If there’s one thing that always seemed disconcerting about Animal Crossing, it’s how empty the lives of the villagers seemed to be. We’d see some characters with jobs, like Isabelle, Blathers, and Tom Nook, but they always seemed chained to their positions with no free-time. On the flipside, our neighbors wandered around aimlessly, gossiping and hoping for festivals. It’s reassuring that Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer gives a town that provides a sense of purpose for these folks.
A few days after getting established in Nook’s Homes, Isabelle comes to visit and ask for a school. Successful completion of the project results in Nook foisting a new position off on the player, that of Project Leader of Town Development. This means whenever a new facility needs to be built or old facility is in need of freshening up, Nook’s newest hire has to talk to Isabelle or Digby to get it done.
It’s interesting, as visiting facilities in town allows a player to exert further control over the animals’ lives. When entering a building, the roles of each character can be adjusted. For example, immediately after the school is built, a player can assign one character within the building as a “teacher” and the others as students. Dialogue changes accordingly. It gives the creatures a sense of purpose.
But talking about it is all well and good. Today, I’m going to take you through the actual creation of a facility. Isabelle says my town needs an office building, and even people with hearts of stone can’t resist an Isabelle request. The first step is choosing a facade for the building.
There were three options available, and I went with the friendliest and homiest of them. You know, try to keep a consistent, low-key theme going in town. Then, I was able to pick a layout for the building, which would need one office space and one meeting room.
Since this was the first time a building with a possible second floor presented itself, I leapt at that chance. I mean, it looks like a two story building from the outside. Might as well capitalize on that!
Isabelle had me starting in the meeting room, where the requirements involved tables and chairs. Clicking on the label “table” or “chair” in the clipboard offers an assortment of furnishings that will fulfill that requirement. I wanted a larger table, since this is a boardroom, but none really seemed to fit. That is, until I decided the meeting room was really the second floor headquarters for a global domination operation.
The goal here was to create a room with a science-fiction bent, indicated by the futuristic panels on the wall, spaceship wallpaper, and cold, black furniture. If you need something to take over the world via corporate policies, it’d probably be found in a room like this.
The first floor proved a challenge. Because a company with the goal of world domination would want to seem rather pedestrian from the outside. So, I went with the most average office layout one could imagine. There are four cubicles with desks. Some people even have plants or a picture of a loved one. There’s a coffee machine in the back, next to the water cooler, a waiting area for visitors, a desk for the receptionist, and even a vending machine if people need a snack.
Funny thing, though. In my quest for mediocrity, I actually hit the item limit. Unless I’m counting wrong, which is possible since I shoved a lot of stuff in this room and might be missing a smaller object, this 8 x 12 room was only able to have 65 objects in it. Even though there was still space – I had been hoping to give the receptionist a computer as well – it was impossible to place more furniture.
So what did Isabelle and the Nook’s Home crew think of the office space? Well, it certainly seems they approve!
What kind of company could move in here? Well, maybe Nintendo needs some virtual office space?
If you’d like to visit this office, it’s possible via the Happy Home Network. The network ID for the building is 0507-7739-899. Or, if you’d prefer, you can scan the QR code below with your Nintendo 3DS with in Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer.
