Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Thank You for Cooking Guide for H.M.D.S.

23rd December 2008

Dear 'Freyashawk',
I would like to graciously thank you for all the Harvest Moon guides you have published over the Internet. These are a constant source of reference for me as they are so helpful, detailed and accurate. Many times when I have been 'stuck' in the game, with little options, I have turned to your guides for the solution and always found it. This email may not be necessary, but I wanted to express my gratitude. I appreciate that you must spend a lot of time and energy working on these guides to make them the high quality that they are. For this, myself and many other players in the gaming world, will be grateful.

In particular, I have found pleasure in reading the Harvest Moon DS Cooking 101 Guide. I enjoy being able to cook on the Harvest Moon game, making meals for my favourite girls in the Valley or for Events. This guide listed so many recipes that I was able to try out, to great success. When I first began playing the game, the Harvest Moon DS General Guide was very useful in providing an overview of practically every aspect of the game. Once I had read the guide, I was immediately able to begin playing straight away. For me, knowing what to do in a game and getting the most satisfying experience out of it is my aim. The guidance you have given was appreciated to achieve these aims. After fully understanding the game, I could really enjoy it and it has given me hours of entertainment.

I admire you tremendously for the hard work and energy you put into your guides, for the benefits of other players. It is also a generous commitment. Such concise guides, so accurate and detailed could be worth a lot of money. Yet you deliver these for free, to many players over the world. This is an unnecessary, but much appreciated, act of generosity in a world where courtesy has often been forgotten.

Once again, thank you.

Yours respectfully,
S. H.


Note from Freyashawk: I was deeply touched that a player took the time and effort to write this email. It makes all the difference to know that the work I do is appreciated by players and I would like to thank every one who has written to me simply to thank me for my efforts.

Thanks for help with Monsters in Rune Factory 2

Hi Freyashawk,

I took your advice for the monsters, and I am pleased to tell you that it's working. Thanks for the advice. :) My monsters are now all at 10 hearts and I filled up my barn. The friendship levels of my newest additions are rising at one heart a day, which is fantastic.

Thanks for your advice and continue keeping up the good work. I am a big fan of your Harvest Moon guides and I think they're the best and most comprehensive guides out there.

Happy holidays!
M.

(My advice was to increase Skill Levels with the Brush to be able to raise Monster heart levels faster.)

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

A Happy Ending... or is it just the beginning?

Ahh.. thanks for everything then. :) I manage to marry Skye and unlock the super field. :) thanks for your infos and helps. :D

-Paula

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Thank you Note from Shadowsbox

I just wanted to say thank you for all the time and dedication that u put into
the guides you publish for us. Because of u I am a harvest mooniac! The first
one I ever played was HM DS. I was lost and confused so I googled it and your
guide was one of the firdt that came up. I was so thrilled at how thorough and
comprehensive It was. Since then I have went on to play HM cute, IoH, awl, fomt
and mfomt, innocent life and rune factory I am also looking into getting a wii
so I can play ToT and RF frontier. I have used your guides to get the maximum
experience out of my games (especially when it comes to courting bachelors lol).
Anyway thanks again without u I would b lost. oh and don't worry when I get ToT
I'll b sure to buy the official brady games guide:)
Later days,
Shadowsbox

Monday, October 27, 2008

Thanks from Alyssa

Hello--

I got a later start on Harvest Moon than most people...while everyone was talking about Magical Melody's upcoming release, I had just discovered MFoMT. With all of the talk about the newer games, and me struggling to make myself known in HM forums, it was more than a little difficult to get some of the information I needed for the game I was playing. Your guides for MFOMT for were lifesavers for me! I progressed well through that game and ended up rich, married, and with a kid and a highly developed farm.

Well, what happens to many happened to me--I got hooked on HM! Unfortunately, I tend to be a minimalist if I don't know any better...and reading your guides helped me know better! If it was up to me, my biggest goal in most HM games would be to get married and then I would probably throw it aside and wait for the next game to come out. However, I read your general guide for the game before playing (I'm kinda going backwards with the series, I just bought HM3 for the GBC) and it helps me out a lot! You've probably saved me from throwing my DS in the trash on multiple occasions when I couldn't figure out how to win Keira over.

Anyways, just wanted to drop you a virtual line and say "Keep it up!" Now that I'm more established in Harvest Moon message boards and someone asks me a question to which I don't know the answer, your guides are the first I check, becasue they are so thorough! I from experience know that it's not easy to write them, and it's very time consuming, but, at the expense of sounding corny, you're actually very inspiring to me.

