Harvest Moon Forever: Bachelors in Sunshine Islands

Showing posts with label Bachelors in Sunshine Islands. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Growing Grains and Unlocking Seeds in Sunshine Islands

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Sunshine Islands and Island of Happiness are based on the same fundamental rules where farming is concerned, but you will find that Grains are sold at Chen's Market from the very start of the game. If, therefore, you have a Seed Maker, you can purchase Soybeans, Wheat, Buckwheat and Rice from Chen and convert them into Seeds immediately. There are a few important facts that should be made clear, however.

First of all, there is no point in converting Rice from Chen's Market into Rice Seeds. You cannot grow Rice in an ordinary field. You need to raise Link Island, then Rice Island and build bridges from your Ranch to Link Island and then to Rice Island before you will have access to the paddy fields where Rice can be planted. Furthermore, as soon as you have raised Rice Island, Rice Seeds will be unlocked at Chen's Market.

In terms of growing Rice, there are a couple of important conditions that must be met. First, you need to set one Yellow Wonderful in your Hoe in order to till a rice paddy. You will not be able to till the paddies with an ordinary unaugmented Hoe. This is true BOTH in Island of Happiness and Sunshine Islands. Make certain that you CHARGE your Hoe before you swing it or the Wonderful will not take effect. Second, Rice MUST BE PLANTED IN SPRING in order to mature before the end of Autumn, when all Crops will die. Again, this is the case both in IoH and in SI.

Other Grains require no special field but take a fairly long time to mature. The grain that grows most quickly is Soybeans but here it is necessary to note that there are errors in the official descriptions both of Soybean Seeds and Buckwheat Seeds.

Here are the official Descriptions of all Grain Seeds. I have added the special requirements to unlock each:

Rice Seeds: 200G
All but Winter. Water: none. Light: normal. Grows only in Rice Paddy.

Wheat Seeds: 200G
All but Winter. Water: Less; Light: Normal; Very slow growth rate.
Unlocked by shipping 100 each of Turnips, Cucumbers, Potatoes and Strawberries

Buckwheat Seeds: 230G
Sp, Su. Fa.* Water: Normal; Light: Normal. Very slow growth rate.
Unlocked by shipping 100 each of Eggplant, Cabbage, Yam and Spinach.

Soybean Seeds: 250G
Sp. Su, Fa.* Water: More; Light: More. Also makes Edamame.
Unlocked by shipping 100 each of Tomato, Corn, Onion and Pumpkin

*Note that the official Description for the Seasons is incorrect both for Soybeans and for Buckwheat. It should be: Su, Fa. Neither Soybeans nor Buckwheat can be grown in Spring. You can plant them only in Summer and Autumn.

I am a little annoyed with myself for not catching these errors sooner. It was only when I tried to sow some Soybean Seeds in Spring that I realised there was a discrepancy.

Here it may be worth noting that there is a safety feature in Sunshine Islands that prevents you from sowing seeds out of season. If you attempt to sow either Soybean Seeds or Buckwheat Seeds in Spring, for example, you will see the following prompt:

Hey! You’ll waste them if you sow over there! Stand in the middle of the tilled area!

In fact, it does not matter WHERE you stand. You must wait until Summer if you wish to plant them in your own field. Note that any Crops can be grown in any Season in the Greenhouse with the proper ‘Sun’ in place.

Special Seasonal Crops are unlocked by shipping Grains. Most Crop Seeds will be unlocked in the ordinary course of Farming, simply by raising your Farming Degree level. There are some ‘special’ Crops, however, that are more difficult to unlock. These are:

Cabbage: A Spring Crop unlocked by shipping 100 Wheat and reaching Level 10 in Farming.

Pineapple: A Summer Crop unlocked by shipping 100 Soybeans

Bell Pepper: An Autumn Crop unlocked by shipping 100 Buckwheat and reaching Level 12 in Farming.

If you wish to unlock these crops quickly, you can purchase the Grains from Chen's Market instead of growing them. There are two forms for any Grain: the 'reaped' or 'raw' grain and the processed Grain that has been fed through a Thresher. Chen does not sell 'reaped' Grain. To complete your Shipping List, you must ship at least one of each of the Grains in its 'raw' or 'reaped' form, but shipping 100 of the processed Grains that Chen sells at his Market will unlock the special Crops.

