Thoughts on time travelling
- Thread starter calamitybot
- Start date
Switch uses internet time?: Haven't got a Switch, so reading Garrett's post (#53) was a rather unwelcome surprise to me as well.
Sorry I may have misread Garrett's post - yes you can change time on the console, but the Switch games don't take the time from the console but from the internet. I guess that wouldn't need to be the case for all games.
I've played ac from wild world days, so don't know whether you could change time in the game cube version. But acww onwards you could - I think Nintendo realise a game playing in real time can cause problems in real life - from teachers banning Tamagotchi in schools in the 1980's to trying to play Harvest Festival on actual Thanksgiving which is traditionally a day to spend with family.
It's too much of a straight jacket for a lot of players, and I'm certain Nintendo take this into account.
How they do this in an ac Swtich game is wait & see - hopefully I hope its a better solution than how they say treated Nintendogs - you couldn't change time - dogs you could put in a hotel, but the kitten - well that was supposed to look after itself - as a cat + dog lover I found that a big game turnoff, even tho the pets were virtual.
Sorry I may have misread Garrett's post - yes you can change time on the console, but the Switch games don't take the time from the console but from the internet. I guess that wouldn't need to be the case for all games.
I've played ac from wild world days, so don't know whether you could change time in the game cube version. But acww onwards you could - I think Nintendo realise a game playing in real time can cause problems in real life - from teachers banning Tamagotchi in schools in the 1980's to trying to play Harvest Festival on actual Thanksgiving which is traditionally a day to spend with family.
It's too much of a straight jacket for a lot of players, and I'm certain Nintendo take this into account.
How they do this in an ac Swtich game is wait & see - hopefully I hope its a better solution than how they say treated Nintendogs - you couldn't change time - dogs you could put in a hotel, but the kitten - well that was supposed to look after itself - as a cat + dog lover I found that a big game turnoff, even tho the pets were virtual.
Last edited:
tiffanistarr
you’re on your own kid
WaIt A mInUteEeE
Okay, so the Switch runs off internet time? Okay... But what if you're not connected to the internet? Will the next animal crossing only be playable with internet? I mean I have wifi at home and at work so I can't say I'd be too terribly hurt by that, but a lot of people and kids play animal crossing because you can play and still have an enjoyable time without internet.
And maybe I'm just wrong in my assumption, but that's how I took it. I really hope that's not the case with the next AC game because there's some things that I just absolutely refuse to do w/out time traveling.
And as far as time traveling goes in the GameCube version I remember that definitely being a thing. I even played it again recently on Dolphin and my current save file is still back in January, so it's a thing.
I don't think people who time travel are bad, and I don't think people who don't time travel are bad. While I would feel too guilty to time travel myself and it personally feels like cheating to me, I am in no way accusing the time travelers of cheating, it is simply the way I choose to play for myself. As long as everyone is having the most fun, there is no right or wrong way to enjoy animal crossing
@tiffanistarr - I don't know whether Switch games require an internet connection to play or not - I was responding to post 53 by Garrett - who has got a Switch.
Does the PS4 and Xbox require a continual internet connection?
Pocket Camp (I haven't played) - does that need an internet connection to play - I have a feeling it does.
Its the way technology seems to be going - smart phones pick up the internet wherever they are (well in urban areas if not all rural)?
It doesn't mean that we won't be able to change time in a Switch game - but real time games are difficult to maintain without missing events/etc. One of the reasons why I like acnl so much is for a real time game I don't have to miss events or feel I have to play otherwise I'll get some sort of issue.
Yes Nintendo can minimise these issues as they did in Nintendogs - but I still find it a major put off, for me personally its probably a game breaker.
Does the PS4 and Xbox require a continual internet connection?
Pocket Camp (I haven't played) - does that need an internet connection to play - I have a feeling it does.
Its the way technology seems to be going - smart phones pick up the internet wherever they are (well in urban areas if not all rural)?
It doesn't mean that we won't be able to change time in a Switch game - but real time games are difficult to maintain without missing events/etc. One of the reasons why I like acnl so much is for a real time game I don't have to miss events or feel I have to play otherwise I'll get some sort of issue.
