Controls
| Controls | |
|---|---|
| Type | Mechanic |
Controls cover the keyboard and mouse layout on a computer and the pad layouts on the consoles, and every one of them can be learned in a few minutes. The part worth real attention is the second layer: the modifier shortcuts that buy twenty-five seeds in one click, craft a stack of bombs at once, sweep a row of Kegs clean and refill them in the same motion. Every hotkey on a computer can be reassigned from the Options tab, which is the first stop for anyone who keeps opening the chat box by mistake. The pad layouts are fixed in shape across platforms, with the left stick walking and the right stick acting as a cursor, and they add a direct crafting button the keyboard has to reach through a menu. Learning the shortcuts changes how long a farming day feels.
Overview
The basics are quickly covered. The four letter keys walk, holding the shift key runs, the left mouse button or the C key swings a tool or places an item, and the right mouse button or the X key does whatever the thing in front of the farmer needs doing. Escape or E opens the menu, F opens the journal, M opens the map, Y opens the emote wheel, and the number keys along the top select hotbar slots. Tab rotates the backpack's lower rows up into the hotbar, and F4 drops the game into screenshot mode.
Shopping is where the modifiers pay off most. A right click buys five of something rather than one, holding shift with it keeps buying five at a time, holding control and shift together buys in stacks of twenty-five, and adding the number one to that combination buys in stacks of nine hundred and ninety-nine, which is how a farmer buys a season of seeds without wearing out a mouse. The crafting menu follows the same logic: shift and a left click makes five, and control with shift makes twenty-five.
Handling stacks has its own set. A right click lifts a single item out of a stack, shift with a right click takes half of it, and shift with a left click throws an item from the lower backpack rows straight into the hotbar. Selecting an item inside the inventory window and pressing the delete key destroys it outright, which is faster than dragging it to the bin.
The most useful shortcut in the list is the sweep. Holding either mouse button down while dragging the cursor across a row of Kegs, Preserves Jars, Casks or Bee Houses collects from all of them in one pass. With another item already selected in the pack, the same pass refills each machine as it empties it, which turns a shed full of Kegs from a chore into a few seconds of work. One caution: if the item being loaded is something edible, the left button has to be used, because the right button makes the game ask whether the farmer wants to eat it instead.
Small conveniences are scattered through the rest. In a yes-or-no prompt, Y answers yes while E, escape or N answers no. Pressing escape on the opening splash screen skips straight to the title menu. Shift and a left click on an entry in the Catalogue or the Furniture Catalogue drops the item straight into the pack rather than sticking it to the cursor, and the same works for pulling items out of the Grange Display at the Stardew Valley Fair.
The pad layouts share a shape across every console. The left stick or the directional buttons walk, the right stick moves a cursor, clicking it opens chat and holding it opens the emote wheel. One face button checks and acts, another uses the tool, a third opens the menu and a fourth opens the crafting menu straight away. The triggers switch the selected item and the shoulder buttons shift the toolbar. Inside a menu the sticks move the cursor and scroll, one button selects and one moves a single item at a time, and the triggers flick between tabs. The naming changes between platforms but the roles do not.
Button remapping depends on the machine. An Xbox pad keeps the layout it is given, while a PlayStation pad and a Switch pad can both be remapped through their own system settings rather than through the game.
A pad is actually better than a mouse for some jobs. The right stick places wall furniture, paintings and windows precisely, and a face button rotates a selected piece, although not everything turns: a bed stays put, a rug flips through a half turn and a chair turns a quarter at a time. Holding the tool button charges a Watering Can or a Hoe to cover several tiles at once, which is the same power-up a computer player gets by holding the mouse button.
Notes
Gifting happens through the action button, not a menu. Walking up to a villager while holding anything that is not a tool and pressing the action key hands that item over, which is how every gift in the game is given and also how a farmer accidentally hands a Diamond to Pierre.
The chat key is the one most worth moving. It sits where a thumb often lands, and opening the box in the middle of a mining run costs seconds. Screenshot mode has a second use beyond pictures, since it shifts the interface and lets objects be placed in the bottom left corner of the screen where the toolbar normally sits.
All Mechanics
Every entry in this group, with its key details.
