The Stardew Valley 1.6 ‘modpocalypse’ could have been a lot worse

Hold on to your parsnips, because an apocalypse has struck the pastoral lands Stardew Valley.

No, it wasn’t a game-changing bug or new content. Rather the long-awaited one Stardew Valley 1.6 update introduced changes that revamped the back-end and made some of the most popular mods completely unusable. While mod compatibility may not be the most important thing for every fan, it is of utmost importance for the larger ones Stardew Valley community, where a single mod could have that more than 10 million downloads. Now, the 1.6 update has kicked off a mad scramble among eager creators to improve their content and mitigate the effects of what people in the community are calling the “modpocalypse.”

But it’s not all bad news. Update 1.6 is perhaps one of the biggest modding turning points in the game’s history and will make it easier to add new content such as characters and music. Previously, some changes required technical programming knowledge, but improvements in 1.6 make it easier than ever to create mods. Polygon spoke to creators behind some of the biggest mods, and while they mentioned the challenges associated with all current dysfunctional mods, the creator of Stardew Valley Expanded changed their mind Stardew Valley developer Devin Hedegaard, the changes will “make the modding community stronger than ever before.”

According to Hedegaard, better known as FlashShifter, the game is designed in such a way that you “would have to be a programmer” to edit and add things behind the scenes. Content Patcher, a popular program for moderators, made it much easier to add content, but there were limitations on what you could use it for. Now Modders can use it to edit and add even more elements to the game, such as animals and music, that weren’t possible before. “With Content Patcher you don’t have to be a programmer, you just need to be able to read data and think logically. And now you can add things very easily. (…) It used to be easy, but now it’s even easier,” Hedegaard said via Discord voice chat.

Developer Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone first released Stardew Valley in 2016, and it’s sold out 30 million copies to date. That enduring popularity can be largely explained by Barone’s constant updates, but also by the passionate community of modders who continue to create new content and expand the game’s world. These mods allow players to explore new regions, meet fan-made characters, or change the art direction. According to a Nexus Mods representative, there have been more than 336 million downloads in approximately 15,300 countries. Stardew Valley mods over the past eight years, making it the fifth largest gaming community on the site.

Rather than police moderators with DMCA takedowns, for example, Barone has worked tirelessly to promote collaboration. Before he was released, he had described the 1.6 patch as a “modding-focused” update and even released an alpha version that showed off the code before the official release. Additionally, Barone hired the creator of SMAPI, the most popular software used for loading Stardew Valley mods, to work on update 1.6 and make the game more mud-friendly.

The creator of SMAPI and Content Patcher goes by the name Pathoschild, and everyone Polygon spoke to mentioned the key role he played and how he served as a consistent line of communication between Barone and Star Dew‘s community. LemurKat, a creator behind the popular East Scarp mod, told Polygon via Discord that Pathoschild kept “great documentation on the aspects we could work with.”

DestyNova, another active mudder in the East Scarp community, echoed these sentiments. “(Pathoschild and Barone) worked together to make sure modders like me had every tool you could imagine until the last second,” DestyNova said via Discord voice chat. “And Pathoschild has accommodated the changes pretty much as well as they could, like up until (two nights before release).”

In addition to structural changes to the code, the new update also brought new tools for modders to work with. DestyNova previously created a mod that added a non-binary NPC Stardew Valleyand now they have more things to work with.

“It’s like your art palette is expanded. Not every moderator will be an artist either, so every time there’s an update to the game there are more resources for people to use. There is more content for people to work with,” DestyNova said.

However, big changes come with big growing pains. Pathoshield maintains a database where players can check if mods work with 1.6, and a quick look shows dozens of now-defunct mods, which has led to a lot of work for moderators. Hedegaard described a grueling schedule in the days following the update’s release. “I sleep as much as I can, and then I just get up and work all day. Certainly more than twelve hours a day,” he said.

“There are a lot of declines in some places. But there are parts of my mod where it’s been going well for two years, and now, with this update, it’s broken and I had to fix it,” Hedegaard continued. “But that’s just the short term. In the long run, I think these changes will make the modding community stronger than ever before, and it’s a good change. And it’s something that the modding community really needed.”

While the patch has introduced many new issues, such as bugs and version compatibility issues, at least these modders are not alone. The same communities that helped bring previous content to life can now provide support for any troubleshooting needs. The one around East Scarp in particular has gained a reputation for being a welcoming place for people to learn and a haven for LGBTQ-friendly people. Stardew Valley contents.

“That’s what’s important to me as a queer writer. I think people see (the East Scarp) NPCs and people see themselves, and it becomes important to them. (…) ‘Oh Hey! This is a non-binary NPC. I love them so much. Please, friend who is also non-binary.” Then we accidentally built a community of people who want to make queer NPCs, and I think that’s great,” said DestyNova.

And ultimately, the communities surrounding these mods can be just as meaningful as the content they add. Guides and active Discord servers all serve as pillars.

“It will be easier in the end, but many of us more experienced mod makers will also have to relearn the process and adapt to the new mechanics (in the game),” LemurKat said. “This has led to less of a learning environment and more of a sharing, ‘Hey, look at this cool feature I just discovered.’ That’s pretty cool, considering I’ve been making mods for almost five years now and still have a lot to learn.”

If you’re a fan of these mods and want to support the creators, a simple thank you can sometimes do wonders.

“For most of us, this is a part-time hobby and we want to experience the new content as much as you do,” said LemurKat. “If you notice that your game has a bug, I recommend learning how to parse and read your SMAPI logs, as you can fix some things yourself. If you can’t find the solution there, please let the mod author know by posting a clear description of the problem along with the link to the SMAPI log on the Nexus Mods page. (…) And please also provide supportive comments! I like finding a ‘Thanks for your hard work’ message buried among the screen of ‘This is broken, fix it’ comments.”