Time management

ChillyKio

ChillyKio

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I know this is like, the 50th post about starting a second town, but please hear me out!
So, I ordered another ACNL copy, and it's arriving at my house tomorrow. It was on sale, and I couldn't resist.
I have loads of ideas and plans for my new town (as you can see in my sig), but I'm realizing, I don't have enough time on my hands to take care of two towns!
I still play my main town at least 3 hours a day, because I'm focusing on all 4 characters and landscaping.
I'm just at a loss how to progress in both every day without abandoning one. I can try to hold off on playing the second game, but I'm super excited to use it!
For people who have a multitude of towns, or people who have good advice in general, how do you handle all of these things at once? :confused:
 
First off, I think we're all glad you bought a second copy of the game.. I mean how can you resist it's on sale haha :)
I think you would need to find a balance. Like maybe wean off your main town a bit (but keep working on it) and put some more time and effort into the new town. Like do your dailies, landscape a bit and do all the necessities to maintain your main town, but then focus more on the new town - that way you wouldn't feel like you're abandoning your main town.
Idk lol, I hope that helped yanno
 
I would try to split the time you usually spend in the one between the two, give yourself enough time to do you daily chores, talk to all your villagers etc etc. And if you have a second DS or share a house with someone who has one you can use that to split your money too, that way you wont have to do farming on both towns. It's hard for me to do two towns, unless I am just kind of leaving one alone, but to actively develop both towns is a bit much, especially like you said with doing all four characters.
 
Simple, do stuff one step at a time! I usually don't have time so what I do is I quickly talk to my villagers, landscape a bit, and make hybrids. And I try planning out how much I have time to play, and think about what I'm able to do in that amount of time :)
 
I have multiple towns, I just freeze time. When I'm ready to play a particular town I move the clock back to a time after I last played.
I change time on the 3ds, in system settings and then load the game. I don't play other games on the 3ds, (well not time related ones) and there is only one acnl game per 3ds.
The other way is to change time with Isabelle at the front screen.

You need to make a note of the last time you play/saved, so you know when to turn the clock back to.
You move slowly forward in time, game plays normally, no issues.

If you don't want to do that there are other ways (say yes/no to a moving villager), save & you are safe to leave the game and open up again at current time.
It is possible to manage more than one town. You don't need to be on the same time in both games to visit between them or to sell turnips.
 
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I usually play one and do all the basic things (checking of anyone is moving and maybe a little bit of shopping etc.) then I do it to my other town. Then I just play the copy that I want to play the most.
 
I was really worried about this so I held off on starting off on my 2nd town until I was pretty comfortable and near complete with my main town. It's nowhere near perfection and there's a lot I want to do, but the general foundations are done and I feel im at a good place where I can slowly come back to it when I have some down time from going ham on my 2nd town. Im a bit scared ill just abandon my first town but I doubt it as long as I keep my interests within animal crossing
 
Thank you, everyone!
I'm probably gonna just have to lessen how much time I spend on my alternate characters, and just do the daily chores quicker!
 
I set one town to Early Bird ordinance, since I wake up early and play on the bus. When I'm home, I play in my other town.
 
Found that it helps to set the clock at a different time and maybe a different season if you've already played a year.
My main town is 4 hours behind and one day ahead. The Guest town is in May right now and is set for 12pm when I play.

If a big event is coming up I freeze my other towns ahead of time. Mark the date down.
Always play my main town for one hour each day and than play my guest town. If I get an early mover in my guest town I do a save/quit if there is nothing going on. Than I go back to my main town and play my extra players or play an extra player in my guest town. The main/Guest town mayors have completed their badges now so I let the extra players out more.
Rotating the extra players helps so the villagers don't get upset that they haven't played.

With a new town you wouldn't have a mover for awhile so you could take your time. Play and than roll it back to the same date so a new villager can't move in.
 
