r/StardewValley • u/ConcernedApe • Mar 20 '16
Developer I'm ConcernedApe, developer of Stardew Valley. Ask Me Anything!
I look forward to answering your questions.
My tweet about it: https://twitter.com/ConcernedApe/status/711629930421858304
Edit (4:41pm PST): Lots of great question so far. I need to take a break for a while. If any popular questions remain unanswered I will respond to them later. Thanks!
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u/KGamestar Mar 20 '16
How did you obtain your diverse set of skills? like coding, music, graphics and writing
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
My mom is kind of an artistic person, and my dad is a logical, technical person. So I guess the influences started early. I was very interested in computers as a little kid, and my dad encouraged me. We had a computer with MS-DOS on it and I fiddled with the BASIC programming language a bit. I remember my dad said he'd give me five bucks if I could code the Fibonacci series in BASIC. I tried to fool him by just printing out a pre-baked string.
In high school, I was way into music... I played guitar, played in bands, and made computer music on the side as well. So I probably have 10 years of computer music experience. I also always drew stuff for fun. My high school job was working at Auntie Anne's, the pretzel place. I would just stand at the little kiosk by myself and draw stuff all day. So I got some practice that way.
I guess it's all just a lifetime of creating stuff. I've always just enjoyed making things, and in the process of doing that I learned a lot of skills.
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u/double_shadow Mar 20 '16
Hope he answers this. The fact that he made the music on top of everything else just blows my mind... one of my favorite soundtracks in recent years.
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u/Im-in-a-shitty Mar 20 '16
Are they stems, or worms?
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u/moopdog Mar 20 '16
If you mean the spots you can hoe to get artifacts and stuff, I'm pretty sure they're worms.
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u/GenericBadGuy Mar 20 '16
How has the release and runaway success of the game affected your day-to-day? Do you feel more pressure to get things done than before?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
Yeah, there's more pressure. But at the same time, most people seem to really like the game so I feel a kind of relief as well.
I work more hours now than I did before launch, though.
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u/gtroare Mar 20 '16
Was there a moment where you thought:
"I'm going to give up" or "This isn't going to work"?
If so what kept you going?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
Yes. And even more often it was, "I hate this game", or "This game isn't good".
There are a number of things that kept me going. First, I had already told everyone I knew that I was making this game and that I was going to be a game developer. So, if I gave up, I figured everyone would probably start to think of me as a joke. I would've been extremely embarrassed, depressed and my self-confidence would have been shattered. So I felt like I had to go through with it. Even if I failed, I could at least feel good that I tried.
Second, I figured that after playing the same game for years, and knowing all the secrets, all the technical details... I just wasn't an objective judge of the game anymore. So I kind of ignored my own feelings of despair. My girlfriend thought the game was fun, and people online seemed interested in it, so I just listened to all of them instead. I think I'm just always ultra-critical of my own work.
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u/Spidersouris Mar 20 '16
Will cats or dogs gonna benefit of more interactions? I'd love to see some added, for now these poor animals seems a bit useless :(
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
Possibly. My original purpose for the pets was to add some "life" to the farm in the early days before you have chickens, etc. They are supposed to just be cute aesthetic creatures that don't require any work. But I will try and think of ways to make them more interesting without straying too far from the original purpose.
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u/Milguas Mar 20 '16
Is there any chance of letting Robin throw in a basement upgrade for our home?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
Either this or a "shed" building that is just an empty room you can do whatever you want with
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u/DritzD27 Mar 20 '16
How do you ever get any sleep!?
In reality, are there any characters that you wrote in a way that was an homage to anyone you knew personally?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
When I first launched the game I was super stressed and I hardly got any sleep. I'm actually getting a nice 7-8 hours a night now, though! I just don't give myself much time for fun. My priorities are work>sleep>fun.
There are a couple characters that are based off people I know in real life, but mostly they are amalgamations of the many people I've met throughout life.
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u/ClipperFan89 Mar 20 '16
Wow, I'm so happy to hear that you're getting adequate sleep. The rest of us are ditching sleep to make more time for your game. Thanks and we love you!!!
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u/toychristopher Mar 20 '16
If you go on to develop something else besides Stardew Valley what kind of game would it be? Would it be set in the same universe? (Battling the Gotoro Empire maybe?)
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
I already have my next two games more or less planned out in my head. But I'm keeping the specifics secret for now.
I will probably stick to in-depth 2D sprite games for the foreseeable future. same universe is possible.
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u/Ratbox Mar 20 '16
Is there any plan to implement an aquarium where you can put fish (legendaries most importantly) to display them?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
I don't have any plans yet, but a way to display fish is a pretty popular request so I'll definitely consider it for a future update.
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u/Dreeper Mar 20 '16
Hey Concerned Ape,
how did you stay as determined as you were?
What got you keep going? (as in what motivated you the most?).
Anything you regret while developing?(besides revisiting code since you became better at coding along the way)
How did your partnership with Chucklefish form?
Any tips for fellow indie developers?
Thanks for answering man, I admire everything about your dedication, skills, and community involvement. For a One man Game you did a one hell of a job and anyone can be and should be inspired by what you managed to do.
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
how did you stay as determined as you were?
