General Information
With the growth Farm Town has had since it was introduced and the direction the game seems to be taking now playing the game could b approached more as a growing business than a virtual game. The earlier versions of the Farm Manager were more focused on aiding a player in achieving higher game levels and maximizing profits. This version approaches the game as more of a small business that a player can grow while still maximizing profits and gaining higher levels more quickly. The sheets within the workbook are protected and the cells containing data and formulas are locked. This has been done to keep a user from inadvertently overwriting formulas or pertinent data. Many players who have experience in creating and editing spreadsheets prefer to customize their Farm Manager. For this reason the sheets are protected without a password, which will allow for personalization or customization of the workbook. Any additions or changes made are at the user's risk and I would strongly recommend having a backup copy of the workbook before making any changes. Some of the changes to the current Farm Manager are the result of players sending me copies of their changes that were incorporated into the current version. I did not track my time on this project, however I estimate having close to 200 hours invested in this version of my Farm Manager for Farm Town. I hope you benefit from the use of this workbook. I have tried to find and fix any errors in the data or formulas however it seems that one is always overlooked. Any comments, suggestions, improvements, bugs in formulas or errant data reported are appreciated. I can be contacted at Email Uncle Joe.
This version of the Farm Manager has been designed with the capability of being kept current with the game by the user. It has support for up to 12 farms each with 2 additional land sizes if either of these is released in the future. I am quite sure we will more farms released for purchase; the additional land expansions may never be released. Having additional farms is how the developers have satisfied the need for more space on the farm. They have stated that farm sizes above the current 24x24 size would cause server load issues and most likely game load issues for the players. When any of these are released in the future they can be activated on the sheet by changing the status on the FarmData sheet. This release is current up to the June 17, 2011 update of the game which has grown the Inventory sheet to be much larger than the previous versions have been. This is also due to the allowance of a minimum 30% growth in items (depending upon the category). My thoughts are this should be enough to keep this workbook current with the game for at least a year if not longer. Adding the new items when they are released is optional; they could be added on an as needed basis when purchased. The Harvest Planner sheet has been changed. I did not see a need to have a separate planner for each farm. By the time a player purchases the second farm (available at level 44) they have the ability to know most of what is on the farm. To have a planner for each farm would greatly increase the size of the workbook and slow the performance of the calculations. The planner still covers a 4 day planting and harvesting cycle, and by condensing all the crops on one sheet gives a better snapshot of what is planted on all the farms. The 4 Day Cycle Summary has been changed and the breakdowns for planting costs and harvest sales has been moved to the HarvestData sheet. If you want to see a complete data set for these they can be found on the HarvestData Sheet. There is a new GameData sheet that contains some of the basic game data, formulas for the workbook and contains the game level data table. The game level data table contains the data for the current 235 levels in the game and can be expanded up to level 300. Throughout the user sheets there has been Conditional Formatting added. When data input is required the adjacent cell may show the user a message with what needs to be added. Some cells such as the additional farms are hidden from view until purchased to keep the visual concept of the sheets more pleasing and less cluttered with needless information. On the Harvest Planner sheet the Farm Field Use Planner fields input cells will change to red if the amount of fields planned for a particular farm is greater than the amount the farm has. This is to alert the user to either edit the amount of fields to plant on the farm or change the value for the total fields on the farm. The formatting for this planner also hides the additional farm data until the farm has been purchased and the data entered on the FarmData sheet. . Excel Version 5 does not support conditional formatting or hyperlinks; those features are not included with that version.
FarmInfo Sheet
This sheet is where the user begins to manage their farm more as a business than a game. The sheet contains tables that will hold the basic information about your farm(s) and should be the first sheet to add your farm data to. It also contains some optional tables to track the miscellaneous expenses incurred while playing the game. The first table you will see is the Farm Data Table, as you make changes to the data on this table the sheet header (brown background) will change. The Farmer Name and Industry Name (not a game option) are optional input however adds some personalization to your workbook. Next you should add the current coins, farm cash and xp in the player data section. When the current xp is added you will see your current player level, the next level and the xp needed to achieve the next game level. Next to add is the Farm Names, purchase prices paid for the farm(s) and the expansions. There is a sheet link to jump to the farm size tables or you may find it more convenient to split the screen vertically and work with the two panes (which I found to be much faster and easier). As you add the farm names, and purchase data the farm size, next size and upgrade costs will change for each farm. The sheet will also keep count of how many farms you currently own. The last data to add on this table is the fields for each farm, which will activate the field use planner table on the Harvest Planner sheet. The Other Game Purchases Tables are optional input however the data does help to return more true values on the Farm Value report table. The Farm Cash purchased table is a good tool to track how much real cash a player has spent on the game and help to control your actual spending (although some may not want to know just how much real cash has been spent). The Inventory Items by Location and Inventory Details tables will return data on your game items when that data is added to the Inventory sheet until then they will remain empty. The Farm Value table will reflect changes when the farm purchase data is input and continue to change as more data is added to the Inventory Sheet.
