Postscript to the Pumpkin Festival in Sunshine Islands

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In writing my guides for any Harvest Moon game, I usually try all possible responses in any given situation. When visitors knock on the door on the day of the Pumpkin Festival, therefore, I note the responses they make when you refuse to give them sweeties or give them odd inappropriate items instead but then reload to give them Chocolate or another Sweet that they will find acceptable.

In Sunshine Islands, I wanted to test the response for actual 'Candy' in the form of Rice Candy or other sweets made from Rice Candy as well as the responses to various 'Desserts' such as Pudding and Pineapple Pie. I therefore made a few items, intending to give them to each consecutive visitor without reloading until the very last visit from Felicia and the party on Meadow Island.

If I had reloaded immediately after each visit as I had done in previous years, I never would have discovered an important aspect of the Festival which is that, should you NOT give Chocolate or any acceptable Sweet to a visitor, that visitor will be your LAST until the next year.

Charlie is the first visitor. When I gave him Boiled Spinach and then re-entered the House expecting to receive Eliza next, she failed to appear. When I gave Charlie a Chocolate Banana and Eliza a Pudding but then attempted to give Popuri Omelet Rice (her Most Favourite Gift on an ordinary day), the Witchkin never appeared, nor did Felicia after that...

What this means essentially is that you have to give ALL your Visitors a Sweet if you wish to receive Felicia's invitation to the Party at Meadow Island. I did test many different 'Desserts' and ALL were acceptable to the Pumpkin Festival visitors. I therefore would venture to guess that ANY Dish that is listed in the 'Desserts' section of your Cookbook will qualify.

I have revised my guides accordingly. Previously, the Calendar's entry simply listed the different visitors and explained Felicia's Party on Meadow Island, without carrying any warning to the effect that, should you deny any visitor a Sweet, you will have no opportunity to attend the Party.

I made a video for YouTube a few months ago about the Pumpkin Festival that shows the visits and the party on Meadow Island. It is very touching to see that Karen, an individual who really detests sweets of all kinds, attends the Party for the sake of her best friend Popuri and will thank you as well for giving 'candy' to Popuri. The Party on Meadow Island, incidentally, does not end until 6.00 p.m. so if you do not wish to waste any working hours during the day, count your visitors and make certain that you do not re-enter your House after the Witchkin's Visit until you are ready to go to the Party.

Another new discovery I made was the ability to cook DURING a Pumpkin Festival visit. You actually can whip up some 'candy' while your Visitor waits patiently inside your Farmhouse! No earth-shattering new information but it IS interesting!

Tribute to Yasuhiro Wada

Any one who has played Island of Happiness and/or Sunshine Islands is familiar with the rather laconic character, Wada. Wada is the only true 'native' of Sunny Island and is the repository of its ancient mysteries and traditions. Befriending Wada can lead to situations where the entire bounty of Sunny Island becomes available to your character. It is fitting that Wada bears the name of Harvest Moon's founder, Yasuhiro Wada.

Recently, Yasuhiro Wada announced that, for 'personal reasons', he no longer would be as active in directing operations at Marvelous. He will continue to act as an advisor, however.

The character of Wada is NOT that of a farmer, but he rather is part of a hunter and gatherer culture. Yasuhiro Wada confesses that he tried farming but has no expertise in farming in the real world. 'I tried it,' he told an interviewer a few years ago. 'It was hard work.'

Farming is hard work in Harvest Moon as well, lending versimilitude to the games. Under Wada's guidance and with the help of Natsume in North America, Harvest Moon has become an internationally-beloved alternative world.

Here are some photographs of the 'real' Wada and his namesake in Island of Happiness and Sunshine Islands. Many, many thanks to the creator of Harvest Moon for making it possible for us to enjoy over 10 years of a magical universe where hard work and loyalty to friends are rewarded and where we can interact with the seasons and the Earth to create a life in harmony with Nature. May the magic continue in the hands of those who have inherited the mantle of leadership from him...

I do have one question to ask of Wada, however. What is the REAL connnection between Wada and the mysterious 'Tower' behind his Hut in the Jungle? Will that 'ship' one day take off again to colonise new planets?

P.S. Pursuant to questions from readers, I need to make it very clear that neither the quality nor the quantity of Harvest Moon games will suffer from the real Wada's decision. His successor, Haruki Nakayama, actually is included in the credits for Harvest Moon games as far back as 2004 in 'A Wonderful Life' (and possibly other early games) and has been responsible for Island of Happiness, Sunshine Islands and Animal Parade, inter alia. The only reason I wrote about Wada's announcement is because he was very much part of the founding of the series and has been immortalised in the character of Wada in IoH and SI.

In fact, as CEO of Marvelous Entertainment, Haruki Nakayama made a statement recently about the Nintendo 3DS announcement. He believes that the device will succeed commercially when it launches, even though the system's retail price and development costs associated with it will be higher than previous systems. As he appears eager and excited as well as optimistic about its online capabilities, it hints at possible future Harvest Moon and Rune Factory titles for the system...

All Birthday Gifts in Sunshine Islands

This is a video tutorial I wished to make for some time, but my laptop had become too slow to allow me to make ANY videos at all without devoting at least 12 hours to the project.

In any event, I finally decided the video was long overdue, whatever the price... It contains a complete list of all possible Birthday Gifts that you can receive in Sunshine Islands. When any item is a 'Most Favourite Gift' for the individual who gives it to you, that item is capitalised.



Birthday Gifts usually are worth at least 500 FP if 're-gifted' and therefore, the video provides some useful information about three Favourite items for each of the Characters as well as showing the advantages of befriending EVERY ONE on the Islands.

Relax Tea in Sunshine Islands

I have written a number of posts about Energy Recovery items in Sunshine Islands without giving much mention to Relax Tea. Veterans of Harvest Moon are aware of the potency of Relax Tea in any Harvest Moon game and Sunshine Islands is no exception in this respect.

Relax Tea in Harvest Moon is the traditional 'folk remedy' that has the potency to rival expensive 'commercial' medicines such as Bodigizer.

In fact, there is an anomaly of sorts in Sunshine Islands in that regular visitors to the Cafe speak often of the marvelous Tea that is made there BUT no Tea never appears on Haila's Menu. The Recipe for Relax Tea, however, is provided to you by Haila, although interestingly enough, the Recipe for the Relax Tea Leaves that are the sole required ingredient to make the Tea, is given by Nick at the Diner. Dialogue about the Cafe's extraordinary Tea, therefore, probably was included to provide hints as to the fact that the Recipe DOES exist, to Haila's knowledge of it and her willingness to impart it to you and to the general efficacy of the beverage.

The reason why I did not include it in my suggestions for Recovery Items that you can make early in the game is twofold. First, although you simply need to offer Nick a common green Weed in order to prompt the Recipe for the Tea Leaves, required ingredients include Herbs that must be gathered in different seasons. You therefore will not have the ingredients in the first Season. Your first opportunity to collect all the required ingredients will be in the Summer season.

If obtaining the ingredients were the only consideration, however, Relax Tea would be included in my suggestions for early Recovery Items and indeed be at the very top of the list, with its high potency in terms of restoring Stamina and very respectable value in terms of recovering Fullness. With Energy Values of 70 SR 16 FL, it is far more potent than Sashimi, Pudding or Steamed Egg Custard.

The real difficulty is in the actual 'difficulty' of the Recipe. In Sunshine Islands, your ability to create any Dish successfully is not simply a matter of having the required ingredients but of having the necessary skill as well. Skill in Cooking, as in any activity in Harvest Moon, is earned through experience. You need to have prepared a fair number of Dishes successfully in order to have even a small chance of creating Relax Tea Leaves. Actually making Relax Tea requires even greater Skill Levels.

Once you have the required degree of skill in Cooking, Relax Tea will move to the top of your list of Energy Recovery Items. In terms of restoring Stamina, Relax Tea is as effective as Bodigizer and is more powerful than Bodigizer in restoring Fullness.

As the rare Red Magic Flower is a required ingredient in making Bodigizer, Relax Tea, with its inexpensive ingredients and its added value in terms of Fullness, is a better choice. Bodigizer XL, however, with twice the Stamina Recovery value both of Bodigizer and Relax Tea is the best Energy Recovery item, but as one of its required ingredients is Bodigizer, it is not as easy to make in quantity as Relax Tea.

The Energy Values of Relax Tea can be boosted by adding a number of optional ingredients. Milk as well as any coloured herb and fruit can be combined with the Tea Leaves to create even more potent Tea.

From the Sunshine Islands Cookbook Recipes Guide, the entries for Relax Tea Leaves and Relax Tea:


Relax Tea

Relax Tea: 1975G
Ingredients: Relax Tea Leaves
Obtain with 1st Relax Tea Leaves from Cafe
Energy Value: +70 SR +16 FL
Optional Ingredients: Milk, Jersey Milk, Hot Milk, Strawberry, Apple, Banana, Grape, Orange, Peach, Pineapple, Grape Punch, All Herbs, All Jams
Note that every Fruit apart from Blueberry can be added to the Recipe.