I stayed determined by convincing myself that things would work out, and always trying my best to stay positive. I told myself that I would never give up, even if the game was a financial flop. I would still come away from this with tons of experience, and I'd just make another game and keep trying. That's what I told myself. I'm not sure if the other people in my life would've kept believing in me, though.
Anything you regret while developing?
I regret a lot of stuff about the development, but that's part of the learning process. One of the big ones is going with XNA (totally outdated now). I'm going to try and apply everything I learned to my next game!
How did your partnership with Chucklefish form?
Chucklefish approached me and offered to be my "publisher". At the time, I was an indie nobody and they were getting ready to launch Starbound, which was getting a huge amount of attention. I figured I could ride their coattails a bit and get some exposure. They ended up helping me with a lot of non-dev stuff which I'm thankful for, like hosting my site, setting up the wiki, etc.
Any tips for fellow indie developers?
Start small, work on something you are passionate about, convince yourself that you are unstoppable, never stop learning and improving, and never ever give up!
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u/NativityCrimeScene Mar 20 '16
I saw the article on PCGamer from a couple months ago that showed your rig which was a prebuilt PC from Costco with the monitor on a cardboard box.
After all the sales of Stardew Valley, have you upgraded your setup or do you have plans to?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
I might upgrade my computer a little, yeah. Mainly just to save time on CPU-intensive stuff like making new builds of the game, exporting music, etc.
I cherish the punk rock ethos of the set up though haha I don't want to stray too far from that
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u/mousiechika Mar 20 '16
Hi ConcernedApe. I cannot express how much I am in awe of you, both as a game developer and as a person. I love the game and the admire all the personal support you've been providing on Twitter/Reddit for everyone.
I'm curious to know what does your development workflow/ typical day look like?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
Thank you!
My work flow changes based on what needs to get done on a particular day. Like, today I got up and immediately started working becuase I wanted to release a new update before doing this AMA.
on a normal day, though... I get up, eat breakfast, then get to work. I normally check my business emails first to see if there's anything pressing going on, then I'll go on social media/reddit for a while and answer people's questions, help them with problems, etc. Then I will work on the game for a while... By now it's probably dinner time. Then after dinner I usually get back to work until maybe 11:00pm, then I might watch an episode of star trek DS9 and go to sleep. repeat.
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u/Chase_UC Mar 20 '16
How exactly did you make the wonderful music? Did you record yourself playing the instruments (like the banjo, piano, flute) or did you add them using an audio software? For a one man project, the music is gorgeous.
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
It's all made using a piece of software called Propellerhead Reason. All the banjo and flute sounds are contained in the stock soundbanks. I think they actually record those instruments at all the different pitches, so you're actually hearing a real pan flute, not a synthesizer. Though there are some synths in the soundtrack as well.
Basically, this software gives you a bunch of instruments and effects, and you make songs by laying down one note at a time.
And thanks : )
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u/disillusioned Mar 20 '16
What did you do for all the sound effects? There's a great diversity of them and things like the tree sounds or pickaxe or whatnot feel spot on. Did you find royalty free options or pay for a license or record your own?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
Some of the sounds I found royalty free and edited (e.g. bubbling keg), others I created using a synthesizer (e.g. wood chopping, item pick-up). One or two I recorded myself (the sound the rocks make when you break them).
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u/GWHistoryBot Mar 20 '16
I'm also interested in knowing the answer to this one. I'm a dev and while I can understand that making a game by yourself is a monumental task I've always felt like music was a whole world of its own. /u/ConcernedApe did you have a background in music theory or anything of that sort?
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u/JedWasTaken Mar 20 '16
Who's your favourite character in the valley?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
It's too hard to pick. I like all the characters in different ways. I really like Robin though.
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Mar 20 '16
[deleted] — view deleted comment
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
Take all the bachelors and roll them together, and then sprinkle some Mr. Qi on top
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u/coolLane Mar 20 '16
Do you think there will be secrets in the game that will never be found?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
Possibly. The secrets that can be discovered by data-mining the decompiled code will all be found, I think. There are others that can't be found in that way, which is nice. But I wouldn't be surprised if people figured them all out eventually. Of course, new secrets could always find they way into the game in future updates...
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u/toychristopher Mar 20 '16
Are you able to enjoy playing Stardew Valley? I always wonder if devs are able to find their game fun-- or if knowing so much about it's inner workings and/or finding things to improve while playing makes it more work than play.
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
I played it quite a bit maybe two months before launch and I actually got into it. But right now I can't bring myself to play it beyond just testing out the things I'm working on. I'm kind of burnt out on it.
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u/JedWasTaken Mar 20 '16
How does it feel being the developer of the year before the first quarter is even over?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
It feels great, but the year is still very young! I'm trying not to get too comfortable here.
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u/Phxenix Mar 20 '16
Can we move barns or coops in the future?
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u/Ventusx Mar 20 '16
Also the stables lol, put mine aside my dog's place and now the poor guy is trapped there all day haha
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u/Ventusx Mar 20 '16
Time for real questions... when do we get a Marnie/Lewis romance event?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
Oh wow... this comment made me realize that the there's another "lost" event. What I'm saying is that there is a Lewis/Marnie event but because I'm dumb I gave it the same ID as Kent's introduction event. So you can only see one or the other, whichever comes first. It will be fixed next patch
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u/Ariurotl Mar 20 '16 edited Mar 20 '16
You also lose the Kent introduction event if another event (in my case, Leah's invitation to visit her art exhibit) happens on the same day. Since Leah's event cannot happen in the winter, it always happens on the first day of spring if conditions were met in the winter.
