O---------------------------------------------------------O | | | VIRTUAL VILLAGERS 4: THE TREE OF LIFE - FAQ/Walkthrough | | Version 1.03 | | Created by Mythril Wyrm | | | O---------------------------------------------------------O Table of Contents I. Update History II. Legal Notice/Disclaimer III. Foreword IV. The Interface A. Population B. Food C. Tech Points D. Map E. Collections F. Tech 1. Science 2. Medicine 3. Learning 4. Construction 5. Food Mastery 6. Dendrology G. Trophies H. Puzzles I. Menu J. Name K. Skill L. Action M. Detail V. Life on Isola A. The Protagonists B. The Cooking Pot C. Helpful Hints VI. Walkthrough A. Getting Started B. Clearing the Stream C. To Serve Fruit D. Stones, Sap, & Slimy Things E. Fun with Cloth F. A Rocky Riddle Revealed G. Restoring the Tree VII. Puzzles: A Quick Reference List VIII. Questions & Answers IX. Special Thanks X. Contacting Me To skip to a specific section, press Ctrl + F, type in a section name, and press Enter. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Update History v1.00 - Completed all sections. There probably won't be any more updates unless someone sends me corrections. v1.01 - Fixed a couple of factual errors and some mechanical errors, and made a few minor changes. v1.02 - Added a missing stew recipe, clarified the quick reference information for Puzzle #14, and made a few minor changes. v1.03 - Added reader submissions to Helpful Hints section, updated the Special Thanks section, changed formatting and a section name, and made some minor changes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- II. Legal Notice/Disclaimer This FAQ is copyright 2012-2015 by Devin McCain. At this time, only the sites on the list below have my permission to host this FAQ: GameFAQs (http://www.gamefaqs.com) IGN (http://www.ign.com) Neoseeker (http://www.neoseeker.com) Super Cheats (http://www.supercheats.com) Please notify me as soon as possible if you find it posted anywhere else. If you want to post this FAQ on your own website, you may do so only if you obtain my permission in writing and agree to leave the FAQ completely unchanged. If you post it without my explicit permission or change it and try to pass it off as your own, there will be unpleasant consequences when I find out. Feel free to print a copy of this FAQ for personal use, but do not publish or distribute it with intent to turn a profit on it. I'm sharing it free of charge, so please respect that. All other copyrights and trademarks mentioned in this FAQ are the property of their respective owners. I neither claim nor challenge their ownership. This FAQ may contain spoilers. Continue reading at your own risk. I take no responsibility for any embarrassment, injuries, or deaths that result from the use of this FAQ or any of the information contained herein. If you're that stupid, it's your own damn fault. Got that? Good. Now, let's move on to the fun stuff... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- III. Foreword Hello, and welcome to my FAQ for Virtual Villagers 4: The Tree of Life! This game was my introduction to the Virtual Villagers series, and it didn't take long to grow on me when I first played it more than a year ago. The games are easy to pick up and play for just a few minutes at a time, making them a good way for busy gamers to relax and unwind. The game is relatively short, but the patience, problem-solving skills, and attention to detail necessary to fully revitalize the Tree of Life can make the game last longer than anticipated. There are quite a few secrets to discover as your tribe learns about the old banyan tree, and uncovering them is one of the most fun parts of the game. I encourage you to experiment and try to figure things out on your own before looking up a solution, but if you're at a complete loss to solve one of the many puzzles of the island, I hope that this FAQ will provide the answers you seek. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. The Interface As with any simulation game, it's important to know how to read and navigate the menus. Below is a list of all the terms and buttons you'll see on the screen, starting at the top left and ending at the bottom right. A. Population The number of villagers - men, women, children, and infants - who belong to your tribe. The population caps at 10 with no housing huts, 20 with one hut, 35 with two huts, and 90 with all three. In addition, each collection you complete increases the population cap by 5. B. Food The comestibles available to your villagers. A larger food supply allows you to sustain a larger population. C. Tech Points The number of points available to upgrade your technologies. Your villagers can accumulate tech points by working in the laboratory or finding duplicate collectibles. Once you build the clothing hut, you can also spend tech points to change your villagers' clothes. D. Map Displays an overview map of the area. You can click anywhere to zoom in. E. Collections Displays the fish statue scales, mausoleum arch pieces, wind flute heads, and pieces of lab gear that your villagers have found. F. Tech Displays a list of the technologies available to your tribe and a mural that portrays the health of the Tree of Life. All technologies start at Level 1 and can be upgraded twice. 