25% Profit Margins

[Phirestar]

I just want to give my recommendation to try out the profit margins option under the game options tab when you start a new file.

I’ve been playing with profits set to 25% of their original values, and I’ve really loved the way it has changed the pacing of the game. Making money takes a lot more work, as a valuable item like the Battery pack goes from 500g down to just 125g, and that in turn makes upgrades feel much more impactful to acquire. You have to be quite thoughtful about what exactly you spend your gold on, because early on you can basically only save up for a single purchase: a tool upgrade, a building, a house expansion, or one of the Vault bundles. So far I’ve made 17K total profit, nearing the end of the first Summer, and I have spent 4K on upgrading my pickaxe and axe to Copper, and about 8K on seeds / Traveling Cart stuff.

I find that it also pushes you to gather products from as many sources as possible, and focus more on refining raw materials into more profitable items. For instance, turning crops into jams / pickles is a lot more beneficial due to the raw fruits and vegetables now selling for barely anything. For example: a gold quality Blueberry with the Tiller profession is worth 20g. In comparison, Blueberry jam is 37g, and that’s before the +40% bonus from Artisan. You’re basically making double profit by preserving it into jam, which goes a long way when you consider that you’re making less gold than a regular quality Blueberry on 100% profit margins (50g).

If you’ve not messed with this game setting before, give it a go. It’s a lot more satisfying to progress in the game, in my book.

[Nakos]

I usually do the remixed Community Center bundles too.

(Honestly, I wish the variation of the bundles was a lot greater, but it still mixes things up a bit).

[Phirestar]

Originally posted by Nakos:

I usually do the remixed Community Center bundles too.

(Honestly, I wish the variation of the bundles was a lot greater, but it still mixes things up a bit).

Yep.

I got the Animal bundle, unfortunately, which is a very difficult one to do on 25% profits, and ties for “Last Bundle Finished” alongside the 25K Vault bundle. In order to get the 100 wheat flour, you either have to a) spend 10K gold at Pierre’s to buy it directly, or b) construct the windmill and create it yourself.

I’ve gone for the second option, as that feels more in the “spirit” of the Community Center challenge. The problem with doing this is the cloth requirement for building the windmill. You need a full upgraded barn or coop to get the wool from sheep / rabbits, which is around 20-30K gold on its own - double to triple the price for simply purchasing the wheat flour directly.

Alternatively, you have a 10% chance of receiving cloth from recycling soggy newspaper. I currently have only 2 of the 4 cloth required, from recycling, and I’m on the final day of Spring of Year 2 in my save file. It’s certainly the cheapest option, but it is a very slow process.

[Snowy Sprout]

I've done challenges that some people shook their heads at, wondering why I would put myself through the torture. But I did it because I really found it fun. I see you are the same way with your extra restrictions on this run. Not only low profit, but restricted from many other avenues of profit like sprinklers and quests.

For me the fun in a game is finding new ways to approach a basic question like 'how can I make money". With low profits for sales, it's natural to look for ways to make money OTHER than selling, which means high priority on jobs and quests. Without much money to invest it makes sense to plant as few seeds as possible, which favors all regrowing crops and any seed you can acquire without buying. Finding those loopholes is the whole juicy part of the challenge, for me.

I like the idea of remixed bundles or mine rewards, but functionally I don't like them. I don't like their randomness. The autistic in me really prefers to know what's coming and not be surprised by which random bits may be changed. I'd be fine if they changed them all, or let me control which ones were changed, but to never know ahead of time how it could come up is just unappealing. It means I can't buffer ahead of time for stuff, and therefore I might fail at tasks I otherwise might have succeeded. I really don't like failing. It hurts me and makes me want to quit the game. I like making a plan and seeing it work.

[Nakos]

Originally posted by Phirestar:

Alternatively, you have a 10% chance of receiving cloth from recycling soggy newspaper. I currently have only 2 of the 4 cloth required, from recycling, and I’m on the final day of Spring of Year 2 in my save file. It’s certainly the cheapest option, but it is a very slow process.

That's the method I usually go for if I need the Mill.

I also tend to use the Beach Farm a lot (I like the vast amount of space). So ... lots of room for traps. (In fact ... too much room for traps, I don't always have time to get to all of them every day).

[Nakos]

Originally posted by Snowy Sprout:

I like the idea of remixed bundles or mine rewards, but functionally I don't like them. I don't like their randomness. The autistic in me really prefers to know what's coming and not be surprised by which random bits may be changed. I'd be fine if they changed them all, or let me control which ones were changed, but to never know ahead of time how it could come up is just unappealing. It means I can't buffer ahead of time for stuff, and therefore I might fail at tasks I otherwise might have succeeded. I really don't like failing. It hurts me and makes me want to quit the game. I like making a plan and seeing it work.

That's honestly the part I like the best about them. I like that uncertainty they interject into a run.

Personally, I wish there was even MORE variation possible ;)

[Phirestar]

Originally posted by Nakos:

Originally posted by Phirestar:

Alternatively, you have a 10% chance of receiving cloth from recycling soggy newspaper. I currently have only 2 of the 4 cloth required, from recycling, and I’m on the final day of Spring of Year 2 in my save file. It’s certainly the cheapest option, but it is a very slow process.

That's the method I usually go for if I need the Mill.

I also tend to use the Beach Farm a lot (I like the vast amount of space). So ... lots of room for traps. (In fact ... too much room for traps, I don't always have time to get to all of them every day).

