This guide makes extensive use of the Nintendo 3DS’ System Settings to alter the system’s internal clock. If you’re not comfortable with time traveling then this ‘trick’ is not for you. :(
However, there is one thing I can recommend for those of you who don’t want to have to change the 3DS clock-
Before you go on hiatus, deny a villager’s request to move.
I can’t guarantee that this will work, as I don’t fully understand the workings of the game and how it moves villagers out, but in the tests I’ve done with time traveling I have been able to TT to any date in the future (even year 2050) without loosing a villager so long as I had just denied a villager’s request to leave.
It doesn’t matter which villager this is; it doesn’t have to be a villager you want to keep.
Anyways, onto the guide! :D
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BEFORE GOING ON HIATUS
You can use the tips/tricks in this guide even without prior preparation, but if you do a few things before going on hiatus you can make things a little easier for yourself later on.
Before you go…
Set the town’s ordinance to the “Beautiful Town” ordinance. This will keep hybrids from wilting and keep the weeds at bay later when we TT.
Most importantly: Take note of the date you last saved/quit your game. You will need this later! (P.S. If you don’t have paper/pen handy, go to your 3DS’ home screen and then click the pencil icon at the top to write it in the game notes.)
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COMING BACK FROM HIATUS - DO NOT LOAD YOUR GAME!
You must do the following before loading your game!
Go to the Nintendo 3DS’ System Settings menu from the home screen.
Choose “Other Things”.
Choose “Date & Time”.
Change “Today’s Date” so that it matches the last date that you played. If you cannot remember the last day you played set it back to a date that you know is BEFORE the last date you played. It is better to choose an older date than it is to choose a date that is sometime after your last time playing.
Make sure the time is set to a time that all your villagers will be awake. If not, change it.
Load your ACNL game.
If you loaded your game on the SAME DAY that you last played, you shouldn’t experience any villager loss. If you load your game anytime BEFORE that day, it is possible for a villager to move if they had already planned on moving. This sounds silly, but TT’ing backwards any length of time greater than or equal to 1 day, counts as just ‘one day’.
For example, if it is 12/5 and you TT back to 12/1, that’s 4 calendar days. However, the ACNL game counts this as just ‘1 day’ passing in terms of villager movement.
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GETTING BACK TO THE PRESENT
So hopefully, you’ve made it back to the last time you played without losing any villagers- but how do you get to the present day without having to TT day by day? Follow these steps…
Talk to each of your villagers once to make sure you are on speaking terms with them. You can tell if you’re on speaking terms with them if when you talk to them they greet you and then the game offers you the standard dialog box (which is something like “What’s new?” and “Nevermind.”)
Once you’ve done that, save and quit your game. Then, reload the game (same day, don’t change the time at all yet).
Walk in front of the villagers that are strolling outside in your town. There are usually 5 of these guys out and about. You’re looking for one of them to ‘ping’ you. That is, make a surprised emote and then run up to you.
If someone does run up to you, talk to them and see what they say. If they want to move, deny their request.
If none of the five villagers that are outside run up to you, save and quit, then reload the game to cycle the villagers that are in their homes.
If you’ve walked in front of all the villagers in your town at least once, and none of them ping you- save and quit, then TT ONE DAY FORWARD and repeat the process of walking in front of all your villagers until they ping and one of them asks to move. Once this happens, deny the request.
Once you’ve denied a request to move you’re free to TT forward as far as you want. So, after you’ve saved/quit your game, go back to system settings and correct the date/time. Then, load your ACNL game and ta-da! You’re back to the present!
DISCLAIMER: I am not responsible for anything that happens to your ACNL game as a result of following this guide. I have done my best to present this information as accurately as possible, but the game mechanics are complex and villager movement is not always so clear-cut. I have not personally lost any villagers as a result of using these methods, but this does not mean it is impossible. If you have any questions/comments/suggestions/improvements please leave them below! (?)