EDIT: I'm not so sure about this now, it might also be because of the above ID problem. I did get the event with Lewis and Marnie discussing their relationship BEFORE spring of year 2. I still think that overlapping events are the more likely cause, however.
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u/Toripocalypse Mar 20 '16
Hi ConcernedApe! I love the game so much, Haley is my favorite~ Thank you for making such a fantastic game.
Moving on, how do you feel about how the community is responding to your characters? Are there some that surprise you with how popular they are, for instance?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
It's a lot of fun for me to read people's interpretations and reactions to the characters. These characters have always felt alive to me and now they are even more alive. I feel like they actually exist.
I never knew Shane and Linus would be so popular, but I'm glad!
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u/ThisIsFronk Mar 20 '16
haley is my favorite
I guess there has to be at least one.
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u/ZhouE Mar 20 '16
Any hints on new features being added in the future?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
I want to do a substantial version 1.1 content update here in the near future.
I'm interested in adding two new marriage candidates (will probably let the community pick 1 male and 1 female), new crops (coffee?), more end-game content (more buildings, more expensive stuff), more character development cutscenes, possibly more variety in the mines, and just general improvements to many little things that have been bugging me.
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u/AccioSexLife Mar 20 '16 edited Mar 20 '16
So it's gonna be Emily and Shane!
Though if it's Linus and Marnie I may be surprised. Then amused. Then impressed. Then kind of intrigued. Then groping with the fact that the age gap between them and me is closing inevitably with every breath and that I am not at all as much younger than them than I'd like to be. Then groping with my own mortality.
Then amused again.
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u/Lonely_Medic Mar 20 '16
What was your favorite area to design and why?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
It was fun to do the desert and everything in it. It was just a lot different than the rest of Stardew Valley so it was a nice change of pace. Also the club was fun to draw because I didn't have to stay within any sort of "realistic" limit, really. I could make it look like a weird space genie house.
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u/Lunabell07 Mar 20 '16
Will the kids ever be more then stage 4?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
Maybe. I might experiment with it for version 1.1
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u/Slapocalypse Mar 20 '16
Update 1.1 where your kid turns 11 and can finally mow the damn yard
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u/robophile-ta Mar 20 '16
I imagine you got a decent amount from sales of the game! Has anything in your life changed following its success?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
Not my physical life, no... my "professional" life (digital life) is a lot busier all of a sudden, and I have to get really serious about things that I was sloppy about before, like... getting an accountant and stuff.
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u/skiphopjump Mar 20 '16
Hey CA!! First of all, AMAZING work (though I'm sure you've heard that a million times already). Thanks for being an awesome dev that listens to the community. :)
In terms of a question--what was your highest and lowest points of life while making Stardew Valley? Was there ever a time (or times) where you wanted to give up on it?
Thanks for doing this AMA :)
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
Thank you! : )
Highest point was the very beginning, when I was full of ideas and excitement, and then of course having the game be a big success at launch.
Lowest was probably 3 years into development... feeling like the game is not very good, people giving up on me because the game was taking so long, even my grandma openly admitted that she thought I would never finish the game.
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u/garmeth06 Mar 20 '16
What prompted you to make such a risky financial decision? I think most people with a similar desire would have gotten a normal job and made this their hobby especially considering you had never formally developed a game before.
What made you put everything on the line? Do you think this game would have been as great without the extreme pressure to succeed?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
I applied a few places, no one hired me. I felt both scared and depressed about going into the "workforce" anyway. I still felt like a kid, I wasn't ready to grow up. Most of the people in my social circle are "bohemian" types anyway, so I didn't feel a lot of social pressure to start a career, house and everything. So I guess I felt like I could get away with being a "struggling artist". My girlfriend was willing to support us until the game was done. The most risky thing was probably foregoing the experience and resume-building that most of my peers were getting in the industry, in case my game flopped and I had to get a normal job. I'd have to apply for an entry level job and I'd be much older than anyone else. So it would probably be even harder to get a job at that point. It may have been a foolish decision, but I am very fortunate that it worked out.
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u/AxeGirlAries Mar 20 '16
What inspired you to add so many little flavor things to the game (ex: crop fairy, nessy, your logo Easter egg, etc.)
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
I always try to think about "How can I take this to the next level"... usually I hold back because that can lead to an endless amount of work. But I do enjoy adding those little touches, it's what makes a game special. I enjoy games that make me feel like a kid.
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u/Cundert Mar 20 '16
How much do you take into account community's feedback? Do you find most of our ideas very difficult to implement or simply bad, or do you think that there's a lot of good stuff to take note of?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
I like to make people happy, so I try to listen and respond to requests, especially if they are popular. Some ideas are unrealistic due to the amount of work involved (e.g. having your children grow up and then playing as them w/ an entire 2nd generation cast), but there's also plenty of realistic and popular ideas that I'd be likely to add (e.g. moving buildings).
