Animal Crossing Wild World Tips

How to wave to another character

2009-03-05T06:43:00.000-08:00

I was playing Animal Crossing for weeks before realizing I could wave to other characters! Actually my daughter showed me how to do this ;)

To wave to another character, simply tap them when they are a distance away from you. Both your character and the animal you are waving to will turn to face each other; you will wave while the animal character may wave or bow (depending on their personality). There will also be the sound of happiness from your animal friend.

Waving to other characters appears to increase the level of friendship between you (along with talking to them regularly, sending letters and running errands), so it's worth doing, especially if you want to acquire the character's picture.

Here is a video by ACWW Tutorials from YouTube which explains how to wave and talk to other characters on Animal Crossing: Wild World:

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2009-03-04T05:58:00.001-08:00

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Finding Spiders on Animal Crossing

2009-03-03T03:39:00.000-08:00

I actually discovered how to catch a spider in ACWW by playing on City Folk on my Wii! The principle is essentially the same and has helped me add a spider to my museum collection on Wild World.

Spiders live in trees; not on the trunk as cockroaches do but actually in the branches.

To male a spider appear, you will need to shake a tree which is home to a spider. It will then drop down on a spidery thread enabling you to catch it with your net.

Spiders will only be present in your town during the spring and summer months, so be sure there is no snow on the ground before you try. Also they are resident in any type of tree, even those which bear fruit.

Rather than shake down all of the trees in your town (in which case you are likely to get stung by bees several times!), it may be easier for you to have lots of patience and try this tactic instead: watch out for another of your animal residents staring up at a tree. It's virtually guaranteed that this tree will be home to a spider! Shake down the tree and quickly whip out your net to catch the spider :)

Image credit: Spider by Opo Terser via Flickr Creative Commons

How to catch an Ant

2009-03-03T03:32:00.000-08:00

Ants are tricky little insects to catch. After reading several ACWW guides online, I had thought they were found on the ground during the spring and summer months though after months of playing I'd never found one!

Anyway, the trick to catching ants is actually rather simple :)

On Sunday, buy a small number of white turnips from Joan. Leave these on the floor in your house for a week until they become spoiled (this is why we buy a small amount, otherwise they are worthless to us!).

Pick up your spoiled turnips and place them on an area of brown ground outside. Then pop into a building momentarily. When you come back to your spoiled turnips, it will be covered in ants which you can quickly swipe up with your net! If at first the ants don't appear, just go into another building and return again; they will eventually appear.

Then you can add an ant to your museum collection. I will say that it isn't worth doing this for bells though as Tom Nook only pays 300 bells for an ant which is usually more than you would pay for your turnips from Joan!

Image Credit: Ant by ARTchemist* via Flickr Creative Commons

Wishy the star (and how to make a wish)

2009-02-28T10:50:00.000-08:00

During the night-time hours on Animal Crossing Wild World, you may be lucky enough to see a shooting star above your town.

This is, in fact, Wishy the star: a magical star who will grant you wishes if you can make your wish at just the right time.

To make a wish upon a star, you need to be outside at night with no equipment in your hands. When you hear the tinkling sound that means a shooting star is traveling across the sky, quickly press the A button. Your character will turn to face you and hold his/her hands together as though they are whispering a prayer.

Then the next day you will receive a letter from Wishy the star, who writes that he has heard your wish. Attached will be a nice item of furniture for your home. This is usually something a little more valuable or rare than that which you'd receive from your neighbours during day to day activities (though as far as I am aware, Wishy does not send out exclusive items).

Image credit: Shooting stars by GanMed64 via Flickr Creative Commons

Get a balloon present every ten minutes!

2009-02-28T04:34:00.000-08:00

While playing Animal Crossing for hours on end, I noticed a pattern in the way balloon presents appear over your town.

The first time you see a balloon present, make a note of the time. In particular, you need to pay attention to the final figure of the minute: ie: 09:57; 12:24.

Of course you should try to shoot your balloon down if you can (especially if you are trying to catch a Golden Slingshot!). Once your balloon has been shot down or disappeared from view, you should enter a house. This seems to reset the balloon script. After this, another balloon will appear above your town exactly ten minutes after it first appeared. So if your first balloon arrived at 12:44, go near the top of your town at 12:54 to see a new balloon arrive.

In my town, the balloons always seem to arrive at xx:x4 so I'm always near the town gates a minute or so before this to see if a balloon will arrive ;) I'm not entirely sure if this same time applies to all games or just to my own though!

The most times I have had a balloon consecutively is 8. I did miss one instance and thought the script had somehow stopped (so no more balloons would arrive) but sure enough one arrived at the next xx:x4 slot for me to shoot down.

