Updated Guides for Island of Happiness

Just a quick note to inform players that updated versions of ALL my Island of Happiness Guides have been sent to IGN and should be uploaded shortly. Please refer to the latest version of each Guide. Some players have informed me that they printed out my Guides for personal use, but I would not advise this as long as I continue to update them regularly, as significant changes sometimes must be made (alas!). Bear in mind the fact that my Guides are based primarily on my own game experience with official confirmation from Natsume where questions arise.

In many cases, however, it is only after MANY players have played the game that hidden requirements or conflicts are manifested. When players write to me to ask why an event did not trigger, I then am able to uncover requirements that may not have been obvious to me when playing my own game. I tend to unlock options as early as possible. Having played many Harvest Moon games, I usually have an instinct as to what courses of action should be followed in any new game. I therefore may have fulfilled a requirement without realising it WAS a requirement.

An example of a 'hidden' requirement that only became confirmed after FoMT had been on the market for some time was the need to LOWER an eligible girl's heart (if it exceeded the required level) in order to experience the rival heart events. Initially I was told by every 'expert' that this requirement did not exist. (My first guides were written for FoMT.) Every one now knows that this requirement does exist, but at the time, I was one of the first to discover that I could trigger the Rival Events only if I lowered the girl's heart level by giving her items she detested.

In any case, my Courtship and Marriage Guide for IoH now contains a section on Pregnancy as well as revised requirements for some of the characters and marriage in general.

It is my Farming Guide, however, that really pleases me now, as I spent the weekend exploring 'advanced' crops and the conditions under which various crops thrived or withered. I have added some basic rules for watering to this Guide as well as my General Guide. Detailed descriptions of each Crop have been included now and a tip for unlocking the most difficult crops early in the game.

I need to publish a comprehensive Cookbook Recipe Guide next. I have the texts of many events to add to the Characters Guide, Calendar Guide and Courtship and Marriage Guide. My journals contain the text but it has to be organised and transferred to the appropriate section of each guide.