several suggestions for game balancing

[Mr. Mage]

1. automatic passout at 2 am is absolutely ludicrous considering it kills prolonged fishing at night and long runs in the mine, on top of that you're penalized even if you pass out ON YOUR FARM, imo there shouldn't even be an automatic passout, instead maybe add an energy debuff that increases the energy drained from everything, stacking indedinitely until the player goes to bed

2. fishing needs to be reworked from scratch, the difficulty scales way too high, training rod would work if it could catch anything more than basic fish, but it doesn't and likely never will, and on top of that the minigame itself sorely lacks innovation, I think it's time for a new fishing minigame that isn't so much of a chore

3. there needs to be more affordable sources of movement as horses are too expensive but are likely vital for the gameplay, maybe add the ability to sprint in exchange for consuming more energy in the process?

4. this is in regards to mobile specifically, but the controls could use a moderate rework too as the pathfinding is subpar and ranged weapons like the slingshot fire all over the place rather than where you tap

 

[Hill Myna]

1. I agree that passing out on your farm shouldn't have as much of a penalty, but passing out at 2:00am is a solid game mechanic. Without it, you could spend hours IRL doing whatever without IG time ever progressing.

Draining the Energy like you suggested wouldn't be a great solution, because Energy is super easy to regain if you have enough food. Plus, unless you're in the early-game, Energy is probably the least of your concerns when it comes to (not) going to bed. I'm more worried about the cost!

If you need more time to fish/mine/forage, then you have to make space in your day. Maybe you ignore your animals, maybe you leave your crops until later in the day. There are ways to fit in bigger blocks of time.

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2. I love the fishing mechanic! I think it is well balanced, satisfying, and that it scales very nicely.

What Fishing Level are you at? The higher you get, the bigger your green bar gets, making it easier to catch fish. The Training Rod buffs your bar size up to the equivalent of level 4 in Fishing, and once you've reached level 5+ Fishing becomes a much smoother experience.

You can also buy/cook dishes for Buffs, which increase your bar even further.

There are also easier and harder fish to catch. The Secret Woods and Mountain Lake are generally speaking the easiest places to catch fish at, and the Beach fish can be quite difficult.

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3. I'm curious, how long have you played Stardew for? Many of the issues that you are facing are resolved later in the game. :D

The horse is meant to be slightly gated, but ultimately isn't that pricey. You just have to make it one of your objectives!

But later in the game, you can cook dishes/brew Coffee which significantly increase your speed (and stack with your horse). You also unlock ways of teleporting, and there are other forms of fast travel available, too.

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4. I've never played on Mobile so I can't comment on the controls, but generally speaking slingshots are finicky on all platforms. The latest update (1.5) improved the control scheme, but is yet to be released on Mobile.

Looking forward to your response!

 

[FilthyGorilla]

I agree 100% with @Hill Myna, what they say is true in later aspects of the game as you might find.
The whole point of this game is to take your time in an enviroment devoid of it, days that end in 15 minutes, tasks that seemingly require more time that they offer, the game at some points is organized chaos.
Organized though, the main point, the part of this game which makes it what it is, the rush, the want and feel of the adrenaline once you finish a task, the same rush finding your 345th prismatic shard as your first, reaching the elevator at 1:50, finishing the quest on the last day, all of it comes together in some way, and in doing so, CA gives us something that is all too easily disgarded in the lives we interact and partake in our real lives, limited infinity, in possibilities, tasks, friendships and necessities.
It's what can both drive you and slow you, sometimes at the same time, the realism it adds sub conciously is what makes this game the gem it is, in both mind and practise, what you take from the game can be applied in ways you never expect, both the peace it gives you and the lessons it slowly gives us all.

Sorry for getting so deep there, late night and I'm feeling happy, have a good day and good luck in whatever ventures you may be a part of.

 

[imnvs]

1 - Automatic pass out at 2 am is a problem? You've been up for 20 hours at that point! You need to go to sleep! Even if you only stay up to just past 12 every day so that you can have your energy back the next day you're just barely getting 6 hours of sleep literally every night. The game's time system would have to be overhauled entirely to satisfy your desire to stay up all night. The end of day calculations/updates/saving would have to be overhauled too. It's a meta-limiter, but it is a needed one for the game to function the way it does.

2 - Look, I'm not a huge fan of fishing. I find it tedious, but with practice (both so that you learn how to play the minigame and so that your character develops the fishing skill to make the minigame easier) it will become much easier, especially as you are able to upgrade into better fishing poles in order to use bait and tackle. Also, that you can only get "basic fish" means very little when your skill is 0 and the training rod gives you a bar in the minigame as if your character's skill was 5... because it means you can actually get fish. You haven't developed the personal skill with the minigame, so you should use the training rod until your character's fishing skill is at least 4. Develop your skills, mate, and it'll get easier, trust me.

3 - More affordable sources of movement? Warp totems are cheap AF, my dude, and the stables may seem expensive... but only if you're new. It's only 5 iron bars and 100 hardwood which is easily attainable after you have access to iron. Chopping up stumps gets you mahogany seeds and you have lots of stumps on your farm. Then you farm the mahogany trees.

 

[Mr. Mage]

1. I agree that passing out on your farm shouldn't have as much of a penalty, but passing out at 2:00am is a solid game mechanic. Without it, you could spend hours IRL doing whatever without IG time ever progressing.

Draining the Energy like you suggested wouldn't be a great solution, because Energy is super easy to regain if you have enough food. Plus, unless you're in the early-game, Energy is probably the least of your concerns when it comes to (not) going to bed. I'm more worried about the cost!

If you need more time to fish/mine/forage, then you have to make space in your day. Maybe you ignore your animals, maybe you leave your crops until later in the day. There are ways to fit in bigger blocks of time.

