About this image

This interview was conducted by tiakall!

So, something I've always been curious about: what inspired you to create Ridgeside?
Ridgeside is actually more of a life diary of mine, containing stories that were inspired by real-life events that either happened to me, or stuff I wish happened to me, or stuff happened to others that involved me or affected me. The "expansion" concept is inspired by mods such as East Scarpe and Stardew Valley Expanded though.

I started to develop Ridgeside so I had an outlet to express myself and my stories. It was also a medium for me to start and learn new skills such as art, story writing, design, etc. Heck, RSV was never even meant to be released publicly as it was more of a diary of mine, but I never regret releasing it as well since it did improve me in some ways and I got to meet amazing people because of it.

So since 2.0 came out, if I'm counting right, Ridgeside now has a whopping 42 NPCs!  How did you come up with unique designs, personalities, and character arcs for so many?
Honestly, each one just relates to someone in my life. Each NPC is modeled after either mine or someone else's(family or close friend of mine) life story or struggles that have inspired or affected me and I take inspiration from that and express it in the mod, with consent and slight deviations as well. 
That's why I get pretty defensive when someone says "Do this to insert NPC" because that feels like someone writing over my diary haha.
For the designs, they're more or less inspired by movies, games, and stories I've been exposed to throughout the years. Especially games such as Harvest Moon and Rune Factory.

Do you feel that Ridgeside has any unifying themes or meanings?  Like if people took one message away after playing Ridgeside, what would you want it to be?
Hmm... I think it would be treasuring loved ones and one's passion. Most of the RSV stories revolve around love in different forms and never taking things for granted.

I heard from a little bird that Shiro was originally supposed to have a younger sister.  What made you decide to go with Yuuma instead?
Funny enough, it was more because of a discussion at the SDV server I just happened to read where they were discussing how there's a big ratio of female to male NPC mods out there, mostly consisting of the former.

Another reason was actually because there was a drafted plan of "Kiddie Love Triangle" that was inspired by a real-life experience of mine between 2 boys and a girl, and so there were plans to project it on Keahi, Trinnie, and Yuuma. But that plan never really went through since I thought I didn't really fit the characters the kids turned out to be in the end. 

I also heard that Pika and Keahi were originally going to be named Anton and Percy.  What made you change direction?
Because Pika and Keahi were originally supposed to be of Italian descent. But then I realized Gus kinda resembled that already? So I wanted to give more diversity to the valley instead and drew inspiration from the tropic islands instead (such as my country, Philippines) and maybe a bit more inspo from the Disney film Moana. XD

I also heard Alissa was supposed to be cold and overconfident--definitely not the Alissa we know!  What changed?
At the time Alissa was being developed, Maddie was almost done as well. It felt off having two characters almost having the same troupe. It also tied with how her potential dynamic would be with her niece (Trinnie), and the Lidens, where a lot of my drafted stories just didn't make sense and felt forced.

So I hear the crystals around Ridgeside also had a secret plan initially!  Want to talk about that?
Initially, they were supposed to be a big part of the "Spirit Realm Puzzle" mechanic, but it proved too complicated and messed up NPC pathing. T-T  My original plan for the spirit realm supposedly had to connect to the dead relatives of some RSV NPCs, but it didn't feel right because their events(RSV NPCs) were establishing closure. So involving those relatives out of the blue just didn't fit in anymore.

Ridgeside is practically big enough to be a Stardew sequel - have you thought about doing other independent gamedev projects?  Any experiences from Ridgeside that you want to carry into other creative works?
I'd love to develop a standalone project one day. But unfortunately, I don't think I'd be able to do that haha. I've chosen to pursue the field of medicine and I won't or don't have time to learn advanced game development in the future. But all I know is, I'm just happy with expressing my emotions, experiences, and stories in my mods, especially since I have time to do so at the moment.

What's your favorite change for 2.0?
My favorite change for 2.0 would be the separate world map. It was a nightmare creating compatibility for every recolor or mod that edits the world map!

What's the part of developing Ridgeside you think was the hardest, but definitely worth it?
The hardest part in developing Ridgeside must've been the portraits. It was such a journey, mostly negative, but a good amount of positive to back it up as well haha. But it was enjoyable and fulfilling in the end.

What advice would you give someone who wanted to make their own NPCs or expansions?
My advice? I think is to just have fun. It's your mod and you should never tell anyone otherwise. (With consideration for what's morally right or wrong as well XD)

Who's your favorite NPC? (I promise not to tell the others.)
I lowkey simp for Maddie and Daia. But in terms of overall favorite, It would be Lorenzo. As I've projected so much of my insecurities and worries in his dialogue (and future heart events).

• Share