Introduction
This is a little preliminary strategy guide for the fairly new mobile game called 'Family Farm Seaside'. It is the mobile version of the original 'Family Farm' that is available for free play on Facebook. Like the original game, Family Farm Seaside is free, although players may be tempted to invest real money in the game in order to progress more quickly or to purchase items that are not available unless one is willing to pay 'premium' cash for them.
Posts, such as this one, will deal with strategy, profit margins and return of investments (ROI). Although Item Values will be included insofar as they are relevant, there are actual Pages for this Guide that are devoted to specific elements, including simple lists of Item Values and a list of Quests/Missions and Achievements. You can find links to ALL Pages displayed as 'Tabs' above this Post and indeed any Post on this Site.
My earliest love in gaming, apart from a game called 'Claw' that was centred on the adventures of a handsome swashbuckling Pirate Cat Captain from the 17th century, was Harvest Moon. Harvest Moon is a series of games that fall into the category of 'farming simulation' games, although they are much, much more. Harvest Moon is another reality where the player can become a successful farmer and a beloved member of his/her community while experiencing the wonder and joy of courtship, marriage and sometimes childbearing.
I have written hundreds of guides for Harvest Moon games. I always felt that they would be a wonderful educational resource for children because, although one can simply grow the Crops one likes best, considerations of the cost of the Crop, the length of time it takes to mature and the recipes in which it can be used are important. Family Farm and Family Farm Seaside, therefore, remind me of Harvest Moon in that the player either can grow Crops simply on impulse or really take the time and energy to compute the profit earned by each and the pros and cons of giving the Crop either to an Animal as feed or to a machine to create goods.
One of the first challenges is that of earning sufficient coins to be able to replant crops after harvest. Both Family Farm and Family Farm Seaside are based on the concept of an industrial revolution and machinery that allows basic crops and animal products to be transformed into 'finished' goods or more sophisticated food items. Some machines can be purchased with Coins. Others require premium cash.
Farming Simulation Games can be simple or complex, but above all, are ruled by limitations of time, money and space. There are games that restrict energy as well, but Family Farm and Family Farm Seaside thankfully do not place any limitations on a Farmer's Energy. You therefore can plant and harvest as many Crops as you wish, provided you have sufficient funds to purchase the Seeds.
There is one fundamental difference between any Harvest Moon/Rune Factory game and any game that uses Facebook as a platform, whether it is played on a PC/laptop or on a mobile device. Harvest Moon games, like other 'console' or 'handheld' games, has a finite cost and identity and once the Player has purchased the game, there are no new costs and no new options either. Games that use Facebook as a platform, on the other hand, are constantly changing as they are in 'Beta' which is a sort of test mode. New options are introduced regularly and new items become available that may or may not require Premium Cash to purchase. There are many Players who are enticed into playing Facebook games because they are advertised as 'free' and indeed one can play these games without ever investing real cash in them. In both the original Family Farm and Seaside, moreover, one earns 1 unit of Premium Cash or RC each time one reaches a higher Level.
Gameplay will be restricted, however, if the Player is unwilling to invest a little money in the game. Unfinished Machines purchased in the Marketplace often require one or more materials that can be obtained only with RC, even if the bulk of the materials required can be requested as free gifts from Neighbours. Farm Aids such as Fertiliser and Watering Cans must be purchased with RC.
Paying for a Free Game
This brings me to the 'moral' qualms some Farmers experience when asked to invest in Premium Cash in any Facebook game. They feel, rightly or wrongly that it is a waste of money that could be spent more beneficially elsewhere. Other Farmers refuse to buy Premium Cash because it is the old 'slippery slope' of temptation. If they surrender even once to the impulse, they will do so again... and again... and again.
Be that as it may, consider the following: An individual who goes to dinner at a decent restaurant will spend real money on goods that do not last. Once digested, the food is gone and only memories remain. An individual who goes to cinema or the theatre to see a film or play likewise spends money on an experience that is intangible and temporary, leaving only memories in its wake. Spending real cash on a Facebook game should be perceived in the same light, as a form of entertainment and in point of fact, the virtual goods purchased last far longer than any meal or film.
There is another very vital reason while Players should consider a real investment in a game they love, however small that investment may be. Without funds, developers of games cannot be paid and therefore cannot continue to create new games or new options for existing games.
Once upon a time, there was a beautiful Farming Simulation Game on Facebook named 'Lovely Farm'. That game no longer is available to its international users. I do not know if it still is available in Russia, but the version accessible to me no longer exists. It is a great pity. It was truly a Lovely Farm and I met many of my best Facebook Neighbours through that game three years ago.
We can hope that Family Farm and Family Farm Seaside will not go the way of Lovely Farm but unless we are willing to show our appreciation for the game in practical terms, who knows?
Time and Space Continuum.
When to use REAL Money
Although a real investment in Seaside as well as the original Family Farm definitely will allow new options to be unlocked more quickly, there are times when it should not be used. As a rule, I only use RC when the option cannot be obtained with Coins. Impatience is not a good reason to use RC, unless it is a matter of completing a Quest or obtaining a desperately needed Farm Expansion.
In other words, I do purchase the occasional bulk allotment of Fertiliser or Watering Cans in order to be able to complete Quests more quickly or obtain Coins that I need by speeding the harvest of Crops and Trees. There is another situation where I have opted to use RC and that is where the monetary requirement for any Expansion is concerned.
One of the three requirements for any Farm Expansion is a sum of Coins. As one progresses to larger expansions, that sum increases. For example, to purchase the 21 x 21 Expansion, one needs a total of 420,000 Coins. That sum could pay for many, many replantings of Crops. One always can opt to pay RC instead to 'skip' the requirement. In this case, 30 RC can be substituted for 420,000 Coins and this is a case where, if I can afford it, I will pay RC instead of Coins.
In contrast, I will not pay RC to skip the other two requirements for any Expansion. The first of these is the necessity to reach a specific Level in the game. To me, success in the game is partly measured by the Level one has reached. It therefore does not make sense to pay RC in a situation where my own labours can satisfy the requirement, even if it will take more time to do so. It is here that Impatience rears its ugly head and attempts to persuade me otherwise, but if I am sensible, I will stand my ground.
The other requirement in any Farm Expansion usually is the production of a specific total of Goods made in one of the Machines that are available in Seaside. In the case of the 21 x 21 Expansion, the requirement is 45 Almond Cakes. Again, it is only Impatience that would dictate an investment of RC and that is to be avoided. If one makes the Almond Cakes instead, one will benefit both from the Coins and the XP those Cakes earn. It therefore would be counterproductive to skip that requirement.
The lack of space that makes the Player desperate for another expansion can be solved somewhat by the Warehouse option. As soon as possible, buy a Warehouse and complete it. The original Warehouse stores a total of 20 Items. With 10 Tiles and 10 Wood, two items that can be requested as free Gifts from Neighbours, its capacity can be increased. A Warehouse can store Animals, Machines, Decorations and Buildings. It cannot store Trees, however.
The Tortoise and the Hare
There are slow-growing Crops and fast-growing Crops. Deciding when to plant each is a strategy consideration. Every Crop is equal in terms of the XP or Experience Points it will give the Farmer. Each Crop when planted gives 1 XP. When any harvested Crop is fed to an Animal or fed into a Machine, it gives another Experience Point, or 1 more XP. XP is as important as money, as it allows the Player to advance to higher Levels where new Items are unlocked. Each time a Player reaches another Level, he/she will receive 150 Coins and 1 RC (premium cash). Although Crop Seeds and most Trees, Animals and Machines can be purchased with Coins, there are items that can be obtained only with Premium Cash or RC.
Loyalty Rewards
Loyalty is rewarded in Family Farm and FF Seaside. When a Player logs in daily, he/she will obtain a special Reward. That reward tends to become more valuable as the number of days a player has logged in without any gap increases. Miss one day, however and the count resets to zero. Premium Cash (RC) and Operation Points (OP) are log-in rewards, although Coins are the most common reward is in the form of Coins.
Loyalty Rewards
Loyalty is rewarded in Family Farm and FF Seaside. When a Player logs in daily, he/she will obtain a special Reward. That reward tends to become more valuable as the number of days a player has logged in without any gap increases. Miss one day, however and the count resets to zero. Premium Cash (RC) and Operation Points (OP) are log-in rewards, although Coins are the most common reward is in the form of Coins.
It appears that one earns RC or OP at least once each week, provided there is no gap that exceeds 24 hours in playing the game. The amount of RC will increase a little each time until it reaches its maximum. On Day 15, the Reward was 2 RC. On Day 21 through Day 24, the Reward was in the form of Coins, increasing from 100 Coins on Day 21 to to 250 Coins on Day 24. On Day 25, however, the Reward was 3 RC. The next day, the Reward once again was 100 Coins and each day after that, it increased by 50 Coins until it reached 250 Coins once more. After that, a Reward of 100 OP. It is possible, therefore that the Rewards of RC and OP alternate week by week after the sequence of Coin Rewards.
The Industrial Revolution
Family Farm and Family Farm Seaside are interesting in the automation option. Machines are very much a part of the game, and one can operate them manually by feeding the materials to the machine one by one. If one has OP (Operation Points), one can set the Machine to operate automatically as long as the OP is not exhausted. Automation can be particularly useful when a specific total of a product is required to satisfy a Quest task.
'I' can be a Negative
I have discovered that the greatest enemies to success in Family Farm and Seaside are Impatience and Inflexibility. Where slow-growing Crops are concerned, there always is a temptation to use a Farm Aid to speed the growth process, especially if the Crop is needed for a Quest task or if one is attempting to reach a specific XP total in order to attain the next Level. Farm Aids such as Rain, Watering Cans and Fertiliser are used to speed growth but most of these can be purchased only with RC (premium cash). For ordinary Quests, there is no time limit, so the desire to move forward more quickly probably should be resisted if possible. Even where time-restricted Quests are concerned, such as the Easter Quests, the game gives more than sufficient time to complete ALL tasks. Impatience rather than Necessity fuels the purchase of Farm Aids to speed the process of completion of these Quests.
I have discovered that Inflexibility is another defect in my gaming personality. For example, the Love Cake is a favourite of mine both in Seaside and in the original Family Farm. It has the highest value of any of the Cakes that can be made in the Cake Machine at 456 Coins. Furthermore, it is the only Cake that uses a Crop as opposed to a Tree product as an ingredient.
Even if one grows an entire row of Love Fruits, however, the number one will have after harvest is finite. Love Fruit is a slow-growing Crop, taking 20 Hours to mature. Some of the Trees used in other Cakes are slow=growing as well, but at most take 12 hours to mature. Only one Fruit/Product can be harvested from a Tree at any given time, but if one has all the Trees used in Cakes, one can vary the menu to produce Tiramisu, Banana Cake, Black Forest Cake, Almond Cake, Lemon Cake and Coconut Cake while waiting for the next harvest of Love Fruits. The other two ingredients in any Cake are Wheat Flour and Eggs. The Corn that Chickens eat to produce Eggs takes only 4 Hours to mature. Wheat takes 8 Hours to mature, but still grows much faster than Love Fruit. One therefore is likely to be able to replenish the stock of Wheat Flour and Eggs faster than the stock of Love Fruit in the Barn.