One final thing I've noticed in my own ACWW town is that balloons don't start appearing until I've been playing for a while (at least ten minutes or so). I have never had a balloon within the first 10 minutes of playing, though I cannot confirm this for certain in comparison to ACWW towns in general.

Anyway, I hope this will help you get more balloons for your town! Let us know about your own observations of balloon patterns by leaving your comments below.

Image credit: Balloon by Piston9 via Flickr Creative Commons

The Complete "Lovely" Furniture Set

2009-02-26T10:04:00.000-08:00

Being a girl, I think the "Lovely" furniture set is particularly cute! It took me ages to acquire the complete Lovely furniture set (as I was determined not to cheat!) though I've now managed to find my final item and complete my set.

Here are all the items you can find for the Lovely furniture set with details of their cost and where you can expect to find them:

Item Name	Cost in Bells	Where to find it
Lovely Lamp	1600	Nook’s
Lovely Vanity	2200	Nook’s
Lovely Kitchen	2280	Nook’s (Spotlight Item)
Lovely Vanity	2200	Nook’s
Lovely Chair	1600	Nook’s
Lovely End Table	1800	Nook’s or Redd’s Tent
Lovely Loveseat	2000	Nook’s
Lovely Bed	2000	Nook’s
Lovely Dresser	2160	Nook’s
Lovely Phone	N/A	Lost Kitten (Katie)

The Lovely Phone can only be acquired through reuniting Katie the lost kitten with her mother, Katrina. The “lost kitten” event seems to happen randomly after connecting with another DS to visit someone else’s town (or vice-versa), and the Lovely Phone is one of several items you could be rewarded when reuniting the two cats together.

Image credit: Lovely Furniture Set by Falleri via Flickr Creative Commons

Make friends with Blathers in the Museum Cafe

2009-02-26T09:22:00.000-08:00

Brewster is the bird serving coffee in the Museum Cafe. You can buy coffee from him everyday though at first you will notice he barely speaks to you.

In order to make friends with Brewster, you must buy coffee from him every day for well over a week. Eventually you will find he becomes more friendly towards you and offers you different ingredients in your coffee (such as pigeon milk). He may also thank you for stopping by.

It took me far longer to befriend Brewster than it did to become friends with Sable, but it does give you a warm feeling to know your efforts result in another friendship in the game!

How to become friends with Sable (from the Able Sisters Shop)

2009-02-26T06:59:00.000-08:00

Sable and Mable are the porcupine sisters who run the "Able Sisters" tailors in Animal Crossing. While Mable (the younger sister) will always be willing to talk to you, Sable is usually quite as she sits behind her sewing machine working dilligently.

If you talk to Sable each day for over a week, she will eventually begin to warm towards you and become your friend. At first, you will see dialogue between Sable and her sister (as Mable is surprised to see Sable talking to the customers). You'll learn a little about how Sable cared for her younger sister after their parents died and why they have set up their shop.

Eventually, Sable will begin to have the same dialogue for the different days of the week. On Thursdays for example, she will tell you about her favorite television program, while on Saturdays she will explain that this is the busiest day for their business.

On certain days of the year, Sable will also tell you a little about her childhood friendship with Tom Nook and how they had drifted apart as they got older.

Tom Nook Store Upgrades

2009-02-26T04:09:00.000-08:00

When you first start out in Animal Crossing, you will discover that Tom Nook owns a small shop called "Nook's Cranny". Here you can buy furniture, flower seeds, trees and tools for your day-to-day activities.

As you continue to make purchases from the shop, the "profits" will be used to upgrade to bigger and better premises. Tom Nook will announce that his shop will be closed for a day, and after this the upgrade will be complete.

Here is a quick guide to the shop upgrades and what you need to do to achieve them:

Nook and Go: spend 25000 bells at Nook's Cranny, and ensure your town has been active for at least 8 days.
Nookway: Spend 90000 bells with Nook. This shop features sliding doors and a much greater range of items for sale, including 5 furniture items and 4 tools.
Nookingtons: Spend 240,000 bells and have a friend connect to your town who should purchase at least one item from your store. This is the Animal Crossing version of a department store, which includes two floors and a hair salon! Nook will also hire Timmy and Tommy to help serve customers on the second floor (where furniture is sold)

You will need to connect with a friend for Nookingtons (the final store upgrade) either using the DS to DS connection or over WiFi. It is a little awkward of you are the only person you know who plays Animal Crossing Wild World, so it may be worthwhile considering signing up to the Animal Crossing Community to find someone willing to connect over wi-fi if you are otherwise unable to do so.

