EXERCISING AGENCY BY
RE-ENACTING STARDEW VALLEY'S
GAME MECHANICS
However with the UI Info Suite mod, it implements character icons that move about the in-game map interface and with a mouse hover, reveals their location. This is not only convenient as it eliminates the player's reliance on the online Wikipedia. In addition, it saves players valuable time.
When players need to find a Non-Playable Character (NPC) in order to complete a fetch quest or to grow friendships with the characters through gifting, there is no value made when they tab out of the game to search for the character's whereabouts through the game's Wikipedia page, or to run around spending valuable time just to find them.
MAKING THE INVISIBLE, VISIBLE
With multiple tasks and information players have to keep track of, games like Stardew Valley can be overwhelming for beginner players who fear making costly mistakes early in the game.
There are various mechanics that players are reliant on such as the television farmhouse, that tells players the luck for the day which affects how they plan their day. This luck indicator affects mechanics such as spawn rates of ladders when mining or treasure when fishing.
The UI Info Suite mod makes information deemed important by players that was once invisible in the game, visible for them, without feeling as if they are cheating. Through the use of a coloured dice at the top of the screen, players are no longer tied to the television as they can check on the luck no matter their location.
When one plays a game, it is viewed as a performance. This performance is alternatively known as enactment and is performed by a diverse set of actors who are: the players, the game, the way they interacts with the game and the devices that are used to play the game (eg. the Nintendo Switch and Joycons). By using Quality of Life mods, players are changing the way they perform a game.
Quality of Life mods are described by players as mods that make changes to a game without completely altering its base mechanics. They improve aspects of gameplay for players, from making vital information visible, to fixing aspects of the game that lack fun/value.
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Makes jam or preserved vegetables that yields higher earnings compared to the original price of the produce. Jam and preserved vegetables take days to make.
A clock is present on the top right of the screen, to indicate the time. Players watch the clock to keep track of time spent on activities.
Everyday, players check the television to view the day's luck that aids them in deciding how they will plan their day.
The map is used for players to identify their location as well as view each and every building in the town.
Fishing is one of the essential skills players learn to earn money and to perfect the game to 100%.
In the original game, players earn gold by turning produce into jams and wine. Gold is required for players to not only to replant their produce, but to purchase big ticket items. However, fruit and vegetables can only be placed in these machinery one at a time. When the wine and jam are ready, players collect them individually before shipping them for gold. As the number of machinery grow, players feel that such a mechanic becomes repetitive and tedious to upkeep.
ELIMINATING REPETITION
As players familiarise themselves with the game and play through multiple saves, overtime game mechanics that were originally designed by the creator may seem rather repetitive. In such instances, players turn to mods like Automate in order to relieve themselves of tasks they deem mundane.
To do away with the mechanic, players use the Automate mod. First, all produce are mass placed in a chest. Players then connect the chest to the jars, kegs and shipping bin, establishing an automatic system. When the jam and wine are ready, the machinery automatically pushes the goods to the shipping for selling. Wth this system, players are now free from the manual tasks and can prioritise aspects of the game they deem more fun or important.
Mods such as Automate however, have been a point of contention where some players deem it as cheating, claiming that it takes away from the original intent of the game, which is to simulate a farming life. Players who see otherwise however, have relayed that cheating is not the goal, rather they use Automate to relieve them of stress and consequence should they miss certain tasks.
Saving time is also a large motivation for them as they view time as precious, and would rather spend their game hours on aspects of the game that gives them the most gratification. In other words, gameplay is personable and mods are tools that give players the agency to play how they wish.
With such repetitive motions, along with rarer fishes that have increasingly erratic patterns, such a game design ostracizes players who have motor-disabilities from achieving this goal. Mods such as CBJ cheats that allow customisation of the game, to the point where such mechanics can be disabled, enable players to accomplish these goals that able-bodied people have less problems with, levelling the playing field.
Due to the nature of Stardew that isn't as intense as AAA title games, many players enjoy introducing their family to the series. However certain mechanics prove to be rather challenging still especially for the elderly who have not developed motor abilities compared to seasoned gamers.
ACCESSIBILITY FOR NICHE AUDIENCES
Though mods were created with different intentions, Quality of Life mods they have incidentally catered to a niche group of players. In Stardew, obtaining the game's full collection of fish along with reaching the maximum level of fishing, is one of the requirements to achieving "Perfection" where players thereafter can access end-game content. Every time a player fishes, a minigame is activated where players have to keep a moving fish icon within a green bar that goes up and down with the click and release of a mouse.
When 7 seconds in the real world has passed, it counts for 10 minutes in game time and accomplishing multiple tasks in a day can be rather challenging as it becomes a race against the clock. With the TimeSpeed mod that allows players to alter the speed of the game as they wish, players can now enjoy a more relaxing playthrough with their loved ones.
