Harvest Moon GB Ranch Master Guide
Written by LynOfSacae
Version 1.0
This is written for and based on the original black and white Game Boy game. I
may make references here and there to the Game Boy Color version, but you
should in no way assume that every detail mentioned here will apply to both
games.
------------------------------------------------
Table of Contents
1) Version History
2) Introduction
3) Guide
3.01) Ranch Master Requirements -------- [RM01]
3.02) Happiness ------------------------ [RM02]
3.03) Event Summary -------------------- [RM03]
3.04) Power Berry Locations ------------ [RM04]
3.05) Game-Ruining Glitches ------------ [RM05]
3.06) Ranch Master's Calendar of Events [RM06]
4) Credits
5) Copyright Information
6) Contact
------------------------------------------------
+----------------------+
| 1) Version History |
+----------------------+
August 24, 2010: Version 1.0 completed.
+-------------------+
| 2) Introduction |
+-------------------+
Hello! Welcome, and thanks for reading my guide! I decided to write this after
my disaster-laden road to becoming a Ranch Master and becoming frustrated at
the lack of information on certain aspects of the game. There are already
several good guides available that explain the controls, basic gameplay, how
to make money fast, etc. However, when it comes to the Ranch Master, often
there's little more than the basic requirements listed. This guide is to help
those of you who are seeking this lofty status, which could also be considered
beating the game, and draws on the experience and mistakes of myself and
others.
It is NOT intended to explain the basics of how to play, or any of the
previous things I mentioned. I've written this assuming that you've either
played previous Harvest Moons and know basically what's going on, or are
already familiar with how to play. If not, go and read the other guides first.
In any case, here it is, and I hope you find it helpful!
+------------+
| 3) Guide |
+------------+
+------------------------------------------+
| 3.01) Ranch Master Requirements [RM01] |
+------------------------------------------+
Every year on Winter 30, your grandfather will evaluate your progress, and
determine whether you are worthy to succeed him as Ranch Master and keep the
farm.
Here are the requirements:
-4 adults of each animal
-4500 items shipped
-1600 squares of land plowed
-65536 gold
-The SuperDeluxe Wood House
-6 power berries
-250 points of happiness
You won't be able to achieve this in the first year, because no matter what
else you do, there will only be 5 power berries available to you. However, as
long as you haven't been completely lazy, you'll be able to keep the farm and
you'll get an expansion. Concentrate on building your estate and being nice to
the neighbors in your first year so that you'll have a solid foundation for
your second year.
If, at the end of the second year, you've met every one of these requirements,
you'll be declared Ranch Master and receive the fishing pole as a gift. When
you meet these goals on subsequent years, you'll get the pickax and the
umbrella, in that order. If you're just a little bit short of meeting every
goal (i.e. your Happiness is slightly under 250), you will still be declared
Ranch Master but won't receive a gift. It stinks when this happens, but
fortunately you haven't forever lost your chance to get one of the special
tools; it will still be there the next time you're declared Ranch Master.
Let's look at the requirements in more detail.
-The 4 adults of each animal should be obvious. You'll need 4 fully-grown cows
and 4 chickens, not chicks. A cow bought from the store is NOT an adult right
away, so keep that in mind.
-You might be thinking, "4500 items is a lot to ship in one year!" Well, I've
got good news for you: this number is cumulative. So, if you shipped 2000
items in the first year, and 3000 the next, your total would be 5000. This
means that once you've met this requirement, you never have to ship anything
again! The number includes crops, animal products, mushrooms, anything the
game will allow you to throw in a shipping bin.
-While the hard requirement for land plowed is 1600 squares, it's best to till
every possible square of land anyway. The percentage of your farm that's plowed
has a direct impact on your happiness score, and you're also going to find the
majority of the power berries on your land.
-The gold requirement isn't terribly hard to meet as long as you're not
completely wasteful of your money. This is one of the easiest Harvest Moons
to make money in and it's very likely you'll have 99999 gold by the middle of
your second year.
-The SuperDeluxe Wood House is the second and last expansion you can get for
your house. If you need more information on the hows and costs of expansion,
check one of the other FAQs here.
-The 6 power berries requirement is the one that will guarantee you don't
achieve Ranch Master in your first year, as I said above. See the Power Berry
Locations section for more information.