Relax Tea Leaves

Relax Tea Leaves: 970G
Ingredients: Yellow Herb, Orange Herb, Purple Herb, Indigo Herb, Weed
Obtain with 2nd Weed from Nick at Diner
Energy Value: +4SR +6FL
Optional Ingredients: None

Recipes for Bodigizer and Bodigizer XL are:


Bodigizer

Bodigizer: 690G
Ingredients: Orange Herb, Black Herb, Red Magic Flower
Obtain with 1st Red Magic Flower from Nick at Diner
Energy Value: +70 SR +8FL
Optional Ingredients: None

Bodigizer XL

Bodigizer XL: 970G
Ingredients: Bodigizer, Blue Herb
Obtain with 1st Bodigizer from Nick at Diner
Energy Value: +140 SR +8FL
Optional Ingredients: None

In any year where the Category for the Cooking Contest is Soups/Drinks, Relax Tea should be a guaranteed winner.

Players who have seen the list of items in the completed Cookbook for Sunshine Islands no doubt will be excited by the potential to make Wonderfuls in the Kitchen. The problem with these projects is that they require signficantly higher Cooking Skills than Relax Tea. As with a player's inability to descend beyond a specific level in the Mine until his/her Mining Skill Levels have improved, he/she will be unable to cook 'advanced' Dishes successfully until Cooking Skill Levels improve. You must cook constantly and continue to make NEW Dishes in order to reach the level of expertise necessary for some of the advanced Dishes.

Note: Although you never will be able to see your Character's Farming Degree Point totals, knowing the Cooking Skill Point requirements for each Dish will give you a standard of comparison and some idea when you will be able to succeed in making any given Dish in your Kitchen.

Everything in Sunshine Islands is defined by Point Totals, whether it is a matter of Friendship, Mining, Fishing, Farming, Ranching or Cooking. In terms of Cooking, it is not only when you make Dishes in your Kitchen that you will earn Points to raise your Cooking Skill Levels. There are other actions, such as participating in the Cooking Contest or learning a new Recipe from Haila or Nick that will raise your point total.

Here are all the actions that are associated with your Cooking Degree and their Point Values:
Learn a new Recipe from Haila or Nick: 100 Points
Use a new Recipe to cook a Dish successfully: 10 Points
Cook a Dish for the second or any subsequent time: 5 Points
Ship a Cooked Dish: 2 Points
Participate in the Cooking Contest at the Meadow: 100 Points
Win 1st Prize at the Cooking Festival: 1000 Points
Win 2nd Prize at the Cooking Festival: 700 Points
Win 3rd Prize at the Cooking Festival: 500 Points
Keep a Black Book in your Rucksack: 1 Point per Black Book x Current Year*
*In other words, the Black Book has a similar effect to the Bottle with respect to Fishing and the Stone Tablet with respect to Mining
Add optional ingredients to a Recipe successfully: You will earn 1 Point for each additional ingredients x 3

I have added the Point Total requirements to each Recipe in My Cooking Guide for Sunshine Islands now. Note that having a Point Total that is less than the Total given does not mean that you will not be able to make the Dish in question successfully. It is when the required Point Total is reached that you will have a guaranteed successful result.


Much like the Mining Degree and Fishing Degree Levels, you earn Cooking Skill Points when you perform specific actions or win prizes at the appropriate Festival as well as by cooking dishes.

Here are the Point values for each action:

Best Strategy for Befriending Wild Animals in Sunshine Islands

In the first few seasons of any Harvest Moon or Rune Factory game, it is difficult to focus on much more than simply surviving and making enough money for absolute necessities in terms of supplies and upgrades. If at all possible, however, it is important to begin to interact daily with the Wild Animals on Animal Island and the Harvest Sprite Teams on Harvest Sprite Island.

In terms of the Wild Animals, the specific varieties of Feed that Mirabelle sells at her shop are best used early in the game, when you cannot afford to give Wild Animals your dairy products or crops. They have two disadvantages, however. The first is that you only can feed a single variety of Wild Animal using the commercial feed. The second is that the commercial food is worth only 5 points in terms of increasing the Friendship of that species. Nonetheless, for 10G, it is well worth the effort and expense when you cannot afford to give anything better.

In terms of the Sprite Teams, chasing them as they march and race across Harvest Sprite Island can be a bit bothersome, but remember that you always can use your stylus to interact with any Character. Wheat Flour, as any veteran of Harvest Moon would suspect, is a Favourite Gift with ALL Teams, but there are specific Most Favourite Gifts for each. Even when you cannot afford to give Gifts, however, you can raise Friendship Levels simply by speaking to one Member of each Team.

I never can stress the importance of Friendship enough where any Harvest Moon or Rune Factory game is concerned. In the case of the Wild Animals, increasing their Friendship Levels to 3 Hearts (a little less, actually) will allow you to obtain rare and valuable items that you either could not find yourself or would be given at best only once every three years on your Birthday by a Character at 7 Hearts. These rare items include but are not limited to the Firefly Flower, the Twin Herb and the Red Magic Flower. Other valuable items that you can obtain by yourself but require time and energy to do so are Alexandrite, Pink Diamonds, Pirate Treasure and Fish Fossils.

Like the Pig, who can find Truffles for you when you could not find them in your own foraging efforts, the Wild Animals randomly find these valuable items when they have agreed to help you. In general in Harvest Moon, Truffles are an Autumn item. My Pig in Sunshine Islands has found them both in Autumn and Winter but never in Spring or Summer.

The items that any Animal finds are generated randomly, whether domesticated like the Pig or Wild like the Animals on Animal Island. In the case of the Pig, the item is generated at the time when you collect it from your Pig. In the case of the Wild Animals, the item or items are generated at daybreak at 6.00 a.m. when your Character awakens.

It is important to realise that:

YOU CAN OBTAIN EVEN THE RAREST, MOST VALUABLE ITEMS FROM ANY ANIMAL EVEN AT LOWER HEART LEVELS.

Chances of doing so may increase with an increase in Friendship Levels but even when any species of Wild Animal first begins to forage for you at 3 Hearts, you may be able to obtain the most valuable item(s) on the list.

In other words, by saving your game at 5.50 a.m. or whenever you go to bed on the previous night, racing to Animal Island at 6.00 a.m. to see what the Animals found for you before you save your game again, you can reload and change the outcome if you do not like the selection.

In the case of the Pig, you can save your game before you carry him out of the Pigsty. If he does not find a Truffle for you, you can reload and try again. As previously indicated, it is possible that Truffles are limited to Autumn and Winter. My Pig found them both in Autumn and Winter but never in Spring or Summer.

The best strategy with respect to the Wild Animals, once you are not desperate for money, is to give an item that will score points with more than one type. The items I use most often, with their respective values to each Animal type are:

Cucumber: Mouse 5 points, Rabbit 5 Points
Egg: Badger 7 points, Mouse 5 points
Onion: Badger 7 points, Monkey 7 points
Small Fish: Badger 5 points, Duck 5 points,
Strawberry: Monkey 7 points, Sparrow 5 points
Tomato: Badger: 7 points, Mouse 5 points, Rabbit 5 points
Turnip: Badger 5 points , Rabbit 7 points
Yam: Badger 8 points, Rabbits 5 points

There are other items, such as Apples and Milk that are liked by more than one species, but the ones listed above are the cheapest and easiest.

Shipping Value Tutorial and Values of Processed Dairy Products

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In Sunshine Islands, the same Bottle of Milk when processed into Butter, Cheese or Yogurt will have different shipping values. When writing Guides for Sunshine Islands as well as Island of Happiness, it is rather difficult to give precise shipping values for items as they depend on Rank, Quality, Size and Freshness. Although the correct Base values appear in my General Guide, for some reason, I made an error in the value of Cheese in my Items and Shipping List Guide.

An average bottle of Milk, when processed, will be most valuable when made into Cheese and least valuable when made into Yogurt. Here are the values when I used Milk that was Rank A, Quality 10, Size 5, Freshness 10. Incidentally, this is the Milk one receives from a Cow at 10 Hearts who has NOT been entered in the Cow Festival and thus never won a Prize.

The Milk if shipped would have a value of 250G.

Yogurt: 375G

Butter: 500G

Cheese: 750G

The prices in my Guide refer to the Base Values and should conform to my General Guide, which quotes them as:

Yogurt: 150G

Butter: 200G

Cheese: 300G

Actually, I believe this reflects the usual hierarchy of values in Harvest Moon. Cheese tends to be the most valuable processed dairy product, while Yogurt is the least valuable.

You must obtain ALL the Makers in Sunshine Islands and use each 100 times in order to obtain the Sun Stones that each can yield, but if you wish to make the greatest profit as early as you can, you should buy the Cheese Maker first. Another reason to buy the Cheese Maker before you buy the other two is because there are Recipes for Butter and Yogurt, allowing them to be made in your Kitchen. There are no Recipes that allow you to make Cheese.

In Island of Happiness, you had to ship 100 of each processed product but by some quirk in the programming, the game recognised products made in your Kitchen. This was corrected obviously in Sunshine Islands by causing the Sun Stones emerge directly FROM the Makers. Unlike Island of Happiness, therefore, it is not by shipping 100 items but by using the makers themselves 100 times each that the Sun Stones will be 'earned'.

Incidentally, cooking the Milk to make Hot Milk would be less profitable than processing the Milk.

Hot Milk: 275G

You still would make a profit of 25G by cooking the Milk rather than shipping it 'raw', but very little compared to the processed dairy products.

Actually, what is rather sad is that, if you take 2 Milk, make one into Yogurt and then add the other to the Yogurt to make Lassi, you still would make less of a profit than by using the Cheese Maker to make 1 Milk into Cheese.

Lassi: 650G

Another example that compares values of two different Cooked Dishes that use the same ingredient is between Strawberry Jam and Strawberry Milk.

