I. INTRODUCTION
II. WALKTHROUGH (Sort of)
III. MARRIAGE
A. Dating
B. Presents
C. Blue Feather
IV. MAKING MONEY
A. Cows
B. Chickens
C. Crops
D. The Back Hill
V. FAQ
VI. APPENDIX
A. Festivals
B. Crops
C. Selling Prices
Harvest Moon can best be described as a unique cross between a role
playing game (RPG) and a simulation. Here's the story: Your parents
have just gone away and you have a total of two and a half years to
turn their old, decrepit ranch around. Seems simple, right? Wrong.
Just about every game day you're busy running back and forth doing
stuff. There's almost not enough time to sleep each night.
Each year has four seasons (duh) and each season lasts 30 days.
There's no months in Harvest Moon. Each year is only made up of 120
days. That gives you 300 game days total. Every 15 seconds that you
play the game, approximately an hour of game time passes. That means
that you have about two minutes and 45 seconds of daytime each game
day. After the sun sets, however, you can keep working as long as
you want (the day is only over when you go to bed). But there's a
few problems with working late into the night. First of all, you
can't harvest any of your crops at night because the shipper comes at
about 5:00 p.m., and anything put in the collection bin after then is
sure to rot overnight. Secondly, you're going to have to make trips
to the hot spring to refresh yourself constantly. If not, you won't
be able to do anything except pick things up. Lastly, if you're
married, working late into the night is sure to cause problems for
the marriage.
First of all, you're going to type in your name when the shipper
asks you. Next, he'll take you into town. Talk to everyone you see
(Press A to talk). Go into all of the houses and speak to the people
there. Make SURE to talk (behind the counter) to the lady in the
Flower Shop (you'll get a watering can) and to the Livestock Dealer
(you'll get some grass). You start out with 300G. The book in the
church will tell you when all of the holidays are, so just look in
there if you forget. The book in the Fortune Teller's place gives
some tips on marriage and dating. Once you're done looking around
town and talking to everyone, find the shipper and talk to him to
go back to the ranch. You'll automatically go to bed.
***** Hint: Run everywhere (hold the B button down). You'll save
tons of time by doing this. Only walk when you need to get into a
small opening or something.
***** Hint: Watch TV before you go to bed every night. You'll see
what the weather is going to be like the next day. If it's going to
rain or there's any kind of bad weather, put your animals inside.
On the second day, you'll meet up with a puppy when you walk out of
the house. This is Ellen's dog, but she can't keep it. Name it and
it's yours. You never need to feed it. Just leave it somewhere (out
or in, your choice) and don't worry about it. The L button on top of
the controller will whistle for the dog. Now you're going to have to
do some work. Run out of your farm (towards town) and go up the back
hill. Find a wild grape, and press the A button. Choose "Don't eat"
when it asks you (eating it will refill some of your stamina, which
is just about full right now). Now, run back to your ranch and throw
the fruit in your produce bin (that small thing that looks like a dog
house directly below your own house). If it's still light outside,
run up and get another one. These fruits will get you 150G apiece
(money to buy crops tomorrow). The shipper will take the fruits and
you'll find the money in your pocket the next day. You can't ship
flowers (cave herbs aren't flowers, by the way), cake, animals,
weeds, or stuff like that.
***** Hint: Never let a day go by without making money. Run up the
back hill and pick some fruits if you have no crops to harvest for
that day. This is very important to remember.
Now, pull all of the weeds (the green bushes) inside your fence and
throw them anywhere (they'll vanish when they hit the ground). Once
that's done, go to your tool shed and get the hammer (A to pick it
up), then switch (X button), and pick up the axe. Now you can use
the tool with the Y button, or switch tools with the X button. Go
outside and chop all the stumps that are inside your fence (the wood
is automatically stacked in the wood shed). After the stumps, pound
the big rocks inside your fence. One thing to remember about big
rocks and stumps is that it takes six solid hits to break them up and
if you move during those six hits, you'll have to start the six hits
all over again. The small rocks can also be pounded (just one hit),
but this wastes your stamina. Just throw them in the nearest pond
(picking up and throwing stuff doesn't eat up any stamina at all).
By the way, one stump gets you six pieces of wood in your shed. But
you'll take out two pieces from your shed for each piece of fence.
***** Hint: Read the book in the upper-right corner of your tool
shed to learn some valuable info on tools.
