About this image

Note: CopperSun graciously offered to interview me and the team working on East Scarp I hope you enjoy our responses.

Why did you decide to make East Scarp(e)?

East Scarp was first conceptualised in April last year, when I first started playing with NPCs and noticed that most custom NPCs tended to be scattered around the map, patched in wherever there was space, and were individual entities. After viewing the Project Moonlight maps, I thought it might prove worthwhile to create an area that was specifically designed for custom NPCs to live.

East Scarp was never intended to be a big expansion project like SVE, nor Ridgeside (which followed much later); more a place where people learning how to create characters could move them into prefabricated houses or work from templates to design their own. I wanted to create a community of NPCs: the sort of experience where if you added multiple mods from different creators you would construct a full, interactive story, rather than a selection of disassociated ones.

Speaking of Stardew Valley Expanded, should players expect East Scarp to be a similar experience?

Well, ES 2.0 has new characters, a new patch of land you can build a farm expansion on (or a memorial flower garden, or a fruit orchard, or...). It has forageable areas, new fish species, new crops, and special orders that unlock further content. It takes the world that Concerned Ape created and expands on the lore. But it differs in some key ways that I think are beneficial for users. The most important is that ES edits to the vanilla maps are minor and mostly for accessibility to the new areas, so it has much greater compatibility with other mods.

By the way, is it East Scarp or East Scarpe?

The original Moonlight map was labelled 'Scarp' (for 'enscarpment') but for release I decided to add the e, in an effort to sound a little upmarket. However, when the first translators started asking me if I'd meant "shoe" it became a little embarrassing. Aideen actually mentions this in dialogue. I quietly started dropping the 'e' (although it still appears occasionally in the maps, including the name on the inn), but of course people noticed!

What's new in East Scarp 2.0?

The core map is largely the same, and the pre-existing NPCs (Jacob, Eloise, Aideen, Lexi) are still there, but everything is now an "enhanced" version of its previous incarnation.

New components include:

• New NPCs, including more animal friends
• More events
• New shops
• New maps, including a farmable map
• New crops
• Special orders and rewards using the board introduced in 1.5
• NPC warps
• Compatibility with the in-game map and NPC Map Locations (thanks Yagisan!)
• New access points for players who felt ES was too far to walk
  

Back up, new NPCs? Can I date any of them?

There are three more new NPCs included with the expansion, our first visitors to the hotel - relatives of the governor who can come to stay in winter of year two. There's also Rosa, current caretaker for the inn. They'll add a little extra variety to the inhabitants of Pelican Town. Without any other mods installed, East Scarp only has one datable NPC (so far), Aideen. Jacob, I'm afraid, must remain non-datable for the time being, until perhaps the functionality exists for his daughter to either move onto the farm with him, or grow up and head to university. Rosa WILL be datable in a future release, if your farmer is female.

That's just the NPCs you get downloading ES, though. True to the original concept, there are several other NPCs you can download to populate the village. For example, Tristan can be unlocked through fulfilling certain game requirements and will move into East Scarp. Jessie, Juliet, and Jade will also move in.

Plus, I'm thrilled that HimeTarts will be releasing Always Raining in the Valley to coincide with ES 2.0. She is bringing in three more marriageable NPCs that are capturing the hearts of our beta testers. Arknir's Lavril won't be marriageable (she's a kid!), but if you loved Lucikiel you won't want to miss her. They're gonna be awesome!

Are there any other mods you recommend to go with the East Scarp?

There are numerous mods that will enhance your East Scarp experience, including More New Fish (adds new fish to various water areas), Visible Fish (which helps you see them!), Warp Network (which adds a Scarp Totem), and all of the additional NPC content I mentioned before (and I am VERY excited to be working with Hime and Arknir. They are a true delight).

We will also be showcasing Lumina's interior decorations, and enjoying DaisyNiko's beautiful outdoor tilesheets. Lunakatt has created high resolution portraits of the current characters. All of my mods will be supported, with added content for Jasper and Juliet & Jessie will even move into the area (if you're not using SVE), making Jessie more accessible and giving you more insight into their lives. Eloise will attend school in either the Archaeology House, the Community Center, or Red School House, depending on where the other children are headed. ES NPCs will also appear in the Aquarium for additional events.

Can East Scarp 2.0 be used on an existing save? Or do you recommend starting with a new save only?

It should be fine loaded onto an existing save; our beta testers haven't had any trouble. You may trigger several events at once, but you shouldn't miss any content. In fact, one way where East Scarp differs from other expansions is that adding it to a save later is absolutely fine. It can be perhaps preferred because it does add quite a lot of special orders and some of the visitor NPCs won't appear until year two or later. Adding it later will obviously change your percentages for perfection and cause the inevitable JA Shuffle however.

One last question: what's up with those demon goats I saw in some beta tester screenshots?

Their story will be fully revealed in 2.1!

So this isn't the final release for East Scarp?

No, more content is definitely planned - in fact, my friends tease me that I can't stop making it! But new content should be easy for players to download and experience, nothing will be blocked. That said, once you do unlock an event make sure you see it! There are a few bonus scenes that you'll miss otherwise. For example, if Juliet sends you a letter and asks you to be there for her tomorrow, she really does mean tomorrow. Oh... and ditto for when Lewis tells you some special guests are coming to town (they'll still come, but you've only got one chance to meet them on arrival!).