Zuzu City? (Establishments, Areas, New items, NPCs, Quests)

triadriangle

Farmhand
This is just a suggestion, but if the time and resources permit, maybe our illustrious game developer can add the ability to visit Zuzu City?

I would like to suggest the following establishments found in the city:
  1. Mall - A largish establishment consisting of smaller shops like boutique (exclusive clothes), warehouse (mall-exclusive furnitures), and arcade (similar to casino, with new games and point system).
  2. Fast Food - Similar to Gus' saloon, but selling branded food like burgers, fries, milkshake, etc. Fast food "foods" are cheaper compared to Gus', but restores less Health/Energy, representing the fact that fast food is not good for you :) Maybe the developer can create a brand on this fast food, like a Mcdonald's parody or something.
  3. 5-Star Hotel - An expensive place where the player can stay the night, featuring expensive-looking NPCs, and a hotel receptionist NPC.
  4. Joja Corporation Building - A 70-storey skyscraper owned by Joja. Maybe Morris can be found here, and the developer can create a new quest surrounding Joja Corp. Maybe give the player an option to help Joja Corp. expand to smaller towns? Similar to how Joja Corp. started in Stardew Valley. Of course, the player can have the option to go against Joja, such as expose their shady business practices or something (more on this later).
  5. Music Studio - A building with a recording studio at the 2nd floor and a music shop at the ground floor. Maybe give the player an option to buy music items, like CDs, and cassettes, including Sam's band's demo tapes. These music items can be added to the jukebox item given by Gus, similar to how KK's music can be stored to speakers in Animal Crossing :) The developer can also add an NPC here, a music producer who's suffering from artist's block, or an aspiring singer or something.
  6. Broadcast Network- A building with a radio tower. My inspiration from this was the Radio Tower from Pokemon Gold/Silver. This is where the producers, actors, and hosts from the TV shows can be met:
    • Fortuneteller Welwick (from the fortunetelling show)
    • Farmer (from Livin' Off The Land)
    • The Queen of Sauce
    • Of course, there are new TV/radio personalities as well, such as maybe a superstar NPC who has attitude problems?
  7. Joja Fan Club - A blue, square building which houses several Joja artifacts, led by an overzealot Joja fan who only drinks Joja mineral water, Joja cola, and only eats Joja products. The other fan members are uber-fans as well, sporting Joja clothings and Joja merchandise.
  8. City Gallery - An art museum containing the works of renowned artists who are also looked up to by even Robin and Leah ;)
  9. There would also be countless vending machines all throughout the city. Other ideas include:
    1. Coffee shop selling very expensive, branded coffee-lattes, shakes, and pastries (Starbucks parody?)
    2. Institute of Artifacts from where Gunther trained before being sent to Stardew Valley :) This houses several curious artifacts like fossils, old documents, and artifacts, and of course, extraterrestrial oddities like UFO parts, space rocks, and a specimen of a space creature.
    3. An Office Building from where the player themselves worked before moving to Stardew Valley. The rat-race spirit is very evident in this area, and people in suits walk to and fro, with an almost, robotic expression on their faces. This is also the company that Sebastian wanted to be a part of sometime in the past.
    4. A Pro-Environment Organization building which conducts different rallies on the streets about the use of plastics and other pollutants. The player can also recycle trash items here (old CDs, old glasses, Trash, Driftwood, Soggy newspaper, etc.), in exchange of cool, exclusive items that can only be obtained here. Also includes a pro-environnment NPC who's into veganism and all that.
    5. Convenient Store which sells instant foods like cup noodles, bottled juice, energy drinks, packed biscuits, packed lunch, egg sandwiches, etc. (7-Eleven parody?)

Story Arcs/Quests:
  1. Capitalist Joja - An idea that came to me regarding Zuzu City centered around capitalism (hence, the Joja Corp.). The vending machines will sell Joja Cola and other branded items as well, including an infamous bottle of mineral water which is the only potable water in the whole city. This brand of mineral water, of course, is owned by Joja Corp., and a series of quests surrounding Joja's shady business practices can be experienced by the player. This is my idea, but this mineral water has additives which make the citizens buy more water and crave for more Joja products. It's up to the player to uncover Joja's shady businesses and foil their capitalistic plans.
  2. Doing what you love: art- So about the City Gallery. Maybe the player and Leah (and/or Robin) can go to the City Gallery as a heart event? Concerning Leah, there may be a confrontation between her and her ex boyfriend. Maybe in the end there would be a final closure on this matter, and finally, the ex boyfriend finally accepts Leah's decisions and regrets his past views towards Leah's artistic tendencies, realizing now that one's hobbies such as art can be one's source of living, and that doing what you love is more important than earning cash.
  3. Subliminal Broadcasting - A series of quests concerning the Broadcasting Network. The player will unveil the secret behind the numerous reports concerning brainwashing, memory lapses, and other anomalies experienced by city residents. In the end, the player will discover that the radio tower is used by the broadcasting network to send out radio waves which manipulate citizens (e.g., making them buy more, making them love Joja Corp., etc.) and which causes lapses in memory. Eventually, a link will be established, and the player will discover that the Broadcasting Network and Joja Corp. are sister companies.

Miscellaneous additions:
  1. China town/Japan town/Asia town- In the spirit of diversity, maybe the developer can add a small area in Zuzu City where oriental merchandise can be bought? There would also be Asian NPCs (as well as marriagiables) :) Among the shops found here are:
    1. Oriental Medicine Shop - A store which looks like an old Chinese store, selling items like bitter herbs, dried animal parts, ointments, and an assortment of curiosities which recovers Health/Energy, and gives other odd effects.
    2. Noodle Shop/Stall - A one-man Japanese store owned by a hardworking NPC from the east, which prepares, cooks, and sells great food like noodles, takoyaki, tempura, sushi, and other eastern delicacies.
    3. Zen Garden - An eastern-themed garden with bamboos and other oriental plants. Includes a shop selling different tea saplings (black tea sapling, white tea sapling, etc.), as well as new tree saplings like bamboo which creates bamboo wood (which will maybe open up a series of craftables like bamboo fence, zen lamp, zen fountain, etc.). Also sells eastern/exotic plantables like orchid seeds, daikon seeds, wasabi seeds, lily seeds, etc.
    4. Other ideas include:
      1. A manga shop
      2. A small videogame corporation (a Nintendo parody?)
      3. A seafood stall selling fresh seafood and fish
      4. An entertainment agency which houses a famous K-pop group parody whose songs can be heard in radios and TV shows in the city.

Conclusion: This is just a humble idea of mine, and of course, I am not expecting any of this to be included in the future updates, but of course, it would be very, very cool if we will be given the ability to visit Zuzu City, or another city/town in the future. These are just my ideas if ever there would be a future update concerning Zuzu City. I had the idea of Zuzu City being the opposite of Stardew Valley, in that everything is fast-paced, and the NPCs are city-dwellers who are used to this modern life. And of course, capitalism looms above this city, and I thought that this idea is in line with Stardew Valley's core principles concerning capitalism, rural life, and doing what you love.
 

triadriangle

Farmhand
this is such a cute idea, and it would be so cool to see everything there. also the npcs from the valley could work it into their schedules, like sebastian on his bike
Thank you! Yes, exactly! The town residents can be found in the city at different schedules. Maybe Sebastian may try to get into the rat-race and attempt to find a job in the city, but eventually will realize that the town is where he really, really want to live :)
 
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