Editing Animal Crossing (video game) (section)

==Gameplay==
[[File:Animal Crossing gameplay.jpg|left|thumb|A screenshot of the overworld, featuring the player's character. The game features graphics from the [[Nintendo 64]] version.]]
''Animal Crossing'' is a [[Life simulation game|social simulation]] game, dubbed a "communication game" by [[Nintendo]].<ref name="communication">{{cite web|url=http://www.gamespot.com/animal-crossing/reviews/animal-crossing-review-2880379/ |title=Animal Crossing Review |publisher=GameSpot |access-date=November 14, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002110330/http://www.gamespot.com/animal-crossing/reviews/animal-crossing-review-2880379/ |archive-date=October 2, 2013 }}</ref> It is [[Open-ended (gameplay)#Open-ended gameplay|open-ended]], and the player's character can live a separate life with very little set plot or mandatory tasks. Players assume the role of a new resident to the town. The gender and looks of the character depend on answers given to a cat named Rover, whom the player meets on the train the character takes to the town. There are also tasks that players can complete and goals they can achieve. The game is played in real-time, observing days, weeks, months and years using the [[GameCube]]'s internal clock. Many real-life events and holidays span the year, including [[Independence Day (United States)|Independence Day]], [[Halloween]], the Harvest Festival ([[Thanksgiving]]), and Toy Day ([[Christmas]]). Other activities, such as fishing tournaments and early-morning fitness classes, occur on a regular schedule. When players stop playing, they can talk to their Gyroid, a creature next to their house, to [[Save game|save]] their progress. If the player turns off the game or resets the GameCube without saving first, what they achieved during the previous unsaved game is lost, but everything else is kept; however a mole named [[Mr. Resetti]] appears in front of the player's house the next time they play, to scold them for resetting and forces a drawn out conversation with the player. Rarely, Don Resetti will appear instead of Mr. Resetti, Don Resetti is the older brother of Mr. Resetti but they both have opposite personalities, Don Resetti advises the player of saving the game instead of getting angry at the player for not saving like Mr. Resetti.

One of the main goals of the game, given to the player during the game's opening cut scenes, is to increase the size of the player's character's house. This house is the repository for furniture and other items acquired during the course of the game. It can be customized in several ways, such as roof colour, furniture, music, wallpaper and flooring. These customisations are judged by the Happy Room Academy (HRA).

[[Tom Nook]], a [[Japanese raccoon dog|tanuki]] (raccoon dog) in the Japanese versions and a [[raccoon]] in the American and European versions, runs the local store. At the beginning of the game, he gives the player their first house with a mortgage of 19,800 Bells (the in-game currency). After paying the debt, part of which is done through a part-time job with Nook, the house is expanded, prompting another debt from Nook. The house is expanded several times during the course of the game. Players can sell virtually anything to Nook in exchange for Bells. As the player buys and sells items at Nook's store, it will gradually expand, offering a wider selection of products for purchase. Players can also visit locations such as the Able Sisters' clothing shop, where they can purchase or design new clothes; the Police Station, where they can obtain additional items from the Lost and Found; and the Museum, where they can donate fossils, paintings, fish and insects to put on display.

The village initially contains six [[Villager (Animal Crossing)|villagers]], and more villagers move in or out depending on the player's actions. There is a maximum of fifteen villagers living there at a time. All villagers are animals and each has a home that the player can visit. There are many possible interactions between the player and the villagers, including talking, trading items, completing tasks, writing letters, and, in ''e+'', buying medicine for when they get sick. Villagers interact with each other independent of player control.

===Multiplayer===
Up to four players can take turns creating their own houses in a single village. They can each affect the village in their own ways, communicate with each other via the town board and mail, and share in the experiences of the village. Multiple players can take turns shipping items to each other via Tom Nook, using a system of codes. Multiplayer NES games are available.

The traveling system allows each player to visit other players' villages. This system requires an additional memory card with the game's data, and three blocks of memory to save travel data. Players can meet new villagers, shop at stores, drop items, and do almost anything else that they can do in their own town. Visitors have reduced privileges and do not receive the same services that they would in their own town. For example, another town's Tom Nook will not travel to paint a roof, which means players cannot buy paint in another town. After visiting another town, one of the villagers may move to the visited town. If the visited town has a full fifteen villagers, this will prompt someone from the visited town to move away. Depending upon how many memory cards a player or their friends own, there can be many other villages to see and different items to find. If a player interacts with a villager who has moved away from their village to the visited village, the villager will remember the player.

