I keep seeing how Stardew is great here so I tried it yesterday. First I read an interview with ConcernedApe and love how he’s a solo dev, which is inspiring to me for my own solo project. So I really wanted to love stardew, become attached to it, and view ConcernedApe as a romodel.
Did not happen. Loved the music and gentle nice vibes of the intro, and the different starting choices were cool. First negative tho is something I remember from the article where he said he didn’t really like majora’s mask cuz the time aspect then laughed at the irony since he made Stardew. Well I agree. The time aspect doesn’t make it more fun for me.
I love how different the people are instead of all slight variations of the same model.
thing 2 tho that basically prevents me from getting farther is the ‘work’. Right now I’m loading back in to my Rimworld game. Comparatively, when I stepped out on to that Stardew field with no crops yet planted, my thought was, '“oh am i going to have to do all this myself?” Idk why I would want to spend my time and effort doing what someone in Rimworld does without needing micromanagement.
Tried to get farther this morning and could not.
So I guess it isn’t for everyone, and for me, this is why. Definitely admire ConcernedApe tho and his success and community he creates as a solo dev.
Thats fair enough if it’s not for you. The thing about Stardew is that things build up and its up to you how you do it. Like you don’t have to farm crops if you don’t like it manually; you can fish or scavenge or raise animals etc. And as you progress you can automate some things and explore new areas.
But the core gameplay loop is you doing the stuff, rather than managing others. It’s not micromanagement as you’re not managing anyone, you are doing.
I actually didn’t think it was for me at first to be honest, but I got into it in a few hours. As you upgrade tools and can do more and more for less effort, it has its own satisfaction as you build your farm up. But if you’re not feeling that after a couple of sessions then it’s probably not for you and that’s fine.
I’m old. I got into stardew valley for the same reason that ape made stardew valley. A love of Harvest Moon from Super Nintendo. He took that game and fleshed it out, then kept going, and he did it in a way that stayed true to the original Harvest Moon, which is something that just got lost along the way in actual Harvest Moon sequels.
You could play the whole game fighting monsters in the caves if you wanted. Just get really good at swords.
That would probably get incredibly monotonous. Combat is one of Stardew Valley’s weak points, and the cave system is rather limited.
It’s the worst part of the game for myself, honestly. Feels unnecessary in a game like Stardew Valley, the part of having monsters and combat.
I could understand a mechanic of having to explore mines deeper in order to find large quantities of metals for making items and making such exploration dangerous (gas, cave ins, narrow passages, hard labirynths, exhaustion, etc) but monsters doesn’t cut it for me.
Yeah, but if they’re complaining about everything else, that might be their avenue into the game itself.
You always seem to have to micromanage your time and energy though in Stardew Valley which makes it incredibly stressful for me, no matter how much or how little I do.
I get stressed out by the fact that missing one seasonal item in the community center means you have to repeat an entire year again just to complete it and move on to new content. I’ve still never managed to get to any of the content on Ginger Island because of that.
That is fair in the case of fishing, foraging and to a lesser degree farming
If one wants to finish it as soon as possible then there is a pressure to not miss something - a bit of a heresy - but Joja Mart route can ignore that pressure, but it does feel better getting the community center up and running though.
I know the T.V. channel that Pam provides is helpful for fishing and for me I try to set up a schedule where I dedicate a day to get a particular item or to improve a skill to make it easier to get a item I am looking for.
My first two years are usually very busy as my farmer is on a “sigma grindset” and approached as a game getting everything sorted.
I do feel that it plays better when I tried to compromise a bit and try to roleplay like start the day, sort out my fields and animals, have regular meals, visit the town, greet everyone, maybe look at the message board - doing something like fishing, foraging, mining or cave diving for a bit, head to the bar at night for a night cap and then make my way home for the night - especially Friday nights.
I break that habit a bit when it is a really lucky day but I can write that off as a day that my character felt like some “me” time or they are focussed on getting resources for an upgrade to the farm or an item for center
One starts to learn everyone’s schedule and you start to feel part of the Valley as familiarity helps build the “community” feel
That’s the thing: You don’t have to micromanage either, really. The only actual timer in the daily one. Other than making it to your bed in time, you’re not on any other kind of time crunch on a macro scale. You don’t need to make the most of every day. Waste those fuckers. Wake up, water your crops, go back to bed.
The only event that doesn’t repeat, afaik, is Grandpa’s ghost judging you at the end of year 3, and honestly you might be able to repeat that too somehow. Otherwise, pretty much every time triggered event will just happen again next year.
The way the game is structured seems to inspire a need to be extremely efficient with their time in people. Never wasting time or energy.
I feel like I took the direct opposite route and promptly didn’t care even slightly. I regularly just water crops and skip days cuz I wanna sell them or get started making wine out of them or whatever else.
You can bribe the ghost with a diamond (placed on the shrine, if memory serves me well) and have it come back to reappraise your accomplishments.
That reminds me of the earlier versions where the Grandpa would judge you harshly if you didn’t get enough points and in the worse case scenerio would wonder if he should have given the farm to some other relative at the end of year 3.
But Concerned Ape removed that as it went against the spirit of the game - there is only one time sensitive event in the game and is a friendship event with one of the characters that should be done before the end of year one
spoiler
It’s Sam - talking to his younger brother about their father who comes back in year 2
I missed it for the longest time, but it does help flesh out that character but besides that, the valley is in a proverbial time bubble where everything can be done at your leisure within the time frame - which is usually dedicating a day for something.
I would say that that the desert dungeon requires planning and being efficient with your time to get to the 100th floor in a day though
Honestly, I just absolutely hate passing out when I just found something on that confusing map of a town and then having to trot there again the next day at that incredibly slow pace. It just feels like someone is spawn-camping me in a PvP game, absolutely unpleasant experience to get interrupted in my chosen task again and again like that.
That’s fair- I’m not trying to say the game is for everyone. I’ve just never understood the people that seem to ruin the game for themselves by trying to be efficient to the point of making the game stressful.
Also, I definitely feel the slow walking speed sometimes. I absolutely hate having to go talk to Clint before you get the minecarts going cuz it feels like it takes forever to walk all the way across town.
thank you. good advice