Modding:Fish data
This page explains how the game stores and parses fish data. This is an advanced guide for mod developers.
Data format
Fish
The fish data and spawn criteria is stored as fields in Data\Fish.xnb. This consists of two different formats: one for crab pot fish and one for fish that can be caught with the fishing rod.
If the second field is trap, the fish can only be caught using a crab pot and it uses this format:
| index | syntax | example | content |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | <name>
|
Lobster
|
The fish name. |
| 1 | <type>
|
trap
|
Must be trap to indicate a crab pot catch.
|
| 2 | <chance>
|
.05
|
The percentage chance that this fish will be caught as a value between 0 and 1. Only applies if a fish listed earlier in the file isn't selected first. |
| 3 | 688 .45 689 .35 690 .35
|
Unused. | |
| 4 | <location>
|
ocean
|
The type of water body where the fish can be caught. The vanilla values are freshwater or ocean; mods may add their own region.
|
| 5 | <min size>
|
2
|
The minimum and maximum size of the caught fish in inches for fishing stats. In non-English languages, this is converted to centimetres by multiplying by 2.54. |
| 6 | <max size>
|
20
|
Otherwise it's a fish that can be caught while fishing and uses this format:
| index | syntax | example | content |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | <name>
|
Pufferfish
|
The fish name. |
| 1 | <chance to dart>
|
80
|
How often the fish darts in the fishing minigame; between 15 (carp) and 100 (glacierfish). |
| 2 | <darting randomness>
|
floater
|
How the bobber behaves during the fishing minigame; one of mixed, smooth, floater, sinker, or dart.
|
| 3 | <min size>
|
1
|
The minimum and maximum size of the caught fish in inches for fishing stats. In non-English languages, this is converted to centimetres by multiplying by 2.54. |
| 4 | <max size>
|
36
| |
| 5 | [<min time> <max time>]+
|
1200 1600
|
The time of day when they spawn. The min time is inclusive, max time is exclusive. May specify multiple ranges. |
| 6 | [<season>]+
|
summer
|
Unused; seasons are taken from Data/Locations instead. |
| 7 | <weather>
|
sunny
|
The weather when they spawn; one of sunny, rainy, or both.
|
| 8 | <locations>
|
690 .4 685 .1
|
Unused; locations are taken from Data/Locations instead. |
| 9 | <max depth>
|
4
|
The minimum water depth to cast to for maximizing the chance of catching a type of fish; used in the spawn rate calculation (see below). |
| 10 | <spawn multiplier>
|
.3
|
The spawn multiplier used in the spawn rate calculation (see below). |
| 11 | <depth multiplier>
|
.5
|
The depth multiplier used in the spawn rate calculation (see below). |
| 12 | <fishing level>
|
0
|
The minimum fishing level needed for this fish to appear. |
| 13 | <first-catch tutorial eligible>
|
true
|
Indicates whether the fish can be selected for the first-catch tutorial. |
Aquarium fish
Fish in fish tanks can be edited via the Data/AquariumFish asset:
| index | field | purpose | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | sprite index | The index of the sprite in the LooseSprites/AquariumFish spritesheet, starting at 0 for the top-left sprite. The fish sprites are 24x24px. | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | type | The fish type, which influences their behavior. Possible values:
| ||||||||||||||
| 2 3–5 |
idle animation dart animation |
The animation used by the fish when it's idling (2) or darting (3–5). This is specified as a list of space-delimited frames, where each frame is the sprite index in the LooseSprites/AquariumFish spritesheet to display. Each frame is displayed for 125ms. For example, Stingrays have their idle animation set to 70 70 70 71 71 72.
The dart animation is split into three fields: start (3), hold (4), and end (5). | ||||||||||||||
| 6 | texture | The asset name for the texture containing the fish's sprite. Defaults to LooseSprites/AquariumFish. | ||||||||||||||
| 7 | hat position | The pixel position of the hat on the sprite, specified as an object with X and Y values. Custom fish in aquariums can wear hats, just like vanilla sea urchins. |
Spawning Fish
Fish spawn data is stored in Data/Locations. Fish can be added to a location by editing the Fish field in the location's data entry. Distinct fishing areas can be defined within the same location (for example, a pond and a river within the same location that have different fish spawn chances) by editing the FishAreas field. These fishing areas can then be referenced by ID in the Fish field. See Modding:Location data for more information.