Image credit: Tom Nook by Hampus Andersson via Flickr Creative Commons

How to get the Golden Shovel

2009-02-25T13:54:00.000-08:00

The golden shovel is an upgrade to the regular shovel. Unlike the shovels which you can buy from Tom Nook's shop, the golden shovel will not ever breat.

To get a golden shovel is simple: you need two shovels, one shovel to bury the other one. Wait for one day and go where the shovel was buried. Dig it up and your shovel has turned into a gold shovel!

Here is a video by luckybren3 from YouTube to explain this more for you:

The First Day of Spring!

2009-02-24T15:33:00.000-08:00

Today is the first day of Spring on Animal Crossing: Wild World. From today onwards (until November) the snow will be gone from the ground and your town will appear green again. Also you will begin to see new bugs/butterflies and fish appearing.

The only bad side to this is that fossils/gyroids are more difficult to see on the soil and in the grass than when snow was covering the ground!

Complete Snowman Furniture Set

2009-02-24T13:52:00.000-08:00

After much effort, I managed to build enough perfect snowmen to complete the snowman furniture set!

Here is the full list of Snowman items to complete the set:

Snowman Bed
Snowman Sofa
Snowman Fridge
Snowman TV
Snowman Lamp
Snowman Tab;e
Snowman Clock
Snowman Chair
Snowman Dresser
Snowman Wardrobe
Snowman

I had no duplicates until I had collected the whole set.

If you do decide to sell any of the Snowman items to Tom Nook, you will receive 8888 bells for each item (with the exception of the actual snowman which sells for only 3000 bells). However, you will not be able to purchase any of the Snowman series items back from the shop, so be sure only to sell once you have completed the collection!

I accidentally sold my first Snowman TV to Tom Nook and it took ages for this item to appear again in the duplicates from the Snowman's letters!

Having the complete Snowman series of furniture, wallpaper and flooring in your house (all in one room) helps you get a bonus from the HRA when your home is inspected.

How to build a Perfect Snowman

2009-02-24T13:22:00.000-08:00

During the winter months in Animal Crossing (when snow is on the ground) you will find two snowballs in your world each day.

You can roll these snowballs around to make them bigger, then push these together to build a snowman who will then talk to you and comment on your snowman building skills.

If you manage to get the dimensions just right, you will build a "perfect" snowman. These snowmen let you know how pleased they are with their appearance and will send you a letter the next day containing a rare snowman item.

It took me a lot of practise to learn how to build a perfect snowman, but the rewards are well worth the effort. If you can acquire all items in the "Snowman set" and display in your house, you will receive a large bonus of points from the HRA. Furthermore, each snowman item can be sold at Tom Nook's for 8888 bells each (so there is profit to be made from this venture!).

Here is the method I use to build a perfect snowman:

Find your first snowball and start rolling it around. There are two stages for your snowball: at first, the snowball wil seem really light and the movement unpredictable so just nudge it around gently until it begins to get slightly bigger.
The second stage is when the snowball is just large enough for you to have some control over it's movement. You will notice your character uses their hands on the top to roll the snowball around. Don't roll this snowball too much once it's reached the second stage: instead, just roll this to a place with few trees nearby and remember where you left it. We want to keep this first snowball relatively small for now.
Now, go and find the other snowball. When you find it, roll it around gently until you reach the stage two snowball with more control over it's movement.
Carefully roll your second snowball back to where your first snowball is waiting. Don't let them get too close together, but try to get them fairly close so you can compare the sizes.
To create your "perfect" snowman, you need to make sure the head is around 75% of the body size. If your second snowball is significantly bigger, roll the first snowball around in the snow until it grows to around this size. Here is a quick picture of the relative sizes you are aiming for:
Now, roll the smaller snowball on top of the larger one. I find it easier to roll from directly beneath or from the side wherever possible as this balances the head squarely on the body.
If you have managed to build a perfect snowman, your snowman will say something like "By Jack Frost's Beard" or "Look at me! LOOK AT ME! I'm perfect" and explain how good looking he is :)

Note: you can only create one snowman per world, per day. Different characters cannot make a snowman each.

Snow falls from November until the last week in February, so once you've managed to perfect your technique there is plenty of time to collect all items from the snowman collection to display in your house!

Here also is a video explaining how to build a perfect snowman. This is from an Animal Crossing: City Folk game, but the dimensions and principles are the same:

Perfect Snowman image by Falleri via Flickr Creative Commons

How to get 8500 bells from rocks in your town

2009-02-23T06:19:00.000-08:00

Here's a great trick to help you make 8500 bells each day from the rocks in your town!