One needn't make Cakes constantly either. Wheat Flour is used to bake Wheat Bread. Wheat in its raw form can be fed to a Sheep to produce Wool. Perhaps some products are more valuable than others, but time is valuable as well. Instead of hoarding goods in the Barn, one may wish to use them while replanting or otherwise replenishing stock.
Lending Speed to Crops and Animals
There are a number of 'Farm Aids' that will speed the growth of Crops and Trees. Rain, costing 8 RC will reduce the growth time of every Crop and Tree on your Farm by 25%. A Thunderstorm costing 15 RC reduces the growth of every Crop and Tree by 50%. The Rainbow Rain, most powerful of the three costs 30 RC and grows every Crop and Tree on your Farm instantly.
Lesser Farm Aids include Fertilisers for Crops and Watering Cans for Trees. Organic Fertiliser can be purchased in different quantities. The cost per portion diminishes if one purchases in bulk. For 25 bags of Organic Fertiliser, one pays 1 RC but for 200 bags, one pays 7 RC. Organic Fertiliser reduces the growth time of ONE Crop by 25%. You can use four bags on a single Crop to grow that Crop instantly.
Super Fertiliser will grow any Crop instantly. 6 bags of Super Fertiliser cost 1 RC while 25 bags cost 3 RC. If you are willing to pay to speed the growth of your Crops, there is a time and place both for the Organic Fertiliser and the Super Fertiliser. If a Crop is almost mature, for example, it would be wasteful to use Super Fertiliser when a portion of Organic Fertiliser would have the same effect.
For Trees, Watering Cans are the equivalent of Fertiliser. An ordinary Watering Can reduces the growth time of fruit/product on a Tree by 25%. A Super Watering Can will grow any Fruit/Product on a Tree instantly. One can purchase 25 ordinary Watering Cans for 2 RC and 25 Super Watering Cans for 6 RC.
One can purchase Watering Cans and Fertilisers in larger quantities as well. A thousand Organic Fertilisers will cost 25 RC. 1000 Super Fertiliser will cost 75 RC. A thousand ordinary Watering Cans will cost 50 RC while 1000 Super Watering Cans will cost 150 RC.
Another Farm Aid is the irrigation system in the form of a Well and Sprinklers. A Water Well costs 10000 Coins and will be in unfinished form when purchased. Sprinklers can be requested as Free Gifts or purchased for 1 RC each. 15 Sprinklers can be used in conjunction with the original Water Well. Each Sprinkler must be placed on a square of tilled soil. It then will reduce the growth time for any Crop planted on that square by 15%.
There are Greenhouses and Tree Greenhouses as well. A Greenhouse can be placed over tilled squares to reduce the growth time of all Crops grown within its borders by 25%. Likewise, a Tree Greenhouse can be placed over Trees to reduce the growth time of the Trees within its confines by 25%.
For Animals and Machines, there is a way to speed the production by means of OP. If you drag your finger across an Animal or Machine while it is in the process of producing a Product, you will see a gauge that gives the number of minutes and/or seconds that remain. Tap on it to produce an instant result. This only works if you have OP. OP is not as easy to obtain in Seaside as it is in the regular Family Farm.
Another way by which to speed an Animal's production rate is by adding more Animals to any habitat or pen. Some Animals, including the various Cows, the Buffalo and the Turkey operate solo. There is no way to add another Animal to the equation. One can purchase ANOTHER Animal but its production will remain separate.
There are Animals who are purchased in pens or habitats, such as the Chicken, the Pig and the various aquatic fowls. Once you have purchased the initial Animal in its coop, pen or pond, you can add additional Animals to the enclosure. The addition of more Animals will not add to the production total but it will speed it. With three Chickens in a Coop, for example, the production of an Egg takes only 45 seconds.
The Water Well
As previously stated, another method of speeding Crop growth is a Water Well. You can purchase a Water Well in the Marketplace for 10,000 Coins, but then will be required to complete the building, using both RC and materials requested from Neighbours. The materials you can request as gifts or purchase for 1 RC each are Stones and Wood Beams. I believe that, for the first level of Water Well, 10 of each are required.
Once the Water Well is completed, you will need Sprinklers. These can be obtained through requests to Neighbours or purchased for 1 RC each. I believe that a total of 15 Sprinklers can be set in place on your Farm with the first level of Water Well. To do so, simply tap the tilled plot where you wish to place a Sprinkler.
The Greenhouse and Tree Greenhouse
There are buildings that can reduce the amount of time that it takes for any Crop or Tree to mature. The Greenhouse when completed reduces the time of growth for any Crop by 25%. Likewise, the Tree Greenhouse when completed, reduces the amount of time it takes for any Tree to produce a Fruit/Product by 25%.
The Greenhouse costs 15000 Coins to purchase. It will be in unfinished condition when purchased. Thus, it appears that one must build it on empty space, rather than being able to set it on top of existing tilled squares. Furthermore, you need to make certain there is space for all four walls, making it slightly larger in total size than the actual squares it will encompass.
Furthermore, a Farmer needs to know in advance that, unless he/she is willing to spend a minimum of 20 RC for materials, there will be no way to complete the Greenhouse. You must purchase 4 Ventillation Windows for 5 RC each, quite apart from the other two Materials that can be requested as Free Gifts from Neighbours. The other two Materials are Glass Panes and Pipe Stacks. You will need 15 of each to complete the Greenhouse.
Specifically, the cost and materials are:
Unfinished Greenhouse: 15000 Coins
4 Ventillation Windows at 5 RC each, for a total of 20 RC
15 Glass Panes
15 Pipe Stacks
If you wish to pay for all materials, you can purchase them for a total of 50 RC.
Note that you can begin to collect materials even before you buy the framework of the Greenhouse for 15,000 Coins. Both the Glass Pen and the Pipe Stack appear in the Free Gifts Menu where you have the option either to 'Send' or to 'Ask'.
The Free Gifts Menu
The Items that are included in the Free Gifts Menu, in the order in which they are displayed are:
Wheat Flour
Honey
Milk
Marble
Chicken
Gear
Screw
Apple Tree
Cheddar Cheese
Wine
Wood
Tile
Glass Pane
Pipe Stack
Shingle Tile
Brick
Cake Mould
Mixing Knives
Orange Tree
Sprinkler
Wood Beam
Stone
Blueberry
Tree Greenhouse Pipe Stack
It is possible that more Items will appear at higher levels.
If one were to list the items according to type, they would be:
Raw Ingredients and Products:
Wheat Flour
Honey
Milk
Cheddar Cheese
Wine
Blueberry
Trees and Animals
Chicken
Apple Tree
Orange Tree
Building Materials
Marble
Gear (Juice Machine)
Screw (Juice Machine)
Wood (Warehouse Expansion)
Tile (Warehouse Expansion)
Glass Pane (Greenhouse)
Pipe Stack (Greenhouse)
Shingle Tile (Brick Mill)
Brick (Brick Mill)
Cake Mould (Cake Maker)
Mixing Knives (Cake Maker)
Wood Beam (Water Well)
Stone (Water Well)
Tree Greenhouse Pipe Stack (Tree Greenhouse)
Planning Ahead
Quests often require specific Crop or Product totals but they usually require that one PRODUCE a specific total of that Crop or Product as well. In other words, one cannot complete the entire Quest sequence simply by using goods from the Barn. In some cases, having a stock of a specific Fruit or Product can expedite a Quest, but one still probably will be obliged to produce a specific number anew.
A Guide offers Farmers the chance to plan ahead to some extent. One of the most useful acts one can perform is that of completing all Machines as quickly as possible. In many cases, Machines when purchased are 'unfinished', requiring a specific number of materials to complete. One material may be available only in the Marketplace for premium cash, but for the most part, materials can be requested as free gifts from Neighbours. By purchasing and completing any Machine before it actually appears in a Quest sequence, one can move forward without delay when the Quest does appear.
When to Sell
A delicate balance must be maintained between the need to collect funds for Crops and other expenses and the need to collect Items that can be used to feed Animals or make finished goods in the various Machines and Makers. As a general rule, one ought to try to process ANY item that can be processed, whether it be Clover or Love Fruit. One should NOT sell raw items (Crops or Fruits) unless they cannot be used either to feed an Animal or to feed into a Machine.
For the purpose of this rule, I consider Honey, Provence Honey, all types of Milk, all types of Eggs, all types of Flour to be 'raw' items as all can be used either to feed an Animal or to feed a Machine. Even Wheat Bread should not be sold unless it is absolutely necessary as it is one of the basic ingredients for the Burger Machine.
Obviously, if a Farmer is desperate for Coins, it is better to sell raw materials than to leave Farm Plots empty. One always can regrow or restock ingredients, although some take longer than others. Waste of space in the form of tilled soil in any Farming Simulation Game is to be avoided at all costs.
A warning may be in order here for Farmers who wish to complete all Quest sequences and Farm Expansion requirements. Where a Quest asks that a specific Crop be planted and harvested, quite often the next Quest in the same sequence will require that the same Crop be sold. If you sell the Crop BEFORE you complete the first Quest, you will find that you will be unable to work on the next quest in the sequence until you regrow the same Crop in the same quantity! Likewise, when a Quest requires that the Player produce a specific amount of a Product, the next Quest in the sequence often will ask the Player to SELL the same quantity of THAT Product. In other words, sometimes it can be a tactical error to think for oneself! It is better to wait until the game dictates the next step.
Where Ranch Expansions are concerned, there will be three different requirements for purchasing the Expansion using Coins. One of the three requirements usually will be the sale of a specified quantity of a Crop or Product. The requirement will not be satisfied unless one sells the Crop or Product in a single transaction when the required total has been attained or collected. Sell less and the count will be reset to zero.
The Value of Experience
As previously discussed, Experience Points or XP is one of the most important aspects of any Farming Simulation game. In Seaside, XP is represented by a purple Star and a bar on the far left of the top of your screen.
As previously discussed, Experience Points or XP is one of the most important aspects of any Farming Simulation game. In Seaside, XP is represented by a purple Star and a bar on the far left of the top of your screen.
XP or the total number of Experience Points that a Farmer has earned is given as a number inside the gold bar. Experience Points and Experience Level are two different totals, however. A Farmer's actual Experience Level is indicated by a purple Star with a number inside it displayed to the left of the XP Bar. Each Level requires more Experience Points incrementally but the accomplishment of achieving a new Level always gives the same Reward which is 150 Coins and 1 RC (unit of Premium Cash).
When you visit a Neighbour, you can collect +10 Coins and +5 XP simply for the visit. If you are fortunate enough to find Crops that are not yet mature and have not been fertilised by any other visitor, you can fertilise a total of 5 Crops on any Neighbour's Farm. Each time you fertilise an immature Crop, you will gain +5 Coins and +1 XP. This makes a daily ritual of visiting all Neighbours far more than an act of kindness and friendship. You do need to 'Collect' the visit reward at the bottom of your screen. By tapping 'Next', you automatically will be taken to the next Neighbour's Farm.
Note that, should no immature Crops be available for fertilisation, you can return to that Neighbour's Farm later. When you access your Neighbour List, you will see a sack of Fertiliser in the corner of the icons representing the Neighbours whose Farms you have not fertilised that day.
There is another action that can be performed when you visit a Neighbour's Farm but this is something that can be done only once. The Name of the Farm will be displayed in the centre of the top of the screen. Next to that is a yellow 'smiley face' icon. Tap on the icon to 'Like' the Farm. This will change the expression on the icon's face.
Purchasing Items in the Marketplace gives XP as well. Each Crop Seed is worth +1 XP when placed on a tilled Plot. Other Items have XP value as well, though. For example, when one purchases a Turkey for 6500 Coins, one gains 325 XP.
Experience points are the reward for any action undertaken on your Ranch and it is XP that allows the Player to unlock new Items. Another benefit of transforming raw ingredients into finished products, apart from the financial profit, is the acquisition of XP. You gain 1 Point of XP when you plsny a Crop and you can gain 1 Point of XP from the SAME item when you place it in a Machine. Thus, for example, planting Lavender gives you 1 XP. When you place the Lavender in the Perfume Maker, you receive 1 XP. When you place the Provence Honey made from the same Lavender in the Perfume Maker as the second ingredient, you will receive 1 XP as well.
Feeding any Animal will give you 1 XP. Harvesting a Crop or product from any Animal gives no XP. Trees are the same in this respect although they are planted only once. You receive no XP from any harvest from a Tree, but placing the Fruit/Product from that Tree in any Maker will give you 1 XP. Furthermore, you do receive XP when you plant a Tree initially. Planting a Cherry Tree, for example, gives 6 XP.
Tilling the soil by creating a new Plot costs 15 Coins, but it gives 1 XP to the Farmer. A Farmer who is more in need of XP than Coins therefore can create a series of new Plots for the XP value, then sell (delete) them all. There is no value, however, to a tilled Plot and it will be sold for 0 Coins.
Raw Materials compared to Products
Often, goods or products made by machine will be more valuable than the raw ingredients used to create them. Few machines use a single ingredient but even the combined value of multiple items used to make products will be less than the value of the actual product.
For example:
The Juice Machine can be used to create a number of different fruit juices. Among these are Apple Juice which sells for 11 Coins. A raw Apple sells for 7 Coins. When you consider that the act of creating a product in a machine gives the XP or Experience Points necessary to advance to the next level, it usually is wise to use items to create products whenever possible.
An example of a product that requires more than one ingredient is Perfume. A Perfume Machine will arrive on your Ranch in finished form. In other words, you will not be required to ask neighbours for materials to build it. It costs 500 Coins and will create a bottle of Perfume in 45 seconds. The first Flower to be unlocked is Lavender. Perfume is a little tricky, however, as Provence Honey is the second ingredient in ANY Perfume recipe. Provence Honey is made from Lavender but you must purchase a Provence Beehive for 25 RC. It takes only 20 seconds for the Bee to create Provence Honey but, should you harvest the Lavender before it is pollinated, no Honey will be made. Lavender whether unpollinated or pollinated is the other ingredient in Lavender Perfume. In a sense, therefore, you are able to use the same Crop twice.
Provence Honey, like ordinary Honey made from Clover is of negligible value by itself. It sells for 6 Coins. A bottle of Lavender Perfume, however, sells for 76 Coins.
Do the Maths!
A list of Item Values is of great importance in almost any Farming Simulation Game. Remember always that it is not merely the cost of the Seed/Plant/Animal that is significant but the time required for the Crop to mature or for the Tree or Animal to produce a product. The ability of the player to access the game and spend time on it is of significance as well. A Player who can access the game only once or twice per day may have more success with the slow-growing Crops than a Player who is willing and able to access the game many times throughout the day.
The Joys of Jam
One can take any Machine and compare the Products that can be created in it to make a Profit Study. Where single-ingredient Machines are concerned, the equation is a simple one, involving merely the subtraction of the Cost of the original Crop from the finished Product. Where Machines that use more than one ingredient are concerned, the equation can become more complex, depending on the type of ingredients that are needed.
This information can be found in my Seaside Strategy Guide, but I thought it might be helpful if I published it as a Post as well for Farmers who wonder about Profit margins and other weighty business matters:
Jam Comparisons
Jam is a very interesting Product because one of the ingredients in it is Honey, an Item that costs NOTHING to produce and yet which increases the value of the final Product significantly. When used with the Fruit from a Tree, one is able to create a Product that is without Cost as the initial Cost of the Tree need not be considered.
With respect to the Crops that can be used in Jam, it is interesting to perform a comparison study of three fairly fast-growing Fruits: Blackberry, Blueberry and Raspberry. The Profit made from all three is decent and the growth time varies from 3 Hours in the case of the Blueberry to 6 Hours for the Blackberry.
The cost of a Blueberry is 85 Coins. If sold for 95 Coins after 3 hours, the Profit is 6 Coins. If made into Blueberry Jam with a value of 103 Coins, the Profit increases to 18 Coins.
The cost of a Raspberry is 95 Coins. if sold for 104 Coins after 5 Hours, the Profit made would be 9 Coins. If made into Raspberry Jam with a value of 119 Coins, the Profit increases to 24 Coins.
