Things That Still Have You Scratching Your Head?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Dwarfus, Mar 28, 2017.

  1. Dwarfus

    Dwarfus Big Damn Hero

    Do any of you have things in Stardew Valley that still have you scratching your head? If so, what is it, and do you have any off-the-wall theories that might explain them?

    I, for one, have always wondered why it is that Shane knows how to make strange buns. The only other place to get them in the game before receiving the recipe from Shane in the mail is as a potential drop from Shadow Brutes in the mines.

    So I made my own off-the-wall theory in an attempt to rationalize this. What if Shane had some Shadow heritage, along with Jas? For one, they both have an unusual hair color, that being a shade of purple. And Shane's name means, "gift from Yoba." We can only assume that Shadow People in general have some reverence to Yoba, seeing that Krobus stays silent on Fridays out of respect for Yoba. Also, there's the whole thing with Jas' dolls. The whole family is sitting at the dinner table with the exception of one, that being the grandfather, who is wedged under the bed. Krobus dislikes all cooked food. Could the grandfather be a Shadow retreating somewhere dark during dinnertime?

    -insert X Files theme here-

    Yeah, I know that's a stretch, but I couldn't help myself.
     
    • Lilliput

      Lilliput Supernova

      Shane actually /says/ in the letter that he sends the recipe with that he found it in a magazine. :p

      Quote:
      I found this recipe in a magazine and I thought it sounded interesting. Feel free to give me a taste if you make it. hehe.
      - Shane

      Kind of tosses that theory out the window. The only question remaining is: Do the Shadow Brutes subscribe to the same magazine? Is Linus their mailman, delivering their issues deep in the mines? :poke:
       
      • Dwarfus

        Dwarfus Big Damn Hero

        Oh my gosh I completely forgot that he says that! :rofl: Go me! It was a fun idea while it lasted, though. Still, I gotta wonder exactly what kind of magazine he's subscribed to and how they're getting their information.
         
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        • Surenu

          Surenu The End of Time

          I'm still unsure about the actual tech level of the game. On the one hand, there's plasma TVs and even science-fiction technology like the crystallarium, and we know that guns exist and are being used in warfare, yet our farmer has access only to swords and 14th century style explosives. On the other hand, powerful magic does exist but it doesn't seem to see widespread use outside of Pelican Town. It's safe to say that it's certain that the Ferngill Republic is an industrialized country given that JoJa is basically the epitome of a soulless industry/retail corporation, but I'd sure like to get actual info on what is and isn't available.
           
          • Lilliput

            Lilliput Supernova

            I actually think it's /funnier/ if the magazine is something totally normal, but the Shadow Brutes read it in their off hours and just really liked the Strange Bun recipe they saw in it.

            Did you see this article on keeping your bathroom tile sparkling? I used their cleaning tips on the oubliette and now our captives say it's a treat to be thrown down there and left to starve!
             
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            • Surenu

              Surenu The End of Time

              That actually brings me to another question - how does the ecosystem in the caves work? After all, all life is somehow fueled by the sun which doesn't shine there of course, so there must be nutrients coming in there from another source. The river would make sense, but the connection between the river and the mines is severed initially. Then again, there are entire ecosystems in caves IRL, I just don't understand how they function.
               
              • Lilliput

                Lilliput Supernova

                Sealed cave ecosystems-- real ones, that is-- still rely on food that enters from outside, either in the form of detritus washed into underground water sources, or the castoffs and death of semi-inhabitants like bats and other animals who leave the cave to feed. While there are some caves where no large-scale life can venture outside, there is enough exchange through underground water sources to provide the start of a food web. It might even be possible for an entirely sealed cave to exist on a food web based on chemosynthesis, where organisms use the heat of underground sources (vents and hot springs) to generate food, and they in turn serve as food for the higher organisms. Life can be astonishingly tenacious and obdurate.

                In Stardew, even if the surface river was blocked by the boulder (and it may not have been entirely sealed, there may still have been fissures below the surface), there are very visible underground waterways, namely the ones you can fish in on certain cave levels.
                 
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                • Surenu

                  Surenu The End of Time

                  Good point, I forgot these existed. Although all things considered, the sheer volume of lifeforms down there still begs the question where nutrients come from after all, I mean, 120 levels with thousands of living beings, tons of plant matter, entire caves being coated in slime that is clearly biological in nature...
                   
                  • Lilliput

                    Lilliput Supernova

                    Well, considering there are also ghosts, animated skeletons, and beings of living stone down there, I wouldn't put /too/ much effort into trying to find a rational explanation for everything. The base of the food pyramid is clearly Handwavium.
                     
