Stardew Valley creator, Eric 'ConcernedApe' Barone, took part in a Reddit AMA and like all of his public appearances, it was very charming and sweet. That's almost no surprise really, considering he's the creator of the equally charming and sweet farming simulator that recently hit the Nintendo Switch market after making waves on PC.
In this AMA, Barone discussed what he learned during his time developing Stardew Valley. He's even shared that a few ideas have started to blossom during this time, ideas that he plans to incorporate into his next game. As exciting as this notion is, he was reluctant to share too much.
"Creating hype too far in advance is a lot of pressure," Barone said, "and ultimately I don't think it benefits anyone."
Despite this, he did go on to describe his thoughts in an abstract development point of view. He discussed his approach to his next project, stating that he'll be going "with a similar mindset to Stardew Valley – take a style of game that was never fully realized (or that changed trajectories, leaving unexplored possibilities), and carry on the tradition in my own weird way."
It's no secret that Stardew Valley is the ultimate 'what if' story for Harvest Moon. As time went by from the release of the original Harvest Moon on SNES, the series changed with the times, losing some of its original charm despite holding a relatively positive reception. Stardew Valley seems to be from the parallel universe where Harvest Moon stayed on SNES and grew within the confines of the colorful 16-bit canvas.
The part that makes Stardew Valley special though, is Barone's ability to strike nostalgic tones, while also bringing something new to the table. It's hard to believe that what makes the game so special, he actually said he held back on.
Barone said he took "a softer approach" to Stardew Valley. With the heavy inspiration from Harvest Moon, he actually didn't want to take too many risks with branching out from the formula. He goes on to say that this careful approach and the success of his game has given him the confidence to push harder.
"With my next game I want to go all out with my ideas, take things to the extreme, create an even richer and more detailed game world.’
He also talked about fans datamining his game to find secrets from development. Unlike many big-time developers, Barone seems completely unworried by it. "I don't feel too strongly about it… I'm all for letting people enjoy the game how they want… and if that means figuring out all the secrets in unintended ways, so be it."
Where does his charm end? Apparently neither in this AMA, nor his next title. An announcement seems very far off, but any news regarding Stardew Valley and its developer's future plans can be found first on GameZone. The recently released Nintendo Switch port of Stardew Valley was reviewed by our own Mike Wewerka, "The port couldn’t be any better and fans of the game on other devices will be just as happy with it on the Switch, with the added bonus of taking it on the go."
