Curiousity getting the better of me

Personally I have several games going with different challenges. On one I'm trying to finish all of the achievements, on another I'm aiming for profit, then on a third I'm taking it slowly and leisurely. It really helps me enjoy the game, because I do love to crunch numbers/finish things, but I agree that the game is also relaxing so it's nice to play it that way.

I can't personally fathom having one of the mass-money-making farms that some people have, though. Like non-stop ancient fruits with kegs and then casks to maximize profits. I admire it, but at that point it feels so... idk, boring?

I will say that I LOVE the animals in-game, especially cows/goats to make cheese with. And although it's technically not the most "profitable", it's my favorite aspect, so I make that my main money maker in any game I do.

 

I tend to hardcore my way through Y1 to get the community center/startup income out of the way, then play at a more relaxed pace where I pet the animals and spend the rest of the day wandering around, doing whatever. My current goal with this save file is to 100% the collections tab and complete all achievements.

 

i agree, i just have timespeed mod on 14 ticks (14 reallife seconds = 10 minutes ingame), easy fishing mod and automate, bigger greenhouse and i get a stable as soon as possible fast movement (not gonna use those mods, tbh) and longer days with less to do (see automate mod), just thinking what to do, and having fun

i use the mod that you can use to get items, but only 1st day with new characters, and then i pause the timer with timespeed to do the bad work on your overgrown farm, but the only 2 things i get are starfruits for enegry, just to empty my farm without timer running, and a joja cola machine, cuz i can't be bothered joining them

the rest i'm not sure if i'll ever get an item that way again, but i doubt it... i wanna get most stuff myself
can call it cheating, but i'm not here to hardcore play getting everything as soon as i can (see: speedrun), or have some sort of hard mode (might make a new character on the farm with monsters one day, but dunno)

everything else, i just do without big cheats like itemspawner and such, just the ones i always use to have longer days for a nicer time
plus my cat is Umbreon and my horse is Epona, just for fun

 

I do wonder if the game expects you to be fairly aggressive, given that there's a lot of things that are associated with "how much money you have". People who play it more relaxed, is Grandpa still happy with you at the beginning of year 3? Part of why I like this game is there's no real way to play it but if it's expected to have certain thresholds by a given time...

 

I never even read Grandpa's note. I just leave it lay on his little altar and just like that friend, who isn't really a friend, he still shows up even though you're ignoring his texts.

 

Money isn't everything, you can still get four candle ending pretty easily. I mean, you only need one million by the end of the second year to get max points, which shouldn't be difficult to do, even casually. Year 2 the cash really ramps up with Rhubarb and Starfruit available as options, even casually. And if you don't hit a million, you still get 5 out of possible 7 by only getting 500k earned. You can make that back up just by capping all your skills. Completing the Community Center is another 3 points (1 for the completion, another 2 for the event that triggers after it). And you only need 12 points to get the four candle ending.

While I may do a lot of number crunching and min/maxing and optimizing, I do it more for the lulz, because I've got several hundred hours in this game, so it's something fun to do for me. I always advise doing your first play-through blind, just to experience what this game has to offer. You can read up on the strats, plan things ahead of time, and optimize yourself on your sucessive playthroughs, but you only play the game for the first time once. Just relax and enjoy it for what it is, and don't sweat anything.

After all, You can always get re-evaluated by Grandpa later on by putting a diamond on his shrine. And there's no time limit on that. So if you want to take it nice and slow, and not get your fourth candle until Year 6... you can do exactly that.

There is no One True Way to play this game, that's what is the most endearing about it. You can go hardcore optimization, or you can just sit back, chill, and relax with the game. Or do something completely off the wall, like make a slime ranch. What you do is entirely up to you, so don't let anyone try and browbeat you into doing anything you don't want to. And don't think you are any less a player for not making some of the ridiculous time or cash results some of us push for.

