It's more than meets the eye.
Stardew Valley's 1.6 update has been in the works for just under a year—I know because I can't stop checking my watch. As the release date (March 19) approaches, developer Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone has teased that the update packs in a lot more than what's been revealed.
Thanks to a sneak peek last year, we already know that 1.6 will include a new major festival, two mini-festivals, late-game content, new items and crafting recipes, 100+ new lines of dialogue, and winter outfits for the villagers. However, in an interview with Polygon, where Barone discussed the Stardew Valley soundtrack concert, he also teased that "there's a lot more of the update than people think."
"It's more focused on the valley and the core areas of the game," Barone continued. "It just adds so much stuff to all the different aspects of the game. It's also a time of high intensity. The patch is pretty much ready to go. But there are a few things I still need to do. Until everything is totally sealed, it's going to be a little bit stressful."
There are a few small updates that I would love to see added in 1.6, such as making fish roe accessible without needing to build a fish pond beforehand. While this isn’t a necessity, it could help my budding caviar business as well as cut down the amount of stones I would have to throw away building multiple ponds. But regardless of what else appears in the caves or cornfields of Stardew Valley after 1.6, I'm just elated that PC players are finally getting support for eight-player multiplayer.
It's been a while since I ventured into multiplayer Stardew Valley, but I can't help but feel like having an army of dedicated Stardew Valley-ers who want to keep the farm running in my stead as I go off and fish for hours will be a game-changer; maybe I'll finally catch the Legend Fish, the rarest catch in the game.
Despite launching eight years ago, it seems like Barone is never going to stop tinkering with Stardew Valley and giving us new updates to sink our teeth into. "I feel like I'm the boy who cried wolf, because I've said [this is the last update] many times myself, and I always end up making another Stardew Valley update," Barone said. "So it's like, I'll just say, who knows? I don't think I'll ever officially close the book. The book is always open."
While Barone doesn't confirm what's coming after 1.6, with it out of the way it's exciting to think that he will have more time on his hands to work on the upcoming RPG Haunted Chocolatier.
I'll always be a Stardew Valley fan, but after getting drip-fed screenshots and scraps of information about Haunted Chocolatier, I can't help but view the 1.6 update as the end of a chapter and the beginning of a very exciting new adventure. With 1.6 only weeks away, we'll soon find out if it's everything Barone has promised.
