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| VIRTUAL VILLAGERS 4: THE TREE OF LIFE - FAQ/Walkthrough |
| Version 1.02 |
| Created by Mythril Wyrm |
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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. Scuttling Scourers
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.
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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.
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II. Legal Notice/Disclaimer
This FAQ is copyright 2012 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to print a copy of this FAQ for personal use, but do not publish or distribute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...
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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.
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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 col-
lectibles.
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 re-
spectively.
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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 sur-
vive 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 pri-
mary 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 vil-
lagers 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 uncom-
mon, 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 hun-
ger. If this happens, drop them on the food bin and have them eat until they're
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 essen-
tial for solving many of the game's puzzles.
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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.)
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 water-
fall. 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 pro-
vide 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. Celebrate by making more cloth, upgrading your technologies, and enlarg-
ing 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. Scuttling Scourers
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 cut-
ting 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 vil-
lager 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 com-
plete the collections at your leisure. May your people live long and prosper!
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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 vil-
lager 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 butter-
flies 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.
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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: <insert some question that has nothing to do with Virtual Villagers 4 or the
FAQ here>
A: See the second sentence of my previous answer.
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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.
...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 unintelligible e-mails will be ig-
nored 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!