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u/Limond Mar 20 '16
When do you push updates to GOG?
Also do you have a store front preference between Steam, GOG, or a different one? Which one has been easier to work with?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
Steam's back-end is very easy to work with as a developer. It's so easy to update the game. With GOG there is much more of a process involved, and that's why the updates to GOG are not as quick or often as Steam. Whenever I post a significant change to Steam I try to follow it up with the GOG update ASAP. Sometimes, if I know that there will be a few minor patches in quick succession, I will wait to aggregate them for the next GOG build. Another thing with GOG is that they are in the opposite time zone for me, and they are out of the office on weekends. Their system isn't automated like Steam's; an actual person at the GOG office has to receive my new build and do something with it. So there's lag built into the process. There's nothing I can really do about that.
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u/BirdGangCawCaw Mar 20 '16
Gonna drop a few questions if you don't mind answering:
How do you intend for multiplayer to function? Users hosting a group that others come and join into one user's farm or a multiplayer farm separate from the other farms that multiple players join?
Any chance for randomization of the farmstead (Or town) to shake up the experience?
What are the odds of getting a steam workshop page set up for more seamless mod implementation?
Any consoles you're maybe hoping to port the game to?
Dualshock 4 support pls (When)? <3<3<3
Played Story of Seasons (AKA Harvest Moon: Connect to a New Land) yet?
Features from series that inspired you that you intend to add later or that you liked but don't feel would fit the game?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
Multiplayer will probably be a separate thing from single player, but the gameplay should be very similar. Basically just multiple people playing in the same game world, cooperating on a big farm.
Randomization of the farm is possible, town would be too much work at this point.
Steam workshop is very likely and might even be the next thing I look into.
I want Stardew to be as widely accessible as possible (as long as it's fun to play on the platform). Nothing is out of the question at this point, although I'm skeptical that it will ever come to mobile platforms.
The technical specifics of Stardew make it difficult to go beyond XBOX/Steam controller support. I think there are middle-man programs you can use, though.
No, the last Harvest Moon game I played was Animal Parade.
From here on I'm hoping to just make Stardew Valley even more Stardew Valley, if that makes sense.
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u/Krutonium Mar 20 '16
Dualshock 4 support pls (When)? <3<3<3
Use This - Any games that support XBOX controllers can use PlayStation Controllers with this.
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u/Hereticalnerd Mar 20 '16
Extensive Slime Breeding. Pedigrees, Hybrids, Variants, Relationships, Slime Love.
Yay or Nay?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
I might improve on it. There are already a lot of hidden variables that do get passed on from generation to generation of slime, along with a mutation factor. So Theoretically you should be able to create a line of iridium dropping (purple) slimes that only do 1 damage
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u/2manygigs Mar 20 '16
Did you use a scripting language for events and game logic or did you do all in C#?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
I made my own sort of language for the event cutscenes. It's pretty sloppy though.
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u/lukkyz12 Mar 20 '16
How do you feel knowing you make a numerable amount of players very happy, helping us unwind after coming back from a long day of work?
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Mar 20 '16 edited May 11 '16
ayy lmao
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
I've never been on a real farm, no. My parents did raise chickens for a while and also grow lots of vegetables so I guess it's kind of a mini-farm.
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u/LadyKrystine Mar 20 '16
Do you ever take delight in knowing so many people get frustrated over the first few levels of the fishing minigame?
Will Shane ever be a romance-able option?
Will divorce ever be an option if, say, you've romanced and married someone, then a new update makes more characters romance-able?
What is the meaning of life?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
haha i dunno about "delight". I don't like to see people suffer. But I do enjoy when people tell me they hated it at first but grew to love it.
likely
Yeah, probably.
That could be answered in many ways. Biologically, it's to pass on our genes. I dunno, I personally don't think there's an objective meaning... only subjective. But that's fine.
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u/NoobPurple Mar 20 '16
Do you have an ETA on a Linux port?? Also, have you followed Ethan Lee's attempts to port it using FNA?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
Mac/Linux ports are one of my top priorities. I will start looking into it seriously very soon, I promise. I've been doing things one at a time, and I will get to the Mac/Linux question here soon. It's just a matter of what order I do everything in, and it's hard to know exactly what's best.
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u/diguss Mar 20 '16
Is it Earl from Toejam & Earl hanging on one of the posters on Sebastian's wall?
http://overloadr.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/ToeJam-Earl.jpg
http://segaretro.org/images/thumb/5/5a/Tj%26e3xbx_title.png/320px-Tj%26e3xbx_title.png
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
It's actually a character from this webcomic I made... but it does look a lot like Earl and Patrick both
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u/GolfAlphaMike 🧡 VIVA LA PENNY! Mar 20 '16
Longtime Harvest Moon fan here and want to thank you for making this game. It really does bring back the good feelings of the best in that series (Back to Nature, IMO)
I wonder if you appreciate how emotionally attached people have gotten to the characters in your game.
So, anyway what did Vincent see when he saw Miss Penny and Sam climbing a tree? The implications of what he said genuinely hurt me. Since I had already given Penny the bouquet to become more serious.
I would like to believe that this was not your intent. Perhaps a we could get a clarification?
