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Show HN: A site to keep track of critters you can catch in Animal Crossing

182 points by sawyerjhood 7y ago

bobblywobbles 7y ago
Very well done website, thanks for hosting this!
keithwhor 7y ago
This is great! Thank you.
32gbsd 7y ago
I get a blank white page. What tech is this coded in?
- drusepth 7y ago
  Looks like React to me.
  - throwaway74859 7y ago
    This thread is what a failed tech community looks like.
resu_nimda 7y ago
This triggered memories of fishing for Coelacanths in the original Gamecube Animal Crossing. Twas an amazing game, and sounds like it still is.
- eganist 7y ago
  They made it a bit easier in ACNH. Best streak I got was six in a row during hard rain.
  - wizzard 7y ago
    Everything is easier in ACNH. Even though I’m making much faster progress, it’s not as satisfying.
    - eganist 7y ago
      Well there seems to be more story and less grind, which makes me quite a bit happier honestly. I'm nowhere near it, but I can't wait for the KK plot to play out.
- zimpenfish 7y ago
  Original GC AC works great on the Dolphin emulator and you can get HD textures these days.
ayberk 7y ago
Great stuff, thanks a lot! May I ask where you get the data from?
- krustyburger 7y ago
  There’s an official strategy guide available, so I would guess that was the original source.
  - dstaley 7y ago
    The strategy guide hasn't been published yet, so my guess is this comes from someone who data mined the game.
- Kihashi 7y ago
  Per the repo: > All of the data is currently generated from the animalcrossing Fandom wiki. > > We have a static process which will scrape the site, download the images, and generate files to be used by the main app.
werber 7y ago
Looks great on an iphone! How did you get the pics?
- aendruk 7y ago
  Someone ripped the images from the game [1] and uploaded them to a fan wiki [2], implicitly misrepresenting the content as CC BY-SA, and then this site hotlinked them. [1]: https://animalcrossing.fandom.com/wiki/Thread:150357#2 https://animalcrossing.fandom.com/wiki/Thread:150357#2 [2]: https://animalcrossing.fandom.com/wiki/Fish_(New_Horizons) https://animalcrossing.fandom.com/wiki/Fish_(New_Horizons)
fourstar 7y ago
This is awesome. Did you or someone else illustrate the icons? They're beautiful.
- sawyerjhood 7y ago
  The fish/bug pictures are straight from the game. All of the other icons (hemisphere, bells, length, etc...) are made by a combination of my girlfriend / myself.
krustyburger 7y ago
I’m trying to avoid looking at any outside guides for a good while, so I can experience things for myself. But when I eventually give in, this guide will be handy!
awinder 7y ago
Little off-topic but can anyone here compare to Stardew valley? I feel like I’ve kinda “finished” stardew after going through the core story and wondering about switching trains
- mathgladiator 7y ago
  The big crazy difference is that Stardew Valley goes faster while AC is real-time and this is... super frustrating.
  - eshyong 7y ago
    The two games have totally different vibes, which is fine. AC is more for relaxing and unwinding, while SV is more of a story-driven/objectives-based game.
  - rashkov 7y ago
    Agreed.. was a bit disappointed by AC when I was hoping for something more like stardew valley. Would love a recommendation for something like that if it exists.
    - joshschreuder 7y ago
      Rune Factory is the usual comparison. Rune Factory 4 just re-released on Switch and I played a decent chunk to tide over my AC longing before it launched, and I quite liked it. Much more story focused, combat, and not real time.
    - slightwinder 7y ago
      You could try the original franchise from which Stardew Valley was cloned from: Harvest Moon (also know as Story of Seasons) or it's Spin-off Rune Factory. There is also Graveyard Keeper, which is similar in vibe and mechanics, but with a very different setting.
  - jader201 7y ago
    I love that AC is real time, that has been one of the bigger draws for me since the original. Few games have events around real life holidays (in real time), and give you a sense of jumping on to see what today has in store. If AC is a game you try to rush through, then it may not be the game for you. But if you go in understanding and accepting it for what it is, you’ll enjoy it more.
zuhayeer 7y ago
Fun fact: Katsuya Eguchi incepted the game as a result of his move to Kyoto to work at Nintendo - because he missed his family and friends from his hometown. "Animal Crossing features three themes: family, friendship and community. But the reason I wanted to investigate them was a result of being so lonely when I arrived in Kyoto! Chiba is east of Tokyo and quite a distance from Kyoto, and when I moved there I left my family and friends behind. In doing so, I realised that being close to them – being able to spend time with them, talk to them, play with them – was such a great, important thing. I wondered for a long time if there would be a way to recreate that feeling, and that was the impetus behind the original Animal Crossing." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katsuya_Eguchi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katsuya_Eguchi
- Trasmatta 7y ago
  And now Animal Crossing is helping millions of lonely quarantined people across the world cope with the current state of things. It really came out at the perfect time.
oneVoiceOnHN 7y ago
This should have been built into the game. Nintendo fans are so forgiving of glaring flaws.
- spondyl 7y ago
  There's an in-game app called the Critter Guide that does bugs/fish and what months they're available. It requires you've encountered said bug/fish at least once though I think for it to appear in the guide
stepvhen 7y ago
This looks great! I too have been working on a critter tracker[0], but writing it in C using kcgi[1] (no JS at all). I have never done a web project before, so this has been a great learning experience. I still have some functionality to complete, but so far it has been pretty useful, even just the "available now" feature. [0] https://xvetrd.tilde.institute/index.cgi https://xvetrd.tilde.institute/index.cgi [1] https://kristaps.bsd.lv/kcgi/ https://kristaps.bsd.lv/kcgi/
a_t48 7y ago
Is there a button to reset? I clicked on one to see what happened and now I can't undo.
- sawyerjhood 7y ago
  You can scroll to the bottom to see all of the caught critters and uncheck them there
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
marinhero 7y ago
Great work! I’m curious, how did you get all the critter info?
mikl 7y ago
Very cool, just what I needed.
derpydev 7y ago
Showed it to my wife who's been playing, and then I heard a bunch of clicking and now it's circulating in the Discord channel she hangs out in. Nice work!
max23_ 7y ago
Nice work! I like how it is first sorted by fish/bug that will be gone next month.
kevinwang 7y ago
My friend also made one that shows bugs/fish available at the current hour in your timezone to practice python: http://critter-catcher.herokuapp.com/ http://critter-catcher.herokuapp.com/
madrox 7y ago
Thanks so much! I had a mind to work on this the other week (even started up a boilerplate) and then got distracted. So glad you stayed on task more than I did.

