Here’s a look at Stardew Valley’s original concept. The 13 year old trailer shows just how much the game has changed

It’s been almost four years since ConcernedApe first revealed Haunted Chocolatier, though he’s probably been working on it way longer than that, and chances are it’ll take even more time before it’s finished. He hasn’t shared much with us yet, just little sneak peeks here and there, and recently we got to enjoy a fresh new screenshot. In the meantime, we’ve still got plenty to keep us busy in Stardew Valley. It’s even nice to just stop, take in the scenery, and remember that the game’s world actually looks so much different from how it was originally planned.

A lok back at Stardew Valley’s earliest days

The very first Stardew Valley trailer is over 13 years old now. It’s tucked away in some corner of YouTube, forgotten by most of us, or maybe never even discovered in the first place. So, here’s a throwback to what SV looked like four years before it actually launched. Big Harvest Moon (1996) vibes incoming.

Stardew Valley from 13 years ago compared to first Harvest Moon from 1996.Source: YouTube; Harvest Moon, developer: Amccus

From the very first second, you can feel how different it was back then. The colors, the music, even the tiniest details like buildings, rocks, and bits of wood. ConcernedApe ended up reworking almost every single asset before release. He even redrew all the character portraits pixel by pixel. Haley, Maru, Sam, they all look totally transformed compared to now.

Source: YouTube

One detail that really stood out to me: the workshop bench inside the farmhouse. At some point, CA scrapped that idea and instead let us craft straight from the menu. But the chicken sound effect is still the same.

Source: YouTube

Later he dropped another short clip, barely 30 seconds of chopping down a tree, but this one already feels way closer to the Stardew Valley we know today.

But don’t tell me you didn’t know CA used to work at JojaMart. Now we know who Shane was based on. The video below was posted in 2011, so it might even predate when he started working on Stardew Valley.

I wonder if he even realized back then that he was just a few years away from releasing his masterpiece, and that he’d still be working on it a decade later. As we know now, another update is on the way for SV, even though he said he was putting the game aside for a while to focus on Haunted Chocolatier. But that’s classic CA for you – there’s no telling what he’ll do next.

Stardew Valley

February 26, 2016

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