What you'll need to do next is to get your hoe and make areas to
plant the crops you'll buy tomorrow.
XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX
XXX X XX XX XX XX XX
XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX
Figure 1. Figure 2. Figure 3. XXX XXX XXX XXX
XX XX XX XX
XXX XXX XXX XXX
Figure 4.
There are many shapes that you can make to plant your crops in.
Figure 1., the square, is not a very good choice. When your crops
begin growing, you won't be able to access the middle plant. Not too
good. Figure 2. (the C) is a better choice, but you'll end up
sacrificing two of your possible nine plants. Figure 3., the fat C,
is a very good choice for your ranch at the beginning of the game.
The shape allows you to water eight plants. You're only giving up
one of your possible nine this time. Figure 4. shows that you'll
need a walking space around each square, so plan your ranch
accordingly.
You should make about three or four fat C areas for now. Make sure
that they're all inside of your fence, or wild dogs will end up
eating them (your dog will let out a "yip-yip" if one comes inside
your fence during the night). Do as much work as you can to fix up
your ranch tonight, and take a trip to the spa (up on the back hill
in the very upper-right corner). Jump in and out about five times to
completely restore your stamina. By now, you're probably not even
hearing any music. It stops at 6:00 p.m. When you're married, you
should be in the house before the music stops every night. But since
you're single right now, work as late as you want. Remember, the day
doesn't end until you go to sleep at night. Read the diary by the
bed to go to sleep.
Once you go to sleep, the game will ask if you want to write in
your diary before you go to bed or not. Saying yes will save your
game, saying no will give you another menu. You'll be able to
continue without saving or just forget going to bed at all in the
second menu.
When you wake up (it should be the 3rd of Spring), you'll need to
go into town and buy some crops to plant.
After purchasing as many potatoes as you can (the brown bag), go to
your shed, where all the things that people give you will go, and get
the crops you just purchased. Make sure you're PERFECTLY in the
middle of a "fat C" square of plowed field before you use the bag.
Now you should just keep on buying potatoes (more and more) until
you have about 10 "fat C" squares full. Keep them full and start to
save money. When you have a little more than a thousand dollars, buy
a chicken (and don't buy any more). If the Livestock Dealer says no
when you try to buy the chicken, plant some more grass (in the shape
of Figure 1.). Put it up in the upper right corner of your ranch.
Not WAY up there, but far enough away so it doesn't interfere with
your field of crops. It should be inside the fence, so chop some
wood and make your fence bigger if you need to. Once you have a
chicken, put it in the chicken coop (the building in your ranch
that's farthest to the right and right above your toolshed). Feed it
and wait for it's egg the next day.
***** Hint: It's good practice to feed your animals (cows and
chickens) every day before you do anything else. It'll save you some
time in the long run.
When you have the egg, CAREFULLY place it in the box in the bottom-
right corner of the chicken coop. It should hatch in about a week or
so. The egg doesn't need any extra food, and neither does the chick.
The full-grown chicken DOES need food to produce eggs, however. Stop
producing chickens when you have about 5 or so unless you have plenty
of fodder to feed them. You should pick out a girlfriend about now
and start giving her presents (fruit or herbs on the back hill makes
a good gift). Give her something every couple days or so.
Just keep on making money on your potatoes, and if you need a fast-
growing crop becuase you're nearing the end of the season, get some
radishes. In Summer, buy a bunch of corn and save any leftover crops
(radishes or potatoes) for next Spring. The corn will keep on going
if you water it, so you'll save some money because you won't have to
keep on buying it. Your next goal is to save up 5,000G to buy a cow.
Once you get a cow, buy the brush. Talk to, brush and feed your cow
EVERY day. Once it gets big, buy the milker and milk it everyday in
addition to talking to it, brushing it, and feeding it. It's a good
thing that time doesn't pass while you're tending your cows, because
a good portion of your day you're going to be in there.
Keep buying cows as you get money. Remember that you'll need to
have more grass planted for about every cow you buy. When Winter
comes along, make sure to have your silo just about full (999) of
fodder. If it's not, buy the bags of cow or chicken feed from the
Livestock Dealer. It's not as good as regular feed, but it'll do.
Also, in Fall and Winter when you can't grow crops, you should be
making about three trips a day to the back hill to pick stuff.