182 points by sawyerjhood 7y ago

bobblywobbles 7y ago

Very well done website, thanks for hosting this!

keithwhor 7y ago

This is great! Thank you.

32gbsd 7y ago

I get a blank white page. What tech is this coded in?

drusepth 7y ago
Looks like React to me.
- throwaway74859 7y ago
  This thread is what a failed tech community looks like.

resu_nimda 7y ago

This triggered memories of fishing for Coelacanths in the original Gamecube Animal Crossing. Twas an amazing game, and sounds like it still is.

eganist 7y ago
They made it a bit easier in ACNH. Best streak I got was six in a row during hard rain.
- wizzard 7y ago
  Everything is easier in ACNH. Even though I’m making much faster progress, it’s not as satisfying.
  - eganist 7y ago
    Well there seems to be more story and less grind, which makes me quite a bit happier honestly. I'm nowhere near it, but I can't wait for the KK plot to play out.
zimpenfish 7y ago
Original GC AC works great on the Dolphin emulator and you can get HD textures these days.

ayberk 7y ago

Great stuff, thanks a lot! May I ask where you get the data from?

krustyburger 7y ago
There’s an official strategy guide available, so I would guess that was the original source.
- dstaley 7y ago
  The strategy guide hasn't been published yet, so my guess is this comes from someone who data mined the game.
Kihashi 7y ago
Per the repo: > All of the data is currently generated from the animalcrossing Fandom wiki. > > We have a static process which will scrape the site, download the images, and generate files to be used by the main app.

werber 7y ago

Looks great on an iphone! How did you get the pics?

aendruk 7y ago
Someone ripped the images from the game [1] and uploaded them to a fan wiki [2], implicitly misrepresenting the content as CC BY-SA, and then this site hotlinked them. [1]: https://animalcrossing.fandom.com/wiki/Thread:150357#2 https://animalcrossing.fandom.com/wiki/Thread:150357#2 [2]: https://animalcrossing.fandom.com/wiki/Fish_(New_Horizons) https://animalcrossing.fandom.com/wiki/Fish_(New_Horizons)

fourstar 7y ago

This is awesome. Did you or someone else illustrate the icons? They're beautiful.

