I know many people are excited to play Haunted Chocolatier, and may be disappointed to hear that it will still take a while, or that I took time away to work on Stardew Valley. I understand. I will be very happy when the day comes that I can finally release Haunted Chocolatier. However, as with Stardew Valley, I will not be doing any “early access”, crowdfunding, or pre-orders, so I don’t feel a ton of external pressure to finish the game on a timeline.

Bless you ape, take as long as you need. Quality takes time and you have long past proven you capabilities as a dev.

Although maybe don't do white text next time? That was difficult to read. Edit: Ignore me, I'm dumb.

[–] tyler@programming.dev 20 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Are you sure you don’t have a dark mode extension on? It was black text for me

[–] inb4_FoundTheVegan@lemmy.world 16 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Oh shit.

I'm dumb, that was totally it. I toggled it off and see the black text. Good call. lol

[–] nailingjello@lemmy.zip -4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Found the vegan

[–] nailingjello@lemmy.zip 2 points 3 weeks ago

Ouch, people should read usernames before downvoting.

[–] Davel23@fedia.io 2 points 3 weeks ago

Yeah, black on tan for me.

[–] Fermion@feddit.nl 2 points 3 weeks ago

I also got white text even after turning dark mode off and refreshing the page. I had to "select all" to read it.

[–] djsoren19@yiffit.net 45 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Just glad to know it's still kicking around. Ape managed to kickstart an entire generation of cozy games, while remaining the best among them. As long as its still cooking, I'm sure it'll be great when it comes out.

[–] BetaDoggo_@lemmy.world 11 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I don't know what you're talking about. Stardew Valley is the most anxiety filled game I've ever played. 100s of goals, each with many codependencies and individual time constraints, all to be completed within a 2 year window.

[–] NewNewAccount@lemmy.world 14 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Can’t you keep playing after the two years? I’ve barely scratched the surface of Stardew Valley.

[–] Cenotaph@mander.xyz 23 points 3 weeks ago

You absolutely can. My partner is in year 4. Any stress in stardew valley is self-imposed

[–] BetaDoggo_@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

You can but if you want to get a perfect score at the evaluation after year 2 you need to complete the community center and meet a few other requirements. You can reevaluate at any time after the 2 years but it's more interesting to do it within the original time limit.

[–] Googlyman64@lemmy.world 14 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

That's the weird thing about SV. There are no time constraints or missable items or events of any significance, but it FEELS like there are. Anecdotally, the disparity seems to happen to traditional "gamer" gamers vs casual "once in a while" gamers. I always see the latter taking their time and enjoying the little things about the game, but myself and my other friends that play games regularly tend to take it too seriously and worry about the time constraints far too much. Still a fantastic game, would recommend to people that like farming games.

[–] grue@lemmy.world 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

There are no time constraints... of any significance

I find the length of the day to be a huge constraint, especially when mining.

[–] Fermion@feddit.nl 3 points 3 weeks ago

Outer Wilds says "hold my beer."

[–] grue@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago

That feeling when it's midnight and you're still trying to get deeper in the mine.

[–] Linktank 19 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I can't believe how much new stuff is in Stardew Valley since I last played. I thought the game was complete already

[–] BestBouclettes@jlai.lu 9 points 3 weeks ago

It's the Terraria move !

[–] EncryptKeeper@lemmy.world 18 points 3 weeks ago

I can’t think of a more acceptable reason for a development delay for a consumer than “I was busy making free content updates to my existing game”.

[–] MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works 13 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

This is the kind of update and transparency I needed to see. I was one of those that were disappointed at seeing stardew get more and more updates, seemingly putting HC on the shelf. But I understand his reasons and the urges/duty that brought them about.

Looking forward to this game but I also, like others, don't need it rushed out. I just wanted to know that it was actually still being worked on and not cancelled quietly. Him talking about his attachment to the world and characters has definitely got me more excited, as that will likely give it the same charm as stardew seeing his heart seems to be in it the same way.

I am placated.

[–] flicker@lemmy.world 6 points 3 weeks ago

I think it's very mature of him to know how he works best, and not to try and compromise on that.

Can't wait to see Haunted Chocolatier.

[–] intresteph@discuss.online 3 points 3 weeks ago

I remember when he said he wouldn’t make another game from scratch (game engine) and here he is again.