Marriage (HM64)

Marriage, in the case of Harvest Moon 64, is the end result of the romantic interaction between characters, with the primary romance being the player and their chosen partner of the five bachelorettes. If the player does not pursue a bachelorette, the rival bachelor who is interested in her may court and eventually marry her.

The five bachelorettes and their rival bachelors of the game include:


 * Maria; her rival bachelor is Harris, the postman
 * Elli; her rival bachelor is Jeff, the master baker
 * Karen; her rival bachelor is Kai, the vineyard worker
 * Ann; her rival bachelor is Cliff, a roaming traveler
 * Popuri; her rival bachelor is Gray of the Green Ranch

Romance Basics
Romance is based on affection values. A relationship between the player and a bachelorette is based on that bachelorette's affection: the higher it grows, the more she will like the player. Affection is raised in much the same way as with other villagers: conversing and gift-giving. Asking one of the bachelorettes to dance at a festival that has dancing also increases affection. However, a relationship with a bachelorette has additional features.

Heart Levels
Unlike the other villagers, a small heart appears in the lower right corner of the dialogue box when speaking with a bachelorette. Its color indicates roughly how much that bachelorette likes the player. The colors and their affection ranges are as follows:
 * White (Indifferent): 0-51
 * Blue (Friendly): 52-102
 * Green (Stirring feelings): 103-153
 * Yellow (Likes a lot): 154-204
 * Pink (In love): 205-255

Events
When bachelorettes reach certain affection levels, special events will be triggered. The following three are significant and common across the five bachelorettes, but there are more girl-specific events that have a smaller impact.

Flashback
After the bachelorette gets to a high affection (usually high green heart or just at yellow) and the player goes to bed, he will have a dream about his childhood, in which he was playing with a girl while visiting his grandfather's farm. The following day, if the player goes and finds the bachelorette he is courting, an event will commence in which they reconnect and replay the event of their childhood. Saying they remember the event in the past will increase the bachelorette's affection.

Sickness
When the bachelorette gets to a green heart, she may become sick, which usually happens on a rainy day. If the player goes to visit her home, this will not only increase her affection, but is one of the only few opportunities for the player to see inside the girl's bedroom.

Sprained Ankle
The bachelorette may sprain her ankle. If the player finds her, he will be given the choice to either go for help or to carry her home. Getting help has the bachelorette's rival carry her home and decrease the girl's affection while increasing the affection between her and her rival. The player carrying her home themselves will have a more positive effect on her affection.

Proposal, wedding, and married life
To move forward with marriage, the player must have the kitchen extension added to their house. After getting one of the bachelorettes to a pink heart, the Blue Feather will be available for purchase at Rick's shop for 980G. After giving it to the bachelorette of their choice, the player and their fiancé will be married at the Church on the following Sunday, so the player should try to plan the proposal and wedding to not interfere with any important events or festivals. After the wedding, their new spouse will move to the farm and the player must continue talking with and giving gifts to keep them happy; this is important in building their family, but even more so as neglecting their spouse will lead to them going back home (see both events below). Along with accompaniment back home from festivals, there are even more events during marriage.

Having a child
The most important event in marriage, and contributes greatly to the overall evaluation of the game, is getting their spouse pregnant and having a child. This can only be triggered if the player has the Baby Bed built in their house. After thirty days of talking/interacting and giving gifts, the player's spouse will begin to feel odd and eventually tell them they are pregnant. Sixty days later, their spouse will go into labor, and the player must pass time until 3pm and go inside their house to name their child. If the player goes into the house after 11:59pm that day, their spouse will lose affection and name the child themselves.

Bamboo float
On the 7th of Summer, after entering their farm between 5pm and 8pm (or entering and exiting their house during this time), the player's spouse will be outside and ask them if they want to go to the mountain to sail bamboo floats. Saying "yes" will increase their affection and give the player a chance for three wishes before sailing their float: "Animals" will keep any animals on the farm healthy and happy, "Family" will aid in their spouse's happiness and chances of having a baby further, and "Weather" will keep the weather sunny and aid in typhoons not occurring.

Full moon
On the 9th of Fall, also outside between 5pm and 8pm, the player's spouse will tell of how the moon is full and will ask to go up mountain to view it. Going with them will increase their affection.

Event meals
The player's spouse will prepare special meals to commemorate four events: the player's birthday, her birthday, their anniversary, and their child's birthday. These meals will be available on those days in the kitchen between 6pm and 8pm, and remembering them when their spouse asks will increase their affection. Eating the food will not restore stamina or health, but it is a nice aesthetic.

Returning home
If the player does not give enough attention to their spouse, they may one day find them gone and a note saying they left to go home for a while. The player should go to their home and will be given the chance to speak to them (and the only other time they can go into the girls' rooms). Talking with their spouse will convince them to come back to the farm and give a small boost of affection back.

Rivals
There are five bachelors that compete with the player character for the bachelorettes. Each bachelor is interested in one of the girls. Like courting a bachelorette, the romance of the bachelors depends on affection values; meaning, bachelors will advance in their relationships because of their affection with the player.

If the player is courting a bachelorette and becoming friends with the bachelor who is interested in her at the same time, he will not actively court her as long as the player is single. So long as they are pursuing a girl actively, there is little risk that she will marry off. Even after getting married, the player should try to get the rivals of the other girls to get married as it counts towards the perfect game ending.

Trivia

 * While the player has the freedom to choose which bachelorette to marry, in the Japanese strategy guide, Elli and Pete are the official couple. This was the same even in the N64 Player's Guide.