Unlike many other Harvest Moon games, Farming is rather complex in Island of Happiness. It therefore merits a mini-guide of its own. I hope to send one to IGN later this afternoon. All basic information included in the Farming Guide is included now in latest version of the General Guide, which should be uploaded later today I hope. Even so, a quick reference guide devoted specifically to farming may be useful to players.
The rate at which Crops grow, the value of the Crop harvested and the conditions under which they will wither in the field vary from Crop to Crop. Crops in IoH each require a specified amount of Sunlight and Water in order to thrive. Crops requiring LESS water or sunlight may wither and die if you overwater them or if there are too many fiercely sunny days in a season. Yes, there are two types of Sunny Day in IoH. The icon of a small sun indicates a 'clear sky' and 'mildly sunny' weather. The icon of a large red sun indicates fierce sunlight, a danger to crops that need 'more' water to survive.
Both Fruit Trees and Grass in Island of Happiness require specified amounts of Sunlight and Water to grow and to continue to grow. As Grass therefore is a labour intensive Crop in IoH, I suggest growing it only for emergency use on the day prior to any Typhoon. Like any Crop, you must continue to water it occasionally (but not too much!) if you wish to keep it ripe in the field.
Fruit Trees will continue to grow through the years and produce Fruit only if Sunlight and Water conditions are met. You need not water them daily but make certain they receive water once in a while. You cannot plant any crops in Winter, by the way, but Wheat should continue to grow during the Winter season.
Most Crops in Island of Happiness need to be unlocked before you will be able to buy the Seeds at Chen's Market. There are only two varieties of seasonal Crops at the Market at the start of the game in each of the growing seasons. All others must be unlocked through your Farming accomplishments. Shipping is the key in most cases.
You therefore need to maintain a fine balance between use of Crops in Recipes, storing Crops for the future and shipping them for Income and in order to unlock new Crops.
The Seed Maker and the Greenhouse are critical items in Island of Happiness. Ultimately, I suggest that players grow almost all Crops in the Greenhouse, reserving the Field for an Orchard and Animal Pens and one plot, perhaps, of ripe Grass.
With a Seed Maker, you can create seeds for crops that you have not unlocked at Chen's Market. Mushrooms in particular can be grown from the first Autumn when you find them in the Wilds provided you have a Seed Maker. With a Seed Maker, you can convert Crops and Grains given randomly by Manfred into seeds if they have not been unlocked yet.
In any event, I hope my Farming Guide will be helpful to players. It is a work in progress, like all of my guides.
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6 comments:
... Ok, this is starting to sound a wee bit complex ... but amazingly realistic at the same time ... I always find it amusing how games which appear to be targeted for a younger audience hide such deep complex mechanics within them (Pokemon for example).
Anyway, I'm pretty sure I'll be referencing your excellent guides for this game when I'm left scratching my noggin and wondering why my obsessively-watered crops look like crap ... Because I always have to try and do it the hard way first (on my own).
- Mars
I lost almost every crop in my field at one point in IoH because I was too obsessive about watering. You actually LOSE them. It's not a matter of their rank or quality decreasing. It's total obliteration.
I have been trying to grow tomatoes in my greenhouse and I planted them on day 1 of summer and it's now day 2 of fall and still NO ripe tomatoes to harvest. Is this because there isn't as much sun or is the summer sun I have too low quality ? I missed the crop festival because I planted some in my field too late :-( I was relying on the greenhouse. What gives ? Thanks
Sunlight in the Greenhouse is 1 point per day but it is constant... What sort of watering did you do? My Farming Guide gives the requirements for Sunlight and Water for every Crop. Generally, Tomatos are:
Water: Normal
Light: More
So yes, they will grow more slowly in the Greenhouse than during a Summer when every day had fierce Sunlight, but on the other hand, their growth will move forward constantly if you water them every single day.
What I am going to do in my own game is, whenever a Crop is chosen for the Crop Festival, to grow one lot in the field and one in the Greenhouse and then plant another in each location a few days later... stagger them that way.
With the Mythic Refrigerator, you can store 'A' Rank Crops indefinitely. I had hoped that the Quality Improver would have a positive effect, but it really is insignificant in terms of RESTORING quality. What it will do is preserve the quality of any item placed in it.
Bottom line: Farming in IoH is rather challenging!
Hi. Yes, farming certainly is more challenging and thanks for the reply. I finally got some tomatoes on fall day 3 ! I was watering once a day but at the beginning of summer I overwatered - twice a day for the first week or so due to some bad advise I read on a site. It seems this really slowed things down. I will grow some in the field as well next time and stagger until I can get enough Mythic stones for the fridge. I was really surprised it took so long in the greenhouse. I guess I better stick to your guides from now on :-)
Well, guide writers are only human, and I make errors as well, but when I do, I always try to correct them as quickly as possible!
Actually, the Quality Improver can serve to preserve the quality of any item stashed there. It is rather disappointing as I thought it would improve items more dramatically than it does. It only increases quality very gradually, and it takes an entire week to have ANY effect, but what it will do is prevent your 'S' and 'A' rank items from losing any quality. It is a good option for storage if you cannot afford the Mythic Refrigerator.
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