Switch Controls Just Don't Work

[MagicBrisket]

Begging for help here . . .

I downloaded this game about two hours ago and I can't get it to do anything predictably. The controls simply do not work.

I've never played Stardew Valley before, I downloaded it from the Nintendo Play Store, I have never remapped or altered the controls on the Switch, and nobody else has access to my Switch. The controls on the Switch work as they are supposed to on every other game I have.

At the very start of the game, as soon as I got into my house, I somehow moved a table with no clue how. In order to get it back in place, I had to just randomly press buttons and use the right joystick until it plopped somewhere else. Supposedly, you use the right joystick to put the hand on the object, press the A button, move the object to where you want it, and then use the Y button to leave it there. It doesn't work. The object flashes, disappears if I don't press a button within a few seconds, ends up in inventory . . . It's all seemingly random.

So I went outside and tried to use the tools. I somehow got some kind of tool in my hands that let me remove a clump of grass. But I don't show myself holding anything, and I can't figure out how to put it back or stop using it. If I press the Y button, I'm going to chunk something with whatever tool I'm using.

I found a guide that supposedly spelled out the controller and what the buttons do, but it just doesn't work the way it says it will. I used an AI app to generate explicit instructions on how to move furniture. This is what the AI came up with:

1. Select the furniture you want to move by navigating to it in your inventory.

2. Use the right joystick to move the cursor to the desired location in your house.

3. Press the ‘A’ button to rotate the furniture to your desired orientation.
Press the ‘Y’ button to place the furniture in the chosen location.

I can do step one and step two, but step three just appears to do random stuff.

If the piece of furniture is not an inventory, the instructions say to do the following:

1. Approach the furniture you want to move.

2. Press the ‘A’ button to pick up the item.

3. Use the right joystick to move the cursor to where you want to place the item.

4. Press the ‘Y’ button to place the item down in the new location.

But when I approach the furniture I want to move, if it's a chair, pressing A makes me either jump over it or sit on it. If it's not a chair, standing next to it and pressing the A button does nothing.

Again, I have the default control scheme on my Switch. I am using the controllers that are attached to the handheld unit, and they came with the Switch. I checked the Switch, and all the software is up-to-date.

I've seen multiple videos on YouTube and have watched people do things, but all I can see is their screen and a cursor moving around. I have no clue what buttons they're pressing. I have no clue how they're making this even work.

It's unplayable if this is the way it really runs on Switch. Are there any settings or something that could explain this? Because after two hours straight of fighting with this, I'm done. I wish I could get a refund.

 

[dylanab]

This might help you get the cursor to show up:

- Press the plus button on your controller to open up the pause menu.
- Use the shoulder buttons to scroll across the tabs at the top u til you get to Options.
- Move down until you get to an option that says "Use Controller-Style Menus" and uncheck it.
- An arrow cursor should appear and move around with the right joystick now.

 

[MagicBrisket]

Thanks for your help. I did change the controller option in the game, restarted the game, and it seems to be helping.

Let me give you an example of what I'm dealing with here . . .

I somehow got a hold of the ax. I have no idea how. So I can go out and cut down clumps of grass and weeds. I want to change to the pickaxe in order to break stones. I open the menu, and put the cursor over the picture of the pickaxe. But then, no matter what I press, it either does nothing or wants to put my pickaxe in the garbage.

If I have the cursor over the pickaxe and press A, it's like the cursor somehow picks up the pickaxe and I can move it around. While the cursor has hold of the pickaxe, if I press Y, nothing happens. If I press B, it tries to put my pickaxe in the garbage. If I press X, it tries to put it in the garbage. If I press A, it does nothing. If I press any other button on the screen including the scroll buttons along the top of the controllers, it does nothing.

I have no clue what it wants me to do to do something so simple as to switch tools.

Nowhere online can I find how it explicitly tells you how to switch tools. All the instructions to say use the pickaxe or use this or use that.

 

[MagicBrisket]

Here's a screenshot to show what I mean. I scrolled over to the pickaxe, and pressed A. Now it looks like the pickaxe is somehow attached to the cursor. Now what do I do? Like I said in my post above, the only options I have are to throw in the garbage can.

Is the whole game this hard?

 

[dylanab]

Ah yeah, that can be frustrating, especially when there's no game manual or anything that comes with the game.

You've got the right idea of selecting the tool you want to use, but unfortunately you're doing it in the wrong place.

When you go into the menu, you can organize things in your inventory by picking something up with A, moving it to a different inventory slot with the joystick, and putting it down with A.

In order to switch what tool you're using, exit out of the menu (so you're in the playable part of the game) and use the shoulder buttons. The big shoulder buttons (ZL and ZR) will cycle which tool or item you're holding. The smaller shoulder buttons (L and R) will cycle which backpack row is showing (which will happen when you upgrade the backpack).

Here is a breakdown of controls, which might be helpful: https://stardewvalleywiki.com/Controls

Finally, you got a hold of the ax because you started the game with it. :-)

Hope this helps!

 

[MagicBrisket]

OMG! THANK YOU!

I really think I'm starting to hate this game, though. If you have to struggle this much, it's not fun and not worth it. I've got other places to go and other people to annoy.

 

[dylanab]

No problem! I'm sorry to hear that you're starting to hate the game, though. If I can give some unsolicited advice: don't give up on it yet. Once you get a hang of the controls, then the game is very easy and you can do everything at your own pace. If you're having any more struggles, feel free to post here or message me directly and I can try to help. :-)

 

[MagicBrisket]

I know, but damn . . .

Now I'm trying to fish.

I got to the edge of the water, used the Y button to cast my line far out in the water, and waited. After a short time, an alarm went off and a yellow exclamation point appeared above my head. According to the online instructions, a mini game is supposed to start. Supposedly, I don't have to do anything. The game just starts.

The game does not start. If I press Y, I pull my line out of the water. No other button works. So now what do I do? The minigame is supposed to start on its own. It does not.

I don't understand why I'm looking up the instructions on how to do things and they just simply do not work.

 

[dylanab]

Ah, I see. The instructions you read were for a skill you can get later in the game, where the minigame starts automatically. Until you get this skill, you'll need to start the game manually.

After you cast the fishing line out, when the exclamation mark appears, press Y again to start the minigame. Just like with actual fishing, you'll have a small amount of time to react before the fish gets away. It's around half a second or so.

In the minigame, you'll see a vertical bar with a fish and a smaller green bar. You can control the green bar by pressing and holding Y to make it go up, or letting go of Y to make it go down. You want to keep the fish inside of the green bar until it's caught.

The green bar's movement is kind of elastic, so it'll take some practice to get it right. But the more you do it, the easier it'll get -- literally, both through normal practice and because the game will adjust things to make it actually easier the more you do it.

Hope this helps, and don't worry if it takes a bit of practice to get the hang of fishing. Fishing is one of the trickier things to do in the game. :-)