Over the vacation season, we’re republishing among the greatest articles from Nintendo Life writers and contributors as a part of our Better of 2024 collection. This text was initially revealed in November. Take pleasure in!
Again on the finish of August we travelled to Seattle to attend PAX West and had the unimaginable alternative to spend half an hour with none aside from Eric Barone, AKA ConcernedApe.
For those who don’t know who Eric is, he’s the creator of Stardew Valley; the smash hit farming recreation from 2016, which remains to be to today getting substantial updates.
We received to speak about his hobbies exterior of gaming, why he nonetheless comes again to work on Stardew Valley, and the way it was making bosses for a change for his new upcoming recreation Haunted Chocolatier.
Notice. This interview has been edited for readability and brevity. Additionally, if you would like to see the video of our chat, you may discover it on the backside of the web page.
Nintendo Life (Felix Sanchez): I do know you grew up enjoying a variety of Harvest Moon, however what different video games formed you rising up?
Eric Barone: So I performed a variety of RPGs. Ultimate Fantasy, EarthBound, Chrono Set off, and Zelda video games, that form of stuff.
What sort of Zelda video games did you play?
The primary one which I performed was Hyperlink’s Awakening for the Sport Boy, and I actually beloved that recreation. After which I performed… Let’s see, A Hyperlink to the Previous, Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Masks…
Which one do you want probably the most between Majora’s Masks and Ocarina?
Effectively, I am form of an Ocarina man. I do know lots of people love Majora’s Masks extra and so they say it is the underrated King, and it is cool, however , Ocarina of Time was very particular and nostalgic to me. I feel with Majora’s Masks, with the moon coming down, the time strain form of careworn me out.
It’s humorous—
It is humorous coming from me with Stardew Valley. I do know. [laughs] I ought to take into consideration that.
I do know you do every part your self, you’ve got so many hats on. How do you construction that?
I do not actually have a construction, it is extra simply form of what I really feel like doing in the mean time, with an enormous image in thoughts of how all of that is gonna slot in, after all. There is likely to be one space of the sport the place I do every part for that space directly, however I feel the good factor about solo dev is that you would be able to form of simply observe your whims. In the future I would simply really feel like doing music, in order that’s simply what I do. So, yeah, I am not very structured in the best way I am going about doing issues. It is form of spur of the second.
So, I actually just like the Stardew Valley board recreation, so I needed to listen to what your hobbies are exterior of video video games. Do you play board video games your self?
I do. I would not say I am an enormous board recreation individual, however I do take pleasure in them. The Stardew Valley board recreation was form of impressed by… Have you ever ever performed Eldritch Horror?
No, I have never.
Okay, effectively I used to be slightly bit impressed by that, which I assume [is] a nerdy board recreation slightly bit. [chuckles]
I’ve performed the Stardew board recreation with my pals and it is simply so funnily structured. I do not play a variety of co-op video games myself, however right here it simply works rather well. We even placed on the Stardew Valley soundtrack and it really works completely.
I am glad you recognize it. How do you discover it by way of problem?
I really feel prefer it’s actually good. Within the last 12 months you are actually like, “Okay, we have to do that earlier than it ends.” So it is all the time very shut and I actually like that. There was this one time once we merely didn’t win.
Yeah, once we had been testing the sport, we performed so many rounds of it. And I felt prefer it was in a reasonably good place once we had been persistently barely successful on the final run.
Yeah, that is what you need.
To reply your query about what I love to do aside from making video video games, the reply I usually give is that every one the stuff that went into solo dev — music, artwork, writing — these are all my hobbies. And so with the ability to mix all of them into my work is basically satisfying. I get to do all my hobbies in my work.
Out of all of the various things within the recreation, what do you love to do probably the most?
I would say most likely my favorite — if I needed to choose one — might be the music. Earlier than I even received into recreation dev in any respect, my most important pastime was music, like enjoying in bands in highschool.
What did you play?
I performed guitar.
Lead guitar?
Yeah, lead guitar.
Hell yeah!
I used to be in metallic bands.
Oh, actually? That’s superior!
However then I form of received into extra like laptop music and simply composing stuff. After which I used to be in this type of experimental laptop pop group for some time. However that was all the time form of my dream as a youngster, to be a musician. Simply being in bizarre indie bands and play[ing] exhibits and stuff like that.
In order that was my authentic ardour. However , there’s a part of me that likes all of the totally different points. Typically I will be, “I need to code in the present day,” as a result of that stimulates a sure a part of the mind.
I keep in mind I used to be watching a podcast you probably did with Motive. I feel it was a two-hour podcast the place you simply talked in regards to the music of the sport and also you even confirmed a monitor from Haunted Chocolatier that was a boss theme. I’ve that caught in my head on a regular basis. [*hums the melody*] So speaking about bosses, there’s not likely bosses in Stardew Valley. Was it difficult all of a sudden making a boss?