The cost of a Blackberry is 125 Coins. If sold for 135 Coins after 6 Hours, the Profit would be 10 Coins. If made into Blackberry Jam with a value of 151 Coins, the Profit increases to 26 Coins.
Strawberry and Pineapple are other Crops that can be made into Jam but they require a significant increase in Level to unlock.
Which, then, is the most profitable Berry Jam to make? The Blackberry Jam has the highest Coin Profit but it takes 6 Hours to grow Blackberries. Is 2 Coins worth the extra Hour? In 1 Hour, one could grow Pasture. Pasture costs 15 Coins and sells for 17 Coins, giving a Profit of 2 Coins if sold as a raw ingredient. If fed to a White Goat, however, to produce Goat Milk, the value of the Goat Milk is 25 Coins, signifying a Profit of 10 Coins for the use of the same Plot for 1 Hour. If one wishes to go a step further in the Production line, one can make Goat Cheese with a value of 34 Coins from the Goat Milk. That increases the Profit from that original portion of Pasture to 24 Coins, which is only 2 Coins LESS than the entire Profit made from Blackberry Jam!
In other words, time and space are part of the Value equation. Furthermore, to use an easier equation, the Blueberry that takes only 3 Hours to grow gives a Profit of 18 Coins. Grow two Blueberries in the Plot that would be occupied by a single Blackberry and one has a Profit of 36 Coins instead of 26 Coins. Thus, from the standpoint of REAL Profit, the Blueberry is a better option.
On the other hand, a Player who cannot access the game every two hours would do better to plant a Crop that takes longer to mature as he/she will have a single Harvest rather than the potential to use the same Plot more than once in that space of time. If the Player only accesses the game a couple of times per day at best, Pitaya Jam might be the best choice.
Pitaya costs 100 Coins and takes 8 Hours to mature. Its value is 110 Coins. Sold as a Crop, the Profit would be 10 Coins, but Pitaya Jam has a value of 133 Coins for a Profit of 33 Coins. If a Player cannot Harvest more frequently than every 8 Hours, Crops that take less time to mature lose their desirability to some extent. Furthermore, Pitaya cannot be processed in any other fashion, unlike many of the other Crops and Tree Fruits used to make Jam. It therefore would make sense to grow Pitaya for Jam if a Player only can manage to harvest Crops every 8 Hours or thrice daily.
There are three Crops available at higher Levels that can be used to make Jam: Strawberry, Pineapple and Watermelon.
Watermelon is unlocked at Level 28. It costs 255 Coins and takes 10 Hours to mature. Watermelon Jam has a value of 289 Coins, giving a Profit of 34 Coins every 10 Hours.
Strawberry is unlocked at Level 29. It costs 185 Coins and takes 9 Hours to mature. Strawberry Jam has a value of 220 Coins, yielding a Profit of 35 Coins every 9 Hours.
Pineapple is the fastest-growing Crop of all Fruits, taking only 1 Hour to mature. It is unlocked at Level 33 and costs 200 Coins. In Harvest Moon, Pineapple was one of the most profitable cash crops, but in Seaside the Profit is negligible unless you process it. Pineapple as a Crop has a value of 202 Coins, giving a Profit of 2 Coins. Pineapple Jam has a value of 211 Coins, giving the Farmer a Profit of 11 Coins. As it takes only1 Hour to mature, the Farmer who is willing to work constantly throughout the day can harvest 24 times conceivably in the course of a single day, but is more likely to restrict the working day to 12 Hours if not less. With 12 Harvests, the Profit is 132 Coins.
As you can see, Pitaya, Strawberry and Watermelon do not have much to distinguish them where Jam is concerned. Pineapple Jam becomes profitable only for the Farmer who plays constantly throughout the day.
Grapes are one of the most versatile Crops in Seaside. They can be made into Jam, Juice, Wine and Candy. The Juice Maker and Wine Maker are single ingredient Machines, making the Profit for Grape Juice and Wine simply a matter of the Cost of the Grape subtracted from the value of the Product. The Candy Machine and the Jam Machine both require two Ingredients. In the case of the Candy Machine, the second ingredient is Sugar, made in a Sugar Machine from the Cane Crop. Candy therefore technically requires TWO Machines to produce and the Profit made by selling any piece of Candy must include the Cost of the Cane as well as the Cost of the other Ingredient.
Grapes cost 58 Coins and take 6 Hours to mature. The values of the products that can be made with a Grape are:
Grape Juice: 77 Coins
Wine: 78 Coins
Grape Candy: 241 Coins
Grape Jam: 80 Coins
Of these, the most valuable is the Grape Candy, but Cane costs 105 Coins, reducing the actual Profit from Grape Candy to 45 Coins.
The actual Profit when selling Grape Juice, a single ingredient Product is 11 Coins. Wine is another single-ingredient Product, and the Profit is 12 Coins, only one Coin more than the Juice made with the same Grape.
The actual Profit from Grape Jam is 14 Coins. Although Grape Jam is made with two ingredients, the Clover used to produce the Honey that is the second ingredient is not used so its cost need not be deducted.
Grapes take as long to grow as Blackberries and the Profit from Blackberry Jam at 26 Coins is 12 Coins more than that made from selling Grape Jam. The only reason to make Grape Jam instead of using the Grape to make a different product would be if Blackberry, Blueberry and/or Raspberry had not been unlocked yet.
Finally, many Jams are made from the Fruit/Products harvested from Trees. In terms of Profit, there is only the initial Cost of the Tree and it is rather pointless to include that as a factor as one can continue to harvest a Tree forever. The Tree Fruits that can be used in Jam are: Apple, Cherry and Orange. Here, time very much becomes a factor as some Trees are very slow-growing, while others produce a Harvest frequently.