sawyerjhood 7y ago
The fish/bug pictures are straight from the game. All of the other icons (hemisphere, bells, length, etc...) are made by a combination of my girlfriend / myself.

krustyburger 7y ago

I’m trying to avoid looking at any outside guides for a good while, so I can experience things for myself. But when I eventually give in, this guide will be handy!

awinder 7y ago

Little off-topic but can anyone here compare to Stardew valley? I feel like I’ve kinda “finished” stardew after going through the core story and wondering about switching trains

mathgladiator 7y ago
The big crazy difference is that Stardew Valley goes faster while AC is real-time and this is... super frustrating.
- eshyong 7y ago
  The two games have totally different vibes, which is fine. AC is more for relaxing and unwinding, while SV is more of a story-driven/objectives-based game.
- rashkov 7y ago
  Agreed.. was a bit disappointed by AC when I was hoping for something more like stardew valley. Would love a recommendation for something like that if it exists.
  - joshschreuder 7y ago
    Rune Factory is the usual comparison. Rune Factory 4 just re-released on Switch and I played a decent chunk to tide over my AC longing before it launched, and I quite liked it. Much more story focused, combat, and not real time.
  - slightwinder 7y ago
    You could try the original franchise from which Stardew Valley was cloned from: Harvest Moon (also know as Story of Seasons) or it's Spin-off Rune Factory. There is also Graveyard Keeper, which is similar in vibe and mechanics, but with a very different setting.
- jader201 7y ago
  I love that AC is real time, that has been one of the bigger draws for me since the original. Few games have events around real life holidays (in real time), and give you a sense of jumping on to see what today has in store. If AC is a game you try to rush through, then it may not be the game for you. But if you go in understanding and accepting it for what it is, you’ll enjoy it more.

zuhayeer 7y ago

Fun fact: Katsuya Eguchi incepted the game as a result of his move to Kyoto to work at Nintendo - because he missed his family and friends from his hometown. "Animal Crossing features three themes: family, friendship and community. But the reason I wanted to investigate them was a result of being so lonely when I arrived in Kyoto! Chiba is east of Tokyo and quite a distance from Kyoto, and when I moved there I left my family and friends behind. In doing so, I realised that being close to them – being able to spend time with them, talk to them, play with them – was such a great, important thing. I wondered for a long time if there would be a way to recreate that feeling, and that was the impetus behind the original Animal Crossing." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katsuya_Eguchi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katsuya_Eguchi

Trasmatta 7y ago
And now Animal Crossing is helping millions of lonely quarantined people across the world cope with the current state of things. It really came out at the perfect time.

oneVoiceOnHN 7y ago

This should have been built into the game. Nintendo fans are so forgiving of glaring flaws.

spondyl 7y ago
There's an in-game app called the Critter Guide that does bugs/fish and what months they're available. It requires you've encountered said bug/fish at least once though I think for it to appear in the guide

stepvhen 7y ago

This looks great! I too have been working on a critter tracker[0], but writing it in C using kcgi[1] (no JS at all). I have never done a web project before, so this has been a great learning experience. I still have some functionality to complete, but so far it has been pretty useful, even just the "available now" feature. [0] https://xvetrd.tilde.institute/index.cgi https://xvetrd.tilde.institute/index.cgi [1] https://kristaps.bsd.lv/kcgi/ https://kristaps.bsd.lv/kcgi/

a_t48 7y ago

Is there a button to reset? I clicked on one to see what happened and now I can't undo.

sawyerjhood 7y ago
You can scroll to the bottom to see all of the caught critters and uncheck them there

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

marinhero 7y ago

Great work! I’m curious, how did you get all the critter info?

mikl 7y ago

Very cool, just what I needed.

derpydev 7y ago

Showed it to my wife who's been playing, and then I heard a bunch of clicking and now it's circulating in the Discord channel she hangs out in. Nice work!

max23_ 7y ago

Nice work! I like how it is first sorted by fish/bug that will be gone next month.

kevinwang 7y ago

My friend also made one that shows bugs/fish available at the current hour in your timezone to practice python: http://critter-catcher.herokuapp.com/ http://critter-catcher.herokuapp.com/

madrox 7y ago

Thanks so much! I had a mind to work on this the other week (even started up a boilerplate) and then got distracted. So glad you stayed on task more than I did.