Animal Crossing New Horizons allows players to terraform the island to their liking. This guide will help players unlock the ability to terraform in the fastest way possible. Animal Crossing New Horizons let players customize pretty much every aspect of their own tropical island. From the home design to the exterior of the beaches and the grassy fields, even to the earth itself. The level of customization has never been this fleshed out in the series's history. Before in previous titles, players were limited in what they were allowed to make and change. Usually, it would just range from their home and the types of neighbors who come and go. Now, if the player wants to put that wooden chair on the beach, it is all up to their imagination (and of course having the proper crafting materials). For player's homes, they can layout furniture, select the types of carpets and wallpapers, and take out larger loans from Tom Nook to expand its size. This is normal for the series, but for the first time ever, players can now change the actual landscape of their islands. This guide will help players unlock this ability called Terraforming and explain why this is one of the best inclusions of Animal Crossing New Horizons.
Terraforming allows players to change the location of paths, mountains, and even rivers on their islands. This is great for players who aren't fully in love with the way their islands are formed. At the beginning of the game, players are given 1 of 4 options to choose from. Hardcore players typically reset until they find a layout for their island that they love, but in this game, they can make it themselves using Terraforming. Each option has a river that cannot be passed until the player is given the ability to build bridges or unlocks the vaulting pole item. For higher areas, this can only be accessed by using the ladder item. There is not a lot a player can do to change the terrain early into the game. Terraforming changes the game up completely, as once unlocked, they can truly unlock the ability to change every aspect of the island. It is one of the final things players can unlock in the game and can take a while to get access to it, although, there is a method to unlocking it much faster for players who don't want to wait. Here's how to unlock Terraforming quickly in the game.
Unlocking Terraforming Fast in Animal Crossing New Horizons
Terraforming is unlocked after completing the majority of the building requests from Tom Nook. Players are required to build the museum, create Nook's Cranny store, upgrade the Resident Tent, and inviting more neighbors onto the island. Once these are complete, K.K Slider, the reoccurring white dog character of the series, will perform for the town by singing the games theme song. This sort of works as the ending of the game since the credits roll, but Animal Crossing New Horizons is one of those games that doesn't really have a conclusion since it keeps running forever. Once the song is over, Tom Nook will provide the player with the Island Designer App. This is the app the player will use to terraform. Players will just have grass and dirt to alter in the beginning, but players can buy more permits using Nook Miles at the Resident Tent. These are the ones required to change every aspect of the island.
- Waterscaping Permit: 6,000 Nook Miles
- Cliff Construction Permit: 6,000 Nook Miles
The Waterscaping Permit allows players to shift the location of ponds and rivers. Cliff Construction Permit allows players to change and alter the location of cliffs. Nook Miles can also purchase permits that add different textures to the ground for lower prices. This is an endgame item, but how do players unlock it fast?
The best way to unlock it fast is to primarily focus on completing the main story tasks first and taking advantage of the games "time travel" feature. By changing the date and time in the Nintendo Switch settings, players can skip waiting for events to happen and get them instantly. Once completing a task given by Tom Nook, push the game forward by one day in the settings and get it instantly. This isn't exactly how the game is supposed to be designed, but this is the way to get to the end as fast as possible. For example, if the player is waiting for the construction of the museum, if they close the game, change the date and return, the museum will be built. Keep moving time forward after completing one of Tom Nook's tasks in order to get K.K Slider to perform and achieve the Island Builder app.
Animal Crossing New Horizons is not a game that is heavy on story, so pushing forward towards the end to favor unlocking all of the customization abilities is understandable. Why waste time focusing on customizing the player's smaller house when they can get the bigger house and focus their attention on that instead? There is a debate about the legitness of using time travel as a method of unlocking items in the game rather than waiting. There is no right or wrong answer to this debate, as the most important thing to the developer's mind is how much fun the player is having with their game, time travel or not. It is completely understandable why players would want to use the time travel feature and unlock it all while it also being understandable to take the player's time and take in every individual day of Animal Crossing New Horizons. Regardless, Tom Nook has new information for the player every day and discovering the secrets of the island is one of the most fun aspects of the game. Especially in a game like this with no true ending, knowing when to stop playing it all comes down to the players. This happens with every entry of Animal Crossing. As long as the game is fun, that is all that matters.
Animal Crossing New Horizons is available now on the Nintendo Switch.