Starting AC:NL for the first time, anything specific I should know?

[silly_celeste]

I was really curious about Animal Crossing: New Leaf, so I decided to buy a used copy on eBay, and it's coming in about 3-4 days. I've played NH, but I know NL is different, is there anything specific that would be useful for me to know?

 

[cherrytheone]

Just a disclaimer I have Welcome Amiibo so if you're getting the original version it may be slightly different.

Trees and saplings don't die in ACNH but they do in all older games as far as I know. If you're planting a tree you will need to make sure it's on grass/snow (not dirt/animal tracks I believe), got a bit of space and there's not a building casting a shadow on it.

If you are the kind of person who doesn't get the opportunity to play every day, the game progression feels quite slow (without TT), but I believe it's worth it to wait. I got NL for Christmas this year and I just got Kicks and Harriet, haven't paid off my debt for the 5th out of 19 expansions (at least there are 19
for the WA update and 18 in original), and I'm still paying for my first PWP. That might be because I've been pretty busy lately irl though. Just a heads up that it might take time to get where you wanna be.

Idk if you feel like it's worth waiting for or not, but feel free to TT if need be

Other than that it's a pretty straightforward game, some other tips:
1. The pocket space is painfully small compared to NH, but you can stack fruit up to 9 manually by dragging them together, I think that's the only thing you can stack
2. The questions rover asks you at the beginning determine what your face looks like. Looking at face guides online is really helpful so that you know what you're making yourself look like
3. Tortimers island is very OP for getting bugs/fish to sell and the tours are a blast, but don't leave without putting stuff you want to take home in the take-home basket. Also on some tours if you see fruit you don't have yet and if it doesn't affect your gameplay it's a good idea to bring some home to grow
4. upgrade the nooklings shop as much as you can (by buying stuff) to get slingshot in early game and balloon furniture

Good luck and happy gaming :3

 

[silly_celeste]

post-rover, you can still change your face through mirrors, right?

 

[Mr_Keroppi]

Snip

Welcome Amiibo and New Leaf are exactly the same! If you have connected to the internet ever New Leaf becomes Welcome Amiibo but pops up on the screen as play old ACNL. The only difference is that one has the update data on the cartridge vs being on the sd card!

post-rover, you can still change your face through mirrors, right?

In New Leaf your FACE is decided by Rover, you can never change it in game other than face mask accessories! You can change your hairstyle, color, and eye color but your eye shape cant be changed! Your skin tone can only be adjusted through Tortimer Island tanning or in the Summer sadly If you have any questions just send me a message!

 

[cherrytheone]

Welcome Amiibo and New Leaf are exactly the same! If you have connected to the internet ever New Leaf becomes Welcome Amiibo but pops up on the screen as play old ACNL. The only difference is that one has the update data on the cartridge vs being on the sd card!

Cool, I didn't know that! I also didn't know about the appearance staying the same thing so thx lol

 

[LadyDestani]

In addition to what the others have said, it's important to note that in ACNL you cannot terraform or move houses/buildings. So when you're choosing a map, make sure you like the layout of the river and placement of the Town Plaza, Town Hall, and Re-Tail. All other buildings will be unlocked on Main Street in their designated spot.

There are 4 different Train Station colors and 4 different colors for Town Hall, which makes for quite a few potential combinations. If you hate the colors, you can quit without saving and try again. But you can also unlock the ability to remodel both of those buildings. It won't let you change the colors and the interiors will stay the same, but you can upgrade to a Fairy Tale, Zen, or Modern style for the exteriors.

Bridges can be built and demolished, but rocks are locked into place. The only one you can destroy is the single breakable rock that respawns in a random location each day. Houses, bridges, and PWPs cannot be placed right next to rocks. Everything has a required perimeter around it where you cannot place anything solid, including trees. Bushes can be planted directly next to each other and next to trees or bamboo, but only within a limit of 12. Flowers and patterns can be used to fill in awkward spaces.

Since you cannot move houses, be absolutely sure that you like the location of your own house before you confirm the placement. There will be a few villager houses already on the map when you move in and they can move out once you reach 9-10 villagers. New villagers will move in every day or two until you reach the max amount and they can place their houses anywhere that isn't blocked by an existing building, bridge, river, or cliff. They can and will move in on top of trees and flowers. They can and will move into the worst possible spots, like 3 steps in front of your door (happened to me). If you have the Welcome Amiibo copy or have updated to Welcome Amiibo by connecting online, they they will not move on top of patterns as long as they have another open spot to place their house. People use that to protect areas by placing patterns where they don't want to find a random house one day. You can also use patterns to force a villager house into an exact location by leaving only a 3x3 plot open when you suspect a villager might be moving in soon, but it is a painstaking and tedious process.

