How Do You Plot Reset?

[Mimi Cheems]

Hi guys, Bucky here... And I've heard a lot about plot resetting. It sounds really complicated, but my villagers are so stupid it's getting to a point where I'm gonna have to learn how to plot reset... Pippy literally moved right in front of the bridge, and all the rest of my villagers are literally cornering my house >w<

and I know you have to create a new character and stuff, but like... How do you plot reset? I've also seen people place down patterns where they want their villagers to move in-- is that how it works? >n<​

 

[optimus]

I've pulled the following from this tumblr post, and it's also the method I used for positioning Whitney's house:

• TT to the day you know the villager is moving in. If you got a villager from a friend/trade, the house plot will show up the next day. For villagers moving in from campsite, it takes 1-3 days to move in.
• Create a new character and run around town to see if there are any house plots. If no house plot, save.
• Delete character, then TT to next day and repeat. You MUST save if there is no house plot.
• If there is a house plot and you’re not happy with the placement, reset. Repeat until the house placement is satisfactory.
• If you are happy with the house placement, save. You are then free to delete this new character and enter the game with your mayor.

This link is also pretty good.

You'll not be able to shift villagers' houses once they've already moved in - if you really hate their spot, you'll have to cycle them out, do the 16 villager cycle thing, and when they move back in, then you can choose where you want them to go.

 

[Spooky.]

Once you get the hang of plot resetting it's usually not so bad. It's mostly starting a new character and running around your map a lot.

On the day I know a villager is going to move in, I set my in-game clock (not the ds clock) to 5:58am and load the game on your mayor.

Right before it hits 6am, save and then start the game, this time with a new character.

Run around and look for where the plot is. If you don't like the spot, turn off the game (do NOT save) and start again. This time you don't have to bother with your mayor, you can just keep making a new character over and over until the plot is where you want it. Only when it's in the right spot should you save.


Keep in mind that you will need a spot for the new character's tent as well. You can save until you get a tent from Tom Nook. Once you save, however, you are free to delete that character.

- - - Post Merge - - -

I may be wrong about getting on the mayor at 5:58am, but the guide I learned from suggested this, as 6am is when the town resets and the plot would appear. It may not be necessary but it's how I've always done it and it works for me.

 

[Sap88]

I just create a new character when I know someone is moving in (First time playing that day) , look for a house plot (carefully), and if I don't like where it is, reset, do it again, and if I do like where it is, I create a home, save then delete that character. Not very complicated to be honest.

 

[gem83]

Everyone else explained it pretty well, jusy make sure you don't load your mayor on the day you're expecting a villager to move in. When you load your mayor or any pre-existing character, the game saves.

Also be very careful, I've read many horror stories about people corrupting their games by plot-resetting. That's why my villager houses are in such horrid places lmao

 

[Sap88]

Everyone else explained it pretty well, jusy make sure you don't load your mayor on the day you're expecting a villager to move in. When you load your mayor or any pre-existing character, the game saves.

Also be very careful, I've read many horror stories about people corrupting their games by plot-resetting. That's why my villager houses are in such horrid places lmao

^ This about the mayor. I have never heard of corruption stories, and it has never corrrupted mine.

 

[gem83]

^ This about the mayor. I have never heard of corruption stories, and it has never corrrupted mine.

It might not be too common, but I read maybe 4? 2 on this site? I think that's probably the main underlying cause of everyone's towns corrupting on here tbh but that's just my opinion, I could be totally wrong.

 

[zoopal]

others have explained this but i will tell you specifically how i do it and have never had a problem [except the time i accidentally put the time to PM instead of AM and ended up with broccolo directly in front of my retail.....].
1. what you do first will depend on whether you know for a fact someone is moving it, have it on good suspicion, or have empty spots and are worried. if i know someone is moving in the next day and choose to do the resetting that morning [less or no TT] or i have a suspicion someone will be moving in today:
1. the first time since 6 am you have played [ie; if i go to bed at 1 am and wake up at ten, its ok that its past 6 am since i havent saved any info from the day yet and as such the layout for move ins is fluid still] load up a NEW SAVE FILE. you cannot do this with an already existing character.
2. run through the creation quickly until you are in a position that you can run around outside and look for the plot. it wont show up on your map.
3. once you find the plot, if its where you want it, go talk to isabelle and then tom nook [put your house somewhere that it wont destroy something you like, you will be able to demolition it after this though] and isabelle again until you can save and quit. then start back up as your new character and demolish their house and you are good to go.
4. if its not where you want it, hit your off switch or close the game without saving and start back over.

however, if its like 8 pm and you just adopted someone from a friends town and want to get their house in order before the morning, you need this additional step before step 1:
go into your game as your normal self and TT to 5:58 AM [!], then immediately save and quit. wait three minutes, then create a new save file. you are at step 1 now. [you dont need to re-tt anymore past this so dont]
good luck

 

[mayortash]

It's worth noting that if you have already created 4 characters then you can't plot reset as you need to be able to create a new character all the time.

Also I don't plot reset, but PWPs are great for making sure villagers don't plot in really stupid spots.

 

[Blueskyy]

You can basically do over anything by tt'ing as long as you don't save in the wrong places.

 

[Hypno KK]

The way I do it: set the 3DS clock 1-2 days later. Start as a new character, pick a random name with Rover since it doesn't matter. When I get the town map from Porter, instead of going to the town hall, I look around the town to see where the plot is. If it's in a location I dislike, I quit without saving and start over. If it's in a location I like, I go to the town hall and go through the process of saving the game. I set the clock back, load as my mayor, and it's done.

If you don't want to use the 3DS clock, what people do is set the in-game clock through Isabelle to something like 5:55 AM using an existing character. They then save and quit and wait a bit until it would be past 6 AM in the game (new days start at 6 AM). Then they start as the new character and do what I described above.

The idea behind it is that if you start as an existing character, the state of your town when you load is locked in. If you start as a new character and quit without saving, that doesn't get saved so you can keep resetting until it's in the right spot.

You can delete the new character later and if you do, make sure to place their house somewhere out of the way that you can cover with flowers. Demolishing their house will leave behind a muddy patch.

People place patterns for their own reference (to make sure it's in the spot they want) and to check that there isn't anything in the way. It's completely optional, though. I never do that.