[DS] Animal Crossing

[Dindrane]

Anyone still playing Animal Crossing?

Want to share your hatred of that slum-lord, Nook?

(I'm avoiding the <a href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=236671&page=3">Friends Code thread</a>, in order to avoid a charge of thread necromancy. :p)

[Mikko Kauppinen]

I haven't visited my town in a month or two.

I fear that the weeds have taken over and that no one will speak to me again. :(

[Moah]

I had stopped playing following a 5 hours fishing marathon that didn't yield the coelacanth i'd been hoping for, but a colleague got me back on the addiction. I'm back into playing my standard hour per day.

You guys are welcome to visit my home, but I play in French so I don't know how that would affect you. Contact me if interested.

[Vigorous Ape]

I haven't visited my town in a month or two.

I fear that the weeds have taken over and that no one will speak to me again. :(

You're town will be full up of weeds, but you might have a special visitor.

I'm playing, just planting money trees in an attempt to rustle up the cash for Nook.

[Dindrane]

Hurray, other people! Whole new towns to shop in!

(why is it that I hate shopping in real life, but I could browse the Able Sisters' shop for, if not hours, at least minutes?)

[Falke]

I've seen a used copy of this game at the video game store I frequent. I've considered picking it up for a look, but don't know enough about it. Sell me on it if you could.

[Moah]

I haven't visited my town in a month or two.

I fear that the weeds have taken over and that no one will speak to me again. :(

I hadn't visited in six weeks, and though they made a special effort to remind me for the first day or two, they were just as friendly as ever afterwards!

[Lazarus]

I've seen a used copy of this game at the video game store I frequent. I've considered picking it up for a look, but don't know enough about it. Sell me on it if you could.
Ditto. My brother has a copy, and I would like to be sold on the game ... see if I think it's worth picking up my own copy.

Laz

[Dindrane]

Oooh, sell you on it, huh. I should warn you that the game sounded impossibly lame to me when I first heard of it, but my husband was so sure I'd love it that we bought it over my objections. And now I'm seriously addicted.

The basic premise of the game is that you've just moved to the town. You get to meet all the animal residents and work for the local store-owner/contractor, Nook, in order to pay off your mortgage and pay for upgrades to your house. To make money, you do errands for him, pick and sell fruit growing in your town, fish, catch bugs, etc. You're out of hock to Nook pretty fast, and then you can have more freedom. Doing things for him is basically a glorified tutorial.

There's also a museum, and you can donate bugs, fish, paintings, and fossils to them. It's the coolest thing to me--I love seeing the fossils build into a completed dinosaur exhibit!

Bug-catching is fun--there's a huge list of bugs and fish both, so if you're a compulsive completist, you'll be fishing and walking around with a bug-net for hours. Watch out for the tarantulas, though--they're FAST. Oh, and if you drop a fish or bug inside your house, they appear in their own aquarium or bug-house. I currently have a huge aquarium in my living room holding a hammerhead shark. :D

Yes, you can decorate with lots of different themes. There are some pretty hideous things you can have, but lots of cool things too, like the space theme I love, katana sets, all sorts of beds, tables, lamps, musical instruments, and some weird, cool things, like a miniature Sphinx, a backyard barbeque theme, whatever floats your boat.

There's also the Able Sisters' shop, which is a clothing store where you can design your own images on a little grid. These pictures you make can be put on hats, shirts, flags, whatever. They also sell their own own fashions, from spiderweb umbrellas to clown noses and shirts with billiards images on them. I want the pirate hat someday. I'm currently wearing a gas mask and a mohawk wig. :D

Let's see, what else? You can plant things, like money bags to make money trees, or fruit to make fruit trees, which you can then shake and harvest and sell to Nook for a few dollars.

It's a free-form game, so you can spend all day fishing (which is a lot more fun and engrossing than I'd ever have dreamed it would be) or just walking around talking to the other residents and giving them stuff (and getting presents from them), shopping, whatever you want to do. There's no violence, unless you count ripping fish from their homes as violence, so it's a lovely respite from the war in the Middle East, rude students, mean clients, whatever the real world throws at you. It's peaceful.

Also, if you hook up via WiFi, you can visit other people's towns, if they register your friend code and you register theirs. That can be fun, as each town has a different likelihood of having various items, fruit trees, etc.

The town also has special events, like fireworks shows, fishing contests, and so forth. And there are special visitors who show up sporadically or weekly, like a fortune-teller, a black-market salesman, and others. Kinda fun to try to catch them.

And the townsfolk are all about writing letters on cool stationary to each other and attaching presents, which is a good way to "make friends," as well as get rare items.

I'm not sure what to compare it to, honestly. You can build up your house and town a bit, but it's not like Civilization or anything, and you can design clothes, but it's not "girly." You can fish, but it's so not redneck... I really don't know what else to say, but that it's just that it manages to be cute without being cutesy, and is just fun.

[Falke]

So it's a fun time-sink that while being a time-sink actually has something to "show" for the amount of time you put into it?

By show I mean the fish in your aquarium, etc.

[Doc Ezra]

So it's a fun time-sink that while being a time-sink actually has something to "show" for the amount of time you put into it?

By show I mean the fish in your aquarium, etc.

