Dev Update #31 is finally here and so is the soundtrack! But...

http://stardewvalley.net/dev-update-31

ConcernedApe has finally released a new dev update, but with sad news. He doesn't think the game is going to be out this year anymore, at least not the full release. That made me sad and disappointed, but hopefully we at least get a beta soon. What are your thoughts?

Personal thoughts: I've been following this game for three years now but mostly just lurking the forums, especially recently, and I guess I'm not surprised that it's not coming out even though he said it's definitely coming out this year since ever target he's made has been way off, especially if you recall the trailer in 2013 that says "coming soon!". I hope a beta comes very soon, but sadly his sense of soon isn't really soon and his table of time is very long, so I guess we'll see. There aren't really any other games I'm wanting to play right now, so this is killing me inside haha.

But que sera sera (whatever will be, will be), right? I love seeing what the game has become and am completely supporting of the project and bought the soundtrack without a second thought. I hope that he can get at least a decent amount from the purchases, he deserves it. It's really crazy to think how skilled CA would have to be to be the artist, musician, programmer, everything, every job...that's a ton of work, AND he made the engine himself on top of that. He deserves a ton of support, tell your friends, let's support ConcernedApe so he can feel encouraged.

Edit: after seeing the new fishing shot, I noticed the seaweed being pulled, apparently/maybe we can fish out things besides fish and other critters. Also, I wonder if fishing has changed since I don't see the minigame meter or if this is just a shot of after the minigame when you pull out your haul.

 

Good evening residents of Stardew, I'm happy to inform you all that CA has recently posted blog update #31. You should go check it out and read about all of the wonders there! Also as writing this, I am currently listening to the Stardew Valley soundtrack, and I will say I am impressed, yet not surprised at the quality that CA has output. Personally this makes me quite excited about what SV will look like as a finished product.
You can purchase the soundtrack for $5 in the post, which includes 70 tracks!
Now stop reading this, and go read that update!
Happy farming!
-Omegasis

 

Well im a bit sad right now but i am not mad: I understand CA and appreciate that hes explaining to us everything..

As for beta, I said it in another thread: I just hope that he gives access to anyone who preorder the game..

 

As beautiful as the soundtrack is, I think I'll hold off on buying it until I've played the game. I like to associate songs the first time I hear them with the areas or the characters they belong to, really root the songs to the game they come from. I can't believe it's almost here.

Also, that blog post has 800+ comments already? How...? Edit: Oh. It isn't. It says 800+ comments but is actually 6.

 

Its fine, Im sure beta will hold us all over, I think if he plans for a december cb release he should have signups around now?

Either that or have the option to pre-order made available soon. Idk. We'll see what he has planned, but CA is kinda always shifting his focus and goals, so he might not do a beta at all.


Heres hoping everyone on here gets in the cb if it is random!

 

Yeah my reaction was heart-sinking disappointment, but I'm not mad either. CA has been working on this game for so long that suddenly being hasty or impatient could ruin what he plans for the game's success.

That's my hope too, that we can preorder and thereby gain access to the beta. And when it is available, I will beta Stardew Valley so hard...I'll beta like I've never beta'd a beta haha.

 

If there is a beta i would ( just like everyone else ) love to be apart of it, but if thats not possible id just be content with watching others play it as long as CA is ok with people recording gameplay

 

I doubt it's closed beta will be so open that everyone who pre-order can enter, but we can always wish.
Unless he plans to make it an alternative to release singleplayer early. He seamed to have not made his decision yet despite other developers had recommended not to.

I'm a little worried about the multiplayer, it's usually the buggiest part of a game and it seams he hasn't touched a lot of it yet. If he really plant to finish singleplayer and multiplayer before releasing, his prediction seams off.
I don't think December will be enough to handle the bug fixing and feedbacks from the beta and finishing multiplayer by himself. It will probably take another month just for multiplayer and one more to do a beta for multiplayer.
I hope I'm wrong.

 

I feel the same away about the soundtrack.
I'm used to listening to game's soundtrack when I'm working, when I try a soundtrack from a game I haven't played, as great as the music is, it just sounds weird.
I'll wait for the game's release so the musics can mean something when a listen to them.

 

Just bought the soundtrack an hour or so ago. Really enjoying it thus far, imagine Harvest moon with a mix of new age easy listening, and a bit of a more modern touch. Sent Ape a tweet wondering whether those in the supposed Beta could record/upload. Wouldn't mind showing off the game if that's allowed.

 

Yeah, pretty sad that it's not out yet, but if everyone wants this game to live up to their expectations then he definitely should take his time on it.

Excited to pre-order or jump in the beta when it comes along. Thanks for the update CA, just don't take so long next time, we would love little updates too!

 

I might be in the minority here but I really hope that if CA does a beta of sorts it will be at least a closed beta and not have too many testers. But honestly I would really be one to advocate for no beta at all.

