Hey friend! Did you craft the lumber maker yet? You need that to turn logs from chopped trees into lumber.
As you unlock more areas, you’ll get access to different types of lumber. If you only have the basic lumber and need a better one, try fixing the bridges on the farm to unlock the next area.
I hope this helps!
Edit: Pro tip. Sell one of each log, ore, and grass. That way the general store will start to sell them. I hoarded them all for years so I didn’t even know this was a thing for years in game lol.
Edit 2: I think they’ll only sell raw materials. So like the logs, not the lumber. I’m not 100% positive on that one.
Theme song: Rush "The Forest"
5 days later and many lessons learned. Feel free to add yours and I'll update the thread where appropriate. Olive Town follows a long and sorid history of the SoS franchise not telling the player how things work.
Updated: 3/30/21
So. Many. Makers. This has been discussed in other threads, but jfc there's so many. 5 ingot & lumber makers minimum. Don't be shocked when you have to move things around to fit more makers. Also try to spread them out. You can throw unused or under used makers into storage to free up space.
The never-ending battle against the forest. If you leave a patch of ground clear for a day, I guarantee a stump or grass or a rock will be there the next day. The war never ends. No where is safe. What's that? You wanted space for your animals to graze? HAHAHA. Denied!
The sprite minigames are actually worth doing. Each one you get the high score for [4000+ for mining, 50+ for beanstalk] nets you 2 stamina [hearts] each.
Don't forget to claim your rewards for getting titles. The medals are there to be sold. Money that is desperately needed early on. There's also some other stuff like free makers.
Don't sleep on Lovett's cooking quest. Something I would never know about if it weren't for previews and this sub. Doing the quests nets all kind of food mats and makers.
Hammer > Axe > Bucket > Sickle > everything else for upgrades. Anything that aids the war against the forest. You will be surprised how often you use the bucket. Aside from maybe the watering can and hoe, all the tool upgrades are worth getting. They make a very noticeable difference.
Food has different effects and the game never tells you. Salads give you extra stamina. Soups reduce stamina consumption. Entres restore more stamina, but give the player the full debuff.
Animals unlock based on the season. Cows & chickens in the spring. Alpaca, sheep, and silkies in summer.
If you want higher ranked products, you'll have to do a load of animal breeding like in FOMT and the older games.
Some animals make more end products than others. Silkies make more mayo and Buffalos make more cheese.
Mushroom logs are solid income. If you find any shrooms in the wild, sell them to unlock new mushroom spores at the general store.
Honey hives are.... annoying. The bee hives give you honey combs that you have to process in a honey maker. Related: do not sell your wildflowers. You need them for the honey maker.
There's no reason to return to older mines once the next mine tier is opened. The one and only reason to step foot in the first mine is that you sold all your raw white opals and want more gem makers.
Speaking of gems.... The gem maker may be one of the most lucrative makers in the game. The material cost can be rough, but processed gems sell for 5 times their raw price. Diamonds, in particular, sell for 10,000G a pop. Downside is that it takes 23h to process any gem.
Mines: the ladder will never spawn under rocks adjacent to the walls. If you're serious about getting to the bottom, resist the urge to spam charged strikes and focus on finding the ladder to the next level. This goes double for the 3rd mine.
Do not wait until the last minute to start making bricks out of your clay supply. You need 20 suction pumps for the hydroponic farm and that requires no less than 200 bricks. You'll need the suction pumps anyway to drain the ancient lake ruins anyhow.
Try to ship one of everything you find in the wild. It may unlock new stuff in the shops. Several crops like melons are unlocked this way. This also applies to crafting materials. Raw coal can be hard for find, but is relatively cheap at the store. You will need a bunch of it for draining the ponds & the ancient ruins.
Try to save some crops for cooking and the seed maker. Lovett's requests scale up hard after the 2nd set of requests.
Save Orichalcum ore for when you get the big ingot maker at level 10 mining. Also save gems [especially diamonds] until you hit mining level 9.
Make sure to clear the mirage trees & grass routinely. You need the lumber for later as well the grass for threads/cloth. Consider saving the logs for the big lumber maker.