I have 650 hours logged in the game and I've still never managed perfection XD. I don't think it's super important (or fun really) to grind for perfection until you start really running out of other stuff to do.
Those creators have 1000s of hours and get paid to play 8 hours a day, of course they know the game way better than a casual new player like yourself. There is no “too fast” or “too slow” with this game, there’s no intended path. If it takes you until year 4 to do the community center that’s perfectly okay, the game will still progress the same way. Perfection is definitely a long grind, but as long as you enjoy the game at the pace you are playing then what else matters
By the end of year 2 is about the normal time for the community center.
But nothing is too slow. You don't miss out on anything by taking longer. Especially since you are a new player.
In my current save I finished the community center summer year 2 and am currently in summer year 3 and my perfection tracker is at 60%. I expect to finish it early year 4.
My first save it took me until year 4 to complete the community center and year 10 for perfection.
I'm probably never going to reach perfection because I usually start feeling burned out from the game around the end of year 2. Furthest I've ever made is Summer Y3, and by then I had only just unlocked Ginger Island but still barely left the port area. Then usually when I want to play SDV again, I need to start a new save because I don't remember the "story" I had going in the previous saves. Collectively, I've played about 400 hours of this game, but thats across like...8 to 10 different save files lol
I have at least 600 hours played and I’ve never reached perfection! Aiming for it with the current save file that my partner and I started when the recent patch was released.
I think I hit perfection in year 14 - like 250 hours. There's no rush! And there are a lot of things to do! I didn't start trying for it immediately either, but once I did I tried to stick with one goal at a time - like, let's get all the recipes, then let's make all the recipes, lets craft all the things, lets do the community board, lets get all the hearts, etc... I just handled one accomplishment at a time so I didn't get overwhelmed.
I hit it on year ten in-game. But as others have said, there is no 'too long'. The fun part about Stardew is the building up of something you make yourself, not speedrunning to the end. The creators who get stuff done super fast can do that because they play the game constantly and are very familiar with it and how to play it efficiently, because it works better in a video format. For just playing on your own, don't compare yourself to them.
My advice is set a specific goal and work on that. Not just 'perfection'. Like if you've never been to Ginger Island but you want to go, look and see what you need to do to unlock it and focus on getting those actions and items. Or pick an NPC to befriend and find out what their favorite thing is and work on getting a bunch of that thing. Doing it in chunks can make it feel less like you're behind, even if you can't really BE behind.
In my last save file I specifically made it for the new content and with hitting perfection for the first time in mind. It took me 97 hours of real time, and I hit it summer 14 year 4, and that was actively just shooting for perfection the whole time. It's not something you need to do quickly so it will take some time.
There’s no time limit on how to play. It’s totally fine to take 3 or even 10 years to finish the community center. I’m currently doing my first perfection run though. Almost finished year one and all I need to finish community center is a truffle for the chef bundle. This is my fastest time for completing the center and it’s purely cause I’m rushing in an attempt to complete all the game’s achievements
I hit perfection in year 4-5. And I don’t try that hard, I just maximize making money and I usually finish the community center end of year one, or Spring year 2.
my first game i think i finished the community center late year 3, was too afraid to even set foot in skull cavern more than one or two floors, and this was well before ginger island or anything post-community center existed so. if idve had my first playthrough now id guess it wouldve taken me about 8-10 years for perfection. sometimes slow and steady is more fun, and its best to not look at people online who think the best way to play is min/maxing for a year 2 perfection lol. even in modded 1.6 it took me 4 years for perfection, and ive logged well over a thousand hours now. you're doing great
My advice is to just go at your own pace and enjoy yourself. The longer you play, the better you'll get at the game. But if you like to push yourself that's fine too.
Personally I've never reached perfection -- I usually get about 95% of the way there (usually around the end of year 2) and then start a new game. :) I enjoy doing speedruns and it took a few years of playing the game before I could reliably finish the community center before the end of year 1.
With QoL mods like automate and ui info I can get perfection by the end of Year 2. Without mods I get perfection by the end of Year 3. But I already know my way through the game.
