playing on "ultra-fast" aging?

[Snowy Sprout]

Fast Aging normally gives you 3 seasons to live. I'm going to try to cut it down to 2 seasons and see what I can accomplish. So, the world is on Fast Aging, but I'm intending to eat some Death Cake or something about the first day of Fall.

So far I'm on Day 18 and just got married! I need to have a child quickly so my game won't end. I only have about 42 days to live, so I don't know how much I can accomplish, but I hope whatever I do will be useful to my next generation.

I'm doing this because I played Fast Aging before, and frankly got too much done in my first lifetime. I had an upgraded house, plenty of animals, more money than I could spend and a huge workshop full of machines and chests full of stuff. It felt unnecessary to even use my second lifetime. There just wasn't much left to do. So this time I hope I can do just enough to help the next generation, but not hand them a completed farm.

[darinka]

You made me want to start a new game myself, and fast ageing seems like a good challenge to try. I only played on normal so far. Just recently I found out that we can put all the crafting equipment outside, which is exciting news, but I'm afraid it breaks the economy of an early game, cause we no longer restricted with the house area, and can quickly became rich from making jams and dried fruit.

[Snowy Sprout]

Originally posted by darinka:

You made me want to start a new game myself, and fast ageing seems like a good challenge to try.

Sweet! I hope you'll tell me how it goes!

Originally posted by darinka:

I only played on normal so far. Just recently I found out that we can put all the crafting equipment outside, which is exciting news, but I'm afraid it breaks the economy of an early game, cause we no longer restricted with the house area, and can quickly became rich from making jams and dried fruit.

Yes! I didn't think about it before, but I did have all my chests and crafting areas outside in my other fast aging world, and it must have contributed a lot to my success. I think I still kept my drying racks and preserve jars inside, but if you can make a better setup outdoors I say go for it! The farm is bigger than we need anyway.

My big strategy so far has been to plant as many fruit trees as possible. I've got nearly 50 of them already. My plan is to keep two or three of each variety to use as fruit producers next year (for my grandchildren!), and chop all the others for wood to use or sell next season.

[darinka]

Interesting! Is that a "Lumberjack" or a "Fruit Orchard" strategy? :)
How do you plan to make money, selling wood or fruit?

[Snowy Sprout]

Originally posted by darinka:

How do you plan to make money, selling wood or fruit?

Definitely wood! I did the math, and it gives you huge profit to grow a tree for 15 days, chop it, and sell the wood. More profit than nearly any other crop except maybe pineapples.

Of course I'll save a few trees for the fruit, but that's just for the fun of it.
PLUS of course it's nice just to have a big influx of wood sometimes, so you can build a barn or something.

[Snowy Sprout]

First day of summer I was able to chop about ten of my trees (since we're past the time when they could produce fruit anyway). So that was a cool 200 wood all at once for me! I really needed it, to fix the bridge. And it's nice to know I have dozens more saplings growing, so there will constantly be a fresh supply of lumber from now on.

[Snowy Sprout]

Middle of summer now, and my tree farm area is in a solid rotation. New trees are being planted right where mature trees are chopped down, so the overall timber section stays the same size. I have a separate area where I grow the trees I don't ever want to chop, such as my coffee trees and a few fruit trees.

It's 9th of Summer for me now, and I have a child who should be grown up just in time for Fall, which is my chosen inheritance date. I've just made my first smelter so I'm making iron bars and bricks for creating more machines and chests. Haven't thought about house upgrade yet. Money still gets tight sometimes between major purchases. Maybe sometimes I feel a bit too rich and spend on frivolous stuff like a new outfit, and then I feel the pinch when I need to buy more nails or something.

Couple things I'm wondering about:
1. Will my next generation inherit all the mana I'm earning from the ghosts?
2. Will the farm still be under the blessing I got from the Secret Meeting after I'm gone?

[darinka]

How much wood do you get from one fruit tree?
Regular tree gives 3-4 if I recall correctly.

[Snowy Sprout]

Originally posted by darinka:

How much wood do you get from one fruit tree?
Regular tree is gives 3-4 if I recall correctly.

One fruit tree drops 20 pieces of wood when you chop it down.

Regular tree drops 2 pieces of wood each day if you shake it twice.

It takes 15 days for a fruit tree to mature, and the cost of a seed is about 80 gold.
So 20 wood times $10 per wood is $200. $200 - $80 is $120.
$120 divided by 15 days is $8 per day. That's higher return than almost any crop!

You can usually find 5-6 seeds to plant every day, if you ask Jacob Ryle and Edwin Chestney. So once they mature that's like 100 wood per day you can collect every day!

[darinka]

By "regular" I meant trees you cut down on your farm in the beginning.
20 pieces of wood from one tree is pretty good indeed!
My strategy is to unlock the limbo early and selling potions (not all of them but some are very profitable).

[Snowy Sprout]

Ah! I understand now. Yes, those "debris" trees in the beginning are a great resource, but set you up to think that there would be no point in chopping an expensive fruit tree. I only know because I read about it in the wiki. But once I tried out the strategy I really loved it!

I never considered before that selling potions was even a possibility! Honestly, I don't know if I've ever bothered to make a potion, other than the starter one. It's such a long walk to the Grove that I hardly go there unless to turn in some quest to the pillars. Do you have any favorite potions that are easy to get ingredients for and are very profitable?

