I can't enjoy Stardew Valley

[Rot]

In 50 hours of gameplay I have wiped and reset my saves over a dozen times, it never feels rewarding or gratifying enough.
I played laid back for the first 3 times and it always ended up either being a slog or a grindfest just to progress a tiny bit. The rest of my playthroughs were spent mimicking YouTubers, and players that shared their farms on the SDV Discord servers, which ended up being a stressful race with many day resets each week just to keep up with my own expectations.
I know the solution is to "relax" and "take my time" or even "use mods", but all of them seem like underplaying the game, even if it can make for a relaxing in-game day or two fishing or chopping wood. I mentally can not find that enjoyable enough to justify the hours of gameplay needed for 10 minutes of fun.
What I am looking for by posting this are suggestions for total conversion mods/game alternatives that alleviate the issue of managing hundreds of time consuming in-game systems that Stardew Valley has to offer. Again, I do know and acknowledge the systems in Stardew Valley are mostly optional and not crucial for casual play ignoring CC for decades, but the returns you get from juggling farming, foraging, fishing and mining are too great to ignore while wanting to automate and make gameplay more enjoyable overall.
Thanks to anyone who understands me and offers some sort of a solution in advance!

[DarkLink]

You kind of answer your own question, take it slow. Use the whole in game day to get more stuff done in a calm pace. Later on some things will take quite a while to get done so might as well get used to the waiting. Set up small goals to achieve. Plan a head for lets say a week. Help villagers as much as possible, craft fieldsnack, grow carrots so you can have energy to chop etc all day.
Organize your stuff, keep it clean, it makes it much more enjoyable and less stressful.
Get good at fishing as it takes very little energy so you can take the last hours before night getting some money in.

Good luck.

[Rot]

Originally posted by DarkLink:

You kind of answer your own question, take it slow. Use the whole in game day to get more stuff done in a calm pace. Later on some things will take quite a while to get done so might as well get used to the waiting. Set up small goals to achieve. Plan a head for lets say a week. Help villagers as much as possible, craft fieldsnack, grow carrots so you can have energy to chop etc all day.
Organize your stuff, keep it clean, it makes it much more enjoyable and less stressful.
Get good at fishing as it takes very little energy so you can take the last hours before night getting some money in.

Good luck.

I've been doing that for quite a while, especially the organizing (multiple chests in every area where I grind resources, 3 different chests for the river fishing). The problem, in my opinion, are the "small tasks". I don't feel as if I set enough of those if I, say, make it a goal to build a coop in a month - it just seems too small of a task. In my last playthrough, the "small tasks" amounted to having copper upgrades of every tool, with a couple iron ones, a maxed out fishing rod, a shed for jarring, a coop, an 80 tile farm and getting to the 100th floor of the mines. Mind you, those were weekly tasks, which all seemed minor, but had me watering my crops and BOLTING towards the mines or lake/river/ocean to get resources and money every day. All of that was done in a month and a half.
What would be a more reasonable timeframe to set goals and reach "milestones" like upgrading certain tools and building new buildings?

[Rot]

For context, it all seemed relaxing and reasonable during the week I carried out my plans, but the cracks started showing because of all the rushing (not being able to afford sprinklers, having too little wood/stone/coal after the projects, having too high of a fishing level which made everything else seem redundant), which is why I reset my best save so far.

[BirbNotBird]

I think honestly min maxing sometimes ruin the game because you are burnout by then.

I think you may need some sorts of challenges to hold it from becoming too bored. Perhaps embracing the identity of "roleplay" your character, writing a drama story something.

Me personally just force myself to eat each day. (That means spending money at Gus's Saloon).
Another thing is that any food or crop will have to be stored in a refrigerator or they will be "spoiled" (In reality, I just sell crops as soon if I have no refrigerator).
Limit my characters into knowing nothing unless the NPC prompts them (Like seriously, how would they know Haley love coconut) (I seriously advice not abusing the note in Winter)

Well from making my character live like a person, I start to think like him. Like what would I do next? Should I build a shed to store something and classify stuff.

And I definitely download the Skull Cavern elevators to remove the hassle of stocking up lel.

P/s keep in mind. I think don't make challenges too easy, but not too hard either. Set a realistic expectation seem to work out.

[Rot]

Originally posted by BirbNotBird:

I think honestly min maxing sometimes ruin the game because you are burnout by then.

I think you may need some sorts of challenges to hold it from becoming too bored. Perhaps embracing the identity of "roleplay" your character, writing a drama story something.