Keep writing! I know I speak for a lot of people when I say we really appreciate your hard work!

Thanks from Magical Melody players...

Hi thanx for ur totally awsome faq on harvest moon: magical melody ^__^ this thanx is from me and my lil sis. I would love it if u would reply back :D from ur apriciating fan WILL ^.^

Thanks for Animal Crossing Wild World Guide

I would like to thank you greatly for the Animal Crossing Tips and Tactics page you have published. There were so many things that I had no idea you could do or collect. Now I see animal crossing in a different light as I have more stuff to do instead of just fishing and catching bugs!!!

Thanx once again

Thanks for General Guide for HM Cute DS

Hey, Freyashawk. I just wanted to drop an e-mail saying that I read your guides and they are brilliant, for the Harvest Moon DS and DS Cute games. I have never read any guide like it, and I ab-so-lutely love it. They're just so amazing and detailed. =D

And, a question about the Harvest Moon DS Cute General guide: why isn't there a table of contents? I'm too lazy to Ctrl-F and weed through every word that has to do with "Gustafa" or something. XDD

Other than that, again, your guides are amazing. When I started reading, I was too lazy to read it through. But when I did, MAN. Awesome. And then I saw you had one for Virtual Villagers: A New Home. Duude, you are my hero. ^^

So yeah, this is just a fan-mail and I'd like it if you could reply some time between now and next century. Once again, you're my hero for making these guides. Or else I'd have to go through sucky guides that barely give you any information, or copy it directly off of some site. THANK YOU FOR MAKING THEM. <3

~Kasumilight

My response: Thanks for your vote of confidence in me. As for Cute, I didn't realise I never wrote a ToC for that guide. As soon as I have time, I will remedy that. So much to do...

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Thanks from Codi

You've probably gotten this email more times than you can count, but I just wanted to drop you a line and say thank you for making a large number of very awesome guides for this game! There is so much stuff to do in it, that having the several different guides (nine of which I have saved onto my desktop for easy access), is a huge help!

Thank you, and keep up the great work! =)

Have an awesome day in which you don't get lost in the backwaters of the western spiral arm of the galaxy!

-Codi Brock

My response: Thank you for taking the time to write. Guide-writing is a lot of work but when players make an effort to thank me, it inspires me to continue. Good luck with all your games!

Thanks for FoMT/MFoMT Guides

Hi Freya! I really love your reviews, and it has helped me a lot with Harvest Moon GBA game which I got last year...thanks a lot!

HM Fan

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Thanks for Innocent Life Walkthrough

I don't normally email anyone about their walkthroughs, but I had to for yours. You did an excellent job on yours, and I have only just begun. I figured I would see what kind of help I would get starting this new harvest moon. (new to me anyways). And yours is exactly what I was looking for. Everyone else's pretty much blowed. Plus they didn't even have any info on anything...let alone only had the first few days of spring finished.

So, thank you. I agree with getting seeds before tools, which no one else did. I thought I was doing something wrong, until I came across your walkthrough.

So, again, thanks for all your effort, just know....I am using yours! hahaha

Sincerely-
Stephanie

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Animal Crossing Wild World

I would like to thank you greatly for the Animal Crossing Tips and Tactics page you have published. There were so many things that I had no idea you could do or collect. Now I see animal crossing in a different light as I have more stuff to do instead of just fishing and catching bugs!!!

Thanx once again

Rx


Note from Freyashawk: It is good to know that my old guides still are being used. I do tend to focus on Harvest Moon games, but 'Animal Crossing Wild World' still remains as one of the best DS games produced... Any Harvest Moon fan probably would love ACWW as well and likewise any AC fan should enjoy Harvest Moon.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Thanks from a Perfectionist

Hey. I just wanted to say thank you for all of the guides, they've always been immensely helpful to me. Harvest Moon is my fave series, even though I'm horrible at time management and such; coupled with my need to be a perfectionist, it makes these games really tough for me! But still, I love it. Right now I'm playing Harvest Moon DS Cute while waiting for the two new games (preordered, looking forward to my plushies). I think the farthest I've ever made it is 23 Spring, Year 1. I keep restarting...! I can never get my daily routine hammered out, so I struggle and feel like I've done something horribly wrong. Hehe, I have to try and get gifts to EVERYONE, but it's difficult... ah well!

Sorry, I ramble on (it's 3am after all, kinda loopy). Again, thank you very much...! It makes it so much easier to know what to give people. I'll hammer out my daily schedule someday...!

