I wouldn't mind a deep dive into the downfall of Harvest Moon. That game used to be one of my favorites up to the PS2 harvest moon game(Karen4life). The modern ones don't even deserve to be called Harvest Moon. I heard Story of Seasons is made by the original makers but even that one is pretty meh.
so basically, Eric got lots of love and support early on from his family, and that determined his strengths. Love and Support gives a human soo much power for creation.
@Frauke_M keep going buddy. I know what you're going through. Or at least have an idea about it, since I went though neglect and even severe abuse by my mother. This video hit me hard as well, I actually cried a bit. There's always a chance to get on the path of getting better though. You don't need to be perfect. You don't even need to be really "good". Just being able to feel 0.1% better by your own doing gives you power. You should be proud you got so far in such circumstances. Don't go hard on yourself. There's good and strength in you. You deserve rest and support after the shit you went through. It's fine you wanna be in your safe space, obviously you need a lot of that right now. Your brain protected you from further damage and now it's just stuck in its' defense mechanisms out of caution. But in a way you can be thankful for them. Seek professional help if that is available to you. Or any kind of positive guidance, might even be religion (even though that's not my choice). It helped me. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.
Well if you have support you will make lovlely things that represents the best of the world. If you have darkness you will make dark but beutiful things. Like Moonlight Sonata or fur elise.
While love and support does help individuals should also give themselves support yes it's hard but if you truly intent on pursuing your dreams in life no one can hold you responsible except yourself especially with creative fields where it's mentally draining and becomes an extension of you. You need to have motivation outside of what others think and that needs to come from within otherwise what real drive do you have to actually create something if it's not for you attention and admiration and support are nice but will only get you so far
God bless amber, without her we may not even have stardew. She's the definition of a supportive spouse and deserves all the fancy things she can now buy.
Now imagine all the games that failed, that nobody ever heard of. Years down the drain. Starvation, depression, suicidal ideations, etc. Solo game dev is no joke.
It's kind of crazy how this man did it himself for years while similar games like Omori had a team yet had development hell. Really makes you think these people are freaks of nature
@@enashimo They probably are. At the very least it takes a special kind of character to pull this amount of dedication. I can't do it. Not if the result is not guaranteed.
@@oredaze True and the thing people usualy don't consider is the general luck and supoort you need to have something like this to work, it's like a puzzle where all pieces need to fit together. Being persistent and have the skill is definitely very important, but people make it look like everything is only about skill but real life doesn't work like that 9 out of 10 times. Usually when you hear storries like this, they always focus on persistence and knowledge, but that's the survivalship bias, you don't hear about the rest of the people who tried to do the same thing, had the skill, tried to be persistent but life screwed them in other ways. Sometimes you may have a great idea or product, but the timing not being right or didn't have the support you needed or life just turned in a completely different direction. I'm very glad the dev of Stardew Valley had that opportunity, support and all pieces fitting together for him, but for most people their partner or parents will be "it's time to stop this and start contributing like an adult we can't keep carrying you on our shoulders".
I love this story but not only because Eric did finish his dream game and became so successful, but because Amber is an absolute diamond... She supports the guy for so long, she's one of the two reasons we can play Stardew Valley now, the other being Eric. Such a great and inspiring story!
exactly! she deserves MAJOR props 💖 she's a HUGE reason he was even able to finish it at all; without being able to live with parents AND her financial support, he wouldn't have been able to just work and work and work for all those years straight.
@@atelierofwitchhat He had part-time jobs while developing the game and he could have continued living with his parents so he could focus on the game 100% without paying rent, it's just not ideal to continue living with your parents when you have a partner because you need your own privacy and space. He also lived at his friend's house so Amber wasn't really making that much money.
@@minhmeo5010 and his parents and his friends, not only her, he was already working on the game before he moved with her. He could perfectly have done that game without her.
@zlatkajupe I haven't played the game since probably 2016-17. I stopped because it was too addicting. Is it worth giving it a try again after so many years? I'm afraid becoming an addict again lol
@@vladimir8035 definitely check it out again. But I'm sorry to say, it is 100x more addicting now with all the new stuff you can do, If you're really a masochist you can look into mods to add even more. It's never ending
I remember when the game 1st published. my friend asked in one of the forums for help with my broken save. I had given him the save to see if he could fix it. I was asleep by the time with no idea what was happening. When I woke up I had a message from my friend with an attached file. It was my save. And it was working. Eric had seen the post and the attached broken file with it. He then took the broken file without saying anything... and fixed it overnight. He contacted my friend at 4 am in the morning with the working file and on top of that... he apologized for the issue. I have never felt so strongly about any developer. But Eric is one of the best we have.
What's horrifying about stories like this is that for every Eric Barone you will find dozens of people who let a project like this completely consume their life yet never have anything to show for it. The life of an entrepreneur really scary.
A reminder that entrepreneurs shouldn't expect their first project to succeed. I would also like to point out that there's an underlying assumption in this video that working on the same thing day after day after day for months is a good thing. Like how he even felt he had to hide that he was doing something else from his girlfriend ! But while "normal", this just isn't a good fit for creative projects. And it's one thing when the resulting exhaustion or even burnout is caused by your own perfectionism (and wanting to please), but much more problematic when it's forced upon you by people having (a lot of) power over you.
@@BlueTemplar15 Yeah, at the end narrator even says "With enough persistence you can accomplish anything you wanted in life". But having a successful game is 50% luck and only 50% the game. SO many great games are left unnoticed. The scenario of Stardew Valley was pretty unlikely to happen, but it did - and that's great.
I know, that is the definition of a loving relationship. She didn’t leave when she wasn’t getting enough from him. She knew he was doing it not only for himself, but for both of their futures.
I’ve been in her position, working more than full time to support my significant other following his dream. It’s extremely hard. You talk about things and you think you have a sense of it, how you’re going to set up the new structure of your relationship, but in 6 months you’re feeling it instead of theorizing it. You’re feeling things you didn’t expect to feel (“I need more interaction from him”) but now you’re ~in it~ and navigating it is much harder than theorizing it. Major kudos to her!! Thank you for recognizing her hard work throughout this endeavor! :)
this has shifted how I think of Mr. Qi's dialogue regarding "perfection" and to never quit seeking it. There's a lot of Eric's mentality in those words
I kinda feel like Mr. Qi is based off of Eric Barone himself, more like his inner mysterious self just like how we have our own. Hitting perfection, not rushing things too early, fruits of hardwork, etc.
Perfection is a double-edged sword you can spend all your time trying to make something perfect but if the idea is flawed/unfun it's not really worth it. It's better to create a hundred things but finish them then 1 thing that is "perfect" especially because perfect simply does not exist and chasing it will only make you loath the thing you made as you'll only see the flaws which others may not. It worked out great for him but it absolutely should not be the standard we grow from failure and mistakes it's more important to finish something, reflect instead of constantly wanting it to be perfect. There is also such a thing as over working something where you constantly get caught up in the tinest little things and because of that it will begin to look muddy. Best approach would be look it over or reflect on it maximum 3 times any more and it's simply not going to be worth the effort he himself was blind to how good his game actually was he also succeed because yes it was a good game but also because he already had a fanbase waiting for it meaning he could spend more time
I met Eric a few days ago. Super sweet guy. Our steel pan band is playing “spring” from Stardew, and we practice in Fremont, which I think is where his office is. So he came, and actually played music with us. Super cool.
Damn…i had tears in my eyes when you spoke about how he expected maybe 20k sales tops and got 500k in the first two weeks and almost perfect review scores. All that hard work…all those sacrifices he and his partner made…finally paid off. I am so glad I bought the game on all devices I am playing on, just so I can support him.
Totally agree - behind every great person, there’s a bunch of other unsung heroes. His parents must have been pretty cool too to let them both live there rent free/ low rent for ages too. His dad encouraging him to learn laid a solid foundation too.
Eric gotta go down as one of the most legendary creatives out there, and the support Amber gave him fully made his dreams reality. Such an inspiration, I wouldn't know what the guy is feeling right now
That would be nice, but some of us just have to tough it out alone when it comes to our dreams. The fact is that for most people, myself included, nobody fucking cares what your dream is or how hard you're working at it. It's the norm to have to wait until things blow up and your success looks like it was always a foregone conclusion before anyone starts believing in you. Eric got very lucky to have somebody that supportive in his life.
It’s a true rags to riches story. So much respect for both of them pulling it off. Many have tried. I’m a fellow musician, composer, illustrator, writer and coder. But it’s insane what Eric is capable of creating on such a high level.
I really appreciate the fact that you gave a lot of deserved credit to Amber, I haven’t seen her really mentioned in other videos about the development of the game so its nice to see
I'm pretty sure they mean to play the same game from the start everyday just to ensure that the game run smooth without bugs and glitches. Imagine playing the tutorial mode 1000x.
Man his standards must be super high. Even on release stardew valley was awesome. No clone has really been able to do the same quality work as concernedape did, and he was by his self doing it.