1. Science Increases the rate at which your researchers accumulate tech points. At Level 2, your villagers will be able to build a clothing hut. Though expensive, this technology is worth getting early if you want to maximize the returns on your Scientists' time. Level 2: 8000 points Level 3: 70,000 points 2. Medicine Decreases the likelihood that your villagers will fall ill and increases their fertility rates and lifespans. At Level 3, your villagers will be able to build a hospital where they can study medicine. Level 2: 5000 points Level 3: 50,000 points 3. Learning Increases the rate at which your villagers learn new skills. At Level 3, your villagers will be able to build a nursery school where adults can teach their skills to children. Level 2: 4000 points Level 3: 35,000 points 4. Construction Enables your villagers to build more complex structures. Each level allows your villagers to construct another housing hut, increasing the maximum population of your village. Level 2: 5000 points Level 3: 65,000 points 5. Food Mastery Increases the amount of food your villagers can harvest. Food collection rates increase by 50% at Level 2 and 100% at Level 3. Level 2: 3000 points Level 3: 40,000 points 6. Dendrology Helps your villagers understand and treat the Tree of Life. This is the only tech without an associated skill. Level 2: 3000 points Level 3: 60,000 points G. Trophies A list of the achievements in the game. Attaining them is solely a matter of personal pride. H. Puzzles A list of the game's puzzles and descriptions of the ones you've solved. If you're not sure what to do next, look to the pictures of the unsolved puzzles for clues. I. Menu Returns you to the main menu. J. Name The name of the currently selected villager. K. Skill A description of the selected villager's aptitude - Untrained, Trainee, Adept, or Master - in his or her primary skill. L. Action An explanation of what the selected villager is doing. M. Detail Allows you to get a detailed profile of the selected villager, change his or her name, assign a primary skill, and choose whether to sort your villagers by age (the default), skill, or health. The arrows to the right and left of this button will scroll through your villagers in ascending and descending order respectively. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- V. Life on Isola A. The Protagonists Communities function best when everyone makes a contribution, and your tribe on Isola is no different. Your villagers have five skills that will help them survive on the island: -Farming determines how effectively a villager can harvest food. -Building determines how quickly a villager can build or demolish structures. -Research determines how quickly a villager generates tech points in the lab. -Healing determines how easily a villager can cure someone else's illness. -Parenting determines how easily a villager can make babies. At age 14, your villagers will gravitate to the area near the fire pit and wait for you to assign them a task. Drop them in the appropriate area to make them practice one of their skills. Once they reach Trainee aptitude in a skill, they will practice it at every available opportunity. By default, a villager's primary skill is the one in which he or she has the highest aptitude, but you can set a new primary skill in the Detail menu at any time. You can also pick villagers up and drop them in new areas to make them practice new skills, but they tend to shift back to their primary skill until their aptitude in the new skill increases. Villagers can become parents at age 18. To try for a baby, pick up a villager and drop him or her on top of a villager of the opposite sex. If they're both in good health, housing is available, and the time is right, they'll adjourn to the love shack and the woman will emerge with a baby. She'll then have to nurse her child until it's old enough to wander around on its own. Nursing mothers are unable to work and will flee from potential paramours, so make sure that your tribe can cope with a diminished workforce before directing your women to make babies. Women remain fertile until age 50. Villagers between the ages of 2 and 13 are children and will spend all their time running around and playing. Although they can't work, they serve another important purpose: they're the only ones who can pick up the collectibles and mushrooms that occasionally appear on the map. Stay on the lookout for these; they'll provide your tribe with an extra source of tech points