-Finally, the 250 points of happiness is probably the trickiest to achieve;
so tricky that I gave it its own section in this guide. See "Happiness" for
more information.
+--------------------------+
| 3.02) Happiness [RM02] |
+--------------------------+
Like in real life, getting a high happiness score in this game may be
difficult to achieve. The highest possible score is 255, so with a requirement
of 250, there's not much room for error.
There are many factors that influence happiness:
-Plow your entire field. This is absolutely VITAL. It's fine to wait until the
day before your evaluation to do it, but make sure every last square has been
tilled, including the ones in the weird places near your buildings. Otherwise,
you may find yourself one or two points short of Ranch Master. I learned this
the hard way. You don't, however, need to have all those squares covered with
crops or grass.
-Animal raising. When at all possible, breed your animals yourself. Put eggs
in the chicken coop incubator to hatch chicks, and use the Miracle Potion to
impregnate your cows. Other guides say it's fine to breed one cow, but I'd
recommend breeding three just to be on the safe side, if you can afford it.
Also, try not to sell any of your animals, as it's likely to decrease your
happiness if this game is anything like Harvest Moon for the SNES.
-Event participation. Once a month or so, there will be a festival of some
sort. There will also be random events that give you the chance to help out
one of your neighbors. Doing the right thing in these situations will increase
your happiness. Tip: Answer "yes" to every question and you can't go wrong
(unless it's the Harvest Goddess asking you whether you dropped a golden axe!)
-Food and drink. Stock up on everything: croissants, rice balls, meat
dumplings, wild grape juice, green tea, and milk. Make sure you have 99 of
each of these the day before your evaluation.
-It's also likely that eating power berries increases your happiness, but
you'll want to find them all anyway to achieve Ranch Master.
Other factors that may or may not affect your happiness:
-Animal happiness. This is not listed in the Ranch Master requirements, though
Grandpa will tell you the affection rating of the cow that likes you the most.
You might as well try to make your cows as happy as possible - you'll know
they really like you when they give you large milk. Use common sense: brush
them, talk to them, and don't take them for a walk when it's raining!
-Harvest Sprite friendliness. You need to be nice to the Harvest Sprite for a
few days to get one of the power berries, but why not continue to give him a
mushroom every other day or so? It doesn't hurt, and it'll actually help you
in the long run if you're playing the Game Boy Color version.
+------------------------------+
| 3.03) Event Summary [RM02] |
+------------------------------+
Here is an explanation of the numerous events you can encounter throughout the
game. For maximum happiness, make sure not to miss any of the yearly get-
togethers, and be helpful when someone in need comes to you.
Yearly events:
[ Spring picnic ]
On the 27th of Spring, Nina will come to your farm and ask if the girls can
hold a picnic there the next day. Tell her yes. The next day, the picnic will
start at 6am. Talk to all the girls and after that it will automatically end.
It will then be 6pm. You won't be able to ship any of your crops that day since
the cutoff time is 5pm, so plan accordingly.
[ Hurricane Bob ]
On a random day in Summer, Hurricane Bob will hit. It will be forecast the day
before on your TV. You'll have to stay inside all day, and while your crops
will get watered, your animals will not be fed and will be unhappy for a few
days afterwards. The hurricane doesn't directly impact your happiness, but it
can trigger another one-time event that does (see below).
[ Star viewing ]
Hang around your farm in the early evening on Summer 20 and at 6pm, one of the
girls will come and invite you to this event. When it's over, it will be 9pm.
[ Free cookies ]
Ellen will come to your farm on the morning of Fall 10 and give you cookies!
You'll eat them on the spot, so you can't take them home or ship them.
[ Moon viewing ]
This is basically the same idea as the star viewing, and it happens on Winter
24. It starts at 6pm and ends at 9.
[ End of year evaluation ]
This is perhaps the most important event of all. Grandpa will evaluate your
progress on Winter 30, so make sure you're prepared the day before. This will
take all day, and afterwards it will be the beginning of Spring again. Your
animals will be fed, however.
