Possible Glitch in Rune Factory Frontier

A player wrote to me about a possible glitch in Rune Factory Frontier. She defeated the Giant Clucky for the first time on a Holiday in Winter and was unable to unlock the Lava Ruins at all. She waited and waited but the sapling never grew to the point where the Rune Stone could be inserted.

Incidentally, she waited for weeks and even in Spring, the sapling failed to grow any further.

She started a new game and had no trouble unlocking the Lava Ruins in her new file. She therefore believes that there may be a glitch that prevents the game from recognising the defeat of the Giant Clucky for the purpose of advancing the story when the defeat occurs on a Holiday in Winter. I need to discover still if she defeated the Giant Clucky on an ordinary holiday or a Festival Day.

This is not a problem ordinarily, by the way. I was able to obtain the Crystal Flowers from Eligible Girls on the day of the Hotpot Convention and open the Portal to the Era of Disconnect on that day. Other players have been able to defeat the boss of the Lava Ruins on the day of the Pumpkin Festival and move on to unlock the Snow Ruins... It probably is a very specific glitch, therefore, that pertains solely to the Giant Clucky and the Lava Ruins and a single Holiday in Winter.

Bizarre Supernatural Warnings from little May

Winter appears to be the time of inexplicable happenings and glitches in Harvest Moon and Harvest Moon Boy & Girl is not exempt.

When I entered Ann's bedroom early one snowy morning only to be suddenly confronted by May in the middle of my dialogue with Ann, I was slightly puzzled, but then assumed it was nothing more than one of those occasional Harvest Moon glitches. Then, however, I went to Ellen's house on a Saturday afternoon and in the midst of my conversation with Thomas, May suddenly appeared once again, this time to beg me to be friendly to my horse. In her appearance in Ann's bedroom, she repeatedly protested: 'But he's a good pony...'

Two-thirds of the first Winter season has passed. Barley is due to visit my farm in Spring to assess my treatment of the colt he entrusted to my care. I have not been neglecting the colt, and have brushed it every day.

Even so, these bizarre visitations by May are beginning to trouble me. Is this a supernatural attempt to remind me of the danger of not caring for the colt?

A third, unrelated but equally bizarre incident is evidence that these anomalies are nothing more than glitches.

When I visited Basil this morning, instead of speaking to me as usual, he simply uttered a single word: Dummy.

After this piece of rudeness, he returned to his usual dialogue. I left the house and returned a moment later, only to be obliged to deal with the slur once again: Dummy.

I am posting this only as a curiosity. These glitches have no effect on gameplay. Despite May's ghostly presence in Ann's bedroom, I was able to give Ann a Spa egg without trouble. Despite being called a 'Dummy' twice, Basil's level of friendship remained constant. May's peculiar interference at Ellen's house had no real effect on any one in the room.

Nonetheless, there is a very small part of me that would like to believe that May really did insinuate herself into these scenes because of her great concern for the little pony.

NOTE: The photographs are irrefutable proof that these incidents DID occur. I wonder if any other players have experienced them... The fact that they occur at odd times and places probably are why the errors were not caught by testers before the game was released. Few 'casual' players visit Ann's bedroom in the early morning in Winter. Few 'casual' players speak to Thomas when he visits Ellen on Saturday afternoons. I will test these conversations again in Spring, but I believe the errors may be limited to the Winter season as I have spoken to Thomas at Ellen's house in other seasons and did not experience May's interruption!

With Winter comes Snow, Mukumuku and Finest Curry

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Ordinarily, I would not be too excited about the advent of Winter in Harvest Moon, although I do love the beauty of fallen snow, contrary to the small white lie I told Kai in his Heart Event... I was obliged to declare Summer to be paramount in my list of seasons, when in fact I prefer Spring and Autumn... (I do hope Kai hasn't any sort of access to my journals!!!)