===Game Boy Advance connectivity===
[[Game Boy Advance]] connectivity plays a role in ''Animal Crossing'', using a [[Nintendo GameCube – Game Boy Advance link cable]]. Each town has an island that can be accessed by plugging in a Game Boy Advance with a GameCube link cable. A character called Kapp'n ferries the player to the island for free. An exclusive animal roams the island, with whom the player can become friends. The island has an exclusive type of fruit: coconuts. The player can also decorate a small communal beach house and fish at the shores. On leaving, the player can download the island to a GBA and give fruit to the villager, who drops Bells; if the player returns to the island, they can pick up the money that has been dropped. Players can leave the islander tools to use, such as the shovel or net. Downloaded islands can be traded between GBAs, using a Game Boy Advance Link Cable.

The Game Boy Advance can be used when shopping at the Able Sisters. The pattern design tool can be downloaded to a Game Boy Advance, and the player can then upload designs made on a Game Boy Advance to the GameCube. This feature can be accessed by plugging in a Game Boy Advance with a GameCube Game Boy Advance Cable and talking to Mabel in the Able Sisters shop. The game is also compatible with the [[Nintendo e-Reader|e-Reader]]; by visiting the Post Office while connected to the accessory via the Game Boy Advance link cable, players can scan ''Animal Crossing'' themed cards to receive new items, town tunes, or pattern designs.

===Nintendo Entertainment System games===
Players can collect various [[Nintendo Entertainment System]] games in ''Animal Crossing'', which are playable via emulation. North American releases were packaged with a [[GameCube Memory card|memory card]] that automatically gave the player two games upon creating a game file. Others are acquired in various ways, such as gifts from villagers, hidden on the island, or via special giveaways from Nintendo's website. The available NES games differ slightly between each release.

The following NES games are available for play:

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Game
!''Doubutsu no Mori''<ref>{{cite web | last=Schneider | first=Peer | title=Animal Forest (Animal Crossing N64) Import Review | website=IGN | date=February 26, 2002 | url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2002/02/26/animal-forest-import-review | access-date=April 14, 2024 | archive-date=November 21, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231121155416/https://www.ign.com/articles/2002/02/26/animal-forest-import-review | url-status=live }}</ref>
!''Doubutsu no Mori+''
!''Animal Crossing''<ref name=NES>{{cite web | url=https://kotaku.com/the-best-games-hidden-inside-other-games-1848227658/slides/3 | title=The Best Games Hidden Inside Other Games | first=John | last=Walker | website=Kotaku | date=December 16, 2021 | access-date=July 26, 2023 | archive-date=May 28, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528225310/https://kotaku.com/the-best-games-hidden-inside-other-games-1848227658/slides/3 | url-status=live }}</ref> /<br/> ''Doubutsu no Mori e+''
|-
|''[[Balloon Fight]]''||{{yes}}||{{yes}}||{{yes}}
|-
|''[[Baseball (1983 video game)|Baseball]]''||{{no}}||{{yes}}||{{yes}}
|-
|''[[Clu Clu Land]]''||{{yes}}||{{yes}}||{{yes}}
|-
|''Clu Clu Land D''||{{no}}||{{yes}}||{{yes}}
|-
|''[[Donkey Kong (arcade game)|Donkey Kong]]''||{{yes}}||{{yes}}||{{yes}}
|-
|''[[Donkey Kong Jr.]]''||{{yes}}||{{yes}}||{{yes}}
|-
|''[[Donkey Kong Jr. Math]]''||{{no}}||{{yes}}||{{yes}}
|-
|''[[Donkey Kong 3]]''||{{no}}||{{yes}}||{{yes}}
|-
|''[[Excitebike]]''||{{no}}||{{no}}||{{yes}}
|-
|''[[Golf (1984 video game)|Golf]]''||{{yes}}||{{yes}}||{{yes}}
|-
|''[[Gomoku Narabe Renju]]''||{{no}}||{{yes}}||{{no}}
|-
|''Mahjong''||{{no}}||{{yes}}||{{no}}
|-
|''[[Pinball (1984 video game)|Pinball]]''||{{yes}}||{{yes}}||{{yes}}
|-
|''[[Punch-Out!! (NES)|Punch-Out!!]]''||{{no}}||{{yes}}||{{yes}}
|-
|''[[Soccer (1985 video game)|Soccer]]''||{{no}}||{{no}}||{{yes}}
|-
|''[[Tennis (1984 video game)|Tennis]]''||{{yes}}||{{yes}}||{{yes}}
|-
|''[[Wario's Woods]]''||{{no}}||{{yes}}||{{yes}}
|}