This is an expensive proposition but if you do not have a Greenhouse, it may be the easiest way to unlock the Crops in question. Wheat is a very slow-growing Crop and Cabbage is an ingredient in many Cooked Dishes. If you buy 100 Wheat at Chen's Market, it will cost 90,000G unless you have set an Enchantment in place to lower his prices. Nonetheless, it is good to know that you have a viable alternative in terms of unlocking these Crops.

Compare the Descriptions of Soybeans and Buckwheat in IoH:

Grains

Buckwheat Seeds: 230G
Sell: 180G
Growth: 25 days
Description: Summer/Fall
Water: Normal; Light: Normal
Very slow growth rate.
Requirements: Will wither at 40+ Sunlight, 20+ Water
Growth Seasons: Summer/Autumn
Harvest: Summer/Autumn

Rice Seeds: 200G
Sell: 180G
Growth: 60 days
Description: Rice Seeds ( All but Winter)
Water: None; Light: Normal
Grows only in Rice Paddy
Requirements: None as does not require Watering
Growth Season: Spring through Autumn
Harvest Season: Autumn

N.B. Rice growing in the Paddies will die when Winter arrives

Soybeans: 250G
Sell: 180G
Growth: 50 days
Description: Summer, Fall
Water: More; Light, More
Also makes Edamame
Requirements: Will wither at 40+ Sunlight, 20+ Water
Growth Seasons: Summer/Autumn
Harvest: Summer/Autumn
Special Harvests: Edamame if Harvested early

Wheat Seeds: 200G
Sell: 180G
Growth: 80 days
Description: All but Winter
Water: Less; Light: Normal
Very slow growth rate
Requirements: Will wither at 40+ Sunlight, 10+ Water
Growth Season: Spring/Summer/Autumn
Harvest: Summer
Special Characteristics: Will continue to grow during Winter season if planted in your Field, provided Water requirements have not been exceeded

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Marriage Requirement in Sunshine Islands

Sometimes, it is not useful when a guide writer plays a new game perfectly. In my own first game of Sunshine Islands, my first priority was to obtain as many Sun Stones as possible by befriending Characters in order to raise all of the Islands. Whenever I proposed marriage to an Eligible Bachelor, my proposal was accepted instantly.

Players began to write to me about their own inability to make a successful proposal. I always knew that a requirement of marriage was to raise Mystic Islands in order to meet the Harvest Goddess as well as Nathan and Alisa at the Church. As players wrote about their unsuccessful proposals, I began to wonder if the requirement could be wider in scope, if one had to raise ALL the Islands.

Well, one need not raise ALL the Islands before one can marry, but there are requirements that concern Sun Stones obliquely with respect to marriage. With respect to marriage to Shea, for example, you need to have obtained both Sun Stones from Shea (one as an individual and one for his 'house') as well as the Sun Stone from Wada. I would imagine that any player who has trouble with his/her proposal to another Eligible Bachelor or Girl has failed to obtain all the Sun Stones that individual and his/her family has to offer.

Thanks to the players, Adriana (NeonCrucifixion) and Shannon who discovered that Shea's 'additional' requirement for marriage was that he/she must obtain the Sun Stones both from Shea and from Wada. These Sun Stones ALL are based on Friendship Points. Another way of defining the requirement would be that the player must make certain to raise the Heart Levels of all members of the family...

It is only when players encounter problems in any game that guides can become truly comprehensive in scope.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

The Harvest Goddess Festival in Sunshine Islands

One of the most beautiful traditions in Harvest Moon is the Harvest Goddess Dance, usually performed by all the Girls for the Bachelors of the village. In Sunshine Islands, it is performed at the Meadow on the occasion of the Harvest Goddess Festival on 8 Spring to mark the Birthday of the Harvest Goddess. Shea is the only Bachelor who does not attend, although you will have the option to invite only a Bachelor at Green Heart or higher. The other Bachelors will be paired with your 'Rivals' for the Dance.

