Stardew Valley's biggest mod released a new version this week with a trailer that "marks the conclusion of over three years of my life," its creator says. "My initial vision for the mod is complete," FlashShifter says of version 1.14, but he isn't finished. "I will begin working on SVE 2.0 soon, using all of the skills I've learned since starting this project."
I first played Stardew Valley Expanded back in 2020 and it felt like a proper expansion even then. It's grown since, now with another farm map, more characters, and new locations in Pelican Town. One of the things I enjoyed most about Stardew Valley Expanded was how naturally it fit in with the base game–from the map changes to new characters to the new JojaMart storyline. SVE's new 1.14 trailer here shows how true that still is.
SVE has always nestled so well into the base game that it's difficult to tell where Stardew ends and Expanded begins. Local JojaMart manager Morris gets his own storyline and house. Claire, who was formerly an unnamed Joja cashier, becomes a marriage candidate with her own story. It adds new farms owned by other characters with their own stories so that you're no longer the only farmer in town.
As for what's new in SVE 1.14, FlashShifter says a new area called the Highlands has been added. It also turns SVE's adventure guild character Lance into a marriage candidate. There are tons of other changes too—new crops, fish, decorations, and more—on top of what SVE had already added in its previous versions.
"The one thing I'm most excited about is actually a character event," FlashShifter tells me—one that takes place when the player reaches a 14 heart relationship level with SVE's added character Sophia. "I spent a full month developing it. I built an entire city just for it, which takes players to the Zuzu City Comic Con. Going to conventions and cosplaying are some of my favorite hobbies in the world and I wanted to give players that experience."
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He's still planning to expand Stardew even further though. FlashShifter says he's been inspired by The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and wants the gameplay loop in SVE 2.0 to involve solving dungeons, beating bosses, and gaining new abilities and gear.
"I want to use all of the skills I've learned over the past three years to build a new city called Castle Village. It's located in Galdora, a far away magical region filled with unknowns, beauties, and dangers," FlashShifter says, while keeping the social elements of Stardew Valley.
It sounds like FlashShifter's ambitions are leaning towards total overhaul territory similar to Skyrim mods like Enderal or the original Forgotten City mod. Having played an earlier version of SVE, and now looking forward to trying 1.14, I'm eager to see what he comes up with.
In the meantime, if you've already planted your fair share of Stardew farms, you should really start your next one with the completed version of Stardew Valley Expanded. "There's just a certain magic about this game, and I wanted to give players that magic again through my mod," FlashShifter says. "I'm happy to say it's finally in a state I'm happy with." You can find Stardew Valley Expanded over on Nexus Mods.
