So Much Love Went Into This

Baldur’s Village, a Stardew Valley overhaul mod inspired by the characters of Baldur’s Gate 3, was released over the weekend. After the gruelling events of the Absolute Crisis, our adventurers have settled down in the quaint hamlet of Baldur’s Village, found just north of Pelican Town.

In contrast to other modding projects, Xun and their team of developers were in constant communication with the community during the mod’s development and delivered on their self-imposed deadlines. The mod features 20 characters from Baldur’s Gate 3, each with their own custom portrait and dialogue. Currently, Astarion is the only romanceable character but the team has plans to add more romance options in the future.

Labour of Love

Baldur’s Village has even reached the attention of Larian head Swen Vincke, who commented on the hard work of Xun and their team (nice spot, GamesRadar+). “So much love went into this – amazing work!” writes Vincke. It’s no surprise that Larian’s head honcho is supportive of the project, given his studio’s efforts to make modding easier for Baldur’s Gate 3.

The mod’s creator Xun was touched by Vincke’s message, replying “You have always been an inspiration, and your words mean a lot to us. We sincerely thank you for your encouragement,” accompanied by a picture of Vincke in his signature armour.

Baldur’s Village is still in active development, with the team planning to add a Halsin romance, as well as “new features and items.” Although additional romances for characters like Karlach, Shadowheart and Wyll aren’t out of the question, the current plan is to “expand the mod’s world-building, background stories, and gameplay…” after finishing the Halsin romance. Baldur’s Village has been downloaded over 11,000 times on Nexus Mods in just two days.

As for Baldur’s Gate 3 itself – players are currently waiting for Patch 8 to release. The upcoming update adds crossplay, photo mode and several new subclasses, and is currently undergoing private testing. Larian hasn’t announced a specific release date for the patch but has confirmed that Patch 8 is planned to be the final major patch for Baldur’s Gate 3.

Meanwhile, Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone continues work on Haunted Chocolatier, while intermittently returning to Stardew Valley to further expand the game. Barone has admitted that he may never be fully finished with Stardew Valley because he wants to continuously give the community new features to look forward to.

Released

February 26, 2016

ESRB

E for Everyone (Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Mild Language, Simulated Gambling, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco)