tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1950282101785558588.post521165696618497078..comments2024-02-25T22:00:41.197-08:00Comments on Notes from Freyashawk: Slight 'Cross-over' in TopicsFreyashawkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00379748386863454385noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1950282101785558588.post-43751252707789795092008-09-29T08:30:00.000-07:002008-09-29T08:30:00.000-07:00Book publishing has its own deadlines, Chase. To ...Book publishing has its own deadlines, Chase. To be honest, I couldn't make the initial deadline for the ToT Guide because I did need more time to play the game. I had to beg for more time. I am not going to comment on the printed IoH Guide, because it is nothing to do with me, except to state that I turned down the offer from Brady to write the printed guide for IoH for a couple of reasons:<BR/>1. I couldn't imagine how I could cover BOTH IoH and ToT simultaneously and do justice to either;<BR/>2. The deadline for the IoH guide was utterly impossible. I sense how complex the game would be even before I saw it.<BR/><BR/>I am not going to 'bite the hand that fed me' here by criticising the publishers, but their agenda is a little different from mine.<BR/>My primary loyalty is to Natsume. I am not an employee of Natsume, but I believe wholeheartedly in their philosophy and their commitment. I accepted the Brady assignment to write the ToT Guide in order to try to write the best guide possible for Natsume. That having been said, I tried to do the job as best I could within the time limits set by Brady, but they create guides for a lot of different games, not only Harvest Moon. They can't allocate too much time to any single game. Harvest Moon can't be their top priority and in fairness, Harvest Moon probably is far more complex than most games they cover. <BR/><BR/>I think I may have been too committed to Harvest Moon for them, actually. (I don't think they bargained for 450+ pages of manuscript, for a start.)<BR/><BR/>I am very independent by nature, as any one who follows my guides would realise. I work alone. I try not to base my guides on anything outside my own personal experience, although I do ask players to contact me with their experiences for comparison purposes, especially when they have problems triggering an event. <BR/><BR/>As far as the ToT Guide is concerned, I wish that Brady had given me another month, to be honest. The game hasn't been released yet and has been delayed further. Production of the Guide could have waited in that respect, but Brady had other projects and needed to move forward. <BR/><BR/>All Harvest Moon games are complex. People who complain about delays in release really ought to be glad that Natsume is not willing to send a game out prematurely. When a game is that complex, any decent guide will require extensive 'hands-on' research. <BR/><BR/>Anyway, I am glad to have had the opportunity to work on a printed guide for Brady. It is very exciting to see my name on the cover of a published Harvest Moon guide that has wide distribution. I probably am not a practical choice for Brady in future but I am grateful for the experience I had working with them. That having been said, I know I was right to reject the IoH assignment, as much as I would have loved to have written the printed guide for THAT game as well... As it is, I still am revising my internet guides for IoH on a daily basis! <BR/><BR/>The truth of the matter is that the errors that fanatical Harvest Moon players may find in the printed guides probably never will be noticed by most of the people who buy and use those guides. Many of the errors deal with 'advanced' gameplay. The writers of those guides do the best job possible in the limited time given to them. I only hope that the ToT Guide I wrote is a good one. If I had opted to write internet guides instead for ToT, I daresay I would have been updating THEM daily for months... It is quite a challenge to write a guide that cannot be updated!Freyashawkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00379748386863454385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1950282101785558588.post-7873856960584167372008-09-29T07:04:00.000-07:002008-09-29T07:04:00.000-07:00Thanks, Chase. There actually is a character name...Thanks, Chase. There actually is a character named Chase in ToT! He is one of the eligible bachelors if your character is a girl. I do have a website devoted completely to Harvest Moon at:<BR/><BR/>http://harvestmoonforever.blogspot.com<BR/><BR/>Links to all my guides are given there as well as frequent posts and screenshots about the games.Freyashawkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00379748386863454385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1950282101785558588.post-70303096178287063802008-09-28T22:23:00.000-07:002008-09-28T22:23:00.000-07:00I'm sorry, I meant to ask, with regards to the Bra...I'm sorry, I meant to ask, with regards to the Brady guide, did you get extra time to play before writing the Tree of Tranquility Guide ? I notice your IGN guides get updated as you make new discoveries and I've always wondered how much time the authors of the "hard copy" guides get with the game before they publish the guide. Harvest Moon is so complicated. I had a look through the Island of Happiness guide and there are definitely some errors such as the requirement for the horse and sheep to appear. I always found your IGN guides much more helpful than the published ones so I'm very interested to see your published guide as you really love the game and try to be so through in your guides. Hopefully they gave you lots of time to play.Chasehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01972911013927511223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1950282101785558588.post-27887027062341663902008-09-28T21:47:00.000-07:002008-09-28T21:47:00.000-07:00Wow. I just want to say congratulations ! I have m...Wow. I just want to say congratulations ! I have made use of your online guides many times as the Harvest Moon series have always been some of my favorite games and it's so true that it's like immersing yourself in another world. I look forward to reading your Tree of Tranquility Guide. Good luck with your novels too.Chasehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01972911013927511223noreply@blogger.com