21 March, 2020
Loading Up the Game
A friend of mine and I sat together in a call as we loaded up animal crossing for the first time. The screen went black as it transitioned to the animal crossing one. The little floating island logo has us excited, as we were about to begin our own journey into the experience that is the long anticipated Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
What I was Looking For
I hadn't thought too much about what I wanted for my island. I wasn't set on a fruit, didn't have a name planned, didn't know what colour I wanted my airport, didn't know the layout I was looking for, or river outlet, etc.
The hours before we loaded it up, I started to think about it, and as I thought, I landed on the following:
- peaches
- yellow airport
- east river outlet (though west would be okay)
I hadn't set on an island name yet, but had ideas floating in the back of my mind. I landed on peaches and the island name 'Stardust' together.
Why the Name?
The mix of pink peaches and the yellow airport contributed partially to this name, along with wanting to keep the celestial theme in older games, but part from 'Orion' being the island name. I also felt 'Stardust Island' had a nice ring to it.
The Journey
The journey to finding the right island commenced (at like, 7pm). Timmy and Tommy welcoming us aboard. The first island I landed on? Pears. A third friend in the call instantly said "restart!" and so I did.
This went on for a while, and at 8pm, my friend landed on an island that had what he was looking for, and a few minutes later, after not finding one myself, I landed on one that had peaches (!!!)...., and a yellow airport! I thought "this is it! we both found our islands so close together!" but then, I became unhappy with the layout, and how things were set up, so I restarted, yet again.
As my friend was experiencing the game for the first time I was sent into quite the long restarting cycle. Restarting over and over, almost giving up and saying several times "that's it, I'll just keep this one" (but never keeping it), and at one point, close to 1:30am, someone told me to take a five minute break, so I did.
The Landing
I came back, started again, restarted once, and after that, found a cute little island with a heart pond. Selected that one for the heart pond and east outlet. It had peaches. Could this be my island? I thought to myself. It had a yellow airport, and that was it. I had landed on what would be Stardust Island. The flight (if you will) took place from 6:50pm to 1:47am. Almost seven hours.
The Details
Residents: Antonio & Reneigh
Fruit: Peaches
Airport Colour: Yellow
Island Name: Stardust
Flowers: Tulips
Gameplay
At 2am, I began to play, and my friend (who was definitely sleepy by then), stayed up and we played together, on our own. I ran around, finding places for Antonio and then Reneigh's tent, after placing mine above a second, smaller pond. I talked withe the residents, sat by the fire with everybody else, and then took my in-game nap, and was set to real time.
By then, it was close to 2:30 or 3am, I don't honestly remember. But it was the best first day. (I remember panicking and thinking I'd be a day behind, before the 5am reset) I eventually settled into bed, excited for the next day
Loading Up the Game
A friend of mine and I sat together in a call as we loaded up animal crossing for the first time. The screen went black as it transitioned to the animal crossing one. The little floating island logo has us excited, as we were about to begin our own journey into the experience that is the long anticipated Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
What I was Looking For
I hadn't thought too much about what I wanted for my island. I wasn't set on a fruit, didn't have a name planned, didn't know what colour I wanted my airport, didn't know the layout I was looking for, or river outlet, etc.
The hours before we loaded it up, I started to think about it, and as I thought, I landed on the following:
- peaches
- yellow airport
- east river outlet (though west would be okay)
I hadn't set on an island name yet, but had ideas floating in the back of my mind. I landed on peaches and the island name 'Stardust' together.
Why the Name?
The mix of pink peaches and the yellow airport contributed partially to this name, along with wanting to keep the celestial theme in older games, but part from 'Orion' being the island name. I also felt 'Stardust Island' had a nice ring to it.
The Journey
The journey to finding the right island commenced (at like, 7pm). Timmy and Tommy welcoming us aboard. The first island I landed on? Pears. A third friend in the call instantly said "restart!" and so I did.
This went on for a while, and at 8pm, my friend landed on an island that had what he was looking for, and a few minutes later, after not finding one myself, I landed on one that had peaches (!!!)...., and a yellow airport! I thought "this is it! we both found our islands so close together!" but then, I became unhappy with the layout, and how things were set up, so I restarted, yet again.
As my friend was experiencing the game for the first time I was sent into quite the long restarting cycle. Restarting over and over, almost giving up and saying several times "that's it, I'll just keep this one" (but never keeping it), and at one point, close to 1:30am, someone told me to take a five minute break, so I did.
The Landing
I came back, started again, restarted once, and after that, found a cute little island with a heart pond. Selected that one for the heart pond and east outlet. It had peaches. Could this be my island? I thought to myself. It had a yellow airport, and that was it. I had landed on what would be Stardust Island. The flight (if you will) took place from 6:50pm to 1:47am. Almost seven hours.
The Details
Residents: Antonio & Reneigh
Fruit: Peaches
Airport Colour: Yellow
Island Name: Stardust
Flowers: Tulips
Gameplay
At 2am, I began to play, and my friend (who was definitely sleepy by then), stayed up and we played together, on our own. I ran around, finding places for Antonio and then Reneigh's tent, after placing mine above a second, smaller pond. I talked withe the residents, sat by the fire with everybody else, and then took my in-game nap, and was set to real time.
By then, it was close to 2:30 or 3am, I don't honestly remember. But it was the best first day. (I remember panicking and thinking I'd be a day behind, before the 5am reset) I eventually settled into bed, excited for the next day