I bought stardew on release, and it was definitely great back then too. Most of the issues were small like forgetting levels in the mines or spouse jealousy.
hard to judge when there is nothing similar , when Minecraft came out 15 years ago lots of people just thought it looked like pixelized shit , it did and still does but visuals were never the point , and until today only vintage story has been able to improve on the original feeling Minecraft had , and mostly because Microsoft barely touches the game
@@prumchhangsreng979 my point is that if you made something that was never been done before , even if you dislike it , it could be very good for someone else because people have different tastes and like different things in games
I don’t think you could say that for Stardew Valley. RPG game with pixelated graphic had exist and thriving for years and years. Even now, it’s hard to find game that give the same joy and vibe. So stardew valley is good not because the standard is low, it’s good because it’s good. Same could be said about minecraft, u forget the simple fact that not everybody judge the game based on it graphics like u. There are other factor that make a game good. There are many people who prefer indie game kind of graphic over graphic that are too realistic. Lot of people like the simplicity of minecraft. Beside, if u do something that no one do it before and now it has nothing to compare to. THEN that alone is a FEAT worthy of respect, and can be something that consider to be “good”
Sadly a lot of stories like that would end up in disaster, the game not ever releasing or making any money, the partner not being able to be supportive for so many years, or health problem coming in the way of actually finishing the game. These success story are inspirational but they exist within a system that's designed to make that kind of stuff a dangerous gamble that most will fail while the few successes are shown as a way to justify that it's all just about hard work when it's not.
Within a "system"? Is it yet another "capitalism bad" comment? Can you describe a utopia where you can spend half a decade making a video game, writing a book etc. not working and just relying on your partner (in Soviet Union you had to work officially btw, because there was a law against "dependency", "izhdivenchestvo"), not having a censor to ban your game because it promotes "petite bourgeoisie" or LGBTQ values instead of "socialist realism", and then to sell it on a free market, and not hope that some "Ministry of Culture" will throw you some bits and pieces as a reward?
As someone who had a multi-year indie project fail, this is completely inaccurate. It's emotionally crushing for sure, but you can just go get a normal job after since you have a ton of experience. There's nothing of "the system" being designed to make it dangerous at all (unless you're assuming that other people should be forced to support you while you make games, which is just dumb).
@@La0bouchere If you could work for multiple year on your indie project you either had some amount of support or starting ressources that allowed you to do that. Not eveeryone has that. People aren't obligated to support you but I think it's important to point out that those success stories aren't the result of pure willpower, people don't all have the opportunities to even try or the leeway to be able to afford to fail their project (and getting a job isn't exactly a guarantee especially with a large gap on your resume) and even when all the conditions are there you still have pretty high odds for it to fail. Point is the "rag to riches" type of story are not the norm and in most cases it's just "rag to rag" or "riches to more riches" and if you are already struggling financially you have much less opportunities to take risks like that. The exceptions shouldn't be heralded as exemples to follow because they aren't reproducible. At many point within this story the guy could have just gone homeless or in medical debt or anything along those lines if something did go wrong.
@@La0bouchereYou can’t just “get a job” after spending years on a project that fails, interviewers aren’t looking at the knowledge you gained from the experience, what they’re looking at is the 2+ year gap in your resume, which isn’t going to be better when you tell them it was from a *failed* project.
This actually had me tearing up. It has taken me a long time to finish my undergrad (engineering). It took me 10 years, with a whole lot of turmoil and pain. I have finally passed everything and my graduation will be this July. I can certainly empathise with the feeling that you are failing and wasting your life on a dream, being supported by others, the imposter syndrome, the embarrassment when people ask what you do or how long until you finish, and the feeling of needing to prove yourself even after the fact. I'm glad he has found success. I have never played stardew valley, but I feel like buying it now to support him, having heard his story (even though I certainly need the money more than he does right now 😅).
Hey I wanted to let you know it took me 10 years to finish engineering school too! I feel embarrassed by it but I know my path thru college had its reasons and I wouldn’t be who I am today without the 10 years in college. Stardew Valley and games like this truly help thru those days where you’re tired, overwhelmed, and need a break from it all. It was also the motivation at times for me to finish studying and course work too lol. I recommend getting it if you haven’t and also thanks for sharing your college journey. You’re not alone in it. FYI I see your graduating this month (or have). It took me 6months to get a job (graduated in 2021). Don’t let the applications and job search burn you out. There’s light. Don’t be afraid to trust your gut and turn down a job (if you haven’t lined one up). I’ve worked contract, consumer product, and vacuum technology. Tell yourself in the moment where you feel like you’re not good enough for the job someone believed in you, and that’s why you have the role. You can do the job and it takes years to be a good engineer
@annonone93 Thanks, I appreciate the kind words and encouragement! I actually already have an engineering job. :) I will need to leave at some point for a higher paying job though.
@@JonathanTrevatthi! , im currently interested in engineering major , mind if I ask a few questiosn regarding engineering? 1. Is electrical engineering the hardest engineering major?? 2. What major I should take to learn sound/audio engineering? 3. What kind of major that is best if I wanted to make speakers or headphones or earbuds Sorry if I had a bad grammar because english isn't my first language 😅 anyway ,Thanks! For reading it, I Really appreciate it 🙏🏻
@tonystank8676 1. I don't think that any engineering discipline is especially more difficult to any other. It's mostly conceptual, since a lot of the math is similar anyway. 2. There are 2 different jobs that people call "sound/audio engineers." One type isn't actually an engineer at all. But actual sound engineering is I think technically a subset of mechanical. When I studied, I took sound engineering as an elective. It depends on your university and an advisor at your university could tell you more, but at mine, I think you just had to select appropriate elective courses. 3. If you want to design audio equipment, then you might want to do electrical, with electives chosen to specialise in sound, electromechanical devices, and product design. You can usually do a year or two of study before you completely decide, because most of the first courses are common between all engineers. Hope this helps 🙂
It's really touching how humble he still remained even after the success. Blessing upon your home and hearth, Eric! May you and Amber live a long life together!
He made me realize you can create something even in your lowest times and it be something everyone enjoys. It takes time and patience for something you dream of becoming a reality😭
His girlfriend was in her lowest times working two jobs supporting this "man". He was at home chillin making video games and not even talking to his girlfriend much.
Be careful with the whole "With enough persistence you can truly what ever you want in life". This guy had a pretty good start, people to support him, etc. Stories like this are part of the survivorship bias, because you don't hear about the people that grind their life to the ground.
This story could have easily lead to a ruined existance if only one factor had been different. He had parents which lead him into that direction, and massive support from all around. His family, friends and most importantly his partner.
@@jasperzanovich2504also the fact that his game was basically an overnight sensation. It could have just as easily be lost in the sauce of all the other indie games that came out. I love stardew valley, and I love that Eric was the one who got to reap the rewards of his labour, but luck of the draw had played a part in it. Man got that luck buff on lock
Everyone knows that failure can happen tho. It’s what’s stopping most people from even trying. A bit of encouragement and an inspiring story isn’t a bad thing. I’ve been obsessed with creating things all my life. I had many failures. And a couple of successes, which more than made up for it. Had I stopped trying, I would only have had failures.
@@svenmify You'd be surprised. This one can be dangerous because it is one that could've ruined his life. This was also not many failures leading to success. This was, again, potentially life destroying choices that lead to success
I find it funny how people say Amber was crazy for supporting him like that. I think she wasn't at all. I think she is a smart woman who knew exactly what made original harvest moon great as she was a fan and she knew stardew valley would be a hit. And she knew her partner was dedicated enough to polish it to perfection.
Anyone who tells people they are crazy for supporting their significant other, are just plain wrong. That's how its supposed to be, something that is now lost in these days.
no one can actually know if something is gonna be successful, especially when you're doing indie games. We have the luxury of knowing it's already a success so we could say that, but realistically, supporting someone like this is a huge gamble. But if it's your significant other, then they should be supporting regardless of the probability of success.
I don't think it was crazy, but I also don't think it would've been crazy or unfair to not put up with this situation. Amber took a gamble and she was willing to take it for Eric. But it was definitely still a gamble and I couldn't fault anyone for wanting to leave such a situation.
this story is absolutely freaking crazy honestly, the fact that he actually manage to do something like this is just mind blowing .. to be able to work on a game all by himself for 4 and a half year and finally deliver a really something good is nothing short of phenomenal, i hope someday i can have such a powerful determined mind like him
This vid made me realize how much concernedape proyected himself onto Sebastian when it comes to them both being programmers, with a specific goal and working by themselves because they didn't want to "be a part of the corporative rat race" (literally said in his 2 heart event). Amazing video! keep up the great work :)
This is kinda funny to me, because the Farmer, Sebastian and Eric himself all are expressing this distaste of "corporate grind" and want to escape it, while Eric never actually experienced it.
This is lowkey one of the most inspiring videos and stories I’ve ever seen on this platform. Thank you for breathing life into this incredible story!❤️
For anyone wondering about the copyright dispute I have a short version. Harvest Moon is a game series from Japan. It was originally localized by a different company. The Japanese company that made the games decided to localize it themselves at their American branch. The company that was doing it before obviously didn't like that. The original localization company owned the rights to the Harvest Moon title. So following the split the original game series that was called Harvest Moon had to change it's name over here to Story of Seasons. The localization company started putting out their own games with the title of Harvest Moon, so that people who didn't know about the change would buy it based on the title. Generally most people agree those games are not very great. So tldr The original game series that was called Harvest Moon is now called Story of Seasons. And any games coming out called Harvest Moon are a different game series that has had consistent issues.
Story of Seasons is still pretty bad though which is sad. OG Harvest Moon up to like PS2 era was 10/10. Not sure why their current game is aggressively underwhelming.
