Harvest Moon 64 - Tips/FAQ by Matthew and David Lam - happycows@pallet-town.com v1.3 - 1/9/00 http://acer.simplenet.com/games/hm64/index.htm - HM64 webpage! *** Visit the bulletin board to leave questions and answers on the game! *** --- Table of Contents --- 0.0 - Version History 1.0 - Introduction 1.1 - Backing Up Your Game 2.0 - Characters 2.1 - The Girls! 2.2 - Ann 2.3 - Elli 2.4 - Karen 2.5 - Maria 2.6 - Popuri 2.7 - Other Info 2.8 - Marriage 3.0 - Tools 3.1 - *** Tool Level-Up Trick! *** 3.2 - Level up descriptions 3.3 - House Additions 3.4 - Furniture/Decorations 4.0 - Farming Tips (How to make money) 4.1 - Hunting at the Mountain 4.2 - Turnips vs Potatoes vs Cabbages 4.3 - Tomatoes vs Corn 4.4 - Planting Tips 4.5 - Tip! Get the Greenhouse! 4.6 - Chickens 4.7 - Basic Livestock Info 4.8 - Sheep vs Cows 4.9 - Raising Cows from Scratch 5.0 - Price Guide 6.0 - Secrets 6.1 - Power Nuts 6.2 - Recipes 6.3 - Other 7.0 - Important Events 7.1 - Spring 7.2 - Summer 7.3 - Fall 7.4 - Winter 7.5 - Caring for Animals (Winning the Festivals) 8.0 - Contributors/Contact Info 9.0 - Copyright/Disclaimer --- 0.0 - Version History --- v1.3 - Re-ordered section 4, added info on pregnant cows and greenhouse Added section 3.4 - Furniture/Decorations Added more info on girls/marriage 6.1 contains location of 4 power nuts More recipes Info on raising animals for festivals (dog, horse, cow) 7.5 Added to section 7 on events, divided into seasons Included more info on festivals and racing Lots of other things... v1.2 - Added more precise info on house extensions Corrected Spring crop info v1.1 - Added the Tool Level-Up trick (section 3.0) Added more recipes and pricing info Added more crop raising and livestock info (particularly cows vs sheep) Redefined the table of contents for subsections More important dates to watch, more girl info Removed the section on other important people, not important enough :) Added info on backing up your games --- 1.0 - Introduction --- Harvest Moon 64 is a farming simulation for the Nintendo 64. It's really fun to play (although I suppose this depends on your tastes), and for the purpose of this FAQ, I'll assume you already know what the game is. If you don't know, either rent it or find a review in a magazine or somewhere on the web. Check out our Harvest Moon 64 website at http://acer.simplenet.com/games/hm64/index.htm The site is currently under construction, and will contain information similar to this document, except with graphics and organized into different pages. I'll try to avoid spoilers as best I can. If there's something that I feel might be considered a spoiler, I'll put in a warning beforehand. Also, you should know that I haven't beaten the game yet, so I don't know everything. However, there are a lot of things that I didn't understand in the game, and since I couldn't find any useful FAQ out there yet, I want to document the important stuff I've discovered so far. Some of the stuff written here will be similar to what's in the instruction booklet, or in other FAQ. If you want to skip to the important stuff, I suggest reading the Farming Tips section. --- 1.1 - Backing Up Your Game --- Since I doesn't say this anywhere in the instructions, I'll mention it here. It's very annoying to play your game and find a typhoon is going to hit the next day. Or to accidentally slash your livestock with the sickle, etc... It's possible to copy your game into one of the 4 save slots! Just use the Move button (next to delete), click on the game you want to copy (backup), then click on another slot. Note that whatever was in the destination will be erased and replaced by a copy of whatever you selected first, so be very careful with this option. I don't know why it's labeled Move and not Copy, but then again there are many many spelling mistakes in this game. I wonder if it's a result of rushing it out in time for X-mas...? Note that typhoons can be avoided by playing games that were backed up from before the typhoon was forecasted on TV. For this reason, check the weather forecast before backing up your game. If it says a typhoon is coming, don't back up the game, or you're stuck with it. --- 2.0 - Characters --- There are lots of people to interact with in the game, and having a social life is just as important as having money (unless you want live the life a stingy miser during the game). Besides the shop keepers, the most important characters are probably the 5 girls that you can go out with. It's probably best to pick one girl early so that you can focus on developing a relationship from the beginning. It seems to take longer than the SNES version of Harvest Moon. --- 2.1 - The Girls! --- There are five different girls in the game that you can develop a relationship with, so long as you talk to them, and give them the right kind of stuff. I think they all pretty much like flowers (Popuri more so), food, and whatever else you grow or find in the mountain. It takes longer to get the girls to like you in Harvest Moon 64 (compared to the SNES original). You can't read their diaries like before, so you can tell how much they like you by the color of the heart at the end of their text-box. It starts out white, and if you give them enough gifts, talk to them, meet them at festivals, etc..., it will eventually change to a blue heart. Depending on how well you treat them, it should be possible to get a blue heart by the end of Spring, although sometime in the beginning to mid-summer is more likely. The order of hearts, from beginning to true-love is: white-blue-green-yellow-pink Once you get a girl to like you, they will start coming by your farm to give you gifts. They tend to come by in the afternoon, but not every day. You can only talk to them when they come over, so be sure to come over earlier (or later, depending on the time) so that you can give them gifts. --- 2.2 - Ann --- Ann lives on the Green Ranch. Likes animals. I've heard that giving her animals found in the mountain get her to really like you, but the reaction I've gotten hasn't impressed me. I'd have to say that these rumors are bogus. You're much better off bringing your dog to see her. I think bringing chickens and chicks works too. Ann also really likes wool, which at $900-1,800 each would seem to give her the most expensive tastes in the game! I can't tell by her picture whether she likes it more than seeing your dog, but she definitely likes it more than flowers and other foods. When the ranch is closed Ann can usually be found at the mountain by the fisherman's tent or the far left pond across the river. Sometimes she is also in the inventor's shop, as Rick (the inventor) is her cousin. Note that if you don't chase after Ann, Cliff the mountain wanderer will start to develop a relationship with her. Although it sounds weird, I think some of their meetings are triggered by how much wood you have cut. I don't think there's any reason to stop cutting wood if you ARE chasing her, as encounters seem to change depending on how much she likes you. During the Fireworks (Summer 1st) she's at the Green Ranch. Just go through the fence towards the barn. Her birthday is on the 14th of Summer. Make sure to give her something. --- 2.3 - Elli --- Elli lives at the bakery. She loves certain food items, particularly eggs and milk. Elli also has a pleasant