1.6 Update New Festival

[24k Ancient Fruit]

Has anyone been able to unlock this during Year 1???

1) I heard this rumor where you can play in Skull Caverns even if you haven't reached Level 120 in the Mines yet to obtain the Skull Key. If so, then what would it be like to try to defeat 1 Serpent using just your trusty Rusty Sword?

Also, just a few general questions about the Bus:

2) I heard this other rumor where during the Desert Festival, Pam leaves a signpost next to the Bus stating that "Today's a Festival. You're on your own driving today." [sic] When this happens, the player can drive the Bus at any time of the day -- even at 6:30AM! They still have to pay 500g, though, to drive it themselves. How trusting of the Mayor to let the Farmer do this! Why couldn't he just hire a temp driver (non-giftable NPC) during those 3 days instead?

3) If the Mayor is so trusting of the farmer to let them drive themselves to the Desert Festival for 500g, then why couldn't the farmer just drive the bus at any time whatsoever as long as they have the 500g each time they want to use it?

 

[SurprisedPikachuBob3]

Yes you can unlock it y1, No you do need the skull key to access the skull caverns

 

[chemster]

Has anyone been able to unlock this during Year 1???

I'm not sure I'd want to unlock it during year 1 -- I'm usually too busy gathering Salmonberries which I use to keep up my energy. On the other hand, I am definitely not a speed runner!

1) I heard this rumor where you can play in Skull Caverns even if you haven't reached Level 120 in the Mines yet to obtain the Skull Key. If so, then what would it be like to try to defeat 1 Serpent using just your trusty Rusty Sword?

For me, it would be a very short fight and then I'd turn up at the medical tent.

Also, just a few general questions about the Bus:

2) I heard this other rumor where during the Desert Festival, Pam leaves a signpost next to the Bus stating that "Today's a Festival. You're on your own driving today." [sic] When this happens, the player can drive the Bus at any time of the day -- even at 6:30AM! They still have to pay 500g, though, to drive it themselves. How trusting of the Mayor to let the Farmer do this! Why couldn't he just hire a temp driver (non-giftable NPC) during those 3 days instead?

3) If the Mayor is so trusting of the farmer to let them drive themselves to the Desert Festival for 500g, then why couldn't the farmer just drive the bus at any time whatsoever as long as they have the 500g each time they want to use it?

Well, I suspect that the real reason is they didn't feel like coding the logic for yet another sprite to stand around, and drive... but that's boring. The real reason is that Lewis doesn't have the budget to hire a temp - Pam is working cheaply because nobody else would hire her because of her drinking problems. (I mean, you can give her a bottle of wine right before she drives you!). And you can't drive the bus any time you like because that would be against the Zuzu City municipal driver's association rules, and they'd break the bus again. (Why else wasn't the bus working for such a long time?).

 

[FarmerMeg]

Also a fun fact, whenever Pam leaves the sign post saying she isn't driving the bus that day, you can take the sign and add it to your inventory!

 

[Draconifors]

A lone Serpent wouldn't be too difficult to defeat, it would just take a while of swinging early enough but not too early. Good luck trying to do any of the dungeon quests with the Rusty Sword, though. :D

I purposely only unlocked the bus in summer of year 2 in my previous game, because I didn't want the hassle of NPCs going to the desert yet. I had quests to do and gifts to give, and it's a lot harder to do if the targets are out of town all day long. I didn't want to waste money on bus tickets when I had no intention of participating in the festival itself that year.

The bus ticket machine becomes obsolete after the first time you go to the desert, provided you have Omni Geodes on you or get some in the Skull Caverns.

 

[REtroGeekery]

You can unlock the desert festival year one. It requires making enough gold to unlock the desert, which I don't think is worth it.

You can enter the Skull Caverns during the festival even if you haven't earned the key/unlocked it yet. I've done it once. Great way to get some early irridium ore.

Any time Pam takes a day off, she leaves a sign saying the farmer has to drive themselves and you can absolutely take the bus well into the evening on those days. I was able to take the bus after taking this screenshot (Pam had visited the island resort but was already home):

 

[24k Ancient Fruit]

I'm not sure I'd want to unlock it during year 1 -- I'm usually too busy gathering Salmonberries which I use to keep up my energy. On the other hand, I am definitely not a speed runner!

I hear ya! It does not particularly suit my early-game playstyle either, as I like to do lots of Fishing early on. If the Desert Festival were unlocked that early, then Willy would attend on all 3 days and that's 3 days where I would not have access to his shop to buy those Dressed Spinners and bait!

 

[FilthyGorilla]

Yes you can unlock it y1, No you do need the skull key to access the skull caverns

Actually you don't to run it in the desert fest, it's automatically unlocked during that time

 

[SurprisedPikachuBob3]

Actually you don't to run it in the desert fest, it's automatically unlocked during that time

It is? Damm all my runs that got there y1 had the skull key

 

[FilthyGorilla]

It is? Damm all my runs that got there y1 had the skull key

fair, though it can be advantageous as monsters get buffed when get to level 120 of the mines, I forget whether it affects sc monsters but having weaker monsters in the mines to grind some resources while having sc is still a positive if you aren't planning on doing any runs before the 15th

 

[Odin]

Renamed thread, please avoid spoilers in thread titles!

 

[OStebbins]

Haha, those rumors are interesting! As for Skull Caverns, I haven't tried defeating a Serpent with the Rusty Sword yet, but I imagine it’d be a real challenge. About the Bus, it’s funny to think the Mayor trusts you enough to drive, but I guess it's all part of the festival fun!

 

[nicodeux]

Renamed thread, please avoid spoilers in thread titles!

A simple question: how long are spoilers considered as spoilers? Update 1.6 is now released on all plateforms and we no longer add the "spoiler" tag for 1.5 content that was previously labelled as such, meaning we assume that everyone is now aware of it.

So, are there guidelines or rules on which content should be marked as spoiler?

 

[Grumples]

This thread was necro'd from almost a year ago. Doesn't answer your question, but just pointing that out.