Today we’d like to talk about the topic, that has been repeatedly appearing in comments and discussions on the Steam page and social media. The element of the game, that is clearly very important and crucial for you - the crew.

To be honest, when we started working on a game, we decided to go with gameplay mechanics in the All-in-One system. While playing the game, you’ll have to do every task by yourself and accurate simulation of all those activities will be the core gameplay. One of the key arguments for this approach was the budget. Implementing the crew requires a lot of additional work for our team - programming, creating models and textures, animating, etc. That means more time and more costs needed for finishing the game.

So, when we first saw comments about the lack of crew mechanics, we were reluctant to switch our focus, knowing that we might not be able to deliver that big of a feature. But we are gamers ourselves, and what we want the most is to bring you joy and great experience. And you really convinced us that this game needs the crew, so we’ll do our best to implement it. But - we can’t do it without your help.

We decided, that the best solution will be going with Deadliest Catch: The Game on Kickstarter - and making implementation of the crew the main goal of the campaign. That way, with your help, we can gather funds necessary for the production and create the game you are all waiting for! We have a lot of ideas of the stretch goals too - many of those appearing in the comments or discussions.

We hope that together we'll be able to make this game just the way you’d hope - truly bringing your favorite TV series to your PCs and letting you feel like fishing on the Bering Sea by yourselves. Surely with your support we can do it!

At this moment we plan to start the Kickstarter Campaign around half of the April - soon we’ll come back to you with more details. Let us know what do you think about that!

After the first two issues of our devlogs, you should know all the basics of your F/V and equipment on board. This time we’d like to move to the most important part of the titular Deadliest Catch - the catch itself! In other words, the precious crabs that you’ll try to fish out of hazardous waters of the Bering Sea. Though many of you, devoted fans of the Discovery Channel series, have a great knowledge of crabs living in Alaskan waters, we’d like to sum-up some facts and share with you how we implemented that information in our game.



Right now we’d like to focus on one of the crab’s species that are caught by the fisherman in the TV series - the red king crabs (Paralithodes camtschaticus). The first thing you’ll need to know about them is that they are rather big creatures. The fully grown males can have up to 11 inches/28 cm in length of the carapace (the shell covering the back) and leg span as big as 5 foots/150 cm. With five pairs of legs and huge claws, you’d better be careful when handling them!



The second important fact is that not all crabs are suitable for sale! It is allowed to catch only the male crabs that are old enough. That’s why all the crabs trapped in the pots go directly to the sorting table, where you’ll have to decide, which crabs will go to your holding tank (and will be later sold in Dutch Harbor), and which will need to be tossed back into the water. So how can you check your catch?

The first thing to consider is the crab’s sex. Looking from the above, both males and females looks quite alike. However, when you’ll look at their abdomens, you can see a so-called abdominal flap. The male specimens have a narrow flap, while the female’s flap is wide - it covers most of the underside of the abdomen (that’s because female crabs carry their eggs under the flap). The other thing that helps to distinguish males from females is their size, as the males are usually bigger. The crab’s size is used to judge the age of the crabs as well. Crabs suitable for sale have to be at least 6,5 inch/17 cm in carapace length.



Inspecting the crabs in our game is quite simple. First, you’ll need to pick up one of the caught crabs and turn it around. Observing the crab’s abdominal will tell you about the specimen’s sex and further inspection will show, whether the crab is big enough. That information will appear in your GUI. It’s not necessary to wait for the result of the inspection - after a while, you can judge in a glimpse of an eye which crab should go under the deck and which will be tossed overboard. But be careful! If you try to sell a crab, that shouldn’t go on the market, you’ll have to pay a fine.

It’s important to control the amount of the crabs that you hold in your tank as well. The weight of the crabs will burden your F/V and if the tank gets too crowded, it’ll cause the crabs to die. And dead crab in your tank may cause other surrounding crabs to die quicker (that so-called “dead loss” will bring you no income of course). So if you fill your tank faster than you expected, it may be advised to return to the dock even in the middle of the season.

So that’s a little factsheet about the red king crabs. Let us know if there is some information that you are most interested in reading next time :) See you soon!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/838630/Deadliest_Catch_The_Game/

So last time we get a good look at your very own vessel. It’s time to get familiar with all the fishing equipment on board and the purpose that they serve. All of the machines and items are essential to your work on the F/V. The better you’ll learn to use them, the more crabs you’ll catch and eventually sell back in the Dutch Harbour. So let’s get on with this!



Our first stop is the crane. It’s definitely the biggest (and highest) machine you’ll use on your F/V. It is hydraulicly lifted and helps you with moving the empty crab pots from the deck on to the launcher and back. At the end of the crane’s arm, you can see a tire, that prevents the crab pots from getting damaged while being moved by the crane.

With the crab pot set on the launcher, it’s time to prepare it before tossing overboard. First, you’ll need to take the rope with the attached buoys out of the pot (moving it on top of the cage) and place a bait bag inside. The set pot can be thrown into the water with the launcher - it is operated with a lever next to the machine. The crab pot will stay in the water for the next 24-48 hours, luring precious king crabs inside with the delicious bait (delicious to the crabs at least).



But, the said bait needs to get prepared first too. That’s when the fridge and the bait chopper will come in handy. In the fridge standing on the F/V deck, you’ll keep all the blocks of frozen fish that you bought before leaving the Dutch Harbor (they come in many kinds, but that’s a story for another time). You’ll throw those blocks into the chopper - better watch out for hands! - and take out the bait ready to get bagged and placed in the crab pot.



When the pot is full of crabs (or at least you’ll think it is) you’ll need to get it out of the water - and that can get a little complicated. First, you’ll need the throwing hook to get the rope attached to the pot out of the water and in your hands. It’s a moment to test your manual skills, as you’ll have to throw the hook between the buoys and pull it in your direction.



When you’ll get a rope, you should place it on the hauling system. With the crab pot close to the fishing vessel's board, you’ll need to grab it with the picking hook and use the picking boom to set the full pot back on the launcher. The launcher can tilt in two directions, so this time it’ll help you with throwing crabs on the automatic sorting table from the pot - so you can look closely at what got caught in your trap. All the big, tasty male crabs go down to the holding tank through the hatch. Uff.



So now you know what your everyday work at the deck will look like - or the basics of it, to be precise! Soon we’ll continue with our devlogs and take a better look at the crabs. In the meantime let us know what you think about our work and the devlog itself. And if you didn’t do it yet - don’t hesitate to add Deadliest Catch: The Game to your wishlist!
See you soon!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/838630/Deadliest_Catch_The_Game/

We - the development team of Deadliest Catch: The Game - are really excited to see your interest and anticipation for the game release. We are also receiving many questions and suggestions from you about the game content and your expectations regarding it. That’s why we decided to create a series of devlogs in which we’ll share with you some insights from our work on this title. We hope that you’ll enjoy reading it!

That being said, are you ready to step into the wheelhouse of your own ship and set course on the deadly Alaskan waters? Let’s make sail than! And what’s a better thing to start with than the fishing vessel itself?



While playing the game, you’ll become the owner of a crab fishing vessel with all the equipment essential for catching the precious king crabs and bringing them safely to the Dutch Harbor. The design of the ship is based on the boat well-known from the Discovery Channel show - F/V Cornelia Marie. It’s approximately 42 meters long, 10 meters width and 20 meters high (counting to the top of the mast). Let’s take a quick tour of it!

The deck is where the magic happens. Here you can find all the important equipment like the hydraulically lifted crane, empty crab pots, the coiler, the lift, the sorting table, the bait-cutting machine, the fridge for the bait and basket with buoys. The deck is where you will spend most of your in-game time. Better get familiar with it! From the deck, you can also access all the other parts of the vessel.



In the storage room, you’ll keep all the additional items that may come in handy. Spare grappling hooks, the hydraulic oil or repair kits to maintain the equipment. Provided, that you remembered to buy it all before leaving the port for the season!

Under the deck, there is the holding tank filled with salt water. That’s where all the crabs suitable for sale are kept while your vessel is at sea. Remember, that you have to deliver the crabs alive, otherwise nobody will buy them and all your hard work will go to waste. But don’t get greedy - there is a limited amount of crabs you can safely fit in the tank. If you allow your vessel to get overburden (and that means the weight of pots, fuel, additional equipment and obviously the caught crabs), it’ll affect the mileage and make steering more difficult.

The wheelhouse allows you to truly take command of your vessel. Literally - from this place you can steer the ship. There are four speed-levels for going forward and one for reverse movement. What’s important, you can set the engine power to the desired level and leave the wheelhouse to drop the pots or sort the caught crabs - the vessel will proceed sailing in the set direction. From the wheelhouse, you can also switch on the map and set course to the previously chosen points in the fast-travel mode.

Finally, you can visit the upper deck. From there you can admire the sight of splendid but treacherous Bering Sea!



Now you know what you might expect on board of your own fishing vessel. Soon we’ll give you a little more details about the equipment you’ll get to use during your adventure. Let us know what do you think about our ideas and the devlog itself. Also, tell us if there are topics that you’d especially like to read about in the future. See you soon, captains!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/838630/Deadliest_Catch_The_Game/

We’ve recently been getting a lot of questions about the game - we are thrilled to see how many of you are waiting for the release! We want to provide you with all the fresh info and show you what our work looks like behind the scenes, so we'll be posting some devlogs in the coming weeks - make sure to keep track of our announcements!

In the meantime, here's another game developed in cooperation with Discovery Channel. Check it out!




https://store.steampowered.com/app/750050/Diesel_Brothers_The_Game/