I guess I just need to fill my pond with more crab pots. I put down 6, thinking that’d be enough for all the resources I’d get from them - fish for crafting recipes, trash items for cloth and whatnot - but apparently not.

[Nakos]

I don't remember if I had an animal bundle in my most recent run or not ... I do have a Mill built, so I might have. Looks like I've got 9 traps on my farm, and I think I've got 6 more down in the River (south of the farm).

I may have gotten at least one bundle of cloth from Emily in the mail at some point though.

I definitely don't have any sheep or rabbits in that run.

[Fax]

Originally posted by Phirestar:

I just want to give my recommendation to try out the profit margins option under the game options tab when you start a new file.

I’ve been playing with profits set to 25% of their original values, and I’ve really loved the way it has changed the pacing of the game. Making money takes a lot more work, as a valuable item like the Battery pack goes from 500g down to just 125g, and that in turn makes upgrades feel much more impactful to acquire. You have to be quite thoughtful about what exactly you spend your gold on, because early on you can basically only save up for a single purchase: a tool upgrade, a building, a house expansion, or one of the Vault bundles. So far I’ve made 17K total profit, nearing the end of the first Summer, and I have spent 4K on upgrading my pickaxe and axe to Copper, and about 8K on seeds / Traveling Cart stuff.

I find that it also pushes you to gather products from as many sources as possible, and focus more on refining raw materials into more profitable items. For instance, turning crops into jams / pickles is a lot more beneficial due to the raw fruits and vegetables now selling for barely anything. For example: a gold quality Blueberry with the Tiller profession is worth 20g. In comparison, Blueberry jam is 37g, and that’s before the +40% bonus from Artisan. You’re basically making double profit by preserving it into jam, which goes a long way when you consider that you’re making less gold than a regular quality Blueberry on 100% profit margins (50g).

If you’ve not messed with this game setting before, give it a go. It’s a lot more satisfying to progress in the game, in my book.

I absolutely adore this idea. The gal and i speed through content. We are gearing up for another Stardew run. Im gonna try and pitch this idea. Thanks for sharing.

[Snowy Sprout]

Originally posted by Fox:

Originally posted by Phirestar:

I’ve been playing with profits set to 25% of their original values, and I’ve really loved the way it has changed the pacing of the game.
......
If you’ve not messed with this game setting before, give it a go. It’s a lot more satisfying to progress in the game, in my book.

I absolutely adore this idea. The gal and i speed through content. We are gearing up for another Stardew run. Im gonna try and pitch this idea. Thanks for sharing.

It would be interesting to me to see several people trying a similar challenge at once! I've always wished one of my runs could inspire someone to try them, but it never happened so far. But both of us joining Phirestar's run is just as good, probably. It's all about sharing how different strategies and approaches to the game will influence our run. I love learning from those little differences.

[Phirestar]

So: the first day of Summer, Year 2. Thus far, with my (admittingly) laid-back playstyle, I’ve made roughly 120K gold across my whole 53-ish hours on this save file. I believe I had around 82K total profit when I began the second year, for anyone wanting to gauge how they’re doing in this.

There are currently four main, remaining gold milestones I need to be able to complete the Community Center - the first time I’ll actually have done that - by the end of the year to get a good shrine score.

I need 35K gold to finish the final two Vault bundles that finishes off the Vault room and unlocks access to the desert, where I can get Beet seeds to grow a beet that finishes off the Dye bundle alongside the red cabbage I’ve got in the greenhouse. After that, it’s a barn (6K) and a mill (2.5K) to get the milk and wheat flour to fulfill what will likely end up being my final bundle, the Animal bundle.

I still need two more cloth from recycling to fill the mill’s requirements. At this point of in-game time, I think going for a max upgraded barn or coop to get sheep / rabbits is not worth it. The two building expansions for either one are nearly as much as the cost of finishing off the Vault, so I’d have to make around 75K gold within the next three seasons. It’s not impossible, but I think I’d be pushing my luck a bit with getting it done before Spring 1 of Year 3.

So it’s time to start saving, and go gather up copper to build more crab pots. (Taking that perk to reduce their item requirements was a good long-term investment. Two copper bars versus three iron ones is a non-insignificant difference.)

[Snowy Sprout]

It's always a question whether to buy things at the travelling cart, like large goat milk, if we see it. maybe it could save you having to make the barn upgrade, or maybe you'll still have to upgrade anyway to get truffle oil or something.

[Phirestar]

I think I’ve bought one item from the Traveling Cart for a bundle so far, which was the Duck feather for the Dye bundle.

Everything else hasn’t been there, as far as I’ve seen. (Though I do occasionally miss a day.)

[Nakos]

The one that gets me is the Sweet Gem Berry seeds. At a 25% profit margin, they're a loss to buy ... but ... you still need one for Ol' Cannoli and one for Full Shipment.

[happybjorn]

Not exactly, gold star gem berries sell for a small profit.

I bought every Rare Seed the last time I played on 25% profit margin and barely lost any money. It wasn't intended to be a smart investment or anything, but didn't prevent completing the community center and upgrading all farm buildings before the end of the first year.

[MSG]

I do like the profit margin config for early game, really makes the early/midgame feel slower and less easy to scale up your farming. But to be honest, it really sours when you get the endgame. I've given up on a few perfection runs because 25% profit margins makes it so painfully slow to save up for the golden clock.