Having shipped 100 Strawberries to complete the total needed to unlock a new Crop, I had 40 B Rank Strawberries I wanted to ship. If I had shipped them as raw Crops, each would have had a value of 66G.

If I cooked them into Strawberry Jam (a single ingredient Recipe), the shipping value of each would be: 124G

If I added Milk to the Strawberry to make Strawberry Milk, the shipping value would be: 349G.

On the surface, the Strawberry Milk may look more profitable, but this is not the case. The Milk I would have to use would ship for 250G which means that the added value 'brought' by the Strawberry would be 99G. On the basis of financial consideration alone, it would be better to make Strawberry Jam and ship that, while making Cheese with the Milk... Remember, however, that shipping values are only part of the equation. Strawberry Jam is not particularly high in energy.

Here are the Energy Values for each:

Strawberry Jam: Energy Value: +8SR +8FL
Strawberry Milk: Energy Value: +36 SR +22 FL
Cheese: Energy Value: Energy Value: 4 SR 2 FL

You gain Skill Points each time you cook, so there are valid reasons for making Dishes in your Kitchen and shipping them but in this case, it depends on how much you are in need of funds. For sheer profit, few single item conversions can be more profitable in financial terms than making Cheese.

One could drive oneself mad with calculations concerning shipping values in either Island of Happiness or Sunshine Islands.

For example, to descend into the truly arcane advanced shipping value considerations, take three different Vegetables that, when combined with the same Milk, could make a Vegetable Smoothie.

Here are the details:

Cucumber: Rank A, Quality 10, Size 5 1/2, Freshness 9: 135G

Turnip: Rank B, Quality 9 1/2, Size 5 1/2, Freshness 9: 132G

Onion: Rank B, Quality 9, Size 5 1/2, Freshness 9 1/2: 175G

Vegetable Smoothie made with the Cucumber: Rank A, Quality 10, Size 7 1/2, Freshness 9 1/2: 495G

Vegetable Smoothie made with the Turnip: Rank B, Quality 9 ½ Size 5, Freshness 9 ½: 446G

Vegetable Smoothie made with the Onion: Rank B, Quality 9 ½ Size 5, Freshness 9 ½: 445G

Vegetable Smoothie made with BOTH the Turnip and the Onion: Rank A, Quality 9 ½, Size 7, Freshness 9 ½: 476G

As you can see, the Vegetable Smoothie made with 2 Vegetables in the form of a B Rank Turnip and Onion had a lower shipping value than the Vegetable Smoothie made with a single Cucumber. It did have a higher Energy Value, however, both in terms of Stamina Recovery and Fullness.

It may be worthwhile to mention Vegetable Juice here as some rather peculiar facts will emerge when you experiment with it in the Kitchen. The shipping value of Vegetable Juice is rather low, making it a poor choice if you are looking for income-raising Dishes. It is an odd Dish in terms of Cooking, as the order in which Optional Ingredients are added affect the result, which can be either Vegetable Juice (improved) or a Failed Dish, depending on the order in which you attempted to add another Vegetable to the mix. For example, if you begin with a Turnip and attempt to add a Carrot, the result will be a Failed Dish. If, however, you begin with a Carrot, you may be able to add a Turnip as the next ingredient in the sequence. All the Vegetables listed as Optional Ingredients CAN be added, but you must be careful as to the sequence you use in any case.

When you add more than one Vegetable to the mixture to create Vegetable Juice, the shipping value may remain far lower than the value of a single Vegetable used to create a specific juice such as Carrot Juice or Tomato Juice. The Energy Value, on the other hand, will be much higher. For example:

Carrot Juice: 560G
Ingredients: Carrot
Obtain with 1st Carrot from Haila at Cafe
Energy Value: +22 SR +6 FL
Optional Ingredients: Carrot Juice

Vegetable Juice: 345G
Ingredients: Bell Pepper/Cabbage/Carrot/Cucumber/Onion/Spinach/Tomato/Turnip
Obtain with 2nd Carrot from Haila at Cafe
Energy Value: +36 SR +16 FL
Optional Ingredients: Bell Pepper, Cabbage, Carrot, Corn, Eggplant, Onion, Pumpkin, Spinach, Tomato, Turnip, Vegetable Juice, All Jams

If you intend to ship the Dish, it is better to use the Carrot to create Carrot Juice. If you intend to use it as a Recovery Item, it is much better to use the Carrot to create Vegetable Juice. Adding another Vegetable, such as Spinach, to the Vegetable Juice, will improve its Energy Value but in terms of Shipping profits, you would be better advised to create Boiled Spinach with the Spinach and Carrot Juice with the Carrot.

Finally, if you make Vegetable Juice as a single-ingredient Recipe, it does not matter which Vegetable you choose in terms of Energy Values. The amount of Stamina and Fullness will remain constant. Neither the identity of the Vegetable nor its Rank will affect Stamina and Fullness values of the resulting Vegetable Juice. Shipping values will change according to the Vegetable you choose but the increase or decrease is not significant enough to make it worth shipping the result. It is when you add a second Vegetable that the boost in the amount of Stamina and Fullness will depend on the actual Vegetable chosen

So there you have it. Make of the data what you will... Note that the game gives you the ability to gauge the potential value of any Cooked Dish when, after the ingredients are chosen, you see a display on the top screen that shows precise details of the finished product with Rank, Quality, Size and Freshness and a prompt to the effect that: 'It will turn out like this. Make it like this?' You only have this option if you choose 'Make some Alterations' when you prepare the Dish. If you use one of the quicker menu options, you will not see the result in terms of Rank, Quality, Size and Freshness until the Dish actually has been completed. What is displayed on the top screen instead is the BEST version of the Dish that you ever made in terms of Rank, Quality, Size and Freshness.

The most valuable Ranch Products are obtained from Sheep but even ordinary Sheep cannot be sheared daily. One has to weigh the intrinsic value of an Animal who yields product daily (Your Cow) with one who yields product less frequently (Jersey Cow, Sheep and Suffolk Sheep). The values of the products that Sheep of any variety can offer are rather impressive:

S Rank Yarn: 3750G

S Rank Superb Yarn: 9375G

Even inferior Superb Yarn yields a nice price. For example, one B Rank Superb Yarn, Quality 5 1/2, Size 5, Freshness 10 had a value of 6437G.

You cannot obtain S Rank Ranch Products in the ordinary course of Events from any Animal who has not won 1st prize in an Animal Contest, but with Livestock, the Touchsceen Mini-Game, when the option appears, will allow you to obtain it on that day. Note that, although the Ranch Products that a 'rare' breed of Chicken, Cow or Sheep yields is more valuable than those given by ordinary Animals, you can win the Animal Contests with ordinary Animals as easily. It is all a matter of heart levels, not of the intrinsic value of the Products. Nonetheless, when given the opportunity, it certainly is worth investing in animals who can give you Products that ship for almost 10,000G! The Jersey Cow is unlocked by shipping 1 S Milk and the Suffolk Sheep by shipping 1 S Wool. To unlock the Silkie Hen, ship 1 S Rank Egg.

Finally, I do not have time to test every item comprehensively in this fashion, but any player can do it himself/herself using the following tactic:

Save your game at 4.30 p.m. Now stand about until 5.00 p.m. when all your items have been shipped and note your income total. Now reload to 4.30 p.m. or thereabouts. I suggest 4.30 p.m. only to give your character sufficient time if he/she needs to run to the Maker Shed to process an ingredient for a Recipe. Now ship one item... whether it is a raw 'ingredient' or an item that you cook in your Kitchen. DO NOT SAVE YOUR GAME but simply stand about until 5.00 p.m. when the total representing the original with the addition of the one item you added will be displayed in your Assets. Subtract the total that includes the item from the original total and you have the shipping value of the item. Hardly elegant or complex but it will give you valid totals for individual items. Remember, however, that the value will be completely accurate only for THAT specific item. Any variation in Rank, Quality, Size or Freshness or variations in the ingredients used to create the item may result in a different shipping value... which is why my Guides for Island of Happiness and Sunshine Islands only give approximate or average values.

Only an insane person would perform these calculations endlessly. All the time spent in discovering the precise value for a single item could be used more effectively to plant, water and harvest MORE Crops and participate in LIFE on Sunny Island or the islands of Sunshine Islands.

O the Delights of Harvest Moon Trivia! Wild Animals have been added...

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Harvest Moon and Rune Factory fans tend to be rather literary individuals who delight in dialogue and social interactions. In fact, if you do not enjoy dialogue in a game, you really are NOT going to gain the greatest benefits from playing any Harvest Moon or Rune Factory game. Rune Factory, with its elements of combat, evidently does attract a few gamers who view the dialogue as a nuisance. but for the most part, players of both series delight in the dialogue, perceiving it properly as a reward for dedication and persistance.

New dialogues tend to occur as heart levels are raised, as new items are introduced in the course of social interaction in the form of gifts or when seasons or weather changes. If you fail to interact with a Character regularly, you may not ever be aware of this, but social interactions often are the key to unlock new options and therefore are not really optional in any Harvest Moon or Rune Factory game.

Those of us who are veteran fans of both Harvest Moon and Rune Factory tend to be thrilled by each new tidbit of information or trivia. New Events and new dialogue really often are one of the most satisfying rewards for your investment in continuing to play past the first couple of years even more than the wealth that your Character inevitably obtains.