Also, villagers can move out without your permission. There is a 10 day window where they will be thinking about moving out and during that period, they may ping you and mention it. If they do, you have the opportunity to ask them to stay and they will. If you tell them to leave, they may leave or they may change their mind and stay. But if you don't catch the villager during that 10 day window, they will just pack up and leave on their own.

In New Leaf, you'll be losing a lot of the control you have in New Horizons, but that's part of its charm. I hope you enjoy the game!

 

[Belle T]

You might also find this thread to be worth your time before you start your game.

 

[Olimar]

Bridges can be built and demolished, but rocks are locked into place. The only one you can destroy is the single breakable rock that respawns in a random location each day. Houses, bridges, and PWPs cannot be placed right next to rocks. Everything has a required perimeter around it where you cannot place anything solid, including trees. Bushes can be planted directly next to each other and next to trees or bamboo, but only within a limit of 12. Flowers and patterns can be used to fill in awkward spaces.

To expand on the perimeter thing- I've found it best to imagine an invisible perimeter around rocks, houses, buildings, and public works projects and to always remember that one invisible border cannot overlap with another. So the closest any two things can be is two spaces from each other.

The amount of of times I've gone to build a PWP near a Villager house only to realize I am 1 space off... too many that I want to admit hahaha

If you have the Welcome Amiibo copy or have updated to Welcome Amiibo by connecting online, they they will not move on top of patterns as long as they have another open spot to place their house.

I also want to expand slightly on this- a Villager home is 3x3 spaces large, however there is an extra space in front of their door where a custom design cannot be placed. So there will be a "break" in the custom path if their house is right up against the path (I hope that makes sense, lol). All that to also say that while Villagers won't move in on top of a path, the space in front of their door will delete a custom design on the ground once the house is out of the roped-off plot stage.

 

[silly_celeste]

my cartridge came!

 

[ShinyDungeoneer]

Make sure to not do ANYTHING if a Villager pings you, ESPECIALLY go bug-hunting. if you walk into a building, ignore said villager, or hit them with a toy hammer or net, you lose the ping, which is bad because you have no control over move-outs. Also, make sure to visit sick villagers and give them medicine ASAP. Sick villagers can't ping you in pre-WA ACNL. (all villagers can ping now because sickness was removed in WA.)

 

[Mayor Jack]

my cartridge came!

What do you think of it so far? I'd also recommend Chuggaaconroy's ACNL let's play - it is very helpful and informative but also entertaining.

 

[silly_celeste]

I like it so far! but I haven't had it for long enough to create a fair opinion on it.

 

[Olimar]

Very fair! The beginning can feel a little slow but with that game's music it's so peaceful to wander around and explore/talk to villagers/fish & catch bugs. Also to scope out the town and get some rough ideas of where you want to place things

 

[silly_celeste]

Very fair! The beginning can feel a little slow but with that game's music it's so peaceful to wander around and explore/talk to villagers/fish & catch bugs. Also to scope out the town and get some rough ideas of where you want to place things

After playing it for a few days, I really do like it! I got a Wii U from Timmy and Tommy a few days ago, and only last night I realized that you could actually play it. Also, new leaf gives a feeling of something new to do everyday, which is something new horizons hasn't given me in a long time. Unfortunately, because of broken parental controls, I can't visit other towns/ open my gates for other towns using online multiplayer.

 

[Olimar]

DESERT ISLAND ESCAPE IS SO MUCH FUN!!!

It can definitely get annoying at higher levels (idk how many times I was sooooo close to beating the target score or whatever they call it). But now I have all of the amiibo cards so I should look into building some more strategized teams of villagers. But that's a great little minigame to dump a ton of hours into. The 3DS one is cool too if you manage to get that, but some of those levels really feel like they are dragging on and on.

 

[Reginald Fairfield]

Save your first perfect fruit. or plant it where a villager house wont remove it.

 

[silly_celeste]

Save your first perfect fruit. or plant it where a villager house wont remove it.

Already sold it unfortunately