Animal Problems in HoLV

Players have had sad tales to tell about their Animals in almost every Harvest Moon games. Animals sometimes become stuck in walls when builders expand homes or barns. Animals left outside, even in pens, sometimes escape and disappear, even though the game does not recognise that they have vanished...

Well, HoLV has some occasional problems with Animals as well. Some are amusing but others can cause loss of Hearts.

Another player's Journal vividly describes the problems she has encountered with her own dog Junah:

'Where is junah? Ugh! I can hear him barking but can’t see any part of him. I whistle. He’s behind the trash can in the wall. He can’t seem to get away. I waited by the bed again and made a quick grab for him. Is this normal? Does he sleep in the walls? In AP your dog slept by your bed...

In another entry:

'Where is Junah? Junah is stuck behind the TV. I whistle and looked out from behind the tool box. I can see his feet running under the TV. I walk over and the word 'Examine' is highlighted. I walk over to my bed and wait for the words 'Pick up', then grab him. I put him down again by the table. He’s walking funny. His feet are going forward, but his body is sliding sideways. He walks through the kitchen wall and into the fridge. The fridge looks like it has a tail as Junah’s tail is sticking out. Funny. I decide to leave him in the fridge to help himself to all the fish he can eat.'

Her descriptions are hilarious and happily, her dog's situation caused no loss in Friendship.

In my own game, however, my first Dog problem DID result in the loss of a Heart.

I had taken my dog to the Grocery Shop area to 'Search' for items. He did this quite docilely and successfully but THEN went into the sign in front of Ronald's Shop. He looked like one of those guys that appear in old films wearing 'sandwich boards' to advertise some one's business. He really appeared to be wearing the sign or else to have mutated into a half-dog, half-sawhorse creature.

This would not have been a problem had he responded when I whistled for him, but he failed to do so. The sun set and I think the silly creature fell asleep in between the boards. Meanwhile, knowing that I would lose significant FP with him if I could not take him home with me, I continued to whistle for him. In desperation, I actually walked into my Homestead, then returned to the area immediately to see if the shift in screen would shift HIM. Well, it evidently shifted him to another dimension as he had disappeared completely.

I went into the Homestead again to see if somehow he had followed me and had put himself safely to bed. No such luck.

He was at five hearts when I took him foraging. I may have incurred two black strikes, one by whistling at him after he fell asleep and the other by 'abandoning' him on another screen. The fact that I stayed up until 1.00 a.m. trying to retrieve him counted for nothing...

At 6.00 a.m. the next morning, he was at four hearts but waited by the food dish as though nothing untoward had occurred. Very annoying. My only recourse if I did not wish to live with the loss of affection would be to reload from another slot and replay the day. It isn't worth the effort. I have the Power Berries and it will be interesting to see how quickly I can win back the lost heart...

Incidentally, I won the heart back in a single day. Even so, it was irritating because it was the DOG'S fault and not mine!

Vanishing Animals in IoH

So many players have had this problem that I have added a little section to my General Guide. It actually is something that can occur in almost any Harvest Moon game. One of your animals, whether a Pet, Cow or Sheep, either vanishes from the screen or becomes stuck in a wall. This can be very distressing to players, as one might imagine. Many players found that their cat or dog was immured in the wall or behind the furnishings when Gotz expanded their houses for the last time in HM DS. There was a problem with a vanishing cow or calf in AWL or AnWL (can't recall which from memory). Now there is a problem in IoH. When left outside, the dog or horse may disappear from the screen. You do not lose the animal but you neither can see it nor interact with it. Another problem is that of a Cow or Sheep that becomes stuck in the wall of the Barn. In this situation, you actually can see the poor creature, day after day...

What you need to do here first and foremost is to continue to FEED the animal daily. Make certain that a portion of food is left in the food tray each day whether you see the Animal or not. Remember that pets WILL eat their food even when kept outside in IoH.

There is a solution whichever animal is affected, thank God! In IoH, each type of Animal has a Festival once each year. On the day before the Festival, Mirabelle will come to the farm to ask if you wish to enter an Animal in the Contest. At that point, the Animal that you enter should appear next to Mirabelle. At the end of the Festival, she will return the Animal directly to its stable or Barn and the problem should be solved.

Another solution with respect to an Animal caught in the Barn wall was tested and confirmed by a player who experienced it. She bought Miracle Potion and impregnated the Animal, realising that a pregnant Animal would appear the next morning next to the Birthing Pen. This solution worked beautifully. The only difficulty is in positioning oneself correctly in order to be able to sprinkle the Potion over the Animal while it remains caught in the Wall.

A more drastic solution with respect to Livestock would be to sell the Animal back to Mirabelle. If you are impatient and cannot bear the sight of the creature in the wall, sell it back to Mirabelle and either purchase or raise another. Remember though, that ANY animal can be recovered at the appropriate Animal Festival.

Finally, a tip when any Animal in the wall becomes stressed or cannot be milked or sheared. If you set Red or Blue Wonderfuls in any Ranch Tool, you will increase its range in the same way that the range of any Farm Tool would be expanded. You then may be able to use the Brush, Milker/Clippers on the Animal caught in the Wall, preventing it from feeling neglected!

27 October: More players have experienced the 'vanishing animal' situation now. A chicken has disappeared twice now in one player's game. In the player's own words: 'It disappeared before the day after a storm (typhoon), but I found it wandering around my farm. Well, no storm in awhile and one day it's gone. It's been a week (in the game)... I've looked around my farm about 20 times each day on the game.'

At least a chicken will find its own food outside, as the player noted. In my own game, I have experienced a rather bizarre situation with respect to chickens left inside their pens in the field. Safely ensconced in the pen at night, I have found them wandering OUTSIDE the pen the next morning on occasion. Fortunately, no stress was suffered. There must be some programming in the game that moves animals randomly. It can be rather disconcerting.