@@Sephiroso. Story of Seasons is phenomenal, just got to pick up the right titles. Friends of Mineral Town is one of the best remakes I have ever played, and A Wonderful Life was nice as well. Yeah, sad that their best games are remakes, but I still think they can do it. The first Story of Seasons game was pretty good, SO close to being a proper Harvest Moon game in looks and vibe.
real. you spend hours and hours on your art, experincing it constantly until you are drained, and you of all people know every little single flaw, artists are always their harshest critics
@@maximilianhemann Well put. This is exactly why I didn't choose a designer or artist livelihood. I always felt drained when doing art. Probably cause I never learned a balanced work ethic or system.
And then there's me, which, every time I end up being proud about how well my artwork turned out I also end up depressed cause I'm so insecure about myself that I cannot believe I created something so beautiful. Like I don't believe I was capable of doing it and therefore I don't deserve to be happy about it. The mind is a really a strange place.
I kept pushing through until one day things started to click and now I love my own style. It’s easy to get lost in all the awesome art on the net and never feel satisfied with your own, but if you stop caring about what everyone else is doing and really focus on building a style you’ll eventually reach a place where art is satisfying.
Historically, a huge amount of the art, literature, and other works of creativity and genius that we have, would never have existed if someone hadn't helped support the artist financially, especially early in their career.
@@kairi8882 expected, but not entitled. Regardless of gender or circumstances. Flawed people arent deserving of such unconditional love, tho it isnt real love if you have to earn it too. It's complicated.
I know after hearing all this telling this man he deserves a break wont really do anything cause his anxiety wont let him. So uh just... Dont let Haunted Chocolatier do you in, hope he learned how to take it in alittle slower and learned he knows how to make a good game.
I think he did learn. He isn't really saying anything about the game other than it exists and a couple little teasers. He's also taking breaks on HC to come up with new ideas for SV and explicitly stated it will be out when it's ready. Being able to go between projects, even if they are both coding/art/etc is a huge stress relief over constantly doing the same thing. Plus, now he has the financial freedom to work on it as his own pace without worry.
Parts of his story really remind me of my own struggles with ADHD and depression (Not saying he has that, it's absurd to diagnose that this way.) I just hope he's doing fine and not asking too much of himself. His struggles sound very real, and I hope he gets te help he needs if he indeed needs help
This video made me realise that stardew is so much an art piece from Eric's mind. The spiritual connection between Eric and Stardew valley explains why the game resonates with so many people.
I remember when it was first released. Patches upon patches within the first 2 days. I remembered wondering "Does this dude even sleep?" Because i was just here enjoying the game.
Splendid video quality, exceptionally smooth to follow. I didn't even realize it was just released until I looked at the comments, after watching it in full. Keep it up!
I think the biggest take away for me is that there is no such thing as a solo game developer. Even if they do all the work on the game itself, every success story I’ve heard has had support from so many people around them. Remember to always keep your family, friends, and loved ones close.
Now we know were Sam and Sebastian came from… Sam: Has a band Likes music Sebastian: Has a band ( in sams band) Likes video games Likes music Stays in him room all day Very similar.
As an artist, we are all our own harshest critics. Ive been told my drawings and cartoons are really good and fun looking. I still dont like what I make, but i know i see all the flaws in my own work and others just see the art subjectively and have differing opinons.
Well, I think the big difference is that you see what you made compared to what you _wanted_ to make, and then look at all the differences between those two as flaws and mistakes, whereas others often don't have any idea what exactly you were aiming for and just evaluate what is actually there. While the former might be an okay way to critique the act of making the art, I think the latter is actually a more honest critique of what you ended up making.
Holy shit, I had tears in my eyes. I feel so happy for him and honestly, MASSIVE respect to his girlfriend for having the patience, love and dedication to support him.
Honestly was really relieved when he finally got a part time job. 😅 Amber likely needed a break from the stress whether she wants to admit it or not from being the breadwinner and the sunny Linda to his Bob while going to school on top of it all. I’m glad they were able to work so hard together ❤
Whilst I doubt I’ll ever be as great or popular as Eric Barone or Toby Fox, their accomplishments forever serve as my goals. I see myself quite a lot in Eric but I have one major flaw that he didn’t and that is an extreme inability to focus when I can’t see the path ahead. Eric somehow kept his head down and worked non-stop whereas I’ve been stuck on the narrative part of my game for half a year with little progress. I have the discipline to sit down and try all day everyday to make a game but lack the focus to actually make any progress. I refuse to give up though. Before starting game development, when I had just turned 18, I had literally zero skills, I was pathetic and had even been told by one of my friends that “if i was you, I’d kill myself” obviously im no longer friends with them… but yeah, one of my biggest motivators for making a full complete commercial game is to prove to myself that i can accomplish something most couldnt, that i am not worthless, it has always been a dream of mine to make a game but i always disregarded the idea because everyone would always say it’s near impossible and i would never be able to do it, this is what i want, and i refuse to let it go, im so sick of giving up and never committing to things i want or need… making this game is incredibly important to me, i know i shouldnt connect my self-worth with a goal but i can’t help it, i don’t know what i will do if I can’t finish this game, that is why I need to succeed! I only want to release a game im happy with, i dont care if i lose money on it, it’s not about fame or riches, it’s about proving to myself that i am not a waste of oxygen and completing what i always thought was an impossible task. Whilst I do see myself a lot in Eric, Toby has had the most influence on me due to his game being about determination. I can tell all my friends don’t believe in me… I started game development almost 2 years ago and they haven’t really seen anything from me… i can’t blame them… But that doesn’t matter because I believe in myself, I don’t care if it takes me 10 years, I refuse to accept anything less than a complete game. I do hope I will improve to the point where I can get a job in the industry, as much as I like working at a supermarket, I’d like a fixed salary in career im passionate about. Sorry im rambling like crazy, i wont delete this though, i feel like im fighting impossible odds and i want people to know that it’s no longer stopping me from trying.
Please don't beat yourself up. If they're your friends, I'm sure they believe in you! What friends don't believe in their friend? Could you possibly find a way to disconnect your identity to the game's progress? Your self-worth is certainly more than just your passion project. At the very least, please don't compare yourself to others. Please pay attention to all the small improvements you have made as a person and hold onto that. And then see how far you have come and the next steps to improve! The completion of the game is great, but the journey is more important! That's what makes the completion great and if it was easy, it wouldn't be worthwhile. So keep going! Tell those inner thoughts to shut up and keep working towards your dream! I'm reminded of a great quote from Xenoblade 3: "“Memories melt in the morning light, and then, a new day begins. Roads stretch out before us. So many paths. Which do you choose? That’s up to you. Sometimes, you might run astray. You’ll stop, maybe cry in frustration. But, you know, that’s all right. For the roads… They go on without end. So look up, face forward, toward your chosen horizon… And just… walk on.” No matter how far you think you have gotten off your path, keep moving forward and eventually it will lead to something worthwhile!
@@SuperSSSSooonniicccc Good friends, friends that can see my flaws and still accept me, they don’t have to believe in me, I’ve given them no reason to… yet. And no, I won’t disconnect my identity from my game, as they are one in the same. I’m so passionate about game development that it is now who I am, I was a nobody, an empty canvas, so it wasn’t hard for my first real passion to become my personality, and I am using game development as a form of expression for myself, if I give up my game, I’m giving up on myself. I remind myself of all my flaws so I know how far I’ve come. But yeah I pretty much agree with your entire reply, even if it seems conflicting
I agree that you shouldn't be so harsh on yourself, given that you have lot of symptoms of ADHD, that I highly doubt you got even diagnosed with or gotten a good treatment for it. So, if you get a good medical support for your ADHD, maybe you'll be able to focus much more! You are very valid and can accomplish what you dream of, I wish you find cooler people aswell along the way.
I’m in a similar situation. The most important thing is to not give up and don’t stop believing in yourself. If you’re stuck on one thing, and it’s mentally draining you, let it rest for a while and see if there’s something else you can work on instead. Just keep moving forward.
Wow, what a touching story. Eric and Amber seem like incredible people that deserve each other. I hope they’re both enjoying the fruits of their labor. Lord knows my patience would be tested by an experience like that and I’m glad it all worked out for them in the end.
You're not alone, friend haha seeing him get to meet the creator of the game that brought him and Amber together and inspired his whole journey had me welling up and asking who's cutting the onions lol!
"With enough persistence..." and support and an absurd amount of luck. If Stardew Valley had been lost in the sheer volume of Steam releases, which happens to a lot of games, the story could have ended very sadly. Stardew Valley is an absolute exception - a success story among thousands that have failed.
I'd be the first to admit that I'm legit angry at how easy things were going for him. However, I think it's more useful to look at his story and learn from it. In his case, he obviously saw he had a stable and welcoming family where he COULD take his time. A partner that was willing to support him. Friends to move in with etc. He saw it and he used it. Yes, you won't be able to do the same, but why do you have to? I think the lesson here is to look at yourself and your environment and act accordingly. You'd be surprised how much you can actually do. Or maybe you'd realize how little you can do, in which case you can continue on in with more peace of mind instead of lamenting over the idea of making a successful game or whatnot.
