved opportunity variety
Sandbox: Animal rarity affects animals which are excluded/unlocked
Sandbox: Max objectives = 6.
Sandbox: Added abandonment of objectives.
Sandbox: All messages can be deleted after you have finished interacting with them.
Sandbox: Increased starting money.
Balance: Staff talks now have difficulty levels. Low skilled staff will find high difficulty talks very time-consuming. Guests will wander off if a talk is too long and you will receive only partial point income.
Balance: High value food and drink dispensers and massage chairs can break down.
Balance: Food, drink and gift shop default margins are now 200% (increased revenue from these sources). The highest value food and drink base values were decreased though.
Balance: Added negative thoughts when a guest cannot reach the exit and when an unfulfilled need is making them want to go home.
Balance: Larger decorations have a much greater prestige enjoy chance (internal and external)
Balance: Increased prestige difference between ranks to allow for increased prestige gain from decorations and paint.
Balance: Guest entrance rate is now constant for a given prestige value, even if distance between ranks is modified by DLC or campaign level.
Balance: Increased prestige from feeding tank (FF).
Balance: Slightly increased entrance ticket rates at ranks 1-6.
Balance: Slightly reduced prestige value of biggest decorations and increased cost.
Balance: Tweaked some animals sizes.
Balance: Gift shop shelves now arrive empty. But they cost less.
Balance: Higher value gift shop items have a lower chance of attracting guests, you need to keep guests near them longer to get the sale!
Balance: Tool dispensers sell for 0 if they are empty.
UI: Split disallowed skill levels into different roles.
UI: Added hotkey to 'copy object'.
UI: Added hotkey to 'copy paint'.
UI: Added tooltip to prestige value on prestige window. Tells you your current base prestige.
UI: Added build menu category to all objects when you hover over the (i) or the portrait on its individual window.
UI: Improved message formatting.
UI: Added many additional icons to non-animal game objects to better describe their behaviour.
UI: Added thousand separators to many numbers.
UI: Objects in the build menu always have the default blue theme.
Graphics: People smoothly transition between different floor heights.
Graphics: People show the object they are holding when you pick them up.
Fixed bug: Poster not updating when animals are added to attached tank.
Fixed bug: 'Floating stuff'
Fixed bug: entrance flag waving.
Fixed bug: sound load paths are escaped so any path can be valid.
Fixed bug: delete bench with guest on it, guest animation resets and item follows guest.
Fixed bug: dislikes food competitors requirement was always met for growing up purposes.
Fixed bug: FF aquascaping types were not increasing costs. FF aquascaping has therefore become more expensive.
Stability: Check for missing staff members on load to avoid error.
Stability: Clamp staff talents and skills at 50 (even via modding).
Optimisation: Improved loading time of staff manage tab.
Optimisation: Spread out objective checking code.
Additional details about upcoming update revealed!
The Architect's Collection will launch alongside a huge update the base game on 11th November 2021.
In the last post I went in-depth on the new sandbox mode. This time I'll shed some light on the other most exciting new features.
External decorating
The eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed in the trailer and screenshots that some of the guests are paying more attention to decorations outside your tanks than before.
Previously, decorations only earned you prestige when a guest viewed them inside a tank, but once this update goes live they will earn you prestige when placed externally too.
One of the neat things about launching this alongside the Architect's Collection is that the expansion contains a set of dividers (like the velvet rope you can see in the picture above) that can be used to cordon off your decorations while still allowing your guests to view them.
Fun fact: guests can view external decorations from up to 3 tiles away!
Paints earn prestige
Staying on the theme of making the spaces between your tanks as important as the tanks themselves—in the new update paints will earn you prestige!
As your guests traverse your aquarium they will note all the painted objects they encounter (including the floor itself). Once they have encountered a sufficient amount of an individual paint, they'll earn you some prestige.
I really like this mechanic because it rewards you for making a beautiful aquarium—something you'll probably want to be doing anyway. I also like the way it requires a build up of a single paint style which incentivises you to theme your aquarium in blocks - much like a real aquarium!
NB If you're not a paint enthusiast, don't worry! Painting is not mandatory. It's just another opportunity to convert your design skill into prestige.
Arrows
I've upgraded the floor arrow to give a more intuitive behaviour. It attracts guests to it and then sends them on their way in a straight line in the direction it points.
Guests will explore all the attractions in an area first, before paying attention to the floor arrow. This makes floor arrows really helpful for moving guests along to the next area, rather than dawdling about getting lost!
Overall this new behaviour is more transparent and provides better feedback than the old arrows did, so it's easier to tweak them to your liking.
One-way gates
I've wanted to add one-way gates to the game for a long time. They are another example of a deceptively simple idea which took a significant system rewrite to get working. The result is really nice though.
You can use these gates to enforce a one-way system around a small part of, or even your entire aquarium! Thankfully staff can still pass through the gate in either direction.
With their inclusion it's easy to automatically trap guests so they cannot leave. To combat this I've included some new negative guests thoughts when guests want to leave but cannot find a path to the exit.
So be warned: while it's very easy to trap guests inside your aquarium, your prestige will take a significant hit if you try it. ;)
Per-skill task controls
This one is straight out of the community suggestion inbox. Previously you could prohibit a staff from carrying out tasks of certain skill levels. However, this was applied to all roles at once.
This meant that if a staff member was good at fixing but poor at feeding, you couldn't prevent them from doing the high skill feeding tasks without also stopping them doing the fixing ones too!
In response to player feedback I have split this control so there is a separate set of toggles for each role.
I'm so pleased with how Megaquarium continues to evolve. Thank you all for your ongoing attention, I hope you enjoy everything when it goes live on November 11th.
Tim
Major sandbox update launching alongside new DLC!
The Architect's Collection will launch alongside a huge update to the base game on 11th November 2021.
In this post we'll take an in-depth look at the changes I've made to sandbox mode as part of this update.
Before we get started I'd just like to clearly state that this update will be available to all players regardless of whether they own any of the expansions.
A scalable sandbox
I had many goals when redesigning the sandbox mode. Primarily I wanted to create a more scalable sandbox—one that could respond to however many expansions or mods you have installed.
Secondarily I wanted to create a more responsive and varied sandbox, where every playthrough is different and where the challenges and opportunities you are offered depend on your actions as a player.
Unlimited opportunities
One of the problems with the previous sandbox mode was that there were a finite number of opportunities (side-objectives, trades and merchants) that appeared in your inbox.
These opportunities were linked to your prestige value rather than time, so even if you spent a lot of time at the same rank, no new opportunities would appear.
The first change I made was to unlink the opportunity generation from prestige and have them become available based on the passage of time instead.
This means that, if you wait long enough, eventually every single animal will be available via an opportunity, even if you have hundreds of animals from various expansions and mods.
More responsive, more varied
If we are generating new side-objectives etc. as we go along, rather than at pre-determined prestige levels, we can also make those objectives respond to other factors within the simulation.
For example, the game might offer an objective which encourages the player to use an animal or item they've not used yet.
The game can also create progressive objectives challenging the player to keep pushing further in various metrics such as animal diversity, combined point totals or guest count.
To achieve this I have designed a system where objective "styles" can be defined. These comprise:
A set of conditions which need to be true for the objective to be offered.
A reward definition which allows an appropriate reward to be chosen based on the current state of the aquarium.
A set of objective goals which can also be programmed to adjust based on the current state of the aquarium.
Put all this together and you have a system capable of incredible variety while also being responsive to ensure balance and good gameplay.
Highly moddable
It won't be a surprise, then, to learn that this system is incredibly moddable. I've covered all the basics so that all animals will fit into one opportunity or another. But a modder could be much more targeted and specific.
Imagine a mod which adds 1 or 2 animals but also includes special objectives which are the only way to obtain said animals. This is 100% possible.
I'm excited to see what modders are able to do with this!
Rarity factor
One of the things I'm most excited about with the launch of this new sandbox is the creation of more of a rarity factor among animals in the game.