reaction to seeing your dog. On Wednesdays, when the bakery is closed, she can usually be found in the Flower Shop at certain times of day. She also tends to disappear on Sundays. During the Fireworks (Summer 1st) she's at the bakery, her home. You'd be surprised how much time I wasted looking elsewhere for her. Elli's birthday is on the 1st of Fall. --- 2.4 - Karen --- Karen lives at the vineyard, and works at the bar at night. She also pops up on the beach occasionally on Sunday (Note: You get to the beach by going right at the Green Ranch, outside of the fence). Karen really likes wild berries. Note that these only grow in the Spring and Fall, so if you have a kitchen you might want to save them up. She also loves tomatoes. She complains when you talk to her too much at the beginning. She doesn't really care for your dog at the beginning either, but changes her opinion later in the game. I don't know that showing her your dog at first will decrease your love factor, but she does sort of insult it. If you don't marry Karen, I'm told that she eventually leaves the town with her mother. During the Fireworks (Summer 1st) she's at the beach. Her birthday sometime in Winter. --- 2.5 - Maria --- Maria is the Mayor's daughter, and works at the library. Apparently, she likes when you talk to her. I think she also likes bugs, and is scared of your dog. Maria is a cabbage lover, so give her some if you're chasing her. Supposedly it gives you a better happy reaction. The mailman is somewhat interested in her, so they get together if you don't chase after Maria. Maria's birthday takes place on the 11th of Winter. --- 2.6 - Popuri --- Popuri lives at the flower shop. Guess what, she likes flowers, so she might be the easiest to get to like you. Like Ann, she has a "How cute!" reaction when you bring her your dog. Sometimes shows up at the mountain, and also inside the bakery. I'm told that late in the game, Popuri will marry Ann's brother, Gray, if you don't marry her. --- 2.7 - Other Info --- This section contains information regarding events common to all girls in the game. The events happen at certain points, but people who want to encounter these for themselves should not read the rest of this section. *** Warning! Possible spoiler follows!*** At a certain point in the game, whichever girl you are chasing will sprain her leg. You are presented with the option of carrying her home, or running for help. In this case, carry her home! If you run for help, you get her father and he carries her home. The next time you see her, your love-rating will have decreased! I tried this and dropped from a yellow to a green heart! If you carry her home, she complains a bit, but deep down I think she appreciates it. Aww... :) Whichever girl you are chasing will also get sick at some point in the game. If you walk into their home, whatever parent is there will tell you that she is sick in bed, and that you should visit her. This seems to be the only time in the game that you get to see the girl's room. You can talk to her and look around at stuff, but that's about it. Don't try to give anything to them in bed, they won't notice, and whatever gift you tried will be wasted. When you walk out the door, it will trigger the girl to say thanks for your stopping by. The next day they will be better. Finally, you will also have a "dream sequence" at some point in the game. At some time, once you are a sleep you will have a dream related to something that happens in the past. Soon after (probably the same day), the girl you are chasing will ask you questions regarding that event in the past. The dream and situation is different for each girl. The dream you get depends on the girl. Since you may not realize where to go after having it, I'll list what I know: Ann - Head for the section of the mountain with the cave entrance and talk to Ann under the tree. Elli - Go to the southern section of town by the library and watch (talk to?) the kids playing there. Elli will show up. Karen - Go to the wine cellar in the vineyard. --- 2.8 - Marriage --- Money isn't everything. Keep giving those gifts, and talk with the girl you want to marry. Eventually, you'll get the pink heart rating. Once you've got a pink heart, check the inventor's shop until Rick has the Blue Feather, Harvest Moon's sign of proposal. It may be a while till he has it (maybe some house extensions are required first, etc?), but then you can buy it for $1,000. Use the Blue Feather on the girl you like. If everything goes well, 4-5 days from when you use it you get married! Once you're married, the girl will help out on the farm. For example, Ann will sometimes feed the chickens, or crate the eggs, so that you don't have to. When you get up in the morning, your wife will be indoors. From 9am till noon she will probably be outside somewhere. Between 3-6pm she will probably be indoors again. Assuming you have a kitchen (perhaps this is required for marriage), from 6pm to 8pm she will be in the kitchen, and will comment on dinner when you talk to her. *** Important! *** From 8-9pm, your wife will be standing by the bed. It's important that you go to sleep at this time. If you do, she will join you after you write in your diary. After 9pm, she will already be asleep in bed. Keeping the wife up late is a bad practice, so if you want to get a baby, try to make it to bed on time as often as possible. If it's before 8pm, your wife will probably still be in the kitchen, so go outside and let some time pass until she's standing by the bed. --- 3.0 - Tools --- The tools are explained well in the instructions, as well as the tutorial, so I won't go into that. One of the important things when it comes to tools is getting them to level up. Using things a lot that makes them level up. This is kind of a vicious circle, because for example, you can't water massive amounts of crops without a higher level watering can, and yet you can't level up unless you water massive amounts of crops. --- 3.1 - *** Tool Level-Up Trick! *** --- Here's a way to get your level up your tools without wasting massive amounts of time! Whenever you're indoors, time doesn't pass. However, if you use your tools, they still gain experience! Whenever you use a tool, you will still use up your stamina (energy). So do this trick at the end of the day, in your house for example. Take out a hammer, axe, or any other tool that levels up, and pound away at nothing! Tired of bad weather reports? Bash the TV! Maybe whack your Invincible Katori a few times, hoping it will tell you what it does! While it may not look like anything is coming out of this, eventually you will raise your tool and it levels up! Note that you do NOT need any water in your watering can for it to gain experience. Using an empty watering can with the B button will still level it up. By using this trick you will get higher level tools sooner. Note that it takes a LONG time to level up anything. In normal use, I gathered over 300 lumber by chopping trees and it still didn't level up. It is likely you will have to take many game nights to get a tool to level up. I started using this trick at the beginning of Summer, and it still tool 3-4 nights per tool before my watering can went up. A good practice to do before sleeping, but don't over do it. After a while you will start to