New Stardew Valley update adds support for modders

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It's hoped this will help "futureproof" the game

Stardew Valley
(Image credit: ConcernedApe)

Stardew Valley on PC has received a new update that adds modding support, quality of life changes, and a few bug fixes for good measure. 

In the patch notes, shared to Steam, the game’s developer 'ConcernedApe', aka Eric Barone, shares what changes have been made to Stardew Valley in the 1.5.5 update and explains that: "It's a small update, which doesn't add new content, but has some important technical changes for modders, some quality of life changes, and some bug fixes."  

These technical changes for modders include 'architectural changes' such as migrating the game from XNA 4 to MonoGame, in an effort to futureproof the game by allowing mods to access more than 4GB of RAM - according to Barone in the patch notes. The update also made various internal changes for mod authors, which we’re going to assume is a good thing if you’re an avid Stardew Valley modder. 

Another interesting tidbit discovered in the update’s patch notes is a message from Barone which reads: "A 1.5.6 update is also currently underway. [...] there may be some new content in 1.5.6, too, but it's not going to be anything huge like 1.5." The Stardew Valley developer must be very busy if they’re already working on another patch, as well as their new game Haunted Chocolatier. Not only this but it is reported that ConcernedApe is also working on another "new project" besides Haunted Chocolatier. 

In other news, Stardew Valley is coming to Xbox Game Pass today.   

Stardew Valley 1.5.5 update patch notes 

Architectural changes: 

  • Migrated the game from XNA (targeting .NET Framework 4.5.2) to MonoGame (targeting .NET 5). This futureproofs the game and allows mods to access more than 4 gigs of RAM. 
  • Made various internal changes for mod authors. 

Quality of life changes: 

  • Holding the CTRL key in addition to shift now lets you purchase/craft stacks of 25 items at a time. 
  • When starting a new save, many settings now default to what they were the last time you played the game. Some settings like zoom level, gamepad mode, and multiplayer server privacy aren't copied over. 
  • You can now build or move farm buildings onto artifact spots. This destroys the artifact spots.
  • You can now nudge pets out of the way while building/moving a building by clicking on them. 
  • You can now buy back items accidentally sold in the same shopping session.
  • The in-game time is now shown on the upper-right hand corner of the screen when playing Journey of the Prairie King in multiplayer.  
  • Grass placed using Grass Starter during Winter no longer disappears when the game is reloaded (but it still won't grow or spread).

Localization fixes:

  • Fixed Shane's 6-heart event soft-locking in the Hungarian translation.
  • Fixed incorrect backslash characters in various events in the Hungarian localization.
  • Fixed typos in the French localization.
  • Fixed a typo in Livin' Off The Land that incorrectly states that Super Cucumber can be caught in Winter.

Cosmetic fixes:

  • Added commas to the price display on the various building construction menus.
  • Adjusted collisions in the Calico Desert to avoid a minor sorting issue on the top-left edge of the raised cliffside.
  • Fixed issue where Sebastian's sprite would shift into an invalid position at 1:00 PM when he's working on his bike on the farm.

General fixes:

  • After completing the Cryptic Note quest, subsequently reaching the 100th floor of the Skull Cavern will guarantee a loot chest.
  • Fixed an issue where hard mode mines could become permanently enabled.
  • The Blacksmith profession now affects Radioactive Bars.
  • Garden Pots no longer lose any applied fertilizers when they are harvested from.
  • Fixed the explosion radius not being centered when dislodging flooring and certain other types of items.
  • When placing a Garden Pot on Ginger Island on a rainy day, it will now spawn with its dirt correctly watered.
  • Fixed an issue where moving a cabin with a cellar would cause the stairs to the cellar to warp the players out of bounds for the rest of the play session.
  • Fixed a case where entering the Farm from the south on horseback and triggering an event could cause the player to get stuck in a wall.
  • Fixed various invisible tiles preventing certain spots in the Mountain lake from spawning fish activity bubbles.
  • Fixed the tile holding the plant on Elliott's table not being passable from behind.
  • Fixed some tiles on the left side of the beach farm being unbuildable.
Hope Bellingham
Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.