Toying with the idea of setting my non-TT town a few hours behind

[IndiaHawker]

If I did this, I would do it at a time that meant I won't be changing the date or the AC day (before 6am). I don't know what to do and can't remember if I've done that before on this save file (an old one that I'm getting back into). I have a separate TT town - I wouldn't be doing this for the purpose of TT-ing, but because I tend to sleep in really late on weekends, and don't get home from work till 6:30pm weekdays. So I feel like I tend to miss out on a lot gameplay-wise... plus on weekends I tend to end up staying up till gone 6am so the day changes and then doing things before bed, so when I wake up I've already done certain things that I'd've enjoyed doing later. Idk... I'm worried I'll feel like I'm cheating or TT-ing if I set the game to a different 'timezone' and I'm worried to ruin it for myself, but I feel like I could benefit a fair bit from changing the timezone of the town. (Changing the ordinance to night owl wouldn't be enough for me - plus I like having beautiful town best)

Thoughts and opinions really appreciated, please and thanks!

 

[Pansy]

You're never cheating when you TT, though that's just a subjective opinion. I would just go ahead and set it in a different time zone. The game is meant to be enjoyed, so if you find yourself not really enjoying the times you're playing then go right on ahead and change it. The only way you'd ruin it is if you happened to also change the year.

 

[stitchmaker]

For my main town I started it fours hours behind. This way I can play the events in the evening.
It's worked out well for me. I still can play late into the night without going to 6am.

 

[Infatuation]

I don't think it feels like cheating to have the time set differently, after all you're not "gaining" anything by just playing at a different time and a game should come secondary to a healthy life anyway. My town is set 12 hours off from the actual time, so I usually find time to play around 9-10PM (RL time) which is usually after I finish work and make dinner

I'm tempted to offset my date by half a year, since I'm Australian so even the seasons are opposite, but that might be too hard to track for me!

 

[stiney]

I did this a few weeks ago, largely because my work schedule left me in the same boat as you (10-7, so almost everything is closed when I'm not at work or commuting!). My town is now on Mountain time (I'm Eastern so it's 2hours back) so I can get into all the shops in the evening, still make it to events, etc. For me it made the game more enjoyable instead of really frustrating--I wish I'd done it when my mayor was getting the emotions from Shrunk, because that was the one I missed the most often because with Beautiful Town, your only able to get emotions from 12pm-8pm.

 

[mimituesday]

my game is set like... 5 hours back because i don't get to play until the evenings. i like it because i don't feel like i'm missing anything, but i'm not moving the clock around

 

[Louise_]

I have done that before but never again I like to play in real time

 

[IndiaHawker]

Thanks so much for all the feedback! Interesting to hear the different viewpoints. Can totally understand wanting to change the season if you live in Australia - don't think it'd ever crossed my mind in my years and years of gameplay, but funnily enough it was only very recently that I thought about the aussies and different seasons and how it must be strange playing in game with opposite seasons!

Still unsure of what to do... just to clarify I don't frown on TT-ers in the slightest, like I said I have a separate town for TT-ing because it can be great and totally depends on your aims in the game. I'm just scared that in changing the time from real time it'll bother me - I have OCD in real life which tends to latch onto things I'm most interested in - which right now is ACNL. Sounds stupid but OCD isn't all washing hands and checking switches, there can be some horrendous things that don't tend to manifest so much physically. Anyway - I really want to do this for many reasons, but am scared I'll ruin the game for myself as it'll bother me too much. To the people who've said they've set the timezone differently in game - do you time-travel (as in through days/weeks/months/years etc) or do you play without actually TT-ing but keeping your game in a different timezone?

Thanks again!

 

[stiney]

I generally don't time travel in my main town, if I do it's to jump backwards because I missed an event. I've only done it maybe three or four times? since April and hope not to have to do it again. Basically, Whittown is in Colorado for all intents and purposes. I've recently started a second town on another system and I have been time traveling a little bit in that one because I'm trying to get the weeding minigame to trigger. Currently that town is only two days ahead, though.

 

[LadyDestani]

I keep my game set 3 hours behind because I can't start playing on weekdays until 9 or 10pm. By then, most of the stores are closed or closing soon. That gives me time to complete my daily routine and still hit Main St without stressing.

Every once in a while, I adjust the time because I'm not staying up til 3am for New Year's, for instance. But that's very rare.

I never time travel across days and don't consider myself a time traveler at all. Nothing against those who do, it's just not my play style.

I'm OCD as well so I understand your hesitation. I put a lot of thought into it before moving the time myself. But the benefits outweighed the negative for me because I wouldn't be able to do the things I wanted in game if I played real time. It was a bit stressful for me at first, but luckily I got used to it.

I know each person and situation is different, so I can only tell you my experience. I wish you the best of luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[IndiaHawker]

I keep my game set 3 hours behind because I can't start playing on weekdays until 9 or 10pm. By then, most of the stores are closed or closing soon. That gives me time to complete my daily routine and still hit Main St without stressing.

Every once in a while, I adjust the time because I'm not staying up til 3am for New Year's, for instance. But that's very rare.

I never time travel across days and don't consider myself a time traveler at all. Nothing against those who do, it's just not my play style.

I'm OCD as well so I understand your hesitation. I put a lot of thought into it before moving the time myself. But the benefits outweighed the negative for me because I wouldn't be able to do the things I wanted in game if I played real time. It was a bit stressful for me at first, but luckily I got used to it.

I know each person and situation is different, so I can only tell you my experience. I wish you the best of luck with whatever you decide to do.

I'm doing it! I'm going to set my game three hours behind as well. I may even have done it on this world in the past, but can't remember if I did or not, which alone is really bugging me. Now I won't have that worry! Plus I think it'll allow me to enjoy the game more, and it's not TT-ing as I'm not using it to change the day and therefore possibly benefit. (I have a separate TT world so I too have nothing against TT-ing - I just don't want to in this town!) I get home at 6:30pm but sometimes takes me hours to get properly settled and into my game, plus I'm sick of trying desperately between jobs to quickly order anything I want from the catalog before I have to leave, so this'll help with that, I'll have a couple of hours after work to order stuff! Just going to think of it as a slightly different timezone - okay I know IRL a town's time can't just change, but this isn't real life, it's a lovely peaceful relaxing game - real life is stressful enough, who needs stress from animal crossing??

Thanks so much for your answer, really helped me! If you don't mind me asking (if I'm not allowed to ask, please just delete this bit mods!), what sort of OCD do you have? Mine has a few physical manifestations but mainly internalized which can be hell at times.

- - - Post Merge - - -

Done! Had to change it again slightly as was nearly a minute slow, but done and pleased I've done it, I think! Thanks again

 

[LadyDestani]

real life is stressful enough, who needs stress from animal crossing??

This is so true.

I don't mind answering and if it's not appropriate the mods can remove my response.

I have a fixation with the number 3. I have to do certain things like check/reset my alarm 3 times before I can go to bed. I also have to arrange things in sets of 3 whenever possible.

But more importantly, I have an obsessive need for order, organization, and routines. I have many of the same OCD symptoms as Sheldon from Big Bang Theory, just not as exaggerated or comical. And if you've ever seen the itchy sweater episode of that show, I use that analogy all the time now when I need to explain how I feel when something is out of place or just not right.

I hope you enjoy your town!