collapse. The only real way to get your energy back is a good night sleep. If you start to wake in the morning and you're tired (you pause and sweat when doing work) as soon as you start working, then I would skip trying to level-up that day. Otherwise, you may chance getting sick. --- 3.2 - Level up descriptions --- Here's what leveled items do (that I know of): Watering can Level 2 - Waters the three squares in front of you (the one in front, and both forward diagonals) Level 3 - Waters 9 squares (in 3x3 formation) in front of you. Sickle Level 2 - Cuts the three squares in front of you (the one in front, and both forward diagonals) Level 3 - Cuts all 8 squares around you, plus the ninth you're standing on. Hammer Level 2 - Can break rocks in 2 hits Level 3 - Can break rocks in 1 hit, makes a loud noise :) Axe Level 2 - Can chop wood in 2 hits Level 3 - Can chop wood in 1 hit Hoe Level 2 - Digs up 3 squares in front of you Level 3 - Digs up 6 squares in front of you (assumed) --- 3.3 - House Additions --- Yeah, I know it's odd to put this in the tools section, but I haven't figured out a better place yet. Anyway, there are several additions you can add to your home for a good deal of $$$ and lumber (from chopping tree trunks). To get an addition, go to the cabin at the mountain area. Read the diagram on the back wall with the A button to bring up the menu of things you can purchase. Hit A again to select one. The carpenter will say he will come over to your farm. Once you go back, if you have enough wood and $$$ he will tell you that work will begin the next day. For the next several days you will see them work around your house, until they tell you it is complete, and you will see something new. Detailed (to best of my ability) descriptions follow. If you want to be surprised, don't read the rest of this section! On the other hand, spending a week plus a lot of $$$ and wood only to get junk seems like a waste, so read on if you want to know what it is you're buying... *** Warning! Possible spoiler! *** Additions include: Kitchen $5,000 and 450 lumber The kitchen is where you store your food. It has a freezer where you can store up to 32 food items. There are also some charts/books on the kitchen wall where you can see what recipes you've collect, as well as how many power nuts you've gotten. Bathroom $3,000 and 300 lumber The bathroom has a sink that doesn't do anything, as well as a bathtub you can soak in. Originally I thought the bathtub helps you recover energy, but it doesn't. Finally, if you buy JUST the bathroom, note that it isn't connected to your house. They install a side door that leads outside, and there's another door outside that leads to the bathroom. The kitchen will connect them. Stairway $2,000 and 250 lumber Puts a stairway inside the right-side of your home which leads to the roof. Afterward, you will be able to walk on your rooftop. It's kind of humorous to leave your dog on the roof, and go about with your chores. :) Doesn't seem to be a very useful purchase, however. Greenhouse $30,000 and 580 lumber The big purchase! The greenhouse is the ONLY way to grow crops in the winter. Nothing grows at the mountain during this time, even in the caves. You can also grow things in it the rest of the year, and since it counts as a building, time doesn't pass while you're inside! This alone makes the greenhouse a worthwhile project, even outside of winter. It contains enough space to raise 16 3x3 crop fields (it's 16x16 squares of field), and has a shipping bin and water supply. As long as you don't get tired, you could easily harvest tomatoes year-round for a ton of money! Note however, that the greenhouse is NOT typhoon friendly. If one hits, there's a good chance your greenhouse will be totally obliterated. There may be ways to ward or protect from this, such as the invincible Katori, but these may only be rumors. Note that if you have your game backed up (read section 1.1), you can replay through the same days and NOT encounter the typhoon. When replaying, you must play from BEFORE you read on TV that a typhoon is coming. If it's in the forecast, it's too late. Log-terrace $7,000 and 350 lumber This creates a rather large sort of back porch. There's a picnic table and benches there, but other than that it doesn't seem to be useful. Baby-bed $1,000 and 150 lumber Seems like a lot of wood for one bed, but in any case, you need this before you can have a baby. --- 3.4 - Furniture/Decorations --- Here are several items that you get get/win that you can put in your house. Most don't do anything particularly important. Dresser/Cabinet - $2,000 at Inventor's Shop This has room to store extra items that normally go in your backpack. There are 32 spaces to store things. If you're chasing Popuri, it's a good idea to store flowers here for the Winter months when there aren't any. Note that you can NOT store food here, although milk still works (since it's in a bottle). Rug - $3,000 at Inventor's Shop In my opinion, an ugly looking rug. Sits in the middle of your house, under the table. Maybe your wife will appreciate it... Invincible Katori - Win at Summer Sea Festival Looks like some sort of yak's head. Doesn't seem to do anything. Rumored to protect your greenhouse from being destroyed by typhoons and hurricanes. Cute Clock (Moo Moo Watch) - 1,000 medals at Dog Festival When you hit Start normally, there's a clock and date at the upper left of the screen. The cute clock replaces it with a cow (spotted black and white) clock. For those familiar with things like Winamp and ICQ Plus, this is like a cow skin for your clock. Doesn't do anything otherwise. Awesome House - 3,000 medals at Dog Festival No, this isn't for you, it's for your dog! :) Replaces the dog's house with a nicer looking dog house. Maybe it'll improve his speed for the next year's race. --- 4.0 - Farming tips (How to make money) --- So, you want to raise money. Unfortunately, time passes quickly. There's NO way you'll be able to have several fields of crops, raise chickens, cows, and sheep, hunt at the mountain, fish, AND date with girls. So, you'll have to pick a few things to do so that you can make and spend your money efficently. I've spent a lot of time crunching numbers to figure this out, and now I'm going to share my data, so that you'll have more time to play the actual game :) Before I get to the numbers, note that the shipping guy comes by a little after 5pm each day. If you want to get money for your stuff, you'll have to get everything into the shipping box before then. However, unless you need to buy something the next day, you can still put things in the box, and they'll be automatically picked up the next day. --- 4.1 - Hunting at the Mountain --- Yeah, I know this chapter is supposed to be about farming, but hunting for stuff is a good way to make some quick cash, especially important at the beginning of the game. Pros --- The pros to hunting is that you'll get money every day, unlike raising crops or sheep. At least in the Spring and Summer, when things are growing all over, you can get a pretty significant amount of money, too. Lastly, you don't have to go hunting every day. This is a bonus in a way, because if you have crops or animals, you need to spend time every morning or night watering or feeding them. Cons --- The problems