efficient-fishingrod

[efficient-fishingrod]

Oh cool. The readmore cutoff just does not appear if you're looking in the notes. Have to actually be looking on dash or a blog. Nice feature tumblr.

scientist: so you dug up some ancient seeds from the ground farmer: yup scientist: viable ancient seeds farmer: yup scientist: seeds that can reawaken a long-dead species farmer: yup scientist: and instead of informing scholars, you... farmer: made jam

[efficient-fishingrod]

I'm gonna be pedantic, look away if you're OP or just enjoyed the joke, which I am going to dissect until it is thoroughly ruined.

You can't get viable ancient seeds in Stardew Valley by digging, sorry OP.

You always dig up the artifact named "Ancient Seed" which you then donate to the museum. Gunther then gives you a recipe and a packet of seeds for your trouble.

So if you had dug up the seed you are required to tell Gunther before you get the plantable "Ancient Seeds" to grow a fruit to make jelly* from.

Getting the seeds without donating the artifact to Gunther requires using the seed maker.

The ancient fruit plant also wasn't a dead species until version 1.6.3 of Stardew Valley, which is when the seeds were patched out of the travelling cart inventory. Before that patch it was conceivable that ancient fruit plants were extant in the Gotoro Empire.

I suppose it's possible the Farmer in the exchange is talking to Demetrius and just happens to by lying to him. That would be a pretty funny way to screw with Demetrius. Especially considering the soil outside his house is one of two places you can dig up an Ancient Seed from an artifact spot.

You CAN, however, use the Ancient Seed artifact in a sewing machine to make the "Brown Suit" shirt.

*I am willing to accept the Farmer uses the term jam interchangeably with jelly

scientist: so you dug up some ancient seeds from the ground farmer: yup scientist: viable ancient seeds farmer: yup scientist: seeds that can reawaken a long-dead species farmer: yup scientist: and instead of informing scholars, you... farmer: made jam

[efficient-fishingrod]

Guess I should do a moss farming explanation at some point for anyone who cares.

I thought there wasn't enough moss but now that I understand the moss mechanics better I have learned to moss farm. (thanks to the people that update the wiki)

and it does work outside of the valley* if you plant the correct trees- so you can get moss in winter (which was my problem running out of moss year one)

So that does make it possible to get lots of moss with some planning if you decide you want to craft a lot of stuff that uses moss. (Deluxe worm bins, treasure totems, challenge bait, mushroom logs, blue grass starters)

or you just want to build a statue of blessings and it's going to be a while before the next green rain.

*I tested on Ginger Island. I don't know what happens in the desert. The desert is kinda weird anyways. I haven't checked to see if trees in the desert still become snow covered in winter in 1.6. and some mechanics are odd in the desert. Like solar panels take longer to produce batteries even though it doesn't rain (or they used to, haven't checked in 1.6). One youtuber said solar panels don't work in the desert at all but that's because his fairy dust wasn't working on the panels- they do work, it's just odd.

[efficient-fishingrod]

I thought there wasn't enough moss but now that I understand the moss mechanics better I have learned to moss farm. (thanks to the people that update the wiki)

and it does work outside of the valley* if you plant the correct trees- so you can get moss in winter (which was my problem running out of moss year one)

So that does make it possible to get lots of moss with some planning if you decide you want to craft a lot of stuff that uses moss. (Deluxe worm bins, treasure totems, challenge bait, mushroom logs, blue grass starters)

or you just want to build a statue of blessings and it's going to be a while before the next green rain.

*I tested on Ginger Island. I don't know what happens in the desert. The desert is kinda weird anyways. I haven't checked to see if trees in the desert still become snow covered in winter in 1.6. and some mechanics are odd in the desert. Like solar panels take longer to produce batteries even though it doesn't rain (or they used to, haven't checked in 1.6). One youtuber said solar panels don't work in the desert at all but that's because his fairy dust wasn't working on the panels- they do work, it's just odd.

[efficient-fishingrod]

I have an idea for a series on the way skills synergize in Stardew in 1.6 but I want to finish hands on research first and I don't want to do that on any of my current farms so I guess that means making another new farm...

[efficient-fishingrod]

Haven't been making much content on this blog for a while. I'll try to take some notes when 1.6 comes out and I start a new save file.

Guess I'll tag things 1.6 if I make any posts

[efficient-fishingrod]

Guess I'll have to poke around to find new uses for items and new sources for existing items. (Kinda got really sick and as a result, stopped any of the little projects I was working on. Wouldn't say I'm better but I'm less worse)

honey!!! its time for another 200hr+ play through of stardew valley!!!

[efficient-fishingrod]

Yes, but what I'm not sure about is if the check for weeds & debris spreading on Ginger Island is separate from the checks on the mainland.

This is further complicated by new weeds spawning on the Ginger Island farm every Monday rather than on the 1st of the seasons or 1st of Spring like the farm and mainland outdoor areas respectively.

