Even then, by my understanding, that was mostly for the port and bug fixes. CA was very reluctant to give any control and did all art, musical, feature, and overall directional development himself.
I’d argue it was a recipe for burnout and generally a bad idea but this is what I remember from when I obsessively read his update blogs back then
I didn’t dive into the details of what each other dev contributed, but I would believe that given what I know of the project. The game has such a focused and meticulous art, music, and gameplay direction that I can see how he would want to exercise full control and not dilute it.
I’ve always thought the game was a huge undertaking for a solo dev also so I’m glad he didn’t burn himself out. The game being a massive commercial success probably helps immensely though.
Coincidentally I started a brand new farm when I was having a bad day a few days ago. The work that was out into the game shines through brightly every time.
I thought so as well, but apparently ConcernedApe started enlisting help around the 1.3 update. Before then it was all solo work by him.
The referenced dev from the article contributed to the 1.4 and 1.5 updates from the Stardew wiki.
Even then, by my understanding, that was mostly for the port and bug fixes. CA was very reluctant to give any control and did all art, musical, feature, and overall directional development himself.
I’d argue it was a recipe for burnout and generally a bad idea but this is what I remember from when I obsessively read his update blogs back then
I didn’t dive into the details of what each other dev contributed, but I would believe that given what I know of the project. The game has such a focused and meticulous art, music, and gameplay direction that I can see how he would want to exercise full control and not dilute it.
I’ve always thought the game was a huge undertaking for a solo dev also so I’m glad he didn’t burn himself out. The game being a massive commercial success probably helps immensely though.
Coincidentally I started a brand new farm when I was having a bad day a few days ago. The work that was out into the game shines through brightly every time.