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                    • Surenu

                      Surenu The End of Time

                      Good point.

                      Another thing I'm curious about is the war that is going on behind the scenes. One the one hand, it seems like a low-intensity conflict given that normal city/rural life seems to go on normally, but on the other hand it's said that there are massive casualties in battle. If a country loses that many soldiers and thus their gear on the battlefield and they're not struggling economically and rationing everything from iron to fuel, they must have one hell of an economy. To put it into perspective: During my tours in Afghanistan I carried between 10.000 and 15.000 euros worth of gear with me, some of which takes specialised machinery to fabricate (night vision devices, body armor, rifle scopes etc.). Losing that en masse puts a dent in any budget.
                       
                      • Lilliput

                        Lilliput Supernova

                        Maybe they are, and that's why it costs 400g for a mug of beer and 120g for a loaf of bread. Hyperinflation. :p
                         
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                        • Surenu

                          Surenu The End of Time

                          I'm beginning to suspect that Ferngill Republic is pretty much printing money to fund their war efforts. Printing money has of course never gone wrong *cough* Great depression *cough*

                          I kinda wanna see that piece of background expanded actually. Why is the war being fought in the first place? Where is it fought? Who is winning? I know SDV is a farming game, but there's so many interesting things hidden in the background I can't help but ask.
                           
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                          • Dwarfus

                            Dwarfus Big Damn Hero

                            I've always wanted to know why Krobus is in the sewer to begin with. Though he calls other Shadows his "friends," he still seems to have all but isolated himself from the rest of them. I talk about my thoughts on him on my tumblr here and here. He, along with the Dwarf, are two of the NPCs we know the least about, at least in my opinion. I'd love to know more about them in the form of new heart scenes in the future. I also want to marry them both so badly, you guys have no idea. I ramble about ideas on what marriage with them might be like here.
                             
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                            • Surenu

                              Surenu The End of Time

                              Well, Krobus seems to disagree with the other Shadow Brute's view on the war on dwarves and dwarves in general, preferring a more peaceful stance. That most likely got him singled out as the weird one, or maybe even a traitor. Perhaps it's just his nature to forgive even that.
                               
                              • PTpirahna

                                PTpirahna Scruffy Nerf-Herder

                                There is one person in the entire town who wears glasses and yet you can find them anywhere, even places that aren't directly connected to any waterways.
                                 
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                                • Dwarfus

                                  Dwarfus Big Damn Hero

                                  Now that you mention it, that really is a mystery. How do you keep breaking your glasses, Pierre? And how do they keep ending up in the waters and other people's trash cans?!
                                   
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                                  • Surenu

                                    Surenu The End of Time

                                    Maybe he's still secretly boxing?
                                     
                                    • AnnieBenLen

                                      AnnieBenLen Astral Cartographer

                                      I want to know where that rooster that wakes me up every morning is. I don't have a coop. I haven't been feeding him. Is it a damnable ghost rooster?
                                       
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                                      • Venatio777

                                        Venatio777 Subatomic Cosmonaut

                                        My theory for this, and for why we don't see any guns in the game (save in the Journey of the Prairie King), is that the Ferngill Republic has very strict gun-control laws. Perhaps as a result of being at war with the Gotoro Empire and not wanting enemy agents to buy and store weapons in the country. So it would make sense that you would just pick up a sword for adventuring because you don't need a permit for such. No idea why the explosives wouldn't be sanctioned, maybe the Ferngill Republic Legislature or Rule-Making body never got around to it?

                                        As for the level of technology, the Prairie King game is an 8-bit (in-game) video game and we know Leah uses a landline phone at her home and Haley uses a red-room for treating photos. So I would say the Stardew Valley setting would be technologically on par with the 1980's of the real world. Every other oddity would be compartmentalized into the quirks and realities of the setting. Such as the absence of guns in, of all places, a farming community.

                                        As for me, one thing that has had me scratching my head is what school Abigail is going to? Her mother Caroline, in an argument with her daughter, says that Abigail is living freely in the house until she finishes her schooling. I imagine Haley and Abigail are the same age and we know Haley has already graduated from High School. Is there a college down the street we are unaware of accessible by the Bus? Is she taking an online course? Or is Abigail still in Haley's High School as a Senior?
                                         
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                                        • Surenu

                                          Surenu The End of Time

                                          Abby says she takes online classes, so yeah.
                                           
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