I've been messing around a bit with Dropbox, and I think I have things set up the way I want them. For the time being, I have created junctions between dropbox and both my Mods and Savegame folders. In theory, this will allow me (and anyone else who uses it) to keep the contents synched with no modification of stardew itself. I chose to do it to the mods folder simply because some people (myself included) would appreciate keeping everyone on the same version for mods as they are updated. You will still have to manually update the SMAPI as they are released, but everything else could be handled if we chose to use this. The savegame synchronization is a little more technical. I'm still not sure if a junction is the right approach, but it does save the hassle of having to manually synch save files after playing on the farm. You will still have to use a savegame editor (the one @Penarddun linked above seems to do what we need) to swap the host around, but it's completely doable, and is probably our best option in terms of allowing multiple people to host the same farm. Once we can agree on mods, I'll get that folder set up and we can start distributing things to everyone and figure out a time to play together!
Got a couple mods that I've used in the past that seemed to work well. It's up to the group whether we want to use all, some, or none of these, but the ones I'd consider are: Automation - Allows you to place a chest next to any number of objects (furnaces, trash cans, pretty much anything that produces or processes something) and it will handle whatever that object needs automatically. For example, if you place a chest with copper and coal in it next to a furnace, the furnace will automatically be filled/emptied until all of the resources in the adjacent chest have been used. Definitely more QoL than game-breaking, but it can get a little overpowered when you do things like fill an entire shed with kegs and load them all from a single chest. Better Sprinklers - Overhauls many of the functions of in-game sprinklers, both in terms of crafting and functionality. Also shows the covered area of sprinklers and scarecrows when they are placed, leaving out any question of coverage. Has some simple-yet-useful parts to it, but can also be completely game-breaking if abused e.g. you can make the default sprinkler cover a 7x7 area if you play with configs (this may be host-only. I'm not sure). **Also worth noting, this mod has not been updated since late 2017. It still works, but it appears the dev has moved on to other projects.** EDIT: The mod in the linked state no longer works. However, an update has been posted on another site that makes it work in the current version. Bit of a chore, but still doable if we want it. Lookup Anything - Essentially loads the wiki into the game. You can select a villager and view your relationship level with them, how they react to various gifts, etc. The same can be done for crops and any other object on the ground. No Soil Decay* - Simple mod. Tilled ground remains tilled overnight, even if nothing is growing on it. *There are a couple variations of this mod. I linked the most popular, but I don't actually remember which one(s) I've used. Scythe Harvesting - As the name suggests, with this mod, you must use your scythe to harvest instead of picking crops by hand. It makes the harvesting process much faster, as you can get 8 (maybe more) crops per swing instead of the usual 1. There are multiple variations of this mod as well. I linked the most recently updated. UI Info Suite - Has a fair amount of overlap with other mods. However, it does add some other useful things to the UI. Most notable: Time remaining for crops growing/other machines processing, the luck level for the day, and whether or not you can get a recipe from watching TV. Experience Bars - Shows a series of bars in the corner of the screen that indicate how close you are to leveling in your skills. Overlaps with some other UI mods, though. PyTK - Doesn't have any functionality on its own, but is required to use some other mods. MTN - Like PyTK, serves as a toolkit required for some other mods (including the map itself) Lastly, while not a mod, the SMAPI Compatibility Chart can be useful when looking at mods. It lists all known mods for the game, and whether or not they work in the newest version of Stardew Valley. If I were taking a minimalist approach, I would probably take Automation, Scythe Harvesting, and UI Info Suite. The rest are useful, but these three probably have the most utility without severely altering the game.
I was initially concerned about this as well. I'll have to find it when I get home, but I think it says something about how it pauses the game if nobody but the host is connected to prevent the farm from falling into disrepair. EDIT: it's in the "features" section of the mod: Pauses the game when all clients disconnect (except on Holidays to prevent lock-up). Resumes when at least 1 client rejoins. This prevents the farm from falling into disrepair and years of game time passing with no one around. I was not aware that MTN and community farm were still being caught up to the current game version. I downloaded the current versions of each yesterday and they seemed to run smoothly. That being said, "I played for 30 minutes and nothing broke" and "these mods work with the current version with no issues" are two very different things.
I touched on this briefly a few days ago, but there is a modded map that is designed to support up to 10 people. There is a bit of a process to make the map work, as well as to let 10 people into the server. If need be, I can walk anyone through this process (it's the same process as any other mod, but it needs a few additional mods to work). It sounds like some people would be excited to play together on this map as a whole group, which is awesome! However, trying to coordinate up to 10 people can be quite a difficult task. This is a space to list any suggestions to make this work, as well as any issues we will have to overcome to make this farm happen. Hosting: We will have to figure out who will be hosting the game. I can host it if needed, but I do not play the game as often as some may wish. People could have issues with the (lack of) uptime if I do this. If someone else who plays more often (and has reliable internet), they could host as well. These two options are by far the most simple. There are a couple other, more complex options as well, such as setting up a dropbox or other cloud storage method where the save file could be stored, allowing for a theoretical floating host. This could get weird though, if the host is always the same character. I don't know how the game handles different players hosting the same save file. There is also a mod available to allow one person to run the game as a dedicated server, allowing for 24/7 uptime. The game pauses any time no other players are connected, and the server host still accomplishes basic tasks, such as checking the mail and watering crops (if you tell it to do so). However, this would obviously require the game to be hosted somewhere. Other mods: I'll leave this open to discussion. I'm fine with not having any mods besides those needed to run the map. I'm also fine with adding a handful of QoL mods to make the game more enjoyable for those who want it. Personally, I would like to avoid mods that significantly change the gameplay - ones that increase damage taken or change how fishing works. If the majority want to implement these mods, though, we can make it happen. The biggest thing to remember is that if the host runs a mod, any player who does not also run it may run into issues. Coordination of resources: This is a part of any multiplayer session in Stardew, modded or not. However, it does need to be addressed. Due to the design of the game, we operate on a shared pool of money, and actually have access to the inventories of offline players. This will have to be policed on an honor system, but the bottom line is that we will have to work together and make sure one person doesn't hog a type of resource. Additionally, I am well aware that people enjoy different parts of the game. In my first playthrough, I spent far more time fishing than anything else. A certain someone else spent his whole first time in the game at the arcade. Others may live in the mine and only leave because they have to. We can use this to our advantage and rely on the people who enjoy the activities to collect the bulk of a type of resource. That being said, it is still a group effort, and you will need to keep the group as a whole in mind before you go and take all of the gold to make some sprinklers. I wanted to get my thoughts in writing, and in one place. Feel free to make any suggestions or debate anything you see here. I'd love to see this farm happen, but we're going to need multiple people on board for it to work!
I love the layout of Riverland. There's something about it that just feels right. The lack of space after the first year or two is a massive issue, though. If we open the door to mods, I think you should take a look at Community Farm. It's a modded map that is significantly larger than any vanilla map (more than 5 times the size of the standard farm) and is designed for 10 simultaneous players. The map can be found here and I can help anyone who wants to check it out with the installation process. Who knows? Maybe we could even start a farm on that map and open it up to all members of this group!