Bone Village (field)

Bone Village is a field map in Final Fantasy VII. Located in the Icicle Area, the area is a small town where the player can dig up a number of rare items. It is accessible as soon as the player obtains the Tiny Bronco, but the digging minigame will not be available until after completing "Within the Temple of the Ancients". The Bone Village is a useful place to visit for the double growth armor they sell and for the few unique items that can be dug up during the minigame.
The area is necessary to access the Sleeping Forest and then the Forgotten Capital, and during "Parting with Aeris", the party must dig up the Lunar Harp from the village to proceed onto the Forgotten City.
== Layout ==
The Bone Village is located to the south on the northern continent of the world map.
The village comprises only a single screen, but with two layers. All interaction occurs with non-player characters around this screen.
== Quests ==
=== Main scenario ===
* Parting with Aeris
Bone Village is visited very briefly to obtain the Lunar Harp and proceed with the chapter. This is the only time the excavation quest is mandatory.
=== Excavation ===
Talking to the person sitting at the doorway will allow the player to excavate items hidden throughout the village. For 100 gil a head, one can hire up to five people to help pinpoint a spot containing an item. The player can excavate many items, like the key item Lunar Harp required to continue with the game. One can also get such things as Vincent's weapon, the Buntline, a Megalixir, and a Mop, a weapon for Cid. After "Searching for the You of That Day" (when the player has the Highwind and Cloud returns to the party), one can also find the Key to Sector 5 to access Midgar.
The W-Item, Phoenix and Bahamut ZERO Materia can all be dug up in Bone Village if the player has missed them earlier, but only after "Mako Cannon Rampage".
Due to a glitch, the ladder in Bone Village can only be climbed using while the player is excavating, even if customized controls are being used (the player does not need to switch back to normal controls for this to work). During normal gameplay, however, the currently set [OK] button will work for this ladder.
There are eight predetermined spots around the village that hold treasures. If the player fails to search on one of the designated spots, they will either get a Potion or nothing (50% chance).
The list of items that can be found are as follows:
;Location 1
*Lunar Harp (Only once)
;Location 2
*Key to Sector 5 (Only once)
*Ether
;Location 3
*Key to Sector 5 (Only once)
*Turbo Ether
*Ether
;Location 4
*Buntline (Only once)
*Phoenix (Only once, and only if not picked up at Fort Condor)
;Location 5
*Mop (Only once)
*W-Item (Only once, and only if missed during Raid on Midgar)
;Location 6
*Megalixir (Only once)
*Bahamut ZERO (Only once, and only if the player failed to save any Huge Materia)
;Location 7
*Potion
;Location 8
*Key to Sector 5 (Only once)
*Elixir
Text for obtaining Steal Materia and Catastrophe (Barret's ultimate Limit Break) exist in the game data, but these treasures are never placed on the map, meaning they cannot be dug. This may be because neither can be be missed.
The excavation works by placing searchers on the site and detonating a bomb, at which point all the units will face toward the treasure. The player then places a digger on the spot of their choosing. There is no need to place the search units if the player already knows where the treasure is; they can go straight to placing the digging unit. The placement of the treasures on the map does not change, so the player can easily dig without hiring searchers, meaning the player can obtain items such as Ethers and Elixirs for free.
When wanting to dig, the man asks the player to choose between a Good and Normal treasure. This does not affect the treasures that are buried, but it affects which dig spot the searchers will face. Thus, if the player places no searchers, choosing Good or Normal makes no difference. Before the Lunar Harp has been dug, the searchers always point toward it. Choosing "Good" treasure has the searchers pointing toward the Buntline/Phoenix Materia, Megalixir/Bahamut ZERO and Mop/W-Item. Choosing "Normal" treasure has the searchers pointing toward the Elixir, Ether, Turbo Ether, or Potion. The "Normal" treasures, apart from the Potion treasure, also include the Key to Sector 5 when it is available.
After asking the Bone Village staff to search for the treasure overnight, it counts as staying at the inn, and the party will be healed by the morning.
The dig spots are marked by very small polygons, a fraction of a pixel in size. When the game is rendered at 3840x2160 or 4k it is possible to better make out the small teal polygons for exact treasure locations.
Bone_Village_Treasure_Map_2.png
Bone_Village_Treasure_Map_1.png
==Shops==
The man who offers to dig also sells items:
Name 	Cost
Diamond Bangle	3,200 gil
Rune Armlet 	3,700 gil
Potion 	50 gil
Hi-Potion 	300 gil
Ether 	1,500 gil
Hyper 	100 gil
Tranquilizer 	100 gil
Tent 	500 gil
==Musical themes==
The theme that plays in Bone Village is called "Provincial Town".
==Behind the scenes==
Dummied dialogue suggests a person in Bone Village gives details on the puzzles in Ancient Forest. The dialogue would allow the player to find information about Pitcher Plants (which carry insects and launch the character), "Big Eaters" (not translated in the English version, shut and damage the player when ran over), and Inchworms (the pink bouncy rope-like things that can be jumped onto). A dialogue-option for Scent Balls (which neutralize Big Eaters) exists, but no dialogue for its explanation exists in the data. The reason for the Ancient Forest tutorial being planned for the Bone Village, far away both in time and place from the actual forest, may be because at one point in development the Ancient Forest may have been just beyond the Sleeping Forest. In the game code the fields are ordered in a way that (mostly) matches with the order the game introduces areas, and the Ancient Forest is placed right after the Sleeping Forest immediately before Corel Valley.
The person on the ladder excavating the wall can never be talked to in a normal playthrough, but if the flag that allows the player to talk to her is activated in the game data, she will say: "The memory of this planet is buried layer by layer in this geological stratum. Kind of romantic, don't you think?" The ability to talk to the NPC may have been removed because talking to her while climbing the ladder messes Cloud's climbing animation up.
The entrance to the Sleeping Forest may have been planned to be closed at one point, as dummied dialogue suggests the way in would have opened for Aeris with "a loud noise".
==Gallery==
Bone Village Monster Fossil FFVII Sketch.jpg|Concept art of a fossil.
Bone Village FFVII Concept Art.jpg|Artwork of excavation site.
== Citations ==
Category:Field gameplay in Final Fantasy VII
Category:Minigames in Final Fantasy VII