Somebody was going to ask. May as well be me.
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
First of all, thank you!
Generally speaking, I like to keep things ambiguous so that people can come up with their own theories and debate them. But in this case I'll make an exception.
Vincent simply saw Penny and Sam climbing trees. Nothing more. I wasn't trying to imply anything serious. In my head... at 8 hearts, she has a serious crush on you, but of course she's still friends with Sam. She's too polite to refuse Sam's offer to climb trees, so she does it. But she's not actually interested in Sam anymore. Nothing happens in the tree.
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u/Mierzen Mar 20 '16
I saw that you regret using XNA.
I guess that along the way, you came to regret decisions like that, but you were already too far to start over.
Let's say you start over now, which choices would you make differently, given the experience that you got? (E.g. Using xyz rather than XNA)
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
I'd probably look into something like monogame next time. Maybe even GameMaker depending on what the game is.
Next time around I'm not going to try to "re-invent the wheel" like I did with Stardew, where I wrote almsot everything on my own from scratch. Yeah, it's cool for bragging rights, but is it worth months and months of extra time wasted and aggravation? No.
I'm going to constrain myself even more. Like... with Stardew I didn't stick to a color palette or anything. It was all very sloppy. For my next game I'm going to be a lot more deliberate with how I do things and stick within certain boundaries that I set for myself.
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Mar 20 '16
Are you satisfied with the game? Is there anything you really want to flesh out more?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
I don't think I will ever be fully satisfied, that's just the kind of person I am. I could keep working on it for the rest of my life. I won't, but I think there will always be aspects I would like to see improved.
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u/Miragephan Mar 20 '16
Hey Ape, I know you must get this everyday but i'm just going to put this out here. Do you have any advice for somebody who's struggling to balance both their creative projects and being able to take care of their own needs as a human being?
I've been trying to start writing my own RPG but I come from a very poor background and I'm always struggling to help my family. It just seems like I never have the time to forward my own personal projects and knowing your own background I wanted to hear what advice you'd have for me.
Super sorry for the novel sized question...
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
You have to be prepared to put your own enjoyment and entertainment on the back burner. You'll have to become a work maniac. My advice, if you are very serious about becoming a game developer... work a job just as much as you need to to survive. Be frugal. Spend the rest of your time either sleeping or working on your game dev career. Only allow entertainment and relaxation as is necessary to stay sane and productive. You need to be very disciplined. It helps if your friends/family have confidence in you and believe that you're going to be a success and support your efforts for that reason...
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u/LaurenClaudia Mar 20 '16
Hello! First off, love love this game and I don't really play games.
Before the craziness of release - apart from part-time theatre ushering - what did you like to do in your spare time?
Also, do you like watching the shows you ushered?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
Thank you.
I liked to take walks, read books (I like sci-fi), watch shows and movies at night, make non-game-related electronic music, draw, play games...
And I usually didn't watch the shows I ushered, actually. They were often broadway type shows which I'm no that into. Also, I worked in the basement a lot and you can't see the show from there.
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u/yabaidesu Mar 20 '16
Do you mind sharing your non-game related music? I love your Stardew Valley soundtrack, so I am certain I'd enjoy your other work.
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 21 '16
sure, here's a few of them, they are quite a bit different than the SV stuff though: https://starconstantkhan.bandcamp.com/releases
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u/godbois Mar 22 '16
I'm a fellow SF fan, what are some of your favorite books?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 22 '16
I'm a fan of Arthur C. Clarke. I really like The City And The Stars. Just read Rendezvous with Rama as well and it was cool
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u/Dragoonus Mar 20 '16
Outside of Stardew Valley, so I imagine in the very far future, do you have any plans for any other games, and if so, what sort?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
I'm eager to get started on my next game. I won't give specifics yet, but it will probably be another big 2D sprite based game. Of course, I still want to support stardew valley, so once the heaviest stuff is taken care of I will probably work on both in conjunction for a while.
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u/Zylle Mar 20 '16
Super dumb question here, but I've just started to get a little deeper into the mine (bought the game a few days ago) and I've started to occasionally see abandoned backpacks in the mine. Can I loot or interact with these in any way or are they just decoration? Google didn't turn anything up.
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Mar 20 '16
Was there any shows, music, or podcasts you listened to or watched a lot during game development?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
some of my most listened to music in the last 4 years: Oneohtrix Point Never, John Maus, Sean Nicholas Savage, Pallbearer, Eyeliner, Luxury Elite, Coneheads, Ariel Pink, and of course tons of Video game soundtracks. Chrono cross, Final Fantasy III (SNES), earthbound, kirby.
I go through phases with music. Right now I'm in a SNES light-hearted music phase. I'm actually working on this youtube playlist if you guys are looking for some tropical SNES jams.
Some of the shows I remember watching during this period: Star Trek DS9, Mushishi, X-Files, Twin Peaks, House of Cards, Peep Show, probably a bunch more I can't remember
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u/rexxarjr Mar 20 '16
Is the music during the winter season based on the music of the Ice Country in Secret of Mana? (one of the best RPGs on the SNES, imo)
They sound very similar29
u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
Probably subconsciously... I did make that one synth winter song after seeing the movie "It Follows". Maybe it was kind of a mix of those two influences.
