harvest moon © 2000 natsume.
If you stand still in the grassland, animals will run across the screen. Note that it is impossible to catch, or even touch, any of these animals, as they disappear as soon as you move (no, that's not a challenge - it's been tested and proved).
Here's how to ship in this game. Pick up whatever it is you want to ship and either carry it or place it in your rucksack, it doesn't matter. Then walk in to the storage shed and find what you just put in there. If you want to take any of it out, press A while it's highlighted. Otherwise you can just leave the shed immediately after walking in, by pressing B. Now go to your house and call the farmer's union, go to Shipment, and select the crop and how much of it you want to ship. Press A, confirm, and you're all set. You have to make a separate call for every different item you wish to ship.
To get the fishing rod, give lots of gifts to Billy. Crops that you grow or produce collected from animals is always a more valued gift than berries or fish, or anything in general you get for free.
To get the boat, give lots of gifts to Billy and Elza. You should have already gotten the fishing rod so you'll know what to do.
To get married, give lots of gifts to your partner. Eventually they'll ask you out on a date to the cliff. You can only marry your partner, so don't waste gifts on other people in town except Billy and Elza.
To have a baby, give lots of gifts to your spouse once you've gotten married. You can have two kids and they will grow up to a certain extent, but they'll never be able to help you on your farm.
When you first start the game, ship at least 50 berries a day. It may sound like a lot and be extremely tedious, but it's worth it in the long run. Once you get the fishing rod it will be much easier to make money.
The sprinkler must be placed in water dug from the river. You can only have one sprinkler, and it automatically waters a 9x9 area at 6 AM daily.
The scarecrow must be placed on un-tilled soil. Get it fast to save your crops. Use it like a tool: equip it from your inventory and press A when you're standing in front of where you want it, and you'll throw it out.
Once you get the directions to the Mermaid's cave, go down a screen first, then follow her directions. The down was omitted for some reason.
There was a rumor of the ability to get a tractor in the game after a number of years - this is completely false.
The morning fair on the mainland can obviously only be accessed once you have the boat, since it runs on Saturdays and Tuesdays. Fill your rucksack with all kinds of items, because you never know what people might ask for. Sometimes they might even ask for odd things like wood, weeds, or rocks.
Movies, although stupid, increase your farmer's happiness, so stop by every now and then.
The secret garden is merely a visual representation of how many power berries you've collected. Power berries increase your stamina permanently, letting you do much more work each day. Six power berries can be found just by hoeing your fields - the rest must be earned.
A coin found when hoeing the field is worth 10G, a bag is worth 100G, a mole does nothing, and a power berry increases your stamina.
The little bird you see when leaving your house sometimes is for decoration only. It has no significance in the game at all.
Fertilizer is made automatically from crops you leave in your storage shed for too long. Since the ice block lets you keep food in the storage shed forever, the fertilizer machine becomes unusable once you get the ice.
The "red secret" is for looks only. Get to the forest pond before noon to see it, and you'll hear the story behind it. It's nothing special.
Catch the King of the Lake on the first day of Spring the second year. It's best to talk to Cozy at the aquarium first.
The power berry found in the snowboard game is gained by hitting 10 or more trees. Kinda odd, since the point of the game is to avoid hitting trees.
You have control over the weather - you just don't know it. Once you get the TV, save the game the night before and check the weather every morning. If it says it's going to rain and you don't want it to, turn off the game and turn it back on, then load your game. If it still says it will rain, try again. This doesn't work in preventing hurricanes or snow storms.
Unlike the other Harvest Moon games, you don't need to stop harvesting after 6 PM. Store extra crops in the storage shed or in your rucksack and call to sell them the next day.
Run everywhere - time ticks by too fast to walk. Never let up on B. This game is different from the other Harvest Moon games in that time does NOT stop if you enter a building. Fortunately, a virtual game hour is about 20 real-time seconds, making a day plenty long enough to get all your work done.