Saturday, January 2, 2021: Building Sets

I've been plugging my new cover on my YouTube channel (check it out here, it's finally done!), but today's play session was solely focused on working on it in the game! Watch the video first if you don't want a few behind-the-scenes spoilers.

But first, here are a couple pictures from last night - the gorgeous sun I mentioned fully setting with a gorgeous orange sky on the winter snow (reminding me of doing the New Years Day event in 2016 in both Wild World and New Leaf at this time!); and I got my 2021 balloon arch to temporarily put down at the entrance of the island!

Mom sent me a letter as well today, talking about wanting to start new hobbies. And Sherb... well, I doubt he'll change! He even wanted to lay in the grass to chat to his bug friends - uh, good luck with that, buddy. There's snow everywhere!

(Warning: A bit of a ramble that has nothing to do with the blog. Feel free to skip this text box!)

Alright, assuming you've seen the video - so, 2021 marks the 20th anniversary of the original Dōbutsu no Mori game on the Nintendo 64, thus the creation of the series by Katsuya Eguchi and Hisashi Nogami! (The latter was one of the producers on this game and showed it off at E3 2019.) And with this Christmas cover that I had been planning (technically since 2015, when I wrote it - still thinking about this series even when I wasn't actively blogging or playing it!), I thought it would be fun to focus my CityFolk66 channel to celebrating it, seeing as Zelda's 35th Anniversary (and even the tail end of Mario's, with the re-release of Super Mario 3D World on Switch) might overshadow it. So I made two sets (and used my concert hall for the video's opening!): one for the credits (where I included the New Year's fireworks for the festive music!), and one as an outro to all videos on my channel related to Animal Crossing's 20th Anniversary.

So! I headed over to Harv's Island, and it's been a long while since I went there. I never really got into the whole idea of it, even though the wedding stuff was kind of fun in June. (I was trying to remember when Harvey got introduced in the series - I think it was the New Leaf: Welcome amiibo 2016 update...)

My initial goal was to re-create a classic Animal Crossing look using the items I had, and I wanted to put in some classic characters from the series. I had found my Resetti amiibo, but unfortunately, it didn't let me use him! I couldn't find my Rover amiibo either, so I just stuck in all my villagers and called it a day. It's fun to give them all different reactions and change their clothes (I gave Clay an A shirt since that's definitely a classic item!).

I'll show the pictures at the end, but when I headed back home, Harvey called, telling me about the villagers' posters I now have, including Resetti's! (So they could plaster him on a picture, but not give him a HD character model?) I was always wondering about how to get these, and now I know! They're different from the photos, as those you have to get from your villagers. I'm not actively going after them or anything, although I do know the strategies to get them if that's a goal I want to try this year.

Here's a look at the two sets I created today. I learned even if you quit the game, the sets on Harv's island actually save! It's a tiny bit like the island bungalow from the GameCube game on the island you would temporarily visit there, or even in a way, like the shared house all the players would have in the DS version, assuming it saves across days (I'll check again next time I play!). You're also in "Creative Mode" (like Minecraft) when you're setting up his studio, since you have unlimited items and everything in your catalog to use. It's pretty neat, and I may start using it a bit more. It was really fun to be like a movie director controlling the camera and my actors inside Animal Crossing, like Minecraft shorts I've seen!

The end credits set (although I overlay the New Year's fireworks show).

My 20th Anniversary set (without villagers).

Seeing as it's show and tell, here's a larger version of the little picture I put in my end card, sharing my collection of Animal Crossing items and consoles. I don't have my copies of the GameCube game or City Folk at home, as I'd lent them to a friend; that's why they aren't there. But I do have physical copies of all five mainline Animal Crossing games! I'm not really a big collector, but they will definitely be favorite items for me!

And last but not least, I've finally reached 200 hours in New Horizons, according to my Switch! I know people have played for much longer, but I really don't play games that often, so it's exciting for me. :P

Anyways - bit of a weird entry today, so hopefully we'll be back on track with the typical goings-on in town in my next post (probably tomorrow). If you'd like, check out the video above - or check out my new playlist celebrating 20 Years of Animal Crossing! Never stop Crossing!