The value of Apple Jam is 17 Coins. The cost of an Apple Tree is 400 Coins and it will produce an Apple in 2 Hours. The value of that Apple is only 7 Coins, so making it into Apple Jam increases the Profit by 10 Coins.
The value of Cherry Jam is 49 Coins. The cost of a Cherry Tree is 600 Coins and it produces a Cherry in 12 Hours. The value of a Cherry is 20 Coins, increasing the Profit by 29 Coins when made into Cherry Jam.
The value of Orange Jam is 42 Coins. The cost of an Orange Tree is 500 Coins and one can harvest an Orange in 8 Hours. The value of an Orange is 20 Coins so the Profit is increased by 22 Coins when it is made into Orange Jam.
Night and Day
Another consideration is the reality of day and night and the need for many Players to sleep. I usually plant fast-growing Crops in the morning and replant them throughout the day if possible. When night approaches, I plant the Crops that take 10 or more hours to mature.
Making money as a Farmer/Rancher is a slow business at first but one can gain enormously both financially and with respect to XP by completing each of the Quests as they appear on the screen.
Expansions
Lack of sufficient space always is an issue in Farming Simulation games and Family Farm Seaside is no exception. A Player unlocks new expansions at specific Levels and can 'buy' or 'earn' them by completing three specific requirements, one of which is a Coin total. In most cases, one must make a specific number of Items in a Machine and sometimes sell them as one of the Expansion requirements. You can buy your way out of any requirement by paying a sum of premium Cash.
A cautionary note here: Although in most cases, you can reach the total number of Items needed to complete a Quest even if you sell those items before you reach the necessary total, there are circumstances where the count will be reset to zero is you sell the goods before you reach the goal. If you need coins but are afraid of losing your progress in the quest, it is a good idea to sell 1 product to see if the total is reset afterwards. If not, you can sell as many of the products as you wish and they will continue to count towards the required total.
In every Expansion requirement for a specific Product, the TOTAL Number required must be collected before selling the Item or the Farmer will lose all progress.
When Expansions and Quests coincide
At certain points in the game, you may discover that a Quest sequence and requirements for the next Farm Expansion coincide to some extent. This is true particularly as your Levels increase. An example of this is the 'Think Big IV' Quest and any Farm Expansion.
For the 'Think Big IV' Quest, you must reach Level 17 and save 35,000 Coins. For most of the Farm Expansions, one of the Requirements will be that you reach a specific Level and that you collect a specific number of Coins.
Temptations to become Rich
It is when the game requires a specific Coin total that the Player may be tempted either to sell everything in the Barn to reach the goal or to 'buy out' the Requirement with Premium Cash in the form of RC.
Both strategies are flawed, in my opinion. There are no time limits to Expansions and therefore, spending a little extra time to convert the items in your Barn to finished Goods before you sell them is a better strategy. With respect to the 'buy out' policy, it would be far better to spend RC on Farm Aids to speed the growth of Crops than to spend it on the Expansion, earning NO XP and NO Coins through that action.
On the other hand, the Coin totals required for Farm Expansions grow larger and larger as one progresses. For the 21 x 21 Expansion, for example, one must collect a total of 420,000 Coins.
Profit, as opposed to the value of a Crop, is the key to wealth. As described elsewhere in this guide, one can make a better Profit often with an inexpensive Crop that matures quickly than an expensive Crop that takes almost a day to mature. I intend to add the Profit for every Crop and Product to the Items Value page on this site. Meanwhile, as a sort of 'rule of thumb', you may notice that the Crops unlocked at higher levels not only cost more but give more Profit when used in Machines.
Versatility
Note that the same Crop can have more than one use. Most of the Grains serve as Feed for specific Animals and can be ground into Flour of various types in a Mill. One then must make a decision as to whether to use the Crop to make a product or to feed an Animal.
For example, Wheat can be fed to the Sheep to produce Wool. As Wheat Flour, it is one of the three ingredients in any Cake produced by the Cake Machine. How does one decide whether to feed the Sheep or to bake a Cake? The time needed to produce products as well as the Cost of the Items and value of the Products will be included in this Guide.
Variety is the Spice
As discussed elsewhere, there are a few Crops that ALWAYS are useful. These are Clover, Lavender, Wheat and Corn. Clover is fed to Cows to produce Milk and when ripe, will attract Bees to create Honey. Lavender attracts special Bees that make Provence Honey, the second ingredient in any Perfume. Both Clover and Lavender can be used AFTER pollination. The Clover is fodder for the Cow and the Lavender can be used to make Perfume or Bouquets. Both are fast-growing Crops and therefore can produce a fair amount of XP during the course of a single day. I always have at least one row of Clover and one row of Lavender in my field.
Corn is the food that Chickens need to produce Eggs and Eggs are used in a number of different Machines, including the Baker and the Cake Maker. Corn likewise is fast-growing and can be grown repeatedly through the day to give XP to the Farmer. Wheat takes twice the time to grow, requiring a total of 8 Hours to mature, but is equally vital to production. It is food for the Sheep that produces Wool and, when ground into flour, can be used both in the Baker and in the Cake Maker. In fact, Eggs and Wheat Flour both are required ingredients for any Cake. The Baker can produce Breads with Flours other than Wheat.
Like the Clover and the Lavender, therefore, both Corn and Wheat always are planted in my field. I plant at least one row of each, irrespective of any Quest requirements.