I have 650 hours logged in the game and I've still never managed perfection XD. I don't think it's super important (or fun really) to grind for perfection until you start really running out of other stuff to do.
Those creators have 1000s of hours and get paid to play 8 hours a day, of course they know the game way better than a casual new player like yourself. There is no “too fast” or “too slow” with this game, there’s no intended path. If it takes you until year 4 to do the community center that’s perfectly okay, the game will still progress the same way. Perfection is definitely a long grind, but as long as you enjoy the game at the pace you are playing then what else matters
By the end of year 2 is about the normal time for the community center. But nothing is too slow. You don't miss out on anything by taking longer. Especially since you are a new player. In my current save I finished the community center summer year 2 and am currently in summer year 3 and my perfection tracker is at 60%. I expect to finish it early year 4. My first save it took me until year 4 to complete the community center and year 10 for perfection.
I'm probably never going to reach perfection because I usually start feeling burned out from the game around the end of year 2. Furthest I've ever made is Summer Y3, and by then I had only just unlocked Ginger Island but still barely left the port area. Then usually when I want to play SDV again, I need to start a new save because I don't remember the "story" I had going in the previous saves. Collectively, I've played about 400 hours of this game, but thats across like...8 to 10 different save files lol
I have at least 600 hours played and I’ve never reached perfection! Aiming for it with the current save file that my partner and I started when the recent patch was released.
I think I hit perfection in year 14 - like 250 hours. There's no rush! And there are a lot of things to do! I didn't start trying for it immediately either, but once I did I tried to stick with one goal at a time - like, let's get all the recipes, then let's make all the recipes, lets craft all the things, lets do the community board, lets get all the hearts, etc... I just handled one accomplishment at a time so I didn't get overwhelmed.
I hit it on year ten in-game. But as others have said, there is no 'too long'. The fun part about Stardew is the building up of something you make yourself, not speedrunning to the end. The creators who get stuff done super fast can do that because they play the game constantly and are very familiar with it and how to play it efficiently, because it works better in a video format. For just playing on your own, don't compare yourself to them. My advice is set a specific goal and work on that. Not just 'perfection'. Like if you've never been to Ginger Island but you want to go, look and see what you need to do to unlock it and focus on getting those actions and items. Or pick an NPC to befriend and find out what their favorite thing is and work on getting a bunch of that thing. Doing it in chunks can make it feel less like you're behind, even if you can't really BE behind.
10 in game years for me. I went slow and relaxed
In my last save file I specifically made it for the new content and with hitting perfection for the first time in mind. It took me 97 hours of real time, and I hit it summer 14 year 4, and that was actively just shooting for perfection the whole time. It's not something you need to do quickly so it will take some time.
There’s no time limit on how to play. It’s totally fine to take 3 or even 10 years to finish the community center. I’m currently doing my first perfection run though. Almost finished year one and all I need to finish community center is a truffle for the chef bundle. This is my fastest time for completing the center and it’s purely cause I’m rushing in an attempt to complete all the game’s achievements
I have 550 hours in the game on just PC and only reached perfection for the first time ever yesterday. So you’re probably fine.
I hit perfection in year 4-5. And I don’t try that hard, I just maximize making money and I usually finish the community center end of year one, or Spring year 2.
my first game i think i finished the community center late year 3, was too afraid to even set foot in skull cavern more than one or two floors, and this was well before ginger island or anything post-community center existed so. if idve had my first playthrough now id guess it wouldve taken me about 8-10 years for perfection. sometimes slow and steady is more fun, and its best to not look at people online who think the best way to play is min/maxing for a year 2 perfection lol. even in modded 1.6 it took me 4 years for perfection, and ive logged well over a thousand hours now. you're doing great
My advice is to just go at your own pace and enjoy yourself. The longer you play, the better you'll get at the game. But if you like to push yourself that's fine too. Personally I've never reached perfection -- I usually get about 95% of the way there (usually around the end of year 2) and then start a new game. :) I enjoy doing speedruns and it took a few years of playing the game before I could reliably finish the community center before the end of year 1.
With QoL mods like automate and ui info I can get perfection by the end of Year 2. Without mods I get perfection by the end of Year 3. But I already know my way through the game.