For those players who have the ToT Official Strategy Guide that I wrote, I need to mention a change in the game itself. In the version I played, the Fish Shop sold raw fish. In the final version, Pascal sells grilled fish. What this means is that there now is no way to purchase raw fish or to add fish to your Items List unless you catch them yourself.
Remember that the only requirement with respect to triggering ANY Rival Heart Event in ToT is the heart level OF THE RIVAL. The strategy I advise is to avoid the Rivals completely until you have experienced all the Heart Events with every Bachelor or Eligible Girl. Raise the Rivals' heart levels only AFTER that in order to experience THEIR gift visits... If you intend to marry an Eligible Bachelor/Girl for whom there is a Rival, you may wish to forego that Rival's second gift visit, unless you can avoid the location where the final Rival Heart Event will occur until you have a chance to propose to the individual yourself.
As in Island of Happiness, you cannot meet every possible character if you do not allow ALL Rival Couples to marry as each of the Rival Couples has a child. You therefore may wish to choose your spouse from one of the Eligible Bachelors or Girls for whom no rival exists.
Gift visits either from characters of EITHER gender will not occur once you have married. Each of these visits is accompanied by the gift of an item. Some of the items are quite rare and valuable. It is to your advantage, therefore, to experience as many of them as possible BEFORE you propose to any one.
All details of Courtship and Marriage are included in the Official Strategy Guide for ToT. I cannot write too much about the game here, but I did wish to mention the chance that occurred with respect to the fish sold at the Fish Shop.
Later: Players complained that Cocoons were not available at the Brownie Ranch and in fact, neither Cocoons nor Wool can be purchased in the final retail version of the game.
Finally, if any players are having trouble with Courtship Events with Calvin or any other individual, please feel free to email me directly. Until there is official confirmation on this topic, I am not going to post about it, but will be happy to help players on an individual basis. Remember that you always can AVOID any specific floor in the Mine by falling through a pitfall and that you can LOWER any character's heart level usually by giving that individual a number of Failed Dishes. (There is a maximum of 15 points' increase to any one's heart level in a single day but no limit to the number of points by which you can decrease a character's heart level in one day in ToT. Remember always to make allowances for the initial 5 point increase you will earn simply by speaking to an individual.)
