Great video! I can tell you put a lot of work into trying to get as much out of spring year 1 as you could. I've been playing stardew for a while now, and I've done a few perfection runs in my down time (I like having the goal to work towards and often give myself some kind of challenge to go with it to keep it from getting monotonous for myself), so I've got some feedback if you'd like it. First up, those darn leeks! In the base game (i.e. without mods), leeks only spawn in the northern parts of the map, which includes the backwoods, mountain area, the bus stop, and on any farm maps that spawn forage (like the forest farm and the beach farm). Leeks will never spawn in town or in the cindersap forest, so searching there solely for leeks was unfortunately a waste of your time. Since you were only looking for a leek for a couple of in-game days, you missed out on opportunities for other money making/resource collection endeavours (such as fishing, mining, and wood chopping). Second, yes it is possible to get that speed-gro from the community centre to put on the strawberry seeds to get an extra harvest, but you actually can't get the speed-gro until the night of the egg festival (unless you're a lucky duck that gets a crop fairy to speed up the growth of your cauliflower). This is because the earliest you can grow a cauliflower is the day of the egg festival (assuming you planted it on the first day of spring), and you can't get in to donate the cauliflower before the egg festival, so you have to race in to town after the festival, donate the cauliflower, grab the speed-gro, race home, and pop it on your strawberries then. It's a rush to be sure - a worthwhile one so your goal wasn't a bad one - but still a rush that requires preplanning. Third, the forage you were growing could have been getting you a lot more money than it was. If you turn your harvested forage into forage wild seeds, they actually sell for more than the forage itself. But it can go further than that! You can replant the seeds to get more forage to turn into seeds. Befriending caroline can get you access to the tea sapling crafting recipe (which uses forage wild seeds as one of the components), and selling tea saplings is one of the easiest early-game money makers since they sell for 500g each. This could be something you could utilise more in summer and fall (summer is actually one of the better seasons to do this with since the seeds only need 3 foragables rather than 4 so I find I end up with way more of them). Fourth, fishing is indeed a great money maker early game! It looks like you got yourself a fibreglass rod already, which is great! Got a few recommendations for fishing. Fish as much as you can as early as you can. Catfish are a great money maker, and when it isn't a rainy spring day, the mountains are the next best place for money fish. In summer, the best place to fish tends to be the ocean, and in fall I believe that the forest river is the best place for money fishing. Make sure you're taking advantage of your professions too! I tend to hold onto my fish starting from around fishing level 3 until i get to level 5 and have the fisher profession active (to get a 25% boost to sell price of the fish), and i do the same when i get to around level 8 fishing until i reach max (if i'm planning on taking the profession that increases fish prices a further 50%, if i'm planning on going pirate, i don't bother to save them for level 10). Fish are also a great food source. I usually keep any carps I've caught to use as food in the mines, but it's up to you if you want food or money from your fish. Lastly for the fishing, invest in upgrading your fishing rod when you can. It is absolutely worth it if you're planning on doing lots of fishing since you can load an iridum rod up with bait and tackle (and the tackle can do various jobs such as making fish slower to escape, increasing bite rate, making it easier to get treasure chests, etc.). Fifth, upgrade your tools when you can. Not just the fishing rod. Priority should go to your pick-axe and your wood axe, since you will need an iron wood axe before the end of summer if you want to finish the Community Centre by the end of the first year (fiddlehead ferns are a summer only spawn in the secret woods, and unless you use the chair hopping glitch to bypass the log blocking the entrance, you'll need an iron wood axe to get in). I wouldn't bother with upgrading your hoe just yet, and if you're looking to upgrade the watering can, check the weather to see if there's a rainy day the enxt day. if there is, you can water your crops, put it in for an upgrade, and pick it up the day after the rainy day and be able to water your crops then. Sprinklers are another massive upgrade you want to put some time into. Don't discount the regular sprinklers just because their pattern is funky, it is a massive time and energy save to have any of your crops watered automatically as early as possible. Quality sprinklers are the obvious upgrade, but it may take you some time to get the gold for them. Sixth, animals. I'll be honest, I felt like you wanting to get chickens before the end of spring was not the best play by the time you got to it. You want as much cash on hand as you can get for the first day of summer to get crop seeds with, and animals eat into that. That being said, getting animals is an investment, and one you want to have started asap. For summer, focus on getting a barn fully upgraded so you can get a pig before it's too late for your year 1 community centre completion goal (I'm sure you already know that pigs can't find truffles in winter, but just in case, here's your reminder). The absolute last day you can get a pig to ensure you get a truffle in time is the 17th of Fall (since they take 10 nights to mature and start finding truffles, and it would be the 18th, but that's Marnie's birthday and she doesn't actually work that day to instead go to her doctor's appointment. It works out though since the 27th is guaranteed to be sunny - allowing the pig to find truffles - while the 28th isn't guaranteed to be sunny). Rabbits and ducks can wait until winter if need be (in fact, you don't need a rabbit at all if you can get luck in the skull caverns since serpents can rarely drop rabbits feet). Don't bother with a sheep, not worth it at this stage. Seven, crops and processing. Choosing the right crops can be important, and i'm not going to tell you to get this or that crop. Melons, blueberries, hops, cranberries, pumpkins, wheat, and bok choy are all great choices across summer and/or fall. The only crop i will highly recommend you get is a pomegranate tree since you'll need one for the enchanter's