Early Development Photos of New Horizons Revealed

[depressedcrossing]

Twitter thread where I found this:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1303639432327655424

Thoughts on this?

Wont lie, the grass and the dirt remind me of Wild World

and we see a white fence, that's weirdly not in the final game?

 

[saucySheep]

looks interesting! I want a white fence : C
can u post more picture of it? I don't have access to twitter (its bloked)

 

[tajikey]

I'll just come out and say it, SO GLAD the finished product went a different direction. Those first few pictures would have left MUCH to be desired, minus the white fence, of course.

 

[Feraligator]

Unpopular opinion probably here. But I prefer the grass there, as well as the dirt patches. They look more "real" even if the colour is a bit too contrasting. In fact, the dirt looks like the famous "The Path" we have now lol

The stone and water looks really plain though, those look better in the final.

I actually feel the same way about beta New Leaf. The trees looked so much better in the beta, as well as the ocean and the dock.

 

[Che5hire Cat]

Looks like as if the villager houses almost ended up being the same as in New Leaf, thank goodness they changed this. Otherwise, prototype Judy actually looks kinda cute with the only one colored fur and those heart ears.

Also, what's up with the white fence that only shows up in early promotion videos and such? Why is it not in the final game?

 

[daringred_]

definitely think the white picket fence should've made it all the way to release, as does probably everyone else. still not entirely sure why we can't customize the version we were given.

i like the more "frayed" border to the path here but idk if i'd want it to replace the sleeker version we ended up with. would've been a nice option though to add more diversity to path structure without needing custom designs.

and if judy had kept her original design, i definitely would've been more interested in her as a villager.

 

[Reven]

I kind of wish they had kept that look for the clock in the corner, I'm a bit of a sucker for wood grain stuff, and while the simple white text we got looks nice, I miss the more artistically done clocks of the past.

 

[JellyBeans]

yeah I've gotta say that first picture you posted actually looks really nice! I understand why the game was taken in the direction it is in now graphics wise, but the top one reminds me more of older games and so has that nostalgic element. am definitely a big fan of the sleek look now though! but yes... keeping my eyes peeled for a nice white fence

 

[Mick]

It's definitely interesting to see those screenshots, but I am also very glad they changed most of it. The grass/cobblestone textures look old and bad, and those buildings lack charm. The cliffs are very straight and bland, and that bike somehow scales really poorly next to that fence - though I wouldn't be surprised if most of this was never more than a collection of placeholders, considering the state of the map in your top picture.

Also I just really love this screenshot from that thread, it has such an atmosphere :')

 

[UglyMonsterFace]

I really like Judy as just that one colour! Kind of like the cub version of Rosie. I think she's a little too much for me with her multicolours and anime eyes as she is right now unfortunately.

 

[Shellzilla_515]

Very interesting! I scrolled down through the thread to see more pictures and my mind is blown how much careful thought is given to just about anything in the game. I really dig their experimentation of trying different art styles to see what worked and what didn't. The one in the middle with Tom Nook, Chief, Rosie, and Isabelle vaguely reminds me of Tom & Jerry and Looney Tunes.

There's another screenshot involving all 35 animal species in one shot plus the human player. That would've been wonderful to see a high concentration of animal villagers out and about on our island, but will sadly never come true.

 

[John Wick]

Starting to wish grass wear was back.
I want those NL beautiful natural dirt paths back instead of this glorified fake pattern laying tool.

 

[toxapex]

Very interesting! I scrolled down through the thread to see more pictures and my mind is blown how much careful thought is given to just about anything in the game. I really dig their experimentation of trying different art styles to see what worked and what didn't. The one in the middle with Tom Nook, Chief, Rosie, and Isabelle vaguely reminds me of Tom & Jerry and Looney Tunes.
View attachment 317572

There's another screenshot involving all 35 animal species in one shot plus the human player. That would've been wonderful to see a high concentration of animal villagers out and about on our island, but will sadly never come true.
View attachment 317558

For some reason that image of the cartoony tom nook and chief(?) unlocked reeeal old memories of the Spy Fox point-and-click games on the computer. I forgot that was a thing until just now

Also idk if I'd want THAT many animals on the island at once, but that does make me miss the city from the wii game... it was cool just being able to see a bunch of random villagers every day, it was like getting a sneak peek at who could move to your town someday

 

[Xara]

teasing us once again with the white fence

 

[Millysaurusrexjr]

It looks so old.. I am glad NH looks the way it does now Though would love that white picket fence, like many others

 

[meggiewes]

I really love the current sleek graphics, but the original design for the dirt and grass looks so nice! I wish they kept it. It looks a bit more natural.

 

[-Blue-]

Just going to say it. Don't care how unpopular it is. I love the grass and dirt in the protos. It looks so natural compared to the never-ending perfect grass we have in NH. There's a fine line to being so perfect that things just look unnatural. And the clock, I love that old timeless look.

 

[Starboard]

I like the look of the grass in the first picture a lot more than the second. It looks a bit like a garish shaggy rug in the second one? And something about the random completely dead spots of dirt is a bit strange to me too. Having said that, in the final build the grass does look too perfectly manicured to be a deserted island...

I do love how rugged the paths used to look though! They should have included that as an option in the final version imo.

Edit: Also for a second I thought there was a weird cat octopus villager planned for this game before realising it's just Bob

 

[Stella-Io]

Assuming the dirt patches is pathing we could have done, I like the irregular not unnaturally straight dirt path. For the dirt, dark dirt and sand paths, I wish we could make them look more 'realistic' and not straight borders. It's just weird to me. I like some weird shapes with those paths. With the other paths I can understand them being that straight and harsh border, but not really the more natrual ones.

Ofc I know we have several versions of the path to combat this, but it would be nice to not have to use designs.

The grass is, a little too much. It's too busy. And we DEF need a way to get that white fence in game. It's perfect for little neighborhoods with that 'dreamy white picket fence' look.

 

[Peach_Jam]

they had the white picket fence added during early development stages and even in the first few trailers.....so why remove it from the final game :'(