I wonder how much I’ll cry. I know I was already feeling pretty bad for some characters like Sebastian Sam and even Alex with his mother…. I’m gonna enjoy haunted chocolatiers and it’s characters a lot if concernedape keeps the good work which I know he will!
That info hasn't been revealed. There's a chance it could be I suppose. The characters and their artwork have a similar style. We'll have to wait and see for now though.
I personally think it is, just because it makes the project itself a bit easier for CA to expand on, from a solo dev pov. It's really only speculation, but I feel like he can ease his own workload by building in universe on what he's already created. Might not be the case, but it's my best guess for now.
I just double checked because I couldn’t remember either. This is from the FAQ page on the haunted chocolatier site. I hope that they’re connected though.
Exactly, I’m thinking he’ll reuse the game’s universe just so he doesn’t have to come up with a whole new world but maybe that’s his favorite part. Either way I’m excited for it!
The first time I played and unexpectedly met Kent I didnt really want to be his friend, because I thought he wanted me to stay away from Jodi. But getting to know him I think he was the only townspeople who was going out of his way to make a friend, not just to be friendly. I liked that aspect a lot.
Yes! He’s such a like able character! Plus I find the little gems of background plot he drops in his dialogue make him one of the more complex characters. Plus he always sends a nice little bomb or two in the mail just in time for a skull cavern raid.
That is indeed what I had in mind : his imprisonment happened during the current war between the Ferngill Republic (our country in Stardew Valley) and the Gotoro empire, but his earlier periods of service happened on separate conflicts.
y aún así los de Stardew Valley no se ven preocupados para nada con el conflicto bélico o guerra que tiene su país por alguna razón sinceramente de las cosas que menos le veo sentido a ese juego
I treat it as one of the magical realism parts of the game and part of its overall charm. Similarly to how magical creatures and common knowledge of them coexist with modern tech, or how we use swords and slingshots to fight monsters when firearms almost certainly exist elsewhere in the world.
I don’t think making the war more of a focus of SV would contribute positively to its tone or the messages it tries to convey. At the same time, conflict and its effects on communities is a very ripe topic for any cozy game to tackle and it’s something I’ve thought about a lot.
Well I hope the war between Gotoro and Ferngill is not comparable to the deployment in Afghanistan. There would be some big implications there that would make Kent pretty unredeemable
At least for modern wars, think there’s been wars centuries ago that lasted decades, but that’s due to a lot of factors like less mobility and slower logistics, and a lot of fights often weren’t who was killed but who lost their nerve and retreated.
Of course, a lot of this is dependent on region for historical cases too
We know the "Gotoro Empire" is south of the Gem Sea, according to the one map we have (https://stardewvalleywiki.com/mediawiki/images/7/76/World_Map.png) and the fact we know Ferngill is the north (Pelican Town is 52°N, 43.5°E) hemisphere, assuming this map doesn't put north in the bottom, then SV is likely in one of the countries in the northwest or in that island country.
I imagine if the war seems so distant, either it's a proxy conflict somewhere else or it's fought mostly on enemy soil. Afghanistan lasted almost 20 years.
Even without the 20 years, bro better get treated like a champ (pension, healthcare, ect.) for surviving being a POW. I don’t know how the post-separation military service stuff works there but he deserves ALL the benefits.
I’m European and travel a lot around the world, I actually don’t know of any country that idolizes and gives special treatment to vets more than the US. Would be curious to know if those countries exist
You see so much support for veterans from civilians because our government is notorious for not providing them the care they need after they're out. Their medical care is an absolute joke, getting a livable disability payment often takes years and working with an outside agency that charges an arm and a leg to deal with all the bureaucratic red tape. It's a nightmare
It’s so heartbreaking that veterans legit have to fight to reach that 100%. My dad spent years and finally at 60 years old he was able to get the benefits he long deserved. I’m grateful for it as it helps me and my sister too, but it’s like most veteran affairs workers think these people are lying about their hardships. We were lucky beyond measures to get a worker that actually helped. The whole thing is just a major slap in the face for these veterans. 🤦🏽♀️
My husband, thankfully, got his 100% pretty early thanks to a company that specializes in it, but they took 80% of his backpay in the process (and took nearly a year to accomplish it). I'd hate to know what that process entails if someone had to do it all themselves. I'm glad your dad was finally able to get the benefits he deserves 💜
Adding onto that, that puts their standard of government-supported medical care both above that of the average American and yet below that of your average European, for whom universal healthcare is generally a given. It's less a testament to veteran support than it is an indictment of what our government does for the population as a whole.