Me personally just force myself to eat each day. (That means spending money at Gus's Saloon).
Another thing is that any food or crop will have to be stored in a refrigerator or they will be "spoiled" (In reality, I just sell crops as soon if I have no refrigerator).
Limit my characters into knowing nothing unless the NPC prompts them (Like seriously, how would they know Haley love coconut) (I seriously advice not abusing the note in Winter)

Well from making my character live like a person, I start to think like him. Like what would I do next? Should I build a shed to store something and classify stuff.

And I definitely download the Skull Cavern elevators to remove the hassle of stocking up lel.

P/s keep in mind. I think don't make challenges too easy, but not too hard either. Set a realistic expectation seem to work out.

I find it hard to RP alone? Are there any beginner-friendly roleplay SDV servers? (Prefferably European)

[monkeypunch87]

I can't relate with your problem. I even turn profits down to 25% and I roleplay or play just relaxed. Who cares about the best returns of your actions? Right now I enjoy my meadowlands farm with my 2 chicken and a small garden in front of my house, watching my blue grass fields grow. Almost summer and I don't feel like expanding so I don't rush it.

But one tip I do have for roleplaying: Limit yourself to one occupation. One of my most fun playthroughs was being a forester. Just a tree farm, planting and chopping wood all day and selling it. All the other stuff became the relaxation of my character, some small gardening or fishing in the evening.

[Rot]

Originally posted by monkeypunch87:

I can't relate with your problem. I even turn profits down to 25% and I roleplay or play just relaxed. Who cares about the best returns of your actions? Right now I enjoy my meadowlands farm with my 2 chicken and a small garden in front of my house, watching my blue grass fields grow. Almost summer and I don't feel like expanding so I don't rush it.

But one tip I do have for roleplaying: Limit yourself to one occupation. One of my most fun playthroughs was being a forester. Just a tree farm, planting and chopping wood all day and selling it. All the other stuff became the relaxation of my character, some small gardening or fishing in the evening.

The issue really aren't the returns, but the progression and achievements offered by SDV.
But in terms of specialising, do you reckon I should use a fitting farm as well? I was thinking of a fisherman river farm playthrough for a while but it always seemed like it wouldn't be sustainable even if I only invest into fishing gear, crab pots are quite pricey if I never visit the mine.

[BirbNotBird]

Originally posted by Control:

I find it hard to RP alone? Are there any beginner-friendly roleplay SDV servers? (Prefferably European)

That kinda tough cause I'm single player. I'm usually just chat with the villagers to figure their taste instead of wiki tho.

[maestro]

Originally posted by Control:

I've been doing that for quite a while, especially the organizing (multiple chests in every area where I grind resources, 3 different chests for the river fishing). The problem, in my opinion, are the "small tasks". I don't feel as if I set enough of those if I, say, make it a goal to build a coop in a month - it just seems too small of a task. In my last playthrough, the "small tasks" amounted to having copper upgrades of every tool, with a couple iron ones, a maxed out fishing rod, a shed for jarring, a coop, an 80 tile farm and getting to the 100th floor of the mines. Mind you, those were weekly tasks, which all seemed minor, but had me watering my crops and BOLTING towards the mines or lake/river/ocean to get resources and money every day. All of that was done in a month and a half.
What would be a more reasonable timeframe to set goals and reach "milestones" like upgrading certain tools and building new buildings?

As a mostly casual player, the only "experienced player" thing I do is finishing the CC by first winter if possible (if I didn't do something stupid and forget something).

Otherwise, I'm a rather casual player.

Mods I use, are the Freeze Time mod, which freezes time anytime you are indoors. This helps loads and gives you lots of wiggle room without invalidating whole sections of the game. You can optionally apply or not apply the freeze time to inside the mine, too.

I also use the remove fishing minigame, because I don't like dumping 45+ IRL minutes into a single game day to go fishing. It just takes too long doing the fishing minigame on every fish I hook.

I try to get to the bottom of the mines anywhere between the last week of Spring and the 2nd week of Summer. It's not an exact science, and there's no real goal for doing that just yet. Floor 120 can wait, though I would prefer to get to 100 for the Obsidian Edge and the first Stardrop. The First Stardrop is rather useful.

With the Freeze Time mod, the Sauna is actually usable, as time is frozen inside of it which lets you actually use it for its intended purpose and actually benefit from its use.

Also, with trying to the the mines done by that time frame, I'm also trying to get the Minecart fixed. This is a huge QoL and everything you need to fix the minecart can be found on your trip down in the mines and should be easy by the time you reach Level 80 in the mines.

Meanwhile, I'm trying my best to get a chicken coop and a barn up ASAP, because they make passive income. Passive income is huge in this game, because the more money you make without spending energy, means the more energy you can put into stuff that matters.

As for crops...

In Spring, I just grow what I need for CC, and maybe a dozen cauliflower, maybe a dozen potatoes. I go light on the crops in Spring because I need that energy to push the mines sooner. If it rains, I fish in the town river (since I have the skip fishing minigame) as Catfish are very expensive and will level fishing quickly and are worth a lot of money. The best place to get the highest quality fish is directly south of Jodi's house. Also, I usually try to keep 10 turnips in the ground at all times, trying to get 5 gold-star turnips before the end of the season which usually isn't too hard, esp. if you use fertilizers that you can make from sap (which you should have plenty of).

In Summer, I usually go for one of every crop for the CC bundle, plus a Sunflower, plus a Poppy (for CC bundles), and 10-15 wheat, along with about 40 blueberries. Maybe 60 if I'm feeling adventurous. With the Freeze Time mod, you don't have to worry about time when it comes to the mines, only energy and you can use Field Snacks, Cave Carrots, Crystal Fruit, etc to handle energy needs. I usually dip in the Sauna after watering the crops and then go into the mine during Summer. I will also make sure I get at least 5 corn plants.

By the end of Summer, I should have the Quality Sprinkler recipe and I will make a decent number of these. 12, minimum. And set them up and calculate scarecrow and sprinkler placement before the first day of fall.

In fall, if I didn't get the 10 wheat I needed for the bundle (I don't care if its 10 normal, 10 silver, 10 gold wheat, as long as it's 10 of the same quality for the bundle), I'll plant more of that. Otherwise, 1 of every crop, making sure to plant at least 9 pumpkins (I will keep 4 of these for the grange display, and if I failed to get 5 gold star melons, I'll use 5 corn and 5 pumpkins, so I'll plant extra pumpkins).

Otherwise, Cranberries for the rest of the crops depending on how many Q-Sprinklers I made. This latest playthrough, I did 24 Q sprinklers, but I *barely* had enough time to get them all planted on day one, finishing at like 12:30AM, I probably won't try something quite THAT ambitious again, lol

if you do it right, getting a deluxe barn and coop by mid-Fall through rather casual play is entirely possible, without buying materials from Robin.

I can't speak enough about the Freeze Time mod, and how much smoother it makes things.

[Rot]

Originally posted by maestro:

Originally posted by Control:

I've been doing that for quite a while, especially the organizing (multiple chests in every area where I grind resources, 3 different chests for the river fishing). The problem, in my opinion, are the "small tasks". I don't feel as if I set enough of those if I, say, make it a goal to build a coop in a month - it just seems too small of a task. In my last playthrough, the "small tasks" amounted to having copper upgrades of every tool, with a couple iron ones, a maxed out fishing rod, a shed for jarring, a coop, an 80 tile farm and getting to the 100th floor of the mines. Mind you, those were weekly tasks, which all seemed minor, but had me watering my crops and BOLTING towards the mines or lake/river/ocean to get resources and money every day. All of that was done in a month and a half.
What would be a more reasonable timeframe to set goals and reach "milestones" like upgrading certain tools and building new buildings?

As a mostly casual player, the only "experienced player" thing I do is finishing the CC by first winter if possible (if I didn't do something stupid and forget something).

Otherwise, I'm a rather casual player.

Mods I use, are the Freeze Time mod, which freezes time anytime you are indoors. This helps loads and gives you lots of wiggle room without invalidating whole sections of the game. You can optionally apply or not apply the freeze time to inside the mine, too.

I also use the remove fishing minigame, because I don't like dumping 45+ IRL minutes into a single game day to go fishing. It just takes too long doing the fishing minigame on every fish I hook.

I try to get to the bottom of the mines anywhere between the last week of Spring and the 2nd week of Summer. It's not an exact science, and there's no real goal for doing that just yet. Floor 120 can wait, though I would prefer to get to 100 for the Obsidian Edge and the first Stardrop. The First Stardrop is rather useful.

With the Freeze Time mod, the Sauna is actually usable, as time is frozen inside of it which lets you actually use it for its intended purpose and actually benefit from its use.

Also, with trying to the the mines done by that time frame, I'm also trying to get the Minecart fixed. This is a huge QoL and everything you need to fix the minecart can be found on your trip down in the mines and should be easy by the time you reach Level 80 in the mines.

Meanwhile, I'm trying my best to get a chicken coop and a barn up ASAP, because they make passive income. Passive income is huge in this game, because the more money you make without spending energy, means the more energy you can put into stuff that matters.

As for crops...

In Spring, I just grow what I need for CC, and maybe a dozen cauliflower, maybe a dozen potatoes. I go light on the crops in Spring because I need that energy to push the mines sooner. If it rains, I fish in the town river (since I have the skip fishing minigame) as Catfish are very expensive and will level fishing quickly and are worth a lot of money. The best place to get the highest quality fish is directly south of Jodi's house. Also, I usually try to keep 10 turnips in the ground at all times, trying to get 5 gold-star turnips before the end of the season which usually isn't too hard, esp. if you use fertilizers that you can make from sap (which you should have plenty of).

In Summer, I usually go for one of every crop for the CC bundle, plus a Sunflower, plus a Poppy (for CC bundles), and 10-15 wheat, along with about 40 blueberries. Maybe 60 if I'm feeling adventurous. With the Freeze Time mod, you don't have to worry about time when it comes to the mines, only energy and you can use Field Snacks, Cave Carrots, Crystal Fruit, etc to handle energy needs. I usually dip in the Sauna after watering the crops and then go into the mine during Summer. I will also make sure I get at least 5 corn plants.

By the end of Summer, I should have the Quality Sprinkler recipe and I will make a decent number of these. 12, minimum. And set them up and calculate scarecrow and sprinkler placement before the first day of fall.

In fall, if I didn't get the 10 wheat I needed for the bundle (I don't care if its 10 normal, 10 silver, 10 gold wheat, as long as it's 10 of the same quality for the bundle), I'll plant more of that. Otherwise, 1 of every crop, making sure to plant at least 9 pumpkins (I will keep 4 of these for the grange display, and if I failed to get 5 gold star melons, I'll use 5 corn and 5 pumpkins, so I'll plant extra pumpkins).

Otherwise, Cranberries for the rest of the crops depending on how many Q-Sprinklers I made. This latest playthrough, I did 24 Q sprinklers, but I *barely* had enough time to get them all planted on day one, finishing at like 12:30AM, I probably won't try something quite THAT ambitious again, lol

if you do it right, getting a deluxe barn and coop by mid-Fall through rather casual play is entirely possible, without buying materials from Robin.

I can't speak enough about the Freeze Time mod, and how much smoother it makes things.

Thanks, I'll look into the mod.
Your pace seems similar to mine, though I usually fish instead of mining, the minigame is fun and the extra time spent doesn't hurt much because I play 1 in-game week a day whenever I can afford it.

[Queen Droxxanna]

if you are looking to another game to try that has farming, fishing but quests and npc's to interact with, why not give Garden paws a try. While there is not Perfection to reach for , the game has a relaxed progression where you can set your own pace, and a very long story line, As well it has some fun features not found in SDV, like getting to ride a bunch of different animals, not just horses, but Unicorns, Elephants and especially fly around on dragons. But you have to play thru 4 year of the game before you get to raise the dragons, so there are long term goals to work on.
The game can also be played solo or have friends join you.
The one thing I like about it is you can play as a cute animal of your choice and the characters and graphics are much larger, easier on your eyes, and you can also build creatively in the world,

[aY227]

CJB Cheats Menu ---> Freeze time options like freeze in buildings / in mines / everywhere (as hotkey) and you play at your own pace.
Also you can manipulate other stuff with it.
(or TimeSpeed mod for detailed time flow control)

Tbh I would like in-game option to slow down time a bit.

[Gracie]

Maybe the game just isn't for you? You're not obligated to like it. Mostly it sounds like you're putting pressure on yourself to play the game a certain way and therefore are setting yourself up for disappointment. Video games are supposed to be fun. There's no right or wrong way to play but if you feel like it's not fun, don't play

[V.V.]

IDK I just play how I feel like playing and enjoy the game a lot. But if I were to try and play the game like you, I can see why I wouldn't enjoy playing it. Hopefully the suggestions offered help you out.

[philbe63]

When I first started Stardew Valley years ago, I hated it. I thought it was tedious and the graphics were so boring. I was playing action RPGs and MMORPGs. I dabbled in PvP games and First Person Shooters. Over time, I fell out of love with those type of games. I got older and couldn't keep up with the younger and more agile fingered gamers. I got Stardew on sale about two years ago and now I love it. Maybe you just need to step away from what's upsetting you because it isn't what you want to play. There are many other types of cozy games out there. Life is too short to play something you are not enjoying.