I have way to much free time, so I just switch between the two randomly. I just like to enjoy the game or have fun or work on making it look pretty. I don't have a schedule :p
 
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I am so glad you started this thread, because honestly, I have this same problem and can't get around it. I bought a second cart and it just sits abandoned, growing weeds, and I never make a note of when I last played because I don't care enough / am lazy. I don't really know what to do about it or how to manage it, so this thread was really helpful! I think freexing my game, and making a note of when I last played, is probably the best way to manage the second cart. Just because I don't want to play two games every single day, I don't like when dailies feel to grindy like that.
 
I just got my 7th cartridge. I have 4 active towns and 3 closed down. I have never reset a town I just buy a new cartridge if I want a new start. It can be so very hard to manage and I really don't play all 4 really. I just maintain them by just resetting to 605 am most of the time so that I don't lose villagers, don't mess the towns, don't lose things and it takes all of 2 minutes so that when I do want to play that town there is no stress over these things. Yes I have remember to do this every day before its 6 am(in the town not in real life) the next day but I have kind of a set time that I do this by. This is really the only way I have found to time manage more then 1 town. Don't know if this helps but just a suggestion.
 
HMCaprica said:
I just maintain them by just resetting to 605 am most of the time so that I don't lose villagers, don't mess the towns, don't lose things and it takes all of 2 minutes so that when I do want to play that town there is no stress over these things.
Click to expand...

How does this work? I'm not sure I understand. Why does setting it to 6:05 mean you don't lose villagers, etc? It sounds like a technique that would work well for me, that's why I ask.

- - - Post Merge - - -

hoodathotit said:
Try juggling 8. At least I keep it somewhat fresh by having villages in all seasons. Even then....
Click to expand...

What do you do with 8 carts? Wow.
 
Amherst said:
How does this work? I'm not sure I understand. Why does setting it to 6:05 mean you don't lose villagers, etc? It sounds like a technique that would work well for me, that's why I ask.

- - - Post Merge - - -



What do you do with 8 carts? Wow.
Click to expand...

What I mean is that I stay on the same day and don't let it go to 6 am while playing by using the set time feature before Isabelle loads your town. You can pretty much have a ground hog day effect(named after the movie where the day just repeats itself). As long as you stay within the 23:59 time frame and don't let the game play through 6 am(this is when the game will look like its loading, your town hall will appear and Isabelle will say something to the effect of rise and shine, welcome to a new day) you can keep your game continuously on the same day as long as you want. I just pick 6:05 am as it's the safest. There is no chance for me to accidentally go over that 6 am mark. Even if the day has changed into the next day(goes past midnight) all you have to do is set the time to the previous day and to 6:05 am. If you actually let your game play through the 6 am mark that will set the game to a new day regardless if you go back back or fourth. This only works within the 23:59 time frame. I also do this all the time to fill orders for my store and for doing certain events like the fishing tourney. Hope this is understood better. I am sure there are YouTube videos with a video demonstration of it. You have to use the in game clock and reset the time each day. But like I said I have a set time(in real life) when I do this by. Usually before I go to bed is when I reset my town clock to 6:05 am.
 
My main town is almost finished now but I do love spending time on it still. Could you possibly finish your landscaping or nearly all your landscaping then all you have to do is maintain it? I'm working on my second town right now, breeding flowers and earning bells at the moment. I tend to check on my first town, do villager requests, shops, etc. Usually about an hour on there, then a couple of hours on my other town as it needs the most work. Maybe you could alternate the days?
 
Amherst asked "What do you do with 8 carts? Wow." They are on their own 3DSXLs that have different colors and designs so it's easy to tell at a glance which is which.( A steno pad is an invaluable device as well.) Although I have quite a few of the New 3DSXLs, I prefer the controls of the original. Different strokes.
 
I think just try n spend equal amounts of time on each game if u can. obviously ur not gonna be able to do this all the time nd thats chill- just prioritise a different game everyday + u dont have to go on the game every day so honestly once u find a routine u like n stick to it all will be good :^)
 
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