Harvest Moon 64/Fall (Year 1)

Summer is finally over, and although the theme music may make you feel like you're running out of time, things will start to slow down a bit, especially after you get Karen's and Elli's pictures. This season brings about a shift in priorities. Where summer was about making money, fall is more about becoming friends with the eligible bachelors and extending your house.

Fall 1
If you haven't already, chop down what is left of the summer crops. Feed your animals and dig up a music box if you don't have one already and head into town. Stop by Lillia's and buy 3 bags of eggplant seeds. After trying to keep up with 5 plots, this should be an improvement. You should have plenty of money left over from summer, but you will need at least 35,000G to get a greenhouse and a kitchen. Stop by the bakery and give Elli an egg. Today is her birthday, so it will count extra today- don't miss her! At this point, both Elli and Karen should be at a yellow heart or above, or you are in trouble. Make sure to get some grapes to Karen- they're her favorite. If one of them gets to a pink heart, that's great! You don't have to worry about giving her any more gifts, and you should focus on the other until they are both at pink hearts.

Go out to Mt. Moon and get familiar with the new layout of sellable items. Brown mushrooms and Medicinal herbs sell for the most, so give them priority over other items. Give a mushroom to the harvest elf and the carpenter (the one furthest from the river) to get the two mushroom recipes. If you haven't been chopping stumps on your daily run through the mountains, make sure to start doing that- we'll need enough lumber as well as cash for the extensions. When you're done in the mountains, head back to the farm and plant the three eggplant seeds, then water them. If you have time left, ride your horse around the farm for a bit before you turn in. The annual fall horse race is at the end of the month and you're going to have to get him in shape if you want to have a chance.

Fall 2nd and 3rd
For the next couple of days, feed your animals, water your crops, and dig up a music box first thing in the morning. If Elli's not at a pink heart yet, save an egg for her. Water the eggplants, then head to Rick's to get the box fixed. From there, either head to Elli or Karen and hand her the music box and either an egg or grape. By this point, both of them have to be at a pink heart or close enough, or you're not going to get their pictures. If you're really desperate to get Karen to a pink heart, head to the bar at night and talk to her while holding your dog (Saturday the 2nd is your last chance- the bar's closed on Sundays). If Elli is still at a yellow heart, make sure not to miss her today, it's your last chance to boost her heart level before the deadline.

Sometime soon, the cow should grow up, so grab that milker and finally get some income out of that investment. Make sure to give a small milk to Rick during one of your daily music box rounds for a recipe. If you do have a grown cow, Ann's father will stop by and ask if you want to enter it in the upcoming Cow Festival, but if you do enter it, don't expect to win.

We're also going to start being a little less stingy with the spoils of our daily run through Moon Mountain. Feel free to give away edible herbs or mushrooms to people you pass by, just don't give anyone a poison mushroom (the red one with yellow spots). Drop that one in the dog bowl instead (it just turns to brown mush anyway).

Fall 4th
Before you start the game today, restart the system. When you get to the screen where you choose the file, make a copy of your current game by clicking the "move" button. If it decides to rain in one of the next few days, you won't get the chance to get either of the girls' pictures. If this happens, it will be nice to have a fall back file. Just make sure to copy it again before you save over it.

Today is the Cow Festival. Gather herbs from the mountain and water your plants first. If you have the time, ride your horse around your farm until around 4:30. Head over to the Green Ranch before it gets dark to take place in the Cow Festival. Talk to everyone and drinks some milk. The game gets a little glitchy near the bottom, but it won't really affect anything. If you entered your cow, it will most likely get dead last. Anyway, enjoy the good night's sleep.

Fall 5th and 6th
Basil should show up today and mention that he's leaving to travel, hopefully bringing back a power berry in spring. Elli and Karen should both be at pink hearts by the today. If Elli is not at a pink heart yet, you have four days to get her there. If Karen is still yellow, go show her your dog over and over until she's at a pink heart. Also make sure that you have awoken the spirit of the vineyard by throwing an offering to the Pond Goddess and asking for her to awaken the spirit. If the elves haven't mentioned it yet, speak to them several times per day after giving them a gift.

Now that Elli and Karen are both at pink hearts, we can forget about Elli and Karen and start getting those music boxes to Ann instead. She needs to be at a pink heart before the end of winter. We also need to start focusing on the bachelors of the community. When you visit the chicken coop, pocket 3 eggs and hand them out to Gray, Cliff, and Jeff when you see them on your daily run. Get some grapes to Kai and whatever you have to spare to Harris- he's not picky. There's more things growing wild out in Moon Mountain than you can bring home in one trip, so feel free to give out gifts to whoever you run into out there- we will need to become friends with them all eventually anyway. If you don't find them during the day, most bachelors show up at night at the bar.

Do not save the night of the 5th! Check the weather on the 6th. If the weather tomorrow is rainy, go back to your last saved game on the 3rd. If it's sunny, then all systems are go!

Fall 7th
If today is rainy, go back to your other save game because it must be sunny today to get the picture. The night before today, you should get a visit from the Pond Goddess telling you that the Kiefu fairies have returned. Make sure to get everything done in the morning. Water your eggplants, feed your animals, gather herbs, then give them out. Make sure to get back before dark. Ride your horse around your farm until Karen shows up. When she talks to you, reply "What?" and she will take you to watch the Keifu fairies sweetening the grapes. The night will automatically end and you should get Karen's picture in the mail the next morning.

Do not save tonight! If the weather report tomorrow forecasts rain, you won't get Elli's picture. If it does forecast rain, go back to your saved game on the 5th.

Fall 8th
Check the weather today. If it is raining, go back to that previous save game. If tomorrow is sunny, then carry on. For the rest of this month, hold on to 4 eggs and hand them to the Jeff the Bakery Master, Ann, Cliff, and Gray. While out, pick up some grapes and a Mushroom and hand them to Kai and Harris respectively. It's okay to miss the guys every once in a while, but make sure to get a music box and a little something extra to Ann as often as you can.

Fall 9th
Today is a special day. Like the 7th, get everything done in the morning and get back to the farm well before 5:00. Elli will come around near nightfall and ask you to follow her, and who are you to argue? Follow her to the Goddess Pond where you will do some old ritual involving the Moondrop Essence. The day will end automatically and there will be a photo of the event in the mailbox the next day.

Fall 10th and 11th
Focus on getting gifts to the guys of the town and make sure that Ann gets something and a music box as often as possible. She needs to be at a pink heart before the end of winter. Eggplant harvests should be coming in soon if they haven't already. Sell all of them but one, which you should give to the midwife for a recipe. Now that Elli and Karen are out of the way, stop by the carpenter's house. Since it is unlikely that you have 30,000G at this point for a greenhouse, instead order a kitchen. You can get the Full Moon Berry on these days, but it's a bit out of the way. Feel free to get it if you're curious, but it's really too out of the way to be worth getting for any other reason.

Fall 12th
Today is the Harvest Festival. Feed your animals and harvest your crops in the morning and gather herbs if you have the time. As long as you get to the town square before 5:00ish, you will be able to participate. This festival is full of different crops and herbs and is where the Harvest King is decided. Talk to everyone several times and wait for Elli to come out. When she does, take the cake from her. If you find a coin in it, congratulations! You get the picture next spring. If not, then don't worry about it, there's always next year... After the ceremony ask Ann to dance with you, then get a good night's sleep.

Fall 13th-16th
Continue giving to the bachelors mentioned above. You can tell when they start to become friends by what they say to you when you talk to them. Gray will open up a bit and actually talk to you. He will say "see ya" when talked to twice, and will actually give you a recipe if you give him an egg. Kai will say "isn't it great to work until you drop?" instead of usual "excuse me". Harris can be a bit tricky because he always seems to be in a good mood. When he is good friends with you, he will talk about Maria or the effect of letters and people's interactions. When Cliff is getting to be friends with you, he will tell you about some of his past personal stuff and you'll get a new conversation picture of him looking all glum. If you miss them during the day, make sure to check the bar at night. Don't stop giving things to Ann, who should be at a blue heart by this point. If your sheep happens to grow wool, hand it over to her- it's one of her favorite items. Make sure to hand something to Popuri whenever you get the chance as well. Buy chicken feed as you need it, but only buy the essentials. Don't bother with Rick's carpet or the blue feather that will appear once you have a kitchen. Keep chopping those stumps- we're trying to save up to build a greenhouse hopefully before winter starts.