In both Animal Parade and Sunshine Islands, befriending Wild Animals actually serves a practical purpose as they will gather items for you. In doing so, they visit different areas of the Map. Unfortunately, you cannot take them into any Building but you can show them to any Character who is outside. The results can be illuminating or simply hilarious and actually may aid in raising heart levels.

In Animal Parade, you need to 'adopt' a Wild Animal before you can take it for a walk and show it to other Characters. In Sunshine Islands, on the other hand, you can 'hire' Wild Animals to collect items for you when they attain a specific Friendship level. The number of Animals of each type increases as you give them Gifts of Food. You therefore can find up to 20 Wild Animals of a single variety roaming across the map if you have hired them for the day.

Wild Animals include Badgers, Ducks, Mice, Monkeys, Rabbits and Sparrows. Each Character will have unique responses to each Animal type. Unfortunately for the poor Badgers, they appear to be generally repulsive to most iindividuals.

I have included some screenshots of the Responses of various Characters when shown a Badger. Mark endeared himself to me by being the only Character I was able to find who actually responded warmly to the Badger. I have to confess that I was a little surprised that Charlie did not show any positive interest. Even Martin, who keeps 10 cats in his little cottage, was not kind to these wild creatures. It is apparent that no one on Sunshine Islands listened to tales from 'The Wind in the Willows' as a child. If they had, they may have displayed a little more acceptance of the Badgers.

Befriending the Wild Animals on Animal Island may not be a necessary act in terms of the plot of Sunshine Islands, but it is richly rewarding both in terms of dialogues and gifts of rare and valuable items.

Note that these Wild Animals exist IN ADDITION to the four actual Pets you can keep in the form of a Dog, Cat, Horse and Pig. For animal fanciers, Sunshine Islands offers an incredible variety of animal interactions.

Unlocking the Silkie Hen in Sunshine Islands

It is by shipping only 1 S Rank Ranch Product of a specific variety that you will unlock the rare breeds of Animals in Sunshine Islands. With respect to your Livestock, you can obtain S Rank product in one of two ways. The long path is by raising your Cow or Sheep to 9 or 10 Hearts to win the Contest at the Cow or Sheep Festival. When your Animal wins 1st Prize, she will begin to give S Rank product on a regular basis. There is a far quicker method where Livestock are concerned and that is by playing the Touchscreen mini-game. Even a Cow or Sheep at 5 Hearts can give S Rank product when you play the Touchscreen Milking or Shearing game. Ship the Product and the next day, you will experience an Event at Mirabelle's Shop wherein she will announce the arrival of a new rare breed of Animal. The Cow is the Jersey Cow and the Sheep is the Suffolk Sheep.

It is where Chickens are concerned that you will have to wait a very long time to unlock a Silkie Hen if you do not pursue a dedicated programme of breeding. Although there is a Touchscreen Petting game to raise Friendship, there is no Egg-laying Touchscreen game. This means that the only way to obtain an S Rank Egg in the ordinary course of the game is with a Chicken who wins 1st Prize at the Chicken Festival.

Raising a Chicken to 10 Hearts alone will not produce an S Rank Egg. I tested this with the very first Chicken I obtained. At 10 Hearts, she still laid only A Rank Eggs of the highest Quality of 10 and 9 1/2 Size. Winning 2nd Place at the Chicken Festival in the 2nd Year did not produce S Rank eggs either. You must win 1st Prize evidently.

If you endeavour to obtain the result by raising a Chicken's Friendship, then winning the Chicken Contest, you may have to wait until the third year, depending on when the Chicken reaches a high enough Friendship Level to win 1st Prize. The Chicken Contest occurs only once each year on 7 Summer.

There is a strategy that will produce quicker results, however, and that is through breeding. Order an incubator from Gannon as soon as possible and throw the highest level Egg that you possess into it. When the Chick is born, it will have half the Hearts of the parent Chicken who laid it. Chickens mature very quickly, so you should be able to take THAT Chicken's Egg and incubate it before an entire season elapses. By following this procedure again and again, you may be able to produce a Chicken with sufficiently high Friendship Level to win 1st Prize at the Chicken Festival on 7 Summer in your 2nd Year. Otherwise, you will be obliged to wait until the 3rd Year to buy your first Silkie Hen.

As Voda commented, there is a 'cheat' of sorts if you have been diligent in raising Friendship Levels of Characters from the beginning. If you look at my General Guide or Characters Guide, I have included a list of the Birthday Gifts your Characters will receive on his/her Birthday from any Character who has attained 7 Hearts. One of Mirabelle's three Gifts is a Silkie Egg. As the three Gifts are rotated by year, you will receive the Silkie Egg every three years, beginning in the second year. (In my own game, my Character's Birthday as always falls on 4 Autumn and thus, I neglected to mention this option initially as the Chicken Festival predated it! This is one of the risks of becoming too involved personally in any game. One sometimes fails to mention the 'bigger picture'!)

In any event, if you pursue your Friendship with Mirabelle regularly (and she will be thrilled even with a daily gift of Pet Food), you can incubate the Silkie Egg you receive (which should be of A Rank, at least 10 Quality and 8 Size) to produce a Silkie Chick with higher heart level than the Silkie Hen unlocked at her Shop through traditional methods.

Here is the Birthday List section from my General and Characters Guides:


Your Birthday in Sunshine Islands

When you reach 7 Hearts or Yellow Heart Level (40,000 points) with any individual, even while you remain single, you will receive a special Birthday Gift from that Character if you speak to him/her on your Birthday. The only exceptions are Haila, Nick and your own Child. Each Character gives a different Gift and many of them are rare or valuable items. Each Character actually has the potential of giving one of three different Gifts, one of which usually is far more valuable and rare than the others. For example, Will’s Gift can be the very rare Firefly Flower, a Red Magic Flower or a Pinkcat Flower and Shea’s Gift can be a Truffle, a White Herb or a Large Fish. The gifts follow a specific order and the actual gift you receive is determined by the year.

Note that, for most Characters who themselves have Birthdays that are defined in Sunshine Islands, one of the three Gifts in many cases is THEIR Most Favourite Gift. The order of the Gifts is not determined by the degree to which the Character favours the Gift, however. For example, in Elliot’s case, his Most Favourite Gift is Stir-Fried Veggies, which you will not receive from him until the 3rd year. Even where the Birthday Gifts are not 'Most Favourite Gifts', they are Gifts ordinarily that would be worth 500 FP if you 'regifted' the item to them.

With respect to the Characters who do not have a defined Birthday, one of the Birthday Gifts they give can be a Most Favourite as well. In Ray's case, it is Sushi. Even if not uniquely a 'Most Favourite', all three Gifts will be favourites of theirs. Sad to say, although I hoped that these characters might have had secret birthdays, I have obtained official confirmation from Natsume that this is not the case.

Your choice of Birthday makes it either more or less likely that you will receive any Birthday Gifts in the 1st Year. Remember, however, that the list rotates and 1st Year Gifts will be 4th year Gifts as well.

Receiving a Birthday Gift is one method by which your Shipping List can be completed early in the game in the case of rare items.

The following is the List of Birthday Gifts that you will receive from any Character in the order in which they are given. Where an item is a true 'Most Favourite Gift', I have capitalised it:

Elliot: Vegetable Juice, Chop Suey, STIR-FRIED VEGGIES
Vaughn: PORRIDGE, Superb Butter, Milk Soup
Denny: Fish and Chips, SASHIMI, Carpaccio
Pierre: Chestnut Kinton, Rolled Omelet, Paella
Will: FIREFLY FLOWER, Red Magic Flower, Pinkcat Flower
Mark: Summer Sun, Gold Lumber, Winter Sun
Shea: White Herb, Truffle, LARGE FISH
Natalie: FRUIT SANDWICH, Blueberry Juice, Strawberry Milk
Julia: Superb Mayonnaise, SUPERB YOGURT, Dried Bean Curd
Sabrina: Ruby, Amethyst, Emerald
Lanna: Paella, Fish Meuniere, YAM PUDDING
Lily: Gold, Diamond, Red Magic Flower
Chelsea: Fall Sun, Spring Sun, Gold Lumber
Witch Princess: Twin Herb, Gold Lumber, Red Herb
Alisa: Cheesecake, ICE CREAM, Fruit Dumpling
Taro: Bodigizer XL, Fried Tofu Dumplings, Hungerizer XL
Felicia: VEGETABLE GRATIN, Apple Pie, Tempura Noodles
Mirabelle: Suffolk Wool, Silkie Egg, SUPERB CHEESE
Chen: NOODLES, Tempura Noodles, Curry Noodles
Charlie: Soybean Rice Candy, DRY CURRY, Chocolate Banana
Gannon: Gold Lumber, Natto, TEMPURA RICE
Eliza: DONUT, Baumkuchen, Toy Flower
Regis: Diamond, Peridot, Topaz
Nathan: Pancake, Steamed Bread, FRENCH TOAST
Wada: GRILLED FISH, Large Fish, Medium Fish
Witchkin: Peach, Natto, Peach Juice
Harvest Goddess: Pineapple, Firefly Flower, STRAWBERRY
Cliff: Sponge Cake, Bamboo Rice, Cheese Fondue
Trent: Vegetable Juice, JERSEY MILK, Soy Milk
Karen: Wine, Risotto, PIZZA
Popuri: OMELET RICE, Doria, Pudding
Kirk: Bamboo Dumpling, Soybean Rice Candy, Cold Tofu
Carol: Boiled Tofu, Tofu Steak, Lassi
Martin: Sashimi Bowl, Fish Sticks, Simmered Fish
Ray: Pumpkin Pudding, Chocolate Cake, SUSHI
Slater: Relax Tea, Pineapple Pie, Bodigizer
Isaac: Hungerizer, Mixed Rice, EMERALD

Whether to use the Stylus or the Control Pad in Sunshine Islands

In Island of Happiness, there were few options to use the Control Pad. Almost every action was controlled by the stylus. Some players (including me) did not care for that, but others preferred it. With the sensitivity to players' feelings that is characteristic of the creators of Harvest Moon and Rune Factory, in Sunshine Islands, the 'sequel' to Island of Happiness, a player has the option either to use the stylus or to use the Control Pad in most cases. As I 'cut my teeth' as it were on the GameBoy systems, I opt to use the Control Pad. Another reason why I tend to favour the Control Pad is the fact that my heavy use of the stylus in the early days of the DS completely destroyed the screen of my DS. It had to be replaced...

