Say hello to my little friend

Ok, let's just admit it, Catapults are awesome. If you owned one and could use it without legal ramifications there's likely nothing you wouldn't attempt to break, right? You would break all of the things.

Since it's not possible to use one today without ending up on the local six o'clock news, this game is probably your best bet. Sure, there are other catapult games out there but none like this.

Why is Catapult for Hire so great? Well, let's add another reason to the list. Legendary throwing machines. Let me introduce you to one of them, the ballista.

Greek ballistae were basically giant crossbows

There are many catapults that you can find, buy, win and craft in the game. Each of them feel different because of the way they move, sound and throw. The catapults vary in attributes like power and reload speed; however, some of the more legendary catapults have special abilities and payloads unique to that catapult.

Sometimes you'll have to pick the right war machine for the job, but don't worry, picking the wrong one is never too punishing. Choosing your catapult will simply give you the opportunity to figure out the right tool for the task and hopefully you will come up with some creative solutions.

The ballista pictured here is actually considered to be an "average" siege weapon in the world. It doesn't have any special abilities but it does have a lot of power and reloads relatively fast for the amount of power she packs. Other ballistae, like Nix's Bow, have special abilities that need to be employed when trying to get to some particularly hard to reach areas.

She's a sturdy launcher with lots of range and relatively fast reload speed.

Another example is the Dwarven Mangonel. It has a payload that expands to be 10 times as heavy and 10 times as large. The Dwarves have always had some serious size issues... This dwarven payload comes in handy when some extra weight is required, especially in tight spaces.

Of course it does a great job at launching bunnies

I really enjoy games that value discovery and give you motivation to explore every corner that you can reach. In Catapult for Hire your exploration is literally limited to the reach of your catapult so I'm hoping that will make the process of finding new catapults in the game a joyful and serendipitous one.

I hope you look forward to a future filled with the best throwing machines this side of the middle ages.

A treatise on fishing

I've always enjoyed fishing in video games which is funny because I've never really spawned an interest in fishing outdoors. Don't get me wrong, I love being out in nature but for some reason fishing has never baited me in. I think it has something to do with all of the waiting. You select your bait, cast and wait.

I'm not a gambling man and maybe that's why even catching a fish doesn't thrill me. Perhaps there is some skill involved but I mostly ascribe the accomplishment to luck. I want my fishing to involve more of the tactical and less of the random.

My favorite fishing scenarios in video games allow control that gives a sense of accomplishment more than that of a dice roll.

One of my earliest experiences with fishing in video games was in Breath of Fire 2. There was a bit of randomness in the type of fish that would spawn and simply finding a fishing spot was sometimes an exercise in frustration. In the end I found it very enjoyable, especially as you discovered the tactics available to catch the fish you wanted.

The perspective was from a side view so you could see exactly what fish were available. You could try and cast directly above the fish you wanted to catch. You would also learn that casting closer was better because while dragging in the fish the line would sometimes break. If the fish was close to begin with it was an almost guaranteed catch.

Even in Zelda Ocarina of Time's fishing your line would occasionally break. I suppose it was intended to add to the thrill of the catch and make it seem more challenging. To me it seemed more like an arbitrary difficulty factor that had nothing to do with my skill as a player.

Wait for it...

A more recent experience I had was in Torchlight and that was a complete pull on the proverbial slot machine. Firstly it was a reflex test as catching the fish involved tapping the button at the exact time the two circles overlapped. The worst part was that said circle would often fake you out when nearing an overlap and suddenly change directions at the last millisecond. You would click and you would fail. The game designers must have had a laugh when they programmed that behavior.

When you actually caught a fish it was completely random as to what type of fish you pulled up. The variety of fish was discovered through a random dice roll and thus you would pull up the most common of the fish most of the time. It made it seem like there was a small variety of fish whether that was actually the case or not.

Even with it's flaws it was still fishing and I appreciated it though it definitely wasn't the best example out there.

Getting it right

In Catapult for Hire fishing is core to the game. Some of the best catapults and upgrades require you to find some of the more rare species. As such I need to make sure it is an enjoyable experience. Unlike Torchlight where you still had an enjoyable game with a sub-par fishing system I feel that this game lives or dies in getting the fishing right. So, let's address each of the issues I've identified as not fun and how Catapult for Hire is different.

Looks tasty!

Variety

Each of the Fish are unique. Some fish are heavier than others. Some like sparkly things and other fear them. Each has interest in certain payloads and hooks and some will only show up when they're interested. Even when you discover a way to catch a particular fish there are still other, sometimes more efficient, ways to get them out of the water and into your inventory. Each fish yields components that can be crafted into better equipment and some are extremely rare.

Some of the fish in Catapult for Hire

Choice

Locating fish in a 3D fishing game was an interesting proposition. In Zelda you would have Navi there to hover above the fish through z-targetting. In Catapult for Hire I've tried to simplify all of the systems to the core of the game, throwing.

There isn't an aerial camera mode, there isn't a fishing mode, there is no need to switch into a different mode. Learn how to throw and you understand the whole game. How do you explore levels? You throw. How do you find fish? You throw. Essentially you are throwing the camera into the environment. As your payload sinks into the water you can watch as you not only discover the location of the various fish, you also discover how they respond to that particular payload.

Nighttime fishing

Random

Catching a fish involves learning how the fish behave. Each of the fish species has it's own likes / dislikes. The skill and difficulty isn't introduced by hoping you will catch the fish, it is in exploring and understanding the world. Your intuition as a fisherman is what will score you the fish, not Math.rand().

All of these things will (I hope) contribute to creating a believable world full of life and wonder with the intrinsic motivation that comes from wanting to discover new things.

Thanks for reading and I would love to hear if you have any thoughts or ideas for what you would like to see in a fishing game. Also, thanks for your patience with me in completing this game. I'm dedicated to making it the best that I can and sometimes the best things take a lot of time. Cheers!

MineCon!

A while ago team Mojang had an open call for indie game developers to show their games at MineCon and Catapult for Hire was selected!

There were a lot of amazing life-sized handcrafted Minecraft props everywhere.

When you pour your heart and soul into something for such a long period of time you start to question your sanity. In such a state it's hard to judge your work objectively. Phrases like "This is the best game EVER!" run through your head one minute and then "Will anyone like this?" in the next. It was hugely validating to have been chosen to show my game along with so many other excellent indie games and know that I am still sane.

It was amazing to see so many parents that attended with their children. These parents are heroes. They could with much less effort be antagonistic to something generally perceived as a waste of time. Instead they were putting in the time and effort to be involved with their kids and understand their interests.

I love watching people play the game. The absolute most rewarding feeling is watching them smile as they play. Suddenly all of the sacrifice is validated. The best part was that everyone who played the game seemed to genuinely enjoy it!

A sea of Minecraft fans.

Meeting so many incredible people so fast is overwhelming. I met a few young aspiring game developers and was honored to help guide them in their path toward making games. I'll never forget the little Macaulay Culkin lookalike that unraveled all of the game's deeper meanings. He asked all of the questions that I had hoped to inspire the player to ask. I have agonized over these mechanics in hopes that someone would understand why I made the design decisions that I did and he totally got it. He went completely Langdon on my game's Davinci Code. Here's to you little dude.

All in all it was an inspiring trip and I'm truly grateful having had the opportunity to go. So many new friends and amazing memories that I'll remember fondly. Thanks to Mojang for the great experience!