Stardew Valley creator Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone has issued his latest reminder that yes, he’s still working on Haunted Chocolatier, the action-RPG and life sim in which you run a candy store in a kingdom of ghosts. This particular blog post stands out with a slightly distressing aside about the game’s recipe book interface, which must be “transparent, clear, intuitive, satisfying, aesthetic”, in a word, perfect.
“As with many things in the game, I repeated this several times, each time bringing it closer to its final form,” comments Barone. “For me, it’s not a simple task, because I torture myself over every detail.
“This is a user interface that you will use quite often, so it has to be perfect,” he continues. “You need to be able to achieve your goal with a minimal number of clicks. There needs to be just the right amount of data presented to the player: not so much that it’s overwhelming, but not so much that it’s trivial or mundane.
“And how that data is presented on the page is crucial…” insists Barone. “If the data is all lumped together, it will be disgusting to look at. Data should be grouped into compelling, intuitive, and easy-to-read/understand groups. They should be attractive and intriguing.
“And that’s just the bare minimum, which players will probably take for granted,” he says. “If all of this is accomplished, then the player is now comfortable going through the recipe book. But I want more than comfort. I want to delight the player. All of this usually requires me to repeat something several times before I’m satisfied with it.
“And it’s a big game. So there’s a lot of things I have to worry about.”
From all of this, I get a certain “delicate second album” vibe. Accurate shades of George RR Martin ripping through another version of Winds of Winter. Let the perfect not be the enemy of the good, Barone!
The developer also apologizes for the lack of new screenshots, which it says would make it look like it’s serving “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 whatever approach I prefer.”
Background: Stardew Valley has sold more than 50 million copies. Assuming he didn’t spend it all on luxury cocoa imports for research purposes, Barone will probably never need to make a video game again.
While we’re talking chocolate, it’s a good time to mention LA Noire developer Jenn Sandercock’s later career in edible games.