Unless you set animal availability to "Everything Available" when creating the sandbox, a selection of animals will be excluded so that they are not available to unlock with ecology.
Previously this selection was purely random, but with this update, the selection is now based on a rarity factor for each animal. Put simply, it's much less likely for you to be able to access high prestige animals like whale sharks and ocean sunfish with simple ecology.
Instead you're going to have to complete difficult objectives or trades for them. I think this will create a really nice rarity factor that I've wanted in the game for a long time.
Expansion-specific objectives
Finally, I'm pleased to announce that both Freshwater Frenzy and the Architect's Collection will include unique sandbox objectives that only appear if you have the expansions active.
For example, with Freshwater Frenzy active, you'll be offered special breeding objectives from the master breeder himself Emmanuel Tosh!
Likewise, with the Architect's Collection, you'll be offered architect challenges where you are incentivised to make use of all the new content in the collection.
This model allows me to create tailored content for each expansion, all accessible simultaneously via sandbox mode. With each new expansion the gameplay becomes richer, more varied and hopefully more fun!
So that just about sums things up. For me this update is integral to the future of Megaquarium. Just like the optimisation updates earlier this year, it creates a foundation upon which future content can be built. I'm thrilled to share it with you finally.
Tim
Announcing Megaquarium: Architect's Collection!
Introducing the Architect's Collection: a brand new expansion for Megaquarium!
[previewyoutube="lOakY29Qask;full"]
I'm going to talk about the design process for some of the key features later in the post but before we get started, head over to the store page for a full rundown.
The expansion will be priced at $7.99 or your regional equivalent and will launch on 11th November 2021 on both GOG and Steam. Remember to wishlist if you want to be notified when it goes live! ːsteamhappyː
This expansion will be launching alongside a big upgrade to the base game introducing more quality of life features as well as some brand new mechanics. More on those another time.
Spaces between the tanks
Now I love designing tanks in Megaquarium as much as the next person, but wouldn't it be cool if you could spend as much care and attention over the design of the spaces between the tanks?
This is what the Architect's Collection, and the update that releases alongside it, are all about.
Layering up
You may not realise, but up until this point Megaquarium has been limited to just a single layer of objects. In other words, you can't build objects on top of one-another.
For an expansion all about architecture and design, this limitation had to go!
It took a major system rewrite but adding multiple layer functionality paves the way for all manner of new objects in the game. Without it, archways, roofs, bridges and tunnels simply wouldn't be possible.
Over and under
Have you ever built yourself into a corner? You finally finish that Mega Tank and then you realise there's no route for your guests to continue their journey further into your aquarium. Enter bridges and tunnels...
This is just one of the many uses of bridges and tunnels! I also think they add so many possibilities in terms of layout, design and aesthetic.
Paintable = Customizable
Painting offers a wonderful opportunity to make our aquariums unique. It was only earlier this year when designing this expansion that I realised how powerful this tool could be.
By making almost every object included in the expansion paintable (major props to my artist here as this was not the easiest task!) it allows almost infinite creative possibilities.
Plus it gets better, all paints are back-compatible, so as new paints are added in the future the creative space grows even more.
Aquatic VIPs
Let's talk about the animals. This expansion was the perfect opportunity to go all out on the inclusions.
If you're an aquatic enthusiast, you will already know and love so many of the animals on this list. If Megaquarium is your entry point to the world of aquatic life - well you're in for a treat, this eclectic mix of the weird and wonderful may just ignite an interest you didn't realise you had.
Designed for Sandbox
We believe the Architect's Collection is best enjoyed alongside the content from other expansions (both past and hopefully future!). For this reason we decided that a standalone campaign wasn't the right fit.
Instead, the Architect's Collection is launching alongside a huge update to the game's sandbox mode!
My goal: to generate a campaign-like experience but where all your expansions (and even mods) can intermingle to create the deepest and most varied experience possible.
I will be releasing a separate post specifically about the new sandbox mode closer to release, but here's a taste of what to expect:
