A look inside, Rack's first observations of playing AP Options

[Rack]

Hello! Let's get down to business!


Let's talk about: Your farm!

You start out with a little house, coop, and barn. You have a starting field with Tulips, Potatoes, and Lettuce growing. Even some Turnips ready to be harvested. To the east side of your field, you have six or so Cherry growing trees.

After Cain drops you off, Hamilton will show up. He gives you some books, and your watering can plus hoe. Now you can water and plant! To boot, a bag of nine turnips! Nice!

After exploring some, you'll find some mushrooms and assorted fruits/ herbs growing. Pick them for some early profit!

Speaking of your farm, you have a whole new set of controls to master! Unlike ToT where the camera was usually flat, it angles every which way, making watering and tilling no easy task. Not to fear, for the Z button is here! Press the Z button on your field to center in a way. This make watering and tilling much easier to control, but you move around painfully slow. Luckily, time seems to pause, giving you all the work time in the world! (Time also freezes indoors and when taking pictures with your camera)

Be sure to plant more turnips at the beginning, and if you happen to get your first cow on Day 1, be sure to buy extra fodder. Or go to Marimba Farm and buy grass seeds. Unlike ToT, you have to grow your own grass, just like in FoMT.
I'm not sure for what you do with chicken feed, but we'll worry about that later.

Money is easy to make. Foraging makes quick cash, and if you devil into the mines, getting some wonderfuls are a snap!
You start the game off with 1k in gold. Your farm looks free, but its really 5k! Don't worry, Natsume has borrowed this from Animal Crossing. You don't have to pay off your land that very moment. Take as much time as you need to make that much money, and pay it to Hamilton at the Town Hall.

Next time: The Town

[ZBoy]

Thanks for doing this! Now tell me, what is this little circle in the bottom corner all about?

[Rack]

Why, that's your loading screen!

In ToT, you had the heads of animals and "Now loading" flashing at the bottom of your screen.

In Animal Parade you have a flashing white dot. It makes loading seem faster! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lalagrin.gif)

[ZBoy]

Oh ok! Now from what you've explored of the villager's houses, are there enough beds for everyone, or not? There are just a few odd things that bug me. ^_^

[Darth-Paper-Boy]

Well that all seems amazingly easy to manage.

[Rack]

Z: I haven't explored yet. I just ran in, met the people, and left. I shall conduct a full search.......tomorrow. I have all of tomorrow night to investigate.

Darth: Oh yes it is. @_@

[ZBoy]

Ahh got it. Thank you! ^_^

Once again, you are so lucky to have gotten this game.

[Rack]

Thank you. I was bouncing off the walls when the UPS guy came and ding-dong ditched me. I saw a little box and knew it was what I had been waiting for.

[Nikki]

Thanks for this =]

My UPS guy didn't ring the doorbell, he just left it there.

[Ryan]

I want to get this game!!. I only had one real issue with Tree of Tranquility, it was kinda slow (ie picking up chicken, thunderstorms etc) and the dialog/ character building seemed...kinda in need of repair. Has this been fixed? :D

[Rack]

Important notice:

It seems like once you begin your search for the bells, you start getting all of them at once. Cause right now, I'm trying to get Alan's bell unstuck, I have to revive Collin's, and get the key to TamTam/ Fugue Forest from Dale a.k.a Daren's bell quest.

ITs best to start with Alan's. Collin's and Darne's were accidental, but at least I can get to the Wizard faster. ;D

[Grizzly Wing]

Yea you can start any bell whenever you want provided you have access to the area where the frame is found. I'm doing Alan's bell quest right now along with the green bell.

I would be finished with Alan's but it seems that gold ore doesn't exist in my game. I havn't one gold ore and I've gone to the mines 2 days straight.

[Rack]

Grizzly: Look on the 8th-9th floors for gold ores. It took me a little while to find it.


Anyway, ley's talk about the Town!


As seen in videos, the whole buildings are all stacked on top of each other. Running through the town is a little canal which you'll use to get the Blue Bell.

Most of the shops are named after intrsuments as are all the shops on the island.

Here in town is the white cat, orange/ white cat, and the collie.

The bachelors you'll meet in Harmonica are Chase, Jin, Gill, and Wizard/ Gale.
Jin and Gill aren't available when you start, but the Wizard is. You just won't meet him until after you "meet" the Witch.

The bachelorettes you meet in Harmonica are Maya, ZBoy's heartthrob Candace, and Luna. Luna isn't available when you start, she'll come back after you ring the Blue Bell, as will Jin, and Gill.

The Inn, Bar, Tailors, Clinic, Fishery, Photo Studio, Town Hall, Wizard's House, Mayor's House, Lighthouse, and the Schoolare all here.

Just north of town is where the Celesta Church Plaza is. Here, you'll find the black cat, big sog, and bagle/ shiba roaming around. And this is where you'll meet Chase.

Inside the church, you'll meet Perry and Mira. Later on, you'll meet Edge and the Fresco here. After you visit Julius in Garmon Mine District, come back to the church and convince Mira to return to the accessory shop.