One-time events - unless otherwise noted, these always happen first thing in
the morning:
[ Earthquake ]
Early in the Summer of your first year, an earthquake will hit. Visit the
underground area in your toolshed and you'll find a Harvest Sprite trapped
under a rock. Hit it with your hammer to free it. After this, if you're playing
the Game Boy Color version, you'll be able to use the Timer feature. This event
is also noteworthy because you can then drop your axe into the spring at the
very back of the underground area to get the Golden Axe. Be sure to answer NO
to the Harvest Goddess; this is the only event where saying no is a good idea.
[ Egg buyer ]
A little girl will come to your farm and ask if she can buy an egg. Tell her
yes. She'll take one and pay you for it. The next morning, she'll come back to
tell you that she paid too much for the egg and ask for her change. Say yes
again.
[ Where's Nina? ]
One of the girls will visit saying that Nina has been gone for a day, and asks
for your help. If you try to visit the Flower Shop, it won't let you. Go to the
underground area inside your toolshed before 6pm and you'll find Nina there.
She'll return home. After this, you'll automatically return to your house and
it will be 6pm, so make sure you've shipped all your crops before you go
looking for her.
[ Ellen's bird ]
Ellen has lost her bird and asks you to help her find it. The bird will be
sitting on the sign in front of your silos (the one that tells you how much
fodder you have). Talk to it and Ellen will arrive and decide that the bird
would be happier if it were free. She'll then thank you and return home.
[ Lost weather vane ]
On a random year, a day after Hurricane Bob hits (see above), Ann will tell you
that her weather vane blew away. You'll find it in front of your toolshed.
Check it and she'll come to get it, thanking you before going home.
[ Runaway ]
Maria seems distressed and asks if she can stay at your farm for a few days.
Tell her yes. She'll hang out in your house while you go about your daily
business. Talk to her if you'd like. After a few days, her father will come
looking for her. She'll agree to go home with him and thank you for letting her
stay over.
+--------------------------------------+
| 3.04) Power Berry Locations [RM04] |
+--------------------------------------+
Power berries, as mentioned before, are one of the components of becoming a
Ranch Master, and it's important to get them the first year that they're
available. Otherwise, due to a glitch, you may not be able to get them ever
again. I've tried to give as exact a location as I can for these, though you
should plow your entire land eventually anyway.
Year 1:
1) Talk and give a mushroom daily to the Harvest Sprite in the underground
area behind your toolshed (the first one you encounter). After a few days,
he'll give you a berry when you talk to him.
2) At the start of the game, there's a fence made of wood pieces behind your
house. The power berry is located immediately behind that fence, in the 9th
square from the far left edge of the farm. Plow that square to get it.
3) There's a small pond on the southwest area of your farm. On the right side,
where the fence next to the pond meets the bottom edge of the farm, plow the
square at that corner.
4) There's another pond in the middle of your farm, a bit southeast of your
toolshed. Count two squares to the right of it, then run south and count three
squares up from the southernmost edge of the farm. Plow there.
5) And there's yet another pond, this one in the northeast section of the
farm. The power berry is two squares to the left of the southwest corner of
the pond.
Year 2:
Now your farm has been expanded, so there's more land for you to plow.
6) In the northeast corner of your new land, the berry is 3 down and 9 to the
left of the far east fence.
7) In the southeast corner of your new land, the berry is 8 to the left of the
far east fence and 6 up.
After obtaining the pickax:
These berries obviously aren't necessary to become Ranch Master, but I've
included them in case you want to complete the game. For reference, the
"pickax room" is the room to the left of the main underground area. After
you've cleared out that room, you get to the "secret room" by finding the
space between the two lights on the back wall and hitting it 6 times with
your pickax.
8) In the pickax room, from the far northwest corner, the spot with the berry
will be 7 right and 4 down.
9) In the secret room, this berry is in the third space down from the top
left corner.
10) Also in the secret room, this one is in the third space down from the top
right corner.
+--------------------------------------+
| 3.05) Game-Ruining Glitches [RM05] |
+--------------------------------------+
There are a number of glitches in this game that can either utterly destroy
your chances of becoming Ranch Master, or make it much more difficult. If you
know of any that aren't listed here, please let me know via my email address
located in the Contact section.
-Bye-Bye Power Berries: I talked about this in the Power Berries section as
well, but it deserves a second mention just because it's so cruel. There is a
strong chance that if you don't get all 5 of the power berries initially
available during the first year, you will not be able to get them ever again.
So make sure you've plowed your entire field and been nice to the Harvest
Sprite before the calendar hits the 30th of Winter.