Which takes me on a slight diversion to a warning I added to some of my Guides but not all of them. Always use a screen protector on your Touchscreen. Another way to minimise the damage that the stylus causes is by using a 'pen' stylus instead of the stubby little stylus sold with the DS or DS Lite. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, these 'pens' no longer are sold. Instead, you can buy a retractable stylus, which is the same width as a regular stylus but has a telescoping feature that allows you to lengthen it. Although I find these inferior to the original 'pens', they are better than the short stylus as the amount of pressure that a player exerts tends to decrease as the length of the implement increases.

Back to the main topic now, which deals with the occasions where a stylus is preferable to the Control Pad in Sunshine Islands.

If you are playing one of the Touchscreen mini-games (Petting, Milking, Shearing), you must use the Stylus. Apart from this, however, you always have an option to choose between Control Pad and stylus. I have discovered two situations where the use of the stylus is infinitely preferable to use of the traditional Controls.

The first is when you are harvesting Crops. With the traditional Controls, you cannot reach the middle Crop in a 3 x 3 square plot in order to harvest it. If, however, you use the stylus, you CAN harvest that Crop. An early mistake of mine when I first explored Sunshine Islands was NOT to test the stylus when my Crops matured. In fact, you can create rows without breaks and harvest the middle Crops in each row using your Stylus in Sunshine Islands in the same manner as in Island of Happiness.

The second situation is when you are giving a Gift to some one. If you use the Control Pad, you run the risk of dropping the item, becoming guilty of a littering offence. That will please the Witch Princess enormously but has more disadvantages than advantages in that it will upset other Characters, decreasing their Friendship and essentially waste the item. If you use the Stylus, however, you can give an item from some distance, rather than being forced to stand directly next to him/her. This is particularly useful when you are interacting with the tiny Harvest Sprites on Sprite Island as they tend to zip about the Island at incredible speeds.

You actually can perform your 'meeting and greeting' ritual with all Characters using your Stylus, which will save time as you can 'call out' to them from a distance and they will acknowledge your greeting in the same fashion as if you were next to them.

If use of the Stylus is so more advantageous to a player, why on earth do any of us use the Control Pad instead. The answer rests partly upon personal preference but partly on a dislike of using the Stylus for movement in general. Once I begin to use the Control Pad, I tend to stay with it and must force myself to remember that the Stylus should be used for certain actions. There are cases when the Control Pad actually works better for me. I do believe that the Control Pad is easier to use when 'charging' a Tool, for example.

Festival Items in Sunshine Islands

At the two New Year Festivals, your Character will receive a number of items to take home. At the Year End Noodle Festival, he/she will receive about a dozen Buckwheat Flour. At the New Year Day Rice Candy Festival, he/she will receive about a dozen Rice Candy.

The intrinsic value in the case of the Buckwheat Flour is less than that of the Rice Candy simply because there is no other method by which you can obtain Rice Candy. You can buy Buckwheat Flour from Chen for 1080G. The shipping value of Buckwheat Flour, albeit much higher than that of Rice Candy, is not even half of what Chen asks.

As far as shipping values are concerned, the average values of the two items are:

Buckwheat Flour: 450G
Rice Candy: 140G

Cooking any 'raw' item using a single-ingredient Recipe tends to increase the value of the item. These two items are no exception, but the actual profit level with respect to Rice Candy is not that great.

When you roast the same Rice Candy to obtain Roasted Rice Candy, the shipping value is: 175G

Using it to create Bamboo Dumplings will result in the same shipping value.

Remember that these prices represent specific items with specific Rank, Quality, Size and Freshness.

If you use Rice Candy that you stored for a year in a Material Stone Refrigerator, so that it has deteriorated to B Rank, the value may be more like 145G.

If Buckwheat Flour has a shipping value of 450G and you can use it in a single ingredient recipe to create Buckwheat Noodles that ship for 575G, you obviously will make a profit when you cook it, but only if you received the Buckwheat Flour at a Festival or grew it, harvested and processed it yourself.

If you bought it from Chen, you will take a loss by transforming it into Buckwheat Noodles in order to ship it. The only valid reason for doing this would be to ship it once in order to complete your Shipping List, but it would be better to wait until you obtain it at the New Year Festival or prepare it from your own harvest.

The Rice Candy received at the beginning of the 2nd Year is best utilised to obtain new Recipes from the resident Chefs and then to make each Dish in order to ship it. You do need to ship one 'raw' Rice Candy and one Buckwheat Flour in order to complete your shipping list.

Other Festival items that you can obtain are Rice Balls at the Rice Festival and a selection of Pumpkin Dishes from the Pumpkin Festival ceelbration. These actually are worth more in terms of shipping values than either Rice Candy or Buckwheat Flour but are not unique and can be made in your own kitchen.

Details about the Greenhouse in Sunshine Islands

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The Greenhouse is an advanced option in many Harvest Moon games, including Sunshine Islands, that allows you to grow crops out of season. In HM DS and Cute DS, where water and sunlight had no specific individual requirements where Crops were concerned, the need for the 'Basements' that were the equivalent of a Greenhouse was not as great as it is in Island of Happiness and Sunshine Islands. In IoH and SI, the fact that weather can prove your undoing in terms of Crops that require either 'less' or 'more' Sunlight and/or Water makes the Greenhouse almost a necessity.

I had imagined that the Greenhouse option in both games would be the same but that is not quite true. The option IS expensive in both games... but in Sunshine Islands, you actually can add more than one Sun Box to further speed the growth of seasonal Crops.

In Island of Happiness, the Greenhouse actually is built on your original Field. In Sunshine Islands, however, it is built on Greenhouse Island, which is reached via a bridge from Link Island, reached via a Bridge from your Farm. This is true with respect to all three 'special farming' islands: Greenhouse Island, Rice Island and Fruit Island.

If you neither have a Teleport Stone nor Turbo Shoes, you will find yourself at a loss to visit Fruit Island and/or Greenhouse Island on a daily basis. As far as Rice Island is concerned, Rice once planted in Spring tends to itself and you need not visit THAT Island again until Autumn when the grain is mature and ready to be harvested.

The fact that the Greenhouse is located on a different Island has a rather cruel effect in Sunshine Islands which is to deny you any water source closer than the one located in the southwest corner of your Field. In Sunshine Islands, you cannot take water from the shore of the Island, as it is saltwater and would kill your Crops and Grains.

You therefore need to order a Water Spigot for the Greenhouse as soon as possible.

The cost is:

Add Water Spigot:
400 Lumber + 500000G
or 550000G

The cost of the addition of another Sun Box is:

Add Sun Box:
200 Lumber + 900000G
or 920000G

To me, the addition of a Shipping Bin is the least necessary of all options, but it is the least expensive as well as the cost for one is:

Add Shipping Bin:
200 Lumber + 1000G
or 15000G

Remember that, in Sunshine Islands, you can order an Enchantment either to reduce Prices or to reduce amount of Materials required or both.

As in Island of Happiness, the Greenhouse can be upgraded. The cost of the initial upgrade is:

Upgrade:
9000 Lumber + 500000G
or 999000G

These prices are not for the faint of heart and a player who slaved away to finally scrape together the amount needed to order a Greenhouse (even with a Green Team discount) without knowing what would be required afterwards may be dismayed to discover the price of these options. Even so, it gives the veteran players another challenge to surmount...

Once you have a Greenhouse, you cannot expect that farming will be nothing more than a matter of flinging your seeds onto tilled soil. Considerations of specific Water requirements for both Crops and Grains as well as seasonal requirements for harvesting Grains still apply. Knowing when to place a specific Seasonal Sun and how to prevent the loss of Grains that must be harvested in Summer is vital.

Incidentally, the acreage in the initial Greenhouse consists of 16 squares by 8 squares. What this means in terms of complete 3 x 3 plots is that you can fit a total of 10 in the Greenhouse. If, however, you are willing to sacrifice Seeds, you can grow more Crops in the remaining 'incomplete' plots. Another way of calculating space is to state that you have a total of 128 squares for farming. You can do as you wish with these... . Remember always that you will need to be able to REACH all the squares that you sow with seed. With sufficient Wonderfuls in your Watering Can, you will be able to reach all squares even if you do not leave space between Crops, and if you use your Stylus instead of traditional controls, you should be able to harvest all of them even in the case of multiple harvest Crops.

