Acorn Festival in Animal Crossing

Although I have been immersed in Island of Happiness, I continue to receive emails regularly about other games I have covered in the past. In fact, 'Sims2 Castaway' and 'Animal Crossing Wild World' generate emails frequently. 'Chronicles of Narnia' when it finally was released in the U.K. generated a flurry of emails that only now is beginning to slow down a little. As games are released in different parts of the world, emails arrive from those quarters, forcing me to try to remember details about games that I have not had time to play myself for quite some time.

In any event, I am writing about Animal Crossing Wild World today because the question asked by the player inspires reflection of a philosophical nature. In fact, Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing have much in common philosophically. Although each creates a fantasy world, that world has very real rules of conduct and gameplay is designed to force players to recognise the value and power of Nature.

The player wrote to me as follows: 'I found your email on a page on the internet, and it said to contact you if we had any questions, and I can't find any acorns during the Acorn Festival week. Other residents in my town said you find them all over town but I haven't found 1, I just got mailed 1 by my mom! Please email back!! Thank you (Y)'

It had been a very long time since I visited my own Animal Crossing village. I knew that time travel could disrupt the appearance of acorns or any other item produced by Nature. In fact, time travel in Animal Crossing can cause great proliferation of weeds in your village...

In fact, after I queried her about time travel, the player referred to my General Guide and found the answer to her problem there.

Here it is:
'I found out why it didn't work: in my town I cut all the trees down and have 6 fruit trees around Tom Nooks shop, and on your page it says that you can only find them under the fruitless trees...'

I am writing about this issue here because it is not uncommon for players to be a little greedy where fruit trees are concerned. They cut down all the trees that display no fruit and plant fruit trees in their place.

When the Acorn Festival arrives, there are NO acorns in their village because the trees that did not produce fruits in fact are oak trees!

Every plant and every item found in Nature has a purpose. Harvest Moon reminds players of this by using the common weed in special Recipes. In fact, even errors in cooking have some use. 'Elli's Leaves' are made from Failed Dishes. The common Stone is used in a Recipe for Sweet Potatoes in many Harvest Moon games as well.

Do not be too quick to chop down a tree in order to substitute one that produces exotic fruit... Do not be too quick to dispose of all Weeds. There usually is a purpose for every item under the Sun.

The Importance of a Well-Stocked Larder in Harvest Mooon

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I will publish posts about marriage to the remaining bachelors soon but I wished to write about something more general first: the importance of keeping a well-stocked refrigerator and shelf in Harvest Moon games.

There is a reason NOT to ship everything in Harvest Moon. Even though you won't be able to purchase a Kitchen in the first Spring, store some Spring crops and Spring wild grasses in your rucksack until you are able to transfer them to a Refrigerator. You will need EVERY item at some point to complete a recipe.

I wrote previously about the useful nature of Weeds and Junk Ore in creating Failed Dishes. In terms of ingredients, EVERY type of Wild Grass is vital in creating valuable dishes such as Rainbow Curry, Ultimate Curry, Finest Curry and Elli Leaves.

In Spring, you will be able to find two types of Wild Grass: Yellow Grass and Orange Grass. A beginner may look at the description of Orange Grass and think it is an item that is useless because it has no effect on Stamina or Fatigue. Well, consumed raw it is useless, but it can be used to create Orange Curry, a necessary ingredient in Rainbow Curry.

In Summer, you will find many different kinds of Wild Grasses, including Red Grass. Red Grass consumed raw is poisonous. Again, a beginner may consider it wrongly to be useless... but it can be used to create Red Curry, a necessary component of Rainbow Curry.

Rainbow Curry is a popular dish in its own right but beyond that, it is an ingredient both in Ultimate Curry and Finest Curry.

Furthermore, Spring Crops should be saved not only for use in recipes when you do have a kitchen because you will not be able to buy Spring Seeds in any season other than Spring. The same holds true for every Crop, apart from the seeds sold at the Casino Window, available throughout the year.

Remember that, once you have a Seedmaker, any Crop can be transformed into Seeds. Furthermore, once you have a Basement and the appropriate Sun, you will be able to grow crops year-round.

Every item has value... whether as a gift to win some one's heart or as an ingredient in a recipe. Never mistake a low shipping value for the ONLY value an item has.

I have included three photographs of my Refrigerator in the first week of Winter in my first Year. As you can see, I have every crop from every season, as well as all Wild Grasses. I have all types of Curry and every type of Failed Dish. The lone Big Fish at the bottom of the last 'page' is the gift from Mukumuku. I am a sentimental player. I always keep gifts from individuals. The rest of my Big Fish are on another 'page' but I wish to keep Mukumuku's gift separate. It is stored at the end of the last 'page' of Refrigerator items so the kitchen will not use it in cooking a recipe that uses a Big Fish...

These photographs are from HM Cute DS but the original Harvest Moon DS is the same where items are concerned. I will try to take some photographs of my old FoMT and MFoMT games as well in future. They do say a picture is worth a thousand words...

One final point: players often ask me how I can rescue 60 Sprites in my first year or marry some one before the end of the first year. Well, time is relative in Harvest Moon. I choose to play my games very slowly, to wring the maximum amount from each day of gameplay. Some players race through the seasons and years. I like to experience every event possible, to perform every task, to make every day COUNT. That is how I do everything 'so quickly'. It really isn't quick at all in terms of 'real time'! I can spend many real hours on a single Harvest Moon day.