Why? Because indie games like this can suffer disastrous consequences from game files being leaked early. I am as eager as everyone else to dive into SV (I usually check the front page a few times a day for updates etc.) but I actually really want CA to do well (from a business sense) from this game. Unfortunately it's pretty hard to ensure the security of game files (in fact it's basically impossible) and as such releasing even a beta build could jeopardize the success of the game.

Of course, like everyone else, I would love to participate in the beta (any way of getting into SV asap! ) but as stated in the update - too much has been put in the game to not finish it off correctly (for both the game and CA). I respect that immensely.

 

I'm disapointed, think I will shelf this game and stop wasting time following it. Good luck with the "coming soon".

 

I know I shouldn't be, but I'm slightly disappointed at seeing the 'closed beta' listed, and in knowing that it's basically multiplayer that's holding the game back, though I really shouldn't be surprised.

Ah well, these things happen, and it'll come out eventually. At least he puts a lot of thought into what to do.

 

RitsuHasano hit it right on the head. The game is basically done. ConcernedApe is just applying liberal layers of polish right now and considering how many times he has thrown out and redone art assets that does not surprise me in the least. However, knowing that something I am looking forward to is being held up over multiplayer, when I never intended to play it as anything but single player, and that the genre and the game in particular (Harvest Moon) on which it is founded is almost exclusively single player... that would be like holding up XCOM 2 so multiplayer matches can be balanced.

It's putting the cart in front of the horse. I do have to wonder, which will release first? Stardew Valley or Nemo's War Second Edition. I've been following both for the better part of two years and both have been pushed back numerous times. Both have been "Done" and then a decision was made to push back their release. Look, perfection is all well and good, but getting advice from a thousand players can serve that end. This is 2015; nothing is released in it's final state anymore. Even board games have errata. Even if Stardew doesn't release for another six months, it will still have to be patched. Bugs are insidious like that and nowadays the artist doesn't have to ever truly put the brush down and considering how many times ConcernedApe has looked at something and said "No, that won't do; I'll do that again", you know it will happen.

For goodness sake, Age of Empires 2 just got a new expansion. Age of Empires 2. I played that in Middle School back in the early Renaissance. If anyone thinks when this releases something won't be changed or patched or added to later, you're wrong.

TL;DR - I don't care about multiplayer and I doubt half the people looking forward to this game do; finish single player and release it. Or don't. Fallout 4 and Legacy of the Void come out in ~72 hours and Anno 2205 still has a stranglehold on me.

Either way, you'll get my money. I just wanted to vent.

 

I understand where ConcernedApe is coming from.

For a game to release without multiplayer - promised as 'coming soon' - is to invite an army of negative reviews or people just passing it by and forgetting about it, because they only want to play it multiplayer.

Big streamers and LPers won't touch your game because they want to play it co-op with their friends, and by the time it does get added the window of them getting in on the marketing splash of the game's release has passed.

And worse than that, it's kneecapping any potential multiplayer community. TotalBiscuit rails against developers who launch games with multiplayer advertised as 'Coming Soon' because if the multiplayer isn't there on day 1, there's never going to be a healthy co-op community. Not sure if that applies more for fighting games than a farming game, but it is at least a mild concern.

Don't get me wrong, multiplayer holding back singleplayer does disappointment me too, but I understand why he has to do it.

 

I think release the game with single and not multiplayer and THEN release the multi can potentially kill the multi part of the game.
Personally, i'd prefer a release with the full game, every options in it (don't hit me )

And i'll buy the soundtrack and listen it until i die

 

Well, from a business point of view, to release part of a product with plans to release it in the future in updates has never went well. Take Starbound when it first launched as an example. People who bought it assuming it was the first product get so butthurt, it wasn't even funny. - Anyone else remember the birds of ever nearing doom? -

For a more recent example, there's the new Halo, with the lack of the forge, what I'd call a critical piece of the puzzle for that franchise' success, at least in terms of the online community. Now, do we need to wait a bit longer? No doubt, will we still be buying this when it hits the virtual store? Heck yeah.

 

I think it's a smart move, yeah I'm a little sad but you know I now have a new OST to listen to and I've waited few years already. I think I'm able wait a few more while CA gets SV to a state he happy with.

 

Like i posted on the dev update, i think the best idea for beta would be to do it with pre-orders. I get people are worried about "random people", who don't care as much as we do about the game, buying into the beta and then leaving negative reviews because they encounter bugs or the multiplayer is not done. The solution to that is simple, he can just give us pre-orders here, on the website and keep the game hidden on steam or simply with a "coming soon" tag. Other games have done this, both big names like Obsidian and Larian with their Kickstarter funded games, and smaller teams like the devs of Secrets of Grindea did for quite a while before putting it up on sale for everyone. This way he can get dedicated(fanboy) testers have a real interest in the game and get some money to keep the development more stress-free.

Anyway, whatever Ape decides is fine by me, i'v been waiting for the game for over 2 years now, i can wait a bit more.