50% seems high, but usually cuts are decided based on hype of the game already. If the publisher has to work harder and spend more money, the cut will be higher. SV was already hyped before the publisher joiened in. 10% is a really great offer, but it's not like they had to do a whole lot to hype the game and it's not like it used to be where the publishers were responsible for the physical copies of the game which took money to do. Now that it''s all digital and not even on their servers, but steams, they don't have the overhead they used to have to publish games. Server cost's are a reason Steams cut is so high
@@MerccreM15 > Server cost's are a reason Steams cut is so high Monopoly and market capture is the reason Valve's cut is so high. You could have a nationalized alternative that only charges 3.5%, but nobody would ever use it because their library belongs to Valve. Being an internet landlord's a really sweet gig if you can hit the jackpot. Valve doesn't have to make a single new video game in their entire lives, and they'll continue raking in more profit than all other publishers and video game developers in the history of the human species combined.
@@BMoser-bv6kn Valves profits are a fk ton but they're extremely far from matching "all other publishers combined". Rockstar and Activision already surpass them. Valve also isn't a monopoly. There's plenty of other stores out there and anyone can easily self publish their game on PC anywhere on the internet. They're big because people (both users and developers) like using their service.
I really enjoyed this story. Not just the way you told it, but also because I started working on a game and know the struggle of programming something, then retconning it once my skills improved slightly and repeatedly changing concepts and so on due to outer influences. It made the whole experience of making a game feel normal and like I was not the only one stuck on trying to make things perfect. Really made a millionaire feel so much more relatable to hear his journey.
Considering how Chucklefish turned out and how they eventually parted ways... It was a fruitful collaboration while it lasted, but suffice to say Eric Barone learned to distance himself from them.
As someone in college for data science who needs to get a job to make it work this year, hearing about the Auntie Anne's era is really cool! Gives me hope and makes me feel like less of a loser for not having an internship yet
@@velius_development Finding success in a indie game is rare. Essentially you are saying to your girlfriend, hey babe I'm going to work on this passion project while you work overtime for rent and food for two people, for 5 years. Thanks babe. Or you could be a man and help pay rent and food while you work on your projects in your off time.
This was the best single player game I have ever played. I remember pushing through the night to finish the game at 4AM. I could not put it down, I teared up at the end. There were so many moments of peace and joy. It's hard to explain to people why it's so good, you just have to play it. Awesome video!
my favorite thing about eric is how, after so many years of this game being out, he’s still so down to earth and cares about his fans. i follow him on twitter and he often personally responds to issues reported in the comments, even offering to look at their game log if needed. it’s super cool to see from a game developer.
AMazing video, and really important. It is usually overlooked ConcernedApe's background when ppl talk about "solo indie dev can mae a huge hit like Stardew Valley". Eric had A LOT of background in all areas. This is not meant to discourage people, but do keep your expectations in check, and never give up =)
i mean if he was essentially a stay at home partner that did all the house chores, then working to support both of you is not that big of a deal as long as your jobis not soul crushing and earns enough. house chores, cooking, cleaning, washing dishes, laundry, etc, are no tasks to be laughed at as any single houshold can attest to. which i say as a single household. i would happily pay for a potential partner as long as they did something to earn their stay too.
good for both of them. one followed his passion, and the other supported him during the process and eventually it worked out for them both. its a great story, wish there were more like this. great vid.
This literally made me cry when he finally gained success from the game. I adore this game and having this backstory is priceless. I’m so glad Amber stayed by his side through it all, and that he never gave up. Thank you for this video!
I can relate. I’m an indie developer and I’ve been working on my indie game for about 6 months. Not nearly as big or intricate of a game as Stardew valley but still a large task for one developer. I got to the point about a week ago where I honestly couldn’t tell anymore if the game looked or felt good. I then started to stress about it sucking. It’s a scary thought when you pour your heart into something that it just might not be good. This is the first game I will be releasing on steam too so I think that is also putting on pressure. I then realized that even if worst case senerio people hate my game, it will only improve me as a developer.
I never played Stardew valley but this video was so entertaining! It's nice that Eric (and Amber) hard work payed off in the end but i hope he can work he less stressful/healthy way now.
Dude, I’m starting to realize I most likely talked to the stardew valley creator in person many times… his college job timeline lines up with when I always went to my favorite local pretzel place lol
Thanks for watching! Who should I talk about next?
Videogamedunkey just released his first game with his publishing company, a game that was also made by a single person.
0😅 2:59 😅
Talk about the free masons!
I wouldn't mind a deep dive into the downfall of Harvest Moon. That game used to be one of my favorites up to the PS2 harvest moon game(Karen4life). The modern ones don't even deserve to be called Harvest Moon. I heard Story of Seasons is made by the original makers but even that one is pretty meh.
Please could you talk about Toby Fox, the creator of Undertale? I would love to Know more about him and his developing of the game
"He tried to trick him by printing the fibonacci sequence instead of having the computer do the math", guy was already thinking like a game developer.
*laughs in enemy AI*
Lol
true
so basically, Eric got lots of love and support early on from his family, and that determined his strengths. Love and Support gives a human soo much power for creation.
@Frauke_M I completely relate to you. I am the same way, and it sucks.
Well f*ck, I guess that means I can never finish making my dream game lol
@Frauke_M keep going buddy. I know what you're going through. Or at least have an idea about it, since I went though neglect and even severe abuse by my mother. This video hit me hard as well, I actually cried a bit.
There's always a chance to get on the path of getting better though. You don't need to be perfect. You don't even need to be really "good". Just being able to feel 0.1% better by your own doing gives you power. You should be proud you got so far in such circumstances. Don't go hard on yourself. There's good and strength in you. You deserve rest and support after the shit you went through. It's fine you wanna be in your safe space, obviously you need a lot of that right now. Your brain protected you from further damage and now it's just stuck in its' defense mechanisms out of caution. But in a way you can be thankful for them.
Seek professional help if that is available to you. Or any kind of positive guidance, might even be religion (even though that's not my choice). It helped me. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.
Well if you have support you will make lovlely things that represents the best of the world. If you have darkness you will make dark but beutiful things. Like Moonlight Sonata or fur elise.
While love and support does help individuals should also give themselves support yes it's hard but if you truly intent on pursuing your dreams in life no one can hold you responsible except yourself especially with creative fields where it's mentally draining and becomes an extension of you. You need to have motivation outside of what others think and that needs to come from within otherwise what real drive do you have to actually create something if it's not for you attention and admiration and support are nice but will only get you so far
God bless amber, without her we may not even have stardew. She's the definition of a supportive spouse and deserves all the fancy things she can now buy.
money buys nothing but misery......
honestly. it is the worst
@@NotHappening-b8tAh yes the only thing naive people and rich people said
Yeah, money isn’t the most important, but it is still important.
@@angkhoa1216nah poor people say it more nowadays
@@NotHappening-b8t So how you can eat without money?
This man created his magnum opus and his wife stood by him every step of the way. What an inspiring story.
since when was there a female bubblegum guy
Mine left rofl
True
Now imagine all the games that failed, that nobody ever heard of. Years down the drain. Starvation, depression, suicidal ideations, etc. Solo game dev is no joke.
Is why you keep these things as a hobby instead of banking on it
@@chipbutty3645 Fuck that
It's kind of crazy how this man did it himself for years while similar games like Omori had a team yet had development hell. Really makes you think these people are freaks of nature
@@enashimo They probably are. At the very least it takes a special kind of character to pull this amount of dedication. I can't do it. Not if the result is not guaranteed.
@@oredaze True and the thing people usualy don't consider is the general luck and supoort you need to have something like this to work, it's like a puzzle where all pieces need to fit together. Being persistent and have the skill is definitely very important, but people make it look like everything is only about skill but real life doesn't work like that 9 out of 10 times. Usually when you hear storries like this, they always focus on persistence and knowledge, but that's the survivalship bias, you don't hear about the rest of the people who tried to do the same thing, had the skill, tried to be persistent but life screwed them in other ways. Sometimes you may have a great idea or product, but the timing not being right or didn't have the support you needed or life just turned in a completely different direction. I'm very glad the dev of Stardew Valley had that opportunity, support and all pieces fitting together for him, but for most people their partner or parents will be "it's time to stop this and start contributing like an adult we can't keep carrying you on our shoulders".
I love this story but not only because Eric did finish his dream game and became so successful, but because Amber is an absolute diamond... She supports the guy for so long, she's one of the two reasons we can play Stardew Valley now, the other being Eric. Such a great and inspiring story!
exactly! she deserves MAJOR props 💖 she's a HUGE reason he was even able to finish it at all; without being able to live with parents AND her financial support, he wouldn't have been able to just work and work and work for all those years straight.
Yesss
@@atelierofwitchhat He had part-time jobs while developing the game and he could have continued living with his parents so he could focus on the game 100% without paying rent, it's just not ideal to continue living with your parents when you have a partner because you need your own privacy and space. He also lived at his friend's house so Amber wasn't really making that much money.
@@Vader007. But I think her being his emotional support also plays a big role in all of this.
@@minhmeo5010 and his parents and his friends, not only her, he was already working on the game before he moved with her. He could perfectly have done that game without her.
We’re in update 1.6 now and the game just keeps getting bigger and more rewarding
Seriouslyyyy I'm loving the update! Just keeps getting better and better
@zlatkajupe I haven't played the game since probably 2016-17. I stopped because it was too addicting. Is it worth giving it a try again after so many years? I'm afraid becoming an addict again lol
@@vladimir8035 You really should play it again, especially with the newest update. Only thing is, it's still extremely addicting lol
@@Meg4n Goddamn, becoming an adult sucks. I'll surely give it a try some day this Summer.