My response: Thank you for your email. I always am inspired to work harder when players tell me that my guides have been helpful.

I myself am a perfectionist and my own instinct is to wring the most out of every day in Harvest Moon. I find myself replaying a day in order to save a few minutes (in-game) here or there or to perform a chore better. I hate to make mistakes but really, Harvest Moon is VERY forgiving of errors. There are few errors that cannot be reversed. When you give an individual a gift he/she detests, you always can restore Heart Levels that have been lost. Littering can reduce an individual's AP to zero, but you can RESTORE that AP by giving Most Favourites or even gifts that are liked but not loved. I try to trigger events as early as possible in the game for the sake of the guide but an ordinary player has all the time in the world in many cases. If a game can last for 255 years, what is the rush? What errors cannot be reversed in 255 years???

You need to move on past the first Spring. Buy the Teleport Stone so you can visit every one early in the morning. Even if you give them items that they like rather than love, you can raise FP to maximum very quickly! You really do need to allow yourself to experience Events and make progress in the game.

By the way, my guides for Island of Happiness should be published on IGN on the day the game is released. My written guide for Tree of Tranquility will be published by Brady Games and is available now for pre-order I believe. As I worked on a printed guide for ToT for Brady, I shan't be able to write online guides for that game but a printed guide may be more useful in any case.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Thanks from Alyssa

Hello--

I got a later start on Harvest Moon than most people...while everyone was talking about Magical Melody's upcoming release, I had just discovered MFoMT. With all of the talk about the newer games, and me struggling to make myself known in HM forums, it was more than a little difficult to get some of the information I needed for the game I was playing. Your guides for MFOMT for were lifesavers for me! I progressed well through that game and ended up rich, married, and with a kid and a highly developed farm.

Well, what happens to many happened to me--I got hooked on HM! Unfortunately, I tend to be a minimalist if I don't know any better...and reading your guides helped me know better! If it was up to me, my biggest goal in most HM games would be to get married and then I would probably throw it aside and wait for the next game to come out. However, I read your general guide for the game before playing (I'm kinda going backwards with the series, I just bought HM3 for the GBC) and it helps me out a lot! You've probably saved me from throwing my DS in the trash on multiple occasions when I couldn't figure out how to win Keira over.

Anyways, just wanted to drop you a virtual line and say "Keep it up!" Now that I'm more established in Harvest Moon message boards and someone asks me a question to which I don't know the answer, your guides are the first I check, becasue they are so thorough! I from experience know that it's not easy to write them, and it's very time consuming, but, at the expense of sounding corny, you're actually very inspiring to me.

Keep writing! I know I speak for a lot of people when I say we really appreciate your hard work!

Alyssa

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Thanks from Ana

In my experience, no one ever gets thanked enough.

So, thanks. My mother, sister and I have been using your guides for quite awhile, myself especially. You have no idea how much your guides have kept me from restarting all of my hard work due to a silly error like I used to before I stumbled across your guides.

I've used your guides for Harvest Moon games, on the GameCube (Another Wonderful Life), Gameboy (More Friends of Mineral Town), Gameboy DS (Cute, Rune Factory) as well as your Sims 2 guides.

I used to get so annoyed at having to restart over and over, especially with Cute and Rune Factory. The games were so hard on my own, and I literally had no idea what I was doing! I was going crazy until I googled the games and stumbled onto your guides. I was having trouble with everything from wooing bachelors (or bachleorettes in the case of Rune Factory) to making money and befriending people until I found your guides.

Now thanks to you, I'm rich, happily married in each of the Harvest Moon games, and have children.

I know how long those guides take, having written a few on various games on my own, so I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate the efforts!

Thank you so much for writing those guides! I hope you continue to write them, especially as the new Harvest Moon games come out! (Go Island of Happiness!) I hope that we can rely on you to pull us out of the mud, keep us from destroying either the game or the system itself (and believe me, I was tempted!!) and let us enjoy the games!

Thanks! :D

~Ana

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

A Fan of Naruto Writes...

Hello,

My name is sasukegal4593 and I just want to say thank you for making all of the Harvest Moon guides. ^-^ They really did help me out a bunch. I had gotten Harvest Moon Cute yesterday and started playing it. Being the wierdo that I am, I read the players book before playing and saw Skye and I was all, "He's soooo got! That's the one I'm gonna marry!! >///<" So, when I got home, I popped in the cartridge into my DS and started playing. I looked in vain for a hourse looking for Skye. I eventually got fed up with the game and went out into the garage to look for my More Friends of Mineral Town game. I found my box for it, just not my game. . . so, I still don't know where it is and I plan on looking later today. . . so, anyways, then when I finally got done looking (my garage is wreck, anyways n.n') I popped my game back in and started looking for Skye again. With no luck, I finally got frustrated and asked my grandmother if I could use her computer to look up cheats to find Skye. See, right now, I'm at the library on my laptop, using fast wi-fi. But at home. . . Nanny's computer is dial up and her computer is old, so it took FOREVER to even get it connected. I'm a very impatient person, so I wanted to find the information I wanted fast and I wanted to find all the information I needed in one place. I found where you made a complete guide and was overly delighted. ^-^ I not only found out what I needed to about Skye, but everything else I needed. Currently, I'm sitting in the library with my DS next to me to play while I'm downloading anime.

I really can't say thank you enough for making all of the Harvest Moon guides. You must really love the game. ^-^ I bought my first Harvest Moon game, More Friends of Mineral Town, about 2 or 3 years ago and absolutely loved it. However, like I said before, due to my forgetfullness, I've lost it and have to find it again. In MFOMT, I married Gray on my first file and Doctor in my second.

One thing that I had a lot of trouble with was figuring out how to watch TV. That really should have been a commen sense thing for me, but I kinda lack common sense, so I was happiful when I read your guide. ^-^

I'm sorry if I dragged this letter on and on, but I know how much it must mean to you to hear from those that use your guides. See, I'm not sure if your into anime, but I write a Naruto love fanfiction ( Naruto Wolf Angel Chronicles, www.cheyenneandsasuke.zoomshare.com) and I always enjoy recieving emails from those that read my story.

Anways, thank you again
~sasukegal4593

Saturday, May 31, 2008

From an HM DS and HM Cute Player

Thank you so much for your guides. It's thanks to you that I have gotten as far as I have in HMDS and HMDSCute. Just wanted to send my sincere appreciation. If it weren't for the fav items you took time to find out, it would be much harder to raise FP.
Thanks!!! ^_____^

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Thanks for Advice about Littering

thats what i was doing! thank yo sooooooooo much!!! you rock!

Castleenchanted@aol.com wrote:
Here's a link to my site:

http://harvestmoonforever.blogspot.com

Links to all my guides, (including my Courtship and Marriage Guide with a section devoted to Skye, his heart events and so on), are given on the right side of the page.

First of all, it's not a 'cheat' to change your outfit. It should give an AP boost to every bachelor, including Skye. You should have a Love Bangle so you can see his precise AP and FP levels when you speak to him. You can buy that at the Casino.

The best item to give him before you can cook his favourite curry is any toiletry from the Excavation Site, so you have been giving the right gifts. If his heart level hasn't changed at all, you must be littering. Littering will decrease AP and FP, and even bring it down to zero...

You cannot throw or drop ANY item, including weeds, even by accident and even on your own land. If you do, you will be littering and every one's affection and friendship can drop.

Good luck!
Freyashawk


NOTE FROM FREYASHAWK: I am posting this here because this is only one email among many from a player desperate because she kept losing AP with her heart's desire. Once again: you cannot throw or drop ANY item on the ground, even on your own land, in Harvest Moon DS or Cute DS.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family favorites at AOL Food.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Thanks from Rachel

I just wanted to Thank you so very much for all the help you have provided me on Harvest Moon DS Cute.
You have been a life saver and have saved me from throwing my DS on occasion..LOL.
Thank you for your time and commitment to this GREAT guide.

Sincerely
Rachel (34 yr old Harvest Moon Addict)

Friday, May 2, 2008

Thanks from Viv

Just a thanks to you and everyone who tore this game APART and documented it for everyone else. I'm knee-deep in HM DS (though not very good at it!) and would be utterly lost without your Guides, which I pull up ALL the time.

Wonderful documentation. I'm a little obsessed with this game, and if not for you I'd still be planting one bag of seeds on each plowed square and probably not have gotten into any of the mines yet.

Your effort is very appreciated by this old gamer. I'm almost 50, and my kids got me hooked on Pokemon, then Chibi Robo, and my new fave is HM. You've made it so much better!

Best,
Viv

My response:
Dear Viv,
Games like Harvest Moon are addictive at any age and well worth the trouble, in my view. Thank you for your email.

Best wishes,
Freyashawk

Thanks for Lenneth and other guides

I've been reading your game walkthrough's for years now i think and i just have to say, GREAT JOB ON ALL OF THEM. The Valkyrie Profile, Lenneth one was so good compared to all the others I've read, sorry to waste your time but i just think i should applaud you for doing such a great job on ALL your walkthrough's. No where else can I find any other walkthrough about the new harvest moon game besides from your name in IGNfaq's. :D great job on all of your faq's and keep up the great work. i'm sure a lot of other people appreciate your work too.
Thanks for contributing SO MUCH to the gaming community and keep up the great work,
Loyal reader of your's :D
~meilyn

Note from Freyashawk: I received this email at a time when I really needed some encouragement. Snowed under by almost a thousand emails asking questions for which my guides provided detailed answers, it really was wonderful to receive an email of thanks...

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Thanks for Sims2 DS Walkthrough

hi there. first of all, let me say that i was lost before reading your walkthrough. i accomplished more in the hours after reading it than in many more previously spent wandering, guessing without logic, and just feeling generally clueless. i wish i'd picked a different aspiration, but am now working well within its confines thanks to you. the whole thing is superb and i thank you for taking all the time to share it with us all.

From Gina: Magical Melody Questions

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply to my inquiry. It was greatly appreciated!

Gina

From Evan

I LOVE what you did on Harvest Moon (http://faqs.ign.com/articles/733/733229p1.html). You have helped me a lot. Thank you.



--
Evan

Thursday, April 3, 2008

From Athena

Hello! I just wanted to say: Thanks so much for your awesome comprehensive guides for HM Cute, they seriously helped me through the game. They were easy to follow and in depth!

Thanks again~
Athena, A fellow Harvest Moon fan

--
"These words are my own, from my heart flow..."

From Freyashawk: You are most welcome. Cute quickly became one of my favourite Harvest Moon games and it was a pleasure to write the guides.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

From Pinky

Thanks a lot for all your help!
If I would encounter any problems in harvestmoon, I'll ask you again...
thank you so much,your such a Big help!

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Thanks and Questions about Cute

Hi!


I was reading your walkthrough on IGN.com (all of yours about Harvest Moon are really great by the way. I've read the one for AnWL as well!) and I just had a few questions. It would be great if you could answer them!


1. Can you marry someone from the Mineral Town bachelor list without actually having the game?


2. Is there a way to buy extra land like in Harvest Moon: Magical Melody?


3. Is the Best Friends system available for this game too?


4. What does the Witch Princess' Gift actually do?


Thanks so much freyashawk! I really appreciate it.

My response: I am glad you find my guides helpful. Here are the answers to your questions:

1. If you do not insert a cartridge of FoMT or MFoMT into the DS, you will not be able to unlock the visits of the Mineral Town characters either in Cute or in the original HM DS. This will make it impossible to court and marry them. You will 'meet' them only when you order items by telephone from Mineral Town. I always have inserted the cartridge and as a matter of fact, in the test cartridge I was sent initially, the Mineral Town characters had been unlocked by the previous user, rather annoyingly, because the Mineral Town game appeared to have been unplayed. The reason I assume this to be the case was because the tombstone, which usually will have the name of your rancher from Mineral Town on it, simply declared: Rancher X or something like that. I need to confirm Kai's position with Natsume actually or try to start a game without inserting the GBA cartridges but I believe Kai could be an exception. It seems to me that you could court him if you do not have FoMT or MFoMT because he has the stall on the beach during the summer season and one of the Festivals is based on that.

2. You cannot 'buy' extra land but you can use any public land. Perhaps I should add a new section to my guide about that, although I believe it is mentioned in various sections of the General Guide. ANY tillable land can be used by your character. In fact, crop growth time depends on the location of the land, and my Guide does include this information as well as how quickly crops will grow in each location. There is a 'Super Field' behind the Waterfall where everything grows more quickly than it would anywhere else on the map.

When you hire the Sprite Team to tend to your crops either by watering or harvesting, you must choose the location where you want them to work, with the exception of the Super Field. This makes it easier to grow crops in more than one location. You can hire Sprites to water a public field where you have planted crops while you tend to your own field... or whatever. Personally, I find it better to upgrade crops in HM Cute DS than to plant too many plots everywhere. There is a Sprite who will be rescued when you have shipped an enormous quantity of items, but other than that, more money is made by shipping upgraded crops or selling the seeds for them to Van...

3. There is no 'Best Friend' option in the English version of the game. I have tried to make this clear by stating that, although the Heart Events for the Magical Girls have been retained, they 'lead' nowhere and no longer have any 'courtship' significance. Sad but true. There are political factions that could have blown it out of proportion and made it into an issue... unfortunately, there always are those who are eager for any 'witch hunt'.

4. If you keep the gift of the Witch Princess in your rucksack overnight, you will gain points towards your Farming Degree. You do need to ship one in order to complete your shipping list, but there are many different ways to obtain these gifts, so you should have no problem with that. In HM DS and Cute DS, there are a number of items that must be shipped to complete the Shipping List even though they have little or no monetary value. You need to ship one of each of the Cooked Items as well.

Friday, March 28, 2008

Mining Guide for FoMT/MFoMT

hello freya. good day.c=
i found your mining guide was very helpful!c=
thanks for making a awesome guide! hee-hee (n_n)

KEEP UP!!

You are most welcome. I'll do my best...

Courting Kai in Cute ...

Hello, I would like to start off by saying thank you very much for you guides on IGN.com. They have been very helpful so far. I did have a question if you wouldn't mind answering. I was wondering if Kai is ever around thoughout the months other than summer. If you have a chance to respond I would appreciate it. Thanks again for the guides!

Stephanie


Dear Stephanie,

I am glad that you find my guides helpful. It is kind of you to mention it. Too many players simply email me with 'Yo, dude! How do you find...?'

The answer to your question is that Kai only visits the Valley during the Summer. Although this makes courtship a longer process in OTHER Harvest Moon games like Harvest Moon Boy & Girl and More Friends of Mineral Town, in Cute he is the easiest Mineral Town bachelor to court and in fact, you should have him at deepest red heart by the beginning of the second summer and be able to marry him before he leaves at the end of that season.

He is easy to please as well. Give him a bag of flour and he will be very happy. A Pineapple is his Most Favourite gift, though and if you give him a Pineapple each day, you will have no trouble marrying him in the 2nd summer.

Remember that the other Mineral Town bachelors visit the Valley only one day each week which means a maximum of 4 visits per season and 16 per year. Kai is in the Valley for 30 days in Summer each year. In other words, you can raise his heart level twice as quickly as any other bachelor from Mineral Town.

Good luck with your game! Kai is even more attractive in Cute than in any other Harvest Moon game that includes him. His Fourth Heart Event overwhelmed me frankly and marriage to Kai is delightful. You will find the text of all his Heart Events, Marriage Proposal and Wedding Event in my Courtship and Marriage Guide in the Text section, although you probably would rather be surprised by experiencing them 'new'. The schedule of his Heart Events as well as his likes and dislikes is included in the section that deals specifically with Kai.

Freyashawk

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Another Note of Thanks

thank you for making the guide it has helped me sooo much i wouldn't have gotten to where i am in the game without it i hope you will make more for future HM games. i like HM's but have a hard time with them. so please continue your great work

Complete First Year Journal

I like your Complete First Year Journal it made me laugh how you didnt get a present from the sock oh and what have you gotten as a present


My response: I thought that link had been removed from IGN! My very first game guide was written as a journal by a character named Aloysius. I wrote it initially in response to a plea for help from a specific player, never intending to publish it. As you can see, that was a few years ago and I have gone on to write over 80 traditional game guides. The journal by Aloysius did not reflect a 'perfect game' by any means and thus is slightly embarrassing but it is part of the early history of my relationship with Harvest Moon.

From Karin

Hey, just a quick note to say thank you for all the great Harvest Moon information posted on faqs.ign.com.
Your guides have been extremely helpful, and made playing so much more fun! I can't believe what a great game it is!

Thank you!
Karin

When I find an email like this when my box is filled with a hundred emails asking game questions, it gives me the determination and strength to continue... Thank you for writing!

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Note of Thanks for More Friends of Mineral Town Guides

Dear Freyashawk, I know the Harveat Moon(MFoMT) FAQs were done long ago and you probably don't remember them at all, but only early last year did I come across them and my cousin and I found them extremely useful.I only remembered to e-mail you this year though.All I really want to say is Thank You so much for them.I can see how much effort you put into them and my friends think that you are great!I would appreciate it if you would reply to tell me that you have received my e-mail.

A fellow HM lover,
Sarah

My response:

Dear Sarah,

In fact, I am planning to work on my guides for FoMT and MFoMT again as soon as I finish my guides for HM Cute DS. Harvest Moon games, however old, are always worth revisiting and More Friends of Mineral Town remains a favourite of mine.
Thank you for your email!