The actual configuration of the initial Greenhouse is set up to allow you to till your soil in eight 3 x 3 plots with a space between each on every side. My own procedure usually is to plant in unbroken rows with a single space between rows. In the Greenhouse, this planogram will give you four rows of 2 2/3 plots each. You therefore will waste 3 seeds out of 9 when you sow the final bag of Seeds in each row.

Tip: If you do not have a pair of Turbo Shoes by the time you obtain a Greenhouse, I would suggest that you invest in them as soon as possible. Even with a Teleport Stone, it will take 10 minutes to move from the Teleport destination on Link Island to the Greenhouse. When returning to the Ranch to refill your Watering Can, it will take 10 minutes to move from the Teleport destination of the Ranch (on the bridge) to the watering hole unless you are wearing Turbo Shoes. You will need 60 Orichalcum for Turbo Shoes.

Note that you can have more than one Watering Can in Sunshine Islands and can fill both before you go to the Greenhouse. If you do not have Wonderfuls set in both, however, they will have equal capacity in terms of 50 squares but will not water the squares with equal efficiency. You therefore may wish to go to Charlie to reorganise your Wonderfuls before you visit the Greenhouse... or not, as it is enough of a headache for me anyway, to switch my Orange Wonderfuls from Hammer or Axe to Milker each morning and back again... That's the limit of Wonderful Switching that I am willing to perform on a daily basis for the most part.

If you have only one Sun Box, you MUST keep the Summer Sun in place in order to grow Buckwheat or Soybeans until those Crops are harvested. You cannot 'switch' Suns in the Sun Box. To change from one Sun to another, you first must remove the existing Sun, leaving the Greenhouse without any Sun for a moment until you set the next Sun into the Box. Of the three Grains that can be grown in the Greenhouse, only Wheat will survive if you remove the Summer Sun and replace it with Autumn or Spring. WHEAT IS THE ONLY CROP THAT CAN ENDURE EITHER AN ABSENCE OR CHANGE IN SUNS IN THE GREENHOUSE.

You cannot sow seeds beneath the wrong seasonal Sun in the Greenhouse. As Soybeans and Buckwheat CAN grow during Autumn, you can sow them beneath an autumn Sun but if you remove that Sun in order to place a Summer Sun there in order to be able to harvest them, they will vanish instantly.

I have not grown any Grains to maturity yet in the Greenhouse in Sunshine Islands, but I have tested the ability to remove and replace the Seasonal Suns. Only Wheat survives that. In view of this, I do believe that my Island of Happiness Guidelines with respect to grains is equally applicable to Sunshine Islands.

From my Island of Happiness General Guide:


Tip for Growing Grains


For maximum success, grow all three ordinary Grains in your Greenhouse using a Summer Sun. You will be required to keep the Summer Sun in the Greenhouse for two seasons in order to be able to harvest Wheat and Soybeans, but both are crops that grow both in Summer and Autumn BUT CAN BE HARVESTED ONLY IN SUMMER. Changing your Sun from a Summer to an Autumn Sun will kill ALL Crops apart from Wheat, so do not do that. Simply plant Wheat, Soybeans and Buckwheat in the Greenhouse after placing a Summer Sun, then leave the Summer Sun in place until you have harvested all the Crops. If you plant them all at the same time, the Buckwheat will be ready for harvest first. In fact, Buckwheat requires less than a full season to grow. Soybeans and Wheat, on the other hand, require almost two.

As previously stated, you can water any Soybean Crop twice daily but do not water Wheat more than once every two days!

END OF GUIDE EXCERPT

One final difference between Island of Happiness and Sunshine Islands is that you cannot sow Fruit Trees in the Greenhouse. As a separate Island exists for Fruit Trees, that probably is the reason why this practice is disallowed. Unfortunately, this means that your Fruit Trees always will be subject to the vagaries of the Weather in Sunshine Islands. In Island of Happiness, however, you had to perform complex rotations of your Suns in the Greenhouse if you wished to harvest Fruit. Even so, the Fruit Trees grown in the Greenhouse were protected from the weather outside.

I need to scrape together enough money to order a second Sun Box before I relinquish Sunshine Islands to begin on Hero of Leaf Valley.

Another general Farming Tip is that you can leave mature Crops in your field to improve in Rank, Quality and Size as long as Water AND Sunllight requirements are not exceeded. This is one method by which to raise Rank from B to A as well as increasing size. Note that this is true with respect to items that grow in the Wilds as well. By leaving a coloured Herb on the ground for a day or two, it may go from B to A Rank. Even Seaweed left on the Rock at the Beach in Spring may improve from B to A Rank if you do not harvest it for a day or two. Although there is a limit to the number of items that can be placed on the ground, the game WILL drop more items the next day even if you have not harvested every item on the previous day.

Where multiple harvest Crops are concerned, I sometimes leave the Crop in the middle square in place in Sunshine Islands as long as possible to elevate it to S Rank. There is a point where the Crop will receive too much Sunlight or Water and wither, however. Always make certain to harvest it the night before this occurs.

Cats in Harvest Moon and elsewhere

This does not have sufficient Harvest Moon information to qualify as a real tutorial about ANY game, but it does include a few tips about Cats in Animal Parade and Sunshine Islands. It showcases Beauty's Kittens in actuality.



Although this video primarily features the Kittens, I would like to thank ILuvHM for her detailed research about all the Wild Animals and Pets in Animal Parade. The wealth of information about Pets and the Characters who love them now contained in my Character Guide owes much to her.

Winter Wonderfuls and Wonderful Properties in Sunshine Islands

Well, the Colour of the Wonderful that appears at Chen's Market in Winter is determined by a match between one of the Farming Degree sub-category totals and the general Farming Degree Title points.

My latest experiment showed a Red Wonderful at Chen's Market at 6.00 a.m. one Winter morning. I needed to reload my game, as I was simply testing something and had not fed my animals... When I reloaded, I decided that I needed to use my Tools as usual, which would change the points in most categories, eliminating the specific set of circumstances that caused the Wonderful to appear.

When I went to bed finally in my 'permanent' game, I had, among other things, caught another Monkfish, skewing the point totals even further.

I usually have cooked to change point totals and have been able to obtain three Orange Wonderfuls by doing this and shipping a couple of fish if necessary. I therefore am fairly certain that the Orange Wonderful is linked either toto the Cooking and Fishing Titles.

Cooking one dish at a time, no Wonderful had appeared even after I had cooked 20 dishes.

I decided to try to manipulate the Fishing Total instead. I shipped one fish at a time until...

A Yellow Wonderful appeared at 6.00 a.m. at Chen's Market.

I therefore now believe:

Cooking = Orange Wonderful
Fishing = Yellow Wonderful

God only knows what match created the Red Wonderful. I do not have time to continue this research at this point in time. It took me three hours to produce the Yellow Wonderful at Chen's Market, so I will move on now to log more Events instead...

I have been trying to determine how to set the colour of the Wonderfuls that appear at Chen's Shop in the Winter season. Originally I thought that the Orange Wonderfuls were linked to the Cooking and Fishing Totals but each Wonderful has to be linked to a single category to match the Farming Degree Total.

It seems, after tiresome, endless testing that:

Mining Degree is linked to the Blue Wonderfuls
Farming Degree (use of Watering Can) is linked to the Green Wonderfuls
I still believe that the Orange is linked EITHER to Fishing OR Cooking

Another point. It appears that a Wonderful Piece is set to appear on 10 Winter at Chen's Shop. No matter how much I tried, I could not change that into a Wonderful.

Would love to have concrete results from other players where these matters are concerned. I had to stop testing due to lack of time.

Players need to remember that the use of the Teleport Stone will change the Farming Degree total. I did that by accident in my game, rushing over to feed my (forgotten) Pig using the Teleport Stone when I knew a Wonderful was set to appear the next morning with the totals I had achieved!

Meanwhile, I had to remind myself that NO Wonderful will have an effect if your Tool is not charged when you use it. This applies to the Brush as well. Placing Yellow Wonderfuls in the Brush will increase the Affection point value for each use but ONLY IF YOU CHARGE THE TOOL! I had been using the Brush daily and essentially wasting the Yellow Wonderfuls that were set in it, because I was not charging it each time. One automatically charges the Hoe, Hammer and Axe because the Yellow Wonderful/s increases the effect visibly, allowing you to till the Rice Paddy if you charge your Hoe, smash large Boulders if you charge the Hammer and chop stumps if you charge the Axe. Where the Ranch Tools are concerned, however, it is important to remind yourself to charge any Tools set with Wonderfuls. The effect in the case of an Orange Wonderful is visible when you obtain a greater yield, but that of a Yellow is more subtle, where Ranch Tools are concerned. Remember that the 2G that each Purple Wonderful gives will not accrue either if the Tool in which it is set is not charged...

A Striking Simiilarity in Sunshine Islands

The main plot in Sunshine Islands is founded on Sun Stones and raising Heart Levels is a method by which you can obtain many of the Sun Stones you need to raise islands from the bottom of the sea, but Friendship brings other rewards in the form of Event that occur at 6 Hearts between various Characters.

One of these subsidiary Events occurs at the Inn when Sabrina reaches 6 Hearts. It involves two of the Mineral Town characters, Karen and Popuri. It is a clever event that 'responds' I believe to some of the comments made by veteran Harvest Moon players when Characters in new Harvest Moon games resemble other Characters from the past. When Island of Happiness was released, a few players wrote that Sabrina was the 'Mary-look-alike' in the game. In 'A Striking Similarity', Karen and Popuri go so far as to mistake Sabrina for Mary! The creators of Island of Happiness and Sunshine Islands thereby used this resemblance to create an entertaining event.