Debris and Weeds

I've made some observations about the propagation of weeds and debris (and grass) in Stardew Valley which I haven't seen anywhere else so I'm making a post about it.

This will describe the phenomenon to the best of my observations (I don't know how the code works) and also how to avoid frustrations with it and even make use of it.

For reference:

This is grass:

These are twigs and rocks, which are collectively "debris":

and these are weeds:

All of these images were taken in Spring. Some things may look differently in other seasons. (there's also a unique kind of weed found on the Forest and Four Corners farm)

You're probably familiar with seeing these popups:

The spreading weeds have caused damage to your farm.

If you're wondering why it pops up when you can't see anything damaged, it's probably because weeds spread to a tile that had debris on it and they destroyed the existing rock or twig.

The Stardew Valley wiki is good about describing when these spread, how they overtake other objects, and what blocks their spread, but it doesn't go into detail on how the randomness works.

As far as I can tell, the game chooses a few tiles containing weeds or debris at random not just from your farm but from anywhere outside. This includes: -Your farm -Cindersnap Forest -Pelican Town -Railroad (I'm not sure if the Ginger Island farm is included or not)

I've seen multiple players use the scythe on weeds while ignoring the debris. This leads to huge circles of debris forming over time. The debris blocks both their paths (aside from where villagers recently walking has destroyed the debris) and the spawning of forage items.

It's been my experience that weeds are either more plentiful or more likely to spread over debris. As far as I can tell, if you leave weeds alone, eventually they will block and replace debris.

Another thing I've noticed is the amount of spreading from existing weeds and debris appears to be fixed and doesn't scale with how many of them exist on the various map areas.

This means if you clear out a lot of weeds and debris from one area, you'll see more aggressive spreading of them in other places.

To put it another way: if you clear all the weeds and debris from your farm, the weeds and debris in Pelican Town, Cindersnap Forest, and the Railroad will be more likely to expand to adjacent tiles. (and vice versa)

If you happen to want more weeds (for fiber or, on the Forest farm, Mixed Seeds) or rocks and twigs (for some reason) you can selectively destroy what's on the outdoor maps to confine the weeds and/or debris to specific areas where you want them to spread.

When I removed all debris and only left weeds standing on the Railroad map it was easy to see how many of them would appear each day. The limited options for where weeds could spread made the game concentrate them next to the handful of existing weeds, making quite dramatic growth each day. (Seemed like around 8-12 new weeds but I didn't count)

You could use this to fill the town with weeds if that's your thing. If there's only a few weeds on the maps the odds of those weeds spreading more than one tile overnight will be almost 100%, letting the weeds or debris spread past the tiles that are regularly trod on by villagers.

Given the annoyance of finding mixed seeds when you want to make a lot of fiber seeds this could be useful on Forest or Four Corners farms.

[efficient-fishingrod]

Spotlight On: sap

Convenient Sources: -Trees (cutting down)

Inconvenient Sources: -Tapper (Mahogany Trees) -Enemies: --Green Slime (15%) --All other Slimes (50%) -The Mines (before reaching the bottom): Crates and Barrels: --0-39th floor: (2.31%, 2-5) --40-79th floor: (2.31%, 2-5) -After reaching the bottom of the mines, sap becomes 0% on all drop tables.

[efficient-fishingrod]

Spotlight On: coal

Convenient Sources: -Purchase from Clint (150g year 1, 250g after year 1) -Rocks (mines) -Enemies: --Dust Sprite (50%)

Inconvenient Sources: -Rocks (surface) -Artifact Spots -Fishing Chests (9%-61%, 1-24) -Panning for Ore -Charcoal Kiln (converts 10 wood to 1 coal after 30 in game minutes) -Recycling Machine: --Trash (30%, 1-3) --Driftwood (25%, 1-3) -Geodes -Trains -Fruit Trees (lightning strikes cause coal to grow instead of fruit) -The Mines: --Carts and Bags --Crates and Barrels (1-2): ---Floors 0-39 (4.62%) ---Floors 40-79 (4.62%) ---Floors +80 & 💀(5.2%) ---Difficult Mines & 💀(4%) -Monsters: --Red Slime (10%, 1-3) --Purple Slime (10%, 1-3) --Black Slime (100%) --Metal Head (10%) --Hot Head (10%) --Shadow Brute (10%, 1-3) --Shadow Shaman (10%, 1-3) --Shadow Sniper (10%, 1-3) --Stone Golem (10%) --Wilderness Golem (10%) --Spider (10%, 1-3)

[efficient-fishingrod]

Debris and Weeds

I've made some observations about the propagation of weeds and debris (and grass) in Stardew Valley which I haven't seen anywhere else so I'm making a post about it.

This will describe the phenomenon to the best of my observations (I don't know how the code works) and also how to avoid frustrations with it and even make use of it.