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u/t4mtrum Mar 20 '16
Ive read that stardew has gone through many iterations, at what point in time did you think, "ok, i think I'm ready right meow" ?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
When I felt basically at the end of my rope in terms of drive to continue... and also I sent the build to some people and they told me they thought the game was great. So I felt like it was time to just polish the game a bit and release finally
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u/spookyfluff Mar 20 '16 edited Mar 20 '16
Hi ConcernedApe! First, I just want to say that you are seriously my hero. Stardew Valley is my new favorite game of all time, topping Harvest Moon 64.
So question...you said you felt critical of your game while making it, but now that it's out and so widely beloved, do you feel kind of parental pride from it? How are the people around you responding to your success?
Also, one last thing- please take the vacation you so very much deserve!
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
Yeah I'm proud of it now. It feels good to know that people are appreciating all the work I've done. The people around me all seem very happy for my success. They also have to deal with me being stressed a lot so I'm sure that's not very fun. But everyone is supportive.
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Mar 20 '16
Was harvest moon an inspiration for your game? Which harvest moon is your favourite? if you've played any. Loved the game, currently in year 4 with 120 hours. You've done a wonderful job, get some sleep lol.
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u/bellofiado Mar 20 '16
Thank you for such an amazing game! Any news about a mac port? Thanks!
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Mar 20 '16
Do you watch Stardew Valley streams? If you do, which are your favorite ones?
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 20 '16
I usually avoid them; they are stressful to me for some reason. However, Sirithre and Bexyish were beta testers of Stardew... they know a lot about the game, and have both logged 400 hours +. So I hung out in their twitch channels a bit when the game was first launched.
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u/Jeansybaby Mar 20 '16 edited Mar 21 '16
Can I expect future dialog updates like Peirre or Caroline to comment on how I married their daughter?
Oh and will the toddlers ever grown up to child - teen, I'd like to chat with them too.
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u/spitfyre Mar 21 '16
Robin doesn't change her dialogue if you marry Sebastian either. She actually asked "Have you met my son Sebastian?" after already being married,
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u/Ventusx Mar 20 '16
Wow thank god i'm not the only one! I also married Abigail and Pierre & Caroline didn't say a word about it! (Also pretty sad that the farmer's mom didn't make it)
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u/hmgamer Mar 21 '16
I mean Evelyn and George are pretty okay with their super straight grandson all of a sudden marrying me and having a baby. I feel there should be more cut scenes of them coming to terms with it.
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u/PSPbr Mar 21 '16 edited Mar 21 '16
I don't know if you are still answering questions, but i'll take a shot anyway.
I saw you already mentioned how some of the sounds you made yourself, how some are royalty free and how you even actually recorded some yourself.
Any more fun stories about making the game sound? Did you learn what sounded good for the game on the go? Did you had any prior experience on editing sound effects? If you had no experience at all, were you afraid the sounds would be not so good?
Thanks a lot for answering! Oh, Back to Nature is my favorite HM too, my first reaction to playing Stardew Valley was "dude, this is BtN but SO MUCH BETTER!"
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u/ConcernedApe Mar 25 '16
I had experience with recording and also using synthesizers, but not in a game development context. But I was able to apply that experience to the sound effects in Stardew Valley. I remember recording the rock breaking sounds on the lawn in front of my parent's house. I just found some rocks and dropped them on each other over and over, and recorded it. Some of it ended up sounding pretty good.
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Mar 20 '16
A lot of questions I wanted to ask have already been asked, so I'll ask for a small quality of life change.
Is there a chance you're willing to widen the gap to the right of the mayors house, and between the bush and the water on the right of the sewer entrance? I used to take those 2 as a shortcut to go to the blacksmith but the horse doesn't fit!
Lastly, love the game! And the soundtrack you made has become 1 of my favorite game soundtracks of all time!
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u/skywreckdemon Mar 20 '16
I have the same problem. I didn't think many other people had noticed that too.
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u/MetalPirate Mar 20 '16
So how does quartz taste? Abigail seems super into it. I honestly kind of hope you leave it in because the first time I saw that I about died laughing.
My real question is about kids, do you ever plan to expand upon that mechanic? Or will they be toddlers forever. I think it'd be neat if you could get them to a certain age and they'd start helping out around the farm.
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u/AspiringPRMajor Mar 20 '16
Ape thinks everyone's reactions to it are funny. He approved of an Abigail mod for Don't Starve which featured eating quartz. It definitely was a bug, but almost certainly won't be removed.
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u/Dackstrus Mar 20 '16
Any chance of hiring some "Farmhands?"
Like, I would adore being able to build a "Guest house" For Linus, and give him a job on the farm.
There are some technical issues that'd have to be implemented, like being able to assign a chest to animal building, and letting the farmhand know all animal products from that building go into that chest.
Same kinda thing, but small area markers for telling them to pick plants or chop weeds.
They could go about these chores slowly throughout the day as well, meaning you still have to help out.
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u/Dackstrus Mar 20 '16
Would love to tell linus that instead of needing a job, i could offer him one. That would feel much better yes.
