Saturday, November 29, 2008

Basic Tips and Tricks for Animal Crossing City Folk


This information is included in my Guide now, but I thought I would share it here as the latest version of the Guide may not be uploaded immediately:

A few Basic Animal Crossing Tips and Tricks:

Animal Crossing, in any version, essentially is a game wherein you collect items. Players who love to attain 100% completion in any game will be most satisfied by Animal Crossing as there are many different collections to complete and different results for each.

There are personal private collections and public collections. The Museum collections are the ‘public’ collections that can be completed by any of the four characters living in your village. Fossils, Fish, Insects and Paintings are the subject of Museum collections but the individual who actually collects each item will have the item added to his/her personal private list as well. In that sense, it is important for each character to obtain every item in the game.

Private collections are included in the Catalogue lists at Tom Nook’s shop even when they are unique items that cannot be ordered, such as the ‘Harvest’ furniture or ‘Mush’ furniture. When you access those items in your Catalogue, you will see ‘Not for Sale’ indicated. Any ordinary items of furniture can be ordered.
There are many purposes for each item in the game. As far as household decoration is concerned, furniture, carpets and wallpaper do not exist solely in order to decorate your own house and complete your Catalogue. They are useful gifts for Animal Neighbours.

Animal Requests are an important aspect of Animal Crossing. Animals can make a request for a specific item in your Pockets, an item that is part of a theme or set or a generic item with a specific purpose, such as a ‘lampy’ item.
In fact, it is a good idea to avoid Animal Neighbours when you are carrying any unique or rare item in your Pockets as Animals ALWAYS know what is concealed in your Pockets! Almost invariably, they will ask you to give them the rare items that you carry…
You therefore have three options when carrying a rare item that you do not wish to sell or give to an Animal.
1. You can avoid any conversation with an Animal on your way to your destination;
2. You can talk to the Animal and simply take your chances, refusing to give or sell the item in question if the Animal asks for it;
3. You can attach the item temporarily to a letter and stash it in your Letters Pocket instead of leaving it in your regular Pockets. Items attached to letters cannot be ‘seen’ by any one!

The Requests by Animal Neighbours actually can benefit you in more ways than one. Accepting and completing a Request will increase the Animal’s Friendship for you. Ultimately one goal is that of becoming close friends with all your Neighbours. Another result, however, can be the acquisition of another item. When you give an item carried in your Pocket to an Animal when requested, he/she usually will give you another item in return. You therefore can ‘bait’ your Pocket with items you no longer need or want, in the hope that an Animal may request it.

When an Animal offers to buy a specific item from you, such as a Fish, Insect or Fossil, the price will be absurdly low. Accept the offer in order to increase Friendship unless the item is a rare one that you need to donate to the Museum or sell to Nook for cash.

When an Animal asks for a generic item such as a ‘lampy’ item, you can give him/her any sort of lamp or light to satisfy the request. In these cases, the Animal usually will give you an item in return.

There are other Requests that may require preparation, however, unlike Requests for items that you actually have in your Pockets.

In some cases, an Animal will request an item in a specific theme or set. For example, an Animal may request ‘Retro’ items. In such a case, you need to find an item that matches the description. Sets and Themes are listed in my Comprehensive Guide for Animal Crossing Wild World. The lists apply to City Folk as well.

In other cases, the Animal may request an item of clothing. This can be generic or specific.

Animal Neighbours and their Houses:

It is a good idea to pay attention to the interior decoration of any Animal Neighbour’s house. If you see something that you like, you may be able to obtain it for yourself. There are a few little tricks that can be employed to this end, apart from the straightforward Flea Market.

Send a letter to the Animal and attach an item to it that you think the Animal will like. If the Animal likes your gift, he/she usually will place it in his/her home, and remove an item from the house in order to do so. The rejected item often will be sent to the Recycling Bin where you can retrieve it for your own use.

Whenever you send a letter with a gift to an Animal, you usually will receive a letter and gift in return. It may not be an item that was displayed in the Animal’s own home, but it could be something quite rare and fine on occasion. The type of item you obtain can be influenced by the value of the item you sent to the Animal. If you send an inexpensive shell as a gift, you may not receive a rare item in return, but this is not a fixed rule. It is true, however, that the gift of a rare item is more likely to result in a gift for you that is rare and valuable.

Pride and Dignity are not useful traits in Animal Crossing:

You need to behave entirely without dignity or pride in ANimal Crossing. Visit the Lost and Found frequently and CLAIM everything, even though you know that you are not the rightful owner.

Visit the Recycling Bin regularly and take everything that you find there, even if it is unattractive stuff. Sell it to Nook if you like, but placing any item in your Pocket will add it to your Catalogue...

Adding to your Catalogue:

As previously stated, any item that is placed in your Pocket will be added to your Catalogue. This is a method that friends use frequently in any Animal Crossing game. Throw items from your Pocket onto the ground and allow your Friend to collect all of them. Meanwhile, collect all the items he/she has thrown on the ground. You then throw everything down again to recover your own property. Meanwhile, however, your friend's items will have been added to your Catalogue, allowing you to order them from Tom Nook.

Fishing Tips:

Every fish is visible as a shadow in the water in Animal Crossing. The size and shape of the shadow will be a clue as to the identity of the fish. There is an entire section devoted to fish shadows in my Wild World Guide and it applies to City Folk as well. Usually, more than one variety of fish will ‘share’ a shadow form.
One or two of those fish will be quite common. The other will be rare. Location, time of year, time of day and weather all are factors in the appearance of any Fish. My Wild World Guides gives all details for each variety. I will transfer the information to my City Folk walkthrough in time, but for now, use the old guide.
When you decide to target a fish, pay attention to the direction in which the water is flowing and cast your line accordingly. Water in the river moves downstream, towards the south. Cast your line ABOVE a fish and it will move slowly towards the fish, encouraging it to take the bait.

Fish sometimes will be oblivious to the bait and will not bite at all, nor even move closer to it. Recast in this situation and you may have better results. When a fish does show interest in the bait, it usually will ‘nibble’ first. Do NOT respond to this! Sometimes the fish will nibble two or three times before taking a real bite. When a fish is on the hook, it will pull more strongly on the line and begin to circle the bait. THAT is the point at which you should respond to reel it in. If you respond too early, you will lose the fish.


Insect Hunting Tips

Like Fish, Insects appear at specific locations according to season, time of day and weather. Some insects are found on the ground and netting them is simply a matter of good aim. When you miss, however, those insects will tend to move towards the nearest body of water. Try to ‘herd’ the insect away from water as once it leaps into the water, it will be lost to you. You can direct an insect’s movements even when you miss it through your own character’s position.

Some insects, like butterflies and dragonflies will appear in the air; others alight on flowers. Some insects can be found on the trunks of trees. There are insects who announce their presence by making a sound that is unique to that variety. All details are included in my Wild World Guide.

Be alert at all times in order to make the most money from your hunting and fishing activities.

Another reason to be alert is in order to be aware of Special Visitors. Special Visitors with unique items to offer will visit your Village regularly. If you miss the visit, you miss the opportunity to obtain new items or in one case, new ‘emoticons’ from the psychiatrist Dr. Shrunk. Again, my Wild World guide contains details about Special Visitors, although actual interactions differ a little in City Folk in some instances.

Finally, the Calendar is vital in Animal Crossing. I published a Calendar Guide for Wild World and you will find that it is applicable for the most part to City Folk, although there are additional Festivals in City Folk and I am working on a new Calendar specifically designed for Animal Crossing City Folk.

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