Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to Sean's Workshop!
I know it's been a while since I posted here, but that's not intentional. Work and life and all that. But I have a subject to talk about today. I've seen a ton of videos on Youtube on how to make the best of Stardew Valley. Things like how to guides for the Community Center in Year 1, how to make out friendship with all the villagers, how to make money, etc. And while this is a guide, it's not one of those types.
No, this is a type of guide for players like myself, who don't really like farming sims or minecraft like games. Resource gathering, fishing, crafting, etc...none of these interest me, but I really want to see more than the first two weeks of the game, because it is SO good after you get some skills and crafting recipes under your belt.
Now, full disclosure, I have several mods that help me cheat. I'll list them here and explain why I use them, if they require explanation.
1. CJB Cheats menu. I'm not a fan or the fishing minigame, how slow you move, having to worry about hay for the animals, and a few others things. I use this mod to get around the stuff I don't like.
2. CJB Item Spawner. I don't like resource gathering, which is the biggest reason I couldn't play for more than an hour when I tried out Minecraft. So I spawn in items for stuff I need. However, one restriction I place on myself is that I NEED to get at least one of an item, or more if it's plentiful, before I start spawning them in.
3. CJB Show Item Sell Prices. This was critical during my Joja run on my Riverland farm, since I needed to know the cash crops in order to unlock the community upgrades fastest.
4. Gift Taste Helper. This saves time on going back and forth between the game and the wiki.
5. NPC Map Locations. Trying to find someone on their birthday can be a pain, so this is why I use this.
6. Babies take after spouse.
7. Part of the Community. I saw this on Youtube, and I liked the idea that you could get approval from people if you talk to their friends and relatives. Makes Pelican Town more "real".
8. Content Patcher. Several mods require this, like the "babies take after spouse" one, as well as a couple after this.
9. Slime Hutch Winery. Gives me a reason to actually build the Slime Hutch. This mod requires Content Patcher.
10. Spawn Monsters. I really don't like hunting for specific monsters for the sake of the completion, so I just spawn them in on the floors that they'd show up on in order to fight them.
11. Ellie's Ideal Greenhouse. This adds specific places for fruit trees, as well as a few dozen more spots to grow crops.
I also used to use the Seasonal Villager Outfits, but that mod went out of date and when I tried to download it again, the creator took it down to rework it as a SMAPI mod. I tried another mod like it, but I didn't like how it changed the shape of the head, so I'm just waiting on the paradigmnomad rework.
Now, I've also got some tips and tricks I've found that make the game fun for me.
1. Never try to finish the Community Center in Year 1. I know this goes against what a LOT of Youtubers do, but there's an advantage of waiting; Kent. Kent does not show up until Spring 1 in Year 2. So waiting to complete the Bulletin Board bundle gives you a boost to his approval. Between this and how much he loves going to the movies, you should have what you need to cap his friendship before the end of Year 2.
2. Get rabbits for your Coop, and keep them. Rabbits are a great resource. Between the rabbit's foot being a favorite gift of the majority of the villagers (save for Penny.), this is a great resource for your far.
3. Avoid the sheep. Yes, they give wool 1 day faster (2 days if you're a Shepherd), but that's all they give. Rabbits give both wool and rabbit's feet, so they are a much better resource.
4. If you hate the mines, go with the mushroom cave. I hate spelunking more than I have to, which is why I have both the item spawner and cheat menu, but since I have my "no spawning items until I've collected them naturally at least once" rule, two mushrooms are completely out of reach unless I get lucky. And since fruits can be grown naturally, I need the mushroom cave for the red and purple mushrooms.
5. If you want to try the Riverland map, take the Joja Path, then go for perfection AFTER unlocking Ginger Island. There's very little land on the Riverland map for you to both farm and build, so space is at a premium for crops. If you want animals, fishing ponds, places for the obelisks, sheds, a mill, a silo and a place for the clock, you're eating valuable farming space you could use to grow Community Center crops. But if you focus on cash crops, you've got a LOT more space for them, and that will mean you're getting access to both the Greenhouse and Ginger Island faster.
6. Have fun. Whether you mod or not, whether you take my advice or not, if you're not having fun, you won't want to play.
I'll post something again when the mood strikes me. This blog is very much a hobby for me, so just keep that in mind and stay beautiful freaks!
