I'm unsure if this topic has been made before, but through my search I didn't find anything like it in this particular forum, and this is a topic i'm curious about what people think. I apologize if this has already been made and i'll delete it if that's the case.
Should we have absolute power over the appearence of our villagers? The things they wear, their house's decorations.
"But Una, what do you mean?" you might be asking, and what i'm asking is; Where should the player's control over the villager end? Should villagers be allowed to pick and choose their own outfits by purchasing things that happen to be in the store, or should villagers only wear things gifted to them by the player and their default outfits? Should they be able to change their house's furniture and theme on their own, or should they stick to their default items and whatever the player gifts them?
Furthermore, should villagers be able to alter the landscape on their own? In past games, villagers would plant their own flowers, for example. I don't mean anything drastic like literal terraforming, but minor things like that. I believe that this could breathe a lot more life for them, and make them more than just decorations.
There's arguments to be made for both sides. Giving more freedom to them could end up ruining the theme or aesthetic someone is going for, like you don't want someone planting a red flower in the middle of a field of blue roses, or maybe they'd end up making it so that their house theme becomes completely different from their original theme and ruin what the player was going for.
But what does everyone else think? I think this is an interesting discussion, but please keep it civil!
My way of thinking is that the villagers are their own people, they should be able to make some decisions themselves. If not, it takes away from their personality.
No , I want complete control. I want to be able to pick out every single detail of the villager. In fact , if we could give them even less control over what they have now, it would be even better. Like choosing their house exteriors, being able to change their raincoats, Etc.
On one hand, I'd love for villagers to be more than just decorations. On the other, it could be annoying if they mess up your 'aesthetic' with their autonomy. Anyone who's played Sims and have seen ugly townies will know what I mean.
Honestly this could be implemented with ordinances we had in New Leaf. Beautiful island will allow villagers to autonomously plant flowers, trendy town could allow them to choose their own clothing and furniture, etc. etc.
i think it would be interesting to have a gradation of options to choose from irt control (god mode: you get to choose everything, demi-god, mortal lol). like a member above me mentioned, ordinances would be a great way to turn this on and off.
personally i would love if the villagers got to do more on their own and surprised me, even if it involved cleaning things up on occasion. they would feel more real and it would be another way for them to express their personalities and interests. while i know they have hobbies and like certain things, it is all kind of behind the scenes except when you're giving them gifts.
that said if they're gonna change up what they're putting in their homes, the devs have to figure out how to get villagers to do it in a way that actually makes sense. hats on the floor and 3 beds isn't gonna cut it.
i personally wouldn’t like having complete control over them - i’d much rather have them display whatever they want as it gives them more depth and allows them to make their own decisions ;u;
not total control but i wish there was an option to revert villager interiors back to their original state, that way they still have their own unique rooms. it'd be nice if we could totally change their exteriors and clothes though, for exteriors maybe have limited options for each villager so they still "fit" them so to speak.
Wish I have control over what they wear and how they put stuff in their homes.like I could have the option to change them if I see something that I don't want or entirely remove them from their homes and their invisible pocket/storage. That's probably the only time I would think about granting those item and delivery requests.
I prefer having more control. I was actually hoping that they were gonna give us the option to decorate their homes for them like in hhd. I know many people dont like having this much control so i think a perfect solution would be to make it optional like when a villager is about to move in you have the option to decorate for them and change some items later if you wanted.
even though one of my villagers is wearing the most awful cycling shirt all the time now, i dont think i could ever control what they wore. we can already make them say hi to us differently, end their sentences differently, and give us a nickname!! even tho we basically treat them like webkinz or something they're still their own being which includes individuality and i like that! tho ig it would be nice to get rid of outfits that other villagers tragically gifted them.
house decorations on the other hand.... hhd didn't come out for no reason!! i like that some villagers have a lil beach or wresting ring in their house but i want to give them another room to put their beds and kitchens in!! how do u eat? do u steal my apples and sleep on my carefully placed bench??? & some there r villagers i rly love and would want to keep on my island but their housing exterior rly just messes with my theme u know? (tho some of them have rly nice roof, door, and siding options that im majorly disappointed we dont have).
i saw this as ppl can hire interior designers for their homes to help them make it lovely, but ig ppl can also hire personal stylists to tell them what to wear. the way the villagers work now is alright but if something were to be added that gave us a lil more control on how they presented themselves, i wouldnt be opposed!
I don't need complete control, but it would be nice to have the option to remove an outfit or item from their house if you gifted it to them and it didn't look good.
I do think it adds something when the villagers make their own choices, but certain behaviors feel like RNG rather than the villager's personality. I just wish there were a little more logic to how it worked.
A few examples:
- Asking to buy a random item out of your pocket
- Asking to deliver a random gift to another villager
- They don't tend to coordinate outfits and matching hats they've been gifted, they seem to just wear them randomly at separate times
I don't want more control over them personally. I'd rather have them become more independent like planting their own flowers and decorating stuff more for themselves. I don't really care about the aesthetic of their houses or what they wear. They would just feel like dolls or extensions of my player if I controlled everything they wore and decorated with.
I think I'd enjoy having about the same amount of control we've more or less had over them in AC games in general, or less, if their coding were improved. (would've said AI but that's probably not the right term)
Like, say they bought themselves clothing, or villagers bought gifts for each other that matched their preferences. When they craft there's a chance they will use that furniture in their house if they like it or it fits their aesthetic. They don't put accessories on the dang floor. Extra clothes get hung on the wall, never on a mannequin. (Who in their RL house puts clothes on a mannequin, unless you're a clothing/jewelry designer? Hey, now that would be fun, if villagers could have a designing hobby where they make their own pro designs and maybe put them in Able Sisters every so often) Maybe villagers with like a gardening hobby would do like they did in WW and plant flowers around their house.
But ultimately I guess it comes down to whether you play AC as more of a decorating simulator (like newer games emphasize) or an everyday-life-with-animal-friends simulator (older games). Preferably AC would do the best of both worlds, but it's a delicate balance.
I think that they should focus on making the villager dialogue better and personality types more distinct. Doll-house level interactions don't do it for me.