For Haunted Chocolatier?
Yeah. Are you able to speak about that?
Yeah, no, I am glad to speak about that… to a level. Designing bosses is a complete new ball recreation from something that is Stardew. And I feel I needed one thing totally different. I needed a problem as a result of I need to continue to grow as a recreation developer. I did not need to simply do precisely the identical factor once more. I do know lots of people say, “Haunted Chocolatier seems prefer it’s only a copy and paste Stardew Valley.” However they have not performed the sport, so they do not actually know. However yeah, designing bosses is form of an artwork kind all unto itself, and I am nonetheless studying stuff. And among the bosses are going to be like, “Hopefully you may see my development all through the course of the sport.”
Like which of them you probably did first?
Yeah, precisely. However I feel even a boss could be easy however nonetheless enjoyable. What issues on the finish of the day is enjoyable. I feel that is the principle factor I care about.
You do not need to make it too straightforward. That is a extremely arduous steadiness to strike.
Yeah.
So, should you work on one thing for seven years, you are going to be burned out, proper? However you retain coming again to the sport. You are even engaged on this new recreation, however you retain including new stuff [to Stardew Valley].
That is true. I’ve so many concepts for Stardew. I really feel like I may work on it for the remainder of my life, and simply maintain enhancing it, including extra stuff to it, extra content material, fleshing out the present content material. That is the principle factor I need to do is flesh out the present content material. And okay, here is one other factor: It is so in style.
Yeah, it is bought like 30 million copies? It is insane.
One thing like that. So, due to that, I really feel like I need to maintain it alive, maintain it contemporary, delight the followers, as a result of it is simply enjoyable to interact with that. It is a uncommon alternative I’ve that there is so many individuals who love this recreation and can play no matter replace I make. And what I like to do is create issues after which share them with folks and provides folks experiences. And Stardew is such platform for that as a result of it is rather in style and it is nonetheless actually energetic.
So it is form of arduous. I do not need to see it fizzle out, I need to maintain it alive, however then I additionally need to make a brand new recreation. So I am all the time like—
It is a arduous steadiness.
It’s.
And also you’re just one one that makes it.
Effectively, I do have some assistance on Stardew updates now.
What half do you get assistance on?
Mainly principally the coding. The technical stuff.
You additionally received assist with the multiplayer facet proper?
Yeah, true. It is like, , with the inventive stuff, I am very specific and I need to make it possible for it is my imaginative and prescient. However with the programming, I am extra like, does it work? You understand, the gamers do not actually get to see beneath the hood on the code.
I completely get that. For instance, with video enhancing, typically I want somebody may simply watch by means of it to be like, does this work?
Effectively, there’s additionally simply areas the place I am simply not that good at or I haven’t got the data to do actually deeply technical stuff. I am form of a gameplay programmer, ? It is simply I am not a chic programmer. Make it work, make it enjoyable for the participant – that is my angle.
So, I work distant[ly] myself. I do not actually hear or see my co-workers aside from on the display. Whenever you work on a recreation for therefore lengthy, that should be fairly lonely. How did you cope with that?
It helps that I am a reasonably solitary individual typically. I feel I am simply form of good at that. I are likely to get into my very own world with my inventive pursuits after which I simply lock in. I imply, yeah, it’s a little bit lonely. And when you find yourself creating one thing like Stardew Valley or making a recreation by your self, , for probably the most half, there are some sacrifices you need to make. However, I do not remorse it. I imply, this can be a dream come true for me to see one thing that I made blow up and lots of people like it.
You most likely get requested loads what your favorite music monitor in Stardew Valley is, however what’s probably the most underrated one? The one that folks do not actually speak about, however it’s only one that you simply’re actually pleased with.
I just like the city theme. I’ve by no means seen anybody speaking about it, however I feel it actually has vibe to it. And there is these form of fundamental… I name them ‘the nation songs’ and there is a city theme, among the store themes. There’s one which performs in Marnie’s store and so they simply have this feelgood [mood], units the tone and the vibe of the sport. Folks latch onto the large tracks like Moonlight Jellies or the winter songs that actually hit arduous, however I [like] the refined atmospheric ones that give this nation vibe to the entire city.
So, there’s a variety of nice sound results in Stardew Valley. Did you make all these [with] synths, or did you go document stuff in actual life too?
Most of them had been simply synthesisers. I’d simply go in and tweak the waveforms till I received one thing that sounded proper. There have been a few issues that I recorded. Notably, if you break rocks within the mines, there’s this rock sound, yeah I used to be out on the garden at my dad and mom’ home and I used to be simply throwing rocks.
Oh, that’s wonderful!
However most of them are synthesisers. After which there’s a couple of, the ambient soundscapes, which I received on royalty-free web sites.