Rather coincidentally, Shea reached Green Heart on the day before the Harvest Goddess Festival. I therefore experienced his Green Heart Event as I prepared to ask the Bachelor of my dreams to accompany me to the Dance. His Green Heart Event actually includes a little dance. I therefore combined the Harvest Goddess Festival with Shea's Green Heart Event in this video:

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Will and Arthur, Will's Green Heart Event in Sunshine Islands

Although I have confessed my own weakness for Will, the new Bachelor in Sunshine Islands, I am not going to neglect ANY of the characters in the game. It was only because I have received quite a few requests for more videos about Will that I have created this one now. All Heart Events for Eligible Bachelors and Girls will be included in my Courtship and Marriage Guide. So far, I have made far more progress in the 'Girl's version' than the 'Boy's version' but I intend to play both exhaustively when time permits.

Here is Will's Green Heart Event in Sunshine Islands:

I think I had best continue work on my Guides now for awhile rather than making more videos this weekend! It is time-consuming to make videos, even if they are obviously very amateur in quality. I use the basic Windows programme and it is very unsatisfactory. It is slow, rebellious and often becomes so unyielding that I am forced to restart my computer...

In any case, videos of Heart Events for OTHER bachelors should be next on my list. Popper, Denny's Blackbird, was given dialogue first in Frantic Farming. In Sunshine Islands, you will hear from Popper again.

For all Harvest Moon fans and players

As Freyashawk, I have written about 150 guides for games, most of which have been guides for Harvest Moon games. These are published on IGN. IGN has given me the title of 'Mistress of Harvest Moon' and I strive daily to earn the right to maintain that title. Although there is a link page on IGN that lists all the guides published there, they are not organised by game, but rather given in alphabetical order. I therefore created this page in order to provide links to the guides I have created for each Harvest Moon game. If you access the General Guide for any game, links should be included to all other guides for that game in a section at the end. I will try to add links to ALL guides as time permits, but until I do, you always can refer to my user page at IGN for the complete list.

I wrote the Official Strategy Guide for Tree of Tranquility for BradyGames as well.
Harvest Moon Forever!

How to Use my Guides

I write three different basic types of game guides. I usually write a General Guide for every game, which is fairly comprehensive and deals with all aspects of the game. It may or may not be in the form of a Walkthrough, dealing with game aspects as they occur. My Innocent Life General Guide is an example of a General Guide that is organised as a Walkthrough.

After writing a General Comprehensive Guide, I often write a Calendar Guide giving birthday and festival dates, with additional information that may be helpful, such as favourite gifts for each individual. For all Harvest Moon games, I usually write a number of 'mini-guides', such as Events Guides for each year of gameplay, or Recipe Guides that give all recipes one can make. Fishing, Mining, Shipping or Item Value Guides are other mini-guides that can be very useful when playing Harvest Moon. Character Guides give detailed information about every character in any specific game. My Courtship and Marriage Guide is devoted to all aspects of Courtship and Marriage, including schedules of Heart Events, Rival Heart Events and the likes and dislikes of every Eligible Girl and/or Bachelor.

Although this site is devoted to Harvest Moon, I have included links to game guides for other games. I created a separate link section for Animal Crossing Wild World as well, because I wrote more than one guide for that game.

N.B. All my game guides are published by IGN. This webpage has been created simply to allow players to find links to all my guides more easily.

Copyright Infringement Warning

It is really sad to discover that there are individuals who are willing to steal my guides and to attempt to publish them under their names. Fortunately, there are many players who recognise my guides when they see them anywhere on the internet and who are willing to alert me when some one tries to steal my material. I want to thank all those players for their help in these cases.

Some one stole one of my guides and tried to publish it on Gamefaqs under his/her name. The guide has been removed and the poster has been banned. I now have a contact in the Legal Department at CNet. I spend many months sometimes writing a guide. They are available for the private use of any individual without cost, but they are not available for theft!
If you want permission to include a link to one of my guides on your site, please contact me directly.

Friends of Mineral Town and More Friends of Mineral Town

You will notice that I wrote far more guides for More Friends of Mineral Town than I did for the original 'Friends of Mineral Town'. At some point, I would like to publish more specific Events Guides for Friends of Mineral Town, but players should be aware of the fact that ALL Calendar Events Guides for MFoMT can be used when playing the original FoMT. The Events are the same in most cases in both games. If, therefore, you are playing FoMT and you wish to know the events that can be experienced in the third year of gameplay, refer to the 'Third Year Calendar Events Guide' for 'More Friends of Mineral Town'.