One of the core gameplay features of the Animal Crossing series since its creation has been the decoration of the environments players inhabit, whether that be their home, island, or town. The franchise has produced hundreds of different items, from furniture to wallpaper to buildings, in order to give players the freedom they need to make their dreams come to fruition in their virtual worlds. Animal Crossing has even featured some crossovers to encourage creativity across different Nintendo series. However, some of the best design tricks have been discovered by the community and involve using glitches.
Using optical illusions to pull off more advanced designs has always been a trend in the decorating styles of the Animal Crossing community. The latest installment of the series, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, has seen players take things a step further. Currently, one of the biggest trends is making use of the different levels of islands to manipulate player perspective and camera angles. This strategy has resulted in some effective optical illusions to make island paradises seem much bigger than they actually are. There are quite a few ways for ACNH players to accomplish their own perspective designs, and many decorating styles that can improve even the most breathtaking of islands.
One of the most common methods to utilizing design with perspective is through a tactic known as forced perspective, which players can get with a clever glitch. As pictured above, players can take advantage of camera angles while sitting or standing to produce an optical illusion with their designs. The placement of larger items such as the monster statue or the lighthouse help to accomplish forced perspective alongside custom paths and smaller or medium sized items. Using ACNH's terraforming modification, players can position a viewing area or easy-to-access path in order for Villagers and visiting friends to experience the new design. By restricting access to the forced perspective decorations, players can prevent loss of immersion and a compromised design.
An Animal Crossing Glitch Allows Players To Reach For The Stars
For the forced perspective strategy, players often utilize the hidden backside of their Animal Crossing: New Horizons islands. There is a thin strip along the very back of an island that allows for setting up the perfect forced perspective scene. Usually, the only appeal of this smaller area is the occasional visit of Redd to peddle some illegal Animal Crossing art. Instead of leaving it blank, however, it's a perfectly suitable spot to create a destructive scene of monster and robot combat - or to design a peaceful hidden beachfront.
An Animal Crossing glitch that opens some perspective design opportunities involves accessing a forbidden fourth level on islands. While most attempts to reach the fourth level will receive an error message, the community has discovered several ways to work around this restriction. By pinning one's own character between three raised cliff tiles on the third level, and then placing an object to trap one's self in the gap, players are able to add a cliff directly under themselves and ascend to the fourth level of their island. This ACNH glitch gives players the freedom to decorate areas of their island in interesting new ways.
Using this glitch, some have taken to creating the illusion of city skylines, stretching across the new "horizon" of their island paradise. Others have made use of Animal Crossing's terraforming tool to make beautiful waterfalls. These water attractions end up appearing much larger than they might look on a lower level of an ACNH island. Planting fields of flowers and trees on the fourth level can also create a natural, jungle-like silhouette for players looking to incorporate more nature in their island homes.
An Animal Crossing Glitch Allows Pool Parties For Summer Days
With summer in full swing, some Animal Crossing fans may be looking to redecorate their islands to reflect the season's many activities. To fully embrace the summer themes, ACNH fans may look to take advantage of another glitch with their pool items. By placing an item near a cliff curve and climbing up, the game will glitch the character model into the item. While some items have reactions to being interacted with, such as music boxes or blenders, this glitch is the closest players can get to interacting with Animal Crossing's outdoor bathtubs and pools.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons fans looking to capture some memorable summertime screenshots should look to utilize this glitch along with some additional summertime decorations. Brightly colored flowers and coconut trees are a few natural additions that can accompany summer themed items such as surfboards, flamingo statues, and boomboxes. With all the hard work characters put into improving deserted islands for Tom Nook, everyone deserves a pool day now and then.
Animal Crossing Designs With Help From The Community
While Animal Crossing has introduced hundreds of items across its many games, there is likely a collection of items that is still unavailable to the fanbase. For those looking to fill the creative gaps of certain designs, there is another option: the Custom Design Kiosk located in the Abel Sisters shop. There is a section of the Animal Crossing community that has taken to developing 3D art designs that are printable on hats, umbrellas, clothes, and pathways. As displayed in the tweet below, there are many ways to utilize custom designs both indoors and outdoors.
Unfortunately, this design strategy takes a bit more time and effort to construct due to the need to browse through the thousands of choices available through the kiosk. Some third party websites like Pinterest offer an accelerated method of tracking down quality ACNH designs from the community, but even then players will still need to enter the lengthy item code. Despite the amount of designs on the kiosk, fans may not find their desired designs and be forced to make their own. This process could take even more time given the complexity of pixel art.
There are many methods for players to obtain their picture perfect island, utilizing a variety of styles, items, and the occasional glitch in gameplay. Animal Crossing has consistently expanded on creative freedoms for decorations in the series, allowing players to embrace any vision they desire. Animal Crossing: New Horizons is still due for more updates in its lifetime, meaning fans will soon be able to expand their enjoyment in the game even further.
