This new quality of life mod for Stardew Valley is probably going to split the fanbase down the middle, because while it is super useful, it is also ever so slightly immersion-breaking (for one very big, very heavy reason).
ConcernedApe is still hard at work updating Stardew Valley, and has announced that a new 1.7 update for the game is on its way in the near future.
By the time the next update is out, the game may already be ten years old– although ConcernedApe doesn’t seem set on ending support for the game any time soon, because he’s in no way implied that the 1.7 update will be Stardew Valley’s last.
Over the years, he’s transformed the game in a number of different ways, but the new content added always seems to overshadow the numerous quality of life changes that ConcernedApe has made.
It seems that the community still has a few changes they’d like of their own in that department, though, as QoL updates to Stardew Valley are some of the most popular mods over on Nexus.
Speaking of, a brand new mod by Nexus Mods user aedenthorn has added a quality of life feature which will doubtless appeal to a solid chunk (hah) of the fanbase.
Portable Furnaces, as the name probably already implies, will finally allow players to craft a furnace that they can whack into their inventory and take with them on long journeys.
That’s not all, however. The mod also allows players to craft four different tiers of portable furnace, all the way up to an Iridium Furnace. Each subsequent upgrade will improve the speed at which the furnace can smelt, with the final tier allowing you to smelt at 1.5 times the speed of a regular, non-portable furnace.
I think this is a great idea for a mod and I get why people would want this in the game, but I also understand why ConcernedApe might not have added something like this to the game themselves.
There’s a lot of suspension of disbelief required to enjoy Stardew Valley, but even I think having a furnace that can smelt ore while it’s in your backpack is a bridge too far for me.
Then again, Stardew Valley does allow you to experience the wildly ridiculous fantasy of being a homeowner in your mid-20s, so perhaps this isn’t that difficult to believe in comparison.