 

even if you don't make it to the 3rd year with enough points, you still can do it later on, which i did my first time, but yeah, next characters got more, as i learned
i always get all achievements (not all, as many as i can get... no kids and joja ) and do everything with each character, as i like doing a lot
even with many mods making it too easy (using item spawner to get house upgrades and stable right away, instant fish catch etc. by getting money from prismatic shards), it still has a lot of fun stuff to do, as i somewhat roleplay with them, as in making them a kind of person i think they are like

it's too easy, but at least i have fun..... i just don't do stuff that make me immortal and never run out of energy
i do use energy regen, but no health regen with a mod... like this : "RegenStaminaConstantAmountPerSecond": 0.33
health is something that doesn't come back, as otherwise healing items would be useless
energy can be annoying sometimes, and i havent done skull cavern yet

timespeed: each 20 seconds = 10 ingame minutes, making days longer, and so it somewhat feels like a real day

but no matter how much i cheat, i always keep it in a range, so no invincible mode or such, and no item spawned that i need (crops, seeds, weapons etc.)
it's cheating, but as i got over upgrading my house several times, now i wanna skip it and get on with it on new character
just like clearing my farm from debris, i freeze the timer, and when done, the real game begins (to me)

most quests i do, and since i can easily catch fish now, i even do the "catch (amount) of (said fish)" ones
i more build a nice connection to villagers, and get the ones i get stuff from to max friendship, even the ones i don't really need, like Jodi and Caroline
it's no challenge game for me, just more of a "what will i do now, and how?" .... just NO kids and NO joja
i even decided to spawn loved gifts for villagers until they get to 2 hearts... not on the birthdays, and from there on, i can reach them when they are in their rooms (see: elliott, leah and sebastian)
plus i use the "combined grils" mod, making all male spouses (and willy and wizard, for some reason) female, so i can marry them, as i don't like to marry males myself

is what i do always

yeah, pretty much why i bought this game is cuz Lanipator on youtube, showed me how relaxing and laidback the game is
.... but since the time went by sooooo fast, i modded it, so i enjoy each day much longer

with automate, i also can try more and more, and see what's most effective (without overdoing it, and having a keg+beehouse place, instead of a farm
... i even place crab pots in the water of the desert, haha, and will plant maple, oak and pine trees there, too... if lightning doesn't reach it, i can safely tap trees there
and my animals will always be: coop: 2 white chickens, 2 blue chickens, 1 void chicken, 1 rabbit, 1 dinosaur
reason i use white and blue chickens and no brown ones, is cuz i'd use space for brown eggs, too
barn: 2 cows and 2 pigs.... i start with 1 of each

so yeah, cheating somewhat, but not so much that i have no reason for crops anymore, or such... and no equipment cheats
1 game i use to relax and have a nice time.... wish there was an item or such that avoids debris, though

 

My first play-through was completely relaxed. I had no idea what min-maxing would look like, and was just figuring it out as I went along. I relied a lot on the Wiki, so I had help figuring out what to bring to the fair - that kind of thing. But I didn't find out about Grandpa's evaluation until late in my second year, decided I wouldn't stress it, and wouldn't bother looking up the requirements. I made friends with folks as I went along, some more, some less. I pet my dog and animals every day because that's what I would do IRL.

So, I don't know if I passed with flying colors or just squeaked by, but I got all the candles and the statute that gave me my first real iridium.

Since then I've made some attempts at min-maxing, but I find it kind of stressful trying to constantly be that efficient. I mainly settle on giving myself a good enough base that I can be really productive in the second year. I feel like I've learned a lot from the min-maxers, and I am someone who like learning all the intricate game mechanics, so I'm sure I'll give it a more concerted effort at some point. I would love to make a farm that looks pretty, kind of like I would love to build amazing creative things in Minecraft, but that's something I'm quite bad at. In some ways min-maxing is more relaxing than making things pretty.

 

I think it is not fair to say Min/maxing is stressful. If you enjoy Min/maxing then you find it fun planning and doing the math to achieve max gold or what ever you Maxing. The main difference I have seen in Min/maxing over Relaxed game play is a Relaxed player is more likely to try out new things each play through. They will look at an idea or post and say I'll try that next time and see how it goes. A min/maxing players looks at the same stuff and maths out the results 90% of the time to see if it is worth switching. This means that a Relaxed player will have different playthroughs where they try out loads of ways to play where as the Min/maxing player has their plan and most playthroughs will be mostly the same game just pushing for max of what ever they are min/maxing. Player that don't Min/max look in on that game play and find that stressful mostly because they don't enjoy the numbers side of that gameplay type.

