In defense of ultra modding (SV)
Stardew Valley is one of, if not the best game I've ever played. And while the world that ConcernedApe created is nothing short of phenomenal, there are ways to spice things up.
Modding in the SV community is not a controversial topic. Anyone that owns the PC version of the game (or even mobile) has downloaded SMAPI at one point and installed some quality of life mods.
But that's not what I'm here to talk about today. I'm here to talk about ultra modding
What IS ultra modding?
Ultra modding is a term that I came up with to refer to people who install and use a ludicrous amount of mods in their SV save. What defines a ludicrous amount? That I couldn't tell you. The point here is that these players add so many mods that it turns SV into a completely different experience.
SV is a very open ended game. Its creator, ConcernedApe, designed it to be a game that can be approached in multiple ways, depending on your playstyle. This is one big reason why the modding community for SV is so large. It opens up SV to be accommodating for anyone looking for a game that fits them.
The SV modding community offers you a lot of ways to customize your game play. This includes everything from tweaking game-play to adding whole new regions, NPCs and dialogue. There are also many mods that change the aesthetics of the game, from re-texturing buildings to customizing your character. And of course, we can't talk about SV modding without talking about quality-of-life mods.
But what happens when you take all these and use them at the same time? At that point the SV experience becomes something else entirely.
And while for some games this might hinder the enjoyment you get out it, for SV, it enhances it by several magnitudes.
Ultra modded SV for those that enjoy it become sort of like a personal statement. It's a way to shape SV to reflect your likes and aesthetics. This turns an already quite personalization based game into one which can truly represent you.
So go install that list of 300+ mods that you saw on nexusmods!
What mods do you use?
My list of mods is actually quite small compared to most other people who play modded SV. But it is a long list non-the less. You can check it out here!
These are just my preferences and you might not find some to be your style. In any case, you'll find a plethora of mods on nexusmods.com so check it out!
As always, have a great day :) -Cakes <3