Just got this game!

The first mainline Harvest Moon game developed by Natsume. Nintendo 3DS. [ Game Guide ] JP release = None. NA release = Nov 2014. EU release = Jun 2015.
SuperFish!
Anonymous Fish

Post  Posted:

I realize the forums are kind of dead, but I am excited. I've been combing through the forums, and this game is really growing on me. I've played a good chunk of SoS (unlocked tropical and ice on one file, working on it on another), which gets kind of overwhelming towards the end.

Is there any general advice? I just got my dog, and I have no clue what I am doing. I got a few odd mutations - these are good, yes?

Also, I am sorry I am so late to the train party! But this is scads of fun.
User avatar
Getaris
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 3102
Joined: Nov 25, 2006 3:12 pm

Post  Posted:

My usual advice is... Don't try do to everything in a day, plan ahead and don't stress yourself trying to mine, tend to 15 animals, fish, talk, terraform and water 200 crops all at once. Time moves fast, and doing everying is not possible, but I think it keeps things from becoming a boring routine.

I usually set myself monthly goals, so for example, if I want to do a terraforming project, I dedicate to that almost exclusively until it's done and then use the leftover time to break the routine.

In terms of crops, don't over do it. Around 100 crops at a time is more than enough. And I'd recommend you to space them out in time so you don't need to harvest-till-seed-water 100 crops all in one day.

Try to get the most out of Dewy, and remember you don't really need to water crops every single day (most of the time, they'll do just fine every other day). So you may end up only needing to water your crops manually twice a week or less if you get lucky with weather.

About weather... It is set at 12 am, so if you save before that you can try to reload and sleep again to change the weather. However, there's a set number of rainy days and storms every month, so getting too many rainy days early on means the rest of the season will be dry. Use the reloading trick wisely.

If you wish to unlock new seeds, I recommend choosing one plant and focusing on unlocking that one plant. This way it will be easier to manage. Time moves quickly, so don't worry if you miss the unlock, just continue next year.

About animals...

Your animals show the "feed me" thought bubble twice a day, but you don't need to feed them twice, it's just an extra.

If you need to dedicate yourself exclusively to something else and there's no time to take care of your animals, you can just use the Architect and pocket their barn, they will get paused in time until you put it back on the valley, so you don't need to worry about them.

About the dog...

He will start to give you gifts if you feed him daily, if you miss a day, he won't give you a gift the next morning.

I hope this helps.
SuperFish!
Anonymous Fish

Post  Posted:

It does, thank you!

Also, is there a list of animal skills anywhere? My cow learned mischievous and I need to build a fence so they can graze... Can I push 'em back in?
User avatar
Getaris
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 3102
Joined: Nov 25, 2006 3:12 pm

Post  Posted:

A few affection and stress-related abilities are learned naturally through petting, but most of them are learnt by feeding or breeding. I don't know if there's an in-depth list anywhere, sorry :(

The animals can only graze outside with help from one of the sprites (and he doesn't put them back inside himself, so remember do it!).

The fence is optional.
User avatar
irulethegalaxy
Spinich Bodyguard
Spinich Bodyguard
Posts: 667
Joined: Oct 19, 2014 12:17 pm

Post  Posted:

Building a fence is pretty material intensive; if you want to keep your critters from wandering you can build a quick and dirty fence by either making an earth wall at least 2 blocks high around your barn or digging a 1 block wide moat. This will keep the critters contained while you work on building a real fence, and it's quickly expandable if you need it :).


And as Getaris said, a fence really is optional in this game. Your animals graze only with the help of a sprite who will put them in and out--no cow shoving in this game! When you DO graze your animals, make sure you get the back in by 6 pm. Calvin the sprite is a bit of a dip and will just leave with the animals outside and you're stuck. Luckily, assuming the weather isn't horrible the penalty isn't very severe for this, but it is very annoying.


Oh yeah, in addition to Getaris other advice, I'd also recommend focusing on getting fodder corn (normal corn planted on grassy soil during summer at He-3) unlocked as early as possible. Higher quality feed is pretty darn expensive in this game, and being able to make some of it yourself (especially if you want to unlock certain animal skills that give you more/better products) will save you a lot of money and aggravation.
User avatar
Getaris
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 3102
Joined: Nov 25, 2006 3:12 pm

Post  Posted:

Oh true, and to add to that about learning abilities with feed....

Your animals eat in the order they're in the barn list, so...

If Betsy is the first animal on the list, she'll eat the first piece of food you serve, and so on.

It's useful if you want to teach a certain animal a certain skill.
Runey39
Growing Garden Gnome
Growing Garden Gnome
Posts: 71
Joined: Jun 23, 2016 9:40 am

Post  Posted:

This post is actually making me interested in trying to give this game another go. I really disliked it the first time played it (probably because I tried to do so much at once), and got frustrated easily. When I'm done with 3oT I'm definitely picking this up again.
User avatar
Murasaki
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 2668
Joined: Sep 07, 2010 8:10 pm

Post  Posted:

They fixed some small QoL things like not having to reapply your fishing bait. Maybe the planting seeds is on a tab system now (could've been like that in the beginning).

Still have too little bag and storage space. Terraforming fills up both super fast.

But I've been playing for a week straight now and it's not as horrible as it was a year ago when I stopped. Even getting married finally! The story continues.
Guest
Anonymous Fish

Post  Posted:

You can use the D-pad to cycle between anything with multiple options...seeds, feeds, baits, fertilizers.
User avatar
Getaris
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 3102
Joined: Nov 25, 2006 3:12 pm

Post  Posted:

It's useful, though it overrides the Dpad aiming unfortunately.
User avatar
Murasaki
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 2668
Joined: Sep 07, 2010 8:10 pm

Post  Posted:

When this game came out, the window opened and you had to select the bait every time when you cast. It was super annoying and made fishing even less fun. The fish stealing your bait is even less fun. SoM changed it to not use up the bait when you "miss". Hopefully Skytree has that fishing mechanic.
User avatar
Getaris
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 3102
Joined: Nov 25, 2006 3:12 pm

Post  Posted:

Odd I don't remember that.

Even in prerelease pics of the female mc fishing, you can see the "feed selector" on the corner of the screen. Like you would when feeding animals or planting seeds.
Post Reply