A friend of mine who is playing Animal Parade complains that the game moves too slowly for his liking and that he grows weary once again of his daily chores. Ironically, he is an individual who is a creature of his habit in his own real life and does not really like to have his daily routine altered much. Nonetheless, if he cannot expect another major change in the near future in any Harvest Moon or Rune Factory game, his interest quickly wanes.

He asked me (again) why I do not become bored... I have written about this before, actually. For me, Harvest Moon and Rune Factory games offer endless delight in the details. Instead of waiting impatiently for the next major advance in the plot, I find myself surprised and delighted by a new bit of dialogue or a minor event that uncovers a secret from a character's past or a detail about his/her 'Most Favourite' Gifts. Any one who is not involved with the character studies in any Harvest Moon or Rune Factory game loses a great deal of the enjoyment that these series have to offer.

For me, experiencing an Event like 'A Striking Similarity' is as exciting as any major plot development. Similarly, I was delighted when Ray confided at 4 Hearts that he was a teacher before he became a fisherman, giving me a little window into his personal history. Yes, his official profile does mention that he was a 'former scholar' but it still made me happy to hear it from him... In Friends of Mineral Town and More Friends of Mineral Town, I loved the subsidiary Events that dealt with Jeff's aspirations and accomplishments as an artist. It delighted me to find his paintings as well as references to him as an artist in OTHER Harvest Moon games.

These small but satisfying Events and dialogues are what give the daily routines their spice and allow one to continue to find fulfillment in a game even after the Main Plot has been completed. The general rule for most Harvest Moon games is that new Events will continue to occur for five years at least. Any one who lacks the patience to live the idyllic life of a farmer in any Harvest Moon setting for at least five years is missing half of the game.

Your Birthday Gift List in Sunshine Islands

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When I experienced my first Birthday in Sunshine Islands, I was thrilled to receive Birthday Gifts from a few individuals who had reached 7 Hearts early in the game. In my enthusiasm, I made a video about it.

In fact, as I continued to play Sunshine Islands, I discovered that each Character can give one of three possible Gifts for your Birthday. Some of them are rare and expensive items, such as the Firefly Flower, Gold Lumber and Twin Herb. Others, such as Bodigizer XL and Hungerizer, are quite useful.

I now have added a section to my Guide that lists all Characters with the Birthday Gifts that they give to you. When I replayed the Events in the first year, I always received the same item from each individual, which is one reason I did not realise there was a possibility of obtaining different items. It is possible that the Gifts are determined by the Year in which you are playing and that they follow a set order.


Your Birthday in Sunshine Islands

When you reach 7 Hearts or Yellow Heart Level (40,000 points) with any individual, even while you remain single, you will receive a special Birthday Gift from that Character if you speak to him/her on your Birthday. The only exceptions are Haila, Nick and your own Child. Each Character gives a different Gift and many of them are rare or valuable items. Each Character actually has the potential of giving one of three different Gifts, one of which usually is far more valuable and rare than the others. For example, Will’s Gift can be the very rare Firefly Flower, a Red Magic Flower or a Pinkcat Flower and Shea’s Gift can be a Truffle, a White Herb or a Large Fish. The gifts follow a specific order and the actual gift you receive is determined by the year.
Note that, for all Characters who themselves have Birthdays that are defined in Sunshine Islands, one of the three Gifts is THEIR Most Favourite Gift. The order of the Gifts is not determined by the degree to which the Character favours the Gift, however. For example, in Elliot’s case, his Most Favourite Gift is Stir-Fried Veggies, which you will not receive from him until the 3rd year.
Your choice of Birthday makes it either more or less likely that you will receive any Birthday Gifts in the 1st Year. Remember, however, that the list rotates and 1st Year Gifts will be 4th year Gifts as well. Your choice of Birthday will determine which Mineral Town visitor(s) ever give you his/her Birthday Gifts as their visits are set in specific seasons.
Receiving a Birthday Gift is one method by which your Shipping List can be completed early in the game in the case of rare items.
The List of Birthday Gifts includes:
Elliot: Vegetable Juice, Chop Suey, Stir-Fried Veggies
Vaughn: Porridge, Superb Butter, Milk Soup
Denny: Fish and Chips, Sashimi, Carpaccio
Pierre: Chestnut Kinton, Rolled Omelet, Paella
Will: Firefly Flower, Red Magic Flower, Pinkcat Flower
Mark: Summer Sun, Gold Lumber, Winter Sun
Shea: White Herb, Truffle, Large Fish
Natalie: Fruit Sandwich, Blueberry Juice, Strawberry Milk
Julia: Superb Mayonnaise, Superb Yogurt, Dried Bean Curd
Sabrina: Ruby, Amethyst, Emerald
Lanna: Paella, Fish Meuniere, Yam Pudding
Lily: Gold, Diamond, Red Magic Flower
Chelsea: Fall Sun, Spring Sun, Gold Lumber
Witch Princess: Twin Herb, Gold Lumber, Red Herb
Alisa: Cheesecake, Ice Cream, Fruit Dumpling
Taro: Bodigizer XL, Fried Tofu Dumplings, Hungerizer XL
Felicia: Vegetable Gratin, Apple Pie, Tempura Noodles
Mirabelle: Suffolk Wool, Silkie Egg*, Superb Cheese
Chen: Noodles, Tempura Noodles, Curry Noodles
Charlie: Soybean Rice Candy, Dry Curry, Chocolate Banana
Gannon: Gold Lumber, Natto, Tempura Rice
Eliza: Donut, Baumkuchen, Toy Flower
Regis: Diamond, Peridot, Topaz
Nathan: Pancake, Steamed Bread, French Toast
Wada: Grilled Fish, Large Fish, Medium Fish
Witchkin: Peach, Natto, Peach Juice
Harvest Goddess: Pineapple, Firefly Flower, Strawberry
Cliff: Sponge Cake, Bamboo Rice, Cheese Fondue
Trent: Vegetable Juice, Jersey Milk, Soy Milk
Karen: Wine, Risotto, Pizza
Popuri: Omelet Rice, Doria, Pudding
Kirk: Rolled Cabbage, Soybean Rice Candy, Cold Tofu
Carol: Boiled Tofu, Tofu Steak, Lassi
Martin: Sashimi Bowl, Fish Sticks, Simmered Fish
Ray: Pumpkin Pudding, Chocolate Cake, Sushi
Slater: Relax Tea, Pineapple Pie, Bodigizer
Isaac: Hungerizer, Mixed Rice, Emerald

*Note that you can incubate this Silkie Egg to obtain a Silkie Chick early in the game.

Philosophical Issues in Harvest Moon/Rune Factory

A comment made by a veteran Harvest Moon player on one of my posts resonated in my own soul and I therefore publish it here. It deals with a fundamental philosophical issue in Harvest Moon and Rune Factory.

Here is the comment:

Dear Freya,

I believe that the creators wish to tell us, with the increased difficulty in 'forging' a wonderful during winter, that something in life is meant to be out of our control, and therefore, we better be patient and NOT try so hard to obtain it.
I mean, an orange wonderful set into a tool surely increase the yield of milk, wool, ores/gems and black grass/coins, but even without that wonderful you will still obtain those number of items! The only difference is that you will take longer to achieve those numbers, but is that really a bad thing?

How many players really 'lives' more than 5-6 years game time in any HM game?

I remember that in HM FoMT, in order to obtain the mountain cabin one would have to had been married for 42 years!

Remember that in FoMT, once every 5 years, if you walk up the mountain on Fall 11, after 23:00, you will encounter a shooting star event, and your profits will double the next day?

But in recent games I find myself giving up after reaching the 4th year, because the money was already infinite, and all heart events were seen, and everybody was at 10 FP, and the list is 100% complete, and the ONLY thing I have to hope for is to see my son/daughter grow old... and they surely take a long time to do so!!! So I stop playing...

Without the wonderfuls, one might actually need 10 or 20 years (game-time) to accomplish everything, but with those...

Hope I am making sense, in some way.'
END OF COMMENT

Of course, the writer makes perfect sense and is absolutely correct. Although I myself love to reach the point when I have attained every goal and can 'rest on my laurels' in any Harvest Moon/Rune Factory game, I have to confess that I tend to play THAT game less often afterwards. In fact, telling myself that it is for the sake of my guides that I must start a NEW game to see if I can accomplish all those goals even faster, I usually would begin a second game in another slot...

(Too little time nowadays in my REAL life in any case to enjoy a very well-earned 'retirement life' in any Harvest Moon/Rune Factory game... There always are new games to explore.)

In fact, the creators are very conscious of the virtues of patience and determination and although little rewards like the Wonderfuls in IoH and SI are included to give a player a bit of excitement and a sense of being chosen by Fortune as a Favourite, they are not intended to take the place of the initial hard work that is required in any Harvest Moon or Rune Factory game.

I can illustrate this with an experience from ToT. When I was working on the Official Strategy Guide for Tree of Tranquility, I discovered a fabulous exploitation device in the game. Decent Cocoons, sold at the Brownie Farm, could be converted to Yarn, dyed with a Blue Herb or Blue Flower and then shipped for an incredible profit. This would allow the player to afford all upgrades to his/her farm very quickly.

Filled with the very natural excitement any player (and guide writer) experiences when he/she discovers an exploitation, I included the information in my Guide. What happened then is known to any player who read my Guide AND played ToT when it was released.