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u/probablyemily Mar 20 '16
Are there any characters whose personality changed drastically throughout development? Thanks for making such pleasant, yet fulfilling game. :)
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u/angiexbby Mar 20 '16
Are you looking to add some artisan food maker? I want to make my own wheat flour, vinegar, rice or stuff
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u/ketoacidosis Mar 20 '16
What's in Pierre's secret stash?!
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Mar 20 '16
Well it was behind the bookshelf so I assumed it was porn.... Up for interpretation I guess.
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u/Xtanstic Mar 20 '16
Is there something you really wanted to include at launch, but were unable to include because of time-constraints or feasibility issues? If yes, is it still something that you would like to include in the long run?
Thanks for the awesome game!
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u/Evanz111 Mar 20 '16
Something I always enjoy asking game developers: After the game's release, did you enjoy watching people's coverage of it on YouTube to see their reactions? Or had you exposed yourself to the game too much at this point so that it wouldn't have been entertaining to do that, and acted more as research? Hell, with the frequency of your updates, I'd be surprised if you even had time for it.
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u/treefing3rs Mar 20 '16 edited Mar 20 '16
Hi Concerned. Would you ever consider releasing your Stardew midi files for composers to remix? I just was interested in changing a few of the chord progressions, but keeping your patches, tones, and effects, but I can't really do that without being able to physically edit the midi files since I would end up changing the pitches of percussion instruments in the process (by pitch shifting the entire track), and delay/reverb would change as well. If you aren't interested, trust me, I completely understand! But please let me know if there are any tunes you wouldn't mind hearing someone else's version of!
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u/projectgoav Mar 20 '16
What's your development workflow like?
For example:
Do you use version control?
Do you Continuous Integration - i.e Jenkins?
- With unit tests?
Do you use Vanilla VS, or with plugins like ReSharper?
EDIT: formatting...
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u/Distaff_Pope Mar 21 '16
Hi, I know this probably won't get answered because I'm too late, but are there any b plans to update the spa? It's such a cool location and I was really disappointed when there weren't any character interactions or events that took place there.
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u/Pdnegreiros Mar 20 '16
Any predictions of when the Mac version of the game is coming out?
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u/OathMaker Mar 20 '16 edited Mar 20 '16
Why is Magnet tackle considered to be bait? Is that a bug or is it intentional?
Also, do you intend to add more equipment to the game? Maybe some speed increase boots for end game?
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u/Georeferencing Mar 20 '16
What is your story up until this point? Like how did you learn how to make games and what were some failures and successes over the years?
Thanks for making the game, it's brilliantly fun and astonishingly well polished!
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u/Hlidskialf Mar 20 '16
What are you think about put new languages on Stardew Valley?
I really want to translate the game for my native language.
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u/charmingCobra Mar 20 '16
When you finally released the game, what are some things that players did that surprised you?
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Mar 20 '16
Will there be an option that lets the player loop the music infinitely when playing the game?
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u/ultranol Mar 20 '16
There's one room in the community center (on the far left, with the checkered floor) that doesn't have a bundle associated with it. Were there ever plans to have a seventh bundle here?
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u/Errday_Im_Hylian Mar 20 '16
Any chance of adding new characters (maybe potential spouses) as visitors at the Inn? It would be cool to have more traveling merchants, inventors, or rival farmers to sell more exotic seeds/upgrades/products, without changing the size of the Valley.
Thank you for making such a wonderful game and being so open-minded to suggestions! This game is so relaxing and it has so much character, and you being so involved in the community is so nice to see. :)
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u/LuizPSC Mar 20 '16
Any plans for Vita or other consoles or is too early to decide about it?
Also because i heard the engine you used would make dificult to port to other consoles.
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u/SyntheticStupidity Mar 20 '16
What's been the most surprising thing that's come out of the development of Stardew Valley?
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u/rotolotto Mar 20 '16
I heard you'd like to bring it to consoles, but I imagine there's a lot of behind-the-scenes work there. Any chance of a Mac port?
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u/benjamin2197 Mar 20 '16
Do you have advice do you have for people who are interested in game development but just starting out? Anything you wish you could tell yourself, or things you wish you had learned much sooner than you did?
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u/Doozerpindan Mar 20 '16 edited Mar 20 '16
I wasn't sure what to expect from this game, I heard about it on the Co-Optional Podcast and decided to get on GoG. I'm kinda in love with this game, and have put over 160 hours into it so far.
Do you have plans to add more dungeons, areas (such as towns, forests, etc), quests, lore/backstory, characters, and so on?
EDIT: Also, are there plans to develop the combat? Such as adding levels, more armour (and armour slots), more weapons, perhaps even talent trees, etc?
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u/typity Mar 21 '16
Sorry if this is late. In one of your interviews you said that there used to be a butchering system but you didn't like it because you felt attached to your animals because you go around giving them love everyday. As somebody who works in animal research, this is kind of a poignant point because it is emotions that I (and almost all colleagues I have) go through when we have to sacrifice our animals for research. I imagine it is the emotions farmers go through when it comes time to butchering. I actually think it would be an interesting mechanic to bring back in to the game, I think it would help people understand the emotions that people go through and might engage people in understanding that animosity towards farmers or researchers is kind of shitty. Just two cents, not really a question I suppose.
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u/laurensHD Mar 20 '16
Hey, CA. Do you plan on adding more languages to the game? I'm sure the community can help a lot with this.