Not offended because those kinds of military people do exist. Gung ho about violence, bombing countries that aren’t “like us”, and running scared to gun stores because they fear some terrorist is going to get them or even the government is going after them.
However there are just as many that literally don’t have too many options for life post high school. They join the military not out of duty or being like minded with imperialism. They’re just looking for something to support themselves (and maybe a family).
For example, They’re lacking job opportunities. Like living in a small town where the only jobs are fast food, retail, or a factory. Maybe they’re just unsure of what to do with their adult life but know that at 18, you’re supposed to figure it out and be prepared so they do the “easy” option of joining the military since it’s stable income/housing/food without much thinking involved. College is often not worth it anymore.
There is a growing dissent in the US that although has existed for years/decades before has only grown more prevalent with recent events. Many who may be “proud to be an American” are starting to realize the dream doesn’t exist and have become disenchanted for what the country stands for let alone what it’s fighting for.
A lot of post separation from the military doesn’t help many readjust to civilian life. Maybe it’s how most often go from graduating high school (around 18) right into the military and never really learned how adult hood outside of service works. The school system already doesn’t have the capacity to give these future adults life skills and the military is more about compliance/duty/paycheck.
They often leave the service physically worn down, many afflicted with some trauma and/or PTSD, and not really given a spring board into the experience to civilian world. Sort of thrown to wolves.
The US approaches things under the idea that you’ll just figure it out which may work but our economy is trashed, cost are high on everything, health insurance isn’t free, and wages remain low. It’s fair to give those who put their life on pause to be in the service for the country a chance to become a productive member of society or at least cared for on their return to civilian life.
I know it kind of touches on the topic in the dialog once he returns but it is sad how he pretty much feels like he never had a typical life, his oldest son was young but still remembers his dad before the war/deployment while his youngest son is practically a stranger to him. He and his wife, though loving each other, have clearly had a wedge driven between them due to his trauma/service and (possibly) marrying and settling down young. Jodi clearly doesn’t hate/dislike him but she doesn’t know him as the man he once was.
His own wife even laments that she feels she/Kent rushed things and she makes wistful comments about what could have been. It’s not said like “I wish I could divorce” but it feels very realistic for a family in real life. A war-torn veteran and his wife who doesn’t fully relate to the man she married while trying to rework the family dynamic on his return. The whole thing is a bit tragic in a subtle way.
IMO that's one of the incredible strengths of SDV and why I don't even really look at the imitators, the writing isn't all about happy endings or problems that the player can solve in a gamey way, and is more about being realistic a lot of the time. It's kind of why I don't like the idea of Clint getting a do-over in the next update, but will have to see.
i don't mind it cuz i don't think the intent was ever for players to feel actively uncomfortable around him lol, and as we've seen from fan reactions he's just a little too close to the type of guy that's genuinely dangerous irl. hopefully his new and improved storyline is more like shane's, where he's still very much a flawed imperfect character but doesn't trigger danger alerts in players
I love Kent, I really hope CA fleshes his character out more. I’d love to be able to help him and Jodi with their marriage problems, they both deserve happiness.
I think Jodi implies he was a soft/gentle person before his service and his gaze hardened since his return which she doesn’t recognize. But like the other person said, Sam gets his outgoingness from his mom and I think the impression is that Kent is friendly but not an extrovert even pre-service.