Inventory Sheet
This sheet is by far the most challenging for the user to complete. It requires having the information on hand of all the items currently owned and where they are located, either on a farm or in storage. This may require taking a complete inventory of all the farms and the storage, however most players seem to have this written down either in an organized manner or on little scraps of paper scattered about (which is what I had and what prompted me to create the first Farm Manager). The conditional formatting on this sheet will fill in the un-owned or unreleased farms on each table to help place the amounts for each item in the correct locations. As new farms are purchased and added to the FarmData sheet those cells will become ready for input. It is possible to just add all the owned items to just one farm and or the storage cells, however to get a more true return on the farm value tables it would be best to separate them. Adding the items to only one farm and the storage cells will not have any negative impact on the total Farm Value table on the FarmData sheet. Once the initial inventory data is completed it is a minor task to keep it up to date as new items are purchased, moved to other locations, or sold.
Harvest Planner Sheet
Other than keeping the player data on the FarmData sheet current this may be the most used sheet for many players. This version is slightly different from the stand-alone version in that it does display data entered on the FarmInfo sheet. The sheet header is identical to the one on the FarmInfo sheet; the farm names and field amounts are displayed with data, which is also read from the FarmInfo sheet. This table is for planning and tracking how many fields are to be planted on each farm to help decide which crops to plant where. There are calculators for the short growth crops (less than one farm day), to report how many fields, cycles or the yield for the planned plantings of those crops. The Planner tables on the sheet are designed for future expansion if new seeds, flowers, trees, harvestable animals or fish are added to the game. The planner table for seed crops is designed for planting days in a 4-Day Cycle. For example a 4-day seed crop must be planted on Day 1 to be harvested by the 4th. day of the cycle. Flowers, Trees and Animals that are not planted, are planned for which day they will be harvested on. Fish are a random item and cannot be planned; they will need to be added each day with the amounts caught. All these variations are accounted for in the 4-Day Cycle Summary. The daily breakdown tables in the earlier versions have been moved to the HarvestData sheet and may be viewed there. Harvest and Direct Sell has been eliminated from the game and the Planner details. Harvests are now either self harvested and sold from storage or harvested by hired farmers and sold from storage. The Harvest Trade Calculator sheets have been dropped from the workbook and replaced with a more simple report on the 4-Day Summary for the amounts a hired harvester will earn in coins and xp while working on your farm. The complete breakdown can still be found on the HarvestData sheet. Columns have been added for Production use. These items can be updated on the HarvestData sheet as needed. This is added as a convenience for those who have production facilities so they can concentrate their planting and harvesting in concert with their production efforts. I may in the future tie the Production Planner workbook and the Farm Manager together to work together however this may turn out to become another 200+ hour effort to become a reality.
Neighbors Sheet
The Neighbors sheet is an optional sheet, which was added to the previous Farm Manager by player request. It is used to keep data on your neighbors and is there mainly as a convenience.
Nuts & Bolts Workbook Maintenance (or how to make this thing work)
InventoryData Sheet
The Inventory sheet displays items that are listed in tables on the InventoryData sheet. To add new items open the InventoryData sheet and locate the table to edit using the sheet menu links. The items listed are catagorized much the same as they are in the Farm Town Store with the exception of the farm ground covers. The ground covers are in a separate sheet, in the Farm Town Store they are listed in the Paths/Ground category. The level column on each table is optional data for reference and is not used at this time. Add the new item to the bottom of the list; other data that is needed for the calculations are the item cost, sell price, Cost Type and XP. The cells on this sheet, which may need editing, are unlocked so the protection on the sheet should not need to be removed. The same cells for existing items are unlocked to allow editing that data as may become necessary. The cells, which are locked, contain formulas and should not need any editing. The Inventory sheet also contains the data tables that calculate and hold the aggregate inventory data for display on the FarmInfo sheet. The data tables contain Array formulas, which perform the calculations for the coins and farm cash, purchased.
FarmData Sheet
The only areas to edit on this sheet are located in the Real Estate Data table. This is where farms 11 and 12 will be activated when they are released in the future. To activate a farm change the first status cell from Unavailable to Available this will make the expansion purchases up to the 24x24 land size visible on the FarmInfo sheet and the color on the location cells on the Inventory sheet will change from a light gray to pale blue. The purchase data and xp for coins and farm cash may need editing, the level data is optional. After the farm is activated the conditional formatting will have the same characteristics as the previously released farms. The FarmData sheet also contains the Farm Item Investment data tables that calculate the inventory data for each farm. A more complete breakdown of each farm's value can be viewed on these tables.
