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[Brandon F]

Anything I need to keep in mind as a Harvest Moon neophite?

Can I truly approach this with a casual learning curve or is it possible to screw myself over in some way if I experiment too much? Is there a Persona-esque time constraint that can screw me over if my daily choices don't coincide with a strategy guide run?

Just reading the comments and info, it seems so many get stuck figuring stuff out(the nun gives me the axe??!). I'd hate to dedicate 20 hours only to realize come winter I am screwed because I wasn't told I need to make carrots all those earlier seasons!

 

[Cow Mengde]

I don't have this game, but as a long time HM player, you probably don't have to worry about it.

 

[Scrubking]

As I understand it, you can pretty much ignore them if you wish—they don't die out easily, and if they start to in one area you can transplant some to give them a new and lengthy lease on life.

But the benefit of getting prosperity up is reduced crop growth times, and I'm pretty excited about actually understanding the system now. It's a good system for the obsessive analyzer.

Actually you can't ignore them. If you do when the major Runey shift hits at the end of a season you can be really out of shape. If you don't want to bother with it (which I think is most people), just make sure to always have a supply of all 4 on you so that you can check their numbers and resupply where needed every couple of days.

Also people need to spoiler tag their spoilers.

 

[kiryogi]

Anything I need to keep in mind as a Harvest Moon neophite?

Can I truly approach this with a casual learning curve or is it possible to screw myself over in some way if I experiment too much? Is there a Persona-esque time constraint that can screw me over if my daily choices don't coincide with a strategy guide run?

Just reading the comments and info, it seems so many get stuck figuring stuff out(the nun gives me the axe??!). I'd hate to dedicate 20 hours only to realize come winter I am screwed because I wasn't told I need to make carrots all those earlier seasons!

Folken - No, I think as a whole, you can approach RFF anyway you want. There's really no way to screw yourself over this time around really. You might miss an event, but the next year rolls around and you can try for it again. Things might come about slower, but as I posted in this thread, this is one game where you can do things whatever way you want. Farm all year, woo the ladies or just adventure. The one neat thing about Rune Factory over Harvest Moon is that you can grow crops all year long since there's the seasonal caverns. Plus in Frontier's case, you can grow any season crop on Whale Island.

Although, the one thing I did notice that might be of an interesting difference is that there is a story bit you can skip involving different events and all. That is something you'd prob have to play twice thru or keep multiple saves if you want to experience it.

Scrubking: Really? The seasonal shift really throws off the runeys? I've been ignoring them up to this point. Almost summer. I always thought Runeys were pretty optional outside of using key items. So you do have to balance them later?

 

[Brandon F]

Cool thanks. I'll give it a try tonight.

 

[DeaconKnowledge]

I have to disagree. The fishing pole is the tool that uses the least RP for me and I can earn 1k in less than a minute. Plus the fish can also be used to cook great recovery items.

A good crop haul can pull in 30-40K without tiring you out. I agree about recovery items, but I find that Fish aren't the best Time/RP investment.

Brandon, the most difficult parts are where to get certain farming items (totally not straight forward, but those are easily GameFAQed) and the Runeys, though they're not crucial to gameplay.

Just remember one major thing and you should be OK: Buy your next seasons crops before the last day of the month. Sometimes shit happens and you can't buy crops, and that day can be crucial when you have expensive crops that only fluorish twice a month.

 

[Scrubking]

Scrubking: Really? The seasonal shift really throws off the runeys? I've been ignoring them up to this point. Almost summer. I always thought Runeys were pretty optional outside of using key items. So you do have to balance them later?

Runeys have a food chain and they will eventualy die off. If you ignore it for too long you will have no runeys and be in a heap of trouble. The only safe window is during the first week of each season where they don't eat each other.

Check this faq out.
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=946789&topic=48803665

 

[Soulfire]

I assume you can get a Forge in your house a lot sooner in this game since the blacksmith girl dosen't do any tool upgrades and my yard is full of a ton of stumps/rocks.

