Stardew Valley's Ginger Island Update Was Inspired By Super Mario 64
Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone, better known as ConcernedApe, has revealed that the game's new Ginger Island area was inspired by the classic N64 game Super Mario 64. The popular farming sim recently received its huge 1.5 update on Nintendo Switch, adding new farm layouts, craftable machines and items, and additional content. Players were excited not only for big changes, but for the significant amount of small fixes and quality of life updates that the update added. It's not everyday that years-old games receive as large as Stardew Valley's 1.5 update, after all.
One of the biggest additions in the patch was the appearance of an entirely new area, Ginger Island. The island included new NPCs, quests, minigames, and a variety of puzzles, some of which proved to be quite difficult. On Ginger Island, players can fight through a new volcano-themed dungeon and build an tropical farm, where crops of any season can be planted but no buildings can be constructed. An unlockable resort area allows players to see their favorite Pelican Town NPCs on vacation, and collectible items like Golden Walnuts and Golden Coconuts add even more surprises to an already-packed location.
Referring to these collectible items, Eric Barone revealed in a TechRaptor interview that Super Mario 64 was a big inspiration behind Ginger Island's creation. He says that "There was some open-endedness [in Super Mario 64] in how you'd collect things and then unlock things. It's pretty classic, but I think it's generally pretty fun." Golden Walnuts, which are found throughout Ginger Island, are used to unlock new areas and content. Super Mario 64, while not an open-world game by today's standards, allowed players to find collectibles and tackle new challenges in a less linear fashion than previous fans. The method left an impression on many players, resulting in the kind of design philosophy seen here with Barone's work on Stardew Valley.
Super Mario 64 is an oft-cited game when designers talk about inspiration or ideals, which speaks volumes as to its influence in games today. Games as unusual as Fall Guys have used Mario and his memes as an inspiration for their own events. Though the gameplay in the two titles is extremely different - Super Mario 64 is a 3D platformer, while Stardew Valley is a 2D farming simulator that harkens back to the "golden era" of Harvest Moon - the universality of elements like collecting items for progression and overcoming challenges in any way the player sees fit is something that brings them together.
It will be interesting to see which games of today the designers of the future are inspired by. Many have cited The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and Grand Theft Auto V as examples of excellent design and engaging mechanics, so only time will tell if today's players use similar gameplay styles and world-building techniques when they make their own games. For now, fans of Stardew Valley have a significant amount of new content to play through - and they can thank Super Mario 64 for its creation.
Stardew Valley is available for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PS Vita, PC, iOS, and Android.
Source: TechRaptor
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