Town
Thetown orvillage (island inNew Horizons) is the primary setting of all main games in theAnimal Crossing series, home tovillagers of various species, andspecial characters who manage the town's facilities. Each town is randomly generated and populated at the beginning of each game when the firstplayer moves to the town. Although the position of many structures are fixed, the town can be customized to a great degree by planting or removingflora, placingdesigns, placing furniture, (inNew Horizons) and constructingobjects andpublic works projects (inDoubutsu no Mori e+ andNew Leaf respectively). Every town is divided into multipleacres, the landscape of which must be carefully maintained in order to achieve a perfect townenvironment rating.
Prior toNew Horizons, the first player to start the game is given the task of naming the town, which cannot be changed after creation unless theyrebuild the town. Up to three additional players can move into town, with a maximum capacity of four player residents. The maximum number of villagers that can live in a single town varies between the games: 15 inAnimal Crossing, 8 inWild World, and 10 inCity Folk andNew Leaf.
InNew Horizons, the player doesn't start in a town, instead traveling to a deserted island. It fulfills many of the same roles as the town in other games, being home to the player and their neighbors. However, the game starts with only two NPC villagers, who are also new to the island. The number of player residents that can coexist in the island has increased from four to eight, each one corresponding to each Nintendo Switch user account. The maximum number of villagers that can live on the island is 10, much like inCity Folk andNew Leaf.
Common town features[edit]
- Playerhouses
- Eachplayer has their own personal house within the town, which can be furnished to their desire. Houses are regularly inspected by theHappy Home Academy, who award points based on thecontents and upkeep of the home. The player must choose where they wish to live at the beginning of the game. Houses can be expanded after paying off the loan owed toTom Nook, which will give the player more space inside to furnish their home.
- InAnimal Crossing, all four player houses are located in a single plaza in acre B-3, and any unoccupied houses remain vacant until a new player character is created.Wild World only features a single house which all players must share. Each player once again has their own house inCity Folk, all of which are positioned randomly throughout the town. InNew Leaf, the player is able to select a location for their house, but it will not be constructed until they pay their initial mortgage. In the interim, the player is provided a tent as a temporary home. As a result of this change, vacant houses do not exist in the game. InNew Horizons, the player can once again select a location for their house, but will be given a tent until the initial mortgage of 49,800 Bells (5,000Nook Miles) is paid off. The player may also relocate their house once per day for a fee of 8,000 Bells.
- Villager houses
- Every villager has a residence in the town, and can only be entered by the player when the villager is inside. InAnimal Crossing, they can also be entered when the villager is present in the same acre as their house. Each villager's house has pre-determined furnishings, but in games fromWild World onwards the player can influence and alter the contents of the villagers' homes. In most games, villagers will always build their houses on top ofsignposts, but inNew Leaf they can construct their homes almost anywhere in town, including on top of flora and ground designs, and in front of buildings and other structures. When a villager moves out of town, their house will vanish completely. InNew Horizons, villagers will always move into open plots, which the player can place where they wish. TheResident Representative can also relocate one villager house per day for a fee of 10,000 Bells.
- Facilities
- A variety of facilities can be found throughout the town, and differ between the games. Such facilities include thedock, thedump, themuseum,police station,post office ortown hall, and thewishing well orevent plaza. Shops can also be found within the town, such asTom Nook's store,The Able Sisters, andRe-Tail. The locations of facilities will appear only in certain acre rows inAnimal Crossing, but in later games, they can be situated almost anywhere in town. InCity Folk andNew Leaf, many facilities are instead located in thecity andMain Street, respectively. InNew Horizons, the museum and Nook's Cranny will first be given tents which the player can place anywhere on the island they can access, which will upgrade to buildings once certain conditions are met. The Able Sisters will be constructed once the player has spent enough Bells when Mabel visits.
- The train station is the first port of call within the town inAnimal Crossing andNew Leaf, and where the player arrives at the beginning of the game. Players can take the train to visit other towns, and receive other players who arrive on incoming trains. The station is absent inWild World andCity Folk, having been replaced with thecheckpoint which functions in much a similar manner. TheAirport fulfills these functions inNew Horizons, along with some of the functions provided by thepost office in previous games.
- In every game except forWild World, the town is divided into upper and lower levels, separated by cliffs. InAnimal Crossing, it is possible to have two rows of cliffs, creating a three-tier town. InAnimal Crossing: New Leaf, the cliffs simply divide the town from the beach. Access between the different tiers is provided byramps. Cliffs also surround the edges of every town, except for inNew Horizons, and the player cannot access the areas beyond them. InNew Horizons, cliffs can be climbed with either theladder tool or a constructed incline, one layer at a time.
- The town houses a variety of flora;trees,flowers, and inNew Leaf andNew Horizons,bushes andbamboo can be grown by the player. Flora improves theenvironment rating of the town, and can attract certainbugs.
- Water
- Every town has ariver running through it, which can only be crossed bybridges prior toNew Horizons. InNew Horizons, avaulting pole can also be used provided the river isn't too wide, and one-tile or two-tile sections can be jumped over.Waterfalls and apool can be found along the river's route, before feeding into thesea, though pools do not exist inNew Horizons. Each town also contains a small number of holdingponds. InWild World,City Folk, andNew Horizons, it's possible for the river to split into two, creating anislet. This occurrence is fairly common inNew Horizons.Fish can be found and caught in all bodies of water, but vary depending on the season.
