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Stardew Valley 1.6 Update Patch Notes (Real-time World Map), New Features and More!

By: Author Jessica Suess

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Stardew Valley 1.6 Update Patch Notes (Real-time World Map), New Features and More!

On July 17, 2023, Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone (aka ConcernedApe) tweeted that he was working on a new update for the game, version 1.6. The tweet was short and to the point, but did reveal some exciting new features that are coming in-game.

This update has been confirmed to be centered around mods and the modding community, making things easier to customize in-game. This is likely specifically for mods that expand heavily upon the game: such as Stardew Valley Expanded, East SCARP, or Ridgeside Village.

Stardew Valley 1.6 Release Notes (Unofficial)

Please note that these are unofficial release notes for the 1.6 mod author alpha. Any new content teased by ConcernedApe remains undisclosed and is not included in the list below.

New features

  • The world map now shows your actual position within the world in real-time (instead of showing you at a fixed point for each location). In multiplayer, you’ll see other players’ position in real-time too. This currently doesn’t apply in Cindersap Forest or on the farm, since their drawn map is too different from the real location.
  • The farmhouse and pet bowl can now be moved through Robin’s menu.
  • The farm computer can now be used anywhere to see a summary of that location, instead of only the farm.
  • The mini-jukebox can now be used on the Ginger Island farm.

Quality of life changes

  • Shops now have a slight delay before you can buy/sell items, to help avoid double-clicks doing it accidentally.
  • Marnie’s animal menu now shows prices in the tooltip, in case the tooltip covers the price display.
  • Holding a tea sapling or seed over a garden pot now shows the green/red placement tile.
  • The museum reward menu now prevents picking up a reward that won’t fit in your inventory.
  • The museum reward menu now lets you exit while holding a reward. It’ll be added to your inventory if possible, otherwise it’ll drop at your feet.
  • If an item menu exits while you’re holding an item, the item is now always retrieved. (Previously only some item menus like chests would do it.)
  • If a default farm building (like the greenhouse) is somehow removed, it’ll now be rebuilt next time you load the save.
  • You can no longer pick up rugs if there’s something on it.
  • Positional sounds now fade with distance when off-screen, instead of cutting off abruptly.
  • Made more sounds positional (mainly player and tool sounds).
  • Deleting a save on PC is now much faster.
  • Significantly reduced save loading time when there are many custom locations.
  • Performance improvements.

Other changes

  • Gender-specific clothing variants can now be worn by any gender.
  • After reaching six hearts with some NPCs, they won’t visit their rival love interest anymore. This affects Alex visiting Haley, Elliott visiting Leah, and Haley visiting Alex.
  • The about page now shows the build number.
  • The about page no longer hides the version if a tip message is shown.
  • The Ginger Island shrine item pedestals are now normal items. Modded players can spawn them to display items decoratively (though they’re not obtainable in vanilla currently).
  • Fixed some NPC schedules not being applied:
    • Lewis visiting the library on winter Sundays;
    • Maru and Penny hanging out on summer Sundays;
    • and Maru tinkering on summer Mondays.

In addition to this, there are many balance changes and a lot of bug fixes.

Stardew Valley 1.6 Update Release Date Speculation

Although a specific release date hasn’t been announced, indications from recent tweets and the pattern of previous updates hint that the new Stardew Valley 1.6 may be coming soon, in 2023. Historically, a significant update is rolled out annually. However, according to the game’s creator, the precise launch date for version 1.6 will be “when it’s ready.”

New Festival

What’s confirmed about the forthcoming update is the inclusion of a fresh festival. Although the specifics remain under wraps, this suggests the potential for new items, stores, characters, and festival-specific dialogues. The theme of this festival is currently unknown, yet it signifies a promise of an even more immersive gameplay experience.

New Items

The specifics of the new items arriving in the game are still uncertain, and they might primarily relate to the upcoming festival. Nonetheless, the inclusion of an “iridium scythe” has been almost confirmed, with the game’s creator dropping hints about this exciting addition.

More Dialogue

Speculation has been brewing about the addition of new dialogues for the game’s non-playable characters (NPCs). It’s uncertain if this pertains to a fresh NPC linked to the festival, or if it’s a response to fans’ requests for more romantic dialogues with existing NPCs, which remains unconfirmed.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Read more: Stardew Valley 1.6 Update Latest Predictions