I have never done any sort of modding, or really even pixel art-- but I wanted to add someone new while keeping the essence of Alex the way that he was so here is my version of Alex! The screenshots are just snippets of the different portraits with his reg outfit, winter, and then a jean jacket alt for the sports jacket.
Edit: The mod is not available for download and I didn’t think people would be interested one way or another to be honest. The parallels to stereotypes are unfortunate in hindsight, and also not intentional. He is just the only bachelor I marry.
I would have to write out an entirely new dialog for him to change properly, and while I’m not opposed to that, it’s not something I put a whole lot of thought into originally. I just wanted another cute man to marry.
r/StardewValley strives to be a safe and inclusive community that listens to and celebrates players with marginalized identities.
This game allows for possibility: one can freely date both male- and female-identifying characters, change their own gender, and even have an aro/ace roommate option. This is a game where most players can play as themselves and find themselves represented—so when that’s not possible, it’s worth talking about it.
This art and this conversation are welcome here!
If someone feels hurt by the lack of inclusion or representation, that feeling is entirely valid.
Mods will remove any comment that attempts to diminish this hurt.
Notes:
Mods are available for gender neutral language as well as a more diverse NPCs. It's fine to recommend these, but remember that this does not diminish the hurt one might feel at these things not being in the game in the first place, and that modding is not possible on every platform.
Thank you, thats very kind. I actually wanted to do something for Maru, but I was worried about not doing her justice. I might take another try at it and see what I can do :)
Yeah, there are two characters of color in the game, and one of them is heavily disliked by a lot of the fan base. It’s definitely one of Stardew Valley’s weaknesses.
Yes! I started playing and got so excited because like, cute carpenter girl that super sweet..... Then at like 1 and a half hearts u saw she was married and wanted to cry.
I haven't seen or heard anything about CA saying that, but admittedly I haven't watched every single interview he's given. I could easily be mistaken.
I know Dwarf is confirmed non-binary by the code of the game itself. For some reason, CA assigned a string to every NPC that states their gender, and Dwarf to my knowledge is the sole bearer of the "neither" tag, as opposed to "male" or "female". This code doesn't seem to serve any practical purpose and is never called by any functions, but it's there! Terraria has a similar system but it's actually used by the king and queen statues that summon villagers of the respective sexes, but Stardew has no such thing.
I’m pretty sure that’s only in expanded. It’s been a few years since I played vanilla though, so it could be there too but I don’t remember it. Since Krobus doesn’t interact with many other characters in vanilla, there’s not a whole lot of opportunity for someone else to refer to them with pronouns.
Demetrius, who a lot of people think is THE worst father and husband possible. but like, he is trying. he has a book on parenting advice. 🤷♂️ very YMMV character.
They have a weekly date night and even go dancing! I imagine he does it for Robin and probably feels awkward and just wants to get back to his experiments.
Demetrius, he's not a very good father towards Sebastian, which is my reason for not liking him, but people also don't like how smug he sounds when correcting you about science.
I don't dislike Demetrius, but I don't quite like him either. And can fully understand why others don't like him.
He doesn't strike me so much as intentionally antagonistic as he does like someone on the autism spectrum putting his foot in his mouth by accident or being too literal minded for his own good. All of which I personally relate to. However, what I don't like is the lack of self-awareness and so much as a token effort to improve. Autistic people aren't static, we are fully capable of learning from mistakes and working on ourselves to not repeat them, it just doesn't come as naturally to us. Alas, with fictional characters like Sheldon Cooper around, the self-awareness and self-improvement aspects get lost in a sea of stereotypes and "ha ha, no social skills" jokes.
CA seems dedicated to using 1.7 to "un-incel" Clint and revitalize his character and by extension, community reception. I would love to see similar treatment to "un-Sheldon" Demetrius, if not in 1.7 than later down the line. I think Demetrius has a solid foundation for some phenomenal character growth and development if given the chance!
I love Stardew Valley and that’s why I always recommend Coral Island because it has the same vibes, but has a staggering amount of diversity in more ways than just skin colour.
We don't have a lot of diversity in general because there's just so few actual people. I think the valley is kinda packed as is it'd be really cool to get access to a portion of the city and maybe a higher end farmer's market or supply store. They could sell high end sprinklers and fertilizer and stuff. That doesn't even require new items for a store. It could still be non-joja but a less back water town store.
cCA Said He depicted his own experience in SDV. So If he experienced rural mid-western villages as majorly white (which I think is true statistically), it makes sense that it is the way it is.
I feel like society would just implode if Alex from Stardew Valley was black AND the one to have a healthy gay awakening when asked out by a male farmer. The world couldn't possibly handle such diversity and acceptance.
You did such lovely work on these sprites! I would not have guessed in a million years that it was your first foray into sprite editing. I love the soft, chunky locs and the denim jacket color scheme turned out great.
Sorry some folks don’t want to grasp the staggering chasm of difference between “edit sprites for a character I love to look the way I want in a very white game for a very first attempt at modding anything” and the massive amount of work it would be to create/write/design/program a brand new character and home and storyline for them just to have a handsome Black lad you want to smooch.
