Stardew Valley: Summer Year 1 Begins
Last week, I put a lot of time into Stardew Valley. The game is slowly opening up for me (I’ve made it to mid-Winter Year 1), and I’m starting to feel more connected to the NPCs in the town at this point.
Further Impressions
The past week, I’ve been having some health issues (don’t worry, been to the clinic, being treated, slowly feeling better). Stardew Valley has been the perfect game to help me relax and just focus on something else for a while. I love the sandbox elements it offers – I was surprised when I discovered I could place items all around my farm to decorate.
I know that I wrote in a previous post that I felt a lot of the eligible bachelors were somewhat lacking, and that aspect has gotten better with time and growing friendship. I’m still not really interested in most of the teen guys in town, and I really think it’s a shame that Shane is not eligible yet (glad he will be in the future). That being said, I’m spending a lot of time building up relationships with all of the people in the town, and finding it super useful. Not only do you get special cut scenes where the characters start to open up more, but often you earn things like cooking recipes at certain levels of friendship.
With all that being said, I’ve taken a bunch of screenshots and put in a lot of time, so I may as well blog a play-through series of my experiences in Stardew Valley.
There will be spoilers in this playthrough!
Summer Begins
First of all, I found the hats! Apparently, as you unlock achievements in Stardew Valley, you can purchase new hats. You can find the hat merchant in the previously abandoned house in the southern most area of the forest. The first hat I picked up was the one for the fishing achievement, which looks a bit like a rain hat.
I kept my garden pretty small for the most part, seeing that I still had to water everything by hand. I was also growing things to finish the bundles in the Community Center first and foremost. If I needed to make money, I could do that by fishing much faster than farming.
My first chicken is finally full-grown, and thanks to reader comments, I’ve discovered how to properly feed her. I also discovered the little door on the front of the coop that allows her to walk in and out of the coop during daytime to feed on available grass. I started to pay attention to the grass on my farm, clearing out areas to let it grow, and planting it around the coop to let my chicken feed.
Very slowly, I’ve been working my skills up. Here’s where I stood during early summer. It’s pretty obvious what I enjoy doing most. 🙂
As I was just doing stuff and minding my own business, my skills pretty much raised themselves over the early summer. Some of the levels had some nice rewards, too!
I also kept fighting my way deeper into the mines whenever I had a day to dedicate to it (usually rainy days). I completed the “Reach Floor 40” quest, and finally started getting access to iron ore. It also seems like some of these floors have nice big treasure chests, which reward gear.
Somewhere during early Summer, I realized that message I got at the beginning of Summer that noted there was an earthquake during the night had (I think) removed the blockage that kept me from going up north above the carpenter’s shop. Here, I found the Harvest-Moon-Style hot springs and the train tracks.
From time to time, I’ll see a message that tells me a train is coming through Stardew Valley. I’m not sure exactly what’s up with that, but I came to see it anyhow.
The Harvey Chronicles
After getting a chicken who lays eggs, which I can turn into mayonnaise, I learned that mayo is one of the things on Harvey’s Good list of gifts. So, twice I week, I’d come in and shower him with mayo. I also bothered him as much as I possibly could otherwise.
Finally, as our friendship levels increased, I got him to talk to me about something other than washing my hands or blowing my nose.
Yes! Small talk, but it’s a step forward!
Oh… oh… and look at this!
He can’t resist the charms of my mayo! I knew it!
Raising Shane
I’ve also been working my magic on Shane. While he’s not (yet) a marriable character in the game, I can’t help but want to connect with him. He’s super grouchy all the time, and tells me to get lost more often than not. However, I see him going to work in the Joja market every day without fail — I know how those retail jobs can destroy your soul (I’ve been there). So he has some sympathy from me.
I discovered that Hot Peppers were a Loved gift for him. These take very little time to grow and keep growing once you plant the vine during the summer. So I started to mass produce them with all intents to turn Shane’s frown upside down.
It seems to be working!
Summer Fun
The first summer event was the Luau. During this event, the Governor comes to visit and the folks in Stardew Valley make him a soup. I guess the better quality items you bring to put in the soup, the better the response.
I didn’t know what I was doing, nor what to bring, so I brought an egg or something. I figured an egg couldn’t go wrong, right? I got a neutral response from it, which isn’t as bad as I could have done given I had no clue about the event. Next year, I’ll be prepared!
This event marks more or less the halfway point of Summer in Stardew Valley, so it’s a good stopping point for this post. Check back for the rest of the summer next time! 🙂