bundle. you'll need it planted by the last couple of days of summer (just in case of debris blocking it's growth in early fall). Processing crops however is something you should start thinking about early. Preserve jars and kegs are great ways to get those more high-value-low-yeild crops to give you as much out of them as you can get (i'd prioritise melons and pumpkins for these). But, you'll need to start getting the materials prepared. preserve jars need wood, stone, and coal, all of which are relatively easy to get. kegs need wood, copper bars, iron bars, and oak resin, so it's a good idea to start collecting lots of copper and iron, and growing an oak tree grove that you can put tappers on (which also need wood and copper bars) for oak resin. Finally, don't worry too much about trying to get perfection before year 4. As I said at the start, I've done multiple perfection runs (at least half a dozen at this point), It takes time. I've only ever had one perfection run end before the end of year 3, most of them take me into year 4 at least. It's great to have a challenging goal, but don't forget to have fun with it. You might find it helpful to look at tips and tricks videos that are out there on how to get the most out of various aspects of the game, but you don't have to either. You're off to a good start already, so the most important thing is to relax, and have fun (we wouldn't want you getting burnt out from the stress of trying to get perfection in stardew valley, afterall). (Sorry for the long as heck comment, I apparently don't know how to be concise)
Thank you so much for all of this advice! This is actually only my second playthrough of stardew ever, so I'm still learning, and so I really appreciate you taking the time to leave this comment! I will definitely take your advice for summer and fall!
I loved the video! Especially the video concept how every episode is one season in game and you commentating on the days like a 100 days video. I look forward for new episodes!
I just found you and just started watching your content. I'm enjoying your play through and narration. FYI- Leeks do not spawn in the forest or town, you van only find them at the bus stop, in the backwoods and the mountain area.
I like your style Ottie. Good shit. I will wait for more. enjoy your new subscriber (me). Keep it up
Thank you so much!!
ottie omg your stress of trying to find the leek had me on the EDGE OF MY SEAT!!! amazing video, amazing human!!!
You are so sweet :) It stressed me out so much I was literally freaking out about it LOL! We should play stardew together sometime!
Perfect video to crochet to, I could never have the motivation to complete a perfect first spring lol
Oh my gosh, thank you so much!
Great video! I can tell you put a lot of work into trying to get as much out of spring year 1 as you could. I've been playing stardew for a while now, and I've done a few perfection runs in my down time (I like having the goal to work towards and often give myself some kind of challenge to go with it to keep it from getting monotonous for myself), so I've got some feedback if you'd like it.
First up, those darn leeks! In the base game (i.e. without mods), leeks only spawn in the northern parts of the map, which includes the backwoods, mountain area, the bus stop, and on any farm maps that spawn forage (like the forest farm and the beach farm). Leeks will never spawn in town or in the cindersap forest, so searching there solely for leeks was unfortunately a waste of your time. Since you were only looking for a leek for a couple of in-game days, you missed out on opportunities for other money making/resource collection endeavours (such as fishing, mining, and wood chopping).
Second, yes it is possible to get that speed-gro from the community centre to put on the strawberry seeds to get an extra harvest, but you actually can't get the speed-gro until the night of the egg festival (unless you're a lucky duck that gets a crop fairy to speed up the growth of your cauliflower). This is because the earliest you can grow a cauliflower is the day of the egg festival (assuming you planted it on the first day of spring), and you can't get in to donate the cauliflower before the egg festival, so you have to race in to town after the festival, donate the cauliflower, grab the speed-gro, race home, and pop it on your strawberries then. It's a rush to be sure - a worthwhile one so your goal wasn't a bad one - but still a rush that requires preplanning.
Third, the forage you were growing could have been getting you a lot more money than it was. If you turn your harvested forage into forage wild seeds, they actually sell for more than the forage itself. But it can go further than that! You can replant the seeds to get more forage to turn into seeds. Befriending caroline can get you access to the tea sapling crafting recipe (which uses forage wild seeds as one of the components), and selling tea saplings is one of the easiest early-game money makers since they sell for 500g each. This could be something you could utilise more in summer and fall (summer is actually one of the better seasons to do this with since the seeds only need 3 foragables rather than 4 so I find I end up with way more of them).
Fourth, fishing is indeed a great money maker early game! It looks like you got yourself a fibreglass rod already, which is great! Got a few recommendations for fishing. Fish as much as you can as early as you can. Catfish are a great money maker, and when it isn't a rainy spring day, the mountains are the next best place for money fish. In summer, the best place to fish tends to be the ocean, and in fall I believe that the forest river is the best place for money fishing. Make sure you're taking advantage of your professions too! I tend to hold onto my fish starting from around fishing level 3 until i get to level 5 and have the fisher profession active (to get a 25% boost to sell price of the fish), and i do the same when i get to around level 8 fishing until i reach max (if i'm planning on taking the profession that increases fish prices a further 50%, if i'm planning on going pirate, i don't bother to save them for level 10). Fish are also a great food source. I usually keep any carps I've caught to use as food in the mines, but it's up to you if you want food or money from your fish. Lastly for the fishing, invest in upgrading your fishing rod when you can. It is absolutely worth it if you're planning on doing lots of fishing since you can load an iridum rod up with bait and tackle (and the tackle can do various jobs such as making fish slower to escape, increasing bite rate, making it easier to get treasure chests, etc.).