Friday, February 15, 2008

Thanks from Dewdee

Hi! Im also a fan of harvestmoon,and honestly your FAQs and cheats help me. When my brother introduce me the harvestmoon game on GBA I really became addicted to it! Then he told me that i should find cheats in order for me to play it good, and i choose yours. I finished playing HMFT, HMMFT,. I just want to thank you for such information!


My response: You are most welcome. I don't really consider my guides to be 'cheats' although I will include any and all 'exploitation devices' I discover in any Harvest Moon game, such as ways to control the weather or to make money quickly, always using methods that are programmed into the game itself. Players should not employ real cheats such as 'codes' from Gamesharks and so on in Harvest Moon games, because it can ruin the game completely. Harvest Moon games are NOT linear in nature and results depend on many different factors. A code does not take that into consideration. It is a 'shortcut' that will lack a number of vital components. Not a question of ethics so much as obtaining the results that you really want.

N.B. I think HMFT refers Friends of Mineral Town and HMMFT refers to More Friends of Mineral Town.

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Inspiration from a Fan

Hi Freyashawk!
I haven't actually used your guides yet, but I'm a fan of the Harvest Moon games, although I only know a few of them yet, and I just wanted to congratulate you for your work.
You must have spent so much time on them...
Anyway, I found a serious problem on them.
When I start reading, either your guides or your stories, I can't stop anymore, so I lose so much time! Hehehe...
Well... keep doing this great job you started!
Love from your fan
Lucy

Dear Lucy,
Your email inspires me to continue!

Monday, January 21, 2008

Married to Flora...

Hello Freyashawk it's me again with a giant grin on my face today!
Thanks to your Courtship guide and a site's Harvest Sprites guide,I have gotten married with Flora! I am very happy and have started a new life with her but still dedicate myself at my farmwork and other work. In my other file,I shall marry Leia...or I might not. I'm still deciding hee hee!
I have a blue heart with the Harvest Goddess but doesn't matter much because I'm not marrying her.I have Leia at green but I'm still deciding to marry her or not....
I think maybe Leia,Muffy,Celia or Lumina! Well I just did this email as a thank you mail but I think I'm talking too much!
Tee hee!I wish you the best of luck and thank you for everything!

Warm Regards,
Natalie

My response: After reading your email, I had a giant grin on my face too... It always is a joy to hear that my guides have helped some one achieve happiness in Harvest Moon!

Saturday, January 19, 2008

An amusing thank you...

Thankz for doing what u did for idiots like me on
MoFMT!!!

o 0 o 0
- FaTiMaH -

We all may be idiots sometimes where a game is concerned... Once we know the answer to a problem, it usually is very simple, but until we do, it can appear insurmountable!

Friday, January 11, 2008

Chronicles of Narnia for DS

Hi there

I have just printed off your rather excellent guide to this DS game in the hope that I can help Edmund find the White Witch - having lots of trouble at the moment!

I smash the three ice statues, kill the anklebiters, goblins etc but cannot get past the iron staves at the top neither can I find a way up to the White Witch from the Red Dwarf's Peak. You say in your guide you enter through a "narrow defile in the north" but I have been stuck at this level for three days and cannot see a way through.

Any specific instructions and/or screen shot would really really help me as I think this is a fabulous game and am quite desperate to get on and keep playing. I got my DS for Christmas and this is the one game that has really captured my imagination!

Thanks for all and any help you can give me in working out this problem.

Best wishes
Milly

My response:

Dear Milly,

There is a cave entrance blocked with stakes on that mountain that actually is a dead end. Disregard it. It is most frustrating! It originally was intended to have a purpose but in the final version of the game, that purpose was deleted but the visuals were left untouched. I spent about a month trying to unlock it after I completed the game without success. I finally spoke to my contact at BuenaVista about it and he told me the sad truth. I should have been less stubborn and contacted him sooner but I always like to try to solve everything myself in a game when I am working on a guide.

As far as the real path is concerned, it is rather difficult to explain... it is right in front of you actually! I myself have 'lost' the path many times simply because it is not very clear visually but it is right there. It has been two years since I last played this game, but you simply carry on climbing the mountain. Are you stuck sort of halfway up the mountain?

It is a glorious game... in fact, I wish I could play it again. If you continue to have trouble, let me know and I will look for my own copy and try to walk you through it.

