It's been a really long time since the last time I played with my file...

[Chibi-hikaru]

AC:NL is definitely one of my favourite games and I really enjoy playing with it, but It's been a really long time since the last time I played with my file. =(
I think last time I played with it was near October 10th 2014. At that time, I just stopped because I was extremely busy with my life, but once I stopped being busy, I just felt so guilty of not playing with it for so long that I lost hope of ever returning to the game.

But recently I really miss playing with it. I miss my town, my villagers and all the fun of animal crossing and I really want to go back to it. But now I am scared of going back and probably discovering that my favourite villagers moved out or that new ones came and moved in in the worst place ever.

So I was wondering if there is a way to prevent the consequences of being absent for so long.

Like for example, if I change the clock on my 3DS for October 10th before playing with my file and continue to play from that date, will the game think I never stopped playing or will there still be consequences of my absence?

(English is not my first language, so I hope that my explications are understandable x,D)

 

[Lualdara]

Yes, if you change the date back to the day you last played nothing new will have happened in your town! If youre unsure of the exact date just make it some date you know that happened before you quit, the game interprets tting backwards as only one day forward.

 

[shannenenen]

That's exactly right, and if you're not sure if October 10th was the exact day, I would start on October 1st just to be safe.

 

[Mayorofarcadia]

Heya there I recently had a hiatus from acnl - I checked my records and saw which date I played last, moved the DS clock back to that date then loaded up a new character - going through rover again. Have a bit of a run around and check no ones in boxes, check your map for missing villagers. If there's nothing odd, just turn your ds off (without saving) and load your mayor!
If something isn't right, someone's missing, in boxes etc then go back on the DS clock and repeat with rover until everything is fine

 

[Hypno KK]

I wrote a guide on how to avoid losing villagers if you've been away, here you go: http://www.belltreeforums.com/showthread.php?209379-How-To-Not-Lose-Villagers-When-You-re-Away

Basically, yes, if you set the clock back it will be as though you're still on that day. From there, you can keep a villager from moving and time travel back to the present if you want to do that. You can also use a new character to check on your town on the present date and if anyone's missing, start as your mayor on your last played date to stop them, and if nobody is you can just safely load your game. (You'll still get bed hair and some weeds, but it's not so bad if you have Beautiful Town.)

 

[kendallrosee]

If you change the clock back to when you last played you should be fine ^_^

 

[Chibi-hikaru]

Thank everyone for all the useful information!! ^-^

I am really happy and relieved to know that I can go back and enjoy the game again 0u0

 

[Stevey Queen]

Follow up question because this may be me one day. How do you TT safely back to the present day from a long hiatus without going day by day?

 

[Vizionari]

Follow up question because this may be me one day. How do you TT safely back to the present day from a long hiatus without going day by day?

Stop someone from moving, then you can TT as far as you want.