I love the way mining works now. Just swing once, wipe out a plethora of rocks, and just rake in the pieces. I hope its not as game-breaking as it was in the first RF.

I heard that you have to get an elephant on your farm by the end of Fall or Bianca and Tabatha leave your town. Is that like permenently? I generally don't get started on livestock untill I'm well established with other things, but then agian I always start off feeling like I don't have enough time and then before I know it I'm married before year end and am looking for things to do.

Spoiler

One day when you are in the third area of Whale Island, right past the waterfall area, a little pink elephant will be there and a small cut scene will play. Next time you enter your barn the elephant will be in the entrance area. Evidently you are supposed to tell Bianca about it and that will get her to stay. If you don’t she will leave on the last day of summer and will return the next summer. I did not do this so she left but Tabitha said that they would return. I think the cut scene is triggered by having Tabitha and Bianca in town and having a barn built.

 

[Brandon F]

I guess I already screwed myself.

So the game plops me in front of my house with a hoe, a water can, and a single turnip seed...and no tutorial. So I first decide to plant my lone seed in an empty patch of land...without warning, my seed is now gone forever. I till and water the empty patch of land for 2 days wondering what the hell?

Then I stumble on a bookcase in my house that actually tutors me in how to farm. (Till...plant...then water moron!). So now I have a field of rock and tree garbage that is half-tilled with no crops. Mist next door is worthless, the town is closed until whenever, and I am at a complete loss as to what to do.

Can I get a replacement seed or should I just start over? Seems really pointless to be tilling an empty field day in and out.

 

[RuneFactoryFanboy]

You start with 500 gold if I remember right. Seeds are super cheap and you are far from screwed.

Really BrandonF, don't worry too much. You really aren't going to screw yourself in any matter with this game.

 

[RuneFactoryFanboy]

ha ha, looks like some dick at the somethingawful forums ripped off my OP.
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3101513&pagenumber=1
Oh well, guess that means he liked it so I should be flattered. The more exposure this game gets the better.


Anyways, how do I get magic in this game? In the first RF you read books in the library but I can't read anything yet. I'm mainly looking for the Return spell because it would help my day to day running around a lot easier.

 

[Soulfire]

ha ha, looks like some dick at the somethingawful forums ripped off my OP.
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3101513&pagenumber=1
Oh well, guess that means he liked it so I should be flattered. The more exposure this game gets the better.


Anyways, how do I get magic in this game? In the first RF you read books in the library but I can't read anything yet. I'm mainly looking for the Return spell because it would help my day to day running around a lot easier.

Spoiler

I’m pretty sure that Mist gives you the return spell; I thought she did it at the beginning of the game.

All you have to do is press the 2 button on the wiimote or I think it’s the y button on the classic controller and it will bring up an option menu to either go to map or return. If you’re in a dungeon it takes you to the opening, if you are anywhere else it takes you home.

 

[kiryogi]

I guess I already screwed myself.

So the game plops me in front of my house with a hoe, a water can, and a single turnip seed...and no tutorial. So I first decide to plant my lone seed in an empty patch of land...without warning, my seed is now gone forever. I till and water the empty patch of land for 2 days wondering what the hell?

Then I stumble on a bookcase in my house that actually tutors me in how to farm. (Till...plant...then water moron!). So now I have a field of rock and tree garbage that is half-tilled with no crops. Mist next door is worthless, the town is closed until whenever, and I am at a complete loss as to what to do.

Can I get a replacement seed or should I just start over? Seems really pointless to be tilling an empty field day in and out.

You can get at least 2-3 turnip seed bags from talking to others (I believe Eric in the South District will give you a bag if you talk to him about all the topics. Who btw also teaches you a bit more on how to farm if the library was worthless) and even then, it's only about 10G for another packet. You can just ship off weeds/grass/bamboo shoots to make that up. Really though, talk to everyone and thoroughly to get a good grasp of things.

