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Hi everyone,
It’s been a while since I posted here, so I’d like to give you all an update on what’s happening in the world of Stardew Valley. In short, it’s an exciting time and there are a lot of great things going on right now!
1.3 Update For Xbox and PS4
The most recent big news is that XBOX and PS4 now both have the 1.3 multiplayer update, bringing all platforms (except VITA) into parity with one another. This is a rare state of harmony and peace that I am enjoying for the moment. I know Xbox and PS4 took longer than expected to get the 1.3 update, and I’m sorry for any frustration that caused. It’s not how I wanted things to happen, but unfortunately there were a series of technical roadblocks that were specific to these consoles, and also the fact that 1.3 radically changed Stardew’s code to allow for multiplayer (which made it particularly difficult to port). Still, the updates are out now, and I am going to do my best to make sure that this kind of delay doesn’t happen in the future. My plan for updates going forward is to release on PC first, and then simultaneously on consoles and mobile shortly after (ideally within a couple of weeks). The reason to release on PC first is mostly due to the ease & speed with which hotfix patches can go out on PC. If any rare bugs are found, they can be patched immediately. On consoles, there is a certification pipeline that you must go through to release anything, so if any rare bugs can be found and fixed via the PC release before launching on console, that is much better for everyone. Still, I would like the delay between PC and console release to be as short as possible.
The 1.4 Update
Now, the next big thing for Stardew Valley is going to be the free 1.4 update, which adds a pretty big variety of new things to Stardew Valley. One of my main goals with 1.4 was to finally “polish” the game to the degree that I’ve always wanted. What I mean by that is that I wanted to fix all the bugs that have been lingering in the game, to fix a lot of weird or annoying things about the controls & feel of the game, and add in a lot of “quality of life” features that will make the game more seamless to play. I feel pretty confident that this goal has been met!
Content-wise, nearly every aspect of the game has been expanded or improved upon in some way.
One small example is the Wild Bait…which used to be essentially worthless… but now gives you a chance to catch double fish.
There’s a lot of little things like that, where I felt that the game had some holes or weak points that could use a little boost.
Another example, is that every spouse now has a unique 14-heart event after marriage:
There is more end-game stuff like that to keep things going a little further after you’ve completed everything. I don’t want to spoil very much, so you’ll just have to wait and see for yourself!
One more thing to share… on PC, a screenshot button in the options menu that lets you take a screenshot of your entire farm (or any area, for that matter)
1.4 is currently in the final stages, just doing some last minute tweaks and fixing the rare bug…
But I’m at a point where I’m ready to announce a release date: The 1.4 update will come to PC on November 26th
My goal is for the update to release on consoles & mobile simultaneously a few weeks after PC. Once 1.4 has a little more testing on these platforms, I hope to give a solid release date for them.
Google Play ‘User’s Choice’ Nomination
The Android version of Stardew Valley has been nominated for Google Play’s “User’s Choice” award in the US and Canada. It’s an honor to be selected as one of the 14 best games of the year, and if you’d like to vote for Stardew Valley to win the award, please check out this link
Voting ends on 11/25… It would be cool if Stardew Valley won!
Merchandise
I also want to give a shout out to some of the new Stardew merchandise from Fangamer, Sanshee, and The Yetee. Sanshee has a new Abigail plush and some nice pins, The Yetee has some new t-shirts, and please keep your eyes on Fangamer for some really cool new items coming soon (I foresee something good on the 22nd…) . Check out the store page for links to the different collections.
Miscellaneous
There’s a few more things going on that I’d like to mention:
- The PS Vita version is still slated to get another update to fix some problems, though it will remain on 1.2 content-wise.
- There are currently no plans to bring multiplayer to mobile.
- 1.4 has some optimization improvements that should make performance better on consoles.
Also, the 1.4 update marks the first time in Stardew’s history where I’ve worked on new content with other people. After 7 years of working completely solo, I formed a small team earlier this year to help me continue working on Stardew Valley. Originally, my plan was to do 1.4 completely solo, but the timing of it all didn’t work out that way, so 1.4 ended up being a team project. It’s all very small scale (1.4 was made with the help of 2 other people, and the team is currently just me and one other person), but having some help (particularly on the technical/programming side of things) is nice & will be good for Stardew Valley. It means that there will be a lot more in each update than I could do alone. I am still working on an unannounced project completely solo, though, with no plans to bring anyone else on.
Anyway, I think that’s all for now… as always, thanks for reading & for playing Stardew Valley!
-Ape