Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone (ConcernedApe) has released a 10th anniversary video revealing, amongst different issues, two model new marriage candidates being added to the sport in the upcoming patch 1.7: Clint and Sandy.
Clint has lengthy been a requested bachelor by the Stardew Valley neighborhood. Because the valley blacksmith, he is the one who upgrades all of the participant’s instruments and opens geodes for them, which means visiting him commonly is fairly widespread. However gamers have wished to romance him largely due to his awkward relationship with an current marriage candidate, Emily. Clint has an enormous crush on Emily that continues to be unrequited even the participant would not marry Emily, however has a number of scenes the place he appears downright damage in the event that they do. Giving Clint extra of a storyline that his present tactiturn, awkward traces is a much-needed change.
Sandy has additionally been a requested marriageable villager. She’s the supervisor of the Oasis in the Desert, which means gamers do not often see her till they’ve performed for some time. And sadly she by no means really leaves the Oasis, so there are fewer alternatives for interactions along with her. Nonetheless, she’s type to the participant, leaving the fandom hungry for extra Sandy storyline and extra interactions along with her, which they will definitely get now.
Moreover, ConcernedApe opened the video by displaying off some previous builds of Stardew Valley (then “Sprout Valley”) alongside together with his personal commentary. The sequence begins with the sport’s unique 2012 look, six months into improvement, when he had a “functioning sport” that was very rudimentary, and much like the unique Harvest Moon sport. Even so, you possibly can see how a lot the fundamental design of the sport appears to be like very related, proper right down to the place issues are situated in Pelican City, the bus, and extra.
Subsequent, he reveals off a 2013 construct that appears a looooot extra acquainted. The artwork has been considerably up to date to roughly the type of present Stardew Valley. ConcernedApe says this model of the sport (now titled “Stardew Valley”) was extra sandboxy than the present model of the sport and fewer RPG. Moreover, the mines have been procedurally generated, and also you needed to mine into the partitions to search out ore and secrets and techniques. This ended up being too difficult, “too formidable of an idea for the scope of this sport. This could have been an entire sport by itself”, ConcernedApe stated. He additionally confirmed off an underground Goblin Village that was completely scrapped. “Simply because an thought sounds cool doesn’t suggest it is enjoyable or the suitable thought in apply.”
Right here, ConcernedApe stated that nothing in these early builds needs to be thought of “canon” in the Stardew Valley universe.
2014’s construct launched the Group Heart, however different staples similar to Joja Mart and Hat Mouse hadn’t been added but. You additionally could not enhance the within of your own home but.
And one other construct from August 2015, half a yr from launch, reveals “how a lot of this got here collectively on the final second.” To my eye, this appears to be like virtually similar to launch day Stardew Valley, however ConcernedApe factors out varied modifications like the placement of the mailbox, the form of the within of the participant’s home, and the ultimate look of the principle character.
In a mirrored image on the sport’s launch, ConcernedApe talks about what the discharge of the sport was like for him and meant to him, together with sharing that the sport bought slightly below 40,000 copies in the primary day alone, at which level he knew it might be a hit. He ended the video with a recap of the sport’s updates through the years, and by thanking the neighborhood for its assist through the years.
Patch 1.7 is coming at a later date. ConcernedApe did not reveal any additional particulars as to what it would entail for now, however immediately’s announcement ought to tide everybody over for a bit.
At present is Stardew Valley’s tenth anniversary, and we celebrated earlier this month already by interviewing ConcernedApe about subjects similar to why there is not a Stardew Valley TV present, and the one secret left that the Stardew Valley neighborhood has but to search out. You possibly can learn our full, in-depth interview with the creator proper right here.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Received a narrative tip? Ship it to rvalentine@ign.com.