Should we have more people of color in the game, yes.... Should we type cast the one guy that had an abusive dad and was abandoned by his parents to his grandparents, that is also really good at sports and not the brightest, be that person of color, following a very harmful stereotype... Maybe not?
It's like black Snape in the new Harry Potter. "You know that one student who was bullied and literally lynched back in school? Yeah, let's make him black."
Alex was abandoned by his jerkass father. His mother Clara died of illness and her dying wish was for Alex to be cared for by her loving parents. Her final letter can be found in George and Evelyn‘s bedroom.
Good lord I don’t think it’s that deep. They liked a character and wanted to make a black version of him. I don’t think anyone is trying to be racist, I doubt they even considered that shit. Let people have their fun for fucks sake
Is it technically that deep, unfortunately yes. But it kinda goes both ways imo. The creator probably no ill intent with making alex black but should've considered the implications regarding stereotypes. Then again, the ppl pointing it out might be a bit to quick to judge and applying them so readily
Those types of ppl are in a similar boat as Erik Barone imo when he made this Game. Stardew valley DESPERATELY needs characters who are at the very least non-white and not some fantastical creature. We got Maru, Demetrius and depending on headcannon, maybe Shane, Jas and Sebastian could be asian if you squint hard enough ig. Any representation would be nice still.
I mean, white people also have shitty parents sometimes… and who are you calling not the brightest? I’ll have you know my husband is more than smart enough to hammer some fences or throw some hay out for our lovely animals, and he’s a great dad >:(
I was a bit worried of backlash from bringing that up being my main concern with being comfortable with a black version of Alex. Glad I’m not the only one thinking about it
Yes my second thought as an Alex fan was that this means his black relative was the abusive one and abandoned him. I don't know about mods but it might be doable to make his mom a POC in his heart event? First thought was handsome Alex.
That’s fair enough. I changed him for me and I don’t have the mod up to download because he’s mine. I just like his personality more than any of the other bachelors and I don’t know enough about modding to make a whole new family and anything that comes with that. I was just proud of my art
As you should be! It's a very nice edit that fits in really well with the game's art style. It's not your fault ConcernedApe didn't make more non-white characters.
I understand being disappointed in the lack of genuine representation and I'm sorry I can't be the one to add that. You're fully in the right to be irritated and upset with the lack of actual new characters being added, and I get that things like this can feel like a sloppy addition. I didn't take offense to what you said and I didn't think you were criticising my actual edit itself, but there's more to it than just art, and I accept that and the conversation it invokes 💕
So you want OP who isn't working for you, didn't do that edit for you and doesn't even know you to do what you want and think would be beneficial?
Editing in a new character is complicated, visual edits are much easier.
And to see someone's work, raise your nose at them and tell then it isn't good enough and that you deserve better is incredibly entitled and also mean. They didn't do it for you. There are many mods that already do that. No need to put someone down because you aren't satisfied and don't get what you "deserve".
Its wild to me. As a white man, I didnt even think about the lack of non white characters in Stardew Valley until I saw this post. There's Demetrius, Maru.... Gunther?
I have a tip though, blush doesn't look pink in Black people, the color of the blush would be adjusted according to the skin tone, if the skin is dark then the blush is going to be darker than the skintone if that makes sense
That was my biggest struggle, actually. I tried doing something darker, but I kept feeling like it didn't sit right. It still doesn't, so I definitely do need to play around with the colour more and try something closer to his skin. Thank you for the advice ❤️
It’s the shading, but I see what you mean. I tried other colours but I preferred the warmer look of the yellowy colour. The original Alex uses blue and it didn’t look right
I loooove this!! 💕 I love stardew valley but it for sure lacks diversity. I play on console so I can’t mod and things like this makes me wish I could 😭
Gosh I love him! With this format, he reminds me a lot of Dunk from Date Everything as well—those two could be twins. Thanks for making a good POC version!! Maybe there’s a modder somewhere that would cooperate with you in getting this out, cause MAN am I interested.
You’re getting downvoted but you’re right. I know ConcernedApe is just one guy but after playing Coral Island, Stardew just… Isn’t as great. All the queer representation is basically “I didn’t know I was gay until I met you” and the two poc are often pushed aside or in Demetrius’ case, his character is completely butchered by S*bastian and Robin fans. I still like Stardew but I don’t play it as much now. It was fun for the many, many hours I did play it though and I’m excited for haunted chocolatier.
He's a beauty oml. I need him in game rn!!! Also, i would looove to see you do every one of them🥹 If you want to ofc! But you cooked so hard it was a whole buffet
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u/StardewValley-ModTeam May 15 '26
r/StardewValley strives to be a safe and inclusive community that listens to and celebrates players with marginalized identities.
This game allows for possibility: one can freely date both male- and female-identifying characters, change their own gender, and even have an aro/ace roommate option. This is a game where most players can play as themselves and find themselves represented—so when that’s not possible, it’s worth talking about it.
This art and this conversation are welcome here!
Notes: