Harvest Moon contains many interesting secrets and tricks. Below are some of
the more helpful ones that you should keep in mind.
THE END IS NEAR
You can see the ending of the game at any time by holding down
START + SELECT + L + R as you go to sleep at night (use the Z button instead
of Select if playing with a Gamecube controller). It's best to have these
pressed just as you confirm the sleep message in the diary. The ending you
will see is the one you would have if finished the game with your current
stats and inventory. This can be very useful to gauge your progress if you're
replaying the game, but it probably does ruin the experience for a first-
timer.
THE MYSTERIOUS HAWKER
On rare occasion, this wandering peddler may show up on your ranch with a rare
offer or barter opportunity. For years, rumors have been spreading about when
the Hawker will come and what exactly will trigger him. Well, the mystery is
no more. The Hawker can come on three separate occasions, and none have any
randomness to them at all.
Event Trigger
----- -------
Power Berry for Chicken Sell chicken in the fall of year 1 or 2
Magic Beans for Cow Sell a cow anytime in year 2 or 3
Sells Money Tree First sunny day you have 30,000+ G in year 2 or 3
That's right, you have total control over when the Hawker appears. The only
seasonal event is trading a chicken for the Power Berry. The other two events
– trading for the Magic Beans and selling the Money Tree – can happen anytime
in year 2 or 3. None of the three events are linked, meaning you do not have
to worry about missing a new offer if you rejected the previous. However, if
you decline the Hawker's offer, he will never make the same one again.
Overall, the only essential transaction is the chicken for Power Berry swap –
you need to do this to receive a perfect ending and score. The other two
transactions are purely for entertainment and are up to you.
JACK AND THE BEANSTALK
If you make the cow-for-Magic Beans trade with the Hawker, you can take a
magical trip to the clouds. There are two important things to note about the
Magic Beans that are blatantly wrong in most other sources. First, the Magic
Beans can only be planted in the spring. Second, they do not need to be
planted on Sunday; any day will suffice. Take the beans to the mountain
summit and stand just slightly below the top. Use the Magic Beans and a small
sprout will appear. If you exit and re-enter the screen, the sprout will have
grown into a tremendous beanstalk. Climbing the beanstalk will take you to a
mysterious room in the clouds occupied by a golden chicken. Tell the chicken
that you have been working hard and it will give a Golden Egg. As soon as you
exit, you automatically appear before the peddler (regardless of the day) and
receive 10,000 G for the egg!
DO LIVESTOCK LIKE THE SUN?
For some reason, people like taking the livestock outside. Maybe they think
it's more humane, or maybe they're just doing something that worked in later
Harvest Moon games. In this game, NEVER take the livestock outside. Ever.
The only slight convenience from keeping the animals outdoors is that you do
not need to feed them; they will eat the grass on their own in all seasons
except winter. However, caring for the animals takes much longer (time stands
still in the barn but not outside), chickens do not lay eggs outside, chickens
can be eaten by wild dogs, and cows risk sickness (if it rains) or crankiness
(if any fence pieces break). Not to mention, having numerous animals outside
will cause a major slowdown. The animals receive no boost to affection or
anything else from the outdoors, so save yourself the frustration and leave
them inside.
TIME FOR A CLOCK
To receive a decorative clock for your home, upgrade your house once before
the end of the first summer. Do this by speaking to the carpenters in the
mountain. The clock also adds a time of day display to your menu screen,
allowing you to see precisely what hour it is. If you fail to get the clock
before the end of the summer, there is no other way to get it in the current
game.
LET THEM STARVE
One of the more useful yet unknown facts about cows is that you do not need to
feed them when they are still calves. This is the stage you receive them in
when they are purchased from the livestock dealer. Calves cannot get sick and
do not get upset when not fed, so save the fodder (and a lot of time) until
they become adults. You should still brush and talk to calves every day.
