Stardew Valley 1.6 Changelog | Hacker News Reader

Stardew Valley 1.6 Changelog

stardewvalley.net

104 pointshaunter52 comments

I'm pleased to see this on HN! This game is actually wonderfully hackable because the save file format is just unobfuscated XML, and it writes at very predictable times (saves at the end of the "day" and it will tell when it writes to the file). Also the game doesn't use any DRM (it's available on gog.com!).

I deeply appreciate that the dev (Concerned Ape) doesn't try to obfuscate save data. It has given the game a lot more value for me because after playing it "normally" I was able to experiment by tweaking parts of the save file to see what would happen. It's turned somewhat into an educational tool as well as I've used it to teach my kids how to open the hood and take a look! It also made it possible to "fix" things like getting unfairly killed in a battle because the controller died at the worst possible time. I actually `git init` in the save file directory so I can keep my save file in version control. It does get pretty big as you get late into the game.

Even if you aren't a gamer, you should check this game out. It runs on everything, and it is a super chill and cosy game to play. It's very well-balanced to give you a lot of game play, but also a lot of freedom. It's very, very hard to "fail" so you can play very casually. My 6 year old daughter loves this game, as do I, so it spans the range of ages.

I was glad they ported it to mobile

But needing to adjust the save state to anytime instead of at the end of the day really did break the mechanic for me

They (dev and community) recognized their casual mobile gaming audience would not have uninterrupted dedicated time to complete a day effectively. Made it more accessible but the lack of urgency makes it a different game

Unless you're talking about save scumming, I don't see how the save mechanism changes anything. If anything, it makes the game easier that it only saves at night so that you can undo the whole day if you don't like the outcome.

I don't think 99% of people care when it saves, and they probably treat the game as if it's constantly saving anyways.

ConcernedApe is a gem. I can't tell if it's heartening or depressing to see how easily one guy with passion and a clear vision can utterly humiliate multi-billion dollar studios when it comes to producing games that are genuinely worth playing.

I think he's mainly been working on Haunted Chocolatier now. Very excited to see how that comes out! The releases starting with Stardew 1.3 in 2018 have had others involved, including:

> Arthur Lee, “Mr. Podunkian” (1.4 & 1.5 updates), Tom Coxon (Multiplayer net code in 1.3), Alex Erlandson, “Zillix” (1.4 update), Sickhead Games (Console ports), The Secret Police (Mobile ports)

(full credits can be found in the game’s title screen)

Despite what you hear on HN, 10x engineers are real.

The software engineering isn't the impressive part of Stardew Valley. Aside from the multiplayer code (which is the only part he had outside help with), an average developer could cobble together a functionally similar engine in a weekend. What's impressive about Stardew Valley is that one guy did all the coding and all the writing, all the art, all the music, and all the game design, while also managing to produce an instant classic that also happens to be his first game ever. The continued development pushed as free updates almost a decade after release is the icing on the cake; there is no explanation other than that he's making this game because he loves doing it and he takes pride in his work, rather than trying to follow mainstream game dev dogma and try to produce a platform for soon-parting fools from their money.

Imo “10x engineer” is generally is referring a tenacious individual being adept at all skills, including soft-skills, relevant to shipping a product. Just like ConcernedApe.

I associate it with just doing things because they need doing. When I was young I’d always wonder how all these amazing things came to be. As I get older I realize it’s because someone just got started and has been plugging away at it for years.

I mean no shade to ConcernedApe but shipping a product that you built yourself entirely does not really showcase “soft skills” tbh.

If anything it showcases his hard skills because he did everything.

Making a game like stardew valley isn't a 10x engineer feat.

Unless I'm missing something complex about the game? It seems like it's just a basic game with decent old-world storytelling and game mechanics.

Why don't we have more of them?

Because we don't actually like playing old good games for very long, especially when there are a lot of them. Most people don't want to revisit the same good takes on games. The same way people don't want endless episodes of good TV shows, even though that's exceptionally harder to do.