with hunting are that first of all, the amount of money you get per day is limited. Except for fishing, there are only so many fruits and herbs that you can find, after which you have to wait a day for them to grow back. The biggest problem is the time factor. Every second that passes is several minutes on the clock (unless you're in a building). The most valuable herbs are found in the cave, and also all the way past the river. So the more items you want to get, the more time you'll have to spend travelling from screen to screen. Still, you spend valuable time watering crops and feeding livestock too, so the question is really whether you can make more money by having an extra field of vegatables or another cow, rather than using your time hunting. Bottom line --- In the Spring, there are 3 medicinal herbs, 2 edible grass, and 4 berries. If you were to get them all, you'd make $430. However, one of the berries is at the top of the mountain, and you'd have to go up the winding path to get it, plus come back down. I don't think it's worth the effort, especially time-wise. You don't have room for 9 items anyway, so you'd have to carry one back to the shipping box. I also like to carry a flower along for the girl I'm chasing, so a safe assumption is that you will get 3 herbs, 1 edible grass, and 3 berries. At this rate, you would get an income of $360 per day, which is pretty good. ($70 x 3 herbs) + ($30 x 1 grass) + ($40 x 3 berries) = $360 Unless you go at night (which might not be a bad idea), you'll probably be strapped for time. A typical day (the way I play) is to water my crops, feed livestock, brush the horse. Then I'll shop and give stuff to a girl, and then hunt in the mountains. Since shops close and people go to sleep around 5-6pm, if you need to cut your hunting short you can skip the area of the last herb and berry, but this will cost you $110. --- 4.2 - Turnips vs Potatoes vs Cabbages --- Cabbages sell for more than Potatoes, which sell for more than Turnips, but take longer to grow. So which is the best value for your time and money? The math goes something like this: Each one costs $200 for a bag of seeds. A problem with planting is that you can't water the center square of a 3x3 field. So suppose you only plant/harvest 8 vegetables for every bag you plant. There is a catch. You can only grow things until the end of Spring, since whatever is planted (except grass and certain flowers) die when Summer starts. Since there are 30 days in the season, you can harvest turnip 7 times, potatoes 5 times, and cabbages 4 times. With turnips, you get: 8 turnips x $60 each = $480 $480 - $200 (cost of seeds) = $280 profit each bag $280 x 7 harvests = 1960 With potatoes, you get: 8 potatoes x $80 each = $640 $640 - $200 (cost of seeds) = $440 profit each bag $440 x 5 harvests = 2200 With cabbages, you get: 8 cabbages x $90 each = $720 $720 - $200 (cost of seeds) = $520 profit each bag $520 x 4 harvests = 2080 Looking at these figures, potatoes will go for the most money. The problem with this is that you start the game with only $300, and seeds are $200 a bag. It would be impossible to plant more than one field of potato seeds in the first day, and if you miss any day you will only collect 4 harvests in the season. To get seeds as quickly as possible, make sure to collect some herbs at the mountain to sell at the beginning of the game. --- 4.3 - Tomatoes vs Corn --- Unlike cabbage vs turnips, the quicker growing vegetable, in this case tomatoes, are worth more money! Here's why: Seeds cost you $300 either way. Tomatoes grow in 9 days and sell for $90 each, while corn grows in 13 days and sells for $120 each. Here's the catch, tomatoes REgrow every 3 days, while corn regrows every 4 days after you pick it! Assuming you buy and plant your seeds the first day of summer, tomatoes will first grow on the 10th (1+9=10), and then regrow every 3 days, so you can also pick them on the 13th, 16th, 19th, 22nd, 25th, and 28th. So tomatoes will grow and regrow a total of 7 times (we will refer to this as 7 cycles). Corn on the other hand will first grow on the 14th of summer, and regrow on the 18th, 22nd, 26th, and 30th. This is only a total of 5 cycles. If you grow a single tomato, 7 cycles x $90 = $630 in a month If you grow an ear of corn, 5 cycles x $120 = $600 in a month The most you can grow is 8 per bag of seeds, so multiply each by 8. Tomatoes ($630 x 8) = $5,040 - $300 (cost of seeds) = $4,740 per month Corn ($600 x 8) = $4,800 - $300 (cost of seeds) = $4,500 per month Finally, to compare with other vegetables, livestock, etc. let's find the average value per day: Tomatoes ($4,740 / 30) = $158 per day Corn ($4,500 / 30) = $150 per day Also note that the last harvest day of corn is the 30th, the last day of the season. Since any vegetables not harvested by the end of the season are lost, to get the last cycle of corn you MUST water the crops EVERY single day. If you forget, run out of time, or whatever, the corn will not grow in time. For this reason alone, it makes sense to raise tomatoes. *** Greenhouse tip *** Once you have the Greenhouse extension, crops don't die at the end of the season, making corn and tomatoes equal. Forgetting the initial growing time, corn will grow 3 times in 12 days, while tomatoes grow 4 times in 12 days. $120 x 3 = $360 for corn $90 x 4 = $360 for tomatoes Since you can have massive amounts of crops in your greenhouse, it may be wiser to go with corn, simply because you waste less real time picking it. --- 4.4 - Planting Tips --- Once vegetables sprout, you can't water seeds in the center of a 3x3 plowed field. However, it is possible to get the full 9 vegetables you paid for when you bought the seeds. If you water all of the outer vegetables, they will grow, and once you pick them you can reach the center one again, and pick up watering where you left off. This is a good strategy, except it makes replanting difficult, as you'll have to plow another 3x3 field or wait until the center vegetable is ripe. In the Summer, plants regrow, so you'll never reach the center square. I think the best planting formation looks like the following: ### ### ## ## ### ### ...where each '#' is a crop square. Note that this formation is dangerous if your horse has not grown up, because he/she has a tendancy to follow you. If you stand in the the 'x' in the following diagram, the horse can trap you at '*'. ### ##x* ### There's no way to get the horse to move, so until you can ride it, the horse can trap you. The only escapes are to use the sickle to cut down an ungrown vegetable, wait until 6am so you begin the next day (with no sleep), or reset. The other bonus to the 8 crop formation is that it's fairly easy to water with a leveled up watering can. At level 2, you water the 3 squares in front of you, so you can water six of the squares by standing at the following 2 positions: ### ### >## and ##< ### ### You can then water the 2 remaining squares individually, or by watering at level 2 standing at the following: ### ## < ### An alternate (and possibly better method) is the following, sent in by DaleLord: ## ### ### Since you can use diagonals, you can water and harvest all 8 squares, without worrying about getting trapped. It works well, except it takes a little more movement when watering. You also won't get as large a gain with a level 2 watering can. Once you level up the watering can, it may be easiest to just go with the parallel rows: ### ### ### ### Obviously, you waste the most seeds this way. However, during the Summer and Fall, when crops regrow, seed cost is less of a factor. Perhaps the more important thing to consider is time. If you try it for a while, you'll see what I mean. Plus, the less time you spend watering, the more time you have for livestock and other things. --- 4.5 - Tip! Get the Greenhouse! --- I don't think I emphasized this enough in the house additions section, so I'll say it again. The Greenhouse is your ticket to big money! It's 16x16 squares of field, which is more than enough to grow 16 3x3 size fields of vegetables. And best of all, *time doesn't pass inside!