and food in the early stages of the game. Children are also needed to solve two of the puzzles, as the walkthrough will explain. When the game speed is set to Normal, your villagers age one year for every two hours of real time. Depending on how much research has gone into Medicine, a typical villager will live for 60-80 years. B. The Cooking Pot One of the unique aspects of Virtual Villagers 4 is the cooking pot. It can be found by the well in the laboratory and is accessible from the very beginning of the game. To use the pot, you first need to fill it with water, then boil the water and add plant ingredients. Depending on whether you add fresh water (FW) or salt water (SW) to the pot, different recipes are available. Making stew will also require you to add food to the pot, which can be procured from the food bin. Some recipes have special effects, which you can discover through experimentation or by consulting the chart below. All stews will evaporate five minutes after being cooked. If you make a mistake while preparing one of the recipes, just drop a villager on the well to empty the pot and start over. There are four plant ingredients that can be added to the pot. White herbs (W) smell soapy and grow to the east of the berry bush. Red herbs (R) smell spicy and grow to the east of the mausoleum. Yellow herbs (Y) smell sweet and grow just north of the laboratory. Pulpy vines (V) grow on the face of the cliff near the fire pit and must be cut free with tools. The different recipes and their effects are as follows: FW + W + W + W = A stew that makes your villagers throw up. FW + W + W + R = A stew that makes your villagers burp soap bubbles. FW + W + W + Y = A stew that restores your villagers' health. FW + W + R + R = A stew that makes your villagers relieve themselves. FW + W + R + Y = A stew for the Grand Feast. FW + W + Y + Y = A stew that gives your villagers the hiccups. FW + R + R + R = A stew that makes your villagers thirsty. FW + R + R + Y = A yummy stew that gives your villagers the hiccups. FW + R + Y + Y = A yummy stew that restores your villagers' health. FW + Y + Y + Y = A stew for honoring the tree. FW + V + V + V = A nasty, bitter stew. SW + W + W + W = Three bars of soap. SW + V + V + V = Pulp for making cloth. C. Helpful Hints There are a total of 48 collectibles: 4 different sets with 4 common, 4 uncommon, and 4 rare pieces each. Always keep your eyes peeled for new ones. Finding duplicate collectibles will provide you with extra tech points. Common collectibles are worth 100 tech points; rarer ones are worth 250. Your villagers' likes and dislikes will affect their behavior and how easily they learn certain skills. Take these into consideration when assigning their primary skills. Polymaths are useful in a wider variety of situations than one-trick ponies. Each time one of your villagers masters a skill, have him or her practice a new skill for a while. Your villagers should have no trouble mastering at least two skills each. Sickness spreads, and not even Master Doctors can cure themselves if they're sick. Always have at least two villagers practicing Healing to prevent massive outbreaks of illness. Villagers will become weak if they lose too much health from sickness or hunger. If this happens, drop them on the food bin and have them eat until they are no longer weakened. Doctors and Parents can be picked up as soon as they successfully heal or kiss their targets. This saves time and allows them to be given other tasks right away. Have at least one male with Parenting as his primary skill at all times. This will provide your tribe with a source of children while you're away from the game. To quickly increase a male villager's Parenting skill, find an elderly female villager and drop the male on top of her repeatedly. Elderly villagers move and act more slowly than young villagers. Put them to work in the laboratory to minimize the loss of productivity. When there are no construction projects to undertake, villagers can increase their Building skill by fixing huts or clearing the stream. Children can retrieve the herbs that grow around the island and bring them to the laboratory. Make use of them if you need to make a stew. You'll still get credit for finding collectibles if you pick up a child who's carrying one, but mushrooms must be brought to the food bin. Some of the events on the island can change your villagers' likes and dislikes, boost their aptitude in a skill, or substantially affect your tribe's supplies of food or tech points. If an event prompts you to choose a course of action, think it through carefully before making your choice. Keep the fire lit and the stream clear at all times. Fire and water are essential for solving many of the game's puzzles. Pausing the game, dropping one child on top of a mushroom or collectible, and then unpausing and immediately dropping a second child on top of it will allow you to collect the item twice. This can be a good way to get some extra food or tech points in a pinch. Pausing the game and turning your computer's clock forward will elapse time on the island accordingly. If you choose to take advantage of this feature, do so sparingly, because you will have no way to monitor or control your villagers' ages, health, or food supply until you resume the game. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VI. Walkthrough There are many paths to victory in Virtual Villagers 4, but if you're going for speed and efficiency, I recommend following the one below. A. Getting Started After naming your tribe, you'll be treated to a short movie that provides the backstory of the game: "There was once a mysterious island called Isola, home to a tribe of lost refugees. Many generations had flourished on the island, but the tribal chief was now troubled. Life had begun to slowly diminish. Where have the birds gone? The fish? Is Isola dying? An expedition is to be formed, and the chief prays for guidance from above..." You will then be prompted to select five starting villagers. Their ages, sexes, and initial skills are randomly generated, though older villagers will usually have higher aptitude in a skill. If you don't like a particular villager, click the Reject button and try again. Who you bring is entirely up to you, but I suggest the following: -Two with high Building skill. (To speed up civil engineering projects.) -One with high Research skill. (To help you accumulate tech points faster.) -One nursing female. (To get a child early on.) -One child. (To gather collectibles and mushrooms.) As a bonus, try to bring at least one villager who likes running. Making this villager a Farmer will greatly expedite food collection. Once you've selected your villagers, you'll see a second, shorter movie: "With divine guidance, the expedition was planned and launched. After days of wandering aimlessly through the jungle, they realized that they were lost. As their hope was failing, they crashed through some thorny brambles and stumbled onto something they could not have expected. They found themselves at the edge of a clearing on the eastern shore of the island. Rooted in the sandy silt of a dry creek bed, an enormous, dying tree stood forsaken. Do you need help getting started?" If you click the Yes button, the game will provide you with hints to get you started and familiarize you with the interface. If you're using a walkthrough, chances are you won't need them. Your first order of business is to light the fire. Have your villagers gather wood and dry grass, then drop someone on the fire pit to start the fire. It's necessary for solving many of the puzzles, and keeping your villagers warm and dry will reduce the rate of sickness among them, so keep the home fire burning. With the fire blazing, drop a villager on the fish skeleton. He or she will treat the bone in the fire and make three cutting tools. Once these have been deposited in the laboratory, drop a villager on the pans by the beach to fill the pot with salt water, and drop another on the pile of rocks near the western bridge. The villager will heat a rock in the fire. One minute later, when the rock starts glowing red, drop another villager on it. He or she will carry it to the pot and use it to boil the water. Add three white herbs to the pot to make three bars of soap, then drop a villager on the pot to stack them. You can repeat the steps above to make up to six cutting tools and twelve bars of soap. Your Farmers can use the cutting tools to triple the number of berries they can gather, and both the tools and the soap will be used to solve future puzzles. Keep several of each on hand. After finishing your crafts projects, have your best Farmer start gathering berries, your best Scientist begin researching, and your best Builder complete the love shack. Make a baby or two in preparation for the coming tasks. B. Clearing the Stream Requirements: 1+ Builder(s) Driftwood has blocked the stream by the wind flutes and turned it into a waterfall. Drop your Builders on the debris, and they'll start clearing it. It will take some to complete this task, but it's a good way to improve your villagers' Building skill. Successfully clearing the debris will redirect the flow of the stream and provide the Tree of Life with revitalizing water. It will also reveal a hole in the stream bed, though it'll be awhile before you have a way to fill it in. Fresh debris will gradually accumulate in the stream, so make sure you have a Builder ready to clear it at all times. Next, have your Builders fix the broken piers and build the first housing hut. Take some time to research new technologies and enlarge your tribe before you tackle any of the other puzzles. C. To Serve Fruit Requirements: Level 2 Construction, 1+ Builder(s) The berry bush is