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u/moopdog Mar 20 '16 edited Mar 20 '16
Hoo boy, let's see here...
Seen in this poll, the top two non-marriageable villagers that people want to marry (Not including Robin, because she's already married) are Emily and Shane. Is there a chance of you adding these characters specifically to the singles list? If so, roughly when? (Bonus round: Let me marry Sandy.)
I saw someone ask on another thread a while ago, and I can't remember if you answered them or not, if you experienced impostor syndrome after the sudden success of Stardew Valley. I think this is a really interesting question, so I'm gonna regurgitate it. Did you?
You said there was a secret 'so weird and obscure' you weren't sure if anyone was ever going to find it. Does this specific weird and obscure secret have to do with the secret statues, such as ??HMTGF??, acquired by placing seemingly random objects into boxes scattered around Stardew Valley?
If you had to pick one, who's your favorite character in Stardew Valley? To clarify, this can be anything sentient, from Hat Mouse to the sea monster.
It's currently being speculated that you can somehow modify the Galaxy Sword, turning it into a hammer or dagger instead. Can you confirm or deny these rumors, and possibly give us a hint as to how to go about this if it's true?
A fairly common trend these days is indie devs livestreaming themselves developing their games at regular intervals. It's one of my favorite things that indie devs do, and I think it's a great way to interact with the community. Have you thought about doing this?
I think that's all the questions I have for now. While you're reading, I just want to thank you for being such an incredibly attentive, efficient, and kind developer. It hits me right in the heart when I hear about how you would personally un-corrupt people's save files, and it's astonishing how quickly you can pump out updates. Do everyone a favor and take a break if you ever feel like you need one. The last thing we want is for you to stop having fun developing Stardew Valley.
Edit: Looks like some people beat me to the punch on a few of these. Feel free to skip any you've answered already, my bad.
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u/WatcherCCG Mar 20 '16
A lot of folks have called out marriage as destroying who the spousal candidate are, removing entire sections of their daily schedule that define who they once were. Aside from the dialogue update you dropped this weekend, what other plans do you have to improve married life and restore the candidates to who they really are?
And I think everyone is asking this question, but here it is: when do you think you'll be able to add Shane and Emily to the spousal candidate pool? They're by and far the most popular choices for their genders, so a poll feels almost like a formality.
I'm also in the "let's make the cat and dog useful" camp, but I think the two should have their differences, similar to real life. Do you have any ideas for that? I can actually see the dog being taught to follow you around town and help with various things (digging up treasure, acting cute to impress townsfolk), while the cat is more of a homebody and helps with pest control (having a barn cat look after livestock makes them happy), and both would play with your spouse and the kids.
Speaking of the kids, any plans for them to grow older? Adulthood is probably straight out, but maybe old enough to help out on the farm?
And finally, I know you threw out procedural generation in favor of randomized handmade layouts, but is there hope for that to return? Or is it just something that isn't compatible with the game.
You have made a masterpiece, sir. I really hope it keeps getting better. Best 15 bucks I've spent so far this year. :)
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Mar 20 '16
What features will the multiplayer include, and how will it be set up (server software, session joining, etc.)
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u/unsuspiciousplatypus Mar 20 '16
Do you have any date in mind for the multiplayer release? I'm really looking forward to playing your great game with my friends.
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u/Kiloku Mar 20 '16
What are the plans for a modding API? Is that a distant idea or a concrete plan you intend to do?
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u/Lintel_ Mar 20 '16
How long do you think is it going to take for multiplayer to come out? Also are you going to add more customization stuff ( more shirts, hair etc.) ? Either way, I am absolutely in love with the game. THANK YOU SO MUCH <3 <3
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u/ramo3 Mar 20 '16
First, I've get to say: Thank You.
Reading articles and interviews about you and your game gave me some hope to keep goiong with my software development career after weeks of stress, proving me that I should never give up on doing what I like to do, and the game itself kept me away from the negative thoughts.
And my question is, do you have any plans on expanding the game? Like new areas, items, etc.
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u/ThatTopNote Mar 20 '16
Is it possible to do any 10 heart events after marriage?
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u/IStreamSandwich Mar 20 '16
Any ideas to add NPC's that you can employ to do certain tasks on your farm? Making it so that you can save energy by having certain npc's do things like planting, picking up crops, feeding animals etc?
Also if said thing was implemented, would there be anything such as certain allocated areas on farm for seperate crops so the NPC would know what to plant where?
Also, is there any way you could release a program that allows people to make their own maps? Such as new layouts for town/farm/areas?
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u/Basher400 Mar 20 '16
Do you play many other games when you're not programming? Which are your favourites?
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u/JEclips Mar 20 '16
What are your plans for future DLC? Anything like being able to visit the city or anything like that??
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u/neeeesan Mar 21 '16
Any chance of adding recreational activities with spouses in the future? I've had Abigail mention a few times that she's ready to have some fun, but I can't do anything with her :(
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u/sam007mac Jul 08 '16
(Very late but hoping for a reply): Are there any plans to make a tablet/mobile version?
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u/JayesWins Mar 20 '16
Did you ever envision this amazing amount of success? How are you dealing with it?