The farming simulator Stardew Valley has continued to find massive success since its release five years ago, and its singular creator is attempting to ‘futureproof’ the title with an impressive new update. The 1.5.5 update was detailed in a post made on Steam by game dev ConcernedApe. “It’s a small update, which doesn’t add new content,” he explains, “but it has some important technical changes for modders, some quality of life changes, and some bug fixes.”
Quality of life updates includes allowing players to purchase or craft up to 25 of an item at a time, and also (finally) allowing you to nudge your pet out of the way while you’re building or moving a building. Players can also buy back items sold accidentally in the same shopping session.
For those looking to mod the zen title, architectural changes have been implemented such as migrating Stardew Valley from XNA 4 to MonoGame, allowing mods to access more than only 4GB of RAM. ConcernedApe has also confirmed that a 1.5.6 update is also coming at some point, which will add even more tools for modders. This includes “some long-requested ‘holy grail’ changes which should make some aspects of modding much easier” according to the developer.
Stardew Valley was initially released on PC in February 2016 and has later been ported to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation Vita, and mobile devices. The game was developed by one man, Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone, who was heavily inspired by the Harvest Moon series of simulation RPGs. Stardew Valley has sold over 15 million copies as of 2021 and inspired a board game earlier this year, along with a physical and collectors edition of the formerly digital-only title.
The creator’s next game, Haunted Chocolatier, is in production, and Barone has also stated that he is simultaneously working on another new project. During the pandemic, Stardew Valley has been the perfect game to pick up in an attempt to avoid the harsh realities of the outside world, so it’s always nice to see that it’s still being well cared for.
