The more I play the more I feel like the actual design of the town is terrible.

Bummer

 

Nobody moves plazas, they're not furniture but expensive, time-consuming infrastructure projects, especially when they're stone mosaics, like Puffin Town, and not merely slabs of concrete. The abandonment of the CC and the arrival of JojaMArt are utterly unrelated - the CC has been abandoned for years, the JojaMart is almost brand-new (given various dialogue clues and the lack of sold memberships, I'd say it was built in the year before your arrival.)

 

Kinda feels like this is a really unnecessary thread , I mean, what's so upsetting about spending a bit more time running around things? Right now the actual problem is a lack of content, by year 3 or 4 you've basically won the game. And sure, that'll take quite a few hours, probably around 40 given you aim for a decently complete farm. I understand the impulse to make things efficient and uniform, but I don't think this is the game for that type of discussion. This is a game that paces itself to the player, not to a standardized format.

Idk, it just feels like complaining for the sake of complaining.

 

That all really depends on how old the CC actually is, and more to how long the town has been around. One could say at least maybe 4 generations at least; or well seems that way since clint's dialogue.

Some people to relocate plazas. Not in the sense that they uproot something to move it, but more like they built a new area for it. And if the old one has not been used in years that one would be taken by nature. And seeing how nature seems to take to this game quickly in its' universe... You should get the point of that one I think.

Also a plaza does not mean it was slabs, just an area in which a lot of traffic was made. It could have been a wooden raised platform, or one that was laid out upon the ground. In which Nature could easily take it back to just being dirt, seeing how wooden fences seem to do the same.

So it is plausible, but more like when was it...

 

Given that every single day is dictated by a harsh and unyielding countdown timer, there are plenty of days in my year when absolutely have to get somewhere quickly and every second counts. When you have to stumble around the weird bushes in the cemetery or your horse gets stuck by the sewer or some other hazard exists where it shouldn't, it's a problem. The footpaths of the town are not laid out in a way that makes sense for footpaths - the places where shortcuts ought to be (i.e. the shortest distance between two point that foot-traffic creates when official roads are insufficient) don't exist, and existing shortcuts are slower and inefficient. it's not that this small village wasn't laid-out by some civic planner, the problem is that is doesn't seem to have been laid out according to how people actually move, which is crucial in a video game of this nature.

 

It would be plausible if geography suggested that the community centre's little plateau was ever the centre of town, but there's nothing behind it but Robin's house and all infrastructure is south of it. There's not even old roads or the remnants of roads, just a bunch of civic junk dumped in a park.

I've already put sixty hours or more into Stardew - I love it, passionately, but the layout of the town is just.. it's unnatural. And the fact that we have already spent this much time trying to justifying it's unnatural layout should be proof of its artificiality.

 

If you're aware of something being inefficient, why are you using that? You should use the horse when it is beneficial, and walk when it's beneficial. I kinda doubt you've actually run stopwatch timers to actually judge where the snags are and if it is in fact, slower to be on a horse in those areas. More likely it's actually faster due to the amount of time you save from running through the areas with large paths.

Don't try and change the game, adapt to the game, come on. You're a gamer, when did we resort to complaining about the games instead of playing the games? When did we decide it was easier to have someone cater to our needless wants, instead of enjoying things for what they are?

Just feels ungrateful, I feel like I see this a lot in a lot of games. Players not satisfied with the games they're playing, probably feeling that their money buys them a voice. When really, buying a game/subscription is no more than a ticket to a theme park. Someone paid money, time and effort to build this theme park for the enjoyment of the masses, do you really want to be the person at the front desk complaining about the ride you want being on the other side of the park?

 

I have no problem getting around town quickly on a horse. Once you know the paths that are wide enough, it's no big deal and no time is wasted.

 

@DukeOfRiven Unnatural... Not really. village/town life is not on the go all the time; it is a steady pace throughout the day. So for an on the go city person or large town person it might seem unnatural, but to one that views nature as a center piece it is natural, and the city life would be unnatural. It is all in a matter of perspective depending on where you live and what are raised like.

As the the center of community thing for CC. Center does not usually mean literally the center of town sometimes. Just means the center piece in which everybody visits. Like in a gospel small town their center piece would be the church, and sometimes the church is on the border of the town. It is just the town sprawled out away from the center piece, not around the center piece like it does in a city of the modern age.

Mining towns are also another good example, as some build out from the mine and not usually around the mining entrance or on top of the mound that was dug into.

So it is safe to say it sprawled out down the mountain/hill what ever you would call it.

Yes in certain areas it might not make sense, but since the walking path through mayor's yard is prevalent I would assume those in the north would be taking that to some extent; however the only bit that would seem a bit off is the sewer entrance, since there is barely a visible walking path going passed it to connect up with the path that comes out from lewis' yard. So that much I do agree seems odd, since that is heavily traveled by those on that side of town when going to the beach or library.

Did I hear something about a motorcycle? at robin's place, the garage. Well there is a switch back that leads up to linus' near there that is more of a ramp than stairs. And the trail that leads into the back of your farm. Assuming at one time there might have been an entrance somewhere along that path, but since has been fenced up. Ah the power of imagination.

 

Because they're not enjoyable when they're broken or causing needless difficulty? Because your advice - when something doesn't work you give up and accept it - is bad advice? Because money, does, in fact, give you a voice - purchasing a product, being a consumer, gives you a right to discuss, critique, and take issue with the product you have purchased?

When someone buys a ticket to a theme park and they have problems, they're allowed to complain about it - in fact, Theme Parks have entire departments full of employees whose sole job is handling complaints. If I pay someone money, and they make me miserable when they were supposed to entertain me, I have been ripped off and I have a right to confront the theme park who took my money for a bad service. I can even sue them, especially if that bad time led to an injury. What world do you inhabit where people uncomplaining visit theme parks? It sounds really pleasant, actually, can I go there? Finally:

Would be a great retort to my point if what I was complaining about was distance and not accessibility. It's not that the roller coaster is at the other end of the park, it's that to get to the other end of the park I have to make a bunch of unnecessary detours around rocks, bushes, and fences that add nothing to the theme park and are merely getting in pedestrians way.

 

Sorry, didn't realize reality was so difficult for you. I shall send an escort to assist you through the tough bits, would you like someone to push you around as well? I'm sure you'll find it the most comfortable way to live. /sarcasm

I understand complaints are necessary for growth, and improvement. When they actually look to aim and improve the game itself. Not just make it more convenient for those that are just going to play it to their satisfaction and forget about it 10 minutes later. The game has no paths that I can think of where being on the horse is completely frustrating. That part by the river next to the joja mart? Get off and walk to do what you need around there, if you don't have anything on that path? Ride your horse around, it's actually faster than running through. If you didn't notice your character actually runs into the walls on that path anyway. You may get to the other side of the river, say...going toward Robin's faster running, but with the horse and going around, you'll quickly overtake your running speed. That's the point of having the horse, sure, it can't go everywhere you're able to while walking but it's still much faster than running everywhere (other than the carts, which are basically limited and free totems)

And if you're really really stuck on this horse-path thing, I'd put up a suggestion to CA himself, he's been taking them the entire time, but you may be left waiting a bit, as you may imagine he's quite busy. Starting this thread is basically just begging the question, you're not exactly giving us any reasonable ability to discuss the issue. I can sympathize with someone that's willing to compromise, maybe you don't know all the path's you're able to use on the horse (like you can actually run through the graveyard to go from Marnie's to the Beach very quickly). We don't know what exactly you're having an issue with, because the pathing hasn't really been an issue for those that plan on playing this for probably hundreds of hours, our problem is the lack of end-game content, which is a problem that will affect the game's longevity on a much larger scale than the horse-pathing.

I really hope I'm not coming off as too aggressive, I'm actually really tired, so I apologize in advance if I am. But I just get frustrated when people complain about convenience, but I think I'm just a bit different in that respect. I don't mind tiny things like that, it makes the experience feel...real? If everything were perfectly lined up like a Joja Mart shopping isle, I think I'd quickly lose interest. Having these little nuanced issues, makes it feel inclusive.

 

No one gonna mention how the town lacks toilets?

The horse is fine. Could go anywhere in town on it without problems.
From memory, wide enough pathways for the horse are... crappy paint edit incoming~

The only unnecessary detour here that I could think of is the bushes blocking the sewers from the beach entrance, or going from Pam's trailer down to the bridge, both of which isn't really that big.

About the town layout... Uh, blame the cliffs?

 

Thank you for doing the work I wanted to, but I'm too tired to. I have no idea why I'm still awake...send help...in the form of a pizza and good movie pls

 

I was raised in a village, grew up in a village, and have subsequently visited and spent time in villages up to and including tiny little British hamlets with populations of thirty and a single pub-and-shop, and what people in small villages like is roads that connect to their houses and easy ways for them to transport crops and not being treated like they're pastoral archetypes but actual people who have busy days and lives. Boring retired city people who have delusions of tranquil village life might like to live in a bizarre simulacrum of a small town, but actual villagers like to go from point A to point B in as straight a line as possible, just like everybody else who has to get around.

