Stardew Valley continues to eat away at more of our free time than we should probably admit to, more than two weeks after the game made its Steam debut. Now that we’ve figured out the basics of fishing, offered up a few tips for your first year on the farm and published a relationship guide, we’re ready to dive into the sea of mods that have already been created by the Stardew Valley community.
This week, we’re offering up 19 of our favorite character replacements, furniture sets, game tools and more, chosen from the dozens of Stardew Valley mods already published on the game’s official modding forum. As you might expect, given that we’re still not all that far removed from the game’s launch, most of the top content currently available on the forums are sprite replacements for the various characters and animals found throughout Stardew Valley. But there are some more complex offerings up for grabs too, including a mod that makes one of the game’s most popular NPCs an eligible bachelor.
Before trying to install any of the mods found below, you'll want to spend a few minutes learning how to install the Storm API. Though still in its early days, Storm is already becoming the go-to solution for many would-be Stardew Valley modders, including the user responsible for creating the game's first API. The installation process isn't hard, requiring little more than copying and pasting a few files and folders, but those intimidated by the file explorer will be happy to know there are great YouTube tutorials out there, like this one from ThatNorthernMonkey:
Tools
Stardew Valley Mod Manager
The Stardew Valley Mod Manager is useful tool for anyone who still finds themselves intimidated by the modding process. The mod manager can install SMAPI, Storm and XNB mods, activate or deactivate them with the click of a button and delete the mods you don’t like. Unfortunately, for GOG customers, the Stardew Valley Mod Manager is only compatible with the Steam version of the game right now. But the mod’s creator, yuukiw, also provided the community with the mod’s source code. So we could see GOG support added to Stardew Valley Mod Manager at some point down the line.
Stardew Valley Save Editor
The Stardew Valley Save Editor might be the most versatile mod on this list. Using the Save Editor, fans can modify their farmer’s name, appearance and current cash on-hand. Players can also rename their farm, modify their farm and even their farmer’s inventory. The small team behind the mod says they also hope to give players the power to swap their farmer’s gender, add facial accessories, unlock new recipes and (eventually) edit the rest of the game’s map.
Farm & System Changes
15x15 Greenhouse
Here’s another self-explanatory addition to the game. This mod makes the player’s greenhouse larger than the default size, providing a bit of extra space for you to grow Ancient Seeds and other profitable crops you’ve decided to plant inside the structure. If you unlocked the greenhouse prior to discovering the 15x15 mod, remove any chests placed inside the building before installing.
Bachelor Shane
This is one of the least stable mods on the list. In fact, the mod’s creator recommends backing up your save files before trying to use the Bachelor Shane mod. You’ll probably have to deal with a few bugs, too. But those willing to brave the wastelands of an early XNB mod can add Shane to the shortlist of bachelors in Stardew Valley who can be romanced by the player.
Enemy Health Bars
As you can probably guess from the title, this mod adds health bars above monsters encountered in the mine and skull dungeon. The mod also brings a bit of added depth to the game’s combat mechanics. As your farmer’s combat skill increases, and/or you kill more of a specific monster, additional information on the target will be revealed.
Fishing Difficulty Settings
Fishing has emerged as one of the most popular activities in Stardew Valley. But not everyone can agree on whether or not the current difficulty level is right for them. So we’ve rounded up two mods, one that makes fishing significantly easier and one that makes it much harder. Theoretically, now you’re covered no matter how you felt about the existing difficulty level.
Super Easy Fishing: Download Here
Harder Fishing: Download Here
Item Values
Have you ever wished you could see how much an item sells for by hovering over it with your cursor?
Now you can!
Animals & Characters
Chocobo
Replaces the default Horse sprite
Gandalf
Replaces the Wizard
Gimli
Replaces the Dwarf
Jake from Adventure Time
Replaces the player’s dog
Mayor Electrode
Replaces Mayor Lewis
Mayor Luigi
Mayor Lewis will look like Luigi
Rick & Morty’s Butter Robot
Replacement for the player’s cat (or dog)
Skiddo & Gogoat
Replaces the baby and adult goats with Skiddo and Gogoat (Pokémon)
Waddles
Replaces the default pig sprite with Waddles from Gravity Falls
Total Replacements
Nintendo Décor
Stardew Valley forum member Fox420 took the time to create a new furniture set for the smash hit farming game, inspired by a number of iconic Nintendo properties. Fans of Super Mario Bros, Metroid, Mega Man and other popular 8-bit franchises won’t want to miss out on this one.
Pokédew Valley
Pokédew Valley is a growing collection of mods that replace the animals, characters and monsters found throughout Stardew Valley with Pokémon.
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Be sure to check back with iDigitalTimes.com and follow Scott on Twitter for more Stardew Valley news throughout 2016 and for however long ConcernedApe supports Stardew Valley in the coming months.orts Stardew Valley in the coming months.
