Virtual Villagers Question!?

Question

I don't know if anyone still plays Virtual Villagers, but I recently bought it and am having trouble.

This is my second attempt. The first died of starvation. I get to a point where the berry bush runs out and they have nothing to eat and they die. I know about the tech points, but buying level two is so expensive!

Info about my village:
We have a population of 9:
2 'Adept?' Scientists
2 Adept Farmers
1 Builder but she has a baby at the moment
1 4 year old
1 9 year old.
Our food number is at about 530 and there about 120 berries left in the bush.

We have completed the third puzzle: clearing the beach. My people have about 2000 tech points but they need 6000. How are my peeps gonna survive!? Please help me! Thanks in advance! :) I really don't want this one to die, I'm really starting to like them.

To Ellen: Thanks, those are some good suggestions! :) I'm off to try them!

To Peg: More good suggestions! Thanks a ton you guys!

Answer 1

I suggest you bring at least one of your farmers to the research table.Chose 2x speed and do not let them eat (you can see how healthy they are on the detail screen).also bring your builder to the table as soon as she stops nursing.
Look around for mushrooms.The kids can pick them and a red one means a lot of food points.

For the next time: You shouldn´t get a baby before reaching lvl2 in farming!
Good luck! :-)

Answer 2

First of all, forget about the puzzle for a while. Concentrate on saving your villagers. I'll set the speed to 2X just to make things faster. Check on the researcher skill for everyone but one farmer and get them all of them including the farmer to the research table.

Limit their eating but not too much and don't forget to check their status. When the food count is lower then 400, send the farmer to get berries till the food count is about 500++.

When the builder finish caring for the baby, check her researcher skill as well and send her to the research table. Then, look out for mushrooms. You should get your 2nd level farming in no time. They won't die. Good luck and enjoy the game!!!

Answer 3

You have to keep working on the tech points by keeping the people on the table. Make sure you feed them but don't let them keep going to the berry bush or it will run out. You need to buy farming bad so they can farm food. Don't worry about breeding until they have a hut built. When you start to run out of food, find any mushrooms on the ground and let a child pick it up. He will bring it back to the food bin. Look out for the orange mushrooms, they have higher point value. Look up to the right by pile of rocks, down by food bin, down left by palm tree, up near rocks to left. Good luck!

Answer 4

Have everybody do research, even those who are not naturally inclined. Do this until it is no longer necessary and you have enough tech for farming.

Answer 5

Virtual Villagers Strategy and Puzzle Guide
(courtesy of ladycfii)

Your little band of villagers has washed up on a remote island, and they’re lost and confused. Now what? There are two basic objectives in Virtual Villagers: successfully managing the day-to-day routine of your little band of castaways, so that they are able to thrive in their new home, and unlocking the mysteries of Isola. The former is absolutely necessary to make sure that your little villagers survive, which will allow you to pursue the second objective of solving the puzzles. The trick is in finding the right balance between the two. The more villagers you have, the faster they can research new technologies and solve the puzzles, but having too many mouths to feed can quickly deplete available food supplies and spell disaster for your tribe!

The first thing you need to work on in Virtual Villagers is making sure that your villagers’ basic needs are met. Their most urgent need is food, which you’ll find in limited supply at the berry bush. They will soon need additional housing, too, and there is already a partially completed hut that your builder can get to work on. Turning on tutorial mode (Help) the first time through the game will help familiarize you with the mechanics of playing Virtual Villagers.

A good strategy for success early in the game is to make sure that you keep the food supply above the 300-400 level, if at all possible. Your villagers will be less worried about food, and much more productive if you do that. Don’t be in too big a rush to create a baby boom, or you might find yourself scrambling to save your tribe from the brink of starvation. There are some important points to keep in mind as you develop your own strategy for playing Virtual Villagers:

The berry supply is limited and you’ll need to find another food source as soon as possible.
Nursing mothers devote all of their time to caring for their baby and don’t do any productive work in the village for 2 years of game time.
Babies eat as much as adults and making too many babies too soon can quickly create a food crisis.
Any villager (even a sick one) can heal another villager, but healing is only possible when a villager’s status is “Sick” (check the Details screen).
Sometimes a villager will "resist" healing attempts by a specific doctor. If that happens, try to heal your sick villager again with a different villager.
Sick villagers need to be healed or they will weaken and die
Villagers can become weakened by such things as prolonged disease, starvation, on-the-job injuries, animal attacks, or old age.
Villagers who show a status of "Weakened" will generally improve in health over time unless they are sick, elderly or continue to suffer injuries.
The villagers need to be taught to perform a job – they will not initiate tasks in an occupation in which they have no skill.
Your villagers will not produce babies if there is not enough housing
You can view information about various technology advancements on the Village Tech screen by clicking on the “?” button for that technology. This information will help you choose the order in which to purchase new technology.
The villagers’ curiosity is often a clue to puzzles.
The children can find and harvest a certain kind of food.
Picking up a villager while they’re working will interrupt them, and they will drop the object that they were carrying.
Be sure to check the details screen to see if a villager has specific likes and dislikes, which could affect what they will do.


General puzzle strategy guide:

Most of the puzzles are dependent upon some combination of Village Tech, villager skills, and other puzzles. Although some puzzles depend upon the completion of specific puzzles, the 16 puzzles are rarely completed in the order that you see them on the puzzle screen. Pay attention to the things that your villagers are curious about and the messages that you see when you take one of your villagers “exploring” around the island. These often provide clues that will help you solve the puzzles. Another good strategy is to drag one of your adult villagers around the island after every tech purchase and look for new things that they can work on. Most of the frustration related to solving the puzzles is brought on by impatience. It takes time for your villagers to gain the necessary skills and technology to work through all of the puzzles.

Hints for the 16 puzzles:

You can safely browse these if you just need a gentle push in the right direction. Each puzzle is referred to by number. The puzzles are counted sequentially, with 1 being the leftmost puzzle in the top row, and 16 being the rightmost puzzle in the bottom row.

Puzzle 1 is something that a builder can to do to provide a source of fresh water for your tribe.

Puzzle 2 allows your population to grow larger by providing additional housing for your villagers.

Puzzle 3 allows access to the ocean. Villagers don’t like dirty beaches.

For Puzzle 4 you should take a highly skilled villager exploring just north of the research table.

Puzzle 5 requires a certain level of Village Tech. Take a villager exploring in the northwest portion of the island.

Puzzle 6 requires a certain level of Village Tech, a highly skilled villager, and the completion of puzzle 5.

Puzzle 7 allows your poor, departed villagers to receive a proper burial. Level 2 of a certain Village Tech is required, along with a peaceful place away from the hubbub of village life.

Puzzle 8 has no dependency on either Village Tech or other puzzles, and can be completed very early in the game. It involves more than one game location.

Puzzle 9 depends upon the completion of puzzle 5. Take a villager exploring on the east side of the village.

Puzzle 10 depends upon the completion of puzzle 14. Take a special person exploring the island.

Puzzle 11 requires a certain level of Village Tech. Take a villager exploring on the southeast side of the village.

Puzzle 12 depends upon the completion of puzzle 11 and additional Village Tech. Take a villager exploring on the west side of the village.

Puzzle 13 will produce a very special person who will be able to do very special things. Certain levels of Village Tech and the completion of puzzle 12 are required to complete this puzzle.

Puzzle 14 depends upon the completion of Puzzle 13. Take the special person exploring the island.

Puzzle 15 has no dependency on other puzzles. It can be solved as soon as you have the necessary Village Tech and a villager who has mastered a specific skill. Unlike the way you located the other puzzles, you have to actually drop your skilled villager in the right place to find what you're looking for. Dragging him around the island won't reveal the location.

Puzzle 16 depends upon the completion of puzzle 13. A special person will do something that no other villager can do.

Detailed spoilers for the 16 puzzles:
(courtesy of ladycfii)

Don’t read these unless you want to know exactly how to solve each of the puzzles.

Puzzle 1 requires a builder to clean up the well, so that there will be a source of fresh water for your tribe. Drag a villager with some building skill to the well.

Puzzle 2 is the first of 3 additional huts that your villagers will construct as your population grows and your villagers require more housing. The huts will be initiated, as needed, by one of your builders. Your population is limited to 7 villagers until the first hut is finished. Once it’s finished, your tribe can grow to a population of 15. The second hut allows your population to expand to 30 villagers, and the final hut allows your population to grow to the population limit of approximately 90 villagers. You must have a villager trained in building in order to build the new huts. At the start of the game, one of your builders already has skill in building and will work on the hut unless you retrain them and assign them to a different occupation. It’s important to make sure that you have at least one builder in your village so that you will be able to provide additional housing for your growing tribe. If none of your villagers has any skill in building, and you need to train a builder, your villagers can gain building skill by fixing any of the 3 huts that they have constructed.

Puzzle 3 is completed by cleaning up the debris on the beach. Completion of this puzzle is required before your villagers will be able to fish in the ocean (which also requires Level 3 of Harvesting). Drag a villager to the debris field and they will begin cleaning up the beach.

Puzzle 4 is the founding of a school for your village. Drag a master scientist to the long building north of the research table.

Puzzle 5 is completed by removing the blockage from the creek in the northwest corner of the village. Your villagers will need to have researched Level 2 of Construction to work on this puzzle. Drag a villager to the pile of rocks blocking the flow of water from the creek. Once the blockage is cleared, the water will flow into a sparkling lagoon that your villagers will use for various work and leisure activities. This puzzle is a key to three other puzzles.

Puzzle 6 is dependent upon the completion of the lagoon and level 3 of Harvesting. Take a master farmer to the lagoon, and they will begin hunting a strange fish. It may take many tries before they succeed, so be patient and keep trying.

Puzzle 7 is the discovery of the graveyard and requires Level 2 of Spirituality to complete. When one of your villagers dies, drag an adult villager to the northeast corner of the island. The villagers will celebrate the discovery and will then proceed to provide a proper burial for that little pile of bones in village center. After the first burial, your villagers will initiate burials for all deceased members of the tribe.

Puzzle 8 requires that your villagers master the medicinal properties of 4 plants indigenous to the island. One plant is located south of the lagoon site, one is the cactus that’s located near the boulder, and the other two are on the east side of the island. Drag a villager to each of the 4 plants until each one is mastered.

Puzzle 9 is dependent upon the completion of the lagoon. Take one of your villagers to the field on the east side of the island (where they see dead flowers), and they will begin to water the field with the pure water from the lagoon. If you have builders in your tribe, they will begin to water the field on their own. Villagers without building skill will water the field, also, but will stop after one trip. Once your villagers have put sufficient water on the field (it takes a lot of water), the field will be revived and will once again be in full bloom.

Puzzle 10 is dependent upon the butterflies from puzzle 14. Those butterflies will be able to pollinate a special plant on the island. Once the butterflies begin to follow the Golden Child, drag him or her to the strange plant north of the berry bush.

Puzzle 11 is the restoration of the temple at the site of the ruins. After attaining Level 2 of Spirituality and Level 3 of Construction, drag one of your villagers to the ruins in the southeast portion of the island, and they will begin restoring the ruins.

Puzzle 12 is dependent upon the completion of the temple, as well as attaining Level 3 of Spirituality. Drag one of your builders to the sparkly rock on the west side of the village, and they will begin to chisel the rock.

Puzzle 13 is the birth of the Golden Child and requires the completion of the idol, the lagoon, and Level 3 in Fertility. You will need to take a nursing mom to the lagoon.

Puzzle 14 is dependent upon the Golden Child. Take the Golden Child to the Magic Flower Garden.

Puzzle 15 is a buried treasure. Its location can be discovered only by a master builder. Your tribe must also have researched Level 3 in both Construction and Science before they have the technology required to make the discovery. You must actually drop your builder in the right location - dragging him around won't help you find it. Look for the message, "Is something buried here?" to tell you that you're in the right place. If you want a hint for the location, highlight the following white text: Try dropping your builder in various sandy places in the lower half of the village map to see if he notices anything. If you want the exact location, highlight this text: Try dropping your builder directly south of the food bin in line with the temple. Once he locates something, you may have to be persistent before he will actually start digging. Keep dropping him there - it could take many, many tries. Once he starts digging, and the scaffolding appears, other builders (if you have any), regardless of skill, will start to help, too!

Puzzle 16 is the moving of the boulder, which can be done only by the Golden Child. You don't need to make him do anything (and it won't work if you try). Just give it some time, and he will take care of it for you. After he’s born, you should just watch him for a while, if you have the time - it's entertaining to see him solve that puzzle, especially when you have a lot of villagers.