Infamous Stardew Valley-Inspired 'Super Zoo Story' Gets New Trailer

Liked the old graphics better. They shouldn't have allowed themselves to be bullied by losers on the internet.

There’s a difference between ‘inspired by’ and ‘ripped off’. It’s good that the developers realised that and made changes

@pneumaticgnosis having the opinion of ‘you shouldn’t blatantly rip off a popular game’ is hardly bullying

@pneumaticgnosis If by ‘losers on the internet’ you mean Eric Barone then sure? But the guy felt that they were ripping off his game so I wouldn’t say it was bullying.

It still looks like Stardew Valley.

It’s good to see them changing the game because inspiration is one thing but their is such a thing as going too far.

@Mattock1987 The concept was entirely different. The graphics were similar but not so similar that I would call it a "blatant rip-off." I would never have confused this Zoo-themed game for Stardew Valley. Yes, IMO the creator of SV was being a jerk and should have been flattered instead of pitching a childish fit.

And Stardew Valley looks like Harvest Moon. He really should change some things.

To be fair, loads of games look like Stardew Valley now... seems like every other indie game that gets announced is some form of farming or management sim.

This is dumb considering Starpoo Valley is inspired by Harvest Moon. Ridiculous how players are sweating this indie game when it's far from special. Now Hades on the other hand, that's a great game.

It's kind of sad since ConcernedApe basically "ripped off" AN ENTIRE GAME SERIES to make Stardew Valley and no one said a thing, but okay.

I love Stardew as much as the next cottagecore geek, but I defy anyone to tell me how the game isn't Friends of Mineral Town with a new coat of paint.

Looks fun, good to have a zoo sim on Switch

Imitation is the greatest form of flattery.

@ATaco @JasmineDragon I was going to say the same thing. Stardew Valley is great but it looks mighty similar to FoMT. I actually like the FoMT art style and character models more. Looking at older shots of this game, the only similarity I've seen is that the wooden walkway looked similar. The fences, buildings, animals, etc. looked a lot different from SV to me.

I would say stardew valley is technically a harvest moon rip off, but it seems like others have said it better than I could.

Might pick this up if it’s more kid friendly than Stardew.

@pneumaticgnosis This is.. my fave comment I've seen on this site. Preach. If y'all don't like it (that the art style is too similar or otherwise) just don't buy it/support it... so simple.

@ATaco It was in the same genre but never looked anything like Harvest Moon.

It still looks like Stardew Valley, even some of the fonts. When they said they were redesigning some assets well let’s say they need to redesign alot more if they’re serious

SV is a rip of Harvest Moon, happily I never owned SV and now I know how jerky this guy is I know now for sure that I never will.

I love zoo games. I will have to check this out.

The first two comments are the duality of man/the internet

Weird how some equate SV being in the same genre as Harvest Moon as a ripoff but this game quite possibly ripping off assets wholesale is okay? Like, you can see some of the plants/vegetables in the video above and they are 100 percent identical to the turnips in SV.

@bozz Yeah, the issue is the similarity of assets, not genre!

I didn't know that corneredape was one of the people pitching a fit over similarities... that's disappointing.

Only a few of the sprites could have been considered direct rip offs of SV, and this was when the game was in early development, who knows how they would have changed it?

Considering that Stardew Valley started out as Harvest Moon fan game, and then it slowly it's look evolved until Eric was no longer using any Marvelous properties (pixels, sounds, etc), but that took time and he had full support from the farming sim communities.

Big phat hypocrite.

@princess_shantae
ConcernedApe didn't "pitch a fit". Don't just blindly believe things random people say on the internet.
When CA commented about the similarities, Super Zoo Story looked a lot more similar to Stardew Valley. It was obvious the artist literally traced over ConcernedApe's sprites. ConcernedApe has never had a problem with games that are similar, but when someone literally steals his particular style (yes, ConcernedApe has a distinct style), down to the little quirks that are particular to him, it's reasonable to be annoyed by that.

I think the developers have evolved some aspects of their artwork wonderfully. The thatched roofs and details are whimsical and unique. But they haven't addressed the issues of all the blatantly copied elements like the random stones in the ground, the shape of trees, the way the water shading gradients in chunky blocks...even the proportions and hair styles of the player avatar all look as if they're directly from SDV, and I could go on and on.

What's most unfortunate is it's clearly a clever and fun concept that they've put a great deal of work into. It's especially admirable that they've pushed ahead despite the fact that the developers live in Ukraine and are dealing with the tragedy going on there.

It's just sad that they didn't take the community outrage a little more to heart. ConcernedApe has always been very chill about it and publicly has said very little other than a brief few comments on a discord chat one time, afaik. To call him a bully is totally out of line. He's honestly one of the most genuine and down to earth developers I've seen. It's the SDV fanbase that's rabidly loyal to him who have been on the attack.

Yes, SDV is based on games like FoMT, but if you look at screenshots side by side there are obvious stylistic differences that make it very clear they are not the same game. Side by side SZS and SDV look almost indistinguishable. It's perfectly reasonable for people to get confused and think it's affiliated with SDV, which means the SZS devs are taking advantage of CA's work and reputation to bolster their own product. That's what I find unappealing.

@d_b_cooper @princess_shantae
Was going to say. The only comments I've seen were CA responding directly to a fan, saying "I do think Super Zoo Story has taken it a little too far" in regards to how similar their art style is, that he thinks they should have "come up with their own art style", and that he would have an issue if it turned out they straight up ripped his assets from the game. That's a pretty far cry from pitching a fit.

Stardew Valley is obviously very heavily inspired by Harvest Moon FoMT, but the art style is different enough to feel like its own thing, imo. Super Zoo Story almost looks more like a mod for Stardew Valley than its own game.

@pneumaticgnosis They admitted to tracing over actual Stardew Valley assets. Also included Stardew Valley mod assets without ANY changes and without permission. So yes it is a blatant rip off. They knew what they were doing and shamelessly promoted it with the StardewValley hashtag.