TO FENCE OR NOT TO FENCE
Fences are one of those things that most people have on their ranch but never
really think about. Most assume a fence keeps the wild dogs away or provides
some sort of boost to happiness... and they couldn't be more wrong. A fence
does... nothing! That's right, you can go the entire game without a fence and
be no worse off for it. A fence does not keep away wild dogs at night. Wild
dogs will only show up when you have broken fence pieces on your ranch, so
having no fence at all remedies this situation. You can leave chickens on a
fence-free ranch for the entire game and wild dogs will never eat them. If
you want to remove your starting fence, either throw the pieces into a pond or
carry them off the screen. Use fences purely for aesthetics and do not feel
any obligation to keep the one you start with.
SPRING CROPS GROW INTO SUMMER
Although it may not seem completely logical, you can still grow and pick
spring crops during the summer. The one catch is that the seeds must be
planted before the end of the spring. So long as they are in the ground by
then, they will grow and can be harvested through the end of summer. Use
these crops as a source of income in the early summer until the corn and
tomatoes are ready to pick.
REMEMBER YOUR ANNIVERSARY
As is the case in real life, it's a very smart idea to remember your wedding
anniversary. If you give your wife any gift that day (assuming it normally
has a positive effect on her affection score), she thanks you for remembering
the occasion. While she receives the usual boost to affection score, you
receive 30 points to your happiness score. This bonus is repeatable for every
gift you give her that day! The best way to take advantage of your
anniversary is to give your wife as many eggs from the chicken coop as you
can. It's possible to give her all 12 from a full coop (and even easier if
she moves near the barn outside in the afternoon) for a happiness boost of
360! Your anniversary is the single best day in the game for increasing
happiness. Be sure to record or remember the date of your marriage. This
trick works for both your first and second year anniversaries.
REMEMBER YOUR CHILD'S BIRTHDAY
Along the same lines as the anniversary trick above, you receive a happiness
bonus for remembering the birthdays of your children. On the date of the
first child's birthday, purchase a cake from the restaurant and give it to any
member of your family (wife or kids). Your wife will be happy that you
remembered the child's birthday, and you will receive 10 points to your
happiness score (no change to her affection score). This is repeatable for
each cake you give on that day. On your second child's birthday, you can also
receive a happiness boost by giving a cake to your wife (not the kids this
time). The wife's message is different for the second child –- she seems to
have forgotten it was his/her birthday –- and you receive 30 points to your
happiness score for each cake you give. Experiencing the second child's
birthday is probably not possible without cheating, as you would need to be
married by the first weekend in the game in order to have a second child soon
enough.
MUST I BRUSH YOU FOREVER?
Once cows start to produce large milk, there is no practical reason to keep
brushing or talking to them. Barring a missed feeding, sickness, or
crankiness, the cows will produce large milk for the rest of the game and do
not need any further brushing. You may still wish to brush them for 2-3 days
after they first produce large milk, as that will get them to the affection
level needed for the highest ending score.
HAPPINESS AT THE MOUNTAIN
The mountain is the best area to boost your happiness score. Every time you
see one of the seasonal animals (squirrels, rabbits, or foxes), your happiness
increases by 10 points. You can see these animals each day unless it rains or
snows. You also receive 2 points of happiness for every fish you catch. You
can use the free time in the fall and winter of year 2 to really boost
happiness at the mountain.
EVE, THE ICE QUEEN
Eve is a true rebel in the game. She has no parents, works at a bar, flirts
openly with you and everyone, bathes nude in the spring on Sundays, and has an
extremely high affection for 'juice.' Eve also has serious abandonment
issues, including a perpetual fear of losing her grandfather, the hunter.
Well, this hate-love relationship transfers to you if you marry her. All of
the other wives enjoy it when you go to sleep at the same time, and this is an
action that normally increases their affection score by 2 points. Eve,
however, dislikes your company. Going to bed with her will actually lower her
affection score by 2 points. Her score also decreases if she goes to bed
before you, so there's no way to win with her. If you are married to Eve and
want to keep her happy, you will need to give her gifts routinely. Eggs from
the barn work very well. Periodically check her affection level by looking at
her diary in the back of the bar and make sure it doesn't tank completely.