-Eternally Young Horse: Sometimes, for whatever reason, your horse won't
become an adult on Summer 10 of the first year like he's supposed to. This
means you won't be able to use the saddlebags, and thus shipping a lot of
crops will be much more difficult. I've heard reports of the horse growing
up on the 10th of Summer the following year, and reports of him never growing
up. Unfortunately I don't know what causes this glitch; if it happens to you,
it's probably best to just start a new game.
-Gimme Back My Tools!: If you're playing the Game Boy Color version, sometimes
the Harvest Sprites won't return your tools after they offer to upgrade them.
If you can't seem to get them to work for you on the farm, and the earthquake
has already happened, your internal battery is probably dead and there's not
much you can do about it. This might also happen if you're not playing a legal
copy of the game, in which case, shame on you! I highly recommend seeking out
a real copy through eBay, Amazon, or any number of other sites.
+--------------------------------------------------+
| 3.06) Ranch Master's Calendar of Events [RM06] |
+--------------------------------------------------+
Life on the farm is busy, and sometimes it's hard to keep track of everything
that's going on. Here I've summarized important events and milestones that
occur throughout the four seasons. This way you'll be able to better plan your
crop plantings and harvests. Feel free to print the calendar for easy
reference while you're playing. Detailed event information can be found in the
Event Summary section earlier in this guide.
[ Spring ]
Spring 5 -- First turnip harvest
Spring 6 -- First grass harvest (if planted last year)
Spring 7 -- First potato harvest
Spring 10 - First grass harvest (if planted this year)
Spring 23 - Last day to plant potatoes*
Spring 25 - Last day to plant turnips*
Spring 28 - Picnic event 6am-6pm
* This assumes that you'll be attending the spring picnic, which takes the
whole day.
[ Summer ]
Random day - Hurricane Bob (forecast the day before)
Random year after hurricane - Ann loses her weather vane
Summer 9 -- First tomato harvest
Summer 13 - First corn harvest
Summer 18 - Last day to plant corn
Summer 20 - Star viewing event 6-9pm
Summer 22 - Last day to plant tomatoes
[ Fall ]
Fall 5 -- First eggplant harvest
Fall 7 -- First peanut harvest
Fall 10 - Free cookie event
Fall 21 - Last day to plant grass
Fall 23 - Last day to plant peanuts
Fall 26 - Last day to plant eggplants
Fall 30 - Last day to cut grass
[ Winter ]
Winter 7 -- First carrot harvest
Winter 9 -- First broccoli harvest
Winter 21 - Last day to plant broccoli
Winter 23 - Last day to plant carrots
Winter 24 - Moon viewing event 6-9pm
Winter 29 - Till your remaining unplowed land, and max out your food/drink
Winter 30 - !!! Year-end evaluation !!!
Other time-sensitive information:
-A cow will give birth 22 days after you give it the Miracle Potion.
-A baby cow (not one bought from the store) takes 35 days to become an adult.
+--------------+
| 4) Credits |
+--------------+
Ushi No Tane (
http://www.fogu.com/hm/) - for providing the list of Ranch Master
requirements and for just being an awesome Harvest Moon resource
Kariokhi - for being my farming partner and suffering through the tougher parts
of this game with me, and proofing my guide for information accuracy
Sobou - for offering helpful guide writing and formatting information, letting
me use part of his own formatting, and proofing my guide for readability
My other friends at the Backloggery - for providing advice and feedback while I
was writing this guide
Marvelous and Natsume - for creating and translating this game, respectively
+----------------------------+
| 5) Copyright Information |
+----------------------------+
Harvest Moon, Natsume and Serious Fun are registered trademarks of Natsume Inc.
Copyright 1998 Victor Interactive Software Inc. / Natsume Inc.
All Rights Reserved
All other trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by
their respective trademark and copyright holders.
This guide may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for
personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site other than
GameFAQs.com or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written
permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public
display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright.
+--------------+
| 6) Contact |
+--------------+
Have a question about becoming a Ranch Master? Find an error in this FAQ? Want
something helpful included that I missed? Send an email to patchmani at hotmail
dot com. Remember, though, this is not a guide meant to tell you the basics of
how to play the game, so I'm not going to include information that can be found
in so many other guides already.