GameData Sheet
This sheet holds some calculation tables and some general game data. When new levels are added to the game the levels table will need to be edited with the XP, Next XP, Current Title, and Next Title information. The Max Level cell will need to be changed to the new highest level so the formulas can perform calculations above the current highest game level 210. The only other tables to edit at this time would be the Consumables and Avatar Clothing data when new items are introduced. Below the Avatar Clothing table is a Fish Data table that lists the amounts of fish found in each type of water (ponds) and what fish can be caught in each. The new harvests Belt Data table is for future use and may be updated as more information becomes available. There is insufficient data at this time to make this report any useful data to the FarmInfo page.
HarvestData Sheet
This sheet contains the master data for the Harvest Planner sheet. There is room to add new crops when they are added to the game. Adding new items to the tables on this sheet is relatively easy, having the new data display on the Harvest Planner sheet and adding to the calculations tables requires slightly higher spreadsheet editing abilities. If you are not comfortable with inserting cell ranges and adding formulas to cells you may want to download a newer version of the stand alone Harvest Planner workbook which will have the new items when released. Each time the game adds a new harvestable item that workbook will be updated and made available for download on the site. It is included in this workbook for convenience and is not necessary to the main function of the workbook.
Unlock Sheets
To un-protect and protect sheets with Excel you will need to use the Tools Menu, choose Protection and either Protect Sheet or Unprotect sheet options. When prompted for passwords just click OK without entering a Password. To do this with Open Office you will need to use the Tools Menu, Protect Sheet, and click on the Unprotect or Protect Sheet option.
I always invite input from other users about improvements, additions, typos, bad formulas, or anything else to make this a better tool for everyone. Please feel free to contact me using the email link on the Farm Manager page or with
Email Uncle Joe
I hope you enjoy and benefit from my efforts.
Uncle Joe
Common Questions
How do I know which Excel version I have?
In Excel click on the Help Menu and choose About Microsoft Excel, the version number should show there, if not the version of Microsoft Office may show instead. You can also locate the program on your system using My Computer or Windows Explorer. The default location will be Program Files/Microsoft Office/Office/Excel; the file extension if displayed will be exe. Right click on the file and choose Properties from the pop up menu, click on the version tab and it will be there. Then you will be able to choose the correct version to download for your use.
Why are the sheets protected?
The user sheets are protected to keep from accidentally overwriting formulas in the cells. The cells which contain formulas are locked which prevents making changes while the sheet is protected. To unlock the sheet in Excel choose Protection/ Unprotect Sheet from the Tools menu. In Open Office choose Protect Document in the Tools menu and uncheck Protect Sheet. To change it back to protected mode (recommended after making changes), use the same choices. When prompted for a password just click OK and the sheet will be protected again.
Why do I need to inventory my farm?
You really do not need to inventory your farm and input all the data on to the Inventory sheet to be able to use the Farm Manager. The inventory data does two things, firstly the data is read into the Data sheet and returned to the assets and investments tables on the Farm Info sheet, secondly it creates a record of your farm items in the event of a disaster occurring with the game and your farm(s) vanishing. You can send the information to the developers if it is needed to restore your game. Usually all that is required to restore your farm is linking your farm to the forum, posting the issue, and providing the server numbers. This is just another fail safe method I use for such an event.
Is there an easy way to inventory the farm?
It is a time consuming to do the first inventory however once done easy to maintain afterwards. The method I use is by making a list and using the old school of four lines and a slash as I count items and then total each when finished, disconnecting from the Main Frame (the plug icon top right of game) helps from receiving neighbor requests and people dropping by for a visit while counting. Freezing the animals helps when counting these if you have several of any type. I usually begin with the buildings and other decorations hiding each one as it is counted with the exception of some things like hay bales which is not worth the time to hide and unhide again. I have found animals and other forgotten items hidden by buildings. I have fencing around the perimeter of the farm so I count and hide the trees before counting them. The fields are usually easy to count and most players know how many they have. If you need to count the fields one easy way is to have all the fields harvested before counting. Make a note of your experience points before plowing then plow all your fields. Subtract the beginning points from the points after plowing and you should have an accurate count of the fields if the game is working properly at the time.
Why is my copy of Farm Manager Read Only?
The best way to avoid this is to save the file when downloading, not open from location and then save the file. If this does occur you should be able to open the file properties by right clicking on the file and uncheck the Read Only option on the display then click Apply. If this does not work then delete the file and download it again making sure there is no option to save it as Read Only.