New HoLV Mining Puzzle Site

As Mining in HoLV involves a series of puzzles, it is useful to be able to refer to the actual screenshots of each Chamber, 'before' and 'after' the puzzle is solved. Each Chamber has two possible Configurations or Puzzles. I created a post some time ago on this site with the Configurations of Chambers 1 - 5, but it can be rather annoying to look for old posts on this site.

I therefore created a little site that is devoted SOLELY to Mining Puzzles in Hero of Leaf Valley. Here is the link:

HoLV Mining Puzzles

As you can see, the URL is short and because it consists of a single post, you always will be able to access the screenshots of the Puzzles immediately.

If you don't do what you are supposed to do...

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In Hero of Leaf Valley, you will be visited by the Sprites on 2 Winter in the first year. They will beg you to deal with a 'strange bird' who is terrorising the Valley.

Obviously, you need to defeat the Robot Crow, but I always like to find out what will occur if you FAIL to make the proper gestures... Thus, after the Events that show the proper sequence of successful Events, you can find the results of a situation where Freyr did nothing whatsoever while the Robot Crow ate everything in sight. As the conversation between the Funland employees is rather amusing, I am posting it here. All of these Events are included in my HoLV Characters Guide in the section that is devoted to Alice.

Note that, if you DO defeat the Crow as you should, Alice's FP will increase. After the Event, Freyr visited her and found she had gained a heart.

By the way, despite dire warnings to the effect that the Robot Crow, if allowed to roam freely, will consume all the Crops and fruits in Leaf Valley, I did not find this to be the case when I tested the 'bad' result in my game. As a matter of fact, directly after the Event wherein Freyr stood motionless watching the Crow eat all the ftuit, he STILL found Chestnuts and Red Herb in the Items Shop/Florist Shop Square and all the usual items elsewhere on the Map.


Robot Crow Sprite SOS


On 2 Winter, at 6.00 a.m., I experienced a visit from three agitated harvest Sprites:

Nic: Freyr, it's terrible!

Nac: A strange bird is terrorising the town!

Flak: C-Can you do something?!

Nic: I think you should talk to that weird item shop guy. He's sure to know something about something that weird!

Nac: J-Just do whatever you can! Or I'll never be able to go outside again!


Defeat of the Robot Crow


Although Louis' Shop usually would not be open for business at this early hour, I rush immediately to the area where his Shop and Lyla's Florist Shop are located to trigger the next Event in this sequence.

An enormous robotic creature is pecking at some food on the ground. I run into Louis' Shop:

Louis: Oh, Freyr! Did you see that robot crow...?! It just appeared a few moments ago, but it's taking the fruit and... What, how to stop the robot...? I'm not sure I... Let me think about it...... I know, maybe...! I've heard that the robot crow has even been spotted during the night... Which means that it can still operate without the sun to power it or the need to be charged. Which means, I believe that... That robot crow is directly using food as its energy source. So maybe you will be able to stop it if you gather up all the food before it can get to them? J-Just to be clear, this is all just my hypothesis. Be very careful...

I now must search for fruit on the ground, to collect it before the Crow can reach it to 'refuel'. It is not difficult. After collecting three pieces of fruit, the robot crow crashes and disappears underground.

Louuis emerges from his shop.

Louis: Freyr, you did it! I am very glad you were really able to stop it that way. I'm sure the Funland Company built this robot crow. The technology... Is really amazing... I think building such a thing proves how serious they are.

You now spy the Funland crew behind the tree near the flowerbeds.

Alice: H-Hey... It stopped working, what's going on?!

Charles: The robot crow is built to convert the fruit it eats into energy. Basically, it ran out of fuel.

Renton: Which means that we failed.

The angry CEO turns to both of them now, with incredulity.

Alice: Well, you say that pretty casually... Do you know how much that robot cost us?! How about you think about that!

Charles: Boss... You'll ruin your beautiful face if you get so angry.

Renton: It's all that farmer boy's fault.

