Stardew Valley 1.5

December 21, 2020 8:28 PM

Sometimes 2020 brings good things too. The new Stardew Valley update is out with big content updates. (Verge and engadget) As much as you can read about Stardew Valley, especially the massive wiki. Previously posted is a profile of Eric Barone, the creator.
posted by dorothyisunderwood (28 comments total)

I just installed a whole bunch of mods to play Stardew Extended, the very fun refresh and SAMPI, the main mod underpinning everything, doesn't work with 1.5 so I have to temporarily disable everything to explore the new update. I want to move my bed and sit on chairs! But I also want my beloved automated chests and field grasses.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 8:29 PM on December 21, 2020 [2 favorites]

You can check the mod compatibility list to see which mods will work with 1.5! I'm planning to wait a week or two until more of my mods are updated. SMAPI has been updated, make sure you have 3.8.0, that's the one that's compatible with 1.5.
posted by yasaman at 10:09 PM on December 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

Being able to change your character's name and gender by hanging out in a wizard's basement is much better than going in and editing the save file manually.
posted by one for the books at 10:19 PM on December 21, 2020 [5 favorites]

I am so so so hyped for this. I only have one mod right now, that gives everyone different clothes and portraits in different seasons. [link] Amazingly it's already been updated to be compatible with 1.5!
posted by Braeburn at 1:59 AM on December 22, 2020 [1 favorite]

I am holding off until I have finished work and I've done all the Christmas food shopping, but once I have things done, I am absolutely burying myself in the game.

We do not deserve such a wonderful and thoughtful man.
posted by Katemonkey at 3:18 AM on December 22, 2020 [1 favorite]

You can move the greenhouse! (I wonder if it'll work with Stardew Valley Expanded)
You can mix qualities for bundles!

I hope the guaranteed-1st-year actually works; it would be annoying to only see red cabbage seeds in the Cart when you can't plant and harvest them.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 4:11 AM on December 22, 2020 [2 favorites]

I got SV on my Switch at the start of the pandemic lock downs in late March. It was my therapy.

The only downside was that I would sit down to play it for 15 minutes in the evening, only to glance at the clock and realize 4 hours had passed.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 4:14 AM on December 22, 2020 [4 favorites]

Yeah, after the realtime Animal Crossing, how quickly time passes in Stardew Valley comes as a nasty shock. Even the 1:7 time in BotW isn't this bad.
posted by HypotheticalWoman at 5:40 AM on December 22, 2020 [2 favorites]

There's a mod for that! You can slow down time juuuuuust a touch so it isn't stressful but doesn't feel cheatery.
posted by bowtiesarecool at 5:57 AM on December 22, 2020 [1 favorite]

This is such good news! I started playing last year when the pandemic hit, and the wholesomeness of the game got me through to spring when I could putter in my own garden.

I look forward to reuniting with my husband, Dr. Harvey Doofenshmirtz, and our children, Alexander and Amaryllith.
posted by kimberussell at 6:13 AM on December 22, 2020 [2 favorites]

I can play all kinds of difficult, stressful and even scary video games. But put a timer on ANYTHING and it becomes a mini-hell for me. Stardew Valley is wonderful for many people, but not for me. Seeing that ticking clock and the sun going down stresses me out far too much. Funny that a charming game like this is my Waterloo.
posted by SoberHighland at 7:08 AM on December 22, 2020 [3 favorites]

I only have one mod right now, that gives everyone different clothes and portraits in different seasons. [link] Amazingly it's already been updated to be compatible with 1.5!

Apparently they gave popular modders early access so that they could ensure their mods were updated on time for the launch. Which is really cool!
posted by showbiz_liz at 7:16 AM on December 22, 2020 [2 favorites]

TIME TO START ANOTHER FARM! Sorry Penny and our son Thor, I must try the beach farm, farewell!
posted by wellifyouinsist at 7:39 AM on December 22, 2020 [2 favorites]

Ooooh, I know what I'm doing over Christmas! I kind of drifted away from my last game (although still married to Leah in my heart), so this could be quite a good excuse to start a new farm without feeling oddly guilty!

However I hate the fishing game with the heat of ten thousand suns, so will definitely make sure that the mod that simply does away with it has updated first.

(I find all the mini-games incredibly frustrating, actually, which is probably good proof of why I love SV so much. No frantic clicking needed!)
posted by kalimac at 7:52 AM on December 22, 2020

Moving the bed and sitting on chairs are available in the 1.5 release.

I have decided that aside from reading the fixlist I'm just going to continue piddling around on my existing (post-community-center, which I understand is where most of the new content comes anyway) farm and discovering new stuff as it comes for a while.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:56 AM on December 22, 2020

Quality of life changes
Added lost & found box in Mayor Lewis’ house. This can be used to retrieve items donated to failed special orders, lost quest items and tools, items from offline players, hats from children that have been turned into doves, and items left behind in the Stardew Valley Fair grange display.

I hearby claim "hats from children that have been turned into doves" as my next sock name.
posted by hanov3r at 10:06 AM on December 22, 2020 [5 favorites]

Love Stardew so much. Looking forward to checking out the new content, though who knows when I'll find the time.
posted by Wretch729 at 10:26 AM on December 22, 2020

Stardew was my post-Trump-election escape, I must have put 300 hours into it in the first two months of 2017. I now know it so thoroughly that playing it stopped being fun because I know EVERYTHING that happens and how to maximize efficiency. Nothing left to explore.

Just started a new game and there’s enough new content that I’m engaged again - especially the new farm layout and the remixed community center bundles. I’m excited to keep going and discover all the new stuff.
posted by showbiz_liz at 12:28 PM on December 22, 2020 [3 favorites]

I have so far ignored Stardew Valley, on the assumption that it was another FarmVille-style cow-clicker game. Is this not the case?
posted by acb at 1:44 PM on December 22, 2020

That is indeed not the case.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 2:06 PM on December 22, 2020 [4 favorites]

It's more like a modern remake of the original Harvest Moon from snes. If you've played that?
posted by Space Kat at 2:09 PM on December 22, 2020

I wanted to like the game, but the fishing minigame was so annoying I ended up ragequitting. Has that gotten any better?
posted by MrVisible at 2:15 PM on December 22, 2020

No, but if you're on pc you can mod it into nonexistence.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 2:42 PM on December 22, 2020 [4 favorites]

They added some items to make fishing a lot easier in the last patch. It's still the same mechanically though, so you might still find it rage inducing and not the gentle happy little game it's supposed to be.
posted by Space Kat at 5:13 PM on December 22, 2020 [2 favorites]

So jealous of everyone who can play the update now! Looking at you, update for consoles release date 2021.
posted by later, paladudes at 9:00 PM on December 22, 2020 [1 favorite]

I hated fishing and waited as long as I could into the game until I had the necessary stuff to buy a much better fishing rod and then did a little bit of grinding until my skills got up to a meaningful level so I was relatively successful using bait and various tackle. Also visit the cart faithfully, she often has some of the harder fish for sale. This all means you're probably not going to complete the community center in the first year, but that wasn't my priority.

I just spent an hour fishing for a quest, pretty happily even though I kept not catching what I needed.
posted by Lyn Never at 1:36 PM on December 23, 2020

When I find myself in times of trouble
Stardew Valley comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom
New update
posted by snerson at 5:26 PM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]

I removed the fishing minigame via mod as soon as I learned you could mod Stardew Valley and I have never regretted it. I will never go back.
posted by darchildre at 5:31 PM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]