@@vladimir8035 definitely check it out again. But I'm sorry to say, it is 100x more addicting now with all the new stuff you can do, If you're really a masochist you can look into mods to add even more. It's never ending
I remember when the game 1st published. my friend asked in one of the forums for help with my broken save. I had given him the save to see if he could fix it.
I was asleep by the time with no idea what was happening. When I woke up I had a message from my friend with an attached file. It was my save. And it was working.
Eric had seen the post and the attached broken file with it. He then took the broken file without saying anything... and fixed it overnight. He contacted my friend at 4 am in the morning with the working file and on top of that... he apologized for the issue.
I have never felt so strongly about any developer. But Eric is one of the best we have.
damn what a guy!!!
he could easily be best game developer of all time
@@mantosh56 That's once in a lifetime legendary work, awesome guy.
He is AMAZING, such an inspiration, the best among THE BEST, he deserves all the success and credit
He truly deserves every bit of his success! And a huge thank you for his support circle as well
This story should be a movie. It actually made me cry knowing that everything ended well and he kept his essence. Great video.
imagine the same story, but the game didn't sell a single copy until he died. Then it became a hit.
I would totally watch an Eric Barone biopic.
What's horrifying about stories like this is that for every Eric Barone you will find dozens of people who let a project like this completely consume their life yet never have anything to show for it. The life of an entrepreneur really scary.
A reminder that entrepreneurs shouldn't expect their first project to succeed.
I would also like to point out that there's an underlying assumption in this video that working on the same thing day after day after day for months is a good thing. Like how he even felt he had to hide that he was doing something else from his girlfriend ! But while "normal", this just isn't a good fit for creative projects. And it's one thing when the resulting exhaustion or even burnout is caused by your own perfectionism (and wanting to please), but much more problematic when it's forced upon you by people having (a lot of) power over you.
@@BlueTemplar15 Yeah, at the end narrator even says "With enough persistence you can accomplish anything you wanted in life". But having a successful game is 50% luck and only 50% the game. SO many great games are left unnoticed. The scenario of Stardew Valley was pretty unlikely to happen, but it did - and that's great.
that 99.9% of the time.
Major shoutout to Amber for supporting Eric. Now neither of them have to worry ever again
edit: are y'all really arguing in my comment thread?
I know, that is the definition of a loving relationship. She didn’t leave when she wasn’t getting enough from him. She knew he was doing it not only for himself, but for both of their futures.
I’ve been in her position, working more than full time to support my significant other following his dream. It’s extremely hard. You talk about things and you think you have a sense of it, how you’re going to set up the new structure of your relationship, but in 6 months you’re feeling it instead of theorizing it. You’re feeling things you didn’t expect to feel (“I need more interaction from him”) but now you’re ~in it~ and navigating it is much harder than theorizing it.
Major kudos to her!! Thank you for recognizing her hard work throughout this endeavor! :)
Indeed. I always think his gf is awesome as hell. Like damn, the support she gave his is amazing. She is the dream ❤
If it was other way around, the vagina would have left immediately after getting successful
Someone should throw this wrench into the redpillers wheel.
this has shifted how I think of Mr. Qi's dialogue regarding "perfection" and to never quit seeking it. There's a lot of Eric's mentality in those words
I kinda feel like Mr. Qi is based off of Eric Barone himself, more like his inner mysterious self just like how we have our own. Hitting perfection, not rushing things too early, fruits of hardwork, etc.
@@jhrmd that is a fantastic analysis as well as summary of Mr. Qi!
Perfection is a double-edged sword you can spend all your time trying to make something perfect but if the idea is flawed/unfun it's not really worth it. It's better to create a hundred things but finish them then 1 thing that is "perfect" especially because perfect simply does not exist and chasing it will only make you loath the thing you made as you'll only see the flaws which others may not. It worked out great for him but it absolutely should not be the standard we grow from failure and mistakes it's more important to finish something, reflect instead of constantly wanting it to be perfect.
There is also such a thing as over working something where you constantly get caught up in the tinest little things and because of that it will begin to look muddy. Best approach would be look it over or reflect on it maximum 3 times any more and it's simply not going to be worth the effort he himself was blind to how good his game actually was he also succeed because yes it was a good game but also because he already had a fanbase waiting for it meaning he could spend more time
There's a lot of him in Elliott too - "Taking breaks from work can make you more productive in the long run."
I think he can relate more to Sebastian and I heard idk where he said it himself
I love how he still to this day interacts with his community and is so down to earth. Really great person.
Yeah my few interactions with him when the game wasn't even released yet but tease online were nothing but pleasant :) dude deserves the success
Making your girlfriend work two jobs for 5 years while he works no job is not a good person. He is not a man.
I want to buy this but now zelda echo is out next week. What should i do😂
@@littlehomeforest5972 Both? :)
@@littlehomeforest5972 bruh this games cheap ash lol...only like 7 dollars...try it out its worth the price!
I met Eric a few days ago. Super sweet guy. Our steel pan band is playing “spring” from Stardew, and we practice in Fremont, which I think is where his office is. So he came, and actually played music with us. Super cool.
aha thats sick
That's a fun expression of the weird connectedness of things these days
Damn…i had tears in my eyes when you spoke about how he expected maybe 20k sales tops and got 500k in the first two weeks and almost perfect review scores.
All that hard work…all those sacrifices he and his partner made…finally paid off.
I am so glad I bought the game on all devices I am playing on, just so I can support him.
Honestly, Amber is the GOAT in this story. She supported Eric all throughout and that makes Amber an absolute gem. Kudos to you, Amber!
Totally agree - behind every great person, there’s a bunch of other unsung heroes. His parents must have been pretty cool too to let them both live there rent free/ low rent for ages too. His dad encouraging him to learn laid a solid foundation too.
No it makes her dumb. You don't support a "man" who doesn't work for 5 years while she works two jobs. That is not a man.
Women always take credit for a man's success
@@streetfashiontv9149 MEH.
@@streetfashiontv9149Men have been taking credit for women's hard work for centuries
Eric gotta go down as one of the most legendary creatives out there, and the support Amber gave him fully made his dreams reality. Such an inspiration, I wouldn't know what the guy is feeling right now
Everybody needs an Amber in their life, doesn't necessary have to be a girlfriend. Your parents can be your Amber too
Dont forget that you can be the Amber you wish to see in the world
Or you could be the other Amber... the one so infamous, she kinda brought down a veteran actor in an iconic series.
@@triadwarfarethey both are bad people, and also what the hell do they have to do with anything
That would be nice, but some of us just have to tough it out alone when it comes to our dreams. The fact is that for most people, myself included, nobody fucking cares what your dream is or how hard you're working at it. It's the norm to have to wait until things blow up and your success looks like it was always a foregone conclusion before anyone starts believing in you. Eric got very lucky to have somebody that supportive in his life.
If ypu try to be an amber people will just take advantage of that
This case was an exception not the rule
You cant trust humans
It’s a true rags to riches story. So much respect for both of them pulling it off. Many have tried. I’m a fellow musician, composer, illustrator, writer and coder. But it’s insane what Eric is capable of creating on such a high level.
@nutcase Yes it’s very inspiring. And also discouraging. Who would be capable of such an achievement? Not many I believe.
I really appreciate the fact that you gave a lot of deserved credit to Amber, I haven’t seen her really mentioned in other videos about the development of the game so its nice to see
"Imagine playing the same game, all day, for 4 years..."
I don't think this guy is built for RuneScape 😆
Or fifa
Or minecraft
Or WoW, PoE, LoL
i thought about this too XD
I'm pretty sure they mean to play the same game from the start everyday just to ensure that the game run smooth without bugs and glitches.
Imagine playing the tutorial mode 1000x.
Man his standards must be super high. Even on release stardew valley was awesome. No clone has really been able to do the same quality work as concernedape did, and he was by his self doing it.
I bought stardew on release, and it was definitely great back then too. Most of the issues were small like forgetting levels in the mines or spouse jealousy.
hard to judge when there is nothing similar , when Minecraft came out 15 years ago lots of people just thought it looked like pixelized shit , it did and still does but visuals were never the point , and until today only vintage story has been able to improve on the original feeling Minecraft had , and mostly because Microsoft barely touches the game
@@MrRafagigaprwhat is YOUR POINT?
@@prumchhangsreng979 my point is that if you made something that was never been done before , even if you dislike it , it could be very good for someone else because people have different tastes and like different things in games
I don’t think you could say that for Stardew Valley. RPG game with pixelated graphic had exist and thriving for years and years. Even now, it’s hard to find game that give the same joy and vibe. So stardew valley is good not because the standard is low, it’s good because it’s good.
Same could be said about minecraft, u forget the simple fact that not everybody judge the game based on it graphics like u. There are other factor that make a game good. There are many people who prefer indie game kind of graphic over graphic that are too realistic. Lot of people like the simplicity of minecraft. Beside, if u do something that no one do it before and now it has nothing to compare to. THEN that alone is a FEAT worthy of respect, and can be something that consider to be “good”
Sadly a lot of stories like that would end up in disaster, the game not ever releasing or making any money, the partner not being able to be supportive for so many years, or health problem coming in the way of actually finishing the game.
