FromAnimal CrossingtoDisney Dreamlight Valley, life simulators have been all the rage for years, accruing thousands of players who are able to make the game their own. The genre can have a grinding element to it, as gamers invest hundreds of hours into their playthrough in order to get everything they can out of the game. With certain play habits come unintended consequences, most often seen when players time travel. While time travel has been possible for yearsAnimal Crossing, the same exploit is being used in modern games likeDisney Dreamlight Valley, illuminating an incongruity in the gameplay loop.
Time traveling originated as a workaround for the real-time mechanics in life simulator games that enforce constraints around when resources will reset themselves in the world. For instance, inAnimal Crossing: New Horizons,consistently foraging for materials is a vital component for developing a player’s island, but resources like iron and wood are finite and reset the next real-time day. By changing the game console’s clock, players are able to literally move time forward, eliminating the real-time barriers. WhileDreamlight Valleyplayers are utilizing the same technique, it can have unintended consequences.
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Why Animal Crossing and Dreamlight Valley Players Time Travel Despite The Consequences
Just like in iconic media likeBack to the FutureandDay of the Tentacle, time traveling comes with big risks and big rewards. For instance,Dreamlight Valleyplayers use time travel as a way to make certain daily rewards, collectible items like dream shards, and quest objectives appear faster. Akin toAnimal Crossing,players have recently taken to manipulating their system’s clock to make Stitch’s quest items appear and trigger events faster.
While time traveling can seem like an easy way to continue progressing in a real-time game, it can have serious, irrevocable consequences. For instance, in theAnimal Crossingfranchise, time traveling can eliminate daily streak-based bonuses and lose subsequent prizes, destroy crops, produce more weeds, and most importantly, lock players out of further game progression and even corrupt save files. Similar consequences can arise inDisney Dreamlight Valley,asusingAnimal Crossing-style time travelfor even a few hours can permanently break the game, due to in-game bugs that are typically harmless but can be game-breaking when the system is manipulated.
Life Simulator Games Use Real-Time Mechanics Originating From RTS Games
The use of real-time mechanics in life simulator games is a hotly contested topic. Some players appreciate the depth of immersion, while others dislike waiting hours to continue playing. The same debate exists with time traveling, as it goes against the design of life simulator games but allows players to game the way they want. Real-time mechanics are used in Nintendo’sAnimal Crossingfranchise to give fans a world reflective of their reality. Villagers have daily schedules, stores open at certain hours, and nature reacts to the changing hours of the day. In essence, games likeAnimal Crossing: New Leafallows players to live a second life.
The origin of real-time mechanics lies in real-time strategy games, asbeginner-friendly RTS games likeStarcrafthave their own time-based systems that determine player strategy when it comes to resource collecting, technological development, and more. While these games do not rely on “real-time” calendar and clock systems, most of the game’s strategic components rest on how the player makes the best use of their time. Life simulator games use real-time mechanics a bit differently, using real-world systems of time to create a need for long-term strategy over days or months, versus long-term strategy used to win a level in a classic RTS.
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How Real-Time Life Simulators Can Eliminate The Need For Time Travel
WhileDisney Dreamlight Valleydeveloper Gamelofthas stated that time traveling is not the intended way to play the game, players continue to use it, giving the trick an unintended legacy that might not go away anytime soon. Although players can choose whether to time travel in games, the issue might lie in the use of real-time mechanics themselves.
There might be an argument for phasing out real-time mechanics, as it would eliminate the time travel issue almost immediately. On the other hand,realistic life simulator elements like themed events, holidays, dynamic in-game environment changes, and more might be eliminated as well. All in all, there are solutions to the time travel dilemma that don’t necessarily involve eliminating the element entirely, but it does require life simulator games to be designed differently. Current life simulator games lack the kind of mechanical depth that allows players to develop strategies around what works best for them.
Games likeStardew Valleyare still life simulator games, but the established skill and profession system allows players to adapt gameplay to suit their needs. This means that theAnimal Crossinggame afterNew Horizonsshould incentivize players toward long-term strategy over short-term gains. The same goes forDreamlight Valley; while it’s important to “live” in the game, there needs to be enough strategy to make the game robust without manipulating time.
Disney Dreamlight Valleyis available now in early access on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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