In an interview with PC Gamer at PAX West, Stardew Valley developer Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone talked briefly about what we can expect from the game’s first major update.
The indie farming simulator, which bears many similarities to the early Harvest Moon series, quickly reached #1 on Steam‘s Top Sellers list following its February 26 release and topped a million copies sold within two months. Players have been waiting eagerly to see what the one-man development team would come up with next, so here’s all the information we currently have in regards to the upcoming update.
First of all, players will be able to choose between several different farm layouts when creating a new character, which Barone hopes will add “replay value” to the game. Each layout will be oriented towards a different skill, such as fishing, combat, mining, etc.
There will be several new farm buildings, such as a shed, which is an open-ended structure that players can do whatever they want with and even decorate. A mill will allow players to turn wheat into flour and beets into sugar; previously, these ingredients could not be crafted, only purchased from Pierre’s or Jojamart. Also, for players that have already purchased all existing buildings and upgrades and since accumulated a ton of extra cash, he assures us that there will be “expensive end-game buildings” to spend it on. There is also another mysterious building that he vaguely refers to but will not elaborate on.
As promised in response to player requests, Shane and Emily will now be marriage candidates, and both will have new story events to go along with the change.
Those are the major changes, although there will be miscellaneous additions such as new crafting recipes as well. Barone says he is aiming to release the update in “about a month”. He also discusses console ports, which he hopes will be ready around the holidays, and says that multiplayer should be ready “hopefully early” next year.