Good luck!
Freyashawk


Actually, when Milly found the path, she described it very well:
Hi Freyashawk

Thank you very much for your reply.

I have indeed "found" the path after using my up and sideways (left) button simultaneously, otherwise I would just slide down the path and have to climb up the vine continuously - very frustrating!

Anyway, you are quite correct it is a simply glorious game and I am enjoying playing it so much that my console needs charging approximately once every day!

Thank you once again for your kind reply.

Very best wishes
Milly

Innocent Life

Appreciations! you rock! big time...I saw your other guide...and may I just say...its the best one ever...and I thought gamefaqs had all the good stuff when it comes to strategy guides...yours were specific...they should all be like you...prosper!

-JC

Innocent Life

Hello Freyashawk~

I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your email. Kellen was so upset and depressed last night. I let him read your email and you have him feeling better about everything. I must say this was especially nice of you. I know you are busy and not many people would take the time out to help a young boy.
He said he may wait a couple of days - (I think it's like his mourning time.) and then start over with the advice that you have given him.
I will check where we originally found you to see if you accept donations for all the work you put into this to help others succeed. It means a lot to us.
Thanks again~
jane and
Kellen

This was a response to an email I wrote:

Dear Jane,

It isn't silly at all to care about Harvest Moon. One of the reasons I love the games so much is because they engage the heart as well as the intellect. The entire purpose of any Harvest Moon game is to persuade the player to care about others and to work for the benefit of every one and not only his/her own personal success or gain. In Harvest Moon games, you develop strong emotions for your friends, your animals and in some games, your spouse and child.

Please do tell him not to be discouraged. We all have been forced to start a new game for various reasons and even I have lost an old game once or twice when the system had a glitch or corrupted a file! I cannot overwrite my old Harvest Moon games though, because I still am involved with the characters I created and my farms! I often have bought a 2nd cartridge simply in order to be able to start a new game without losing an old one.

On the PSP, though, you have the advantage of being able to create files in at least 9 or 10 slots. I advise him, when he starts his new game, to save frequently in more than one slot at different points in the game. That way, if anything goes wrong, he will have a slot with an earlier version of the game and will not lose everything!

Innocent Life is a wonderful game, but it is one of the Harvest Moon games that has time limits. Most of them do not! Many Harvest Moon games are not win/lose. Even Innocent Life, after you 'win' the game, allows you to continue with your farm indefinitely. It is only if you fail to avert the volcano and save the Island before the third year that you will lose your farm.

Harvest Moon games are quite complex and one of the reasons I write detailed guides for these games is to allow players to play without anxiety and to have more fun by being able to unlock all options and secrets. It is sad when you lose a file or game, but it does help in any future game that you know what to avoid!

Best wishes for the New Year,
Freyashawk


N.B. As of yet, I never have received any payment for my guides. Friends have urged me to sell hard copies of my guides, but I would not wish to deny ANY player access to my work. On the other hand, perhaps donations would not be a bad idea...

Rune Factory Thanks

Freyashawk, I just wanted to thank you for all you have done for all Harvest Mooners around the English speaking world. I found your walkthrough for Rune Factory unbelivably thorough and helpful. I also found your walkthrough for another Harvest Moon (I cant remember which one) helpful. Anyway, before I start to prattle I might as well give you the gist of this email: Thanks for all your help.
Matt

Do you use your own guides?

I want to say thank you for giving us day to day guide about Harvest Hoon DS. I
have a question though. Do you like memorize all the dates/the events or do
you go up and look at the internet?
-Jennifer

My response to the question:
Dear Jennifer,

My guides ALL are based on my own game journals. Whenever I play any game, I keep a detailed journal. In fact, that was the basis of my very first game guide for FoMT. I then decided that a calendar would be a good idea to help me remember events and birthdays. That was the basis of my first Events Guide...

So to answer your question, yes, I do use my own guides! It is one of the reasons I created them in the first place. Whenever I find something helpful in my own games, I use it to create a new type of guide... My General Guide is a good source for players who never played the game before. The Events guides are good even for advanced players because they can remind you of an event or birthday that you may have forgotten. There is so much to remember at any given moment in Harvest Moon!

I don't go to the internet though. I have the guides on my computer.

Good luck!
Freyashawk

From Melody

Freyashawk,
Ive been playing Harvest Moon for a pretty long time, but, never really took in all the details of the game. I would tell you everything I did, but I do not want to waste your time. This is the least I can do to thank you for your wonderful guides that have helped me so much.
Thank you again!
Yours Sincerely,
Melody