''Dōbutsu no Mori+'' and ''Animal Crossing'' feature four additional NES games that are not obtainable in-game through normal means.<ref name=NES/> ''[[Ice Climber]]'' was available in ''Dōbutsu no Mori+'' to players who used a service provided by Nintendo to transfer their save data from ''Dōbutsu no Mori''.<ref>{{cite web|title=『どうぶつの森』データお引越しサービス |url=https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ngc/gafj/moving/ |website=Nintendo.com |publisher=Nintendo|access-date=January 6, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030206212144/https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ngc/gafj/moving/ |archive-date=February 6, 2003 |url-status=dead}}</ref> A memory card containing data to unlock ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' in ''Dōbutsu no Mori+'' was offered as a sweepstakes prize in issue #678 of ''[[Famitsu]]'' magazine.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=どうぶつの森+|magazine=Weekly Famitsu|volume=678|publisher=[[Enterbrain]]|date=2001-12-14}}</ref> In the North American ''Animal Crossing'', both ''Ice Climber'' and ''[[Mario Bros.]]'' were available through the use of two [[Nintendo e-Reader|e-Reader]] cards. ''[[The Legend of Zelda (video game)|The Legend of Zelda]]'' exists in the game's code, but is not accessible in-game. These four bonus games can be obtained using a [[Cheating in video games#Modification of runtime game data|cheat device]], but were removed in ''Dōbutsu no Mori e+''.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/8102/unlock-more-nes-games-in-animal-crossing | title=Unlock More NES Games in Animal Crossing - News | last=Metts | first=Jonathan | website=Nintendo World Report | date=December 10, 2002 | access-date=July 26, 2023}}</ref>

The Advance Play feature allows players to link a Game Boy Advance to the GameCube and temporarily transfer the NES game to the handheld. This is not compatible with games that were originally produced for the [[Famicom Disk System]], such as ''Clu Clu Land D'' and ''The Legend of Zelda'', or are larger than 192&nbsp;[[Kilobyte|KB]], such as ''Punch-Out!!'' and ''Wario's Woods'', as they cannot fit into the GBA's RAM. All other games can be played via Advance Play, but multiplayer functionality is not supported and their graphics appear slightly squashed on the GBA's display due to its smaller vertical resolution.

An additional furniture item, resembling a [[Famicom Disk System]] in the Japanese versions and an NES in the English version, allows players to emulate other NES games not included within the base release by reading ROMs stored on the player's [[Controller Pak]] or memory card. A special Nintendo 64 Controller Pak, containing a ROM of ''Ice Climber'' for use in ''Dōbutsu no Mori'', was given away in limited quantities during June 2001 as a sweepstakes prize in magazines such as ''Famitsu'' and ''[[Nintendo Dream]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=アイスクライマー ビッグプレゼント|magazine=Nintendo Dream|volume=58|publisher=Ambit|date=2001-05-21|page=87}}</ref> However, no additional ROMs were ever distributed for the GameCube versions. In 2018, an independent software developer reverse engineered the emulation software to convert ROMs into a compatible format, allowing new NES games to be imported into the ''Animal Crossing'' emulator.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kotaku.com/someone-discovered-a-hidden-feature-in-animal-crossings-1827591135|title=Animal Crossing on GameCube Can Actually Play Any NES Game|first=Ethan|last=Gach|website=Kotaku|date=July 13, 2018|access-date=July 26, 2023|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114055644/https://kotaku.com/someone-discovered-a-hidden-feature-in-animal-crossings-1827591135|url-status=live}}</ref>