That's a pretty good two-sentence summary, yeah. It's insanely addictive if you enjoy sandbox-type games in the least. While Din does all the wandering around and talking to folks, I ignore the rest of the town and spend all my time fishing and catching bugs. :D

The museum is a nice little "progress meter," where you can go and browse all the stuff you've donated. Also, if you catch one of everything you get a "golden" version of the requisite tool, though I'm not clear on what, if any, game effect it has...may just be a status thing.

[Falke]

That's a pretty good two-sentence summary, yeah. It's insanely addictive if you enjoy sandbox-type games in the least. While Din does all the wandering around and talking to folks, I ignore the rest of the town and spend all my time fishing and catching bugs. :D

The museum is a nice little "progress meter," where you can go and browse all the stuff you've donated. Also, if you catch one of everything you get a "golden" version of the requisite tool, though I'm not clear on what, if any, game effect it has...may just be a status thing.

Hmmmm. They only want $22 for a used copy of it... I do kind of like those sorts of games.

Then I can figure out this Friend's code thing as well.

[Falke]

Picked up a copy. I still owe Nook some money though.

[Dindrane]

Picked up a copy. I still owe Nook some money though.

Every time you upgrade your house, you'll be in hock to Nook again. But once he lets you buy from him, it ceases to matter that much.

[YerMum]

Me & my gf have spent hours in our little town, we've got palm trees along the beach, a museum with loads of exhibits and all manner of random stuff in our house from a space station to a totem pole!

AC is a wonderful toy, need to have someone visit our town to upgrade Nook's shop though! Need to change the friend code in my sig now I've got a DSLite first.

[Dindrane]

Me & my gf have spent hours in our little town, we've got palm trees along the beach, a museum with loads of exhibits and all manner of random stuff in our house from a space station to a totem pole!

AC is a wonderful toy, need to have someone visit our town to upgrade Nook's shop though! Need to change the friend code in my sig now I've got a DSLite first.


As soon as you get your new friend code, let me know, as I definitely want to visit you to catalog your space station! :D I need one! I'm trying to get the whole spacey set.

I have a few palm trees, and last night I finally got to catch two of the four or five beetles that only show up on coconut palms during July-August. Hurray! Only two more to go, but only a couple weeks left!

Incidentally, everyone should hear that Vigorous Ape is a delightful guest. :) He didn't run through flowers, cut down trees, or do any of the things I've heard a few guests have done to other players. He didn't even mind that I accidentally watered him and then netted him. :eek:

[Falke]

I am also adding my Animal Crossing friend code to my sig. My town's name is Arkham and my player is Wooz. I have apples there as well.

I don't have any regular times when I'll be on, but if you want to visit, get a hold of me and hopefully we'll be able to work out a time that's good for all concerned.


:)

Before changing my sig though, here it is:

Friend Code: 5369-4753-5735



Oh yeah! I keep falling into little holes in the ground that seem to randomly open up. I've figured out what the areas I'm likely to fall in look like. What's this mean?

[Moah]

IOh yeah! I keep falling into little holes in the ground that seem to randomly open up. I've figured out what the areas I'm likely to fall in look like. What's this mean?
Someone is actually laying traps in your town! I hate those.
Those those "holes" might hold things other than traps (like fossils or musicoids). What you should do is equip a shovel and uncover what it is.

[Falke]

Someone is actually laying traps in your town! I hate those.
Those those "holes" might hold things other than traps (like fossils or musicoids). What you should do is equip a shovel and uncover what it is.



I was just able to buy a shovel this morning. I've dug up a couple of fossils and a pitfall seed. Not quite sure what the hell that was supposed to be. I've been doing a lot of fishing. Cathing a ton of jellyfish, but I managed to catch a huge Ocean Sunfish or something like that.

[Gravity's Angel]

Name: Gravitas
Town: Rainburg
Friend Code: 0387-1671-2713
Fruit: Peaches

I'm leaving my gates open all night.

[Falke]

Name: Gravitas
Town: Rainburg
Friend Code: 0387-1671-2713
Fruit: Peaches

I'm leaving my gates open all night.


I can't get out to a wireless node tonight, but if it's ok I'm adding you to my list in the hopes we can arrange to 'meet' at some point. I'm planning on trying to be at a node at some point this weekend, but no hard plans yet.

[Gravity's Angel]

I haven't visited my town in a month or two.

I fear that the weeds have taken over and that no one will speak to me again. :(

I win. It's been six months since I last visited my town. It took a full day just to clear weeds, and I only got about 90% of them.

[Michael]

I wish I had a wi-fi connection at home so I could leave leave my town open.

[SpoDaddy]

I haven't played in about 5 months but I'll start up again, anyone that wants to add me feel free, and let me know so I can add you back.

Name: SpoDaddy
Town: Grundle
Fruit: Oranges, Cherries, Coconuts, Apples, Peaches
4381-6545-1065

[Falke]

I haven't played in about 5 months but I'll start up again, anyone that wants to add me feel free, and let me know so I can add you back.

Name: SpoDaddy
Town: Grundle
Fruit: Oranges, Cherries, Coconuts, Apples, Peaches
4381-6545-1065

I'll be adding you a little later today. My info is in my .sig.

Anyone who wants to is free to add me.