Hooray! We've hit 50 Followers on Tumblr! Thank you both on the forums and on Tumblr for all of your support with this game!

Now for the fun updates! First off, a reveal of a new, Alpha tester only apparel!



Once the game opens for Alpha, testers will receive a bug net to thank them (and aid the fish in their pond) for catching bugs! After the first bug net, alpha testers can receive another net for each bug they report. Much like the alpha and beta genes, this will be retired after alpha testing (but will still exist in your inventories, so a bit of a bonus for being an alpha tester). I'm am planning out an apparel for beta testing as well (Alpha testers will be able to receive both forms of apparel and genes since they have been around since the beginning).

To commemorate having 50 followers, we'll also be doing a skin contest! Right out of the gate, we're going to be doing a bit of a hard contest that might require a lot of imagination (and some lore reading).



For this 50 follower milestone, the skin contest is "Mystery of the Far Bank". You will definitely need to look at some of the lore descriptions (especially in Oskar's territory post) to come up with clues to what you think your schools might think the Far Bank is like. Then, create skins for Common goldfish to decorate themselves in!

Rules:

You can post as many entries as you like, but there will only be two winners - one skin for males and one for females.
Skins must cover at least 50% of the body and cannot go over any of the line art or the eyes. They should not be so dark that the shadow layer is not visible.
Skins cannot contain copyrighted materials
Skins will need to be entered as .png files at 350 x 350 px
You can find the PSDs in the Skin Forum. Do not share them outside of this forum.
Entries must be posted by July 31, 2015 at 11:59 pm in the Contest Submission thread.

The winners will have their skins be official game skins and will have their names in the credits, as well as 500 river rocks, 50 favor, and a copy of their winning skin when the game opens.

Good luck and thank you all again for your support!

Quork! Hello Fish friends! Alex, the dog, wanted me to start getting you all sorted into new areas ... mostly because dogs and computers don't always mix. At least I can use the hunt and peck method when sending out messages!

There are currently six habitable zones in the pond (the Neutral Zone is home only to the original fish of the old pond and the Forbidden Zone is, well, forbidden), as I had mentioned in an earlier update (here). Of course, right now the areas only will lead to new discussion grounds (with the possibility of friends, conversation based challenges), but after the pond truly opens, you will be able to live there and participate in pond-wide, friendly challenges against the other zones in order to please the gods! 

For anyone who has not ever seen them before, here are all of the areas of the new pond:

The Shallows
Leader of this Zone: Michael

This area is on the West side of the pond and is considered a safe home at first glance, being closest to the land of the gods, but it is not without its dangers. This is where it is believed the Masked Death first arrived as well. The fish here are more outgoing, being used to the gods being near this side of the pond the most often. The religious leaders tends to be in conflict with the scientific leaders in this part of the pond.

Green Water
Leader of this Zone: Mark
This area is almost unnaturally rich in algae and is home to some of the stranger looking breeds. Fish from other areas of the pond will sometimes come here to try and gather algae for their developing fry. This is not without risk however. Many inhabitants of the pond believe that the green water is due to the area's close proximity to the Forbidden Zone. Therefore, algae that is collected near the boundary of Green Water and the Forbidden Zone is rarely consumed, unless it is used for potions. The fish in this area seem to have amazing abilities as well. You would almost think they were magic. The scientific leaders thinks there may be a different reason for their abilities.

Water Lettuce Forest
Leader of this Zone: Sarge
This area is believed to be the home of the Ryukins. This breeds aggressively patrols the area. Many believe that it is because this is a perfect place for eggs to be laid, and thus a sacred place for all fish of the pond – according to the inhabitants of the area that is. The Webbed Death was believed to once lurk just above the water here.

The Depths
Leader of this Zone: Morpho
This area is the home of the Common Goldfish. It is also a safe haven for all breeds during the winter. The fish here are the most welcoming to the other breeds. The fish of this area are always training for the return of the fabled Web-Footed Shadow, the Furry Fish, and the Silent Shadow. These fish are also considered to be the biggest and fastest of the pond.

The Rocks
Leader of this Zone: Charcoal
Pearlscales are believed to have originated here (according to the religious leaders). This area is filled with places to hide in, but more delicate breeds tend to avoid the more jagged areas. The Spear Faced Death was thought to patrol here in the times of the First Pond. The fish here have gruff personalities and tend to be secretive, using the rocks as their shelters. They are also very scientifically minded.