These success story are inspirational but they exist within a system that's designed to make that kind of stuff a dangerous gamble that most will fail while the few successes are shown as a way to justify that it's all just about hard work when it's not.
I was contemplating that also. We all love edgy success stories...
Within a "system"? Is it yet another "capitalism bad" comment? Can you describe a utopia where you can spend half a decade making a video game, writing a book etc. not working and just relying on your partner (in Soviet Union you had to work officially btw, because there was a law against "dependency", "izhdivenchestvo"), not having a censor to ban your game because it promotes "petite bourgeoisie" or LGBTQ values instead of "socialist realism", and then to sell it on a free market, and not hope that some "Ministry of Culture" will throw you some bits and pieces as a reward?
As someone who had a multi-year indie project fail, this is completely inaccurate. It's emotionally crushing for sure, but you can just go get a normal job after since you have a ton of experience. There's nothing of "the system" being designed to make it dangerous at all (unless you're assuming that other people should be forced to support you while you make games, which is just dumb).
@@La0bouchere If you could work for multiple year on your indie project you either had some amount of support or starting ressources that allowed you to do that. Not eveeryone has that.
People aren't obligated to support you but I think it's important to point out that those success stories aren't the result of pure willpower, people don't all have the opportunities to even try or the leeway to be able to afford to fail their project (and getting a job isn't exactly a guarantee especially with a large gap on your resume) and even when all the conditions are there you still have pretty high odds for it to fail.
Point is the "rag to riches" type of story are not the norm and in most cases it's just "rag to rag" or "riches to more riches" and if you are already struggling financially you have much less opportunities to take risks like that. The exceptions shouldn't be heralded as exemples to follow because they aren't reproducible. At many point within this story the guy could have just gone homeless or in medical debt or anything along those lines if something did go wrong.
@@La0bouchereYou can’t just “get a job” after spending years on a project that fails, interviewers aren’t looking at the knowledge you gained from the experience, what they’re looking at is the 2+ year gap in your resume, which isn’t going to be better when you tell them it was from a *failed* project.
This actually had me tearing up. It has taken me a long time to finish my undergrad (engineering). It took me 10 years, with a whole lot of turmoil and pain. I have finally passed everything and my graduation will be this July. I can certainly empathise with the feeling that you are failing and wasting your life on a dream, being supported by others, the imposter syndrome, the embarrassment when people ask what you do or how long until you finish, and the feeling of needing to prove yourself even after the fact.
I'm glad he has found success. I have never played stardew valley, but I feel like buying it now to support him, having heard his story (even though I certainly need the money more than he does right now 😅).
Hey I wanted to let you know it took me 10 years to finish engineering school too! I feel embarrassed by it but I know my path thru college had its reasons and I wouldn’t be who I am today without the 10 years in college. Stardew Valley and games like this truly help thru those days where you’re tired, overwhelmed, and need a break from it all. It was also the motivation at times for me to finish studying and course work too lol.
I recommend getting it if you haven’t and also thanks for sharing your college journey. You’re not alone in it.
FYI I see your graduating this month (or have). It took me 6months to get a job (graduated in 2021). Don’t let the applications and job search burn you out. There’s light. Don’t be afraid to trust your gut and turn down a job (if you haven’t lined one up). I’ve worked contract, consumer product, and vacuum technology. Tell yourself in the moment where you feel like you’re not good enough for the job someone believed in you, and that’s why you have the role. You can do the job and it takes years to be a good engineer
@annonone93 Thanks, I appreciate the kind words and encouragement!
I actually already have an engineering job. :) I will need to leave at some point for a higher paying job though.
@@JonathanTrevatthi! , im currently interested in engineering major , mind if I ask a few questiosn regarding engineering?
1. Is electrical engineering the hardest engineering major??
2. What major I should take to learn sound/audio engineering?
3. What kind of major that is best if I wanted to make speakers or headphones or earbuds
Sorry if I had a bad grammar because english isn't my first language 😅 anyway ,Thanks! For reading it, I Really appreciate it 🙏🏻
@tonystank8676
1. I don't think that any engineering discipline is especially more difficult to any other. It's mostly conceptual, since a lot of the math is similar anyway.
2. There are 2 different jobs that people call "sound/audio engineers." One type isn't actually an engineer at all. But actual sound engineering is I think technically a subset of mechanical. When I studied, I took sound engineering as an elective. It depends on your university and an advisor at your university could tell you more, but at mine, I think you just had to select appropriate elective courses.
3. If you want to design audio equipment, then you might want to do electrical, with electives chosen to specialise in sound, electromechanical devices, and product design.
You can usually do a year or two of study before you completely decide, because most of the first courses are common between all engineers.
Hope this helps 🙂
@@JonathanTrevatt hi! , thank you so much for answering all my questions! , hope you have a great day and God bless you and your family 🙏🏻
It's really touching how humble he still remained even after the success. Blessing upon your home and hearth, Eric! May you and Amber live a long life together!
He made me realize you can create something even in your lowest times and it be something everyone enjoys. It takes time and patience for something you dream of
becoming a reality😭
As Mr. Bigweld once said "You Can Shine No Matter What You're Made Of."
Art comes from pain. When you're at your lowest, your creativity is the highest.
@@Alexander_Grant Take that same philosophy with chores and other things outside of Art, and yeah, it convinces you to finish it as much as you can.
His girlfriend was in her lowest times working two jobs supporting this "man". He was at home chillin making video games and not even talking to his girlfriend much.
@@Alexander_Grant i politely disagree
Be careful with the whole "With enough persistence you can truly what ever you want in life". This guy had a pretty good start, people to support him, etc. Stories like this are part of the survivorship bias, because you don't hear about the people that grind their life to the ground.
This story could have easily lead to a ruined existance if only one factor had been different.
He had parents which lead him into that direction, and massive support from all around. His family, friends and most importantly his partner.
@@jasperzanovich2504 Exactly!
@@jasperzanovich2504also the fact that his game was basically an overnight sensation. It could have just as easily be lost in the sauce of all the other indie games that came out.
I love stardew valley, and I love that Eric was the one who got to reap the rewards of his labour, but luck of the draw had played a part in it. Man got that luck buff on lock
Everyone knows that failure can happen tho. It’s what’s stopping most people from even trying. A bit of encouragement and an inspiring story isn’t a bad thing.
I’ve been obsessed with creating things all my life. I had many failures. And a couple of successes, which more than made up for it. Had I stopped trying, I would only have had failures.
@@svenmify You'd be surprised.
This one can be dangerous because it is one that could've ruined his life.
This was also not many failures leading to success. This was, again, potentially life destroying choices that lead to success
I find it funny how people say Amber was crazy for supporting him like that. I think she wasn't at all. I think she is a smart woman who knew exactly what made original harvest moon great as she was a fan and she knew stardew valley would be a hit. And she knew her partner was dedicated enough to polish it to perfection.
Anyone who tells people they are crazy for supporting their significant other, are just plain wrong. That's how its supposed to be, something that is now lost in these days.
no one can actually know if something is gonna be successful, especially when you're doing indie games. We have the luxury of knowing it's already a success so we could say that, but realistically, supporting someone like this is a huge gamble. But if it's your significant other, then they should be supporting regardless of the probability of success.
She wasn't crazy, she was a genuine good woman.
I don't think it was crazy, but I also don't think it would've been crazy or unfair to not put up with this situation. Amber took a gamble and she was willing to take it for Eric. But it was definitely still a gamble and I couldn't fault anyone for wanting to leave such a situation.
She didn't know anything all she did was push forward and try to keep her marriage afloat
I'm genuinely so happy for him
this story is absolutely freaking crazy honestly, the fact that he actually manage to do something like this is just mind blowing .. to be able to work on a game all by himself for 4 and a half year and finally deliver a really something good is nothing short of phenomenal, i hope someday i can have such a powerful determined mind like him
This vid made me realize how much concernedape proyected himself onto Sebastian when it comes to them both being programmers, with a specific goal and working by themselves because they didn't want to "be a part of the corporative rat race" (literally said in his 2 heart event). Amazing video! keep up the great work :)
tfw I love Sebastian so much I marry him every playthrough... LOL. No wonder his gf/wife always stayed. Hell of a guy.
@@spectrademonica I always marry Sebastian, too.
This is kinda funny to me, because the Farmer, Sebastian and Eric himself all are expressing this distaste of "corporate grind" and want to escape it, while Eric never actually experienced it.
He's really lucky he had so many people around to support him through the game's development.
Eric Barone is one of the best devs ever to exist. Even better he's an awesome person too.
He's definitely up there with the likes of devs like Redigit.
and he's hot
@@dustbucketau If your "hot" boyfriend told you to support him for 5 years while you worked two jobs, you would have dumped him as any body should.
@@romanboi10 should or would
@@romanboi10 Such envy from this comment lmao
i had no idea my most beloved game had such a touching story to its creation. so real and absolutely raw
This is lowkey one of the most inspiring videos and stories I’ve ever seen on this platform. Thank you for breathing life into this incredible story!❤️
For anyone wondering about the copyright dispute I have a short version.
Harvest Moon is a game series from Japan. It was originally localized by a different company.
The Japanese company that made the games decided to localize it themselves at their American branch. The company that was doing it before obviously didn't like that.
The original localization company owned the rights to the Harvest Moon title. So following the split the original game series that was called Harvest Moon had to change it's name over here to Story of Seasons.