Walking through someone's yard as though it were a common path gets you yelled at in small villages just as much as it would in the Big City, because that's my property goddamnit what are you doing walking across my lawn.

I'm not denying that small towns expand in certain directions - of course they do, you are absolutely right. What I'm saying is that, well, let's break this down:



Just look at this map and tell me how this makes sense. Why is the square not flush with anything in the town? Why does the road from your farm parallel to the plaza and the extra pavement the shop/clinic is fronting instead of meeting it on a perpendicular connection? Why is the only access to the beach - arguably much more central to the community than the community centre - not on a main road? Why is it only accessible via either a complicated detour around the cemetery or cutting through Lewis’s backyard? Why does only one house in the town (Emily’s) actually front a road - even Jodi’s house next story inexplicably has a footpath? Why does the walk that fronts her door not at least go down and meet the road? Why does her house have a dirt moat? Why doesn’t the road in front of her house run off screen like the road to your farm does (which then doesn’t continue to the bus stop, but whatever). What is that giant patch of dead earth behind Lewis house - it’s not part of Pam’s property, is it just scrubland? Even the pub doesn’t front onto the plaza but a side-street - nothing fronts onto the plaza, and the mosaic circle IS OFF-CENTRE because the southern road is also off-centre, and aligns with…. nothing! Not the north-west stairs, not the clinic, not the shop, not even the middle of the friggen plaza. JojaMArt’s not on he road, not is the library, and the footpath that leads to the blacksmith doesn’t even lead to the all the way to blacksmith (and is therefore not a foothpath because the passing feet of pedestrians is not removing the grass) but is just a bit of arid land - so neither the blacksmith nor the library are actually on roads of any kind. The only two vehicles in town are both parked in places it would be impossible to park in - fine, maybe Lewis’ truck did stop working and he collects all your shipping by hand in the middle of the night with, I dunno, a wheelbarrow, but what about JojaMart? Not only can it not have been parked where sit is without clipping through a tree, but why is it sitting BETWEEN the building and the loading dock? Anyone trying to stock the store has to carry boxes around the truck, that’s horribly inefficient. Your argument is that the community centre could have once centred the town but sprall moved south, but it’s clear from the map that can’t have been true - the centre is surrounded by cliffs, it’s not connected to the roadways, and it’s not even centred with the north-east stairs - if people did used to go to the community centre, why is there no evidence in the footpaths, which seem to skirt the place and meander their way up to Robin’s. (Even the mine is only accessible by a rickety could of planks - surely that would have actually bridge access. The quarry has a massive bridge - why? there’s no road on the other side of the gorge!).

Just looking at the map the CC, the fountain, and the playground (does anyone ever use that playground?) feel completely disconnected from the village below. The way they re space, the way the roads stop, the weird footpath that leads for no apparent reason to the empty paddock next to the community centre (seriously why?). There’s an arbitrariness to this map that sticks out like a sore thumb - the worst offender probably being the road just south of the plaza that doesn’t even lead to the front of Lewis house but a fence. You keep telling me to use my imagination - I am. I am imagining being the builder of Lewis house and saying “I’m not going to attach this house to a road so that not even his truck has access to it” - only I can’t imagine why anyone would do or think that thing. I am imagining being an employee of Joja mart and having to unload a loading dock that puts obstacles between me and my destination. I’m trying to imagine being the mayor who decided that the sewer grate needed its own partition but not a gate and what the hell is reasoning was. I’m trying to imagine what the completely fenced-in tree enclave north of the blacksmith is - but I cannot think of a purpose or function. I’m trying to imagine the organic growth of this little village given how it looks now - but I can’t, because it had none, being a planned community.

I just can't accept the plan as good.

(On an unrelated note:

WHY IS GRANDPA'S BED A COT ON A DIAGONAL ANGLE TO LITERALLY EVERYTHING ELSE IN THE ROOM? It's just... ngggh.... so unnatural... (at least drag it closer to the fire for the love of Yoba, the man is dying!) And the cot leg is bending! It's about to collapse! GET HIM A PROPER BED!

)

 

This thread is filled with so much whiny entitlement. I almost thought I was in the Starbound forums again

 

It's not entitlement to critique design.

 

I don't know, @OriSein - do you really want to trust pizza delivery from someone with glowing red eyes?

 

It's justified griping about a space that should be simple and easy to navigate - since the game clearly wants you to spend a lot of time there and even fills said space with literally dozens of independent, constantly moving objects - that is, in fact, difficult and often time-consuming to navigate.

 

My eyes are red too by this point, and it's freakin' pizza.