Do you cheat on time? How much?

[MistrBill]

I realize that the time passing by, too much to do in a day, is part of the game. If you stop time whenever you want, for however long you want, it definitely breaks the game. On the other hand, like a lot of people, I really hate the rush it imposes on you, trying to map out every stinking minute to get all the time critical things done.

So how much is too much? I started out freezing time in the caves, to ensure I'd never be late getting back home. During things like salmonberry and blackberry harvests, because I couldn't decide which I hated more- leaving forage on the map, or taking so much of a season just clearing the map of the free stuff.

But with the CJB mod I'm using, it's way too easy to just freeze time whenever it's convenient. I know that as you progress, your options for getting around improve. Am I missing out on playing the game 'properly'? Is there a mod that, for example, just slows the passage of time, so an in game day takes twice as much IRL time?

Or am I just a big wuss for fudging the game speed at all?

[Vimpster]

Originally posted by Samael:

Nothing I have to do.

You didn't say "have" to do. But besides there is nothing one has to do. But more on point I was responding to you saying there is more than enough time to do everything and then using your anecdotal example where you choose not to do many of the things available to do in the game as if that some how supports your comment that there is more than enough time to do everything.

[Včelí medvídek]

I do not understand how someone can have "nothing to do" ever. Even if I have limited work on farm due winter or rain there is ton of activities - I am usually progressing shed with kegs or jars, or planning new building so always hungry for wood, ore and stone. Fishing is obvious but I understand some ppl dislike it - nevertheless any activity leads to profit that in return make progress in game and is still valid until late game. So there is always day for forage all maps, etc. Even things like build relationship take time with checking gifts and tracking people.

[ChrillBill]

Originally posted by xoxxxoooxo:

seriously though: can someone tell me when it became commonplace to think that stardew *HAD* to be played a certain way?

I read your entire post and I agree with so much in it but it was a lot so I will only quote this last part. I have been wondering this myself. I wasn't around when the game came out. In fact I came into it pretty late (last year) but one thing I have noticed is that there seems to be this general idea that you "should" rush and make every minute in game count otherwise you are somehow "doing it wrong". To take another time related example, I learned just the other day that skipping a day in game is a big no-no which "shouldn't" happen :p I have also received strange comments on my completed farms. Once about that there was no visible iridium sprinklers which for some reason was bad but I never got an explanation as to why it was bad. It's like I couldn't consider my farm completed without having a visible iridium sprinkler on it o.o Anyway, I think the original vision with this game is that you can and should play it just the way you want. There are no right or wrongs, not really.

I see each playthrough as a journey with a unqiue character that has inherited a farm and I do make great use of my own imagination and creativity. That's how I like to play. I don't care if I have to work extra hard because I decided to sleep through half a winter. Maybe that's just part of the story I am creating myself in my own playthrough. I have never once felt that I had to seek approval or somehow reassure myself that I am not the only one doing this and that. I kinda feel bad for all of those who feel that they have to do this. I mean it's your game, your rules and in the end your experience. People need to chill out more.

[Mountain King]

Originally posted by Vimpster:

Originally posted by Samael:

Nothing I have to do.

You didn't say "have" to do. But besides there is nothing one has to do. But more on point I was responding to you saying there is more than enough time to do everything and then using your anecdotal example where you choose not to do many of the things available to do in the game as if that some how supports your comment that there is more than enough time to do everything.

...and the whole reason I have the luxury to choose whether I want to fish or mine or just go to sleep is because I already have everything I need from those activities. I've already done most of what I need for a 4-candle evaluation in the first year and now I can go to sleep at 2PM on some days and not worry about it. How can that be possible if the game imposes a "rush" on the player or requires them to "map out every minute" in order to get all the critical things done? Because it doesn't, it gives you more than enough time to get done what you have to get done. Just going into the mines when I don't need the mats isn't "critical". Fishing all day just to make a bit more money isn't "critical" anymore, it pales in comparison to crop profits. But you seem to be both arguing that there is nothing that has to be done and also that there isn't enough time to do everything, so perhaps I should give you some time to decide on one.

[Vimpster]

Originally posted by Samael:

it gives you more than enough time to get done what you have to get done. But you seem to be both arguing that there is nothing that has to be done and also that there isn't enough time to do everything, so perhaps I should give you some time to decide on one.

I wasn't knowingly taking sides with any prior comments before yours. I don't see any conflict with those two viewpoints though. There is nothing that needs to be done. Everything is optional. But there are so many activities presented to you to do in a single day that you often can not do them all. So there is not enough time to do everything, and nothing has to be done. Both are true.