I guess I'll give you a few pointers tho of what you could do. Besides grabbing the material that's on your field, if you can access Whale Island, you can also rummage in there for stuff to sell. Every single day there's a possible profit to be made. Even if it's just weeds. You can ship off almost anything. But that's only the beginning to the farming side of things. On the social side, if you'd like, talk to everyone every day if you can. You can learn new things about them, or they can give you handy pointers as well. It'll also give you a good idea of what their schedule is like. I'll delve into dungeon crawling when you're ready for that.
RuneFactoryFanboy: Magic this time is handled via wands. So you'll need a rod before you can use any. Offensively anyway.

 

[CTLance]

I guess I already screwed myself. (...)

Going by RF1/2, haven't played RFF yet:

Even if you wasted all your money and seeds without getting anything in return, you still have some source of revenue.

Go collect everything laying about and sell it. Every day all untilled parts of your field(s) are littered with various things like weeds and stones, and while selling them will not make you rich it certainly helps. If you can be picky, put the twigs into your storage. Every twig counts.

Bother your neighbours every single day to get tools. Fishing for half a day will give you enough money to get you up and running again easily. Mining with the hammer is quite a nice source of money too - and crystals/minerals will help you woo some of the ladies for as long as you don't need them for forging or as a source of income.

If you're feeling desperate you may also enter a dungeon and whack some monsters with your hoe to collect some loot. While it's not the best start ever and a dangerous undertaking for sure, it certainly works - you won't even "waste" time, because you will level up from the EXP. Swords etc work far better than the hoe, of course, but eh, beggars can't be choosers, right? Plus by using the hoe you should improve your skill, reducing how many RP one usage costs (as with all "weapons" - the axe, the hammer, the fishing rod, the watering can... all are linked to a respective skill, e.g. axe usage improves your logging skill, even if you only fight monsters. Hell, even if you only hit thin air your skill will still get a miniscule boost).

Of course, if you dislike this way of playing, start over. You're still at the very beginning of the game after all, so you shouldn't have lost much playtime.

 

[zigg]

Yeah, for the record, the selling price of a single weed is the same as a bag of turnip seeds in this game.

I'd save the colored grasses, by the way.

 

[RuneFactoryFanboy]

Spoiler

I’m pretty sure that Mist gives you the return spell; I thought she did it at the beginning of the game.

I remember her telling me about it, but unless its on a hidden screen or something I don't think I have it.

So the combined the Return and Escape (i forget their actual names) spells in Frontier? I always thought it was silly switching between the two depending on if I was in a dungeon or field.

RuneFactoryFanboy: Magic this time is handled via wands. So you'll need a rod before you can use any. Offensively anyway.

That was my other question: Is magic actually useful in this game? In the first one it was really weak and not time or RP effective.

 

[Brandon F]

Thanks for all the tips. I didn't get a chance to play much more last night, and I found Erik's farm, but all he talked about was upgrading my house. Every door in town said closed or 'still preparing' or something. Maybe I have to visit later in the day, but it was almost 11am gametime, so I assumed that I have to wait until some scripted event. I still have all 500g, but I can't find anyone to buy seeds from.

Mist is the only other person I found wandering around, and she just giggles and says something inconsequential whenever I talk.

It seems like a really unique and interesting game so far though. I'll definately stick to it. One question though, to sell weeds and grass, do I just put in the big bin next to my field?

I'll read the manual back to back tonight too, probably the first time I've done that since 1998.

 

[DeaconKnowledge]

Thanks for all the tips. I didn't get a chance to play much more last night, and I found Erik's farm, but all he talked about was upgrading my house. Every door in town said closed or 'still preparing' or something. Maybe I have to visit later in the day, but it was almost 11am gametime, so I assumed that I have to wait until some scripted event. I still have all 500g, but I can't find anyone to buy seeds from.

Just keep playing. People will introduce themselves over the day. The first day is an "orientation" of sorts so you can slide into the game. Just be sure to set your priorities as things open up to you. Prepare your field as much as you can, then get read to actually start planting.

If you ever get stuck on how to do something, talk to Erik (your next door neigbour). As you get items he gives you a breakdown of how to actually do things. You can also buy crop seeds from him.

 

[DeaconKnowledge]

That was my other question: Is magic actually useful in this game? In the first one it was really weak and not time or RP effective.

There are some really good area effect spell wands you can make. In fact:

Spoiler

The Earth Wand was my favourite weapon for grinding the Chicken Boss in the Green Ruins

 

[zigg]

That was my other question: Is magic actually useful in this game? In the first one it was really weak and not time or RP effective.

The one rod I have is. I have yet to make more.

In 2 magic was a lot more useful, especially as I skilled up in casting. Many of the weapons were better too... not as clumsy to use, etc.

 

[RuneFactoryFanboy]

Thanks for the help guys. The good part about being a little late to the party is that you guys can now help me when I have questions.

I really love Mist in this game. Shes even more ridiculous/impossible.

Does the blacksmith girl ever sell more than the basic 3 weapons or is everything self-forged in this game?

 

[bryehn]

I just installed this on a USB drive. Takes up 2.21 GB and essentially eliminates and loading or stuttering I had before.

 

[kiryogi]

Thanks for the help guys. The good part about being a little late to the party is that you guys can now help me when I have questions.

I really love Mist in this game. Shes even more ridiculous/impossible.

Does the blacksmith girl ever sell more than the basic 3 weapons or is everything self-forged in this game?

Self forged XD But start off with that for now. Magic isn't half bad here, I find it pretty damaging, but it really eats up at your RP.

bryehn: wait how did you install, oh man if I could get rid of the loading this game would be perfect.

 

[Scrubking]

Does the blacksmith girl ever sell more than the basic 3 weapons or is everything self-forged in this game?

It's all self made.

I really love Mist in this game. Shes even more ridiculous/impossible.

Spoiler

Too bad we can't marry Candy

 

[bryehn]

Self forged XD But start off with that for now. Magic isn't half bad here, I find it pretty damaging, but it really eats up at your RP.

I've been using the fire rod I got from Cinnamon since I got it and it seems pretty effective. I'm 20-23 days in and still haven't touched a sword.

 

[EvilMario]

Bought today, will be playing after someone is off Animal Crossing.

 

[zigg]

I've been using the fire rod I got from Cinnamon since I got it and it seems pretty effective. I'm 20-23 days in and still haven't touched a sword.

Skilling up does tend to help with RP.

 

[Lavpa Jasai]

Does anyone know how to activate the

Spoiler

purple elephant event with bianca? i want to make sure she dosnt leave, but I dont know how to make it so she takes the damn elephant!

?

Also on what floor of

Spoiler

the lava ruins do I find silver?

I <3 this game btw

 

[Hero of Legend]

I just installed this on a USB drive. Takes up 2.21 GB and essentially eliminates and loading or stuttering I had before.

Hmm, so would that mean that it takes up exactly 2.21GB on the disc? See if you could find out the memory size of more Wii games if you can. I'm sure you can find out without installing each first.

Check Brawl's size, as that's Dual-Layered!

 

[Scrubking]

Does anyone know how to activate the

Spoiler

purple elephant event with bianca? i want to make sure she dosnt leave, but I dont know how to make it so she takes the damn elephant!

?

I <3 this game btw

Spoiler

Just make sure to talk to her and visit her house a lot.

 

[Soulfire]

Does anyone know how to activate the

Spoiler

purple elephant event with bianca? i want to make sure she dosnt leave, but I dont know how to make it so she takes the damn elephant!

?

Also on what floor of

Spoiler

the lava ruins do I find silver?

I <3 this game btw

The next to last post explains everything fairly well.

http://www.gamespot.com/wii/rpg/runefactoryfrontier/show_msgs.php?topic_id=m-1-48698223&pid=946789

 

[RuneFactoryFanboy]

This game is seriously awesome. I was up agian till 2am last night playing thanks to the "just one more day" effect. I'm dragging really bad today but it was so worth it.

I just read up on Runeys. It sounds like a cool system, but I think it would be cooler if you could ignore it. I read that if you do things right you only have to manage it about twice a season so thats not bad.

