User:Chubby Bub/Animal Island Guide

Islanders
The core gameplay of all revolves around the resident islander, who comes with the GameCube save file. There are 18 possible islanders, with six personalities similar to those of villagers in the main GameCube game. Some aspects of how the islander will behave are determined by this, so the game splits them into two groups: one for cranky, jock and peppy islanders ("Group 0"), and one for normal, lazy and snooty islanders ("Group 1"). These would be split into nine islanders each, but due to an error, O'Hare, who is cranky, is in Group 1 by mistake, giving Group 0 eight islanders and Group 1 ten.

The islanders in internal order are:

Upon starting the game, the islander will be in their cabana; knocking on the door will make them exit to the island overworld. The player (cursor) can drag items to the islander to give them to them. When placed in their line of sight, the islander will eat edible items, perform actions with tools, and store up to 5 other items for later in their "inventory" (separate from whatever items they may have on the GameCube). These are detailed in the following sections.

While the player can direct the islander to perform actions or walk to a certain spot, they also have a mind of their own and can do these actions by themself, most commonly shaking trees and eating food. If the islander gets stuck, they may cry out for help, and only then can be lifted with the cursor. Poking the islander will cause them to drop their equipped tool, but if they are not carrying one, they will become confused and lose one mood point.

Mood
One of the most important mechanics in is the islander's mood. Their mood is a rank from 0 (lowest) to 6 (highest), with various in-game factors affecting the mood. The islander's mood in turn affects what items they will produce when fishing, catching or burying an item. Mood can be determined from the islander's appearance and movement, as well as the music changing. The default mood for an islander is 3, and moods from 1 to 5 are considered neutral. A mood of 6 will make the islander happy, and a mood of 0 will make them either sad or angry depending on their personality or what causes it to decrease. The Animal Island theme will change to a swing rhythm when the islander is happy, a minor key and slow tempo when they are sad, and an erratic rhythm when they are angry.

When an islander is happy, they are more likely to respond to the player, and the possible items their actions can produce are usually rarer or exclusive. Feeding an islander a food they like when they are happy will cause them to drop items in their inventory, or if they currently have none.

When an islander is at their lowest mood, they will be less likely to respond to the player, and the possible items they can produce are more common or undesirable. Group 0 islanders are predispositioned to become angry when their mood is lowest, while Group 1 islanders will become sad. However, certain events can cause a certain emotion no matter what, such as fishing up leading to sadness. Aside from the music and islander's movement patterns, a sad and angry mood are functionally identical.

When an islander re-enters their cabana, their inventory will be cleared and their mood increased 1 point for each item.

Food
Giving an islander food (fruit, mushrooms, turnips or candy) will affect their mood, and each islander has different preferences. If the islander likes the fruit, they will react with a heart ; if they dislike it (also called "allergic") they will react with a skull. All islanders like coconuts and strongly dislike turnips.

Fishing
When given a fishing rod, the islander can catch something from ocean tiles. This can either be an item, a, an , or. The Red Snapper and Octopus are not the catchable fish from the main game; rather, they are used to respectively increase or decrease the islander's mood by 1 point. The items and chances for the creatures are dependent on mood, with a happy islander more likely to catch an Octopus to lower their mood, and a sad/angry one more likely to catch a Red Snapper to raise it. Islanders can also catch trash, which will lower their mood to 0 and make them sad no matter what.

Buried items
Islanders given a shovel are able to dig up and bury items. If the islander is happy, they will bury the first item from their inventory, or a random flower if they have none. Their mood will then decrease by one point.

More notably, if items are buried on Animal Island, the islander can dig them up and replace them with a new item. The new item depends on the item they dig up, the islander's personality, mood, and what kind of shovel they are using. If the item is not one of the following categories, the islander simply reburies it.

Flying items
TBA

Chopping trees
Islanders given an axe can chop down trees, and may do so of their own volition. Like any changes made to the island, these trees will be chopped down when reconnected to the GameCube. Chopping down trees serves little other purpose, except that if in their lowest mood, Group 0 (Cranky/Jock/Peppy) islanders' moods will increase by 1 point when chopping a tree.