Yes Nintendo can minimise these issues as they did in Nintendogs - but I still find it a major put off, for me personally its probably a game breaker.
Last edited:
Nintendogs.
I had that.
I remember not being able to play it on my sons DS, because his had a different time.
It thought I'd already walked the dog(s) and kept telling me they were too tired.
I hadn't walked them in hours.
I agree, it would suck not to be able to TT so you don't miss an event, be it a birthday or a holiday.
Some people work all day, and can only play AC at night.
If they can't TT to the morning to play it, and get everything done, that really is a problem.
Some of us may have an illness that prevents us playing at the regular hours.
There's a lot to consider before limiting TT.
To clarify, the Switch does not require a constant online connection to play games.
What happens is the first time you go online, your Switch will use the internet to fix the date and time. Any changes later made in settings are purely cosmetic for display, the Switch will always *know* what the real date is. That's why amiibo can't be spammed multiple times by changing the date in your settings. The Switch *knows*.
Anyway, it's just speculation. As far as I remember, mainline games have always allowed for the date to be manipulated in-game.
What happens is the first time you go online, your Switch will use the internet to fix the date and time. Any changes later made in settings are purely cosmetic for display, the Switch will always *know* what the real date is. That's why amiibo can't be spammed multiple times by changing the date in your settings. The Switch *knows*.
Anyway, it's just speculation. As far as I remember, mainline games have always allowed for the date to be manipulated in-game.
Nintendogs.
I had that.
I remember not being able to play it on my sons DS, because his had a different time.
It thought I'd already walked the dog(s) and kept telling me they were too tired.
I hadn't walked them in hours.
I agree, it would suck not to be able to TT so you don't miss an event, be it a birthday or a holiday.
Some people work all day, and can only play AC at night.
If they can't TT to the morning to play it, and get everything done, that really is a problem.
Some of us may have an illness that prevents us playing at the regular hours.
There's a lot to consider before limiting TT.
This is why I think/hope that Nintendo will allow time to be changed in a Switch ac game - the issue then becomes what if any penalties occur if you do change time - ac games have become, in my view, more lenient with respect to changing time - so I hope that a Switch game will at least be no worse for changing time than it is in acnl.
eg acww - you had to keep the time in game the same as what showed on the DS, even a minute out and it caused in game problems. This synchronisation is not necessary in acnl, the technology, thankfully maybe, has moved on.
- - - Post Merge - - -
Many thanks for coming back and clarifying - this is the first time I've seen anyone talk about time and the Switch - although I don't look at the Switch boards! Very useful info.
As to the Switch knowing real life time - I take it as Nintendo keeping tight control - it happens in the 3ds - when we connect to the internet the 3d 'asks permission' to up load game information (I presume how long we play/what games etc).
Its how life is going - methinks of current issues with Facebook.
I'm in the UK - if you live in an urban area consider yourself to be on CCTV most of the time, and use of any sort of travel card means you leave a trail of your movements.
I used to time travel a lot and I unlocked a lot of things on my main street that way because I simply didn't have patience (oops lol) but I mainly try to go time travel free now. I like the feeling of playing more legit but I still will time travel if I want to get ordered items from Timmy and Tommy faster now (im redecorating my whole house rn) or something else. It's just more convenient.
When NL first came out, I played it blindly & without TT for the first couple months. Then I got to a point where I had most of what I wanted furniture-wise, upgraded house, stocked museum, all shop upgrades, etc and just wanted to make my town pretty, so I TT'd mostly to breed flowers and unlock QR slots on extra characters.
I haven't played in like 4 years and just came back 2 weeks ago. I'm redoing my town from scratch with a plan from the beginning. I laid out paths covering the whole town minus the spots where I want villagers to live - basically aiming to recreate the perfect town I never properly finished. It would be a nightmare without TT'ing and I honestly just wouldn't bother. Even with TT, I have like 60hrs in and am no where near completion or boredom.
I haven't played in like 4 years and just came back 2 weeks ago. I'm redoing my town from scratch with a plan from the beginning. I laid out paths covering the whole town minus the spots where I want villagers to live - basically aiming to recreate the perfect town I never properly finished. It would be a nightmare without TT'ing and I honestly just wouldn't bother. Even with TT, I have like 60hrs in and am no where near completion or boredom.
