Better Balance

Content Patcher Better Balance 1.3.0

Sorry for the delay, but quite a few things added and the scope expanded a bit, although the majority can all be easily disabled if desired. The main points are that 1.6 content is now rebalanced, and the config options have greatly expanded, which should allow even easier customizing of the balance for the user (the .json files can still be edited as before). The options are even easier to adjust with the Generic Mod Config Menu mod installed, which allows it all to be done from in-game (individual adjustment of specific items must still be done in the .json files). The rest of the patch notes are listed here with 1.6-specific features blacked out in spoilers. One other relevant note is that if you enjoy stretching out the early/mid-game with Better Balance, there is an unofficial update of the Leveling Adjustments mod on its Posts page that can help with slowing down experience gain.

Patch notes:
  • New config options to apply price multipliers to all items within certain categories: Fish, Animal Products, Animal Resale, Crops, Farm Forage, Flowers & Honey, and Cooked Foods. Note that changing these multipliers will affect the profitability & balancing of all items within that category.
  • Better integration with Generic Mod Config Menu to be able to change all config options in-game, with fuller descriptions for all the config options (descriptions also readable in content.json). Note that some of the config options & descriptions may contain light spoilers via references to new 1.6 items. With GMCM installed, prices can now be changed dynamically during a game day, although as usual any items already in your inventory / on your farm when you changed prices will still display their old prices until you put them in a chest and then retrieve them while holding an item with the updated price.
  • New option to make cooking food always "break even" in terms of the base value of the final dish compared to the value of the ingredients, assuming using the cheapest possible ingredients (exceptions for Sashimi & Maki Roll). Dynamically takes any Price Multipliers for the ingredients into account (but not professions or other bonuses). Can be used alongside the "Cooked Food Value Multiplier" to effectively set a global profit margin % for cooking.
  • SMAPI no longer gives the player a "false alarm" warning about a lack of update key for the C# portion of Better Balance
  • For users customizing prices: Many of the changes to hardcoded prices previously done with the C# portion of the mod are now possible to do with the Content Patcher portion. Thus, there is no longer a "pricesBasic.json" price file, and the old "pricesSMAPI.json" price file is now simply "pricesBalanced.json," which now contains most of the prices previously in the C# config.json. Currently the C# portion still adjusts hardcoded prices for items from the Traveling Merchant, and if SVE is installed adjusts seed prices at Joja Mart to fit Better Balance
  • New recommended mod: "Leveling Adjustment" by jahangmar. E.G. Can set general experience multiplier to 0.5 to level up skills half as fast to extend the early/mid game.
  • New option to apply an additional multiplier to Animal Products that stacks multiplicatively with the main Animal Products multiplier, but only activates later in the game when certain late-game crackers become available (Set at 0.7 by default). This is intended to help Crops to stay viable after the huge boost to animal profits at that point
    [*]New option to trade certain late-game crackers for top-tier fertilizers at Pierre's, to give them a use for Crops and help Crops stay a viable option
    [*]Prices adjusted for the new crops, their seeds, and the new tree syrup
    [*]New option to slow down Fish Smokers. By default, set to slow them down to the same speed as Preserves Jars
    [*]New option to make Smoked Fish from the Fish Smoker always be at regular Quality instead of inheriting the Quality of the raw Fish, like how Kegs & Preserves Jars work
    [*]New option to increase the crafting & recipe cost of Fish Smokers
    [*]New option to make the Mushroom Log also require 2 Red & 3 Common mushrooms to craft
    [*]New option to slow down the Mushroom Log to take 6 days to grow instead of 4 (still reduced by rainy days)
    [*]New option to make Speed-Gro and Deluxe Speed-Gro require some Hardwood & Moss instead of their normal ingredients
    [*]Dinosaur Eggs no longer get their value boosted by reading a certain book

There are surely some adjustments I will still need to make to this, so let me know of any issues or bugs I missed, I wanted to finally have at least a version of this released. I'll likely further tweak the balance of some of the 1.6 content once I finally start trying it out properly (not just testing the mod :P )
(I'm more likely to check my Nexus account for any posts or messages)
Better Balance now updated for Stardew Valley 1.6!
Also no longer requires the Custom Crystalarium Mod to adjust the speed of Crystalariums (feature can be toggled in config.json)
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Better Balance v1.2.2 update

This update has a bit more in it than usual:

  • All the following balancing changes should be reflected in the updated Individual Overviews? article. The article has also been updated with more comprehensive charts, showing things like top Greenhouse crops, all-season crops/trees, Tiller, Artisan, some quality fertilizers, etc.

  • I've also added notes to the article on how Tiller can beat Artisan in some situations.

  • I've found that I was measuring the profits of selling Barns of
    Spoiler:
    Show
    with Coopmaster/Shepherd incorrectly, so have increased their sale price to compensate. Also increased their Egg price to make using Mayonnaise Machines even less necessary for them (just gives a very small boost).
  • After looking over prices some more, I've also increased the prices for Starfruit, Wheat/Beer, Tea Leaves/Green Tea, and the spoiler 1.5 Coop Animal. They all now have a few more situations where they beat alternatives.
  • I've attempted a big update to the Android version of Better Balance; it should now have all the same features of the PC version. However, I haven't been able to do any proper testing on an Android device, so please let me know whether or not it is working properly! If it doesn't work, using the most recent recent "Better Balance Android" file from the Old Files? section should work.
Also check the link for details on the 1.2.1 update as well.
Better Balance v1.2.0 is released!

This now includes SMAPI functionality (which can be disabled in the config) and mainly streamlines all the previous compatibility patches. Now it should all be handled automatically, no need for additional downloads or manually replacing other files! (In particular, if you had been using the SVE Jojamart fix file, you can safely just leave SVE's file there now)

As a bonus, with the SMAPI additions I am now able to alter some of the hard-coded prices in the game, which currently means that Fruit Trees are now balanced closer to how I envisioned them. This means some will behave similar to their current version in Better Balance, but others will be worth significantly more, but with a very high purchase price, as a long term investment. More details are in the Individual Overviews / Explanation & Background articles.

Please let me know if the changes in the 1.2.0 update cause any issues, or break any previous mod compatibility from the old 1.1.2 version.

I'm continuing to learn more of SMAPI modding, and hopefully will be able to add some more compatibility to some other mods or adjust other prices (like Animal purchase prices) in the future.
Better Balance 1.1.2 adds:
  • Green Tea & Tea Leaves to balancing as "mini-Ancient Fruit,"
  • fixes Ancient Fruit's price being 5g lower than intended,
  • adds an optional patch file for SVE which rebalances the price bonuses SVE rewards for various NPC events to be more in line with Better Balance prices.
The full details can be seen at the Nexus mod page.
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