Alice: Yes, that guy from the farm... What was his name? I'm not going to forgive him for this.

(And after all the gifts I have given her, walking late at night to the Mine to be courteous and friendly...)

Charles: I think it was, Freyr...

Renton: That's right. That was his name.

Alice: Freyr... I won't forget it again. You'll soon find out what happens when you make me angry!

The Event ends. There are two Red Herbs where I stand. Louis has vanished.

Oddly enough, Lyla stands in the middle of the area, as though nothing untoward has occurred, simply exclaiming:

Lyla: Good morning, what a wonderful morning. It may be a little cold, but I like it much better than the heat.


Failure to Defeat the Crow


If I had refused to try to defeat the Crow, simply standing there as it flew from fruit to fruit, refueling at will, it finally would fly away, triumphant.

My character would stand, shoulders slumped in the centre of the little square where the Items Shop and Florist are situated.

Alice, Charles and Renton then would walk up to me. The 'finger-snapping villain' music would play.

Alice: Oh, Freyr. It seems our company's robot has caused you a bit of trouble.

I turn to face them.

Alice: Well, not that you have any right to say what we do on our property.

Charles: It was wonderful, wasn't it? This machine can run forever as long as it has food to feed on.

Renton: that's right. It's got a large appetite like the boss!

Alice: I'm cutting your pay cheque in half.

Renton: Boss, wait! That's too much!

Alice:...But what Renton says is true. That robot has a big appetite. It might eat up all the food around here... I recommend you give up before then and just leave town. Bye then. Haaaaaaa ha ha ha ha!!

The Funland group would leave and the music would change as Louis would walk out of his shop to join me in the square.

Louis: ...that's unfortunate. But I am glad you were not hurt. The technology... Is really amazing... I think building such a thing proves how serious they are. But what they said seemed to support my hypothesis. I think we will be able to manage the next time. ...Most likely. Let's get back to our work for now. Although I believe that we should all be a little careful.


Louis Saves the Day


If your Character does not defeat the Robot Crow, either because he does not encounter it or fails to collect the fruit when he does find it, Louis will appear at your door at 6.00 a.m. on 5 Winter.

Louis: Freyr, good morning. There is something I wanted to ask you... Do you remember the robot crow? I actually saw it again last night. Maybe it was because there was not any food nearby, but it appeared low on energy. Seeing that, I thought this was my chance! So I gathered all the nearby fruit and hid them in my pockets. And then, the robot crow fell towards the beach! Perhaps it ran out of fuel. I still feel I was very lucky. But I believe that this matter is behind us now... Well, I just thought I should inform you... Good bye, then.

Special Fishing Bait in HoLV

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Special Fishing Bait is an interesting little item in HoLV that, when scattered in the water, helps you catch more fish by preventing you from catching any Rubbish items.

Your first encounter with Special Fishing Bait may be as a Gift from one of the Harvest Sprites after you have given the Most Favourite Gift of Mushrooms to one of them a couple of times.

You can find Mushrooms in the Forest or you can place a piece of Lumber on the plank behind your Storage Shed and water it each day until a Mushroom appears. Unfortunately, one piece of Lumber produces only a single harvest of a single Mushroom.

You will find Special Fishing Bait on the Menu at the Races. It costs 2 Medals there.

What I did not realise was that there is another connection between Lumber and Special Fishing Bait apart from the transaction performed by the Harvest Sprites when you give them Mushrooms.

The Transformer 2 Machine transforms Lumber into Special Fishing Bait. When I entered my Horse in the Long Distance Race in the first Summer, I won the race and made a handsome profit by having bet on him at 6 to 1 odds. What I did not expect was the Prize of the Tranformer 2 Machine, nor did I realise what its action would be.

After all, in previous Events with Louis, although he spoke of his Tranformer Machine experiments, they appeared to involve Crops rather than the creation of Fishing Bait. Another little surprise from a game that has many wonderful treats in store for its players.