* Since time doesn't pass, you can wake up, head inside, and spend however much time you need to raise a huge crop of tomatoes! Once you come out, it will still be only 6:15 AM, or however long it took you to walk to the Greenhouse! If you raise your chickens strictly inside as well, you can be done with all your morning chores by 9:00 AM, leaving you plenty of time to chase girls, chop wood, fish, etc! Of course, the problem is that the Greenhouse is so darn expensive ($30,000 and 580 lumber! Ouch!). But if you save up for it, you can easily get the $$$ for the other extensions, plus 8 livestock, and whatever else you want! And since you save time, chopping wood won't be a problem either! I saved up and was able to get the Greenhouse in early-mid Fall. By mid-winter I had most of the extensions (minus the baby bed and stairway). I had well over $20,000, and no longer had the pressure of feeling rushed for time! Two things to note. First, it is a major pain to pick all your vegetables in one day! So I timed my planting so that I would pick vegetables on alternating days. Second, the Greenhouse is big! While you can plant 16 3x3 fields of crops and not eat up your game time, it still takes up a lot of real time (playing the game) to actually water and pick it all. Therefore, I only use half of the Greenhouse, and still have more than enough money. --- 4.6 - Chickens --- Your first chicken will cost $1500. You don't need to buy more than one because you can hatch new ones from eggs. As long as you feed them, chickens lay one egg per day. If you put an egg in the incubator, it will hatch in 3 days, producing a yellow chick. Note that you do NOT need to feed chicks, just chickens. Chicks grow up in 7 days from when they hatch, and become full grown chickens, after which they will start laying eggs. If you put a chicken outside, you do not need to feed it. Unlike cows and sheep, chickens will NOT eat up your grass, yet will still be counted as fed. Do NOT leave them in the rain or skip feeding them. This will cause them to stop laying eggs until you take care of them again. You can't talk or brush chickens. If you keep chickens inside, you will have to give them chicken feed, which costs $10 a bag. Chicken eggs sell for $50 each, so on rainy days you still make $40 per chicken, for a maximum of 6 chickens. If it were to rain every day, with 6 chickens you would make: $40 x 6 chickens = $240 If it never rains, you can keep them outside and not feed them, so you'd get: $50 x 6 chickens = $300 The problem with rain is that you need to bring the chickens in the day BEFORE it rains, otherwise when you wake up your chicken will already be wet. So you need to feed chickens (and other animals) two times for every one day it rains (unless it rains twice in a row). The good news is that you don't have to water crops, so it balances out timewise. You can sell grown chickens for $500 each. However, you're probably better off keeping the full 6 chickens, rather than keeping 5 and always selling the 6th. Since it takes 10 days from an egg to a chicken, you could have made the same $500 if you sold that 6th's chicken's egg each of the 10 days. If you have to feed it, you could make as little as $400. However, to sell a chicken you must run down to the Green Ranch, which seems to be too much trouble. Conclusion: Keeping 6 chickens gets you $240-300 per day, which isn't bad. However, you won't get rich either, so do more than just raising chickens. When you start getting many fields of crops, or start raising livestock, you may want to consider either selling off your chickens, or stopping your hunting at the mountain. Otherwise you will likely be pressed for time. Remember we said that mountain hunting will get you about $360 per day. In the Spring, 3 fields will get you about $225, and 4 would get you close to $300 per day, but that's a lot of watering to do. At some point you'll have to stop doing something, so keep these numbers in mind. *** Tip! The Time-Freeze-Feed-The-Chickens Trick! *** A different approach is to stock up on chicken feed, and feed the chickens indoors EVERY day. This means you will make $240 per day. While this isn't as good as $300, the benefit is that you can feed the chickens inside, where time doesn't pass. Chickens don't have a happy factor like cows (meaning they don't give better eggs if they're happy), so leaving them inside doesn't effect anything other than their cost of maintance (6 bags of feed a day). Chickens particularly eat up your time when you have to bring them in when it rains. So if you leave them in, you'll spend 15 minutes of your day walking to the chicken coop, and can spend the rest of your time on more worthy things. 15 minutes of time for $240 doesn't seem too bad. For the $60 you spend on feed, you get back time you can use to raise more livestock or crops. --- 4.7 - Basic Livestock Info --- Sheep cost $4,000 to start with, while cows cost $6,000. When you buy one for the first time, the owner of the Green Ranch gives you a free bell to call your livestock (don't forget you can push them, too). After you have a sheep, you need to buy Wool Clippers from the inventor, Rick, for $1,000. With the cow, the Milker cost $1,800. Add this up, and it will cost you $5,000 to start raising sheep, and $7,800 for cows. You won't need to buy the tools right away, however, since young sheep and cows don't give wool or milk until they grow up (2 weeks for sheep, and 3 weeks for cows). So you can buy a sheep or cow as soon as you have the cash, and as long as you continue with chickens, crops, or hunting, you'll probably the money for the tools when they have grown up. Make sure to brush and talk to livestock EVERY day. I'm not sure if it makes them grow faster, but either way you get much more money from selling wool and milk taken from happy sheep and cows. Wool gets you more money, but you can milk a cow every day. I haven't figured the numbers yet, but I would assume that since cows cost more, they would give you more money, similar to the turnips vs. cabbage pricing. --- 4.8 - Sheep vs Cows --- The short version is that Sheep will get you money sooner, but in the long run, Cows will give you twice as much $$$. Since you can only have 8 livestock in your barn, the ideal would be to go with cows over sheep. However, cows will require a larger investment, so it's kind of a preference thing. Note that young sheep and cows do NOT give wool or milk, so you don't have to buy clippers or a milker right away. However, young livestock