1. xp84 1 days ago
    You are absolutely mad, in the most wonderful way possible. And great video as well. Just astonishing how much work went into this, out of what I can only assume is pure hacker spirit.

    I played a lot of this game a long time ago, and I completely agree that anything that required using the OSK was incredibly tedious.

    1. hunterirving 1 days ago
      That's exactly it! The hacker spirit definitely took over on this one. I guess it did take a lot of work, but IMO the absurdity of going this far adds to the humor of it all. So glad to hear you enjoyed the video!
  2. dylan604 1 days ago
    This is the most ridiculous expenditure of time in the most hackerish way and I love it! It was a very interesting way to see a game I had never played, and after seeing this, I'd never want to play it without this hack.
    1. hunterirving 1 days ago
      Yes! That's exactly what I was going for :-) Glad to hear you enjoyed it!
  3. mlaux 11 hours ago
    This is so cool! AC and ACWW were a huge part of growing up and I dare say have a little impact on who I am today. Back then, I went on Tumblr’s AC community and found all the little debug menus but didn’t know how MIPS worked at that point to go any further. <3
    1. hunterirving 8 hours ago
      Wild World was actually the first Animal Crossing game I played! Back in the day, I remember using a browser-based pattern creator, then tapping it out by hand paint-by-numbers style with a DS stylus (which could easily take the better part of an hour). I think past me would let out a sigh of relief knowing future me finally automated it :-)
  4. geoffpado 1 days ago
    I’ve never played the original Animal Crossing, but this is neat! You’re basically hacking quality-of-life improvements into an old game running on original hardware.
    1. hunterirving 1 days ago
      Thanks! Yeah, I was surprised how much utility I could get out of it without directly modifying the game or console themselves. The first Animal Crossing has this great, simple charm. I would definitely recommend it!
  5. benrutter 23 hours ago
    I love how much this keeps on going. Faster typing? Check! But what about image upload? Check! Ok, now what about video somehow? Check! Ok, what about a video game inside the knitting UI?
    1. hunterirving 23 hours ago
      It seemed like a pretty logical progression to me! I half considered adding a two-player mode to the Snake game, but of course that would be ridiculous.
    2. dylan604 23 hours ago
      To keep it relevant, using some AI to help make the best pixelated images was the chef's kiss moment
  6. hnlmorg 22 hours ago
    I have one of those ASCII keyboards too. They’re awesome.

    Though I use mine for Phantasy Star Online (PSO) rather than Animal Crossing.

    Amazingly, there are still PSO servers available which are still very active. All the more impressive when you think that Sega discontinued their official servers around a decade ago.

    1. hunterirving 16 hours ago
      I've been meaning to try that out as well. I recently picked up the FlippyDrive Deluxe, which comes with an ethernet connectivity kit. I think the software only supports using it to transfer files over a local network for now, but the idea is that eventually it'll be usable for online play.
  7. dilDDoS 1 days ago
    This is so cool and impressive. I loved the original Animal Crossing but also feel like the clunky keyboard input hasn't aged well. Thanks for sharing!
    1. hunterirving 1 days ago
      In a way, I'm glad the OSK was so tedious, since it drove me to create this whole crazy project. Thanks for checking it out!
  8. askl 19 hours ago
    For a second I assumed you'd be Hunter R. [1]

    Maybe you should do a collab.

    [1] <https://www.youtube.com/@Hunter-R.>

    1. hunterirving 16 hours ago
      I'm a big fan of Hunter's work! His videos definitely informed this one. I would love to do a collab given the chance.
  9. b0a04gl 18 hours ago
    snake at 1fps is probably the most cursed form of patience training i’ve seen.
    1. hunterirving 16 hours ago
      Could this be a new hit game genre? :-) I'm not sure it comes across in the video, but it's actually surprisingly fun. I say "1ish fps", but it actually runs at a variable framerate – faster when the snake's head and tail are closer together, and slower when they're further apart. This means that, on your way to the next apple, you can try slithering close to your tail for a short speed boost. It can be a little risky, but I think that adds to the fun.
      1. b0a04gl 13 hours ago
        honestly that’s way more design depth than i expected from a cursed snake clone. dynamic pacing tied to head,tail distance is kind of genius. an actual tension mechanic.
  10. agold97 21 hours ago
    i love love love animal crossing
    1. hunterirving 16 hours ago
      Same! It's such a special game. There's something about the original that the newer ones never quite recaptured. Maybe it's the slightly rougher edges that give it character.