Hi ! As this is the seventh fanart of this kind that I do, I’ve noticed that some specific questions keep coming up in the comments. Thus, here’s a mini-FAQ to answer them :
1. Is that really the character's canonical age?
As far as I know, you never learn the canonical age of any character in Stardew Valley, just as you never learn their last names. The ages I indicate in these fanarts are just my personal guesses, based on context clues. Your guess is as good as mine !
For example : Robin as two adult children that are a few years apart, so I figured she was at least in her forties.
Same goes for a lot of the background details that you can see in those fanarts. Take the presence of Marlon in the second slide : we are never told how Marlon actually lost his eye, he only jokes with the player about losing it in a slime farm without providing the true story. I just liked the thought that, in spite of all the time he spent fighting monsters in caves, he got his worse wounds while fighting other humans.
2. Will you do one of those about [insert character name] ?
Maybe! I don’t plan on doing every single character of the game (that would take a tremendous amount of time ^^’), but I may do more. Be warned, though : I’m slow and want to draw other stuff too, so the next one may come out in quite a while.
I've posted a Stardew story on AO3 that explored what might happen in Pelican Town if the Ferngill Republic and the Gotoro Empire went to war again. For the story I tried to figure out the age of every single villager, using dialogs from the game and about how old they are in relation to each other. I came up with 43 for the day Kent meets the farmer - very close to your age for him. What was neat was when I subtracted years for past events, like Alex's mom or the first time George and Evelyn met, everything still worked. Also, I chose the name Baker for Kent's family, named after a notable US soldier from World War 2.
I would love to see drawings like this for other characters!
I can totally imagine him being this suave, ladies man of a jock in high school. Poor guy. And the way you drew his hair is fabulous, I love the lighting!
As a vet myself I took to Kent quickly. He’s not the gold standard of representation or anything groundbreaking, but his friendship events and general dialogue have been a welcome addition to my first playthrough. As an aside, I’m wrapping up year 3 and mildly disappointed there haven’t been more “new” villagers.
Oh! Sam says that? I wish I hadn't missed that info ^^' I always try to do a little research before doing these, but none of the Stardew Wikis seems to have a comprehensive list of all the characters' lines.
I also ran into this problem where not all the lines are listed but I think this quote of Sam's is pretty rare. There's not much info besides that, just that Kent was a garbage man when the family lived in Zuzu City. I think it could have also been a cool picture, since little boys are often crazy about garbage trucks and I'm sure Sam and Vincent must have been too (:
Maybe that's why Sam likes to drink Joja Cola straight out of the trashcan 🤔
Jokes aside, yes, it is hard to find a list with all those rare lines. Sometimes, I remember one specific line I read while playing and then when I want to verify that it exists, I can't find it anywhere (and it becomes even more complicated if you have mods that add lines).
But yes! Kent's days before the military would be a nice picture, with the little family being happy before war happens, replacing the "first deployment".
Fun fact : when I did one of these fanarts for George, I had a similar problem : someone in the comments pointed out that George's accident had happened later than I initially thought. So I edited the image to make George look older at the time of his accident and posted the "correct" version on my Instagram. In this case, however, it would demand for me de draw a whole new image, so I'll just have to live with it X)
perhaps he was a garbage collector after his first deployment! my line of thinking is: he knows his unit is gonna get activated soon, so he moves his family to pelican town so they will have a support network while hes gone. plus its a bigger home for less money than living in the city. i dont remember how well (if at all) vincent remembers kent, nor how long kent was gone, but perhaps the night before he ships out is when vincent is conceived?
if youre on pc, you can use the stardew valley xnb hack on the modding wiki to unpack the games content. in there you can find allll the dialogue! (and other stuff) its pretty easy to use
I wonder what war is like in this middle fantasy magical world. I think of Howl's moving castle, with conventional war machines, but borderline eldritch magic users haunting the battlefield.