- Beach
- Situated in the south of town, along with the eastern or western edge inNew Leaf, and both the eastern and western edges inNew Horizons, the beach separates the land from the sea.Shells,bottle notes, and evencastaways will periodically wash ashore. InAnimal Crossing: New Leaf, coconuts and bananas can be grown in the sand, butpublic works projects cannot be placed there. InNew Horizons, the beaches have rocks scattered about along them, and a very small beach will also generate on the north side of the island.
- Civic structures
- Doubutsu no Mori e+ allows players to payTom Nook to constructdecorative objects around the town. Themayor inNew Leaf can customize the town by constructingPublic Works Projects. In both games, these include a variety of buildings, benches, clocks, lamps, bridges, sculptures, among other options. InNew Leaf andNew Horizons,Lloid will appear to collect the funds required to erect a public works project or island construction project, andIsabelle assists the mayor with selecting locations for projects inNew Leaf. An optional completion ceremony can be held in both games when a project is completed.
Landscape[edit]
The landscape of each town is randomly generated, and therefore it is very unlikely that two towns will be the same.
InAnimal Crossing[edit]
The town inAnimal Crossing is 30acres in size; 5 across and 6 down. Acres are more distinct than in later games, as the camera is limited to showing only one acre at a time. The top of the town features railway tracks and thetrain station. There will also be at least one cliff running approximately horizontally through the town, which the player can climb usingramps. Sometimes, there are two cliffs, creating a three-tier town. Certain structures will always be generated in specific acres or acre rows; the train station,Tom Nook's store and thepost office will be in the A-acres. All playerhouses will always be in acre B-3. Thepolice station,museum, andwishing well will always be in the C, D or E acres, while theAble Sisters and thedock will always be along thebeach.
Tortimer will allow for a thirdbridge to be built when the town reaches the maximum population of 15 villagers, making it easier to cross the river.
InWild World[edit]
Wild World has the smallest town size, at 16 acres (4x4). Unlike other games, there are no cliffs and the entire town lies on a single plain. Grassy areas are less abundant, giving towns a more desert-like appearance.Tom Nook's store will always be next to theAble Sisters.
The river may branch off in a two-pronged fork, creating anislet in the village. An islet will always have asignpost or villager'shouse located on it.
InCity Folk[edit]
City Folk towns are similar toAnimal Crossing ones and are 25 acres (5x5) in size. Cliffs and ramps return, but three-tier towns will never be generated (despite the game having the resources for them) and the Able Sisters is separate from Tom Nook' store once again. If the player donates enough Bells to theTown Fund, additional features such as an extrabridge, a fountain, a windmill or a lighthouse can be built.
The terrain ofCity Folk towns are inverted toWild World, in that grass is the dominant terrain. However, grass willdeteriorate over time.
InNew Leaf[edit]
New Leaf towns consist of 20 acres, however, the beach runs along both the southern end of town and also the eastern or western side. Railway tracks can be found to the north, as well as a crossing that leads toMain Street. InAnimal Crossing: New Leaf - Welcome amiibo, there will be an entrance to thecampground built in to the eastern or western cliffs. The beach has adock where a boat can be taken toTortimer Island. Cliffs separate the town and beach. Grass in town will deteriorate, but not as quickly as it does inCity Folk.
One significant change from earlier installments is the lack ofsignposts. Instead, villagers will move in anywhere where there is space, sometimes destroyingtrees orflowers in the process. At the beginning of the gameRover will display four different maps, allowing the player to select the desired layout for the town.
Every town contains atrain station,Re-Tail, and thetown hall. Themayor can constructpublic works projects including clocks, benches, lamps, bridges, and facilities such asThe Roost andpolice station.
InNew Horizons[edit]
InNew Horizons, the town is initially a deserted island consisting of 42 acres (7x6), making this the largest setting yet in theAnimal Crossing series in terms of acres. It is surrounded on three sides with beaches broken up with rocks, and with very large rocks and a tiny section of beach on the north side. The island initially contains only two buildings: theResident Services tent, located in a random part of the lowest level of town, and theAirport which is always located along the southern shoreline, though its longitude varies. As there are no bridges at first, and rivers do not naturally generate at a width of any lower than three tiles, the rivers on the island cannot be crossed until the player obtains avaulting pole, which the recipe of can be obtained fromBlathers. As there are no natural inclines, cliffs cannot be ascended without aladder. At the very beginning of the game, only around 1/3 of the island is accessible to the player as they will not have access to these tools. The island is initially covered with a large amount ofweeds, though the player is encouraged to pick them to earnNook Miles and to help beautify the island. The entire island being a livable area and the lack of a designated area for shopping (such as thecity orMain Street) make it more similar toAnimal Crossing andWild World in this manner.
The island features three layers, with the lowest layer being the largest traversible section, the middle and top-most layers are typically much smaller and contain pinetrees andflowers. The river's source will always be on the top-most layer, and flow downwaterfalls to the lowest layer where it will exit in two directions. The river mouths can either both be on the southern shoreline, or one in the south and the other in the eastern or western shore of the island. Certainfish can only be found in the section of river that flows on the upper two levels of the island. One or more ponds can exist on the lowest layer and generate in a variety of shapes, such as a heart.
The first player to move to the island is the Resident Representative and can later construct additional buildings (themuseum,Nook's Cranny, andAble Sisters),bridges andinclines. With theIsland Designer Construction Permit, the player is able to modify the terrain at will, creating or destroying water and cliffs. An additional fourth layer can be added to the island, though it is not possible to climb it in any way. Most buildings can be relocated by making a request toTom Nook and paying a relocation fee, but the locations of the Resident Services and Airport are fixed and these buildings cannot be moved.
Gallery[edit]
A promotional concept image of anAnimal Crossing: New Leaf town.
See also[edit]
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