Same reason we don’t have a lot of professional athletes, billionaires, or unicorn startups. It’s not easy and not everyone is capable of doing it. Takes luck, hard work and probably a bit of genetic lottery.

I meant games like Stardew Valley.

I was implying no one else has made this game so maybe ConcernedApe is in fact 10x

Harvest Moon came out in 1996 and is basically the same game.

So two in 28 years...

No. That's just the first one I know. It was done back in 1996.

It just reduces your implication that he is a 10x developer. He may or may not be, but this game doesn't reflect that.

Definitely heartening. Games like Stardew Valley demonstrate that an individual (or small team) can make worthy games and be recognized for it.

As for multi-billion dollar studios, why would they be humiliated by such games? They have completely different objectives.

> They have different completely different objectives.

they sure do. and one of those really makes me wonder how incredible things would be if we restructured what we incentivize.

i’ll echo what so many others in this thread have already said, stardew valley blew me away once my gf finally convinced me to play. it would be hard to overstate what a fantastic fun little world he built. i went into a little local computer shop the other day and they had the stardew music playing—i hadn’t played in like 3 years but that music immediately glazed over me like i was there in the game.

what an absolute gem.

corp studios and stardew developers definitely have different objectives and holy shit what a stark difference in outcomes.

I have a ton of respect for ConernedApe, but I think it’s worth pointing out that Stardew Valley, especially the original 1.0 version, is almost completely cribbed from Harvest Moon.

For anyone who's on the fence about trying stardew valley, I'd love to take this moment to say try it. Get it. Keep it in your library. You won't be disappointed..

The first time I played I was enamored with the impressive delivery of a sole developer.. as I played on I realised how it's so much it's own beautiful thing, then realised it's my own thing..

I went away from it for a month or so and something reminded me about it and when I went back in I felt that "home" comfort feeling again without knowing I missed it.. this update has done it again.

It's an incredible game yes, but it's very cliché to say , it's really a bit more than just a game determining the min max. It's one of the best games to remind me it's not about "beating" a game sometimes..

Really a masterpiece that for me at least will never be forgotten.

I loved the setting and the style but it seemed very grindy and monotonous after a while. Maybe I'm not the target audience but manually watering a field full of virtual plants is just not my idea of fun. I guess eventually you can automate a lot of this?

Right, there are sprinklers for the watering, then another grade. (Iridium grade is the top, auto waters larger grids). I personally associate grind with 'required boring busy work'.. If that's what you like, you can do that, if you want to automate it, you can do that, its like factorio in a sense, without the pollution factor. :)

I never got into it single player but I'm having fun with my girlfriend on local multiplayer (Nintendo Switch) since we can split up the duties.

I like to head straight to the mines, she likes to take care of the farm/animals.

The only thing I regret is that I can’t play it for the first time twice.

I love that you love it so much. I put about ten hours into it to see what the hype was about a while back and had to stop…because otherwise I would’ve put in way more lol.

I highly recommend reading "Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made". It does a deep dive into the development histories of a bunch of different games. Some of them turned out to be wildly successful. Some not so much. Stardew Valley is one of the games it covers, going through all the ups and downs in its single-handed five year (!) development cycle.

Thanks, I got the book on Libby and I'm enjoying it so far :)

The development of Stardew Valley is such a heartwarming story about how if you're a wonderfully talented artist, musician, writer and programmer, all you really need is XNA to make a fantastic game beloved by a massive, diverse audience.

I would still generally prefer Godot for C# 2D game development these days, but if you really just want a light framework, MonoGame / FNA have had a really strong track record in commercial indie games.

I don't think it's necessarily about talent, it's about effort.

As an example, in early versions of Stardew Valley, if you named your horse with the same name as one of the townspeople, you would be riding around your farm on top of the townsperson's sprite. As in, in the game code, the display name of the object was used to identify which sprite to render.

That's not really the type of mistake I'd expect a "talented" (or at least, an "experienced") software developer to make, but ConcernedApe managed to put together an amazing game in spite of any inexperience or difficulty with the programming side.

