Menu and Controls
To play Friends of Mineral Town For Girl you're going to need a game cartridge and a
Gameboy Advance (regular, SP, or DS). If you plan on having Ruby or Van visit
your town you're also going to need a Gamecube, a copy of Wonderful Life, and the
Gamecube/GBA Link Cable. Sorry, the Gamecube is not included with either game
You
could also play this game on your Gamecube if you have the GBA Player accessory.
When you start to play FoMT you can choose to start a new game or restart a game you have saved before. If you choose to start a new game, the first thing you have to do is choose a name for yourself. After confirming your name choice, select your date of birth. You pick which season you want your birthday to be in, then just pick one of the 30 days you want it to be. The next thing you need to set is the name of your farm. Once you've finished with your farm name, pick a name for your new dog. The last screen you'll reach is a confirmation that displays all of your selections. Confirm to continue or choose "no" to start over.
| Gameboy Controls | |
|---|---|
| Start | Brings up your menu window at the bottom of the screen. |
| Select | Ranch summary. You can see how much money you have, your tool levels, Harvest Sprite skill levels, and how well you are making a profit. |
| Directional Pad | Walk up, down, left, or right. You can navigate through the menus as well; left and right will switch screens while up and down will scroll through large text. |
| Right Shoulder | Holding down the right shoulder button makes you run instead of walk. |
| Left Shoulder | Whistle for your dog and horse. You can also whistle at the girls! |
| A button | Pick up things like crops or your dog. To talk to villagers just walk up to them and press A. You also use this button to confirm selections. |
| B button | Use the tool you currently have equipped. To exit out of menus press B as well. |
| A + B | Opens up your Rucksack without having to press Start to get to the menu window. |
| Left Shoulder + B | Rotate through the tools you have in your Rucksack. If you are holding an edible item (food, etc.), Left Shoulder+ B will make you eat it. You can also rotate through your tools by holding down the Left and then using Right or Left on the directional pad. |
| Left Shoulder + A | Rotate through the items you have in your Rucksack, like veggies or gifts for the girls. You can rotate through your items by holding down the Right Shoulder and using Left and Right on the directional pad. |
| Left Shoulder + Select | Brings up the Farm map without having to go into the menu window. |
| Left Shoulder + Start | Opens the World map. |
The menu window will appear at the bottom of your screen when you press the Start button. There are 7 menu options you can choose:
Diary: To save your game select
the first menu. You can have 2 games saved and you can also save at any
time. There's no need to go to bed in order to save, although there is a
book by the bed that will bring up this menu too. You can also load a
previously saved game. The next option is the auto run; #1 has walk set for
the Directional pad and run set for the Right Shoulder button. Option #2 sets
walk to the Right Shoulder and run is on whenever you press on the Directional
pad. The last 3 options turns the time display on and off, the character
portraits on and off, and the character display names on or off.
Rucksack: Any
tools or items you might be carrying around go into the Rucksack. To switch
tools just select the tool you want to equip from the Rucksack and then place
it on the top slot. The same technique is used if you want to take an item out
of your Rucksack. The tools will be displayed on the left half of the screen
and the items go on the right side.
World Map: Opening
the World Map brings up a hand cursor. You can move the cursor around to get a little bit of detailed
information about specific areas. If you can't find where the Grocery Store is when you start playing,
check the World Map.
Farm Map: This menu
is very handy if you've ever tried to bring your dog in at night only to discover that you can't find
him. Open up the Farm Map and you will see everything that is on your farm land. Each animal and plant
is marked with a little icon so you can easily find who you're looking for.
Earnings:
This is the same menu that appears when you press the Select button. You'll see how much money you've
earned, the skill levels of the Harvest Sprites, information about your animals, and tool level ups.
Memo:
Anything you're able to ship to Zack is listed here. You can see how many of each crop you have shipped
and information about the kinds of fish you've been able to catch. One of the screens gives you a
summary about the best score you've earned the Harvest Sprite mini games and the farthest you've
tossed the Frisbee in the Frisbee Disc mini game. You can also see how much money you've saved and
spent per day and per season. Even the farthest levels you've reached in the mines are listed here. The
Memo also holds the information for your Farm Judgement Points.
Tutorial: If you
need to learn how to do something, check the Tutorials. Theres one for how to grow plants, 3 for taking care
of animals (cows, chickens, and sheep), and one more that explains the menu windows a little bit. These
are the same Tutorials that Mayor Thomas shows you when you first start the game.