[Mountain King]

Originally posted by Vimpster:

But there are so many activities presented to you to do in a single day that you often can not do them all.

Nobody said anything about doing every single activity every single day. You don't have to. I feel like you're totally ignoring OPs post (the context of this entire thread) just to debate the semantics of my posts. Even if you decide that you absolutely have to get the 4-candle evaluation on the first try you have more than enough time to do everything you need to in 2 years without having to rush, and since you don't even have to do it on the first try there is even less reason to feel like you are constantly fighting against the clock. I do not stress myself even the tiniest bit about how much time I have in a day because I know it's a game of seasons and years and you're not going to get a Game Over screen because you didn't use up all your energy every day.

[Vimpster]

Originally posted by Samael:

Nobody said anything about doing every single activity every single day. You don't have to. I feel like you're totally ignoring OPs post (the context of this entire thread) just to debate the semantics of my posts. Even if you decide that you absolutely have to get the 4-candle evaluation on the first try you have more than enough time to do everything you need to in 2 years without having to rush, and since you don't even have to do it on the first try there is even less reason to feel like you are constantly fighting against the clock. I do not stress myself even the tiniest bit about how much time I have in a day because I know it's a game of seasons and years and you're not going to get a Game Over screen because you didn't use up all your energy every day.

My apologies if I seemed to be singling you out in an argumentative way. I was merely intending to converse on a point I disagreed with. And I realise a lot of it has to do with perception. When I play I personally feel compelled to do everything that is offered to me in that day. That does not mean doing every possible activity in the game, but merely the things presented to me on that day, which includes any tasks that are offered, giving presents to anyone on their birthday, foraging what I can find, emptying/refilling anything indicated. Only when I have done all those things do I feel like I can then do just whatever to fill the time.

None of it needs to be done, but there is a compulsion for myself, and I imagine many others, to do these sorts of things. And there really isn't enough time to do it all some times. But that isn't really a complaint on my part. It is part of the fun and challenge for me. But nonetheless it conflicts with the statement you made that there is plenty of time to do everything. But I suppose what you meant by "everything" must be different from me since you are seemingly dismissing anything you don't personally feel compelled to do from your definition of "everything".

[hallaloth]

The feeling of a 'lack of time' in a day is actually why my younger sister refuses to play Stardew. She actually stresses out over it and because of that simply can't find enjoyment in the game.

I'm in the other boat where I've so many hours invested in the game that my favorite part is the crunch of year one (I personally try to complete the community by the end of the first year) and I've run a few personal challenges just to change up game play a bit.

Personally speaking I like the length of a single player day. Early game you just run out of energy and go to bed at a natural hour. With a little bit (too much?) optimization I often find myself putzing around by the end of Fall Year 1 trying to fill the hours because I don't like just sleeping days away.

Multiplayer on the other hand is another beast and the lack of 'pause' is frustrating.

[MistrBill]

Originally posted by xoxxxoooxo:

you've asked an odd question for someone who has identified that the design of the game is not their cup of tea, but i think part of this is from a weird misconception that you *have* to get certain things done by a certain time.

I didn't say it wasn't my cuppa, or that it had to be played a certain way. I just feel like I'm getting a pile up of tasks, and would like more time (in game) to keep them straight and get them done. I'm not trying to plant and water massive crops or anything. Not trying to do massive cave runs where I rush through all the levels, either. Both tasks get old fast, and I don't want to spend a lot of IRL time on them. And it makes my gamer OCD bug crazy to know that there are salmonberries or blackberries all over the map if I could only find the time to gather them all.

I just like to know I can get back from the caves in time to rest, and I usually don't do more than 5 or 10 levels in one go. I like to be able to water the crops and still get on with social and gift giving stuff in the day. I'd like to be able to 'officially' pause the game while I plan out and build the farm area.

But I realized pretty quickly that time management is part of the challenge, too. If I just stopped time indefinitely and did whatever I wanted until I was tired of it, that'd break the game just as much as an "I win!" button. I just wondered what other people's thoughts were on the matter. Thanks everyone, for a lively discussion.

