Let's Play Stardew Valley: Update 1 - Opening Sequence

So, let's get into this. Note: I'm still going through the technical difficulties, including choosing a less terrible way to record stuff. Those will hopefully be fixed by next update.

Here's the game's title screen.

Here's the character creation screen. We'll go with some stand-in values for now but I'll open up a vote at the end of the update. 

 We can also choose one of five types of farms and that, unlike the other choices, actually has influence on the gameplay. I have no idea what's in any of them, though, so I'm going with the default for the intro.

 We cut to our grandpa at his deathbed (presumably).

He  throws a letter at us which we presumably catch.

  No, no, don't open it yet... have patience. Now, listen close... There will come a day when you feel crushed by the burden of modern life and your bright spirit will fade before a growing emptiness. When that happens, my boy, you'll be ready for this gift.

The "work" light is blinking.

 Here's us!

 We don't seem very happy.

 We open our desk to find that letter from our granddad inside.

 I've enclosed the deed to that place... my pride and joy: Ivanovich Farm. It's located in Stardew Valley, on the southern coast. It's the perfect place to start your new life.

This was my most precious gift of all, and now it's yours. I know you'll honor the family name, my boy. Good luck.

Love, Grandpa.

P.S. If Lewis is still alive say hi to the old guy for me, will ya?

I guess it's time to head off to Ivanovich Farm!

 

 As we exit the bus upon reaching our destination, we are greeted by a local villager.

Meet Robin. She'll be the source of our house upgrades and extra buildings throughout the game.

I'm Robin, the local carpenter. Mayor Lewis sent me here to fetch you and show you the way to your new home. He's there right now, tidying things up for your arrival. The farm's right over there, if you'll follow me.

 And follow we will.

 Here's our farm. Different farms have different layouts, so what we see is just a portion of the default one.

We  jump into the air in shock. Seems like the farm's a bit run-down after grandpa passed away.

What's the matter? Sure, it's a bit overgrown, but there's some good soil beneath that mess! With a little dedication you'll have it cleaned up in no time.



Spoiler: it'll take years.

A  man exits the house.

Meet Lewis. He's the town's mayor.

Welcome! I'm Lewis, Mayor of Pelican Town. You know, everyone's been asking about you. It's not every day that someone new moves in. It's quite a big deal!

He turns towards the house.

It's a good house... Very "rustic".

 "Crusty" might be a little more apt, though.

The mayor jumps up in anger, while Robin snickers.

Don't listen to her, Ivan. She's just trying to make you dissatisfied so that you buy one of her house upgrades.

Looks like the mayor's got it right.

Anyway, you must be tired from the long journey. You should get some rest. Tomorrow you ought to explore the town a bit and introduce yourself. The townspeople would appreciate that.



He starts to walk away.

Well... Good luck!





And that's that for the opening sequence. Next time we'll have actual control of our character. Now, in order to determine who it'll be, I'll need some reader participation. Just leave comments with your suggestions or with a +1 to another person's suggestion. Feel free to provide input on just one thing or several (or all) if you want to. Voting will be closed on Friday (December 16th) at 16:00 GMT.

The things we'll need to determine are:
- character gender
- character name
- farm name
- favourite thing
- cat or dog as pet
- farm type
Appearance I'll pick myself.

Farm type is the one actually important choice. We have the following options:
Standard farm: A simple plot of land, with a large amount of open space to design your farm.
Riverland farm: Your farm is spread across several islands and scenic riverbanks. Fish are more common here than usual.
Forest farm: The woods limit your farming space. However, the bounty of the forest is nearly at your doorstep...
Hill-top farm: Rocky terrain and a winding river make it difficult to design your farm. However, a mineral deposit provides mining opportunities.
Wilderness farm: There's plenty of good land here, but beware... at night the monsters come out.

Until next Sunday!

Let's Play Stardew Valley: Intro

So, I've decided to try my hand at a screenshot Let's Play. I didn't want to go to Something Awful or any other forums, instead trying to get cozy with the people genuinely interested in this, so I'm running it here.

What's Stardew Valley?
It's a rural life simulator game released in the beginning of this year. It is similar to, most notably, the Harvest Moon series, but has design elements that make it much more modern compared to that. One notable thing about the game is that it was developed entirely by a single person, Eric Barone AKA ConcernedApe. Chucklefish (the guys behind Starbound) handled the publishing but the rest is on him.

The game is supposed to be a simulator of a rural everyman - you farm, fish, chop trees, mine ore, slay monsters, marry one of the people in the small town you live in... there's a lot to do, and, while the game can sometimes get repetitive, it is still engaging. I'll cut out the repetitive parts for you though.

What kind of LP will this be?
This'll try to be an informative and completionist screenshot LP. I'll try to get to the bottom of every cave, find all secrets, level all skills to the max and, generally, do everything at least once. I'll also explain game mechanics along the line, possibly also adding some of my thoughts on them as a game designer.

I'm going in semi-blind - the one time I played this I only got to the mid- or mid-to-late game; I most certainly didn't do everything. I also have almost no idea of what changes were introduced in 1.1, and I expect 1.2 to come out while I'm running this LP, so that's fun.

Will there be audience participation?
Of course! I'll have votes on important stuff like who to marry, what kind of farm we'll start with and the character's name.

When to expect updates?
I'll try to stick to a weekly schedule with an update every Sunday. The first update will be this Sunday.