Each town usually has 6 rocks scattered around the map. Every day, one of these rocks (at random) will give out up to 8500 bells when you hit it with a shovel or an axe.

The first time you hit it, a bag containing 100 bells will pop out. On the second this is 200, then 400, 800, 1000, 2000 and 4000.

I've never been able to hit the rock more than 7 times, though I suppose it could be possible to hit it 8 times and raise 16500 in total...

To make sure you don't get pushed too far away from the rock, try digging a hole directly behind you, then another to the left or right before you hit the rock for the first time. Be sure to hit is as fast as you can each time: even the smallest pause can stop you receiving any more bells from the rock.

Here is a video from TheOutsanityDotCom (via YouTube) to give you some idea of what I'm trying to explain here:

Let us know in the comments section if you have been able to get the fabled 16500 bells from a rock (and if you have a video of this, we'd love to display it here!)

How to achieve a Perfect Town Rating on Animal Crossing Wild World

2009-02-22T03:45:00.000-08:00

When you visit Pelly or Phillis at the Civic Service Center in the Town Hall, you can ask about the "environment" to learn about the status of your town.

Pelly (or Phillis) will read a comment made by a town member and offer their own perspective of how the town could be improved.

If you have a perfect town, Pelly will say:

"[Your town] is a great place to be! It’s really come a long way!" Sounds like this resident is very happy. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could keep [your town] this livable forever?!

There are several advantages to maintaining a perfect town, the main one being that you will receive the Golden Watering Can once you have kept your town perfect for at least 15 consecutive days. You will also notice Jacob's Ladder flowers growing and may see that hybrid flowers are more likely to grow. This is advantageous because it encourages some of the rarer bugs to live in your town so you can complete your collection at the Museum.

If your town is not perfect, Pelly or Phillis will offer some hints about how to improve your town when you speak to them. Here are some of the comments and hints you will receive, and what to do about it:

This one is from someone who'd rather remain nameless ...
"Ugh! This place is the worst! Seriously, what's up with this town?!
Here, there, everywhere! Everything I see looks terrible!"
You know, I think if we added some green, it would really help ..

This is probably the worst answer you could receive! It means your town is seriously out of order!

To fix this, pick up all litter lying around on the floor, pull up all weeds and start planting more trees and flowers before going back to check on your status again. You may also have a Rafflesia flower growing in your town: these stinky plants only grow when your town is in such a bad state, and should die once you have made some improvements.

"It feels odd to write this but…can’t you take better care of our town?” That’s what the message says. He was holding back, but his sadness is clear. You know, I think if we added some green, it would really help.

This message would be spoken if one (or more) areas of your town has no trees or plants growing in it (usually because you have personally removed these plants).

To fix this, walk around your town and plant lots of trees in the area where there seem to be none, and add some flowers if you can for good measure!

"Hmm… Well, it’s not passing, but it’s not failing either. Like more than milk, but not quite a milk shake, know what I mean?!" Hmm… Sounds like there’s nothing this resident likes or dislikes in particular. You know, I think if we added some green, it would really help…

This is probably the most frustrating message you will receive! I personally had this message for weeks before I managed to fix the problem!

If you visit Phillis in the evening, her answer will be more specific: you need to plant more trees! The easiest solution is to absolutely fill your pockets with fruit and plant trees in every area where there are few trees. Make sure you can walk between them though or you will have too many trees and receive the message below.

You should also plant flowers every day by purchasing as many as you can from Tom Nook's shop, and water every dying flower so that it comes back to full bloom the next day.

Eventually the message from Pelly/Phillis will change and you will either have your perfect town or be almost there...

"Hmm… Well, it’s not passing, but it’s not failing either. Like more than milk, but not quite a milk shake, know what I mean?!" Hmm… Sounds like there’s nothing this resident likes or dislikes in particular. Hm, I’ll bet the problem is that there are too many trees…

This message will be spoken when there are too many trees in a particular area. Unfortunately it's more complicated to fix than the "too few trees" message.

My best advice would be to walk around your town until you find an area (or areas) where you can barely see the ground because of the trees and chop down only one or two at a time. Then go back to the Town Hall and ask about the environment. Do this several times if necessary until the "too many trees" message is replaced with something else. It's better to do this steadily rather than chop loads of trees down and end up with the "too few trees" message again!

"[Your town] is a clean and decent place. But it feels like something’s missing." Well, at least this person sounds content. You can’t be ecstatic all the time. Everyone needs to work together if [your town] is to be the best town around!

This is a great message to receive: it means you've almost achieved perfection. By adding just a few more trees in open spaces or lots of flowers, you should be able to achieve perfect status easily enough.