The localization company started putting out their own games with the title of Harvest Moon, so that people who didn't know about the change would buy it based on the title. Generally most people agree those games are not very great.
So tldr
The original game series that was called Harvest Moon is now called Story of Seasons. And any games coming out called Harvest Moon are a different game series that has had consistent issues.
And both are boring compared to Stardew.
Story of Seasons is still pretty bad though which is sad. OG Harvest Moon up to like PS2 era was 10/10. Not sure why their current game is aggressively underwhelming.
@@Sephiroso. They didn't even sell the PS2 games in Europe. Until DS harvest moon wasn't published or changed heavily in Europe ....
@@Sephiroso. Story of Seasons is phenomenal, just got to pick up the right titles. Friends of Mineral Town is one of the best remakes I have ever played, and A Wonderful Life was nice as well. Yeah, sad that their best games are remakes, but I still think they can do it. The first Story of Seasons game was pretty good, SO close to being a proper Harvest Moon game in looks and vibe.
All artists doubt and hate their own art. This is very common. The important thing is to get it finished and get it out there.
real. you spend hours and hours on your art, experincing it constantly until you are drained, and you of all people know every little single flaw, artists are always their harshest critics
@@maximilianhemann Well put. This is exactly why I didn't choose a designer or artist livelihood. I always felt drained when doing art. Probably cause I never learned a balanced work ethic or system.
Impostor syndrome. I am glad he defied his.
Can confirm. As a creator, when you look at your work, you only see all the flaws you could not resolve.
And then there's me, which, every time I end up being proud about how well my artwork turned out I also end up depressed cause I'm so insecure about myself that I cannot believe I created something so beautiful.
Like I don't believe I was capable of doing it and therefore I don't deserve to be happy about it.
The mind is a really a strange place.
Most artists hate their own work. I can never push through that myself.
The worst part of YT for me as a creator is having to listen to my own voice lol
I kept pushing through until one day things started to click and now I love my own style. It’s easy to get lost in all the awesome art on the net and never feel satisfied with your own, but if you stop caring about what everyone else is doing and really focus on building a style you’ll eventually reach a place where art is satisfying.
Historically, a huge amount of the art, literature, and other works of creativity and genius that we have, would never have existed if someone hadn't helped support the artist financially, especially early in their career.
Dude has the most realistic game development story of anxiety, and real life struggles.
While Eric made the game alone, it wouldn't be possible without the support of friends and family. What an amazing story!
A love just like Amber? No amount of iridium ores can surpsss that.
it should be the common thing to expect from a partner
@@kairi8882 expected, but not entitled. Regardless of gender or circumstances. Flawed people arent deserving of such unconditional love, tho it isnt real love if you have to earn it too. It's complicated.
I know after hearing all this telling this man he deserves a break wont really do anything cause his anxiety wont let him. So uh just... Dont let Haunted Chocolatier do you in, hope he learned how to take it in alittle slower and learned he knows how to make a good game.
I think he did learn. He isn't really saying anything about the game other than it exists and a couple little teasers. He's also taking breaks on HC to come up with new ideas for SV and explicitly stated it will be out when it's ready. Being able to go between projects, even if they are both coding/art/etc is a huge stress relief over constantly doing the same thing. Plus, now he has the financial freedom to work on it as his own pace without worry.
well now he can not rush it seeing as before he was scared of failing
I'm a computer science student who, now lost hope and track in my field, watching this video brought me to tears and motivation to pursue even more
Parts of his story really remind me of my own struggles with ADHD and depression (Not saying he has that, it's absurd to diagnose that this way.)
I just hope he's doing fine and not asking too much of himself. His struggles sound very real, and I hope he gets te help he needs if he indeed needs help
when the world needed him most, he returned
The dream team. 😍
"With enough persistence..." and a huge amount of support from everyone around you... :D
And the biggest dose of luck imaginable - the game was an overnight success. For 99.9% of devs this would not happen. :D
This video made me realise that stardew is so much an art piece from Eric's mind. The spiritual connection between Eric and Stardew valley explains why the game resonates with so many people.
I'm happy Amber believes in the Magic of Stardew Valley!!! Tbh, this game is not only cozy, but dramatic, magical and rewarding experience!!
I remember when it was first released. Patches upon patches within the first 2 days. I remembered wondering "Does this dude even sleep?" Because i was just here enjoying the game.
Splendid video quality, exceptionally smooth to follow. I didn't even realize it was just released until I looked at the comments, after watching it in full. Keep it up!
I really appreciate that, thank you!!
@@Nellooo It was popping in but stayed around.
18:06
Someone's never seen the "tea" cutscene with caroline
Hell with how much the saplings are worth? There's no way it's actually tea
"Medicinal" tea probably 😂
"You smell grass"
Jas
Wow a supportive wife and parents and a successful game. Glad it all worked out for him
I think the biggest take away for me is that there is no such thing as a solo game developer. Even if they do all the work on the game itself, every success story I’ve heard has had support from so many people around them. Remember to always keep your family, friends, and loved ones close.
Now we know were Sam and Sebastian came from…
Sam:
Has a band
Likes music
Sebastian:
Has a band ( in sams band)
Likes video games
Likes music
Stays in him room all day
Very similar.
Yooo guys he remembered his account password!
Damn, Amber is a trooper and I am glad it all paid off in the end for Eric and Amber.
As an artist, we are all our own harshest critics. Ive been told my drawings and cartoons are really good and fun looking. I still dont like what I make, but i know i see all the flaws in my own work and others just see the art subjectively and have differing opinons.
I needed to read this today.
Well, I think the big difference is that you see what you made compared to what you _wanted_ to make, and then look at all the differences between those two as flaws and mistakes, whereas others often don't have any idea what exactly you were aiming for and just evaluate what is actually there. While the former might be an okay way to critique the act of making the art, I think the latter is actually a more honest critique of what you ended up making.
This explains why he’s working so long on haunted chocolatair he wants it to be PERFECT.
Holy shit, I had tears in my eyes. I feel so happy for him and honestly, MASSIVE respect to his girlfriend for having the patience, love and dedication to support him.
Honestly was really relieved when he finally got a part time job. 😅 Amber likely needed a break from the stress whether she wants to admit it or not from being the breadwinner and the sunny Linda to his Bob while going to school on top of it all. I’m glad they were able to work so hard together ❤
She was smart enough to realize he was the true breadwinner. Patience is important when it comes to something like this.
Whilst I doubt I’ll ever be as great or popular as Eric Barone or Toby Fox, their accomplishments forever serve as my goals. I see myself quite a lot in Eric but I have one major flaw that he didn’t and that is an extreme inability to focus when I can’t see the path ahead. Eric somehow kept his head down and worked non-stop whereas I’ve been stuck on the narrative part of my game for half a year with little progress. I have the discipline to sit down and try all day everyday to make a game but lack the focus to actually make any progress. I refuse to give up though. Before starting game development, when I had just turned 18, I had literally zero skills, I was pathetic and had even been told by one of my friends that “if i was you, I’d kill myself” obviously im no longer friends with them… but yeah, one of my biggest motivators for making a full complete commercial game is to prove to myself that i can accomplish something most couldnt, that i am not worthless, it has always been a dream of mine to make a game but i always disregarded the idea because everyone would always say it’s near impossible and i would never be able to do it, this is what i want, and i refuse to let it go, im so sick of giving up and never committing to things i want or need… making this game is incredibly important to me, i know i shouldnt connect my self-worth with a goal but i can’t help it, i don’t know what i will do if I can’t finish this game, that is why I need to succeed! I only want to release a game im happy with, i dont care if i lose money on it, it’s not about fame or riches, it’s about proving to myself that i am not a waste of oxygen and completing what i always thought was an impossible task. Whilst I do see myself a lot in Eric, Toby has had the most influence on me due to his game being about determination. I can tell all my friends don’t believe in me… I started game development almost 2 years ago and they haven’t really seen anything from me… i can’t blame them… But that doesn’t matter because I believe in myself, I don’t care if it takes me 10 years, I refuse to accept anything less than a complete game. I do hope I will improve to the point where I can get a job in the industry, as much as I like working at a supermarket, I’d like a fixed salary in career im passionate about.
Sorry im rambling like crazy, i wont delete this though, i feel like im fighting impossible odds and i want people to know that it’s no longer stopping me from trying.
Good luck lad!
Please don't beat yourself up. If they're your friends, I'm sure they believe in you! What friends don't believe in their friend?
Could you possibly find a way to disconnect your identity to the game's progress? Your self-worth is certainly more than just your passion project. At the very least, please don't compare yourself to others.
Please pay attention to all the small improvements you have made as a person and hold onto that. And then see how far you have come and the next steps to improve!
The completion of the game is great, but the journey is more important! That's what makes the completion great and if it was easy, it wouldn't be worthwhile.
So keep going! Tell those inner thoughts to shut up and keep working towards your dream!
I'm reminded of a great quote from Xenoblade 3:
"“Memories melt in the morning light, and then, a new day begins. Roads stretch out before us. So many paths. Which do you choose? That’s up to you. Sometimes, you might run astray. You’ll stop, maybe cry in frustration. But, you know, that’s all right. For the roads… They go on without end. So look up, face forward, toward your chosen horizon… And just… walk on.”
No matter how far you think you have gotten off your path, keep moving forward and eventually it will lead to something worthwhile!