[Keeper Of Monsters]

I'm late to this discussion, I guess, but still...
I don't use mods - any kind of mods. Only pause I use in-game is opening menu or eating/drinking (and that last one helps when you need an additional look at your surrounding either for monsters or map planning). This is a little breather when you get overwhelmed or need an extra second (or a few) to think. And that's one of the reasons I don't play multiplayer (though I did with kids before when we had more organized schedule) - it's too rushed and unless you have a good team with coordination and skills specialization it gets too hectic.
But time restriction is an additional challenge in this game - that's another thing that separates it from Terraria, Minecraft, Starbound, or many other farm sims.
But again - it's a game, not real life. You never lose in Stardew, not for real (aside from self-imposed restrictions) - there's always next day, next season, next year. You don't get older, you don't get sick. At any moment you can even just destroy everything on your farm, dump all your items, ruin relationship with everyone (if it's not maxed already) - and just start anew.
Compare to real life (where I have to juggle work-kids-relatives-bills-health-social-gaming-other hobbies-emergencies-whatever else might pop up on any given day, and all with time limits, and most things can't be pushed to do next day-season-year) - time restrictions in Stardew are nothing.
And imho there's no right or wrong way to play any game - as long as you enjoy it. My son got all skills maxed before last week of winter in year 1 in his game - and completed CC too! I have relationships maxed by the end of the first year (aside from Sandy) but a mess in any other aspect. And we both like it just the way we do it. And somebody else does it some other way - and nothing wrong with that.

[MistrBill]

Originally posted by Keeper Of Monsters:

I'm late to this discussion, I guess, but still...
I don't use mods - any kind of mods. Only pause I use in-game is opening menu or eating/drinking (and that last one helps when you need an additional look at your surrounding either for monsters or map planning). This is a little breather when you get overwhelmed or need an extra second (or a few) to think. And that's one of the reasons I don't play multiplayer (though I did with kids before when we had more organized schedule) - it's too rushed and unless you have a good team with coordination and skills specialization it gets too hectic.
But time restriction is an additional challenge in this game - that's another thing that separates it from Terraria, Minecraft, Starbound, or many other farm sims.
But again - it's a game, not real life. You never lose in Stardew, not for real (aside from self-imposed restrictions) - there's always next day, next season, next year. You don't get older, you don't get sick. At any moment you can even just destroy everything on your farm, dump all your items, ruin relationship with everyone (if it's not maxed already) - and just start anew.
Compare to real life (where I have to juggle work-kids-relatives-bills-health-social-gaming-other hobbies-emergencies-whatever else might pop up on any given day, and all with time limits, and most things can't be pushed to do next day-season-year) - time restrictions in Stardew are nothing.
And imho there's no right or wrong way to play any game - as long as you enjoy it. My son got all skills maxed before last week of winter in year 1 in his game - and completed CC too! I have relationships maxed by the end of the first year (aside from Sandy) but a mess in any other aspect. And we both like it just the way we do it. And somebody else does it some other way - and nothing wrong with that.

You're right throughout, of course. I started this topic because I was curious what people thought. I used the cheat where I can speed myself up, but just one notch. Didn't like plodding from area to area, but I'm not flying around the map. And I used the one to freeze time in the mines. So I've always got time to get home, and I don't like to do more than five, or maybe ten levels at a time before going to something else anyway.

So far, so good. I'm enjoying the game and playing the way I like. But I can see the slippery slope it's on. I start getting aggravated because it's noon or 2pm by the time I'm done with farm 'dailies' or something. I spend too much time watering because I'm holding out for iridium sprinklers- a mistake, I realize. (Should've just made the iron ones and rolled with it.)

Ironically enough, the social aspect is the worst, even in a game lol. Keeping up with npc schedules, birthdays, and relationships is a very integral, very important part of the game, and you can spend a LOT of time on it, both in game and IRL. I find myself going for a 'birthdays only' strategy. It's certainly not a cheat, but in the spirit of the game it feels like one.

Once again, this has been an interesting thread to open. Thanks to everyone for the comments.

[Maya-Neko]

I'm a MP-player and i'm fully acclimatisated to the never pausing time. I'm already at a point, where the days in SP seem to be way too long, so that i tend to go to bed earlier than needed (especially early on, where i can't afford to eat that much all day long).

But on the other hand it might just need more time to manage a full farm. In MP we just divide the farm, so everyone only need to work on half of it, so that's definitely time we're saving up, not to mention that we can divide some community center tasks early on instead of feeling rushed to do everything at the same time.

But after all it doesn't really matter for me, if i mine like 20 minutes on day 3 of winter oder if i mine 10 minutes on day 3 and another 10 minutes on day 4. After all it's still the same time you're putting in. And on top of it the processing of long term tasks just doesn't take that much real life time. There are even things that don't need that much attention that much like bees (a quarter of my farm is made out of these, so it's definitely easy money once they're set up), wine of slow growing crops or crystalariums, so investing in these will definitely lower the work load in MP (and the junimo huts are just incredible for lazy people like me^^)