Fall 17th-19th
Hopefully you are good friends with most of if not all of the guys of the town. If not, keep pumping out those gifts. Cliff should start hanging around the ranch more often ogling Ann, so he's easy to find. Ann should be well into a blue heart and getting close to a green heart by now. If not, keep those music boxes rolling. Note that at this time the game may not allow you to find music boxes. If they're still showing up for you, take advantage of it. Once the snow falls, they won't be accessible anyway.

Around this time, if you have been watering your crops every day, you should be getting the golden watering can. Not only does the golden watering can hold much more water, but it makes watering all the crops quick and easy.

Fall 20th
Today is the Egg Festival. Get all your farm work done in the morning. If it's before noon, you can collect some mushrooms up in moon mountain before heading into Flower Bud Village. As long as you get there before 6:00, you will be fine. The Egg Festival is probably the easiest of the festivals to win. The mayor will show you an egg and all you have to do is find another egg of the same color in one of the crates scattered around town. When you find it, bring it back to the mayor. That's it. Do that several times and you walk away with a power berry. Good deal!

Fall 21st
At this point, you should be good friends with the guys in town. If you're really good, Gray has decided that you're good enough for Ann when you ask about her. At any rate, it's time to start giving gifts to other people in town. Winter will be upon us soon and wild herbs will not be available. Start giving the mushrooms to the carpenters, herbs to the Potion Master, and the wild grapes to Karen's dad, who will eventually give you a recipe in exchange.

You should be getting close to that 30,000G required to get a greenhouse. Even if you have the funds, don't get it until after the fall horse race on the 28th.

Fall 22nd-27th
Today, the carpenters will stop by and ask for your help on their new project- building a bridge. For the next few days, get your morning work done, give things to Ann and Popuri (Ann should be at a green heart by now), then come back to the farm and race your horse around until about 2:00. One lap around the house is about 30 minutes. At 2:00, go up to moon mountain. Even if you get there ten seconds before 3:00, they will pay you 1000G per day. When you get done, continue to train your horse and ride around until around 11:00pm before you head to bed.

On the 27th, Ann's father will stop by and ask you if you want to enter your horse in the race. For a shot at the horse race photo, of course say yes.

Fall 28th
Today is the second horse race, and it will be a little different from the first because you will be competing this time. Get your morning work done and head up to the town square before 10:00. If you use the betting glitch, you won't have to choose who you want to bet on, because you have enough to bet 99 medals on every single horse. If you haven't bought the sustaining carrot, now is the time to get it, even if you can afford the more expensive prizes.

You'll know that your turn is coming up next when you aren't allowed to place any bets. For the race itself, the only control you have is the 'A' button, which you can hit to nudge yourself forward. If you've been riding your horse to the chicken coop, music box, and back every morning, you should have a good chance at winning this. Hopefully there isn't a show-off horse that feels the need to get five lengths ahead of everybody else. As the race starts, tap 'A' slowly to keep up with the pack, but keep track of the exhaustion wheel in the upper left corner. If the wheel begins to turn orangey-yellow, hold back until you hear the crowd. A second or two after you hear the crowd start to cheer, repeatedly mash the 'A' button like a madman to lurch your horse forward. If you get the timing right, your horse should get its nose just ahead of the competition as you cross the finish line before tiring out and falling back.

If you don't win this year, no worries- there are plenty more opportunities to get the horse race victory photo. The good part about this particular festival is that it doesn't send you to sleep early. Use the time left to make a scavenging run through Moon Mountain or finish up chores back on the farm.

Fall 29th-30th
For the last couple of days of fall, make sure to keep giving gifts to Ann. While there are still edible herbs, grapes, and mushrooms, also continue to feed the Potion Master, Karen's dad, and the carpenters with these gifts. If you realize that you aren't going to get any more eggplant harvests before winter, don't worry about chopping the plants down. When the winter snows come through, they will clear the entire field, including all those pesky weeds which are no doubt starting to form a maze that you must navigate to reach the music box.

As soon as you have 30,000G and 580 lumber, order a greenhouse from the carpenters. The sooner you get this up, the better. You will be able to grow any plant you want and you will have unlimited time to harvest them and water them since time does not pass inside the greenhouse.

On the 30th, Ann's father will stop by and ask if you would mind taking care of some cows. Go ahead and agree to this, because there will be little other ways to make money for the first bit of winter, and you don't even have to feed the cows.