Last edited:
i dont tt a lot and when i do its..... not much, i usually go a day back or forth, or if i wanna play at night i change the in game time to midday etc....i dont think ive ever time travelled more than a few days.i dont see it as cheating but i play recreationally and i dont have a lot of time, so i like to just open the game and do my usual chores without stressing about getting certain items or taking part in contests etc. i might do that in the future though, if i ever decide to run my town properly lol
When the game was first released I was incredibly anti time travelling just because I wanted to experience everything for the first time in real time, so I do understand why people really dislike time travelling. But almost 5 years down the line and having already experienced pretty much everything in the game many times before, when I restarted my town when the update got released I did time travel just to speed things along.
I still time travel for hybrids, but I always generally only time travel near the actual date. When I'm on a holiday break I do mostly play it in real time other than the occasional hops for hybrids, but when I am not on any holiday breaks I do tend to travel a lot more just because I can't play it in real time otherwise nothing would be open.
I don't condemn anyone for time travelling just because I understand why it's necessary to do that sometimes, and that even if you're constantly time travelling there's still a myriad of things to do in the game.
I still time travel for hybrids, but I always generally only time travel near the actual date. When I'm on a holiday break I do mostly play it in real time other than the occasional hops for hybrids, but when I am not on any holiday breaks I do tend to travel a lot more just because I can't play it in real time otherwise nothing would be open.
I don't condemn anyone for time travelling just because I understand why it's necessary to do that sometimes, and that even if you're constantly time travelling there's still a myriad of things to do in the game.
Last edited:
I have no opinion on anyone time traveling or not time traveling. I time travel every single day. What I dislike is when people call time travelers 'cheaters.' I think that is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. I don't tell anyone or judge anyone on how they play their game and hope that however they play, they have the best time possible. But judging how others play their games seems like the biggest waste of time or energy. It's not your game. Why does anyone care how anyone else plays it?
This might sound crazy but I like time travelling so my villagers will spread rumours that I'm a time traveller... It makes me feel like a less well travelled Dr Who. Plus its a more flattering title than bell pincher in my opinion.
The only title I like more is pro-listener because it makes me feel appreciated... Dorky, huh?
The only title I like more is pro-listener because it makes me feel appreciated... Dorky, huh?
Last edited:
The 'cheating' thing kind of irks me too. It shouldn't but it does. Everyone plays their own way and I respect that.
I had a migraine yesterday and it put me out of commission for hours, so I did time travel today to give my villagers a proper 'day' with me. Sometimes real-life things are out of your control and having a bit of it with TT gives me some comfort.
I used to TT all the time in ACGC. I don't do that anymore, because I realize it took all the true fun out of the game. I only TT a few hours if I have to because of my childhood of rampant travelling for new items/code inputs.
I had a migraine yesterday and it put me out of commission for hours, so I did time travel today to give my villagers a proper 'day' with me. Sometimes real-life things are out of your control and having a bit of it with TT gives me some comfort.
I used to TT all the time in ACGC. I don't do that anymore, because I realize it took all the true fun out of the game. I only TT a few hours if I have to because of my childhood of rampant travelling for new items/code inputs.
Whatever, let people do it since they actually allow you to change time and date in game... If they didn't want us to do that they wouldn't include it other than setting it when you start a new town. I don't get why some people think that's cheating; I mean you will get stuff eventually and considering the incredible slow pace of the game I couldn't live without that if I wanted a good experience. As I mentioned they allow you to do TT pretty much whenever you want. Yes you might lose a villager or some flowers but to be honest just be careful or make sure to talk to villagers. Guess they gotta add some "consequences" but honestly they are small, especially with amiibo cards and stuff.
Pretty Dead Boy
Noot Noot
I have a neutral stance on it. I've TT many times to cycle villagers, achieve certain badges, etc. I can see how it spoils or ruins the experience of the game for some people because it's intended to play at the player's time whether they're present or not. It ultimately depends on how the player wants to play the game and I think it's fine whatever play-style they choose
Similar threads