Fifth, upgrade your tools when you can. Not just the fishing rod. Priority should go to your pick-axe and your wood axe, since you will need an iron wood axe before the end of summer if you want to finish the Community Centre by the end of the first year (fiddlehead ferns are a summer only spawn in the secret woods, and unless you use the chair hopping glitch to bypass the log blocking the entrance, you'll need an iron wood axe to get in). I wouldn't bother with upgrading your hoe just yet, and if you're looking to upgrade the watering can, check the weather to see if there's a rainy day the enxt day. if there is, you can water your crops, put it in for an upgrade, and pick it up the day after the rainy day and be able to water your crops then. Sprinklers are another massive upgrade you want to put some time into. Don't discount the regular sprinklers just because their pattern is funky, it is a massive time and energy save to have any of your crops watered automatically as early as possible. Quality sprinklers are the obvious upgrade, but it may take you some time to get the gold for them.
Sixth, animals. I'll be honest, I felt like you wanting to get chickens before the end of spring was not the best play by the time you got to it. You want as much cash on hand as you can get for the first day of summer to get crop seeds with, and animals eat into that. That being said, getting animals is an investment, and one you want to have started asap. For summer, focus on getting a barn fully upgraded so you can get a pig before it's too late for your year 1 community centre completion goal (I'm sure you already know that pigs can't find truffles in winter, but just in case, here's your reminder). The absolute last day you can get a pig to ensure you get a truffle in time is the 17th of Fall (since they take 10 nights to mature and start finding truffles, and it would be the 18th, but that's Marnie's birthday and she doesn't actually work that day to instead go to her doctor's appointment. It works out though since the 27th is guaranteed to be sunny - allowing the pig to find truffles - while the 28th isn't guaranteed to be sunny). Rabbits and ducks can wait until winter if need be (in fact, you don't need a rabbit at all if you can get luck in the skull caverns since serpents can rarely drop rabbits feet). Don't bother with a sheep, not worth it at this stage.
Seven, crops and processing. Choosing the right crops can be important, and i'm not going to tell you to get this or that crop. Melons, blueberries, hops, cranberries, pumpkins, wheat, and bok choy are all great choices across summer and/or fall. The only crop i will highly recommend you get is a pomegranate tree since you'll need one for the enchanter's bundle. you'll need it planted by the last couple of days of summer (just in case of debris blocking it's growth in early fall). Processing crops however is something you should start thinking about early. Preserve jars and kegs are great ways to get those more high-value-low-yeild crops to give you as much out of them as you can get (i'd prioritise melons and pumpkins for these). But, you'll need to start getting the materials prepared. preserve jars need wood, stone, and coal, all of which are relatively easy to get. kegs need wood, copper bars, iron bars, and oak resin, so it's a good idea to start collecting lots of copper and iron, and growing an oak tree grove that you can put tappers on (which also need wood and copper bars) for oak resin.
Finally, don't worry too much about trying to get perfection before year 4. As I said at the start, I've done multiple perfection runs (at least half a dozen at this point), It takes time. I've only ever had one perfection run end before the end of year 3, most of them take me into year 4 at least. It's great to have a challenging goal, but don't forget to have fun with it. You might find it helpful to look at tips and tricks videos that are out there on how to get the most out of various aspects of the game, but you don't have to either. You're off to a good start already, so the most important thing is to relax, and have fun (we wouldn't want you getting burnt out from the stress of trying to get perfection in stardew valley, afterall).
(Sorry for the long as heck comment, I apparently don't know how to be concise)
Thank you so much for all of this advice! This is actually only my second playthrough of stardew ever, so I'm still learning, and so I really appreciate you taking the time to leave this comment! I will definitely take your advice for summer and fall!
Great video! you're really fun to watch, keep up the good work
Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed the video!
I loved the video! Especially the video concept how every episode is one season in game and you commentating on the days like a 100 days video. I look forward for new episodes!
Thank you so much!
I just found you and just started watching your content. I'm enjoying your play through and narration.
FYI- Leeks do not spawn in the forest or town, you van only find them at the bus stop, in the backwoods and the mountain area.
Glad you're enjoying it! I was so nervous about the leeks by day 15 that I was checking anywhere and everywhere haha
This is so exciting and looks super fun! I might try a new run too! Looking forward to more episodes ❤
Thank you!!
This was such a high quality video. I almast didn't click on it becouse it had so few views. Keep it up!
Thank you!
This has give me the inspiration to try my own 100% run ❤
I'm glad! Let me know how it goes!
Awesome video keep up the work
Thank you! :)