Stardew Valley update 'futureproofs the game' with improved modding support

A new Stardew Valley update just went live on PC, and while creator Eric Barone says it's not a biggie, it does make some significant changes for modders, also incorporates some quality of life changes, and fixes a handful of minor bugs.

The biggest change is architectural—the patch migrates Stardew Valley from the XNA framework to MonoGame, an open source implementation of XNA 4 that "futureproofs the game and allows mods to access more than 4 gigs of RAM," Barone said. But I think my favorite part of the update is the new ability to nudge pets out of the way when you're building something or moving a building. I don't know if that happens a lot in Stardew Valley but I've definitely spent more than a minute of my life yelling at NPCs to get out of the goddamn way, and I can tell you it's not a very effective tactic. An in-game "excuse me" option is definitely better.

If for some reason you prefer to stick with the older version, that remains an option: Right-click Stardew Valley in your Steam library, then select properties, betas, and select the "compatibility" version. Modders who want to see what's changing can dig deeper in PathosChild's 1.5.5 migration guide.

Barone also confirmed that a 1.5.6 update is in the works, which will add more modding support options, "including some long requested 'holy grail' changes which should make some aspects of modding much easier in the future." There may be some new content as well, but nothing on the scale of last year's big 1.5 update.

Migrated the game from XNA (targeting .NET Framework 4.5.2) to MonoGame (targeting .NET 5). This futureproofs the game and allows mods to access more than 4 gigs of RAM.
Made various internal changes for mod authors.

Quality of life changes

Holding the CTRL key in addition to shift now lets you purchase/craft stacks of 25 items at a time.
When starting a new save, many settings now default to what they were the last time you played the game. Some settings like zoom level, gamepad mode, and multiplayer server privacy aren't copied over.
You can now build or move farm buildings onto artifact spots. This destroys the artifact spots.
You can now nudge pets out of the way while building/moving a building by clicking on them.
You can now buy back items accidentally sold in the same shopping session.
The in-game time is now shown on the upper-right hand corner of the screen when playing Journey of the Prairie King in multiplayer.
Grass placed using Grass Starter during Winter no longer disappears when the game is reloaded (but it still won't grow or spread).

Localization fixes

Fixed Shane's 6-heart event soft-locking in the Hungarian translation.
Fixed incorrect backslash characters in various events in the Hungarian localization.
Fixed typos in the French localization.
Fixed a typo in Livin' Off The Land that incorrectly states that Super Cucumber can be caught in Winter.

Cosmetic fixes

Added commas to the price display on the various building construction menus.
Adjusted collisions in the Calico Desert to avoid a minor sorting issue on the top-left edge of the raised cliffside.
Fixed issue where Sebastian's sprite would shift into an invalid position at 1:00 PM when he's working on his bike on the farm.

General fixes

After completing the Cryptic Note quest, subsequently reaching the 100th floor of the Skull Cavern will guarantee a loot chest.
Fixed an issue where hard mode mines could become permanently enabled.
The Blacksmith profession now affects Radioactive Bars.
Garden Pots no longer lose any applied fertilizers when they are harvested from.
Fixed the explosion radius not being centered when dislodging flooring and certain other types of items.
When placing a Garden Pot on Ginger Island on a rainy day, it will now spawn with its dirt correctly watered.
Fixed an issue where moving a cabin with a cellar would cause the stairs to the cellar to warp the players out of bounds for the rest of the play session.
Fixed a case where entering the Farm from the south on horseback and triggering an event could cause the player to get stuck in a wall.
Fixed various invisible tiles preventing certain spots in the Mountain lake from spawning fish activity bubbles.
Fixed the tile holding the plant on Elliott's table not being passable from behind.
Fixed some tiles on the left side of the beach farm being unbuildable.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.