Incidentally, whenever you enter your own Horse in a Race, the odds will be generated randomly. The first time I entered my Shadowfax in a Race in the first Summer, he was billed as the favourite at 2 to 1 odds! Incredible for a horse who was running his maiden race...

I reloaded and replayed the Event, only to find that this time, the odds were listed at 6 to 1 for him. I bet on him generously and won a handsome profit... as well as the Transformer 2 Machine.

2nd Year Events Calendar Guide

There is a 2nd Year Events Calendar Guide for Hero of Leaf Valley now, but it is not that useful yet as it is very much a 'work in progress'. What I have done to improve both the 1st and 2nd Year Events Guides is to add colour coding for the Dates. One reason I write guides actually is rather selfish. I like to use my own guides to organise my own games, especially when I begin a second file. In the old days, when there was more than enough time for these matters, I used to amuse myself by trying to discover the 'earliest possible opportunity' to complete any goal in Harvest Moon.

In any case, colour codes make it easier to use this type of Guide, which essentially is a Calendar Guide for all the Events in Hero of Leaf Valley. Unfortunately, the version that was uploaded Friday has colour coding only for one season. This will be corrected on Monday.

It has been determined now that the weather CAN be changed in HoLV if you reload two days prior to the day you wish to change. If, therefore, you are nearing the last possible opportunity to experience an event that requires good weather, you may wish to make certain that it doesn't rain or snow on the last day when it can be triggered. Remember that any weather is subject to the rules that govern prevailing trends.

Wanted Items in Hero of Leaf Valley

A player made a comment about the 'Wanted Items' in Hero of Leaf Valley. There are so many details to include in the guides that I have not done much in terms of the 'Wanted' Lists that every Merchant has, but hope to have a detailed list for each Season in the next few days.

When you take items to sell to any Shop or Merchant, there are two possibilities. One simply is to choose to 'Sell' the item. The other is to access the 'Wanted Items' List. Often the items on the Wanted Items List will be listed at a higher value than the regular value of the item. Every shop is different and the list changes each season, so it is a good idea to be aware of the items that are 'Wanted' at a specific location in any Season.

The 'Wanted Items' for all the Shops for every season now are included in both my Walkthrough/General Guide and my Shops and Businesses Guide.

In Spring:

Ronald's Grocery Shop:

Boiled Egg: 100G
Milk M: 270G
Fried Clam: 50G

Louis' Item Shop:

Iron Ore: 80G
Copper Ore: 60G
Mineral Crystal: 30G

Lyla's Florist Shop:

Fairy Dress Herb: 50G
Pink Cat Mint: 20G
Moondrop Herb: 20G
Coal: 40G

Sunny Garden Cafe/Moonlight Pub

Cheese: 550G
Black Truffle: 80G
Green Herb: 20G

Bob's Animal Supplies:

Alfalfa Sprouts: 50G
Mineral Crystals: 40G

Woody's Carpentry Shop:

Blue Rock: 110G
Silver: 90G
Copper Ore: 50G

Clove Villa Kitchen:

Rainbow Trout: 60G
Milk M: 270G
Carrot: 100G

Note how the prices of the same Item when it is on different 'Wanted Items' Lists can vary. For example, both Woody and Louis include Copper Ore on their Wanted Lists in Spring but Woody is willing to pay 10G more for this Item than Louis.

Although Mineral Crystals appear on Louis' Wanted Items List, he pays no more than the regular price for them, where Bob will give you 10G more for the same Item. Medium Milk is 'Wanted' both by Martha and by Ronald. It is Ronald, however, who will give you an extra 10G for the item.

Where Coal is concerned, the best price is offered by Lyla, who will pay 40G for Coal as a 'Wanted Item', as opposed to the regular price of 20G.

My new HoLV Shops and Businesses Guide includes all of the Wanted Items for every season and all Delivery Requests for the first two years. Within the next day or two, I hope to have ALL Delivery Requests for all years completed.