So I wish I hadn't had a baby

[lolly]

I love this game, pretty much addicted to it ATM. However the baby seems like a mistake, creepy little pointless chore that no one but me acknowledges. If I just ignore it is there any negative that happens other than our relationship? I don't really care if it hates me lol, just fed up with the repetitive nature of it.

Gust just steps over it every day and carries on with life. It would be lovely if they were more than just another cow to pet and feed. Even if maybe their other parent occasionally acknowledged their existence. My kid also has Gale and Ginger in town but even though they are all close, the creepy baby is just ignored. I had the 'dinner with family' mission again after the baby was born but it was just left to crawl around at home thinking about toys rather than Gust taking the kid too. Babies growing up would be the ideal but failing that it would be nice just to have them included a little more. Maybe let the other parent do the feeding and petting. Just anything to make them less like another pet, at this point if I could I'd just stick it in the shed with the rest and deal with it once a day.

I have pushed on for too long now to go back to a not pregnant save, well I'd need to go even further back to before the conversation about babies Gust which was weeks before my character got pregnant.

[Hexo Mia]

lol, thats parent life for you.

but no hopes, devs just abandon this game and move on to another game when this one is still have so many problems, so thug life I guess, deal with the baby or go back in time to a previous save.

Still baffles me how a group of people got so many things wrong on this game, but concernedape, the sole developer of stardew valley got everything right.

[Klrmebad]

I had a save file when I had player leveled 78. Player had two babies, one from Arlo, and one from Paulie, I couldn't stand it you explained it well. I had to go farther than you did, I went to somewhere level 65 or so to be single again.

[2d0x]

Originally posted by lolly:

...if I could I'd just stick it in the shed with the rest and deal with it once a day...

Parental instinct.

Originally posted by Roderick✪Legend:

...when this one is still have so many problems...

The problem is that you made a hasty and thoughtless decision? Children (both real and virtual) are a responsible and burdensome decision. Actually, the game displays this in a simplified form. Finally, this game is not about raising and growing virtual children.

[jabbywocks]

Your spouse will pick them up sometimes and they came up in conversation (at least I experienced this in the one game save where I had kids), but they won't feed them.

Portians generally don't acknowledge most things though. Divorced someone and broke their heart? Wait a few days and give them lots of gifts and they forget it ever happened and will come to your next wedding :P

[Penetang]

Seriously? The babies never grow up? That's too bad. I would hope the game aged them to at least the point they could attend Lucy's school.

[Cuddle_Rat]

OP, this entire conversation made me lol so much, thank you. PS. I love your Aristocats profile picture!

[JesterVae]

I'm about to have my first, and I've purposely waited until I've finished everything else in the game that I want to...

...which, now that I think about it, is my exact approach to having children in real life. Of course, in real life there are endless things to do, so I'll probably never get around to having a child.

Also, Gust is a prick, so it's easy to imagine that he'd ignore a baby. My Petra would never!

[Locuust]

@JesterVae - lol that was exactly my thinking when I read about how children work in this game. I'll do it at the very end. Part of me doesn't even want to get married until near the end, but I might settle with not upgrading the house to lvl 4. That way I never have to hear my spouse talk about wanting to have a kid. Though I have no idea how persistent they are on this.

To be completely fair stardew didn't exactly put a huge amount of time into the marriage/children features either. Iirc once you have both they sort of just exist. Sure the spouse helps out and they do go through the motions of appearing to be a family, but the kid never grows up, and there are no quests? Don't quote me on that. In this genre it feels like devs basically tick off the list of features they need to support to be a 'Farming Game' (Builder Game?) and never try to expand on it much.

To be even more fair... I don't think anyone/everyone would ever be happy with a expanded romance/family simulation. Everyone has different idea's/values when it comes to romance, marriage, and kids. It might work better if the player could customize it too their liking but there comes a point where it crosses over into the creepy if you can control how your spouse behaves and acts. Doesn't really work with voice acting either.

I'm just waiting for a game to use an AI model for NPC behavior that truly makes them feel like real people that aren't just traveling along a predetermined route. It would also be funny to hear users complain that 'no one would act like that' when an NPC did something crazy. Bonus points if the AI could point to a link of an example video like the ones used to build it. Well, maybe it would be a more interesting experiment than a game.

[Luna]

Most games that have marriage and allow for children tend to have it as an afterthought. A nice little bit of story for the players that want them. Very few actual put depth into the child itself.

If you're looking for solid married life and raising your kid, check out the old game Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life, or the female-character version of it, Another Wonderful Life. This focuses predominantly on the characters, your family, and whatnot.

But for the most part, yeah. Don't expect children to be much more than personal story pieces in the grander tale the game has.

[Fen Hin]

Originally posted by Roderick✪Legend:

lol, thats parent life for you.

but no hopes, devs just abandon this game and move on to another game when this one is still have so many problems, so thug life I guess, deal with the baby or go back in time to a previous save.

Still baffles me how a group of people got so many things wrong on this game, but concernedape, the sole developer of stardew valley got everything right.

How is the mc baby treated in Stardew Valley? Enlight us

[House Gnome]

I have never bothered having a baby in Stardew Valley as I've seen too many players posting regrets on the little path blockers. I did have ONE baby in Portia and I will not do it again.

First, it was the fugliest baby I've ever seen, like, so ugly I restarted the day I had it to re-roll the appearance. Second, it really is just another pet. I am a parent irl and it bothers me to just leave all day and leave the baby unattended (although, I'm married to Gust in this file so I guess QQ could be watching her).

There was at least a picnic quest with Gust where he asked me to bring the baby to Amber Island and he had set up a family picnic. Even had a playpen for the baby, so I guess leaving it home alone all day is fine but allowing it to free roam near the ocean is a bridge too far.

I should have known better after I figured out where Albert Jr. was while Albert and Sonia were in town all day - not that any mention of Albert Jr is ever made in the game.

[Adesanya]

On the My Time At Sandrock Kickstarter page they've promised to allow the kids to grow up ..... if they make 1.5 MILLION .....

[Owl1234]

Same... I only "had" them to get the achievements. twice!!! Then abandoned that character. Have kids IRL and really really don't want the "chores" that come with it in games :D.