Time Travel

Time Travel, sometimes called "TTing", is when the player manually changes the time of their game to benefit from seasonal events, bugs, fish, moving villagers out, moving villagers in, upgrading shops, etc, in their Animal Crossing games. It is also used to manipulate the Bell bank interest where, by the end of each month, a certain percentage is added to the player's Bell amount in their bank accounts.

It is considered a type of cheating, and, like any form of cheating, is controversial among the playerbase. It does, however, come with disadvantages- Time Traveling can alter the game itself. All players who Time Travel take the risk of their town becoming populated with weeds, downgrading Tom Nook's Store, the likely possibility of villagers moving out, bedheads, interrupting the growth of trees, and, depending on how far they have traveled, raflessias growing.

Not all instances of time travel are used for cheating purposes, however, such as time traveling once one has finished what they've been doing for that day. Time traveling in this manner is very common, as it allows the player to get many things done, if they don't have the time to do things. It's also useful for players who play mostly early in the morning or late at night, or cannot play in the morning or night, as they can experience things that happen during those times whenever they need or want to, such as for getting music for K.K. Slider at Club LOL. Because of the bad image currently existing on time traveling due to people abusing it to reap the rewards from seasonal events and the likes, time traveling in this manner will also lead to controversial discussion, commonly leading to both sides fighting over whether or not it's actually cheating.

How to Time Travel

There are different ways to change the clock time in each console the games were released on. Below addresses how to change the clocks:

In Animal Crossing (Gamecube)
To change the time in there are two options - the Nintendo GameCube clock or the in-game clock. These are accessed through the in-game options. The ideal option is to change the GameCube's internal clock, because the in-game clock affects the growth of trees, the way letters are sent, and how the Police Station and Dump restock with items.

In Animal Crossing: Wild World
Changing the date and time in is easier than it is in the original Animal Crossing. To change the time in-game, load the game and when at the character select, click the phone and follow the option that goes to the Date and Time settings.

To change the DS time, turn on the DS then touch the screen/press "A". Next, instead of loading Animal Crossing, press the DS icon at the bottom of the touch screen. Click the second menu, the blue one. The top button changes the date, and the right button changes the time. The middle one changes the alarm, but that's not important. Press "B" until it asks you if the system should shut down. Click "A" and load the game up as usual.

To change the DSI time, turn on your DSI, choose settings and the time. Then press B and start your game as normal.

In Animal Crossing: City Folk/Let's Go To The City
Like in the original Animal Crossing, there are two options to change the date and time settings for. The easier option is to change the Nintendo Wii date and time instead of the in-game date and time settings. This is, again, due to the in-game settings affecting bank interest, plants, and trees.

To change the Wii time settings, go to the Wii Menu and click the 'Wii' button at the bottom left of the screen. Once there, go to 'Setup' and find the menu which opens up the Date and Time settings.

To change the time in the in-game [title screen] menu (City Folk), pick 'Other things', and then click 'Set date/time' and change the date and time to the date and time that is desired.

In Animal Crossing: New Leaf
Time travel is the same as it was in the past games. Either change the in game clock or change the system settings clock. Most advantages and disadvantages from previous installments are present, although if the Keep Town Beautiful Ordinance is in effect, Time Travel will not affect the environment, thus, weeds will most likely not appear and flowers will not die.

Unlike previous games, time traveling has less negative effects. Turnips will not rot until you move to the next Sunday, and turnip patterns will act normally. You are allowed to use the catalog at any time and stores cannot downgrade or lose stock. Villagers will also call you a time traveler in this version as one of their rumors.

A negative side effect of time traveling in New Leaf is grass deterioration. Some players may play the span of 2 or more days in one real-time day. Each time the town is loaded, the grass deteriorates more. Thus, time traveling (e.g, loading the game several times in one real-time day) can be a detriment to the town's grass.

The Effects of Time Traveling
As previously mentioned, there are advantages and disadvantages to time traveling. Below are the positive and negative effects on the game:

Positive

 * Allows the player to attend their favorite events
 * Allows the player to receive mail sooner.
 * Allows the player to receive bank interest.
 * New villagers will move in sooner.
 * Fruit will grow on trees sooner.
 * Different items available at all stores.
 * Ability to catch out-of-season fish and bugs.
 * Fast-forward through renovations.
 * Grass will regrow. (Grass does not regrow in New Leaf while time traveling.)
 * The player can get multiple songs without having to wait for next Saturday night.
 * Allows the player to get the Golden Shovel faster (Wild World and City Folk)
 * Ability to partake in things that would normally be closed at certain hours in real-time.
 * Unwanted villagers can be moved out faster.
 * Speeds up hybridizing flowers.
 * Bushes(New Leaf) and trees will grow at a faster rate. (4~5 days)

Negative

 * * = Excluding Animal Crossing: New Leaf


 * Villagers will move away faster. (Only happens if you ignore them in New Leaf or travel more than two months. Also not happens in New Leaf untill you tell them about saving.)
 * There will be more weeds. (Using Wisp by finding his lamp can solve this)
 * Villagers will not remember who the player is. (Only happens if you travel more than 7 days.)
 * Flowers will shrivel or die. (Won't happen if Keep Town Beautiful Ordinance is in effect in New Leaf.)
 * The Player will miss out on some of items for sale in GracieGrace(CF), Able Sisters or Tom Nook's Store.*
 * The Player's mailbox may fill up, which will not allow for anymore mail until emptied or tossed.
 * The Player will get Bed Hair. (Wild World+)
 * Turnips will automatically rot.
 * Phineas will not appear for a while.*
 * Turnip prices will stay low.*
 * Instead of normal chit chat, at first all villagers will go on and on about how long you were gone. (Only happens if you move over 7 days in New Leaf.)
 * Cockroaches will appear in the player's home. (Won't happen if Keep Town Beautiful Ordinance is in effect in New Leaf.)
 * Growing trees will die if the player travels over two days.*
 * Tom Nook's Store has the possibility of downgrading.*
 * Tom Nook's catalog will no longer be available, with Tom Nook saying "It is all booked up". (WW)*