Summary
Stardew Valleybuilds on farming and life simulation games of the past in a number of key ways, which has ultimately allowed it to become the genre’s quintessential entry in the modern era. Having said that, there’s always room for improvement, and withStardew Valleyreceiving a slew of post-launch support over the years, there’s potential for further polishing.
Although they might not have the same impact as in games likeSkyrim, mods are nevertheless an important part of theStardew Valleycommunity. Some of themost notableStardew Valleymodsoffer completely new ways to engage with the game, introducing various NPCs, customization options, cities to explore, and impressively realized stylistic overhauls. Other mods, however, have their sights trained on more practical concerns, focusing on quality-of-life enhancements and sanding down the very few rough edges remaining in the vanilla game. These modest, pragmatic mods may be among the best places for ConcernedApe to look when adding new content toStardew Valley, or evenHaunted Chocolatier, down the road.
The Chest Automation Mod Would Be Right at Home in Base Stardew Valley
Chest Automation Reduces Some of Stardew’s Tedium
Chests are essential for organizing materials inStardew Valley, but they can easily become cumbersome, confusing, and time-consuming to search through, especially if one doesn’t have a solid system in place. Going through daily in-game tasks often means cracking open these chests for raw materials to put into processing devices, then returning after a few minutes to deposit the processed materials, usually in another chest or in the selling bin.Stardew Valleymay be built around these sorts of repetitive tasks, but the repeated shuffling of menus, day-in and day-out, can quickly become rote and unpleasant for some.
That’s where theAutomate modcomes in. With it, PC players can link a chest to processing devices, like cheese makers or furnaces. The processing device will then pull raw materials from the chest before depositing the processed materials back into the same chest. This greatly streamlinesStardew Valley’s crafting system, but it doesn’t dumb it down. If anything, the various nuanced features of the mod, like how it allows the linking of various different processing machines, opens new doors for player expression and creativity, injecting the base game with a bit ofFactorioflavor.
How Stardew Valley, Haunted Chocolatier, Could Learn from the Automate Mod
The most obvious way to factor this mod’s strengths into eitherStardew ValleyorHaunted Chocolatierwould be to allow similar functions to be unlocked by the player. Perhaps the ability to automate production could be a reward for leveling up a particular skill, or one could discover a difficult-to-craft recipe for an automation system out in the game world. This would fold the quality-of-life aspects of the mod into thebroader progression ofStardew ValleyorHaunted Chocolatier, making for a satisfying reward that meaningfully builds upon their foundational crafting elements.
Some sort of resource-based automation could be particularly pertinent inHaunted Chocolatier, which will seemingly be more focused on the multi-step creation of processed goods than its predecessor.
The mod, as it exists right now, is solid and helpful. But of course,like allStardew Valleymods, it’s only available for PC players, and with so many enjoying ConcernedApe’s magnum opus on consoles like the Nintendo Switch, official support for this feature would make it more accessible. On top of that, ConcernedApe christening this approach to automation by making it part of the base game could make it a more natural part of the experience, which it arguably should be.
Stardew Valley
WHERE TO PLAY
You’ve inherited your grandfather’s old farm plot in Stardew Valley. Armed with hand-me-down tools and a few coins, you set out to begin your new life. Can you learn to live off the land and turn these overgrown fields into a thriving home? It won’t be easy. Ever since Joja Corporation came to town, the old ways of life have all but disappeared. The community center, once the town’s most vibrant hub of activity, now lies in shambles. But the valley seems full of opportunity. With a little dedication, you might just be the one to restore Stardew Valley to greatness!