Has anyone figured out how you upgrade tools past level 2? I didn't get a chance to explore it last night but I did see forge recipies like:

Iron Hammer: Iron Hammer, Scrap Iron, Scrap Iron

and I thought it was odd that there were recipies to make an item that required that same item. Is that how you upgrade levels?

 

[Hero of Legend]

This game is seriously awesome. I was up agian till 2am last night playing thanks to the "just one more day" effect. I'm dragging really bad today but it was so worth it.

I just read up on Runeys. It sounds like a cool system, but I think it would be cooler if you could ignore it. I read that if you do things right you only have to manage it about twice a season so thats not bad.

Has anyone figured out how you upgrade tools past level 2? I didn't get a chance to explore it last night but I did see forge recipies like:

Iron Hammer: Iron Hammer, Scrap Iron, Scrap Iron

and I thought it was odd that there were recipies to make an item that required that same item. Is that how you upgrade levels?

Well the upgrade process goes like this:

If you have say, one Lv. 3 item, one Lv. 5 item, and a Lv. 2 item, then the end result is the lowest level in the group; Lv. 2.

Best thing to do is finding a way to make a new Hammer from scratch with two higher level items.

 

[RuneFactoryFanboy]

Well then whats the point of those crafting recipies that require their own item in the ingredients?

 

[Brandon F]

I got hit by my first brickwall. Apparently I was told to visit the church sometime during the initial prologue the moment Mist dropped me in front of my house. I didn't catch that and as mentioned above, I ended up destroying my single seed of hope. Days passed as I tilled an empty field and checked town daily and nightly in hopes the game would open shop for me to buy new seeds. I was racking up money dropping weeds and grass into my bin, but with no goods vendor open yet in the world, I was at a loss.

Then I discovered the church. Apparently there is a multi-step tutorial involving fetch-quests that has you opening up each business by delivering something inconsequential to each vendor as a way of meeting and greeting these townfolk I will apparently be spending oodles of time mucking about with. But it all started at the church and it took me a week of gametime to figure that one out.

At least now my turnip farm is actually a turnip farm. I also got an axe, sickle, and some blacksmith thing to improve my tools just because I now make it a priority to talk to -everyone- daily to not run into that problem again. It's my least favorite part of the game so far(needs a fast travel option).

I am slovenly addicted to tending my crops though. It really is so satisfying watching everything grow and bloom. I am running out of RP like at 8am watering my turnips and almost want to go right back to bed just to keep tending.

 

[Scrubking]

This game is seriously awesome. I was up agian till 2am last night playing thanks to the "just one more day" effect. I'm dragging really bad today but it was so worth it.

I just read up on Runeys. It sounds like a cool system, but I think it would be cooler if you could ignore it. I read that if you do things right you only have to manage it about twice a season so thats not bad.

Has anyone figured out how you upgrade tools past level 2? I didn't get a chance to explore it last night but I did see forge recipies like:

Iron Hammer: Iron Hammer, Scrap Iron, Scrap Iron

and I thought it was odd that there were recipies to make an item that required that same item. Is that how you upgrade levels?

Iron hammer lv 2 + scrap lv 5 + scrap lv 5 = Iron hammer lv 2

Iron hammer lv 2 + scrap lv 2 + scrap lv 5 + perfect forge = Iron hammer lv 2

Iron hammer lv 2 + scrap lv 5 + scrap lv 5 + perfect forge = Iron hammer lv 3

Basically you need scrap that is equal to or higher than your target level and then forge with a perfect rating. Normal forge will never upgrade your item.

 

[kiryogi]

I am slovenly addicted to tending my crops though. It really is so satisfying watching everything grow and bloom. I am running out of RP like at 8am watering my turnips and almost want to go right back to bed just to keep tending.

