



Stardew Valley and the highly anticipated multiplayer update is live for Linux, Mac and Windows. So this comes after several months of internal testing. ConcernedApe now opens the beta up to a wider audience.



The recent blog post also details everything you need to know. That is if you want to help test the update before it goes live.



So the multiplayer beta is only available to Steam users on Linux, Mac and Windows. GOG users will gain access in a few days.





Linux access:

Precautions to take:

Backup your save files before playing the update. Your save files are located in ~/.config/StardewValley/Saves on Linux.

Remove any mods you’ve installed that haven’t been updated for v1.3. You can see a list of compatible mods here.

Can you use existing save files?

You should back save files up before installing the beta.

Files that you save in v1.3 can’t be loaded in v1.2 or earlier.

If your game has mods, it may or may not be recoverable in v1.3.

How to access the Stardew Valley Multiplayer Beta Update:

Since each player needs to have their own home on the farm. So the first thing you’re going to have to do is build each of your friends a cabin. Seeing you can have up to three on your farm.



When your cabins are built, save, return to the title screen. The open the co-op menu. Your file should appear in the host tab.



Alternatively, if you are starting a new farm. Start the game with cabins already built on your farm. From the title screen, open the co-op menu. Then select the ‘Host’ tab, and then ‘Host New Farm.’



The new options on the left allow you to pre-build up to three cabins on your farm.



In the settings menu are some new options you may want to play with:



‘Server Mode’ configures the visibility of your server:



With ‘Friends-Only’, only people on your friends list in Steam (or GOG) can see your server and join it.

With ‘Invite-Only’, only people you send invitations (or invite codes) to will be able to join your server.

‘Offline’ shuts the server down immediately. This will disconnect all players besides yourself.

‘Accept IP connections’ allows players on your LAN to join your game. Whether any players are on Steam/GOG or not.

‘Enable new character creation’ allows players who connect to your server to create a new character on your farm. If you’ve got more cabins than players on your farm, and you don’t want anyone else to join for now, you can turn this off.

How to invite people to your Stardew Valley farm?



All of these methods require you to first load your farm through the host tab in the co-op menu. The co-op menu If your server is running, your Steam/GOG friends will be able to see and join your farm. Since this is available through their co-op menu directly. And is only possible if your server is set to ‘Friends-Only.’ Your Steam privacy settings permit friends to see your game library. Steam / GOG friends list If your server is set to ‘Friends-Only’ and your Steam privacy settings permit friends to see your game library, they will be able to join your game through their friends list. Steam / GOG invitations As the host, you can send invitations from the settings menu, using the ‘Invite Friend…’ button. When the recipient accepts your invitation it will automatically launch Stardew Valley on their end and connect to your game. Invite codes If the person you want to invite is not on your friends list, you can invite them using an invite code. These codes enable cross-play between Steam and GOG. Due to platform restrictions and technical limitations, we are not currently planning to roll this functionality out any wider than Steam and GOG. To get your invite code, open the settings menu, scroll down to the multiplayer section and click ‘Show Invite Code.’ A 10-12 character string of letters and numbers will show on your screen for you to send to your friend. Your invite code will change each time you reload the game. To use the code, your friend should launch the game, and then in the co-op menu choose ‘Enter Invite Code…’ There are a few ways for people to come to your farm . You can use whatever is most convenient to you!All of these methods require you to first load your farm through the host tab in the co-op menu.

Enable the beta in Steam, right click the game in your library and select Properties. Then select the Betas tab. In the text box, type the password for the branch: jumpingjunimos. Then click the Check Code button.So now the Beta option should be available in the drop-down. Just select and click Close. Just either Install or let Steam auto-update the game on Linux.Since the v1.3 update is. Which also means there will be bugs. So here are some recommendations:Well according to the update, yes. Old save files can be used in v1.3 and even to host multiplayer games:Also if you have a vanilla v1.2 save file that can’t be loaded in v1.3, this is a bug. Report it here So for all of this to work effectively for Stardew Valley. Players must both be live on the Steam client and/or GOG Galaxy client. Since the GOG client is an option via Wine on Linux. Whereas the Steam choice seems to be the easier method.