how long do you think it would take to make a game where every villager has their own personality and backstory, instead of just one of 8?

[amethyst_utau]

i've been trying to write personalities and backstories for every character, and with over 400 guys to write for, it's proving ridiculously tedious. this got me thinking: if nintendo were to do this for the next animal crossing game, how long would it take? beyond just writing the characters, they'd also have to write dialogue, interactions between villagers, letters, and just SO MUCH STUFF in general... it would definitely be the longest development for any animal crossing game yet, at least!
i think if they did anything like this, realistically, it would have to be like the shopkeepers in wild world and city folk - where you would see one of them thinking, and when you talk to them, you'd get some dialogue related to their backstories and personal lives in general. otherwise, it might just be an impossible task. but what are everyone else's thoughts?

 

[Rykertimee]

Individual histories, unique relationships, personal arcs, custom letters, special interactions, distinct emotional beats...

…that would be enormous.

Rough estimate, conservatively:

Writing Load
Let’s say per villager:

Backstory: 500 words

Dialogue sets: 2,000 words

Letters/events: 500 words

That’s ~3,000 words per character.

For 400 villagers:

3,000 × 400 = 1.2 million words

 

[amethyst_utau]

...That’s ~3,000 words per character.

For 400 villagers:

3,000 × 400 = 1.2 million words

holy ****. that's ~500,000 words longer than the bible. yeah i do NOT think this concept is happening if that's the case lmfao. it's still a fun thought though!

 

[Rykertimee]

that's ~500,000 words longer than the bible.

That's what I was thinking too.

 

[toxapex]

Oh yeah it would take ages. I would love more individual "lore" per villager, but to really go deep they would need to strictly limit the number of villagers being given the treatment.

Reminds me of an idea I had once for a comic about some AC villagers that would have built on their established lore but also been very headcanon-y. Then at one point I was just like "actually, I'm taking this" and it's now an idea for a comic Inspired By animal crossing

But getting back to the point, yeah for anything with a great level of detail, the scope/quantity has to be scaled back in order to make it feasible... We can dream tho

 

[zombehattack]

I think that's kind of the beauty of the way villagers are written already. They do all pull from the same general bank of little phrases and conversations, but depending on which ones you read day to day you're inclined to fill in the blanks. Mentions of parents or childhood memories can become something way bigger if you just give your imagination a little bit of wiggle room.

For example, when playing New Horizons with my brothers a few years ago I was talking to Elvis when he mentioned something about "relaxing with some fresh horchata" (or something to that effect, it's been a while lol). I come from a hispanic family, and we were really excited about him mentioning something culturally relevant to us. That little moment of connection was pretty special, and I've interpreted him as being latino ever since.

 

[Shawna]

I think it would be a stretch to have every single villager have their own personality and sets of dialogue. What I would love, however, is some self-awareness. What do I mean? I think villagers should not only have dialogue based on their personality, but also some based on other factors (like species). For example, in Wild World, I would get dialogue from Aurora expressing grief about not being able to fly, despite being a bird (that being a penguin). She would even walk away from the conversation sad. Sure, she had most of the same dialogue that the other normal villagers have, but expressing sadness about penguins not being able to fly--that was a piece of dialogue that was unique to her, since she is the only normal penguin in the franchise. I think each villager with the same personality should still have a lot of the same dialogue, but they should also have some dialogue that is unique to their personality + species combination. Species is only one example, I think they can build on more factors than just species, but it is a good example. I also hope we get some new personality and species in the next mainline game.

That's what made Wild World so special. The villagers had so much emotion that its successors have not done justice. You did not have to provoke them to made them sad, mad, or happy. Sometimes they would just give themselves a certain emotion. If you befriended a cranky villager enough, they would tell you they appreciate you talking to them then leave the conversation happy. God...it made befriending them feel so rewarding. :,)

This is a bit off-topic, but I also love how Wild World handles villager pictures. You actually get wholesome dialogue about being close friends with the villagers. In NL and in NH, it's just like. "Yeah, well, here's my pic." -- I also find it odd that they use third-person language when they are referring to their own picture too.

 

[Boccages]

Individual histories, unique relationships, personal arcs, custom letters, special interactions, distinct emotional beats...

…that would be enormous.

Rough estimate, conservatively:

Writing Load
Let’s say per villager:

Backstory: 500 words

Dialogue sets: 2,000 words

Letters/events: 500 words

That’s ~3,000 words per character.

For 400 villagers:

3,000 × 400 = 1.2 million words

If I am to believe Gemini, that's about 15 normal-sized novels you'd buy in any given library.

Yeah. I don't think that is happening.

 

[Seastar]

Consider the fact it would also have to be translated into multiple languages...

 

[Clock]

There is mini lore in Pocket Camp descriptions and in the e-cards. But still, it would be painful and can take weeks of drafting, writing, and localizing in different languages.

But then again, the modern Pokedex has like 1000+ entries with its own distinct descriptions and the descriptions for each would change each game I think. Its still shorter than the lore that OP is asking.

 

[BakaRina]

It certainly would be something. Maybe something smaller since there's practically like, 500 characters in the game, villager and NPC included.