So now that I had boss spawns in, I was thinking how similar the system was to probably my favorite game of all time DOTA 2.  In Dota, you aren't in an open ocean with random fish swimming around you, there's more strategy and rhythm to farming NPC's, they spawn in specific locations, and they're on a timer (Just like the bosses I just added). So i got to thinking... would it be fun to do camp spawns like in dota? At first I was thinking, no it's not a good idea, my game is about swimming in a vast ocean where you encounter random enemies, I thought doing a quick gameplay experiment where I try camp spawns would be a waste of time, and the last thing I should be doing right now is prototyping down more rabbit holes when I believe the core play to be becoming acceptable. I SHOULD POLISH WHAT'S ALREADY KINDA STARTING TO WORK!

But I couldn't help myself, and I wasnt' feeling a ton of energy, so I thougth "Fuck it" I want to get work done today, I want to keep the momentum going, I'll just do what my heart tells me to do. So I straight up stole the spawn system from dota, THANKS HEART FOR THE SUPPORT! I'm just kidding, enemies spawning on a timer is nothing new and isn't really unique, but in dota there's this mechanic where every minute new enemies spawn, and if you clear the area, you have the opportunity get bonus spawns, so you can have more and more stuff to kill for more loot and exp if you "Pull" the enemies away from the camp, or simply clear them right before the timer hits, you get a spawn that way too. Anyhow, it's just this fun system that layers on top of the basic mindless grinding and killing that give structure and strategy to the play. I'm finding as I add these spawn areas, it really starts to build up interesting points in the ocean that were sorely lacking before. It used to be you would swim around, and there would be random fish around you, but nothing was unique, there was no adventure, there was no sense of "I wonder what goodies lay down in this deep cave". That's all different now, spawn camps allows me to build up a big work with interesting spawn dynamics, rewards, and dangers unique to specific areas, and it synergises REALLY well with my timed boss spawns, and really invites the player to do some different modes of play, whether that be adventuring, farming in a singular area for exp and basic items, or trying to spawn up a boss for a new weapon drop. Holy shit it's really starting to feel like a game with purpose now. 

This has been a total revelation, and I'm really excited at how everything seems to be coming together, I do not feel like this change makes my game more like Dota, or any other RPG game, I really feel as if the new camp system accentuates all the existing unique systems of play and itemizations of boss spawns and loot drops and farming that i've been chasing for a long time, and gives a new strategic element to playing the game, where before you were simply hyper focusing on twitch play, there is a new element of managing timers and NPC's that just REALLY bring this entire experience up a notch , It's hard to describe, but anyone who's "camped" a farm in EverQuest, or in WOW, or farmed camps in DOTA, knows that there is a certain satisfaction to mastering the spawn rhythms and enemies. And now those spawn rhythms help you spawn more fish that allow you to summon bosses faster! What made dota so great is the way it paired twitch play with more thoughtful strategic thought. The faster and more twitch you are, the more you can execute to fulfill complex gameplay goals beyond simply dealing tons of damage and not being hit. There was nuance to choosing the right area, the right item, the correct build. In the future I may try to create random elements that pervade the game, and give each play a unique "style", like maybe one game lots of tanky, hard to kill fish spawn all over the ocean, and the next one it's more damage oriented bullet hell. Who knows...

It's so satisfying to see all the unique ideas coming together in a way that feels cohesive and fun. I've been itching to get in and tune the nuts and bolts by adding more items, and tweaking difficulty and adding more fish and areas and shops and items to purchase at various vendors. But even though this is taking a bit of time to build up the foundations, it's incredibly rewarding, because everything feels to be coming together, and the game as it stands even right now, is so much more than I ever hoped it would be. I'm going to repeat myself here, and I often sound like a broken record but i'm always trying to check myself. I realize the game may be dog shit, so many times in the past i've been excited it could be FINALLY good enough, and been wrong, so who the fuck knows. All's I know is as time goes on there is more and more stuff, and I think that stuff is working with other stuff to be better and better.

I had to finagle a lot of stuff with the spawn systems, and in doing so I've restructured them so they don't have to be children of zone assets and i can place them more like scene objects throughout the level, and this is a really nice quality of life improvement, and will allow me to place all sorts of spawn  areas with various fish and gameplay variety about. The possibilities are so vast: areas with camps of fish that give good pearls, areas that are VERY DIFFICULT and don't provide very good bonuses, but provide a very good boss spawn bonus when killed near boss spawn areas, or maybe they provide extra EXP for your defensive or offensive skills based on your fish and weapon (need to be conservative with this so that it doesn't overshadow the natural farming of these bonuses through dealing and taking damage).

I really can't wait till the game is feature complete and I can spend a day or two creating the first couple areas and I can finally put it out there., I am very close, in fact I think I may be done right now this moment, that said items and shops and everything will need lots of polish as I start adding them for the first time. 

I no longer view this as a proof of concept, It used to be if you played the game I would have to ask the player, "OK just imagine if we had a team and a bit more dev, can you see how if we expanded on the initial play how it could be fun?" Blinded by potential and not truthful with myself how lacking the core gameplay loop was. Even if the combat was fluid and polished, SeaCrit was never anything anyone would go out of your way to try a second time, it didn't have a HOOK of fun and progression.

I really hope that's changing now. The gameplay is much more tuned and diverse and has purpose, I've gutted so much stuff that wans't working and had filler attacks and random things, but things have been stripped to what I believe to be fun, necessary and purposeful. No fluff, no random crap I THOUGHT would be fun, but didn't quite work out.  I've really felt out the core diversity of play I hope, and with items now and bosses, and a fully features spawn system that will facilitate making this an interesting play environment, I think I'm finally knocking on the door of this being fun. Whew, and to think I almost didn't bring myself to get some work done today. If only coding was as easy as BLATHERING ON THE INTERNET ABOUT STUPID SHIT.