Eve is definitely the hardest wife to stay married to, so keep this in mind
before you pop the blue feather.
OUT LATE AT NIGHT
It's common knowledge that coming home after your wife is asleep makes her
unhappy. Indeed, this decreases her affection score by 2 points. However,
the 2-point decrease occurs EACH TIME you enter the house when she is asleep.
This means if you come in and out of the house 5 times while your wife is
asleep in the same night, her affection score will decrease by 10 points.
There's no way to get around annoying your wife if you have a lot of chores to
do, but try to minimize the impact by avoiding more than one trip into the
house at night.
SHE LEFT ME!
Yes, it is possible for your wife to leave you. This will happen if her
affection score drops below 200 (3 hearts or less in the diary) and she has
not had any children or is not currently pregnant. When the wife leaves, she
goes to her old bedroom (wherever her diary is kept). If you visit her there,
she will always come back to you, so there is no way to permanently lose your
wife. Your wife will never leave you again after this, regardless of how low
her affection is.
FLOWER FESTIVAL ANTICS WHEN MARRIED
Being married to Maria, Nina, or Eve allows you an easy opportunity for
increasing affection score with at least one girl during the Flower Festival.
If you are married to Maria or Nina, they will give you a message about
dancing later. Each time you receive this message, the girl's affection score
increases by 4 points. Talk to her repeatedly to quickly maximize her love
towards you. If you are married to Eve, the festival is even more
entertaining. She will say 'You, I won't forgive you if you pick up another
girl.' Ellen, who is standing near Eve, seems amused by this. Each time you
speak to Ellen, Ellen's affection score will increase by 4 points. Despite
her warning, Eve's affection score will not decrease if you talk to or even
dance with any other girls.
WATER IN THE RAIN
While rain usually saves you some time in not needing to water crops, you
still need to water any seeds you plant on a rainy day or any summer crops
that you pick vegetables from. This is because the game determines whether
the ground is 'watered' or 'unwatered' only when the day begins. If you do
anything to change the crop or the ground, the game treats it as not being
watered. Keep this in mind to avoid harvest delays.
DIG IN PLACE
Your farm is a veritable treasure chest of money, moles, and other items.
Each day, you can dig up two items (items include either a coin, money bag, or
mole). You can also find two Power Berries on the farm (though not both in
the same day). One easy way to uncover these items is to repeatedly plow the
same square over and over. It does not matter if the square was already
plowed; you can just keep using the hoe. This can help save some time and
avoid the hassle of digging up half your farm looking for items.
SECRET MESSAGE FOR CHEATERS
The maximum affection score for the girls in this game is 999, which is
usually displayed as 10 hearts in their diary. You can use cheat codes to set
their affection score higher than 999, however. When this happens, the diary
message will read '......Th-thank you.' It is not possible to legitimately
see this diary message otherwise, so consider it an easter egg for cheaters.
OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND
While it's more for amusement than usefulness, you can keep your dog anywhere
you want. This includes in town or on the mountain. You can even give him
back to Ellen! The same goes for your chickens. You can store all 12 in the
pen behind the livestock dealer's house if you want. These chickens will
remain perfectly safe from wild dogs and hurricanes, although they will not
lay any eggs.
ELLEN AND THE IMAGINARY HORSE
This is another point of trivia, but there is a dialog glitch with Ellen if
you marry her before the end of the first summer. Talk to her one day when
she is outside by the barn, and she will tell you to ride your horse. The
only problem is, you don't have a horse yet. And since you haven't received
the horse, the game inserts a large blank space where Ellen is supposed to say
the horse's name. Ellen has a few other odd messages along the same lines.
The most unintentionally funny one might just be when she says 'I want to ride
on .' You can fill in the blank.
MAN'S BEST FRIEND
For years there have been rumors that you need to hug your dog in this game.
Well, it turns out that these rumors are correct. You need to hug your dog
100 times or more to receive the best ending (hug is counted as picking up the
dog). Dog hugs do not affect happiness or any numerical score, only the
presence of one of the ending scenes.