––––

2. I love the fishing mechanic! I think it is well balanced, satisfying, and that it scales very nicely.

What Fishing Level are you at? The higher you get, the bigger your green bar gets, making it easier to catch fish. The Training Rod buffs your bar size up to the equivalent of level 4 in Fishing, and once you've reached level 5+ Fishing becomes a much smoother experience.

You can also buy/cook dishes for Buffs, which increase your bar even further.

There are also easier and harder fish to catch. The Secret Woods and Mountain Lake are generally speaking the easiest places to catch fish at, and the Beach fish can be quite difficult.

––––

3. I'm curious, how long have you played Stardew for? Many of the issues that you are facing are resolved later in the game. :D

The horse is meant to be slightly gated, but ultimately isn't that pricey. You just have to make it one of your objectives!

But later in the game, you can cook dishes/brew Coffee which significantly increase your speed (and stack with your horse). You also unlock ways of teleporting, and there are other forms of fast travel available, too.

––––

4. I've never played on Mobile so I can't comment on the controls, but generally speaking slingshots are finicky on all platforms. The latest update (1.5) improved the control scheme, but is yet to be released on Mobile.

Looking forward to your response!

1. automatic passout should be scrapped to begin with, people don't just hapharzardly pass out at 2 am so if anything removing it would be more accurate to rl if that's what your desiring
2. I'd assume you have max fishing level and crab pots in every vacant spot, it's not easy for a generate human, and who even cares about the training rod? I don't think you can catch squids with it. also I'm level 5 in fishing and things aren't any smoother for me
3. I've been playing for the past 2 weeks but I've come much further than most in that case and I'm already in the second year with minecarts and the bridge near the mines repaired, for one thing it's not solely the gold cost that concerns me, it's the cost in general, and what difference would a coffee make? 1 speed isn't much as far as I'm concerned, tbh we should be able to mount smaller animals like pigs to get us by until we can get horses in the late/endgame

 

[Hill Myna]

Hey Mr. Mage! Thanks for responding.

1. automatic passout should be scrapped to begin with, people don't just hapharzardly pass out at 2 am so if anything removing it would be more accurate to rl if that's what your desiring

I don't think Stardew needs to mimic the real world. I just don't see how this mechanic would really work. Can you imagine how hectic it would be at 6:00am?

Your crops grow up, you magically get mail, your shipping bin money happens to be added to your total, all the shops open up, a meteorite decides to land on your farm and doesn't hit you, your barn is finished in an instant and an earthquake happens.

This doesn't seem like a good feature to me.

2. I'd assume you have max fishing level and crab pots in every vacant spot, it's not easy for a generate human, and who even cares about the training rod? I don't think you can catch squids with it. also I'm level 5 in fishing and things aren't any smoother for me

I'm not sure what you mean by "generate human".

Fishing is typically very tricky in Winter. I would fish at the Secret Woods (like I mentioned earlier), because most of the fish you'll catch there are Carp, and they are probably the easiest fish to catch. You'll need a Steel Axe to unlock the Secret Woods (more on that later).

99% of the Spring fish are easier to catch than most Winter fish, and if you're at Level 5 you should be able to catch them. I would say 70% of the Winter fish are uncatchable/really difficult at Fishing Level 5. Squids are among the hardest!

3. I've been playing for the past 2 weeks but I've come much further than most in that case and I'm already in the second year with minecarts and the bridge near the mines repaired, for one thing it's not solely the gold cost that concerns me, it's the cost in general, and what difference would a coffee make? 1 speed isn't much as far as I'm concerned, tbh we should be able to mount smaller animals like pigs to get us by until we can get horses in the late/endgame

The way you wrote this paragraph makes it a little tricky for me to interpret, but I'll try my best:

Coffee definitely makes a difference. The standard player speed is 5. When you ride a horse, it becomes 6.6. Coffee adds +1, so it's not quite as good as a horse, but still pretty good.

If you combine it with a +Speed dish (you can have one dish buff and one drink buff active at any point in time) like Spicy Eel, Pepper Poppers, or Crabcakes, then you can go even faster than when on a horse, without the horse. Add the horse in and you'll be zooming, at 8.6 Speed, a massive 70% increase on the base player speed!

Coffee Beans can sometimes show up in the Traveling Cart's stock for 2,500G, or Dust Sprites can drop them (1% chance per kill). They can be planted in Spring and Summer, they take ten days to grow, and upon harvest they will give you 4 more Beans. They will continue to be harvestable every 2 days, making them a great crop for the Greenhouse, once that is unlocked.

Once you've got your field of Beans planted, then you can put any extras in a Keg (5 at a time). This will produce Coffee, which gives you its lovely speed buff for 1m 23s!

Alternatively, you might get a quest in Spring on the Special Orders Board, which will give you another source of Coffee.

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If you're worried about the material cost of a Stable, then I would suspect it isn't the Iron that's bothering you, because you completed the Minecarts (go you!).

Hardwood can be obtained on your farm, and the only thing you'll need is a Copper Axe. All those big Stumps (not Logs) on your farm will now be chop-able, and they'll drop Hardwood (you need 100 for a Stable), as well as Mahogany Seeds (occasionally), which can be replanted.

Mahogany Trees will take a while to grow, but will provide you with some additional Hardwood, and they'll even re-establish themselves by spreading seeds on nearby ground, like other trees.

Another great source of Hardwood is the Secret Woods, which is the place to go for easy fish. You'll need a Steel Axe for this, and the entrance is just north of the Wizard's Tower. There will be Large Stumps that regrow, meaning that it is a renewable source of Hardwood that doesn't destroy parts of your farm. You can also find unique foragables in the Secret Woods, which is useful for the Community Center!

Looking forward to your response!