probably running low on fruit at this point, and it takes quite some time to grow new berries. The palm trees in the southwest corner of the map will provide you with a new source of food, but to make their fruit fit for consumption, your villagers will need a way to soften its tough rind. The cooking pit right next to the palm trees provides a means to this end. Have your Builders clear away the stones that have been piled on top of it, then have them heat up a rock. When it glows red, bring it to the cooking pit. Do this four more times, then drop a villager on the plant right next to the berry bush to cover the cooking pit with leaves. Voila! Your villagers now have an unlimited supply of food, albeit one that takes time to collect. It'll easily be enough to sustain them until they have access to their final food source. D. Stones, Sap, & Slimy Things Requirements: Cleared stream, 1 Adept Scientist/Builder, 1 cutting tool, rain You'll need a villager who's an Adept at both Research and Building to finish putting the stream back on course. Drop the villager on top of the stone that was once covered by the waterfall, and he or she will carry it to the hole in the stream bed. The stone will fill in the hole and allow the stream to flow into the basin by the lab, giving your villagers a place to bathe and swim. Keep the stream clear for a time after placing the keystone, and the stalks near the palm trees will turn green. Drop a villager on them, and he or she will fetch a cutting tool. Cutting the stalks will cover the villager in sticky sap, which will attract butterflies. You want to lure them to the Tree of Life, so pick up the sappy villager and SLOWLY drag him or her toward the tree. Make sure that the butterflies stay close behind. Drop the villager on the tree, and he or she will wipe off the sap. The butterflies will be attracted to its smell and make the Tree of Life their new home, restoring some of its vitality. The next time it rains, watch the area by the eastern bridge. A puddle will form near the tree, and frogs will hop around in it. When you see them, drop your adult villagers on the puddle to catch the frogs and relocate them to the stream surrounding the tree. Finding five frogs a new home will solve another puzzle. Make a few babies and upgrade your technologies before doing anything else. E. Fun with Cloth Requirements: Level 2 Science, completed clothing hut, 2+ cutting tools, fixed piers Building the clothing hut will enable your villagers to manufacture cloth. To do this, you'll need the pulpy vines that grow on the face of the cliff. Drop a villager on the vines, and he or she will fetch a cutting tool to harvest them. Add them to a pot of boiling salt water, and you'll soon have cloth pulp. Drop a villager on the pot to pour the pulp on the rocks. Your villagers must now refine the pulp, which they'll do when dropped on it. Each villager who works on it will bring the cloth 10% closer to completion. You'll get three bolts of cloth when it reaches 100% completion, though you can get extras by dropping more villagers on the cloth pulp when the refinement process is 90% complete. It's a little underhanded, but it speeds things up. Once you have six bolts of cloth, you're ready to set up the fishing nets. If your Builders haven't fixed the piers yet, have one of them take care of that now. Drop a couple of villagers on the piers, and they'll fetch bolts of cloth and start weaving fishing nets. When the villagers change tasks or turn idle, pick them up and drop them on the piers again to make them continue their work on the nets. Adding the sixth bolt of cloth will complete the nets and allow you to partake of the ocean's bounty, providing your tribe with a truly limitless supply of food. You can celebrate by making more cloth, upgrading your technologies, and enlarging your tribe's population; you'll need at least 20 villagers to solve one of the final puzzles. Researching Level 3 Learning and building the nursery school as soon as you can will benefit both you and your villagers greatly. F. A Rocky Riddle Revealed Requirements: Finished fishing nets, 2 children As your population grows and your technology improves, watch the northern beach closely. You'll occasionally see a crab dart through the sand. It's too fast for the adult villagers to catch, but the children can help them. When the crab appears, drop a child on it, then drop another on it to keep it from moving. While the crab is distracted, drop an adult villager on it. The adult will catch the crab and use it to clean one of the moss-covered rocks. Catch five crabs to clean all of the rocks. You can then drop a villager on them to see a short movie about the history of the tree. G. Restoring the Tree Requirements: Level 3 Dendrology, 4 bolts of cloth, 1 cutting tool, 2 bars of soap, 20+ villagers, 1+ child(ren) With all of your villagers' basic