{ answered! thank you so much! } Time-Traveling ⋆ Two Games, One 3DS

[Miu]

Hello! I'm so sorry if a question like this has been asked before, but I've searched using both this site and Google, and cannot seem to find an answer to my specific question. I might be using the wrong search terms, but... ;;

After some deliberation, I finally bought a second copy of Animal Crossing: New Leaf today with the intention of making a cycling town. However, I'm absolutely terrified of Time-Traveling, and never want to do it in my regular town/game.

So, my question is: If I use the same 3DS to play both games, can I time-travel without affecting my regular town?

For example, if I time-travel by changing the 3DS time while my cycling game is in, then change the date back to normal before popping my regular game ( or other games, such as Pok?mon ) in, will everything proceed as normal / as though I never TT'ed?

Or, if I time-travel by changing the in-game time through Isabelle, will my regular ACNL game and other games be completely unaffected?

I'd prefer concrete answers / answers backed with previous experience to conjecture, but would be grateful for any help / thoughts! I'm sorry for the trouble. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and for any insight you might be able to offer!

 

[emeraldfox]

It won't effect the separate game :] I am doing the same thing. I have a physical copy which is my main town, and a digital that is my Cycling town. The TTing only affects the copy you are TTing on! ONLY CHANGE IN GAME TIME. If you change 3DS time it will affect all games :c

 

[Pequepanda]

As long as you return to the current date before initiating the game with your mayor or other previously created residents, everything will be exactly as you left it ^-^ But it's even safer to change the date in-game talking to Isabelle, that way there's no way you'll accidentally enter your main town with the date changed

 

[caterpie]

to break down your post, i guess my first question is why are you time traveling by changing the 3DS clock?

adjusting the animal crossing clock does not affect the clock on your 3DS. so as long as you change the time settings only for your cycling town, and don't change the time settings for your regular town, it's totally possible to have two different towns on two different dates/times. i think this is how most people operate their cycle towns.

if you adjust the time on your 3DS back before you put back in your second animal crossing, it will not detect a time change (i have done this before) but i don't know why you would do that every time you wanted to cycle as it would be a big hassle and it will also affect the data for your other games (your 3DS will give you a more specific warning about this when you attempt to change the date, i can't remember the exact phrasing). you'd be better off just cycling by changing the date over and over in your cycle town through isabelle, then it will 100% not affect your 3DS or other town.

because (and i think this is what you're asking) it will affect your other games or apps that use the date when you change the actual date on your system, whether you reverse it or not.

 

[Miu]

Uaa, thank you all so much for your answers!

@ emeraldfox; Oh, I'm so glad. Thank you so, so much for that reassurance! ( ; v ; ) I was hoping that just changing the in-game time would prevent any issues with my other games. Thank you so much once again for taking the time to respond!

@ Pequepanda; Thank you so much for answering both my questions, and for telling me which one was a safer bet! I'll likely only be changing in-game time, but knowing that it'll be okay either way as long as I set everything back to normal on my 3DS before playing any other games is a relief. Thank you so much for taking the time to help!

@ caterpie; Thank you so much for your detailed response! I'm sorry if my phrasing in the original post was confusing. ;; To answer your first question, my intent was to try TT'ing using in-game time, but I wanted to know about both methods just in case. There are also those who say it's better to change your 3DS time when TT'ing
( though I'm not entirely sure why ), so I wanted to cover all bases.

Thank you for addressing both topics, and for also sharing your knowledge based on past experience!
I'm so relieved to know that only TT'ing by changing the in-time game can keep everything else safe. C: