Animal Crossing Wii ideas, part 1

Thursday, December 21, 2006 » gaming thought

As promised, here are some things I'd like to see when Animal Crossing comes to the Wii. Some of these are meant to address shortcomings in Wild World. Others are things I think would help a sequel better capture my interest, since I've effectively seen and done everything on the DS. This is the first of two parts, and focuses on ways you'll interact with the town and everything within it.

The first and potentially most major addition is bigger towns, and by that I actually mean the entire game world would be bigger. There'd be a central village area, about the size of the one in Wild World, that would hold all the important buildings and houses. Then, on the outskirts, there could be more forest, rivers, mountains, etc. This is inspired from what I know of the Harvest Moon series; nothing too expansive, but enough to provide some variety and contrast with the town environment. Some bugs and fish will only live in certain regions, and you might have to venture to a mountain spring or forest clearing in order to find some uncommon plant. There may even be a few villagers who live on the outskirts instead of in the central village. What's more, the map will be too large to completely explore during a smaller, casual session (provided you're stopping for interactions and not just running around madly). This will add to the sense that you're living in a vast landscape, opposed to the confined feeling created by ACWW's walled-off villages.

"But wait," you say. "Won't all my flowers die? And that neighbor who lives all the way off in the corner will move away because I couldn't make it over there to talk to them today." Don't worry. Flowers, and other types of foliage, will have intermediate stages of health, between "healthy" and "withered." The decline will be gradual yet still noticeable so you'll know which need attention, but (if you're a gardening freak like me) you won't have to panic about tending to each one every single day. And you can relax about villagers skipping town, too. You'll be able to create a special gift item to designate several animals as favorites to prevent them from ever moving.

Wait, create an item? That's right, you'll be able to collect materials to use in item creation. What's better at churning out endless gameplay hours than the ability to make your own stuff? Balance will be important; I'm thinking there will be a relatively small amount of ingredients in order to keep things simple, especially compared to those of MMORPGs. But, you'll have to wander all around to find some of these, and of course (in most cases) it'll take time for the supply of each to regenerate. Some won't be available in your town at all, although you might be able to change this by visiting elsewhere and bringing back seeds to plant.

With the right components, you'll be able to make tools, clothes, furniture and more, instead of having to buy it from the shop. (Some items will remain shop exclusives.) The pattern design system will be taken a step further, allowing you to design custom furniture, which can be shared online. And, finally, you'll be able to place furniture outside. (That always bothered me about some of the ACWW items. Who has a tiki torch or inflatable pool in their house?)

What good is a backyard full of furniture if you can't landscape it, though? A popular ACWW activity for anyone with their hands on an Action Replay was tearing up the grounds of their randomly-generated town and laying out rivers, trees and buildings exactly the way they wanted. With the help of item creation and a new landscaping section of Tom Nook's store, you'll be able to do some terrain editing of your own. However, these items will be fairly expensive. Don't expect to be able to relocate entire mountains and beaches, either. (Though, bridges and buildings may not be out of the question.)

That's it for part one. In part two, I'll discuss the new ways in which you (and Nintendo) will interact with other players over wi-fi, as well as with the game itself via an improved Wii interface.