are NOT like chicks! You MUST feed them every day. Unlike chickens, you must have fully grown grass in order to leave them outside. Sheep --- Sheep cost $4,000 each. The clippers will cost you $1,000. After 2 weeks, the sheep will be big enough for you to start clipping its wool, which you get $900 for. However, the wool won't grow back for a full week, or 7 days. Once you get the quality of wool up (talk to and brush your sheep every day, let it outside sunny days, make sure it gets food), "good" wool sells for $1,800! Note that it took me probably around 6-8 weeks to get up to good wool from regular sheered wool. This may be influenced by the Winter months, as I have to leave the sheep inside. Cows --- Cows cost $6,000 each. The milker will cost you $1,800. After 3 weeks, the cow will grow up and start giving you milk. At this point, the cow is big enough to become pregnant, so you can get the Miracle Potion for $3,000. Cows will be pregnant for 3 weeks, after which you will have a new cow. Pregnant cows give less milk (cows that give small milk will still give small milk, though), so this timing should be taken into account. Consider whether it would easier to simply buy a new cow for $3,000 more than the potion. When a cow is pregnant, the feed for it goes in the birthing box to the upper right corner of the barn, where the pregnant cow will start to hang out. Like sheep, the quality, or rather quantity with cows, will increase over time as you care for it. From $100 per bottle of milk will increase to $150, $300, and finally $500 per day. In order for a cow to give $500 milk, it will need to win the Cow Festival on Fall 4th. The Controversy --- If you had a cow that gave $500 milk, in 7 days you would get $3,500. Compare this to a sheep that gives the more expensive wool at $1,800 every 7 days. Since you are limited to 8 livestock total, 8 super cows would give almost twice as much money than 8 super sheep. However, the cost to get 8 super cows is much higher. First off, the cost per cow is $6,000 compared to $4,000 per sheep. Timewise, there are many more intervals of milk quality, and it will take longer to get $500 milk. On the otherhand, you can breed new cows for $3,000. The only way to get new sheep is to buy them for another $4,000. However, don't forget that a pregnant cow will give less milk during this time, though not any less than the small $100 bottle. Conclusion --- Cows will definitely get you WAY more money in the end. However, the cost of 8 cows or sheep is very daunting. Either way will take a lot of time and money. In the end, it may come down to preference. Which one is more fun? This is a game after all. :) Going with cows AND sheep is also quite possible, although it might be a good idea to focus on one before the other. --- 4.9 - Raising Cows from Scratch --- If you get a cow pregnant using the Miracle Potion, you can get a new cow without having to buy one! What could be better than that? My suggestion? Just buy a new one. There are many problems with getting your cows pregnant. First off, the Miracle Potion costs $3,000, which is half the cost of a new cow ($6,000). Second, it takes 21 days for the pregnant cow to give birth. And Third, pregnant cows give less milk. By less milk, this means your pregnant cow will probably give you the small $100 milk. If it already gives small milk, that's still what you'll get, it can't give less. On the other hand, the day after the cow gave birth, it started giving medium sized ($150) milk. The time factor is the big problem. Once the 21 days are over, you'll have a new, small cow. But if you bought it brand new, by 21 days it would already be giving milk. Instead, you'll have to wait another 21 days for it to start getting milk. I'm not sure what the time interval is between small and medium milk, but I started out with two cows, and got the first one pregnant. Before the first cow gave birth, the second one was already giving medium milk. So if I didn't get the first cow pregnant, it would have been giving medium milk too. So I lost out on more money there. On the other hand, the $$$ is going to come out fairly close either way. And if you buy a new cow from scratch, you'll have to feed it sooner. So it's really up to you. It's also possible that a pregnant cow will become happier than a cow than never gets pregnant, which would be useful for the cow festival. The bottom line is don't assume that saving $3,000 by buying the cow potion is such a great bargain. --- 5.0 --- Here's a list of selling prices: Non-seasonal --- Eggs - $50 each Wool - $900, grows back in 7 days Premium Wool - $1800, grows back in 7 days Small Milk - $100 Medium Milk - $150 Large Milk - $300 Gold/Special Milk - $500 (only cows that won the cow festival give gold milk) Spring --- Turnips - $60 each, grow in 4 days Potatoes - $80 each, grow in 6 days Cabbages - $90 each, grow in 7 days Very-berry berries - $40 Edible grass - $30 Medicinal herbs - $70 Summer --- Edible grass - $30 Medicinal herbs - $70 Walnut - $40 Tropical Fruit - $70 Tomatoes - $90 each, grow in 9 days, regrow every 3 days after picking Corn - $120 each, grow in 13 days, regrow every 4 days after picking Fall --- Mushrooms - $60 Poisonous Mushrooms - $100 (!) Wild Grapes - $50 Edible grass - $30 Medicinal herbs - $70 Eggplant - $60 each, grow in 8 days, regrow every 3 days after picking Winter --- Strawberries - $150 each, grow in 6 days --- 6.0 - Secrets --- If you want to find everything by yourself, don't read this section, as it may spoil it for you. However, there are many hidden items in the game that you can get, depending on what you do. Personally, I don't think these are really spoilers. It would be like someone telling you where the heart pieces are in Zelda. But for those who like to explore, don't read on! ***Warning! Possible spoilers!*** --- 6.1 - Power Nuts --- There are four red Power Nuts that I know of, and one *blue* one. The red ones increase your maximum stamina so that you can work longer each without getting tired. I think there are supposed to be five or ten red nuts in the whole game. You can get one red power nut by going fishing at the mountain. Catch a big fish from the river, and throw it into the small pond to the right (the one by the fisherman's tent). I screwed this up a few times, so I suggest standing on the left side, and throwing it down-right. You'll see the fish's shadow on the pond before you throw it. If the fish makes a splash when you throw it in, you did it right. If it crumbles and flashes, you missed, meaning the game thought you threw it on the ground somewhere. If you throw in a big fish, a green water spirit (that looks like a troll or something) comes out of the water and gives you a red power nut. Big fish are blue. If you hit the Z button while you're holding it, it will identify as a big fish, I believe. If you catch a small green fish, toss it in the same pond near the fisherman's tent. The green water spirit pops up, and gives you a *blue* power nut! He says it keeps you from getting tired in the rain (i.e. you won't get more tired or sick than if you were working in clear weather). Note: You cannot get the blue and red nuts on the same day! The water spirit will only show once a day! You can get another red power nut by buying one at the first Spring Flower Festival on the 23rd. Another power nut can be won at the Fall Egg Festival on the 20th. You simply need to get enough eggs to win, which isn't very hard. During the winter, the pond by the fisherman's tent freezes over. If you have the level 3 hammer, you can crack the huge boulder there and get another red power nut. Note that your hammer MUST be gold level 3 for this to work. Supposedly, there's a power nut buried somewhere in the field, and you can dig it up with the hoe. I can't confirm this since I haven't found it myself, but several people have talked about it, so it's probably out there. Following the treasure map doesn't seem to help, but I guess it's out there somewhere... I've also heard a rumor that there's a power nut in the mines while you're digging. Supposedly on one of the lower levels (uncover a hole and go down). --- 6.2 - Recipes --- There are 34 recipes in the game. You get them by giving people certain items. I've gotten several e-mails about them, but haven't had time to put them all up yet. Unfortunately, recipes don't do anything. There's a list of all the ones you have collected on the kitchen wall, once you get it. You get the Miso Soup recipe from the Potion maker by giving him edible grass. You get Bread Pudding from Elli by giving her an egg. You get Vegetable Tomato Stew by giving a tomato to Popuri's Mom. You get Strawberry Champagne by giving strawberries to Karen. You get another recipe from Kai, the worker at the vineyard with the purple hat, by giving him very-berry berries. You get another recipe from Karen's father by giving him the Fall berries to him at the bar during the night. You get a fish recipe from the fisherman by giving him a fish. --- 6.3 - Other --- There's a treasure map hidden in the tree at the right side of your farm. Use the A button to find it. I'm not sure what it refers to. --- 7.0 - Important Events --- This section is mainly to prepare you for certain events in the game. Most of the information is given to you from channel 2 on the TV, which tells you about upcoming events. It's annoying to read every day since it's often the same, but it does change several times a month, and some things are important, so I would recommend reading every few days at least. Game time doesn't pass while you're in the house, anyway. All of the events described in this section 7 will be based on the first year of the game. ***Warning! Possible spoilers!*** --- 7.1 - Spring --- Planting Festival: Spring 8th - You don't need to do anything special here. Just talk to everyone at least once. Spring 16th - The first year, forget about registering for the horse race. I know you get the letter in the mail, but your horse isn't old enough. Normally someone will come over to your house in the morning, but you won't be able to the first Spring. Read on for how it works. Horse Race: Spring 17th - During the first year, as far as I know it is IMPOSSIBLE to race your horse in the first race of the year. I got the horse on the first day, talked to it and brushed it everyday, and it still wasn't big enough to race. I don't think it's possible to get the horse big enough in time, and even if you could, it wouldn't have the energy you need to win. Instead, just talk to everyone. I started the game over because I thought I missed something, but here's how horse registration works once the horse is old enough. The day before the event, someone (the Green Ranch owner) will come over and ask if you want to register. This only happens if you have an eligible animal, meaning your horse is big enough, or your cow for the cow festival, etc. You can also bet on the races, but this early in the game you are unlikely to have the $$$ needed to win the expensive prizes. For more info, read the horse racing section (7.5) Spring 18th - A new guy (Cliff) shows up on your doorstep (pretty much). He says he's hungry, so make sure you keep some food in your backpack from the day before. Anything will do, so you might as well give him some cheap $30 edible grass. If you check your mail at this point, you will find you can vote for one of the girls as Queen for the Flower Festival on the 23rd. There's kind of catch here. The Queen automatically dances with the King of the year, which is still the Potion Shop owner. So if you vote for the girl you like, you won't get to dance with her. I think it might be better to vote for someone else, but I didn't go back to change my vote. Flower Festival: Spring 23rd - The Queen of the festival (whoever you voted for in the previous days) will dance with the King of the year. The Potion Shop owner is king for the first year, so vote for someone else so that you can choose the girl you want as your future wife as you dance partner. End of Spring - On Summer 9th the Vegetable Festival is held. Crops still planted from the Spring die at the beginning of Summer, and you can't grow anything in 8 days, so you need to save something from the Spring. Just pick whatever vegetable you're growing, and keep it in your bag until the festival. If you don't keep something, you can be a judge for the event, but you don't really get to do anything. However, I haven't been able to win this even when I saved something, so I don't know that it's possible to win the first year. --- 7.2 - Summer --- Fireworks: Summer 1st - A fireworks display is put on at night. Each of the girls can be found at a different location, so go where the girl is that you're chasing: Karen is at the beach (go right from the Green Ranch). Elli is at her home at the bakery (I looked around 1000 times before I figured this out. Too obvious for me...:) Ann is at the Green Ranch, head through the fences towards the barn. Maria is at the village square. Popuri is at the top of the mountain, but there's a trick to getting there. To get where she is, you'll have to climb the tree to the left of the mountain cave entrance using the A button. This puts you at the other side of the broken bridge Vegetable Festival: Summer 9th - You can submit any vegetables you have left over from the Spring harvests. However, I don't think you can win during the first year. Either way, you get to judge the event, not that it counts for anything. Just make sure to talk to everyone. Firefly Festival: Summer 17th - This takes place on the beach at night (after 6pm, I believe). Just make sure to talk to everyone there. Sea Festival: Summer 24th - To win the swimming race, press the A button as fast as you can. My brother was able to do this by hitting the button as fast as he could and won easily. When I tried it for some reason I didn't swim that fast. I think I was pushing the button fast, but too erratically. When I switched my technique and went at a more steady pace I won easily. It may have something to do with timing yourself with the kicking on the screen. I suggest just hitting as fast as you can, but if you have trouble make sure you're not going nuts on the button too much. --- 7.3 - Fall --- Cow Festival: Fall 4th - You must have a fully grown cow (it gives milk) to enter it. I don't think you'll be able to win this the first year either. If you manage to win (next year), your cow will be able to give the $500 milk. Harvest Festival: Fall 12th - This is when the King for the next year is picked. Every time I tried, Kai kept getting selected as King. I think this is predetermined, so there's not much you can do about it. Just talk with everyone. After a while, Ann will be by the mayor, and you get a cake from her. Egg Festival: Fall 20th - This is an egg hunt. Just look around the boxes to find the matching color egg. You do have a limited time for each match, but it's usually more than enough. You can miss a few matches and still win. It doesn't seem very hard. If you win, you get a red power nut which increases your total energy. Fall 23rd - I might be a day or two off here. Anyway, at some point the carpenters will come by to tell you that they are rebuilding the bridge across the mountain, and would like your help. Every day after, until the 27th, go to the mountain to help out. Each day you work you get paid $1,000. No matter how early you start you end work at 3:00pm. However, I think you can get a photo for the album if you come early enough every day (anytime before noon, I think). Horse Race: Fall 28th - You can only race in 1 of the 3 races, and you cannot bet on the one you're participating in. The race you're in seems to be selected somewhat randomly. Racing is somewhat tricky. Pressing A makes you run, but also uses up your stamina. A good tactic is to press A at a moderate speed, just enough to keep up with the leader. Near the end of the race, when the crowd starts cheering, hit the button faster, maybe as quick as you can. Assuming you don't run out of energy, you should be able to win. Your speed and total energy is determined by how well you take care of your horse. Read section 7.5 for details. Fall 30th - The head of the Green Ranch (Ann's dad) will come over and as you to take care of some extra cows. If you say yes, he will bring them over at the start of Winter until the 4th or 5th. If you take good care of the 3 cows he brings, you'll get $1,000 at the end. --- 7.4 - Winter --- Winter 7th - An earthquake strikes at night! If you have the Greenhouse already, it will probably knock down some of your crops, reducing the squares to plowed fields. I lost only 2 vegetables, but my brother lost closer to 6. Thanksgiving: Winter 10th - Girls who like you will give you a cake. Just make sure you talk to the girl you like to get a cake from her. Winter 11th - Maria's birthday. Make sure to give her cake if you're chasing her. Winter 13th - I might be day or two off, but near this date the carpenters will come over to tell you they're building a spa from the spring the appeared after the earthquake. Like the bridge, you'll get $1,000 per day you show up the mountain. Work ends at 3:00pm each day, until the 18th. I was able to get photo after this was over, which may be determined by whether you show up early enough each day. Dog Race: Winter 19th - Unlike horse racing, you have no control over how fast your dog runs. How well it does is determined by how well you take care of your dog (see section 7.5). Sometimes I came in 3rd, and other times I came in 6th. It may be somewhat random, but I was never once close to beating the leader. Either I didn't take good enough care of my dog, or it's not possible to win the first year. Starry Night: Winter 24th - This takes place at the church. Just talk with everyone before the music begins. --- 7.5 - Caring for Animals (Winning the Festivals) --- To win festival events, you need to take care of your animals. Note that you probably cannot enter the first horse race on Spring 17th. Dog: To care for your dog, put food in his dish as often as possible. You should also whistle for him (so I'm told, I neglected to do this most of the year) and pick him up at least once a day. You also need to bring him inside during bad weather. I'm not sure what to do during the winter. At first I was leaving him outside, but the Potion Shop owner brings his dog, Taro, inside every day. On the other hand, Taro usually loses in the races. Once I got married to Ann, there were some occasions where my dog appeared outside, so maybe she let him out. This may be a sign that you are to leave him out. I wasn't able to win the Dog Races the first year, so I'm not sure whether I was doing something wrong. I did forget to whistle for him most of the year, and I was leaving him outside during the Winter, which I'm not sure is good or bad. Horse: The key to a happy horse is to brush it and talk to it every day. The brush is $600 at the inventor's shop. Buy it as soon as you have extra cash. Once your horse is big enough for you to ride and put crops on, make sure you ride on it every day (since you can no longer talk to him). The better you treat your horse, the more total energy he will have when you race. In the following year you should have him in good enough condition to push the A button quickly without wearing him down too much, making it easier to win. Cow: To win the Cow Festival, you must have a cow in great condition. I would assume this means it must give large $300 milk. Make sure to brush and talk to your cows every day. Once they are large enough, also make sure to milk them. It may also be possible that a cow that has given birth may be in somewhat better condition, although this is only a theory. --- 8.0 - Contributors/Contact Info --- Check out our Harvest Moon 64 website at http://acer.simplenet.com/games/hm64/index.htm The site is currently under construction, and will contain information similar to this document, except with graphics and organized into different pages. To contact the authors about this Tips/FAQ, send e-mail to happycows@pallet- town.com This is our first co-written FAQ, so let us know how we're doing! Please send any comments/feedback/suggestions. Contributors to this document will be credited accordingly. First of all, thanks to everyone who e-mails us with tips. Sorry we can't reply or credit everyone. I've been kind of slow on some updates (sorting which info came from whom). If you don't see your name credited, it's probably because someone sent in similar info before you, or had already discovered it by the time I read your e-mail. If you have a complaint about your name listed/not listed, etc. please e-mail me and I'll try to work it out. Thanks goes out to: Jennifer for info about Karen Ninjadroz for talking about the invincible katori Kyle Mathis for sharing a typhoon experience Mad_bomber64 for info on Gray/Popuri Freddie for agreeing that pregnant cows aren't worth it CronoX2o0o for power nut info Giulio for recipes and other general info Catkin/Soccercat for lots of info on Karen and other stuff DaleLord for info on Maria, crop tips, and a power nut location Gran for pointing out some numbers Alex Barone for a correction on crop prices NateVader2 for some pricing information Jupiterstar and Rhi for more recipes and Cliff and Ann info Alvaro for girl and other info 9.0 - Copyright/Disclaimer --- Copyright 1999. All rights reserved. This Tips/FAQ document is the property of it's author, Matthew Lam. This document is freely distributable, so long as it remains unedited. (i.e. Don't change a few things and say you wrote this.) Harvest Moon 64 is the property of Natsume and Nintendo. The author has no affiliation with either company, nor with the development of this game. The author is not responsible for any mental or physical trauma caused by reading this FAQ, or from playing the game.