Hi everyone,
I’d like to give you another update on where Stardew is at.
I spent October trying to finish the single-player game. My daily routine involves playing the game for several hours and taking note of any bugs, game balance issues or details that I want to improve. Then I spend the rest of the day fixing everything on the list. I guess you could call it an in-house beta. I rarely encounter serious bugs anymore… most of the work I’m doing involves tweaks in gameplay, prices, progression… small graphical problems, etc. Everything is pretty solid and every day it gets closer to being a finished product.
I know many of you are wondering about a release date. Developers who are a lot more experienced than I have advised me not to set a release date until the game is completely finished. I’ve made some foolishly optimistic predictions in the past, and even recently I said the game will “definitely be released this year”. I don’t think a full release will happen this year. I wish the game was ready, but it’s not. As I’ve said in the past, it’s just so hard to predict how long game development will take. I’m working my hardest to get the game finished and it’s so very close, but the last thing I want to do is rush the game to release and have it be sloppy. I’ve been working on this thing for too long to do that.
Many people have suggested that I release the game without multiplayer and patch it in later. While part of me wants to do that, I also have to take business considerations into mind and make decisions that will be best for the success of the game. Other developers who know a lot more than I do have advised me to wait until multiplayer is finished before release. However, I want there to be a way for you guys to play the game as soon as possible. So I’m thinking about doing a closed beta when single player is ready, while I simultaneously work on finishing multiplayer. Then, when multiplayer is finished and well-tested I will release the final game. I can’t make any promises or give any details about a beta version right now, but it’s something I want to do.
Here’s what I’m thinking for a release timetable:
1. Finish single player (November)
2. Closed Beta (December)
3. Finish Multiplayer (December – ???)
4. Full Release
I can’t say this enough: thank you all for being so kind, patient and supportive.
Here’s a screenshot I took recently.
People often ask me how they can support the development of Stardew Valley, but I’ve never felt very comfortable accepting money without giving something in return. So today I’m releasing the complete soundtrack to Stardew Valley:
It’s over 2 hours of music, spanning 70 tracks. If you’d like to support the development of the game by purchasing the soundtrack, I really appreciate it. : )
I’m also in the process of publishing the official steam page (set to “coming soon”), and I’ll update this post with the link when it’s ready.
If you follow me on twitter you might have heard that I added a horse:
You don’t need to feed your horse or worry about it too much. If you leave it somewhere overnight it’ll find it’s way back to your stable. I want the horse to be convenient and stress-free.
I’ve also added a couple more TV channels (a tip channel and a cooking channel), but besides those things I haven’t really added anything new (of note). I’m mostly just polishing everything that already exists.
As always, thanks for reading!
-ConcernedApe