I'll put more in this section later if you guys really want.
Email me and let me know if I should or not. If you're stuck at a
point or you're not making money or something, re-read over this
whole FAQ or watch the "How to Play" demo on Harvest Moon (it really
helps).
First of all, you're going to have to pick someone to start dating.
Here's a list of all the eligible women:
MARIA can be found at her house (the Mayor's) or in the church most
of the time.
NINA works at the Flower Shop. Don't pick any flowers for her, buy
them. She doesn't like people who pick flowers.
ANNE is usually in the Hardware Store, busy tinkering with something.
She always says she'll invent something someday.
ERIN is the Livestock Dealer's daughter. She's the one who drops off
the dog at your ranch.
EVE makes a really strong berry juice. She works every night except
Sunday at the Inn.
Now that you've got a list, make your choice wisely. Most people
will choose Eve because she works late at night, which is very
convenient when you're really busy during the day (which you usually
are).
Make sure that you listen to what the girl says before you start
buying presents. They all have different tastes. Once you've found
out all the things she likes, make it a point to stop by and give her
a present just about every day or two. After giving her the present,
talk with her for a little while. Sooner or later, she'll say a few
things hinting about marriage. When you think you're ready, buy the
Blue Feather from the man who sells things on weekends in the Market.
Once you hand your wife-to-be the Blue Feather, she'll say yes if
you have purchased the Super Deluxe Log House and if she really wants
to be married. Try to bring her a present and be in the house before
dark every day when you're both living together. You may even have
children if everything works out between the two of you.
Your Cattle Barn should be your first stop in the morning. A handy
thing to do is to have the Brush and Milker in your hands before you
go to bed every night. That way, you won't waste valuable time
running to the Tool Shed in the morning. Once you're in here, brush,
milk, talk to, and feed every one of your cows. This procedure can
be really time consuming with a full herd of cows. Luckily, time
does not pass when you're inside a building. It does, however, pass
outside and in caves. If you have a full barn of content cows, you
can make about 4,200 gold pieces a day. So make sure you spend time
with them. Once you're done with your cows, move on to your
chickens.
Your chicken coop makes the least money out of all the aspects of
your ranch. The most you can make in one day from their eggs is a
measly 600 gold pieces. However, selling a chicken gets you 500 gold
pieces. This will reduce the amount you make from eggs, however.
After collecting all their eggs (and placing one in the incubator if
you need to), it shouldn't be past 6:00 a.m. Now it's time to pick
your crops.
Picking the crops is the most time consuming process of the day.
Pick as much as you can, as fast as you can, as accurately as you
can. It might take a little practice before you don't ruin any of
your vegetables while running and picking. When the Shipper arrives
at 5:00 p.m., you're done for the day. Now water anything that needs
it (remember that you don't need to water the grass) and plant any
seeds that need to be planted. If you run out of stamina, make a
trip to the Hot Springs in the upper right corner of the Back Hill.
For maximum effect, go in and out of the spring about five times.
:''''''''' '''''' '''' '''''' ' ' '' ' ' '' ' '
: The Back Hill
:......... ...... .... ...... . . .. . . .. . .
If you don't have any crops to harvest (in Fall or Winter), make a
few trips to the Back Hill after you feed your animals. You won't
make much money doing this, but at least it's something. Don't let a
day go by without making money.
A. You don't have enough grass growing. Buy some grass seeds (the
green bag) at the Flower Shop and plant them in your field. Now go
talk to the Livestock Dealer again. Plant more grass if necessary.
. . . .. ... ..... .........
Q. How do I propose marriage?
A. First of all, you need to get a girl to really like you. Check
her diary (the book in the back of her house or where she works all
the time) to find out how many hearts you have. When you have about
six or more hearts, you'll probably be able to marry her. She'll
also hint around marriage when she's ready. On Saturday or Sunday,
drop by the Market and buy the Blue Feather for 2,000 GP. Put it in
your hand and give it to her when you're ready. You should be
married within a week if she really likes you.
. . . .. ... ..... .........
Q. Where's that Moon Flower?
A. This very rare flower grows only once a year. Search the very
top of the Back Hill between the 10th and the 12th of Fall.
. . . .. ... ..... .........
Q. What's the secret to winning the prize at the Egg Festival?
A. Try again and again. If you mess up, just reset and continue
your game from the day before. After a few trys, you'll be sure to
win the prize.
