Stardew Valley creator Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone is a relentless game dev cyborg. After a brief respite to refuel his power cells, he’s announced his plans for Stardew Valley’s 1.1 update. The short version? Prepare to (farm until you) die. Or get bored and decide to do something else.
Barone’s talked about his ideas for the overnight farming sensation’s future before, but now we’ve got a concrete roadmap for its future. First up, here’s what’ll be in update 1.1, which doesn’t have a release date just yet:
-More late-game content
-New farm buildings
-New crops
-New artisan goods
-New advanced farming/producing mechanics
-Shane and Emily will be marriage candidates. They will also have more events and dialogue as a result.
-More marriage content for all spouses
-More events for the non-marriage NPC’s
-Improvements/Additions to mining and combat
-Ability to move buildings and other convenience features
-More bug fixes
-More secrets
-More small, fun touches to the world
Most people consider the late-game to be Stardew Valley’s weakest portion, so it’s good to hear that Barone’s zeroing in on that first. I’m glad he’s filling in smaller cracks in the game’s foundation, too. There’s something to be said for revisiting a game world after a couple weeks or months away and finding it subtly transformed. Sometimes a bunch of little surprises can be more exciting than one big one.
Barone also announced that he’s becoming a bit less of a one-man show. He’s teaming up with Chucklefish for help on the technical aspect of co-op, localization, and console ports. Theoretically that’ll lighten his workload so that he can focus on game development first and foremost.
It’s a good time to be head of a burgeoning farm empire, in other words. Or a Pokemon farmer. Or a Jedi with a green thumb. Or an avid fan of that time-honored rural entertainment tradition, Love Live.
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