Struggling with the dark

[GnarlyGarden]

I think it’s cool that this game operates in real time. The trouble is that the time I have for decorating is usually in the evening, but when it’s dark on my island, I have trouble designing because I can’t see the colors as well. Makes me want to change time zones for a while.

Has anyone else struggled with decorating after dark?

 

[Mr.Fox]

I wouldn't say I've struggled...but yeah, I try and get my item placement all done before the sun goes down.

 

[GnarlyGarden]

I want to arrange flowers which is really hard in the evening.

 

[xlisapisa]

I can’t see at night either lol, I stick to decorating before it gets dark unless it’s something I need to see what it looks like in the dark. but you could always just switch your clock back a few hours so it’s bright enough for you to decorate and then switch the time back to normal once you’re done.

 

[GnarlyGarden]

I am very tempted to change time zones for an interval to somewhere that the sun hasn’t set.

 

[Uffe]

I've never experienced that except when I was making a custom design outside and seeing how it looked on my villager. If you're working and get home late, then all you can do is change the time like you mentioned.

 

[GnarlyGarden]

I haven’t time travelled, so sort of trying to avoid that.

 

[Variety.Gamer 4438]

Is no one going to mention that having to deal with either a scorpion or tarantula EVERY SINGLE NIGHT can really hamper a player's ability to decorate in the evening as well? I realize these creatures are rare, but imo it's still very annoying to go about one's business only for one or the other to jump out at the player and screw it up a little, making him/her have to respawn elsewhere. I honestly don't know what Nintendo was thinking when the company decided to not give characters a month or two long break away from these creepy crawlies in this game.

I haven't actually tried decorating at night I admit, but I'd imagine that what I am saying is at least a little factual for one reason or another and I just wanted to put it out there because no one else had so far.

 

[Sheep Villager]

Maybe putting some lamp items around would help?
I don't know how much they brighten the area but no harm in trying.​

 

[Fye]

this was a real pain for me too before I gave up and started time traveling. I mostly play in the evenings and between not being able to see my flowers well (the blue and purple windflowers look similar enough in the day, so at night its pretty hard to tell them apart from afar), all the shops being closed, and those pesky tarantulas making my character pass out, I just changed my clock to around 6 hours earlier and it was a lot better for me. I'd just suggest you don't change the time while you have turnips on your island since time traveling backwards (or past a Sunday) will cause them to spoil. And then you can decide if you want to switch back to the normal time when you're done playing every day, or just leave the clock a few hours behind and pretend you're in a different timezone (I went with the latter).

 

[Mairmalade]

Is no one going to mention that having to deal with either a scorpion or tarantula EVERY SINGLE NIGHT can really hamper a player's ability to decorate in the evening as well? I realize these creatures are rare, but imo it's still very annoying to go about one's business only for one or the other to jump out at the player and screw it up a little, making him/her have to respawn elsewhere. I honestly don't know what Nintendo was thinking when the company decided to not give characters a month or two long break away from these creepy crawlies in this game.

I haven't actually tried decorating at night I admit, but I'd imagine that what I am saying is at least a little factual for one reason or another and I just wanted to put it out there because no one else had so far.

This was my main design struggle in the evening actually. As I did find it difficult to decorate at night, I stuck to terraforming and had boxed myself in with a tarantula on many occasions. They were always where I wanted to work!

OP - I hear you on time. I sometimes get to play in the morning, but it’s typically 6 p.m. at the earliest when I’m able. Even the evening light can make choosing pieces or flowers difficult.

I agree that turning your clock back a couple hours to experiment with item placement would be beneficial. That or using reference photos of items/dream addresses.

 

[cats_toy]

I have the opposite effect, I think it’s to bright.

 

[Corrie]

Amen to that! I always turn the time back to day to be able to see when decorating/terraforming.

 

[Pintuition]

I can't see at night either lol! I usually end up TTing backwards to noon when I sit down to play after work to leave myself ample time to get whatever construction I'm doing done. It kind of ends up being an issue if you don't want to TT. I only time travel on one of my islands and the other one I rarely play at night- it's too hard! Forget about it if it's night AND raining, haha!

 

[Livia]

If you don’t want to time travel, you could try turning the screen brightness up on your switch. Maybe that would help you see better.

 

[maria110]

I time travel to be able to see. I also sometimes time travel if the weather is bad when I have time to do a more major project, like laying paths.

 

[Monokuma73]

I think it’s cool that this game operates in real time. The trouble is that the time I have for decorating is usually in the evening, but when it’s dark on my island, I have trouble designing because I can’t see the colors as well. Makes me want to change time zones for a while.

Has anyone else struggled with decorating after dark?

Maybe this will be not good solution for you... however I noticed, playing in "handheld mode" - it's too dark for me during the night. I know, it's more realistic, but when I'm playing in "console mode" on TV, it's much brighter and everything is really visible for me, during the nights too.

 

[visibleghost]

i do some decorating at night but prefer to do it during the day. i don't mind time traveling to be in the game at a better time for me, i personally also mostly play when it's dark in real time in the game.

 

[Che5hire Cat]

The only thing that works also for me at night is terraforming, in particular working on creating/removing cliffs. When it comes to the decoration however, I also prefer to do this at daytime, simply because I can judge said decoration much better then.

I guess the only option here is to change the time. You can stay on the current date and just jump a few hours back to morning/noon to avoid said struggle with the night. And once you're done, you can always go back to the current time.

 

[jenikinz]

The night is hard for me when deep sea diving. Some creatures come out later and I couldn't see the shadow, so for the fast moving ones it was hard to catch them.
It is dark walking around the island, but I don't do any design work when it is dark so it doesn't bother me.