Yeah the tutorial bit caught me off guard too. I almost felt like I wasted my first day. Sorry I didnt' say more. But I think part of the HM experience nowadays is experiences via trial and error. At least after playing them since the SNES days :lol Now, for your RP issue, you should start growing crops in dungeons. They'll eventually start giving you RP once they're full grown. Also in that state, don't harvest it. Just leave it there so you can use it as a means to replenish RP. Of course, you can harvest too if you want for a all year round crop. But, it's up to you how you want to balance it. Did you get access to Whale Island yet?

 

[Dante23]

I bought this and I'm absolutely addicted, a first starts slowly with the very basic tools but when you upgrade them all pieces come together and it becomes an amazing game, because with those new tools you don't consume practically all your RP watering your fields, and after finishing the field work I can go to the dungeons without worries about the RP.

Now, I have a maybe silly question, but how the hell do I read the books I've bought from Selphy?

Greetings.

 

[Volcynika]

I still haven't played it at all really, and I bought it almost two weeks ago.

D:

This weekend looks good though!

 

[DeaconKnowledge]

I bought this and I'm absolutely addicted, a first starts slowly with the very basic tools but when you upgrade them all pieces come together and it becomes an amazing game, because with those new tools you don't consume practically all your RP watering your fields, and after finishing the field work I can go to the dungeons without worries about the RP.

Now, I have a maybe silly question, but how the hell do I read the books I've bought from Selphy?

Greetings.

You don't "read" them so much as they unlock new abilities for you. Specifically, the ability to make whatever the book is about. Buy a book on Hammers and you'll be able to make more complex hammers in the forge, for example. Buy a book on Neck accessories and you'll be able to craft rings and bracelets, buy one on steaming you can make more with the steamer, etc.

This is different from buying upgrades from the peddler because the peddler upgrades allow you to mix more materials together, whereas the books allow you to make the items themselves.

 

[Scrubking]

Now, I have a maybe silly question, but how the hell do I read the books I've bought from Selphy?

Greetings.

You don't read them directly. They just make the recipes available to you when you go to make something.

 

[Brandon F]

Did you get access to Whale Island yet?

Not yet, I unlocked the Green Dungeon with my scythe, but can't find the entrance to whale yet. I REALLY want that hot bath section up and running to replenish my RP. Where is the entrance?

 

[RuneFactoryFanboy]

Where is the entrance?

Just water the plant next to the clock tower once. It grows and leads to Whale Island.

The clock tower is located on the left side of the church district.

 

[MrCheez]

The loading in this game drives me NUTS! To the point where I don't really want to play it anymore. No one else bothered by it?

 

[Volcynika]

Got to the first dungeon area thing just now, sooooooo much fun.

Loving this game!

 

[Dante23]

Thanks a lot to both of you for your helpful answers!

Brandon F: you need first to talk to Melody (I think that is her name) in Whale Island and break the rock that is blocking the hotspring water, to find her you just need to go forward in the cave up there 'till the cutscene.

After that she opens the hot bath in the business district.

Greetings.

 

[kiryogi]

Oh man, so I finally load it up after a week or two and decided to look at my Runeys as suggested. What happened?! :lol Oh man, now I' m researching it. Woo, this is going to be FUN. And I mean that in good and bad way. Silly runeys eating each other.

 

[DeaconKnowledge]

So I got squashed by a giant Peach today.

 

[kiryogi]

Man, made it to summer! The bgm is so gorgeous. I really love the flute. Although at first, I was confused as to what the actual theme is. Since the first day was a festival. I was like "Hope they're not serious about this circus music being the summer theme..." Also cleared the Green Ruins and rebalanced most of my runeys in the area. It's a bit fun managing it once you get the hang of it. Something neat about proliferating them. Now what I need next is a better watering can .-. Giant summer fields are a big pain to water. I've said it before and I'll say it again. The more I play this game, the more I really think this is the best Harvest Moon experience I've had.

 

[EvilMario]

On my second in game week now. I have a small field of strawberries going which only takes me a few hours to water (less now, actually), a barn, one monster, some grass growing, fridge/frying pan in the kitchen, and I've upgraded all my tools now.

I was exploring Whale Island, but now I've ventured into Green Ruins.

Very fun, liking this a lot more than the original.