Every video game uses a unique piece of software called a game engine. Nowadays, there are over dozens of unique game engines that power all kinds of different video games. If you’ve ever wondered about what game engine was used to make Stardew Valley, continue reading!
What Game Engine Powers Stardew Valley?
Stardew Valley was written in the C# programming language using Microsoft’s XNA. This wasn’t a game engine, but a high-level collection of APIs made for gaming, but it allowed simple 2D graphics and other elements to be added to the game, such as those seen in Stardew Valley.
Eric Barone, who goes by ConcernedApe on Twitter and is the sole developer of this game (he built the game by himself), stated that he built a game engine entirely from scratch using Visual Studio 2010. Although it was more time-consuming to build this Engine from scratch, the result has been well worth the effort.
In addition, he also made most of the visual elements of Stardew Valley using Paint.NET and made the sound effects and music with Propellerhead Reason 4.0. ConcernedApe was kind enough to share his engine with the public, which allowed the modding community to create some amazing mods for Stardew Valley, which greatly improved this game.
What is a Game Engine?
Essentially, a game engine is a software development environment that allows developers to create games using pre-set settings and configurations in different programming languages. Every game engine has a graphic rendering engine, physics engine, artificial intelligence engine, sound effects generator, animation engine, and many other features.
There are also a number of free engines available for use by both aspiring and experienced game developers. These include in-house engines created by major gaming companies and open-source engines that anyone can use to create games and mods.
