Hello Everybody! I'm quite new to vv a new home..and I bought it cause I thought it looked cute and I do love RPG's that continue...but, I have to say...this is the most frusterating game I have ever played! I get so stinking angry with the makers for making it so stinking hard. They starve,just trying to advance to finding another food source, (In fct, if it weren't for the babies finding mushrooms, they probably would all be dead) it is self defeating trying to advance as you end up working so hard just to clear the field, or remove the rocks to release the stream or clean the beach! Whose lovely idea was it to make them work at something a million times before they advance an inch, huh????? And who was the brainchild, space cadet who came up with such extrememly high points just to buy a tiny, little advancement? I'm convinced the makers must be sadistic! And just how in their insane little world are they supposed to learn how to fish? Or, find something else to eat? I'm so frusterated and angry! How the heck is anyone supposed to have a life as well as keep these little guys fed, healthy and happy, hmmm?? Every time I actually do something frivolous like to go to sleep for the night, the next blinking morning, they're all dead! And no way to get back all the extremely hard earned work and endless hours I had put into the game! I'm so mad at the makers for making it this hard, for precious little awards that can be taken away at the slightest thing! GRRRRRRR!!!!!!

1. on the options page, set the game to "easy" the first time you play it, until you learn all the things you need to learn to make the village prosper. it is not the village that is lacking, it is you.
2. check out the guide section for complete solutions to all the puzzles. that will take all the bricks out of your briefcase.
3. until you know what you are doing and can keep the villagers alive yourself, backup your paused save game file before you go to sleep so just in case something bad happens you can restore it. Here are backup/restore instructions for VV2. For VV1 it is the same except the files are located in ProgramFiles\VirtualVillagers I believe.

Welcome to the forums,
-Borg

What a lovely introduction to yourself LOL. VV1 is a very challenging game. Big tip, until you have an "established village" pause your village overnight or put it on half speed. The tech prices are so high because if they weren't, this game wouldn't take long to complete. If you want an easy game, they're not hard to find. If you want more help, how far into the game have you gotten and what specific problems have you faced? This is just a general complaint and all I can tell you is to ccheck the guide section, like Borg said, and put it on pause at night. If you are angry, go play a different game, if you want help you have come to the right place.

i agree with Jaz, if you like the concept og the game, keep playing, no one is MAKING you stay if you don't want to be here.

P.S. if you do stick around, welcome, everyone is pretty close around here and im sure you'll fit in nicely.

Welcome to the world of VV. There are tons of people here who, like you and I, came to forums out of frustration only to find out how really simple and addicting these games can be. I really think if you give it a try, you'll soon be an addict like the rest of the dedicated forummers you'll find answering your questions. The advice you received above is sound. Try the easy setting with tutorial (help) mode turned on till you get the hang of it. Then, don't forget to slow or pause your 'puter if you're gonna be gone more than a few hours. Finally, anything you see marked "Spoiler" has some kind of hint or clue to the game, so don't read them unless you REALLY want to know the answer.

Thank you so much Borg, Jazzo, KittyKat And Rockmower. Truly, I appreciate your answers and, most especially for being kind and patient with me. I was having to get ready for work, and my peeps were out of berries and I had got building points before farming, in the thinking that they would need the water for the farming etc;. Got that wrong for starters. But, thankfully, I was able to accrue enough points to get farming points so they could eat again before I left, and when I came home, they were still alive. Thank you Jazzo! I'm embarrased to confess that I already HAD it on easy...But, I still hate that they have to do something a million times to get very little ahead.
And yes, I do love the game regardless of it's little annoyances. As a writer of science fiction, I can appreciate all the little idiosyncrasies, but I'd still like to see babysitters for the Mums! Encorporate the tweens, especially as they're not much useful for anything else! I feel better now and, I do apologise for being so whingey...Forgive me?

And me, too! As Rockmower says, lots of us sought out these forums out of frustration with VV. Several people's first posts were very similar to yours, Peanutbaby. Most of us have found the game totally addictive once we got over the first learning hurdle.

many of us did all you need is patience

Hi and Welcome Peanutbaby You probably put into writing what we all thought when first playing VV1 - perhaps a little more colourfully than many of us. I know I had to start over a few times before I got the hang of it and started to really enjoy the game. I just sat here and laughed like a drain when I read your first post

There is a topic here (you might have to look for it) on Things You Have Said While Playing VV2. It is a classic and if you read those posts you will realise just how frustrated a lot of players really become

Borg gave you good advice and if you ever need help, the members here all pitch in and try to assist you. Just relax, enjoy the game and LDW Forums.

PS: Just type in "things you have said" and "Jazzo" in the Search details and within the last year (just to be safe) and you will find it. Although it is for VV2, you will find a lot of it applies to VV1 also.