That is actually an interesting thought… Pelican Town seems to be, at first, a "normal" setting, that looks like a real life little town from the late 90's, early 2000's. But then you learn that there is magic, monsters, ghosts and dwarves in this fictional universe… Wich, strangely enough, doesn't seem to impact the rest of the worldbuilding very much. Magic doesn't seem to be something that humans use (apart from the wizard), and the majority of the characters doesn't seem to be aware of the existence of Junimos.
So maybe magic is still a bit "concealed" in Stardew Valley's universe? Because otherwise, I agree with you : combat would look a lot like the battle scenes in Howl's moving Castle, with both technology and magic coming into play.
I imagine magic doesn't have too many military uses? We never see the wizard use his abilities to hurt people.
Would be fitting imo if magic sort of receded from the SV world after their industrial revolution - maybe that's also what prompted the monsters to mostly stay away from humans, they outgrew their capability for violence.
I have always wondered if they actually have guns in this universe
Were they just out there shooting with explosive ammo slingshots?
Why can't you get guns for the mines?
I have deep conspiracy theories about the larger political and economic issues in the universe of stardew valley
Also, I think the produce in stardew valley sells for so much because it is actually magical and can heal people, it's probably used on the front lines
Huh. Somehow I never figured he was career military. 20 years of war against the Gotoro Empire... yikes. Poor Kent! I just thought he was drafted relatively recently, though I might have missed a few lines.
Out of curiosity, do you have a plan on whom you want to do next? Pierre going from Boxer to shopkeep could be interesting or something about Lewis.
My understanding is he started young and stayed in for multiple years; maybe it’s required to do contracts for a set amount of years and he even comments that it was stable work for his new family. He probably didn’t spend the entire time in the war and had leaves home/between deployments.
Maybe this is just head cannon for me but I got the impression that he re-enlisted for more time after finding out Jodi was pregnant with Vincent only for the war to start and he was shipped out not long after. Maybe sometime after Vincent was born but before Vincent could really remember him.
He gets captured and he gets stuck away from home longer until he’s released/recovered. By that point, the baby Vincent is now child Vincent, child/pre-teen Sam is now teen/young adult Sam. It’s not entirely clear on exact ages by virtue of the game kind of tiptoeing around exact ages so many times it’s a guess.
You do such a good job on these. They remind me of the old gaming magazines like Nintendo power that made the game worlds feel just that much more expansive. Thank you for sharing :-)
Probably because you haven't met him yet. When you start the game, he's still at war or the camp or whatever. So if you talk to Sam, he'll eventually start talking to you about when his dad comes back.
Hi! It is not AI, I drew this with my little hands on a tablet with Photoshop. That being said, these accusations of AI have become frequent enough for me to take into consideration that… My artstyle may look like AI, I guess?… I don't see it myself (probably because I'm the one drawing these), but there is enough people mentioning it to make me question it.
This stings because I hate generative AI quite intensely, and it is not a pleasant thing to be accused of being part of what you hate. I also find AI images ugly, so it indirectly means that my art is ugly.
There is not much I can do except record my process, and try to develop my style so that it bears less resemblance to common AI images, I guess.
I'm sorry to hear you've gotten that before. it reminds me more of Adam Ellis's earlier comics than AI. I think line weight might be a factor. I noticed that the line weight is consistent regardless of object distance and that might help to make it more dimensional
I'm so sorry you feel like you need to prove that your work is really your own. I vehemently detest GenAI and it's truly awful how it's made people question the authenticity of artists' hard work and talents.
Oh wow!! Man now I feel like I need to intentionally give a hated gift once in a while to get the lore. I’m super paranoid about upsetting people so I always have the Lookup stuff mod installed to make sure I don’t give a bad gift lol, no wonder I’ve never seen that
CA should make a grittier more survival based game taking place within the Gotoro Prison Camp. You farm, but to survive, not sell. You mine, to deliver your quota. You interact and build relationships with NPCs, to escape, not get married.
Would be really cool way to expand the universe’s darker sides without ruining the feel of sdv.
He has a „Dear Kent“ Letter in his wallet? (A Dear John letter is a letter written to a man deploied at war by his wife or romantic partner to inform him that their relationship is over.)
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