The Far Bank
Leader of this Zone: Beryl
This area is visited by the gods as well as the Loud Impostor Gods. Not many fish have visited this area of the pond because of how far away it is from the land of the gods. Some foraging parties have returned with items left there by the Impostor Gods.

Each of the Zone leaders will come here to talk about their respective zones some more, shortly. I'm sure they want to each tempt everyone into their own areas. Right now, it will be easy to change your mind as to which area you want to live in. When the new pond opens, however, it will be a bit more costly to move to a new home after you choose one.

I hear the gods opening the screen door to their land. I suppose I had better return to the land of the gods to roost for the night!

Farewell and happy choosing!

-Oskar

So, I've decided to try for at least weekly updates (unless something HUGE happens during said week), so welcome to the first weekly update!



Look at that shiny new logo! How awesome! 

First off, I've started working on the breed art for Ranchu goldfish. They will be the second "River Rock" breed after Tosakins. I won't be introducing them until after Egg goldfish since Ranchus are egg goldfish with rounded backs and wens (not as big of wens as the Lionheads in game, but the wen covers the whole face).



Only the male art is mostly done, but I'm planning on working on the rest of the ranchu base art this weekend.

You may notice, however, that Charcoal, the ranchu that is in charge of the Rocks territory has a bit of a larger wen than even the male Ranchus. That will be explained in some lore stuff from her later.

We had a bit of a bumpy road with programming this last month, but I'm hoping to have some news, programming wise, by the end of next week!

We also now have a cafepress shop up to help fund the site development. As of right now, there are a few T-shirts, coffee mugs, and a bumper sticker. Right now, coffee mug-wise, there is a stacking set that will eventually have each breed represented on a cup. The cafepress shop is the only shop of physical items that will stay open after the game opens to the public.


An example of the shirts - "Sofishticated Pearlscale"

Coming up soon on the forums will be a BBCode guide and some more NPCs for each of the zones. Let me know which area you would like to be put into. While we wait for Alpha testing to begin, I'd like to starts some forum things with each of the factions!

That's all for now! Thank you again for joining us, and I look forward to updating you all some more next week!

Hello, fellow Auratus Ghoti people! I am Faudilay, and I'm prepared to make some noise in this quiet neighborhood. Despite the forum looking like a ghost town, (no offense!) I shall make an attempt at communication.

I am not currently active on any pet sims. I have however, played a wide scope of them. I think the first pet sim I ever played is Foopets. After that came Mweors, Wajas, and Chickensmoothie. There was also a wolf rpg one that I played for the longest time that I can't remember the name of. I've played Felisfire, Tygras, Lioden, and Wolfplaygame too. I've never played a fish sim though, but I'll soon find out.

I heard about Auratus Ghoti through Virtualpetlist, and I think I'll be in the Idealist faction.

I'm not much of an expert when it comes to fish, but playing a fish sim will probably help me in that area. I've never had a fish, except for a few times that my brother won a goldfish at a fair, but they died, for we didn't have a real fish tank with the bubble thing that keeps enough oxygen in the water for the fish.

I can draw somewhat good with pencil and paper, but the best I can do on the computer is crude.

I've always wanted to be an Alpha member on a pet sim, but there was always the obstacles of having to pay or invite codes which I never had the right connections. I think it'll be a great experience, being able to watch Auratus Ghoti grow.

There will be two special avatars available during the alpha testing period.

The first is the funding avatar, for helping reach funding gols (this will happen when the patreon drive is released

(low quality and smaller sized than the real size)
0


Next will be the referral one:


This will be rewarded to those who refer other people (and referrals during pre alpha count towards this).

There will be three main currencies that can be used in game:


Gravel is the most common currency. It is earned in battles, auto selling items, sending fish indoors, and weekly bonuses.




River Rocks are the premium currency. While it can be purchased ($.50 per River Rock), it also can be earned from battles, rarely from sending fish indoors and rarely from bonuses.




The final and tertiary currency is favor. It can be earned from weekly bonuses and NPC battles (invader). It can be used with the Toddler God. Celestial Goldfish breed changers can only be bought through favor.

Players of Auratus will be able to interact with several NPC during gameplay.


Goldie will be prominent on the news page and will occasionally show up during exploration to give quests. He is the oldest fish in the pond and is the only one who truly knows of the place of Judgement.


One of two non-fish friendly NPCs, Alex is a shetland sheepdog who is owned by the gods. He will greet all new users and help out with choosing a territory. He also will show up during a few events.