In any case, in Harvest Moon Cute, I eagerly awaited Winter, counting down the days, because Winter brings White Grass, an ingredient required in Finest Curry. Why should I care so deeply about Finest Curry? Only because it is Skye's Most Favourite. It happens to be Cliff's Most Favourite as well, but I doubt I will squander it on him more than once. The Mineral Town events move at such a snail pace that I am resigned to the slow rise of affection there. I have Cliff at Purple Heart now, but must engineer a rainy day in order to experience his Purple Heart Event. I deliberately rejected a prediction of rain actually for Saturday, the 1st day of Winter in order to be able to give Skye his first taste of Finest Curry tonight. Skye does not visit the Valley ordinarily in bad weather, although he will make an exception when he is on a 'job'.

When I gave the first Finest Curry to Skye, my heart skipped a beat. He actually blushed and stammered, quite unlike the smooth-talking 'player' he attempts to show the world at large. 'F-Finest Curry!! It is for me? You are like a goddess!'

Ahhh... How can I resist this lovely creature? I experienced Grey's Blue Heart event two days ago and my old fondness for him was kindled anew as he proclaimed his deep admiration for Carter and all those who 'chase a dream'. Although he declared that his ambition was merely to become a respectable blacksmith, I happen to know his SECRET ambition, which is to create beautiful jewelry. In fact, in Mineral Town, he once gave me a piece he had created himself...

From my old MFoMT journal:
Grey: Actually, there is something I want you to have.
Me: (?)
Grey then threw a blue brooch at me.
Grey: I hope you like it...
Grey (with tear): I made this on my own secretly from Grandpa. I'm not nearly as good as him, but still it's a good achievement for me. I made this for you. I want you to have it. I just wanted to make sure you like stuff like that, you know? I hope you like it.
Grey left hastily then, evidently wishing to avoid any negative response from me, although he should have realised I would have thrown myself into his arms and kissed the darling boy! The silver brooch he made is gorgeous!

END OF QUOTE.

So you see, there is a sweet history between us, but I still expect I shall choose Skye in the end... In my next life, however, I daresay I'll choose Grey once more. I have many lives to lead and many marriages to make...

This entry was supposed to be about Skye, not Grey! I'm all over the place today, aren't I?

In fact, I wished to speak of all the reasons why Winter can be an exciting and fulfilling time.

First, there is the White Grass which allows one to make Finest Curry at last. Then, there is the appearance of Mukumuku, sometimes known in the world as the Yeti or Abominable Snowman, but in fact, one of the sweetest creatures to walk the land.

With Mukumuku's arrival, you will be treated to a number of events that can occur only in the Winter season. I will devote a separate post to Mukumuku but suffice it to say now that the first of his events can be experienced even BEFORE you raise his friendship level at all. All that is required is that you exit the Sprite Tree after 4.00 p.m. on the 1st of Winter or any sunny Winter's day.

It is a very amusing event, with a long history known to those familiar with 'A Wonderful Life'. It will be the subject of my next post.

N.B. Note the sorry state of Skye's AP as it appears on 1 Winter before the gift of the Finest Curry. Skye's affection is at 44000 AP and 255 FP before the Finest Curry was accepted. When accepted, it will be at 44800 AP 255 FP. This is due to the fact that I was unable to experience Part II of Skye's Blue Heart Event long ago on a Sunday night... Carter's fault, because he lingered on the road until midnight.
Not experiencing Part II cost me a 1000 FP penalty simply because I did not trigger it and another 3000 AP that would have been gained if I had triggered Part II of the Event AND given the correct response in the course of the event. That means effectively that Skye's AP would have been at 48000 AP tonight before the gift of Finest Curry and at 48800 AP afterwards. With Finest Curry, therefore, it will take me 5 days longer to bring him to full red heart level!

This is moot, really, because I shan't marry Skye until I have experienced all four heart events for each of the Mineral Town bachelors... Those five days become meaningless in these circumstances. Even so, I feel it useful to point out the penalties incurred when you do not trigger both parts of one of Skye's events. It will not prevent you from marrying him ultimately, but it will slow you down considerably.