@@SuperSSSSooonniicccc Good friends, friends that can see my flaws and still accept me, they don’t have to believe in me, I’ve given them no reason to… yet. And no, I won’t disconnect my identity from my game, as they are one in the same. I’m so passionate about game development that it is now who I am, I was a nobody, an empty canvas, so it wasn’t hard for my first real passion to become my personality, and I am using game development as a form of expression for myself, if I give up my game, I’m giving up on myself. I remind myself of all my flaws so I know how far I’ve come.
But yeah I pretty much agree with your entire reply, even if it seems conflicting
I agree that you shouldn't be so harsh on yourself, given that you have lot of symptoms of ADHD, that I highly doubt you got even diagnosed with or gotten a good treatment for it. So, if you get a good medical support for your ADHD, maybe you'll be able to focus much more! You are very valid and can accomplish what you dream of, I wish you find cooler people aswell along the way.
I’m in a similar situation.
The most important thing is to not give up and don’t stop believing in yourself.
If you’re stuck on one thing, and it’s mentally draining you, let it rest for a while and see if there’s something else you can work on instead. Just keep moving forward.
Weird seeing this video with 140 views and not like 1.2m or whatever
Hopefully soon :D
Hope so!
Let it cook bro, it was just posted yesterday.
This comment didn't age well
bro the chicken's not done yet give it time
Thanks you for sharing Eric's story, it's really inspiring and make me appreciate the game even more.
Wow, what a touching story. Eric and Amber seem like incredible people that deserve each other. I hope they’re both enjoying the fruits of their labor. Lord knows my patience would be tested by an experience like that and I’m glad it all worked out for them in the end.
I literally don't know why this makes me cry
You're not alone, friend haha seeing him get to meet the creator of the game that brought him and Amber together and inspired his whole journey had me welling up and asking who's cutting the onions lol!
"With enough persistence..." and support and an absurd amount of luck. If Stardew Valley had been lost in the sheer volume of Steam releases, which happens to a lot of games, the story could have ended very sadly. Stardew Valley is an absolute exception - a success story among thousands that have failed.
I'd be the first to admit that I'm legit angry at how easy things were going for him.
However, I think it's more useful to look at his story and learn from it. In his case, he obviously saw he had a stable and welcoming family where he COULD take his time. A partner that was willing to support him. Friends to move in with etc. He saw it and he used it. Yes, you won't be able to do the same, but why do you have to? I think the lesson here is to look at yourself and your environment and act accordingly. You'd be surprised how much you can actually do. Or maybe you'd realize how little you can do, in which case you can continue on in with more peace of mind instead of lamenting over the idea of making a successful game or whatnot.
I do think Steam lowering its standards has been bad for indie devs. The store is so flooded with crap that finding the good stuff can be hard.
His publisher only asked for 10%? They ask for 50% now (after Steam's cut that is)
No way where does it say that
50% seems high, but usually cuts are decided based on hype of the game already. If the publisher has to work harder and spend more money, the cut will be higher. SV was already hyped before the publisher joiened in. 10% is a really great offer, but it's not like they had to do a whole lot to hype the game and it's not like it used to be where the publishers were responsible for the physical copies of the game which took money to do. Now that it''s all digital and not even on their servers, but steams, they don't have the overhead they used to have to publish games. Server cost's are a reason Steams cut is so high
@@MerccreM15 > Server cost's are a reason Steams cut is so high
Monopoly and market capture is the reason Valve's cut is so high.
You could have a nationalized alternative that only charges 3.5%, but nobody would ever use it because their library belongs to Valve. Being an internet landlord's a really sweet gig if you can hit the jackpot.
Valve doesn't have to make a single new video game in their entire lives, and they'll continue raking in more profit than all other publishers and video game developers in the history of the human species combined.
@@BMoser-bv6kn Valves profits are a fk ton but they're extremely far from matching "all other publishers combined". Rockstar and Activision already surpass them.
Valve also isn't a monopoly. There's plenty of other stores out there and anyone can easily self publish their game on PC anywhere on the internet. They're big because people (both users and developers) like using their service.
I really enjoyed this story. Not just the way you told it, but also because I started working on a game and know the struggle of programming something, then retconning it once my skills improved slightly and repeatedly changing concepts and so on due to outer influences. It made the whole experience of making a game feel normal and like I was not the only one stuck on trying to make things perfect. Really made a millionaire feel so much more relatable to hear his journey.
So much new found respect for both Eric and Amber from hearing their story. Truly very very impressive as I'm sure it at (many) times were rough.
Chucklefish actually helping him to release and port the game, without screwing it or him up, brings back some hope for publishers.
Considering how Chucklefish turned out and how they eventually parted ways... It was a fruitful collaboration while it lasted, but suffice to say Eric Barone learned to distance himself from them.
What a great story! It’s so great to find out the backstory of my favorite game creator. Thanks for posting this.
This video is extremely high quality! How do you only have 46k subs!?!?
wow im new to learning about the backstory of how Eric made the game. Its incredible! Thank you for making such a great video.
i dont think ppl talk abt Amber enough! she's a damn keeper! i wouldnt be surprised if he pulled out a mermaid pendant on the spot!
This story is so inspiring. A SINGLE person created a full game, and not just any game, but a great game.
I really admire this guy.
His life is a movie waiting to be made
As someone in college for data science who needs to get a job to make it work this year, hearing about the Auntie Anne's era is really cool! Gives me hope and makes me feel like less of a loser for not having an internship yet
A screenshot with Stardew Valley above Manor Lords is crazy
This has motivated me to get back into writing and drawing. And hopefully one day a game can come of it :)
His life sounds so much like my life now... Thank you for the video. This really gives me an encouragement.
Rather than a persistance story leading to success, this is a support story leading to success
The ultimate power couple 😍 great things can happen when you and your SO work as a team, greater than the sum of the parts
Ya she was too supportive. Any girl should have dumped him because making your girlfriend work for 5 years while not working is not a man.
@@romanboi10 strongly disagree
@@romanboi10 working 10h a day developing an indie game is not working?
@@velius_development Finding success in a indie game is rare. Essentially you are saying to your girlfriend, hey babe I'm going to work on this passion project while you work overtime for rent and food for two people, for 5 years. Thanks babe. Or you could be a man and help pay rent and food while you work on your projects in your off time.
@@romanboi10 Sure but even unpaid work still is work. So saying he was "not working" is simply wrong.
This was the best single player game I have ever played. I remember pushing through the night to finish the game at 4AM. I could not put it down, I teared up at the end. There were so many moments of peace and joy. It's hard to explain to people why it's so good, you just have to play it. Awesome video!
my favorite thing about eric is how, after so many years of this game being out, he’s still so down to earth and cares about his fans. i follow him on twitter and he often personally responds to issues reported in the comments, even offering to look at their game log if needed. it’s super cool to see from a game developer.
AMazing video, and really important. It is usually overlooked ConcernedApe's background when ppl talk about "solo indie dev can mae a huge hit like Stardew Valley". Eric had A LOT of background in all areas.
This is not meant to discourage people, but do keep your expectations in check, and never give up =)
i mean if he was essentially a stay at home partner that did all the house chores, then working to support both of you is not that big of a deal as long as your jobis not soul crushing and earns enough. house chores, cooking, cleaning, washing dishes, laundry, etc, are no tasks to be laughed at as any single houshold can attest to. which i say as a single household. i would happily pay for a potential partner as long as they did something to earn their stay too.
good for both of them. one followed his passion, and the other supported him during the process and eventually it worked out for them both. its a great story, wish there were more like this. great vid.
This literally made me cry when he finally gained success from the game. I adore this game and having this backstory is priceless. I’m so glad Amber stayed by his side through it all, and that he never gave up. Thank you for this video!
This just shows how far humility, kindness, and an incredible work ethic can get you. There really is nothing like Stardew Valley.
I can relate. I’m an indie developer and I’ve been working on my indie game for about 6 months. Not nearly as big or intricate of a game as Stardew valley but still a large task for one developer. I got to the point about a week ago where I honestly couldn’t tell anymore if the game looked or felt good. I then started to stress about it sucking. It’s a scary thought when you pour your heart into something that it just might not be good. This is the first game I will be releasing on steam too so I think that is also putting on pressure. I then realized that even if worst case senerio people hate my game, it will only improve me as a developer.
I was really shocked when I saw the view count. Goated video.
I never played Stardew valley but this video was so entertaining!
It's nice that Eric (and Amber) hard work payed off in the end but i hope he can work he less stressful/healthy way now.
I can’t recommend it enough. It really is designed to appeal to almost everyone.
This was so heart warming, un-ironically brings a tear to the eye
Dude, I’m starting to realize I most likely talked to the stardew valley creator in person many times… his college job timeline lines up with when I always went to my favorite local pretzel place lol
you can tell your kids you and Eric we're mates lol
@@RocketMiner777 hahah I wouldn’t go that far.
I know a lot of the alpha testers of SDV didn’t think much of the game. Some are still confused how it got as big as it did.
Im guessing the testers were pretty hardcore gamers and stardew valley is very casual,I see it played it a lot as a couple bonding game tbh
The last 5min of this video got me teared up.
I am SO happy for him/them. Well deserved!
Im a computer science student and Eric's story motivates me a lot, Thank you for this content
yo're story teller, the music and vides all amazing it makes me feel what eric felt when developing stardewa valley. great job