It's like they say - 10% inspiration, 90% perspiration. Or similarly, "skill is the sum of aptitude and experience".

Don't forget luck!

I don't mean that in a dismissive sense — hard work is obviously very important.

But more in the sense that if you're talented and hard working and aren't successful, it's not necessarily because you did something "wrong" or didn't work hard enough. Sometimes there's just no substitute for being in the right place at the right time.

There is almost nothing better than getting violently stoned and playing this game.

Stardew Valley is one of the few games that works for a range of kids from 4-40yrs old. There is something slow, something exciting, something requiring coordination, something allowing you to be creative, something that tells a story, etc...

Everyone's needs are met at whatever speed they are at.

I have no idea why Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon, and all of the similar console games made their games 1 player. That's the whole point of a console (to play with people).

Warning, the switch only supports 2 player. Xbox works fine, but using a PC gives you access to all the mods. I recommend the PC/Steam version + 4 xbox controllers running on whatever weak media center you have.

The dearth of couch coop games is annoying horrible.

I’m going to have to fire up the old switch as it seems they’re the only ones with even some that are both couch coop and little kid friendly.

This update allows for up to 8 people on the PC version!!

That's a lot of changes. Is it all one guy's labor of love still?

Mostly yes. He has hired people to contribute on occasion, especially with ports to other platforms (like mobile), but it's mostly just his baby.

Glad to see this here! About a month ago I was ready to start a new farm and held off to wait for this update. I haven't read the changelog because I want to go in blind to any updates, but I'm constantly amazed by ConcernedApe.

One of my favourite things about Stardew Valley is seeing how different people play- I like having lists of things to do, but always celebrate the festivals and mingle with the townsfolk. My brother has spreadsheets on top of spreadsheets to min/max crop yields. And we both have a great time!

Nice changes, i can now drop at least one mod from my usual mod set.

What is your usual set and why did you choose each one, please?

Here are some of them, i didn't include library mods that don't do much themself

speak for themself: bigger bagpack, better chests, autograbtruffles, luckskill, recycabkejoja, skullcavernelevator, qualityartisanproducts, exhaustionprotection, les ugly casino, clean quary, show item sell price

Ellies ideal greenhouse: modifies the greenhouse inside to be bigger and has an builtin sprinkler system, so you can save space.

levelextender: more levels that minimize the loss when i prestige and help with fishing

Skillprestige, skillprestige.luckskill: i can prestige to get get the effects of the skills even when they are on different branches

Super cellar: bigger cellar

Automate: this lets me automate machines, so that i can get the goods even when i am not there to retrieve them. I just need to put ore and coal in a chest and it smelts the ore as immidiatly.

Combine machines: makes machines faster(more input/output or just faster machines)

boogie mountain river with water: it bugged me that the river behind the guild had no water

Datalayers: provides me with an layer to see where i haven't added the fertilizer or where the scarecrows coverd the space

Tractor mod: adds an expensive tractor to make farming easier.

Way down under the multiplayer fixes:

> "Mitigated potential remote code execution issue."

Would be interested to learn more or see a postmortem of that issue

Aw I get warm comfortable feelings just reading this changelog. Not sure I've had that from a game before.

When available? Trying to update on Switch now and says I am up-to-date with 1.5.8

Console is soon. PC was today.

Awesome thanks

Can someone explain the allure of that game using game mechanic terms?

the world the game creates is fun. it really is that simple.

tangential but kinda related: ive spent an embarrassing amount of time gaming — my grandpa told me one time, be wary of people who refuse to have pure fun. being the contrarian shitbag i can sometimes be, i brushed him off never fully understanding what he meant until i played through most of this game.

But what in the mechanics make it fun?

I’ve never played the game and everyone is raving about it but I have kids to take care of so I don’t really have the time to check it out.

It's an engine builder. You grow your crops so you can sell them and buy more seeds so you can build chicken coops so you can build a barn so you can build kegs to make cheese, wine, etc etc.

So happy this game keeps growing.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com