no four star friendships before summer?

[Herr Bert]

i started playing the game a few days ago and since it's quite obvious that granny won't recover after going to bed to rest, i haven't progressed to summer.

i'm spending my time in eternal spring expanding my farm (i got the extra plot, the advanced shed and the chicken coop, working on the barn now), clearing the mine, leveling up equipment, fishing and making friends.

that last point is posing a bit of a challenge though bc i realised i can't trigger the friendship events past three stars. i have a full heart (it does the little tinkling sound when i interact with them and the heart pulses because it's full and ready to advance to the next stage) with parker, bruno, sophia, natalia, damon, lina, and otto and i've tried triggering the friendship events like visiting parker in his shop or meeting damon at the picnic table in the woods, but nothing happens.

is this happening because i haven't progressed the game yet? i think otto's cut scene requires me to repair the bridge behind my house, but the other spots are available. why do the events not trigger?

[Lani]

I think a lot of those events have a story progression component yes.