 

I think I kind of fit into a third category. I look for efficient, balanced play. I watch quite a few videos and streams, and people are really enjoying themselves which is wonderful, but there is so much wasted energy and lost opportunities. From my viewpoint, CA built the game to have a "critical path" for an optimum, balanced game. Things like tapping pine tar at the earliest opportunity for crafting Speed-Gro before Strawberries. Speed-Gro adds 50% to year 1 Strawberry production; I think it's what the dev intended. At the end of Spring all of my skills are level 5 or better, and to my OCD brain that just feels right. I don't try to squeak out every last dollar. I look at @PrincessBubblegum's speed running thread and I'm really impressed, but it doesn't tickle my amygdala the way that an efficient, really balanced game-play does. I push myself, not to make huge amount of money, but to do it all and not waste a day. I don't need 5 million in year 1, but to not have quality sprinklers by Summer? That's just not an option!

 

I kind of cheat in a way. I upgrade my watering to gold as soon as possible then push for the desert unlock through joja. Once that is done I spend all my extra funds unlocking the sewers through Omni geodes. Once the Sewers is unlocked I buy a Iridium Sprinkler every friday and then year 2 is when I start pushing for gold making and art goods. ROFL.

 

I take my take and I treat the game like, more of a relaxing/immersive animal crossing style thing. I look at money making as a means to an end - there are things in the game I want to buy or get access to, and so that's why I'm getting money. Same thing for tools and the like. My favorite thing about the game is the characters, and to that end I've spent time looking up and installing mods that increase dialogue and such. I like the feeling of just living a life with these characters. Money just lets me do more, get to more places, and such.

I do like the sense of adventure/dungeon crawling from the mines and such, too, though. but I don't look to maximize profits and like plant a billion crops and etc. Just enough to get by and get to doing what I'm more interested in.

This is also why I use timespeed to slow down time. I feel like default stardew valley time pace is also why a lot of people place like minmaxers, because there's so LITTLE time. You CAN'T relax because as soon as you stop to enjoy a sight or just chill with a villager, the day is over. Time is so breakneck fast paced at default time speed. Slowed it down a lot and now I can take my time and wander around more aimlessly and don't have to plot out days.

 

I don't have Stardew Valley yet (Sadly. hoping i get it for Christmas), but I have a feeling I would be in the middle. Like, I'm probably going to be pretty chill with my actual farm and the friendships and such, but the mines and fishing are going to be something that I'm just going to try to get over with quickly. Just seeing other go through the mines and also go fish bores me, so I cant imagine how bored I'll be doing them.

 

One thing that I think is worth mentioning is that it's easy to discuss strategies about rushing and min/maxing etc; because there are clear goals and and strategies. It's harder to talk about how to be most chill and relaxed, because that can be very different for different people; and often there isn't much to say other than "I do whatever I feel like".

That said, if you look at the Stardew Valley subreddit, there are a lot more posts about "hey check out my cool looking farm" compared to "look how rich I am in year 1". ie. People do talk about their relaxed gameplay styles a bit, by posting pictures of their farm aesthetics.

 

Hopefully I don't get banned for this, but... I'm halfway through summer and haven't got any sprinklers yet. Not upgraded any tools. Only very recently got to level 40 in the mines.

I played the game a couple of years ago, and recently fired it up for another swirl. Had a lot of fun with it back then, but recall it got a bit stressful when I got into wine-making and jars with this and that. Had loads of coffee too, which was a colossal pain to process.

Now, though, with a fresh start..? I'm honestly finding it kinda boring, too monotonous or something. I love the fishing. That is truly relaxing. And I'm doing a bit of everything (but don't have animals yet). I'm not sure what is "wrong" this time around, but for some reason I'm not enjoying it a whole lot. Play some days, then quit the game because I'm basically bored. Try again a bit later or the next day.

I look up things on the wiki now and then, because it's too frustrating to e.g. run over to the mountain for a building, and having forgotten clay or something. Kinda play blind, but ofc remember things from before (think I got to level 100+ in the Skull Cavern then, with many bombs and luck). Bought crops for almost all the 10k I had on Summer 1, so maybe it's too big for me. Almost run out of energy just after having watered the crops.



The mine has been more interesting so should try to go there some more. But I need rain, which is rare. Not much money either so can't upgrade any tools right now, but should get some blueberries and such soon, which will help. Selling it raw since I don't have any jars or anything fancy like that. Have only used money on a silo (no upgrades) and Miss Piggy.

Have actually got all the bars for the minecarts, but lacking fire quarts and hardwood since I can't get that myself with the starting tools. And managed to pick up a rabbit's foot as well, which I think is good. But like said I'm kinda playing blind, so perhaps I've already missed a fish that can only be gotten in spring or something. Have gotten three pomegranates from the batman cave too, so that is nice I think.