The Honey that the Bees produce from Clover can be used to make Jam. There are quite a few different types of Jam and the Jam Machine is an invaluable resource for the Farmer who has Trees, as many of the Fruits from Trees can be used to make Jam. Some of the same fruits can be used to make Juice as well, but Jam tends to have a higher value, even though the Honey costs nothing as production of Honey leaves the Clover in the field. At higher levels, one can make Candy of various types with Fruits from Trees.
Trees can be annoying as they require considerable space. Empty space is required between every Tree. Nonetheless, it is a good idea for the Farmer to purchase every Tree in the Market if possible as all have specific uses. Some, like the Almond Tree, are required ingredients for a Product that is needed for a Farm Expansion. Trees require only the initial purchase price and then will yield harvests, however slowly, forever.
When choosing the other Crops to plant in the field, a Farmer can rely upon Profit values, the amount of time he/she has to play the game on any given day, aesthetics and personal preference or current Quest requirements. Although I personally have preferences, I do try to vary the Crops that are grown in my field. One of the reasons is that I like to keep my Machines in production. When one exhausts one ingredient (as one will frequently), one can switch to a different product using another ingredient. This can be particularly useful where Fruits are concerned, as some of the Fruits used in the Jam, Juice and Candy Machine are harvested from Trees but others are grown as Crops.
Each to his/her Own
Every Farmer has a different method of playing any game, even if there are Quests and specific Goals that can be achieved. In Family Farm, there are Quests as well as requirements for Ranch Expansions but a Farmer can ignore these and simply play for fun. It is in the player's benefit, however, to complete Quests as XP is given as one of the Rewards for completion.
Achievements are another resource for XP as well as the occasional Reward of OP (Operation Points). You will find a Page devoted to Quests/Missions and Achievements on this site. Another Page has been allocated to special Time-Limited Quests.
There are two separate sequences of Quests/Missions in Seaside. Quests often are tutorials that serve to introduce Farmers to Crops, Machines, Animals and other aspects of the game. When you complete any Quest, the next Quest in the sequence will be unlocked and will appear on the left side of the screen. You can hide or display Quest icons by clicking on the exclamation point in the top left corner of the screen.
You will notice that you have the option to buy your way out of each of the Requirements in any given Quest for a specific amount of premium Cash or RC. Here it is useful to note that if one is willing to spend Premium Cash to complete Quests, there are better ways of doing it. For example, you can purchase Organice Fertiliser or Super Fertiliser in order to speed the growth process of required Crops.
For example, in the Beef it Up IV Quest, you must Harvest 12 Tomatoes. Tomatoes are a slow-growing Crop that take Hours to mature. Instead of spending 6 RC to skip the step, you could spend 3 RC for 25 portions of Super Fertiliser. A single application of Super Fertiliser will bring a Crop that has been planted a moment earlier to full growth. If you use 12 applications of Super Fertiliser to complete the first step of the Quest, you still will have 13 more applications for use later.
For 1 RC, you could purchase 25 applications of Organic Fertiliser. It requires 4 applications of Organic Fertiliser to bring a Crop that was planted a moment earlier to maturity. Organic Fertiliser is best used to bring a Crop that is almost mature to full maturity in order to complete a requirement or to clear the field for another Crop.
In the same way that Fertiliser speeds the growth of Crops, Watering Cans speed the growth of Fruit on Trees. For 6 RC, you can purchase a Super Watering Can containing 25 applications of Water. 2 RC purchases a Watering Can with 25 applications of Water. The Super Watering Can will bring Fruit on a Tree that has been harvested a moment earlier to full maturity. Like Organic Fertiliser, the regular Watering Can would require 4 applications in the same situation.
Cherry Trees take 12 hours to mature. If the Tree has been harvested recently, the Player probably should use Super Watering Can for a single application. If, however, the Tree needs 8 hours more to mature, three applications of the regular Watering Can rather than the full four applications will ripen the fruit fully.
In practical terms, therefore, instead of spending 6 RC to skip the first step of the Quest and 4 RC to skip the third for a total cost of 10 RC, you can spend 9 RC for a Super Watering Can and Super Fertiliser, use both and still have sufficient applications for another Quest.
Cheddar Cheese is produced in a Cheese Maker from Cow Milk. Cows are fed Clover, a Crop that grows in half an hour. You therefore probably should plant the Clover and simply wait for it to mature naturally in order to complete the second part of the Quest in this example.
There are two separate Quest sequences which are given in the Quests and Missions page on this site. You will find links to all Pages represented by 'Tabs' above any Post or Page.
Suggestions for Developers
Games that are connected to Facebook often 'borrow' ideas from their competitors and it would be beneficial to Farmers if Seaside developers were to 'take a page' from FarmVille where Neighbour Visits are concerned. In FarmVille, one can fertilise untilled Plots as well as unripe Plots. In the regular version of Family Farm, in fact, one can fertilise a Neighbour's Trees. Having more options in Seaside would prevent unfruitful visits. More often than not when I visit a Neighbour's farm, the Plots are empty, all Crops have been fertilised by some one else OR all Crops are fully mature, making it impossible for me to fertilise at all. I can return later, hoping that conditions will have changed, but it would be far better to have more options.
There are options in FarmVille and FarmVille 2 that might be of benefit in Seaside. In FV2, there is the concept of the 'Grove', where more than one Tree can be placed. Four Trees can be placed in a Grove. In the original FarmVille, 20 Trees can be placed in an Orchard. The need to keep a specific amount of space between each Tree both in the original Family Farm and in Seaside can be counterproductive to say the least! Grouping four Trees of the same variety in a little Orchard or Grove 'box' would allow the Player to have four Trees in a single space and four fruits for each Harvest.
