Stardew Valley creator Eric ‘ConcernedApe’ Barone has released his latest reminder that yes, he’s still working on Haunted Chocolatier, the action-RPG and life sim in which you run a sweetshop in a realm of ghosts. This particular blogpost is notable for a mildly agonised aside about the game’s recipe book interface, which needs to be “seamless, clear, intuitive, satisfying, aesthetic”, in a word, perfect.
“As with many things in the game, I’ve iterated on this many times, each time bringing it closer to its final form,” Barone comments. “To me, it’s not a simple task, as I torture myself over every last detail.
“This is a UI you will be using fairly often, so it has to be perfect,” he goes on. “You need to be able to accomplish your goal with the minimal number of clicks. There needs to be just the right amount of data presented to the player: not so much as to be overwhelming, but not so little as to be trivial or mundane.
“And the way that this data is laid out on the page is crucial…” Barone urges. “If the data is all clustered together, it will be disgusting to look at. The data needs to be grouped into compelling, intuitive and easy to read/understand groupings. It needs to look appealing and intriguing.
“And this is just the bare minimum, that players will likely take for granted,” he says. “If all of that is accomplished then the player is now comfortable while perusing the recipe book. But I want more than just comfort. I want to delight the player. All of this typically requires me to iterate on something several times before I’m satisfied with it.
“And it’s a big game. So there are many things for me to fuss over.”
I am getting definite “tricky second album” vibes, from all this. Definite undertones of George R. R. Martin tearing up another draft of Winds of Winter. Let not the perfect be the enemy of the good, Barone!
The developer also apologises for the absence of new screenshots, which he says would feel like serving up “half-baked bread”. He adds that “fortunately, I’m in a position where I don’t need to market the game, so I can take my preferred approach”.
Context: Stardew Valley has sold over 50 million copies. Assuming he hasn’t blown all of that on luxury cocoa imports for research purposes, Barone probably never needs to make a videogame ever again.
While we’re talking chocolate, this feels like a good time to mention L.A. Noire developer Jenn Sandercock’s later career in edible games.