For reference:

This is grass:

These are twigs and rocks, which are collectively "debris":

and these are weeds:

All of these images were taken in Spring. Some things may look differently in other seasons. (there's also a unique kind of weed found on the Forest and Four Corners farm)

You're probably familiar with seeing these popups:

The spreading weeds have caused damage to your farm.

If you're wondering why it pops up when you can't see anything damaged, it's probably because weeds spread to a tile that had debris on it and they destroyed the existing rock or twig.

The Stardew Valley wiki is good about describing when these spread, how they overtake other objects, and what blocks their spread, but it doesn't go into detail on how the randomness works.

As far as I can tell, the game chooses a few tiles containing weeds or debris at random not just from your farm but from anywhere outside. This includes: -Your farm -Cindersnap Forest -Pelican Town -Railroad (I'm not sure if the Ginger Island farm is included or not)

I've seen multiple players use the scythe on weeds while ignoring the debris. This leads to huge circles of debris forming over time. The debris blocks both their paths (aside from where villagers recently walking has destroyed the debris) and the spawning of forage items.

It's been my experience that weeds are either more plentiful or more likely to spread over debris. As far as I can tell, if you leave weeds alone, eventually they will block and replace debris.

Another thing I've noticed is the amount of spreading from existing weeds and debris appears to be fixed and doesn't scale with how many of them exist on the various map areas.

This means if you clear out a lot of weeds and debris from one area, you'll see more aggressive spreading of them in other places.

To put it another way: if you clear all the weeds and debris from your farm, the weeds and debris in Pelican Town, Cindersnap Forest, and the Railroad will be more likely to expand to adjacent tiles. (and vice versa)

If you happen to want more weeds (for fiber or, on the Forest farm, Mixed Seeds) or rocks and twigs (for some reason) you can selectively destroy what's on the outdoor maps to confine the weeds and/or debris to specific areas where you want them to spread.

When I removed all debris and only left weeds standing on the Railroad map it was easy to see how many of them would appear each day. The limited options for where weeds could spread made the game concentrate them next to the handful of existing weeds, making quite dramatic growth each day. (Seemed like around 8-12 new weeds but I didn't count)

You could use this to fill the town with weeds if that's your thing. If there's only a few weeds on the maps the odds of those weeds spreading more than one tile overnight will be almost 100%, letting the weeds or debris spread past the tiles that are regularly trod on by villagers.

Given the annoyance of finding mixed seeds when you want to make a lot of fiber seeds this could be useful on Forest or Four Corners farms.

[efficient-fishingrod]

Spotlight On: fiber

Convenient Sources: -none?

Inconvenient Sources: -Weeds (surface) -Fiber Seeds -Desert Trader (1 for 5 stone, Tuesdays) -Weeds (mines/other): --Floors 21-29 --Floors 81-109 --Mutant Bug Lair -Enemies: --Wilderness Golem (two drop rolls, 90% & 50%)

Notes: -For inconvenient sources, getting seeds is itself inconvenient. -harvesting fiber is still more convenient from weeds than other sources

[efficient-fishingrod]

Spotlight On: stone

Convenient Sources: -Rocks (mines) -Quarry (inc quarry farm and 4 corners farm) -Boulders (mines) -Sold by Robin (20g year 1, 100g after year 1)

Inconvenient Sources: -Debris (surface, not quarry) -Fishing Chests: (5-6% 1-24) (more likely closer to shore) -Community Centre Fountain (1) -Fishpond: Stonefish (30 stone, 7% REQ 9 fish) -Geodes -Recycling: Trash (49% 1-3) -Mail: George (Friendship)(35) -Stone Golems (90%) -Gray Slimes (100%) -Artifact Dig Spots -Mine Dirt Patches: 1.33% -Mines: Crates and Barrels (2-5): --0-39th floors: 9.24% --40-79th floors: 9.24% --+80th floor & 💀: 5.2% --Difficult Mines & 💀: 8% -Railway

[efficient-fishingrod]

Spotlight On: wood

Convenient Sources: -Trees -Tree stumps -Sold by Robin (10g year 1, 50g after year 1)

Inconvenient Sources: -Debris -Fishing Chests: 5-6% 1-24 (more likely close to shore) -Community Centre Fountain (1) -Fish Pond: Woodskip*(1-10) -Wood Chipper: --Hardwood (96% 5-10, 2% 15-20) --Driftwood (100% 5-9) -Recycler: Driftwood (75% 1-3) -Mail: Robin (Friendship)(50) -Mines: Crates and barrels (2-5) --0-39th floor 9.24% --40-79th floor 4.62% --+80th floor & 💀 5.2% -Railway

[efficient-fishingrod]

Spotlight On:

I'm making posts on various resources in Stardew Valley in preparation for my next challenge run.

Usually I make notes by hand, trying something different by putting notes in this blog.

Edit: Deciding to rename from "standard/nonstandard sources" to "convenient/inconvenient sources" since that's more the vibe I'm going for in my next challenge