TIDELINE — 3D Fishing Simulator

A complete, single-player 3D fishing game that runs in the browser. Built with Three.js (v0.170, loaded via CDN import map) and vanilla ES modules — no build step, no npm install, no external assets. Water, sky, fish, scenery and every sound effect are generated procedurally at runtime.

Play it now: bridge-mind.github.io/tideline

Open source under the MIT license, shipped by BridgeMind.

Run it locally

ES modules require a local web server (opening index.html via file:// will not work):

cd fishing-simulator

# any one of these:
python3 -m http.server 8642
npx serve .
npx http-server -p 8642

Then open http://localhost:8642 in a modern browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari 16.4+). The only network request is the Three.js CDN fetch on first load.

How to play

Action	Input
Aim	Move the mouse
Charge cast	Hold Left Click or Space
Cast	Release
Hook a bite	Click instantly when the bobber plunges and ! appears
Reel	Hold Click — release during red surges or the line snaps
Retrieve bobber	Hold Click while waiting, or press R
Shop / Map / Journal	B / M / J (or the HUD buttons, while idle)
Pause	Esc

The loop: cast → wait → hook → win the tension fight → earn cash & XP → sell fish at the Shop → upgrade rod/reel/line/bait → unlock River Bend, the Coastal Pier and the Deep Ocean → complete all 21 species in the Journal.

Tips:

• Long casts reach deep water, where rarer, bigger fish live.
• Time of day matters — salmon rise at dawn, swordfish only at night. The in-game day lasts 8 real minutes.
• Cloudy weather speeds up bites and nudges rare spawns.
• Watch the tension bar: reel in bursts, rest to recover, and never reel through a surge. Fish tire over time — outlast them.
• Progress (money, level, gear, locations, journal, time of day) saves to localStorage automatically; reset from the menu or settings.

Architecture

index.html            canvas + HUD/menu DOM + CDN import map
styles.css            all UI styling
src/
  main.js             bootstrap, game loop, FSM wiring, input routing
  core/               renderer/scene/lights, game clock, camera rig
  world/              Water + Sky (official Three.js examples), per-location
                      environments, pooled particles (splash/ripple/motes/birds)
  gameplay/           casting + rod rig + line, bobber physics, bite system,
                      reel-fight minigame
  fish/               procedural fish mesh factory, spawn weighting
  economy/            money, XP/levels, selling, gear purchases, unlocks
  data/               config (all tuning constants), fish/gear/location tables
  ui/                 HUD, menus, shop, journal, map, catch card (DOM-driven)
  audio/              Web Audio procedural synth (ambience + all cues)
  state/              central game state, explicit state machine, save/load
  utils/              math/random/easing/format helpers, event bus

Game phases are explicit FSM states: MENU, IDLE, CHARGING, FLYING, WAITING, BITE, REELING, CATCH, RETRIEVING, SHOP, JOURNAL, MAP (pause is an overlay flag so resuming never re-enters a phase). All balance numbers live in src/data/config.js and the data tables in src/data/.

Content

• 21 fish species across Common / Uncommon / Rare / Epic / Legendary, each with its own silhouette, colors, size/weight ranges, value, preferred location, depth zone, time of day and fight profile.
• 4 locations — Calm Lake, River Bend, Coastal Pier, Deep Ocean — with distinct water color, sky mood, fog, scenery, ambience and spawn tables.
• 4 gear categories × 4 tiers — rods (cast distance + fight control), reels (reel speed), lines (snap resistance), bait (bite speed + rarity bias).
• Day/night cycle with dawn/day/dusk/night fish behavior, drifting weather, star fields, moonlit nights, bird flocks and fireflies.
• Persistent journal with per-species catch counts and size records.

Performance notes

• One reflection pass (Three.js Water) is the main GPU cost; the Low quality setting halves the reflection texture, disables shadows and caps pixel ratio.
• All particles are pooled; geometries/materials are shared where possible and disposed on location switches.

Contributing & license

MIT — see LICENSE. Issues and pull requests are welcome: balance tweaks live in src/data/config.js, new species in src/data/fishData.js, and new fishing spots in src/data/locationData.js plus an environment builder in src/world/environment.js.