I'm aware that ConcernedApe don't want any form of hunting or butchering in Stardew Valley, but hunting would make a good addition to the game, hunting is an alternatively way of "Living Off the Land", similar to fishing. I think that hunting can be added without altering the main theme of the game with Monster Hunting. You already "hunt" and “kill” monsters to harvest resources, included bug meat and bat wings, and you catch and eat fish, the concept of "hunting" and "killing" is already in the game, so why not make new monsters that you can harvest for new resources which can be crafted in new dishes and new artisans crafts? Made it like an Adventurer's Guild related thing, a new dungeon in the forest where new monsters live. With the recent update the wizard give us a quest to unlock the new farm buildings and the Witch’s Hut. A similar quest involving the Adventurer's Guild can be added where the player is informed of a new area in the Secret Forest where strange monster live. These new monsters can represent a threat to the people of Pelican Town so you have to make sure everyone is safe. Like with the wizard's quest the player would need to find a special item before entering the new dungeon. This item can be a Crossbow (the slingshot is terrible!) The Crossbow with work similar to the slingshot, but it will be easier to point and shot. Hold left mouse button to aim, and release it to shot. You also will learn how to craft arrows to improve the damage of your Crossbow. The Crossbow can be sell by Dwarf, like the darks talisman where given by Krobus. Once you got the Crossbow you will be able to enter the new dungeon, the Deep Forest located in the Secret Forest, you also will have a new skill named Hunting or Monster Hunting. The dungeon will work similar to the mines, but this time is not a leader, but a door, and the door is always open. Every area of the dungeon has a certain amount of monsters to hunt, and a door to progress to the next area. Similar to the Skull Cave where there is no limit in how deep you can go into the dungeon. The deeper you go, the more difficult it will be to advance. The monsters you would hunt can be monster equivalents of stags, bears, wolves and hawks. * Instead of a stag you can hunt a Greyhound, a deer looking creature with big antlers and spikes over its back. It will run after seeing the player and it'll be too fast to fight it with the sword, only the Crossbow can hit it. * A Baku can replace the bears, a fearsome creature with big fangs, claws and spikes coming from its back. It'll be dangerous to fight it in close quarters due to its strength, so hitting it from far away using the Crossbow is the best way to fight it. * The classic Wargs can be place instead of wolves, those creatures hunt in packs of two or three. They aren't too strong, but the numbers make them dangerous. * Seekers can be bird looking monsters that behave similar to the snakes of the skull cave. All of the monster would drop Monster Meat that can be used to create new dishes: * Monster Steak. +160 Energy, +100 Health [+3 Combat, +1 Defense. 5m39s] * Monster Burger. +125 Energy, +80 Health [+50 Max Energy, +1 Speed. 3m30s] * Monster Hotdog. +100 Energy, +60 Health These will add a temporary perk to combat. All the monsters, minus the Seekers, can drop Monster Hide, which can be used to make Leather in the tanning rack. Leather will work like Cloth. · Tanning Rack = 60 Wood, 30 Fiber, 1 Oak Resin. The seekers can drop Monster Feathers that can be used to craft advanced arrows for the Crossbow. * Wood arrow(x5) = 1 wood. +0 damage. * Stone arrow(x5) = 1 wood, 1 stone, 1 Monster Feathers. +1 damage. * Iron arrow(x5) = 1 wood, 1 iron bar, 1 Monster Feathers. +2 damage. * Explosive arrows = Marlon sells them. +5 damage. * Iridium arrow(x5) = 1 wood, 1 iridium ore, 1 Monster Feathers. +10 damage. After zone 25 of the Deep Forest, the player can found the Hunters Shrine, where using a Prismatic Shard can upgrade the Crossbow to the Stardust Crossbow. * Crossbow. 15-26 damage. * Stardust Crossbow. 30-40 damage, +1 seed, +1 weight. The player can also use Traps to gather resources. The traps will act similar to the Crab Pots, using Monster Lure the player can obtain random resources from traps the next day (Monster Hide, Monster Meat or Monster Feathers) the traps can only be placed in the entrance of the dungeon. * Monster Lure(x5) = 1 Monster Meat. * Trap = 40 wood, 3 Cloth.
A way to add in "Hunting" without it being "normal animals" but monster-like animals instead so that it's fine? YES PLEASE! ^^ Good way to get that sort of thing in-game, but still fall in line with the sort of stuff that CA has already implemented. Maybe have it require you to get to level 25 of the Skull Cavern before you can get into it, or something like that. ^^