. . . .. ... ..... .........
Q. How do I get through Winter?
A. Make sure to have your Silo stocked with as much fodder as you
can (999 max). Remember, each cow and chicken consume one piece of
fodder each. Just add up your cows and chickens and multiply the
number by 30 to find out how much fodder you'll need for the Winter.
If you're running low, you can either sell some animals (preferably
chickens) or even buy the packages of food from the Livestock Dealer.
He says though, that it's not as good as real fodder. The packages
work just like farm tools (pick them up and switch to it to use), but
they only last a certain amount of uses. Make sure that you're also
throwing the cave herbs (the only thing that grows year-round) in
your produce bin every day for added cash.
. . . .. ... ..... .........
Q. How do I get the Watch?
A. All you need to do is upgrade your house once (to the Super Log
House) before the end of the first Summer. It will cost you 5,000 GP
and 250 pieces of wood. You can chop all the wood in one night if
you need to. Go in and out of the Hot Springs about 5 times to fill
your Stamina up completely, and keep on chopping.
FLOWER FESTIVAL 23rd of Spring
The Flower Festival is the first festival you'll attend. It's also
the only festival that takes place while crops are growing. You
don't need to bring anything when you come. Make sure you feed your
animals and harvest any crops you want to sell that day before you go
to the festival (as with most of the others).
. . . .. ... ..... .........
HARVEST FESTIVAL 12th of Fall
Now you're going to have to bring something to the Harvest Festival
to go in your soup. If you can't find anything else, make a quick
trip to the Back Hill for a mushroom.
. . . .. ... ..... .........
THE EGG HUNT 20th of Fall
At the Egg Hunt, there is actually an egg hunt. Someone will hold
up a colored egg in the middle of town, then you have to run around,
opening chests and searching for the correctly colored egg. When you
find the right color, run back to the man and give the egg to him.
He'll award you a point. After a few times, he'll announce the
winner of the contest. If you happen to win, you'll acquire a small
charm that is supposed to protect against disasters.
. . . .. ... ..... .........
THANKSGIVING 10th of Winter
If you have enough hearts in a girl's diary when Thanksgiving comes
around, they're sure to bake you a cake. Other than that, nothing
much happens during this festival.
. . . .. ... ..... .........
STAR FESTIVAL 24th of Winter
Make sure you find out where your girlfriend is going to be during
the Star Festival the day before. You'll have quite a few places to
choose from when you wake up in the morning.
. . . .. ... ..... .........
NEW YEAR 1st of Spring
At the New Year's Festival, everyone meets at the top of the Back
Hill to watch the first sunrise of the year.
Here's a price comparison table for you. As you can see, potatoes
will make you the most money in the Spring, and corn will make you
the most money in the Summer. But if you're just going for some fast
money at the end of the season, it's better to buy the radishes or
tomatoes because they'll grow faster.
.....................................................................
: VEGETABLE : RADISHES : POTATOES : TOMATOES : CORN :
:.......................:..........:..........:..........:..........:
: TIME TO HARVEST : 4 days : 6 days : 10 days* : 13 days* :
:.......................:..........:..........:..........:..........:
: HARVESTS PER SEASON : 7 : 5 : 7 : 6 :
:.......................:..........:..........:..........:..........:
: AMOUNT FROM 8 SQUARES : 480 GP : 640 GP : 800 GP : 960 GP :
:.......................:..........:..........:..........:..........:
: SEASON GROSS : 3,360 GP : 3,200 GP : 5,600 GP : 5,760 GP :
:.......................:..........:..........:..........:..........:
: SEASON NET : 1,960 GP : 2,200 GP : 5,300 GP : 5,460 GP :
:.......................:..........:..........:..........:..........:
* If you keep on watering your tomatoes and corn, you'll be able to
pick more vegetables every three days.
. . . . . . . .
: . . . . . . . . . . . :
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:: .... . . ::
:: : That concludes the Harvest Moon FAQ ::
:: : If I'm missing anything, I messed up anywhere, you want to ::
:: : add something to this FAQ, or tell me I forgot something, . ::
:: : Email me at the address at the top of this FAQ. : ::
:: ' : ::
:: All logos, terms, characters, and everything else are : ::
:: probably (C) copyrighted by their respective owners. : ::
:: ' ' '''' ::
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