"[Your town] is a great place to be! It’s really come a long way!" Sounds like this resident is very happy. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could keep [your town] this livable forever?!

This message means you have achieved perfect status for your town! Congratulations!

Now all you need to do is maintain this for at least 15 days to receive your reward for services to your town: the Golden Watering Can.

Maintaining a perfect town is much easier than building up to this status. Here are some tips to maintain your perfect town status with ease:

Every day, water wilting flowers (and plant new ones if you can)
Do not leave any rubbish lying around!
Each day, 3 new weeds will grow in your town. Be sure to pull all of these up!
Try not to let anyone move out (talk to them a lot until they say something about changing their mind). If someone new moves in, their home could squash some of your flowers/trees and disrupt your perfect town status

After 15 days (usually on the 16th day your town is perfect) visit Pelly/Phillis and ask about the environment. You will hear that a package is waiting for you: this will be your golden watering can!

While it is not nescessary to maintain a perfect town after receiving your golden item, you may decide to keep it up anyway by watering plants, pulling up weeds, etc. This stands you in good stead for growing Jacob's Ladder plants and hybrid flowers (such as black roses, pink tulips, etc).

My sister and I have compared the moods of our townsfolk too: my town is perfect and generally everyone is cheerful, while my sisters town is far from good condition and she complains that her townsfolk always seem angry or upset.

We can't prove if this is merely a coincidence or based on the status of the town, but it is something to consider :)

More guides about Perfect Towns in Animal Crossing: Wild World

The information here is based on my own experiences of creating a perfect town, plus those of Andrei and my sister.

If you would like to know even more on this subject, here are some guides from other AC sites which you may find useful:

Image Credit: Animal Crossing Town image by HeyGabe vis Flickr Creative Commons

Golden Watering Can - How to get one!

2009-02-21T06:28:00.000-08:00

The golden watering can is one of several golden tools in Animal Crossing Wild World which can be achieved by performing certain tasks.

To get the Golden Watering Can, you must retain a perfect town status for a minimum of 15 days. Then when you visit Pelly/Phillis at the Town Hall and ask about the environment, you will be told there is a delivery for you: this package contains your golden item.

We've written a comprehensive guide to help you achieve a perfect town in Animal Crossing which will help you earn your golden watering can. If you'd prefer some quick tips instead, here are the ways you can achieve a perfect town:

Pull up all weeds in your town
Plant lots of trees and flowers
Water all dying flowers every day so they regenerate
Don't leave items on the ground
Get rid of all rubbish on the ground (dispose of in the recycling bin)
Make sure there are no areas without trees or flowers. Also make sure you can walk between trees.

Follow these guidelines and visit the town hall every day to ask about the environment: you will receive tips on how to improve the environment. Finally when your town is perfect, be sure to maintain this by pulling the weeds, watering plants and clearing up any rubbish you find.

We hope this quick guide will be useful for you!

Image credit: Golden Can Congratulations by Michae! Rose via Flickr Creative Commons

Events Calendar February 2009

2009-02-02T15:17:00.000-08:00

Here are the main events happening in Animal Crossing: Wild World in February 2009:

Flea Market!
Saturday 7th

Today, you can visit other resident's houses to barter for their furniture. Other residents will also try to visit your house (and buy your furniture) whenever you are at home, so if there's nothing you want to sell try to be out all day!

Bright Nights
Mon, Feb 9 - Sun, Feb 15

During this entire week, the residents of your town will decorate their homes with lights. Tortimer presides over the town in front of the Town Hall where you can vote for your favorite decorated house.

Each time you vote for a particular character, a point will be added to your friendship score (which is a great way to get their picture more easily - simply vote for the same character each day!).

You will receive no other special visitors this week as Tortimer's presence takes up the "one special character at a time" rule! Bright Nights ends on Sunday when the winner is announced.

Fishing Tourney
Sun, Feb 22, 12pm-6pm

Today you can participate in the fishing tournament with the possibility of winning a trophy for catching the biggest fish.

Tortimer will be outside the Town Hall all day waiting for you to bring him fish to examine. When you show hin a fish, this will not be returned (so be wary of offering your Coelacanth or Stringfish unless you are really keen to win!)

Birthdays in February

Here is a list of character birthdays in February. Be sure to visit them at some point and take a present (even if it's only fruit or a seashell) as you will be rewarded with increased friendship and a gift in return!

1st: Bill
2nd Jitters
3rd Olivia
8th Frobert
10th Stitches
11th Pom Pom
13th Ribbit
16th Annabelle
18th Dora
19th Freckles
23rd Pate
27th Rosie