It’s largely been a prosperous couple of weeks for fans of cosy hit Stardew Valley, after developer Eric ‘ConcernedApe’ Barone released the game’s free Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade.
If you’re located within Europe, however, you’ll have to hold on a tad longer.
As it turns out, the Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade features a bug which could see you permanently lose items, so Barone is seeing to that before rolling out the upgrade in Europe.
For those who do already have their hands on it, the upgrade introduces mouse controls, local split-screen multiplayer for up to four players, eight-player online co-op, and Game Share support.
It also increases resolutions up to 4K, although the frame rate is limited to 60fps despite the Switch 2 being able to support 120fps.
Even still, that’s a nice little package of free features.
If, however, you’re feeling a little left out on PC, you may want to venture into the world of modding where you can upgrade Stardew Valley with the recently launched ‘Dynamic Shader’.
Experience Overhauled Visuals For Free
‘Dynamic Shader’ unsurprisingly upgrades the game’s visuals, and noticeably too, I’ll add. This isn’t a subtle mod.
Developed by NexusMods’ Nookick, users of this mod can expect “dynamic shadows, with Bloom, volumetric fog, and water reflections”, adding a sense of realism to Stardew Valley.
“This mod replaces the simple vanilla shadows with a GPU-accelerated rendering system that simulates the sun’s movement throughout the day,” the mod’s description reads.
The shadows will even take into account whether light is travelling through glass, reflecting that in the final shadow you see cast on the ground. It’s a lovely little detail.
As I hinted at above, these visual changes will alter depending on the weather and time of day.
Shadows will also naturally fade as you travel further from an object, so a great amount of care has been taken in the creation of this mod.
The mod is free to download from NexusMods and is compatible with Version 1.6 of Stardew Valley and beyond.
As I’m sure you’re aware, ConcernedApe is in the midst of developing Update 1.7, although I’m imagining the Switch 2 issues have delayed things somewhat.
When it comes to ‘Dynamic Shader’, those who have downloaded it are impressed.
“This mod is seriously so cool. It feels amazing in the game,” wrote one player, while another added, “So so good.”
Sometimes, it’s the mods that are the most simple in concept that have the biggest impact on your enjoyment of the game.
