Did you know ? In the video game Stardew Valley, it is better to harvest from left to right, rather than from right to left. This bug will soon be history.
Is it better to harvest from left to right or from right to left? This is an enigmatic question that few people ask themselves in the world except… players of Stardew Valleya title that has sold more than 30 million copies since 2016. It has been plaguing their minds for years, with the belief that harvesting from left to right is the fastest technique.
It is now confirmed, as PC Gamer indicates in an article published on March 12. This is not an urban legend: in Stardew Valley, harvesting from left to right takes less time. This is not a gameplay choice, but a bug that will be corrected within a few days. On TwitterEric Baronne, the creator of the game, teased update 1.6, which will balance the speed of the two options.
A story of milliseconds
What gap are we talking about exactly? Around 100 milliseconds according to Eric Baronne. This seems small, if not anecdotal, but Stardew Valley consists of repeating actions to effectively manage your farm. If each harvest causes you to lose 100 milliseconds, the time wasted can be counted in minutes, or even hours if you play a lot. In the long run, this is catastrophic for your productivity. From the future update, both methods will have the same speed, based on the faster one.
A fan of Stardew Valley had conducted a small study to put precise figures on the difference. In a topic published on Reddit in 2021, Snow-Infernus indicates that he “ discovered this while playing version 1.5 on Switch. Harvesting three rows of seven results in a difference of two seconds. No boost or status effect. I also discovered that, on large plots, it is quicker to turn around to the left and then go from left to right, rather than harvesting in the opposite direction from right to left. . » He publishes a demonstrative clip, where we see the gap.
We may be surprised to see such a bug persist for years in a video game with immense longevity: over the last twelve months, it brought together on average around 30,000 people at the same time, every day. So many enthusiasts who, perhaps, play poorly for a question of direction.
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