Poole is a female common goldfish who runs the gourmet food shop. All of the items in her shop can be purchased with river rocks. She is the mate to New Fish and the mother of LB and Banner.


New Fish is a kindhearted male ryukin who runs the festival shop with his son, Banner.


Banner is New Fish's son and LB's younger brother. He helps his dad run the festival shops.


New Fish and Poole's oldest daughter, LB runs an item and apparel shop where you can buy items to be used for crafting as well as battle items and apparel. She is the apprentice of Oskar, the raven.


Bowman is a young common goldfish who was one of the few survivors of the calamity that befell the first pond (along with New Fish, Poole, Izzy, and Goldie). They run the specialty item shop (breed and marking changers, etc).


Guy is an oranda who runs the decorative apparel shop. He has a huge crush on LB (who is oblivious).

Pearl is a pearlscale who runs the bank and trading post (where users can trade items and fish)


Charcoal is a ranchu who is in charge of "The Rocks" territory. She is also the leader of the "Materialist" fish and is the main researcher of that faction.


Michael is a celestial goldfish who runs the Shallows territory and is the leader of the "Idealist" faction. He is fiercely dedicated to the gods, even more so than Goldie.


Mark is an oranda who leads the "Green Water" territory.



Oskar is a raven who was rescued by "the gods" at the same time as the fish during the "calamity". She is blind in one eye and has very limited flight capabilities. She is still the pond's strongest ally. She also runs the crafting tree and helps the fish create items to keep them safe from predators.

NPCs still in need of art:
Izzy
Sarge
Unnamed fish in charge of the other territories
The Toddler God

A new image has been created for the Neutral Zone, an area that contains the shops and mini games in the pond.



The areas shown are:

Banner and New Fish's festival and game area (the banner)
Bowman's Specialty shop (the rocks at the bottom)
LB's Battle apparel and craftable items (the metal hut)
Pearl's Trading post and bank (the reeds in the center)
Guy's Fancy Apparel (the log)
Izzy's Fast Food (a gravel/primary currency food shop, the sandstone table)
Poole's Gourmet (the pot, a river rock/premium currency food shop)
Oskar's Crafting Tree (the tree)

Alex will have a special area that is yet to be determined.

Also, you may notice a new NPC up there. Is that perhaps the god known as "Toddler"?

A teaser trailer is being made right now. Just a "coming soon" one until I get a solid date on opening for alpha.

This post will be updated with the trailer when it is finished!

Hello! I'm ilrak/K.D.Val/ilrak backwards and I am the creator and artist for Auratus Ghoti! I started this game after being introduced to a lot of pet sites and sim games by my good friend MinkxAoba. He got me into Flight Rising, Lioden, and a couple of other games and it kind of snowballed from there.

Why goldfish? In 2012, I became an accidental goldfish breeder when two goldfish (Poole and New Fish) who I had purchased on my 21st birthday with the intention of spoiling them like the crazy fish mom I am repaid me with a tiny baby fish in the overflow of my 90 gallon tank (LB). Two weeks and several rescue missions later and I had 61 baby goldfish, each with different personalities (seriously, goldfish are some pretty awesome fish and can be very unique in their interpersonal (interfishonal?) relationships. This game is pretty much in dedication to those fish.

Of course, I couldn't just make it a game where you breed goldfish. I'm a huge fan of Xenofiction (like Raptor Red and other stories from the point of view of non-human creatures), so in this game, you, the player, are the goldfish. These goldfish do seem to be uplifted/sufficiently advanced and thus your school is not only concerned with survival in a big pond, but they also are aware of the creatures who created the pond and, for the most part, believe them to be gods. Through breeding, battling, and exploration, your school can please the gods and get rewards in the form of gravel (the main currency), occasional river rocks (the premium currency, bought with cash or earned through different challenges - since I don't necessarily like it when a game makes the premium currency only available through payment), and favor (a currency that is only rewarded through certain tasks that please the gods). all of these currencies can be used to buy things that can enhance your school (or individual fish in the school).

When I'm not working on this game, I am either taking care of the menagerie (fish, birds, and lizards) or spending time with my husband (which sometimes happens while working on the game and a lot of ideas on gameplay have come from him as well).

I'm looking forward to creating a game that all of you will enjoy. Please feel free to give suggestions as well! I'm definitely considering a lot of things with regards to gameplay, breeds, items, markings, etc.!

-ilrak