[darinka]

For example, Dissolve Disease potion sells for 604 and costs 2 Elderberries and 1 Moonlight water plus mana. All you have to do is to check Astra's and doctor's inventory if they sell those things (and Elderberries are free from the bushes in Summer). Other favourites of mine are Sleep Be Gone and Down You Go potions.

Having that said, I just really like "witchy" themed games and potion brewing aspects in games. Potion Permit, Wylde Flowers to name a few. That's why I was so exited to unlock and brew them all, when I discovered that part in Plum Grove. And then I found out they are profitable.

[Snowy Sprout]

It's day 19 of Summer. I have two days left to live, and shall die on Fall 1. Just trying now to think of what I've accomplished, and find anything left to do with my last few days.

I managed to move the family into an upgraded house! It was just completed this morning. I have my dear husband Wilbur, my daughter Rachel, and my young son Alexander. Rachel has gone to school so far, but she's not really done growing up. She would need a couple more weeks for that. So young to take on such responsibilities, but at least she will still have her father with her. She will have to do her best. Wilbur's time is taken up in being the doctor's apprentice. Alexander is working as a farm hand, which mostly means watering the crops. It has been an immense help to me, freeing up my time to do other errands.
I hope he will be content to continue that work to help his sister.

I leave a modest inheritance of about four thousand dollars for my family. Much of our support has been from the lumber industry, but lots of profit lately has come from the Potions room (Thank you Darinka!).

The wood yard is currently in production of summer fruits, so nothing is being chopped for the next couple of days. Once they're grown I have no intention of chopping any coffee trees, because next year I look forward to my future generations zipping around the map with wings on their feet all day long!

I have crafted a few basic machines, including loom, cheese press, three furnaces, and a candy machine. I'm about to make a dye vat as soon as i have enough iron bars. I have about nine drying racks and three preserve jars. I'm not sure if that's enough or if I should make more.

The next major decisions involve when to build a barn. Milk can be a good ongoing source of profit, and the family needs to keep thinking of future growth. But that is a question for Rachel to answer, along with whatever other improvements she can make to the house, the grounds, and the overall decor. My own lifetime was too focused on establishing a foothold in this new land for me to give much effort into frivolous decorations. But once things feel a bit more comfortable I'm sure Rachel's natural sense of style will imprint itself on the place. I certainly wish her well.

[Snowy Sprout]

I just found out that you can carry on as your spouse, not just as your kids, after you die! I never knew that before. My spouse died before me last time.

Also, it's pretty wild that your spouse and kids don't automatically have any friendship built up with each other. I mean... especially if they are natural born family you'd think they would love each other pretty well already.

I'm excited to start my second generation now, as Rachel. She's been in school, so she has pretty evenly developed skills up to level 2-3. She has advantages over my first character because there is so much infrastructure and supplies already gathered. Making friendships will go quickly because she has gifts to give everyone. Building skills should go fast because she has some wealth to buy supplies to work with. Plus she has motivation to complete the pillars, so that will direct some of her growth.

"Mom" didn't make it to level 10 in any skill but friendship. I'm not totally sure whether it's possible for Rachel to reach level 10 in most skills, but I'm open to any tips about how to maximize that potential! She only has Fall and Winter to work on it before needing to pass the torch on to another generation.

I guess a main starting quest, then, is to speedrun a wedding and a baby, just like Mom did. Hopefully maybe she can get an heir born by Winter 1, so they'll have time for a full education.

P.S. I got the XX's for eyes on my now-ded character, and such an awful unsmiling face. I really hate that. She passed peacefully, doing what she loved, surrounded by family, with no pain. It isn't fair that her portrait makes her look so yucky.

[darinka]

Originally posted by Snowy Sprout:

P.S. I got the XX's for eyes on my now-ded character, and such an awful unsmiling face. I really hate that. She passed peacefully, doing what she loved, surrounded by family, with no pain. It isn't fair that her portrait makes her look so yucky.

I agree, that "XX" is awful. It wasn't like that before, I think?
I really hope the developers will change it to normal face expression.

[Snowy Sprout]

Day 12 of Gen 2, and it is my wedding day! I'm marrying Mario Swayne, that cute beekeeper from down the road. We make an absolutely adorable couple! Now I need to have a baby. But I have my father and little brother living with me already. I'll have to kick one of them out to make room. Dad is working as a blacksmith, and Alexander helps me water the crops. I'm not sure what to do.

Fall 13: Halloween. Made lots of candy to give out to the children, with extra jam etc. to give to adults. I want everyone to be at max hearts with me! I somehow manage to end the day with all but two people loving me 100%!

Also I figured out that I need to let Alexander move on. We just lost both of the senior O'Dell's, the village tailors. I've apprenticed him to the new shop owner fresh off the ship, Miss Bette Marsh, who was just a baby yesterday but tomorrow gets to be his boss.

Fall 14: Alexander grew up overnight! Today I officially kick him out. I wish there were a gentler term for it, because I don't love him any less. But I need him to become his own man now, and he has a good position as a tailor's apprentice with a cute, single boss. This means tomorrow I can officially start trying to get pregnant. Well, actually I think I'll let Mario get pregnant, because I can't imagine ANYONE who had the choice would actually decide to be pregnant themselves.

Fall 15: Alexander is still here? He's not officially part of the household anymore, but he's still around. That's actually great, because I get access to his tailoring skills right at home! I guess Miss Marsh isn't quite ready to let the new dashing and handsome young apprentice live with her at the shop quite yet.