Chucklefish recently announced an upcoming update for Stardew Valley. The update version 1.3 will contain a multiplayer feature, which is the feature that fans waited for. The update is called patch or version 1.3 because the developer mentioned that this update would be released on the PC version as "patch 1.3" on Mac, Windows, and Linux. This multiplayer feature comes with some fixes in the game as well as some information.
Also, the multiplayer option is something unique because players will have to build cabins to make it work. Of course, it has to be built by the town's carpenter, Robin, and the materials gathered by the players themselves.
Players can build up to 3 cabins, where Farmhands live and store their items in a chest.
Player-to-player marriage
Another feature that the developers look forward is the player-to-player marriage. This feature will highlight a different method, compared to the NPC one where players offer a "Mermaid Pendant" to the person they want to marry. However, this is still a work in progress, and the developers will announce further details in the future.
Farmhands
Moving on, Farmhands can do what the main players can do such as fishing, mining, foraging, farming, and the like. Additionally, they can also marry other NPCs. Again, this is what the developers are also working on now. There won't be a need to establish a server for multiplayer, as what the developers have mentioned.
Instead, they can invite other players through Steam. On the other hand, for other versions, the method is similar but to be detailed soon.
The main players are the focus, not the Farmhands. They can decide when to sleep, to end a festival, where to side at the end (Joja renovating the dilapidated community hall or rebuilding it).
Synchronizing all games
Split-screen mode, local multiplayer, and PVP is not planned yet, the developers added. Instead, they plan to overcome the biggest technical hurdle yet. This is to synchronize all games from players around the world. The process is "notoriously" difficult, which notes that these may take some time. More topics will be covered in the future such as below:
- Farmhand cabins
- UI and menus
- events and festivals
- multiplayer-NPC relationships
- more polishing, testing, and optimization processes
Chucklefish hopes to finish it on early 2018 and release the beta before the expected date. The patch 1.3 will follow after the beta testing. Moreover, consoles will also get the said patch but will prioritize on the Nintendo Switch version.