The church plaza is where festivals are held, and the circus performs. Theodore's giraffe will be hiding behind the Lighthouse.

Well, that's all for the Town.
Next time: Garmon Mine

[ZBoy]

ZBoy's heartthrob Candace

You know me too well. ^_^

[.Fran.]

>->

<-<

>-<

So, Where's the illustrious Gold Ore? DDD= I'm dyying here. Is it in a normal rock? One of the ones you have to hit a bit, a special one, a big one? I'm so lost ;,; Plus the copper one, too. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/weirdsmile.gif) I read above it's on the 8'th-9th floor, but it'd be easier if I knew what kind of rock (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lalaexdee.gif) Or is it just any kind?

[Rack]

Fran: Just keep going until you find it.
I, on the other hand. need to complete the Green Bell quest, and finish the Yellow Bell. And its only two days away from the circus.


Let's talk about the Garmon Mine!

As the title states, this part of Castenant is the Ganache Mine District of Animal Parade. There are only some differences (If you have played the game or watched the videos, you'll know why).
Here is the Blacksmiths, Accessory Store, General Store, the Goddess Spring, and the Carpentry.

The bachelorettes you meet here is (obviously) the Harvest Goddess, and I believe Pheobe.

The bachelors you meet are Owen and Julius. You can also meet Calvin here while on your quest with the Yellow Bell. After visiting TamTam Forest, you'll have Luke hanging around, swinging his axe (I swear he's gonna whack my head off my accident).

The animals you meet here are the snake, the bear, and her cub.

This is also the place you'll "find" the Red Bell. Get ready to spend a lot of time in the lower mine, cause you'll need it for the Red Bell request.

After you convince her, Mira will take over the Accessory Shop (Julius wasn't doing so well). Here, you can combine gems and ores to make jewerly. You can refine Wonderfuls and ores here, but it won't be cheap!

After you return the Red Bell to its frame, Bo will start to repair the mine cart. Bring him lunch for a few days until he's finished. Once fixed, the mine cart will become a short cut to Town and vise versa. Its a fast way of returning home from festivals in the plaza.

Later on, the Upper Garmon Mine will play two significant roles in the game: getting the Blue Feather and getting to the Harvest God's throne (until he activates the teleport runes that is). Good luck getting up there [Twi ;3]!

Up Next: Flute Fields.

[General_Wolfy]

the whole mining thing sounds kind of confusing.
I hate mining, so I will probably die trying to get the gold ore. >.<

This is cool though, cause I'm trying to absorb all the information I can about this game.

[Rack]

Let's talk about Flute Fields a.k.a Kaval Meadow!

There is a lot on the Fields, so lets get going!

Flute Fields is east of your farm. Everything else is West and Northwest.

This is where AP's version of Brownie Ranch and Souffle Farm are located. They're called Horn Ranch and Marimba Farm.

The bachelorrettes you'll meet here are Renee and Anissa. You won't meet Anissa until after you ring the Yellow Bell.

The bachelors you meet are Gill, and he's now here officially, so you'll see him around town now and on your heart roster.

The Waterwheel, Windmill, Chase's House, Julius's House, a vacation house, and TamTam Forest are here.

The wild animals you'll meet are the baby boar and the squirrel. When its raining, you'll meet the frog by the river.

When you first visit Horn Ranch's barn, you'll meet up with Cain, who asks if you want a calf! There are three colors to choose from: Black, black and white, and brown. All grow up at the same pace, 15 days after you get them. That's a whole lot faster than ToT! Once grown, and at five hearts, you can ride your cow all over Castanet. Its unsure which animal is faster when riding, buts it nice to have a riding animal early in the game.

Your first visit to Marimba will have you witnessing a fight between Taylor and Craig. Taylor leaves, and Craig stomps away. Ruth will apologize for seeing that. After this, you can buy some seeds. If you got that calf from Cain, make sure you had bought some fodder, and buy some grass seeds since your here. Grass takes three full days to grow and re-grow, so try planting a big field if you can. Exit the house, and you'll meet up with Taylor outside. He'll give you some cabbage seeds to grow before leaving for a short trip. Taylor will also return after you ring the Yellow Bell. The morning after, Taylor will come to your door, saying he has returned and has started a seed delivery service.

The Windmill is on Horn Ranch. Here, you can grind up sugarcane, rocksalt, and coffee beans. The windier the day, the better sugar, salt, and coffee grinds you'll make. The Watermill is located by/ on the river. Get your corn, buckwheat, and wheat ground here. Rainy days decrease quality, but typhoons and snowstorms increase it. To save time, buy the Watermill on your farm from Dale. You can grind everything mentioned above here.

Wheat grows in Spring.
Corn and Sugarcane grow in Summer.
Coffee grows in Fall.
Buckwheat grows in Winter.
You can't buy wheat or corn until you ring the Yellow Bell. So find it, and ring it fast.

I'll give TamTam Forest its own post, so stick around!