ConcernedApe’s Haunted Chocolatier - Nouveau projet du dev de Stardew Valley

[Ruvon]

Annoncé le 21/10/2021, ConcernedApe’s Haunted Chocolatier est le nouveau projet d'Eric Barone, développeur solo de Stardew Valley.

Annoncé sur PC, sans précision de store ; les consoles ne sont pas exclues mais il ne promet rien pour l'instant.

Pas de date de sortie annoncée non plus.



Le texte de présentation :

Hey everyone,

After dedicating 10 years of my life to Stardew Valley (and counting), the time has finally come to announce my next game.
It’s called “ConcernedApe’s Haunted Chocolatier”.

Why chocolate? I’m not sure. It just kind of came to me. I think sometimes the best ideas just appear in a flash, instead of being cleverly thought out. That’s how I like to work, anyway. What’s important is the execution. And after 10 years of practice, I feel more confident than ever in being able to bring an idea to life.

Regardless, I think a lot of people like chocolate.

In Stardew Valley, the focus was more humble: living off the land, growing food, and connecting to the people and nature around you. However, with my next game, I wanted to explore more fantastical possibilities… experiences that take you beyond the ordinary. That’s where magical haunted ghost chocolate comes in.

Chocolate represents that which is delightful. The haunted castle represents the allure of the unknown. The ghosts represent the imprint of the past. All of these things are important. However, don’t think for a moment that, because this game features ghosts in a haunted castle, it is an evil or negative game. On the contrary, I intend for this game to be positive, uplifting and life-affirming. However, if Stardew Valley mostly channeled the energy of the sun, Haunted Chocolatier channels the energy of the moon. Both are vital.

More important than all that, I just want to make a fun game.

Now, you might be scratching your head, wondering exactly what type of game this is. I’m not sure how best to describe it. It’s evolving organically as I develop it, so I’m not sure where it will go. But at its core, the gameplay loop involves gathering ingredients, making chocolate, and running a chocolate shop. Of course, there’s a lot more to the game than that, but I don’t want to get too deep into at this early stage, partly because I don’t want to be tied down to any particular concept of what the game is.

So far, I’ve been having fun working on this game. There are so many possibilities. With Stardew Valley, I felt somewhat constrained, because I was working within an established tradition. I don’t regret that at all, but there’s always been a part of me that wanted to go “unleashed”. I believe this will be a good opportunity, but I haven’t even gotten to the good stuff yet. I’ve been mostly working on the “meat and potatoes” of the game so far. But what really brings a game to life is the spice, the sauce. And I haven’t really gotten to the sauce yet. That’s coming.

Anyway, this is all largely talk at this point. While the video I put together may look like the game is at an advanced stage of development, there is still a ton of stuff to do. And the way I work, things often don’t come together until the final moments. I tend to work with a “vertical slice” approach, and so it’s easy to put together some video that looks like a finished game. But there is a ton of content I still need to make. So, please understand that it will be a while before this game is done. I’m going to be working on it as much as I can, though.

Thanks for reading all this,
-Ape

On y retrouve une certaine patte graphique, mais on s'oriente vers un gameplay un peu différent, comme il le dit lui-même :

Is the gameplay similar to Stardew Valley?In some ways, yes, but in many ways, no.
Like Stardew Valley, Haunted Chocolatier is another “town game”, where you move to a new town and try your hand at a new way of living. You’ll get to know the townspeople, achieve your goals and make progress in many ways. All of that is similar to Stardew Valley. However, the core gameplay and theming are quite a bit different. Haunted Chocolatier is more of an action-RPG compared to Stardew Valley. And instead of a farm being the focal point of your endeavors, it’s a chocolate shop.

Lien vers la FAQ : F.A.Q. – ConcernedApe's Haunted Chocolatier

Orgie de screenshots :

[Elma]

Je suis saucé ! Dommage qu'il ne parte pas sur la switch direct parce que le support s'y prete bien. Ca a mis 100 ans avec stardew

[Nilsou]

Ça a l'air énorme, meilleure nouvelle de la vie !

Les images sont magnifiques, le thème est très original et ça sent bon le Stardew Vallew +++ avec un scenario et un fond plus ambitieux. En plus le projet a l'air bien avancé.

[DieNRetry]

Saucé (choco....) à mort aussi. Cette ambiance!

Je veux le jeu pour la période de Noël (même 2023 hein). J'espère que les "planètes" seront aussi bien alignées pour lui que pour Stardew Valley. Le talent du dev est simplement énorme, si il ne cherche pas "a tout prix" à plaire pour ce 2nd jeu.

Le challenge est beau.

[Elma]

En plus le projet a l'air bien avancé.

Mefie toi, il le dit dans le message que Ruvon a mis en haut, sa méthode de travail peut faire croire que c'est avancé mais nan. Et il est tout seul ça peut prendre du temps.

Mais oui pour une sortie quand il fait froid, il neige, il vente, au coin du feu avec un chocolat chaud !

[Cheshire]

Ça me fait penser à Recettear sur le principe.

[Clydopathe]

Dés qu'il sort, je le prends direct, les graphismes font bien envie.