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Self-publishing on Switch

Just a heads up everyone, starting today I’ll begin self-publishing Stardew Valley on the Nintendo Switch. That means I will now have full responsibility for any and all matters concerning Stardew Valley on the Switch, so if you have any comments or inquiries about the Switch version please send them directly to me.

I thank Chucklefish for their help in making Stardew Valley a major success on the Switch, and I’m looking forward to continuing full support of Stardew Valley on the platform!

With today’s change, I’m now self-publishing Stardew Valley on all platforms except mobile, where Chucklefish continues to serve as publisher.

 

-Ape

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Hi everyone,

This is Eric Barone (aka ConcernedApe), creator of Stardew Valley.

I am aware of the news and social media reports that Chucklefish allegedly engaged in unfair and potentially abusive labor practices during development of their game, Starbound. I feel the need to address this situation because the connection between Chucklefish and Stardew Valley, as well as the degree to which Chucklefish was involved in the creation of the game,  has been a source of confusion for many people . So I’d like to clarify a couple of things.

Throughout the 4.5 years of development, I was the only person to work on Stardew Valley. Neither Chucklefish nor any contributors working with Chucklefish were involved in creating the game, in any capacity.

For the multiplayer update, which came out on PC 2.5 years after the game first launched, a Chucklefish employee did create the multiplayer net-code, but that was the only case where Chucklefish was directly involved in development of the game.

Beyond that, Chucklefish has served only as publisher, which means that they handled the business and marketing side of things, as well as contracting the localizations, console & mobile ports to 3rd-party companies. Since December of last year, I’ve moved to self-publishing on PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, Xbox, and PSVita… Chucklefish is no longer publishing the game on those platforms.

I can also say that, both personally and in my capacity as the recent founder of a small team, I believe in compensating developers for their contributions in working on games.

-Eric

 

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Stardew Valley now available on Android

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to give you guys a quick heads up…

It’s a day early, but Stardew Valley is now available for Android on the Google Play Store!

It’s $7.99 USD, but for regional pricing please check the store.

I hope you enjoy playing Stardew Valley on your Android device.

-Ape

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Android Version Coming March 14th

Hi Everyone,

 

Update: Stardew Valley for Android has a release date — March 14th!

Just want to give you a quick update… Stardew Valley for Android is on it’s way, and is now open for Google Play pre-registration.

The android version will be priced at $7.99 (the same as iOS). Please check the Google Play Store to see the price in your region!

Like the iOS version, this is the full version of Stardew Valley, up to 1.3 (but not including the multiplayer functionality).

Transfer of PC save data is supported, so you can carry over your game without having to start over!

English, Russian, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, German, Hungarian, Korean and Turkish language support will be available at launch (coming to iOS and consoles in a future update).


Mobile development studio The Secret Police have been hard at work on some recent updates to the Mobile version since the iOS launch, adding the following mobile-specific features:

  • Save at any time – even when you close the app!
  • Pinch-to-zoom functionality, allowing players to zoom in and zoom out to get a full view of the farm
  • New control systems including virtual joystick and invisible joystick options, ‘action / attack’ button option, improved auto-attack and Joypad adjuster tool with complete customization of your onscreen controls

 

I also want to let the Xbox/PS4 players know that the multiplayer update is coming along well… the XBOX update is in QA, and PS4 will follow shortly. I hope to release both, simultaneously, within the next couple of months.

I’ll let you know as soon as I have anything more concrete to share with you. Thanks so much for your patience.

-Ape

 

 

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Hi everyone,

Update: The new languages are now live on Steam/GOG. Thanks to everyone who helped me test out the beta.

 

 

The Steam beta for French, Turkish, Italian, Hungarian, and Korean is here. If you speak any of those languages, and want to help me find bugs, typos, or even just give feedback on the new text, it would be a big favor and I’d really appreciate it!

To access the current beta version of Stardew Valley (on Steam):

  1. Right click on Stardew Valley in your games library and select “Properties”
  2. Click the “Betas” tab
  3. Click the drop down menu and select “beta” (no password is necessary)
  4. Steam will download the beta version. Stardew Valley should now have a [beta] tag in your library.

While it’s very unlikely that playing the beta version will threaten your save files, I recommend backing them up anyway. Your save files can be found in the “%appdata%/StardewValley/Saves” folder (on PC).

If you have any feedback or bug reports, please use this thread on the Stardew Valley Subreddit.

 

** UPDATE Feb. 2nd **

Hungarian language is now included in the beta

 

The Xbox and PS4 multiplayer updates are still in development, but are coming along well, and I will let you guys know as soon as I have more information on that.

 

I appreciate any help with testing out the beta,

& thanks for playing Stardew Valley!

-Ape

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Job Openings

Hi everyone,

I mentioned in my last post that I’ll be forming a small team to help me continue expanding and maintaining Stardew Valley. Links to the official job postings can be found below, and I’ll update them with the new ones when they’re available:

 

Posted March 27th:

Administrator

 

I appreciate everyone taking their time to apply!

Thanks

-Ape

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What’s In Store For Stardew Valley

Hi everyone,

 

First, a quick reminder:

A few weeks ago I announced that I’ll be self-publishing Stardew Valley on most platforms (everywhere except Nintendo Switch and mobile). Today, that transition takes effect.

So, as of today, for PC, Mac, Linux, XBox One, Playstation 4, and PS Vita, if you have any questions, comments, or business inquiries, please send them directly to me. I now bear 100% of the responsibility for these platforms!

 

Now, I’d like to tell you guys what I’m up to, and what’s in store for the future of Stardew Valley.

 

As many of you know, I’ve been working on a new game for a while. I haven’t revealed anything about it, except that it takes place in the same universe as Stardew Valley. I’ve been deliberately secretive about it because I want to be able to work on it without any pressure for the time being. I also want to make sure the concept is fully realized before revealing anything, because once it’s out there, I’m going to have to fully commit to it. I’m a pretty cautious person when it comes to this sort of thing.

 

Now, I believe I’ve said in the past that I wanted to devote all my time to the new game, and I might not work on any new Stardew Valley content. Well, that’s not exactly true. While there have been times in the past where I felt burnt out, and maybe even said that I wanted to move on, I always find myself coming back to Stardew Valley. For one, I keep getting new ideas for ways to improve and expand upon the game. This world is so full of potential, I could probably work on it for the rest of my life. There’s also such a wonderful community surrounding the game… and I like making you guys happy. I’m extremely grateful to all of you for supporting my work and creating this wonderful Stardew Valley community.  I wouldn’t be where I am today without you. And knowing that there’s still tons of people out there who love the game and would be extremely happy to get new content motivates me to keep working.

 

In short, what I’m saying is that I am going to keep making new content for Stardew Valley. In fact, I’ve recently put my other game on the back-burner and have been in the process of creating a new free content update.

 

French, Korean, Italian, and Turkish translations are also underway, though they may not come out until early next year.

 

I’m aware that saying “I’m working on new content” might be aggravating to those on consoles who don’t have the 1.3 update yet… Or to those on Switch who are experiencing frame rate issues in the new patch. I also haven’t forgotten about the PS Vita users, some of whom have reported bugs to me. It’s very important to me that I make good on my promises… the idea of expanding further while there are still lingering issues and unmet promises disturbs me, and isn’t something I want to be doing.

So I want to make it clear that these issues are my top priority, and if there’s ever anything I can do to help these things happen more quickly, it takes precedence over any new content… however, I don’t do those ports myself, they are done by Sickhead Games, so there’s nothing I can personally do to have an effect on that process, beyond setting it into motion (Sickhead Games does great work, by the way…  and they are making very fast progress on the console updates). I am also doing what I can to see the issues with Switch multiplayer get fixed, but that is also not something I can directly accomplish. So when I do work on new content, it’s only when I have no current avenue for addressing these higher priority issues.

 

So, currently I’m working on a new Stardew Valley update, and my new game is on hold for the time being. The difficult thing is that I want to work on both… I want to keep working on Stardew Valley and I also want to work on my new game. But I don’t have enough time to accomplish my goals with both things simultaneously. For a while, I considered being finished with Stardew Valley altogether. But that would make me (and many others) sad. So I’ve decided that I’m going to form a team to help me work on future Stardew Valley content. The update I’m working on right now (1.4) will be another solo update, but after that I hope to have a team in place that I can work closely with on future content.

 

This is going to be a big change for me… I’ve always worked alone, and working with a team is a whole new ballgame. However, just as I did with Stardew Valley originally, I’m just gonna go for it, and have faith that I can rise to the occasion and make it work. My hope is that the new team will help take some of the workload off me, so I have enough breathing room to divide my time between my new game and Stardew Valley. I still plan on having a very active role in the future of Stardew Valley, and the originator of all major Stardew Valley decisions and content. And there are many aspects of development which I’ll never be okay with handing over to another, like music or writing. But when it comes to programming, fixing bugs, administrative/business work, or even pixel art… I think I’d be okay with having some help. I’ll post more about this later.

 

This is a lot of new info, so here’s a summary:

  • My top priority is to see the 1.3 multiplayer update come to Xbox One & Playstation 4, and for issues with the Switch patch to be addressed.
  • I am working on a new game, but I’ve put it on hold in order to create a new Stardew Valley update (1.4).
  • French, Korean, Italian, and Turkish translations are in the works, though they may not come out until early next year.
  • I plan on forming a team to help me work on new Stardew Valley content (beyond 1.4)
  • Once the team is in place, I’ll divide my time between Stardew Valley and my new game.
  • I am now self-publishing on all platforms except Nintendo Switch and mobile.

Thanks so much for reading and have a great weekend

-Ape

 

 

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Hi Everyone,

I’m happy to announce that the 1.3 Multiplayer Update will be coming to Nintendo Switch this week,

on Wednesday the 12th of December.

It will be available across the North American, European, and Japanese Nintendo eShop regions.

A big thanks goes out to Tom Coxon from Chucklefish, who developed the multiplayer netcode which made this update possible. Also, a big thanks to Sickhead Games for porting it to Nintendo Switch!

I know that many of you have been looking forward to this update, so here’s a quick reminder of what you can expect:

Support for up to 4-player online co-op.
You can invite 1-3 friends to join you in the valley, either starting from scratch or diving in from an existing single player save. Each player will have their own Cabin on the farm, and you’ll be able to work together to achieve common goals such as farming, mining, fishing, foraging and festival participation!

The state of the Stardew Valley game world, including the main storyline, is shared between all players on the farm, as well as the pool of money you accumulate. However, each player will have their own private inventories, skills, achievements, collections, individual relationships, quests, and crafting/cooking recipes. As more hands are better than one, you may wish to change the difficulty level of your collective farm, which you can achieve by scaling the profit margins.In terms of marriage, players can choose to woo the eligible folks of Pelican Town, or craft a wedding ring to propose to a fellow player. If the other player accepts the ring, the couple becomes engaged!

Nintendo Switch features:

On Nintendo Switch you’ll be able to communicate with others on your farm using the Switch online voice chat or the new chat box feature with colored text and nearly 200 custom Stardew Valley emojis.

You can also play together via local communications play, meaning that 2-4 switch consoles can connect & play together over a short distance without the need for a Nintendo Switch Online account.

Single Player Content:

While the new 1.3 single player content has now been available on PC for a little while now, I’ll keep things vague to avoid spoilers for anyone who hasn’t come across them yet.

  • For 3 days in Winter you’ll be able to visit a traveling festival called the Night Market, which will visit Pelican Town. Here farmers can come and go as they please to purchase unique items, enjoy live entertainment and more!
  • There are now new character events to encounter, including some secret events triggered by certain conditions… Some of these even grant you permanent bonuses.
  • In Winter, farmers may encounter a strange event which activates a new ‘secret’ type of collection, leading to a new adventure and greater knowledge…
  • Your horse can now wear hats and Signs are now craftable items, available to you from the beginning of the game.
  • Much more to be discovered!

multiplayer screenshot

Next up is the PS4 and Xbox One Multiplayer updates, which is my top priority. I’m working with Sickhead Games to get these to you as soon as possible… I really appreciate your patience.

After the Switch update has launched, I’ll have more to share with you very soon…

Hope you’re having a nice holiday season & thanks for reading!

-ConcernedApe

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Move to Self-Publishing starting December 14th

Hi everyone,

I’ve got a pretty big announcement today.

Starting December 14th, I’ll begin self-publishing Stardew Valley on PC, XBOX, PS4, and PSVITA. On those platforms, I (ConcernedApe) will be both publisher and developer. However, Chucklefish will remain publisher on Nintendo Switch and Mobile platforms.

When I first released Stardew Valley, I was a complete novice to the video game industry. Chucklefish, as my publisher, oversaw the distribution, console ports and translations of the game. They set up the official wiki and helped me redesign the website, to great effect. And of course,Tom Coxon did amazing work adding network code to the game, making multiplayer a reality.

But I’m at a point now where I’m ready to move forward on my own. I think self-publishing is the dream of most indie developers, and I’m happy to be in a place where that’s possible!

Expect some more announcements concerning the future of Stardew Valley soon… stay tuned!

-Ape

***

From Chucklefish:

We are proud to be part of the Stardew Valley story and wish ConcernedApe every success with his new self-publishing venture. We will carry on working closely together and are particularly excited to be continuing to publish the versions of Stardew Valley for Nintendo Switch and Mobile, including the upcoming Switch Multiplayer update (in submission now) and new Android version which we know many of you are looking forward to! – Chucklefish

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1.3.32 — Small Patch Released On PC Today

Hey everyone, a patch just went live on PC… mostly bug-fixes, with a few minor changes.
Changes since 1.3.28
  • Experimental optimisations.
  • Added more ways for the host to unpause the server (by pressing ESC, B, Back).
  • Added alternative way to show the chat box (press right stick button on a controller).
  • Added internal changes for modders (should have no effect on vanilla gameplay).
Bug fixes since 1.3.28
  • Fixed slimes not pouncing correctly.
  • Fixed items-crafted stat being 0 after loading a file until you craft something again.
  • Fixed rabbit’s foot not affecting the breakup scene in non-English language modes.
  • Fixed some rare tool-related crashes in multiplayer.
  • Fixed an audio-related crash often caused when using bombs.
  • Fixed Junimos dropping crops on the floor instead of collecting them.
  • Fixed NPCs walking through the saloon doors.
  • Fixed a few rare-ish crashes that can occur when connecting to another player’s game.
  • Fixed eye color being reset to brown after reloading.
  • Fixed inability to use rod / slingshot in festival minigames.
  • Fixed the title menu back button being hidden behind submenus.
  • Fixed inability to move after receiving a gift at the Feast of the Winter Star.
  • Fixed crash when saving after the game adds Lewis’s shorts to Marnie’s house.
  • Fixed crash viewing the map when another player is in certain events.
  • Fixed “double sound” when using singing stone.
  • Fixed a Geneva Convention violation (by replacing red crosses in graphics).
  • Fixed clicks on the chatbox not being registered when the game is paused.
  • Fixed players sometimes walking off in a straight line through all terrain when they get disconnected.
  • Fixed babies sometimes spawning in houses that don’t belong to the parents.
  • Fixed the potential for overnight events to cancel or skip a wedding event.
  • Fixed a desync that could occur if a player tried to get into the casino after a different player has removed the bouncer.
  • Fixed players able to simultaneously build overlapping farm buildings.
  • Fixed only one player being able to get the dark talisman.
  • Fixed the inability to place donated items on the bottom two rows of the museum.
  • Fixed farmhands being unable to pick up items they dropped in festivals.
  • Fixed Pam’s upgraded house interior event not happening.
  • Fixed visual glitches caused by triggering a shared event simultaneously with the return scepter.
  • Fixed softlock caused by mistaken ability to use daggers during events.
  • Fixed players all receiving the same personal overnight events on the same day (e.g. spouse asking if you want a baby).
  • Fixed attempting to demolish cabins of abnormally disconnected farmhands causing the cabin to be destroyed after you leave the buildings menu.
  • Fixed farmers getting stuck in the fishing casting animation after picking up someone else’s rod.
  • Fixed host sometimes appearing stuck using tool in shared events.
  • Fixed softlock when you play the Journey of the Prairie King past 2am.
  • Fixed glitched chest lid appearing when you destroy a cabin.
  • Fixed duplicate songs in the jukebox.
  • Fixed only one player’s glow ring working at a time.
  • Fixed farmhands not being able to see each others’ bundle changes.
  • Fixed bug causing some players to become married to two other players in 3-4 player farms.
  • Fixed player sometimes getting stuck in bed after another player got in and then back got out.

Thanks for playing Stardew Valley!

-Ape

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