needs met, you'll be free to focus on meeting the needs of the Tree of Life. There are four more steps you'll have to take to fully revitalize it. The first step is to remove the tree's diseased limb. You'll need cloth, a cutting tool, and soap to get the job done. Start by dropping a villager on the limb; he or she will bind it with a bolt of cloth. Next, drop the villager on the cutting tools to hack the limb off. Finally, drop the villager on the soap to clean the stump, and the tree will start to look a little healthier. The second step is to honor the tree, which requires a special kind of stew. Boil some fresh water, then add three yellow herbs and some food from the food bin to the pot. Before the stew evaporates, drop as many villagers as you can on the pot. Adults, children, or nursing mothers are all viable targets. They will serve themselves bowls of stew and congregate around the tree to honor it. Get 20 or more villagers to honor the tree at the same time, and you'll be one step closer to revitalizing it. The third step is to purify the corrupted hole in the tree's trunk. The villager who does this must be pure of mind and body, which requires him or her to wash up and meditate by the wind chimes. Drop the villager on the soap to add it to the pool, which can then be used to purify the villager's body. Drop the villager by the hole, and you'll get a message that only those who are pure of mind can see the corruption. Drop the sparkling villager by the wind flutes to make him or her meditate. To stop wandering children from interrupting the meditation, drop an adult in the nursery school to begin a lesson. You'll know that the villager is ready to purify the tree when golden lights appear over his or her head. Drop the purified villager by the hole in the tree to cleanse it of the corruption. The fourth and final step is to decorate the tree, which requires three bolts of cloth and close attention to detail. As the tree regains its vitality, a hummingbird will appear. This and the three crates near the large table in the laboratory are the keys to making leis. Drop an adult villager on one of the crates to fetch a moth-eaten braid, and after the first villager sets it down, drop another adult on the braid to repair it with cloth. Next, wait for the hummingbird to appear and watch it to see which flower it drinks from. When it flies away, the flower will be in bloom for a short time. Drop children on it, and they'll gather flowers for the lei. Six flowers will complete the lei, and the child who gathers the final flower will hang it on the tree. Repeat the process with the other two moth-eaten braids to beautify the tree and complete the final step of its rejuvenation. Once the Tree of Life is fully restored, you'll be treated to a short ending movie. You'll then be free to pursue achievements, enlarge your tribe, and complete the collections at your leisure. May your people live long and prosper! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VII. Puzzles: A Quick Reference List The following is a list of all the game's puzzles and the ways to solve them. Puzzle #1: The Cutting Tool Description: Your villagers have discovered a method for the manufacture of cutting tools. Solution: Drop a villager on the fish skeleton while the fire is burning. Puzzle #2: The Stream Description: Your villagers have restored the normal life-giving flow of the stream. Solution: Clear all of the debris from the stream and have an Adept Scientist/ Builder install the keystone. Puzzle #3: Boiling Water Description: Your villagers have figured out how to boil water. Good for them! Solution: Fill the pot with water, then heat a rock in the fire and drop a villager on it when it glows red. Puzzle #4: Soap Invented Description: Your villagers have invented soap! Now they can wash behind their ears. Solution: Fill the pot with salt water, boil it, then add three white herbs. Puzzle #5: The Butterflies Description: Your villagers have made the Tree of Life attractive to butterflies again. Solution: Have a villager cut the green stalks with a cutting tool, then lure the butterflies to the Tree of Life and have the villager wipe off the sap from the stalks. Puzzle #6: The Frog Rescue Description: Your villagers have rescued some frogs. Good for them! Solution: Have your villagers collect five frogs from the puddle when it rains. Puzzle #7: The Cooking Pit Description: Your villagers have restored the fruit cooking pit back to functional condition. Solution: Research Level 2 Construction, then have your villagers clear the rubble from the cooking pit. Place four heated rocks in the pit and cover it with leaves. Puzzle #8: Cloth Invented Description: Your villagers have discovered a method for the manufacture of cloth. Solution: Research Level 2 Science and complete the clothing hut. Fill the pot with salt water, boil it, then add three