Not sure what might help here, but do you have some advice for me? Can't seem to get that one-more-day urge :-/

 

Yeah, that sounds pretty much normal for a semi-blind playthrough. BentFX is talking more from the perspective of someone who's spent a lot of time playing and replaying this game.

Yeah, this is why I basically don't do coffee anymore. Plant something else in that spot, it'll be a lot less processing work and you can use the proceeds to buy coffee from Gus instead.

I assume you need rain to save energy on watering? Since your fishing is going well, can you save some fish for energy instead of selling them? Plus once some of your crops grow, you can save some to eat instead of selling them. I haven't done the math on which crops are good for that purpose (besides "probably not the melons"), but it sounds like you won't be able to make the hops into pale ale anytime soon, and you will get quite a few of them.
Or if you regret buying so many seeds, maybe think about whether you can leave some plants unwatered for now. They don't die, they just don't grow, so you can go back to watering them later (maybe once you've levelled up farming a bit or upgraded the can). The wheat in particular won't sell for much since you don't have kegs, so if you wanted you could basically ignore it until late fall.
Also, have you discovered the spa yet? It should have opened on the third of summer. If not, go to the area behind Robin's house, there's a path leading to a railway and a spa building, you can stay still in the pool to slowly replenish energy. (Hope that's not too spoilery, but you did ask for tips...) It takes some time but it can be useful.

You shouldn't need hardwood for the minecarts? But that's besides the point. It's definitely possible to get down to gold levels with a basic pickaxe, although it is harder and does take more time and energy.

 

Yes, I needed rain to be able to do anything else of note, because stamina was redlined after watering the crops. And now I've read from some number-cruching deity that one can have 160 crops almost right away? Yikes! Not for me, that's for sure.

Have played to the beginning of fall and had more fun. Almost to the bottom of the mines, and somehow managed to get dorado and sturgeon with level 7 fishing with the second pole (only bait). I honestly find that mini-game a lot of fun, or rather very relaxing. Sure, some fish are bouncing like crazy and are near impossible to catch, but for the most part the various fish is quite calm and easy to catch. Not a lot of money in it, but it's nice.

Still watering manually except for the one quality sprinkler I got somewhere. Probably best to try to improve matters for next spring at this point.

The spa is open, but I haven't tried it yet. Is it all that feasible though? From what I recall it took quite some time to get undressed and go through the rooms and such, and you need to go back out as well. Time flies in this game. Blink and you lost an hour.

Yes, I erred there. The hardwood was for a different bundle, not the minecarts. Have got the minecarts sorted now, so that helps, especially for mountain trips.

Don't have much money so haven't been able to upgrade any buildings or build a barn or coop yet (am thinking to skip the coop), but maybe by winter.

Good grief I have messed up with all the chests though. Yeah, I'm a bit of a hoarder, "maybe somebody will want this", and I like to have at least one backup of items. But it's messy, I don't remember what is where and then created new chests just to stuff things in them quickly and go to bed. Need a better system, me thinks!

What would have been real useful is a mega-chest or storage area of sorts, with 100-200 tiles. That way we wouldn't have to juggle different items in quite so many chests.

 

If you aren't making pale ale, Hops are the absolute best crop to eat for energy, only beaten by salmonberries, and they are about four or five times better than the average crop or fish

You may not be aware, but it is possible to colour code your chests

 

maybe timespeed mod is better, as you will have more time if you'd use it, maybe set it to 20 ticks everything
i bought the game to relax, but was stressed out when i didn't use mods yet, and with this mod (and some others, including automate), i finally do what i bought the game for, relaxing

 

Interesting. So I shouldn't just save up all this crap then? =)



I need to try to sort out some stuff when winter hits. Organise the chests, make some sprinklers for next spring, and make some more jars, and finally some kegs. 80% of the farm is currently a wild mess, which is fine really. I only need a small section of it. But should at least clear a path to the greenhouse. If only I had some luck with the pig lady and the batcave, we'd have it done soon.

Read on the wiki that monsters get stronger now after you reach level 120, so considering I'm going to need heaps of coal, it's probably a good time to farm for those pesky dust sprites. Not the most exciting thing ever, but I'll need them anyway.

Also read that the Prospector (chance for extra coal) skill doesn't work in the mines, which is a bummer. But that means there is sort of a benefit to not clearing out your farm asap. Lots of stones there, so if you clear it out after level 10 (if you happen to pick Prospector), that should net you some extra coal here and there.