Although the sections of the Guide that dealt with this exploitation device were not removed from the strategy Guide, the actual exploitation WAS removed from the game before the retail version was released. Why should Natsume allow the very fabric of the game's natural timing to be destroyed by the ability to become a millionaire almost instantly?

There IS a natural timing to every Harvest Moon and Rune Factory game. Despite the fact that players are allowed to do things as they wish, in their own time and to create their own priorities, players who neglect NO activity in any Harvest Moon or Rune Factory game and are content to move slowly but certainly forward in every aspect find that they do not experience problems for the most part. It usually is the player with 'tunnel vision' who focuses on one aspect of the game to the exclusion of the rest who finds everything grinding to a standstill at some point because he/she ignored shipping requirements or Friendship requirements or some other integral part of the universe of Harvest Moon or Rune Factory.

You cannot focus on making money exclusively, ignoring your neighbours, and expect that you will unlock every new option. Nor can you focus on courtship exclusively, while letting your farm go to ruin (or remain in its original neglected state) and expect to unlock new options. Everything is connected.

Players who use 'codes' or cheat devices to boost their progress artificially find that this destroys other aspects of the game, as many variables are intended to work together to create results. That is why I advise strongly against codes and cheat devices where Harvest Moon and Rune Factory are concerned.

In fact, it is when a player does something the WRONG way often and writes to me for advice that I discover potential problems in any game. A good Guide MUST include all potential problems. When I go through my initial game, triggering events effortlessly, I often fail to discover those potential problems or the 'hidden' triggers that need to be included in any Guide.

I do try to find any and all exploitation devices that exist in any Harvest Moon or Rune Factory game but, as this player has stated, the creators do NOT intend that you should be able to move too quickly through your life in Harvest Moon or Rune Factory. 'Everything in its season' to paraphrase the wise King Solomon.

Once upon a time, we could save our games before our character went to bed, then reload to change the weather if the heavens did not conform to our personal wishes. Island of Happiness and now Sunshine Islands made this virtually impossible by setting the weather almost a week in advance. Those of us (yes, I include myself!) who had become accustomed to the ability to dictate the Weather to the game were faced with an almost insurmountable task. I was frustrated and upset initially when typhoons and blizzards smashed through my field... but then I realised I was relaxing a little more while I played the game. I did not have to PLAN so much and I therefore LIVED more. Typhoons certainly are a natural threat in Island life and they have positive results as well as negative in some Harvest Moon games. In Tree of Tranquility and Animal Parade, there are rare fish that can be caught ONLY on the day of a severe storm.

I discovered, as well, that the day of a Blizzard in Sunshine Islands is one of the few days when it is relatively easy to conjure a Wonderful at Chen's Market. This, I respectfully submit to Natsume, is NOT an exploitation that needs to be removed. After all, the player pays a potentially hefty price in the destruction caused by the storm.

The destructive aspects of any Typhoon or Blizzard are balanced a little by the amounts of stone and wood they deposit on the Map in games where upgrades require vast quantities of Materials.

As far as the ability to make Wonderfuls in Sunshine Islands is concerned, I think that the creators of the game engineered this properly, according to 'Harvest Moon' philosophy. It is very thrilling to find that Recipes for the Wonderfuls exist, knowing the powers of these Wonderfuls. At the same time, the ingredients and the complex process required to create them allows them to remain valuable and precious RARE commodities. Creating the 'Orange Book' that is one of the ingredients in the Recipe for an Orange Wonderful is not a breeze... to take another step and make an Orange Wonderful is a fairly burdensome undertaking. If you have the Will to do so, you can, but I suspect that most players will wait for an Orange Wonderful either to appear at Chen's shop NATURALLY in Winter, to be given as 1st Prize in a Contest or as a gift from a grateful and loving spouse.

Magic is an integral part of the Harvest Moon and Rune Factory universes but it is not something that can be used indiscrimately and usually, a player must prove himself first, by demonstrating the ability to scratch a living from a neglected field. He/she must be willing to endure privations, to balance the need to eat with the need to earn money through shipping, must meet and greet neighbours even without being able to give their 'Most Favourite' gifts to them, and EARN their respect and liking. If you have money, you can fill a barn with Livestock, but you still need to EARN their affection by caring for them on a daily basis. Otherwise, the products that they produce will be of low quality and little value.

In many cases, the most Magical Accessories are not available at the start of the game. Again, you must EARN the right to have them, either by mining for the materials needed to create them or by unlocking them through your efforts in other areas of life. The Teleport Stone in Sunshine Islands is a real godsend, but it will not appear at Chen's Market until you have 100,000G in your Earnings total. When you do, you must be willing to invest all of it in the Teleport Stone if you want it that badly!

In fact, in any Harvest Moon and Rune Factory game, almost every decision requires that you make choices. Do I expand my house or build/expand a Barn? Do I use this item to restore energy or do I ship it? Do I give this valuable item to some one who will prize it or do I ship it to make money? Do I allow a Bachelor/Eligible Girl to marry my Rival in order to be able to meet their Child or do I marry the individual myself? Decisions like these can be careless or they can be based on intelligent consideration. The beauty of any Harvest Moon or Rune Factory game is that you can be whatever you wish. You can be wise or foolish, careful or careless... It's YOUR life! At the same time, as in our real lives, the individual who is careful and weighs the virtues of any choice probably will be far more successful than the one who barges forward heedlessly.

N.B. With respect to the word 'forging' in the original comment that sparked this post, I am not certain precisely what was meant here, unless it was used in a strictly poetic sense. There is no forge in Sunshine Islands but Wonderfuls CAN be made in your Kitchen in ANY season if you have the necessary Recipes and the required ingredients. In Winter, Wonderfuls may appear at the maximum rate of one every three days ONLY WHEN the last two digits of two Farming Degree totals match.

Perhaps it would be useful to include the Recipe for making an Orange Wonderful for players who have not completed their Cookbooks yet in Sunshine Islands:


Orange Book

Orange Book: 2G
Ingredients: Failed Dish, Wonderful Piece, Orange Herb, Orange Curry, Black Book
Obtain with 5th Black Book from Haila at Cafe
Energy Value: None
Optional Ingredients: None

This may look deceptively simple, but players who have obtained the Recipe for the Black Book will be very much aware of the labour involved in 'cooking' even one Black Book, let alone FIVE!


Black Book

Black Book: 2G
Ingredients: Failed Dish, Elli Leaves, Yggdra Soup, Chazuke, Poseidon Bowl, Sweet and Sunny
Obtain with 7th Failed Dish from Haila at Cafe
Energy Value: None
Optional Ingredients: None

It is easy enough to cook Failed Dishes. Each of the Failed Dishes that you create, when given to Haila and used successfully by her, will elicit a Recipe for one of the Dishes that constitute the ingredients in the Black Book. Obtaining the Recipe for the Black Book is a fairly simple matter as well. It will be given when Haila uses the seventh Failed Dish you offer successfully. It is the creation of a Black Book in your own Kitchen that will prove labour-intensive.

Here are the Recipes for each of the items needed to create one Black Book.


Elli Leaves

Elli Leaves: 2G
Ingredients: Failed Dish, Herb Salad, Salad, Pickle, Pickled Turnip, Boiled Spinach
Obtained with Failed Dish from Haila at Cafe
Energy Value: +4 SR +2 FL
Optional Ingredients: None


Yggdra Soup

Yggdra Soup: 2G
Ingredients: Failed Dish, Sangria, Relax Tea, Soy Milk, Herb Soup, Fruit Smoothie
Obtain with 1st Failed Dish from Cafe
Energy Value: +4 SR +1 FL
Optional Ingredients: None

Chazuke

Chazuke: 2G
Ingredients: Failed Dish, Dried Bean Curd, Steamed Egg Custard, Mochi Mix Natto/Red Flower Mix Natto, Spring Roll, Buckwheat Chips
Obtain with 2nd Failed Dish from Nick at Diner
Energy Value: +4 SR +1 FL
Optional Ingredients: None
Official Description: A dish from the East


Poseidon Bowl

Poseidon Bowl: 2G
Ingredients: Failed Dish, Fried Rice Noodles, Egg Over Rice, Porridge, Ultimate or Finest Curry
Obtain with 3rd Failed Dish from Haila at Cafe
Energy Value: +4 SR +1 FL
Optional Ingredients: None


Sweet and Sunny

Sweet and Sunny: 2G
Ingredients: Failed Dish, Chestnut Gelatin, Fruit Dumpling, Trifle, Apple Pie, Chocolate Fondue
Obtain with 4th Failed Dish from Haila at Cafe
Optional Ingredients: None
Official Description: A heavenly blend of sunny delights! Mmm!

It is not impossible to make any of the Dishes that are required to make a Black Book, but as you can see, each includes a fair number of ingredients in its own right. Furthermore, it is unlikely that you will have the necessary ingredients in your first year to make most of the items required to create the ingredients for even one Black Book. Many of the items require Fruits harvested from Trees. To grow your own Trees, you need to raise Link Island, build a Bridge to it, then raise Fruit Island and build THAT bridge... and finally, plant the seeds for the trees and nurture them, with a combination of good farming knowledge AND proper weather conditions. It is only when you offer your FIFTH Black Book to Haila that you will have a chance of obtaining the Recipe for the Orange Book. In other words, obtaining the RECIPE for the Orange Book or for any of the Books required to create Wonderfuls in your own kitchen is an advanced project!