pulpy vines and refine the pulp into cloth. Puzzle #9: The Nursery School Description: Your villagers have built a nursery school. This will help them raise smarter children. Solution: Research Level 3 Learning and complete the nursery school, then have an adult villager teach there. Puzzle #10: The Mossy Rocks Description: A story seems to be carved in the rocks! Solution: Use two children to distract the crabs, then have an adult villager catch five of them. Puzzle #11: The Grand Feast Description: The villagers have put together a marvelous feast! Solution: Make a stew with fresh water, one herb of each color, berries, fruit, fish, a mushroom, and food from the food bin. Puzzle #12: Fishing Nets Description: Your villagers have repaired the fish traps. Now they can add fish to their diet. Solution: Fix the broken piers, then have your villagers use six bolts of cloth to weave fishing nets. Puzzle #13: Pruning the Tree Description: Your villagers have successfully treated the damaged tree limb. Solution: Research Level 2 Dendrology, then use a bolt of cloth to bind the Tree of Life's diseased limb, a cutting tool to remove the limb, and a bar of soap to clean the stump. Puzzle #14: Honoring the Tree Description: Your villagers have honored the tree. Solution: Fill the pot with fresh water, boil it, then add three yellow herbs and food from the food bin. Have 20 villagers get helpings of the stew. Puzzle #15: Purify Tree! Description: The tree has been purified. Solution: Research Level 3 Dendrology, then have a villager bathe with soap, meditate, and enter the hole in the Tree of Life. Puzzle #16: Decorate Tree! Description: The tree has been adorned with ceremonial ornaments. Solution: Use the moth-eaten braids, bolts of cloth, and blooming flowers to make three leis for the Tree of Life. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VIII. Questions & Answers Q: Why a Virtual Villagers 4 FAQ? A: It hadn't been done yet, and I enjoyed playing through the game. Q: This game is boring! All my villagers do is wander around like idiots! A: That's not a question, and you're missing the point. The game runs even when you're not playing it, so all you need to do is give your villagers a task and then stop playing for a while. They'll continue to work on it until you resume the game and give them a new task. Q: This game is too fast/slow! A: That's still not a question, and you can change the speed in the Options menu. Q: I cleared the stream, but it got diverted again! What should I do? A: Drop a Builder on the debris to clear it. Q: Why didn't you include Puzzle #11 in the Walkthrough section? A: It doesn't have to be solved to complete the game. Q: Your FAQ sucks! I've crapped out better FAQs than this! A: As soon as you find a way to upload excrement, you should post your wondrous creation for all to see. Q: I posted my FAQ, and everyone I know thinks it's better than yours! Your FAQ really DOES suck! A: Congratulations! I am in awe of your superior FAQ-writing skills! Now go away. Q: This is the best FAQ I've ever read! You're a genius and a god among men, and I want to know more about you so that I can immortalize you! A: Yeah, I get that a lot. My contact info's listed below. Q: A: See the second sentence of my previous answer. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IX. Special Thanks I would like to thank... ...Last Day of Work, for creating the Virtual Villagers series. ...Jay Is Games (http://www.jayisgames.com), for listing the exact requirements to solve the puzzles. ...rikku32 of GameFAQs, for posting a list of recipes on the message board. ...Cameron Fix (cameronfix13@gmail.com), for the tips about pausing the game when having children pick up collectibles, turning the clock forward, and including a villager who likes running in the initial group. ...GameFAQs, for posting this FAQ. ...IGN, for posting this FAQ. ...Neoseeker, for posting this FAQ. ...Super Cheats, for posting this FAQ. ...you, for reading this FAQ. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- X. Contacting Me If you want to get in touch with me, send an e-mail to the following address: mythrilwyrm[at]gmail[dot]com Be sure to replace [at] and [dot] with the appropriate symbols, and put the word "FAQ" in the subject line of your e-mail to ensure that it doesn't wind up in my spam folder. I check my e-mail every day, so you should receive a reply quickly in most cases. I happily accept praise, corrections, and constructive criticism, and will give you credit for any information you share with me that I decide to add to the FAQ. Rude, crass, or incomprehensible e-mails will be ignored or mercilessly ridiculed as my mood dictates, so keep your e-mails clear and polite if you want me to respond in kind. I also use Skype and various IM clients occasionally. If you want my contact information, ask for it via e-mail. Happy gaming!