Ahh crap, why have they done this.

That is exactly how i feel about heavy rain

Yeah, I know.  Don't understand the thinking behind that.   Maybe it's cheaper for them server wise?   Not like EO is going to have heavy wifi useage.    Shame though, I was looking forward to diving with you and Cheebee.

It's out tomorrow!

AlsoI completed the fish encyclopedia in the first game yesterday! I haven't got all the treasures and not all the air tanks/flippers and gloves yet.... I may go for the completion of clothing by doing diving guides and photo ops but I am not planning on completing the treasures. Too much effort for very little gain.

Yay just one more day! I've already paid and ordered my copy, should arrive tomorrow. Can't wait I'm so hyped!

Congrats on finishing that encyclopedia! Must've been a LOT of work, haha I never finished it. And yeah those treasures are way too much of a hassle to try and collect all of them. I'm glad that part's been updated in EO2 too, with that treasure-finder thing and the guy who tells you how much treasure is left in an area. Should make things a lot smoother.

Man just one more day.

Enjoy!! You lucky bas^@$% (grumble, grumble, grumble).   Just trying to finish my encyclopedia too.  Just got orcas! (My favorite, had to use a walkthrough though to find out how)   Will I need to change seasons to get some critters?   And to do that would I have to endlessly advance time?  

Well I think I found all but about 10 species without going past the first month. And you only need to advance into Winter for about 4 species. and there is only 1 that doesn't appear till Spring.

The game begins in July (already 1 month into Summer)
Autumn begins in September, Winter in December etc.

And yes, I have spent a few sessions of advancing time in chunks to get through to March.... I generally did it in about 1-2 week chunks (which means advancing time 14-28 times in 1 go... so takes about 5-10 minutes. That way I got to check out some of the monthly things like the "Sepau days" where big groups of 1 species collect at the secret lake area. Though once I got into December and completed everything but the 1 species I did it in larger chunks, with a shorter dive in between.
From about December 3rd/4th I advanced to the 24th (to see if Catherine wished me a Merry Christmas or something... she didn't, but I did get new year) then through to 1st Jan and had a dive to check out the baby Japanese bullhead sharks, then advance through to February, stopping to see the Bigfin reef squid hatchlings, and then onto March when there is a shark hatching (can't remember the specific species) and the beginning of Spring which means I found the last missing species: multicolourfin rainbow-fish.

....

Wow.  That seems like a lot of bother for a few species.  Especially with EO2 around the corner.  It's amazing that they put in seasonal hatchings though.   How did you even find out about Sepau days?    Out of curiousity did you use a walkthrough or did you just keep diving all over the place to find the last few species?   It'd be awesome to see turtle hatchlings crawling back into the sea, I wonder if we'll get that in EO2.

It sends you emails about the Sepau days.... Not sure if it will be called the same thing in the NTSC version.... but I believe the first email should come either halfway through the month of July or as you start a new month (assuming you have "unlocked" the secret lake by swimming to it) If you haven't had one I guess you are still in early July.
I think there are usually 1 or 2 differen gatherings per month, i'm not sure how long they last as I have been to the lake sometimes and there wasn't a particular concentration of stuff.

I didn't use a guide until I got to about 10-15 fish still missing (and was still swimming in Summer) then I used phisheeps to find out when and roughly where the rest of the species were.

Turtle hatchlings would be brilliant.... turtles, manta-rays and whales always seem more special than everything else.

Oh, and given that you have found the Orca you must have been to the Ocean's Graveyard (or whatever it is named in your version.... you get there by swimming into a pirate ship) I can'trecall the specific circumstances, but sometimes there is a huge group of manta rays, at least 20 of them I guess, all swimming in the same direction. I have some great photos of them. (Also have some great ones of Magu Tapa after I poked him... He is also in the Ocean's Graveyard)
I think some of these special events happen with certain phases of the moon (the calendar on the boat shows you what phase it is) so I guess trying at different times of the month should let you find them.

I was using phisheeps walkthrough to find the orcas (never would have gotten them otherwise, needing a random treasure to unlock sucks in this game).  As soon as I went to the Graveyard I immediately saw the Orca and was playing with him when the manta Rays began swimming by.    It was one of those 'WTF?! That's Incredible', moments that make you love this game.  Didn't think to snap some photos.  D'oh!

Reminds me of the first time I saw the Sperm Whale as I was examining some fish.