Update 1.4.1 and Money Trees: Animal Crossing New Horizons has had a tumultuous week!

by Filip Galeković August 6, 2020

Following the release of the major Wave 2 Summer Update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, it was to be expected that there would be a hitch or two. Well, it just so happens that the hitch was Money Trees: Animal Crossing New Horizons had a major new exploit over the past week or so, and Update 1.4.1 has been deployed to deal with that!

However, this is hardly everything important that's been happening in Animal Crossing. New Horizons got a batch of awesome new limited-time items for players to chase after. Keen-eyed readers might also recall that we're no strangers to discussing data mines. It just so happens that we've got a bunch of new ones to discuss, so we'll be getting to that in short order, too.

First things first: what's the Money Trees thing about?

Money Trees in Animal Crossing New Horizons

While you might not know about it, there does exist a rather major Animal Crossing New Horizons modding scene. Thing is, this type of modding is less the kind you'd expect to see in Skyrim and more about jury-rigged hacks. After all, modding isn't all that simple on a Nintendo Switch, with closed-down OS and game code.

It was very recently that modders figured out they could modify the game's various types of trees to grow... things that ought not to grow on them. Star Fragments, for example, but also bones, fish, and all sorts of other weirdness! Back to Star Fragments, though: each can be sold to Nook for 250 Bells, which means having a friggin' tree of Star Fragments was a major boon for those who needed Bells fast. Modders were also able to grow items that players straight-up cannot get at all in the game, like strange Heart Crystals we're yet to see become useful.

Here's where it gets even more interesting: a sort of an impromptu black market popped up shortly after the hacks made themselves apparent. While this is a pretty big issue for game balance, we believe it's the fact that people started selling hacked Money Trees for $50 or more that brought Nintendo's hotfix-hammer down on the whole thing. Which gets us to Update 1.4.1...

Update 1.4.1. Changelog - 5th of August 2020

The obvious - and most important - fix included with Update 1.4.1. is that it removes the hackers' ability to grow all sorts of different items on modded Money Trees. It was only a matter of time before Nintendo acted upon this issue, though we do believe it would have taken them substantially longer had real money not come into picture.

Here's the full list of fixes included with hotfix 1.4.1.:

Fixed an issue where trees could mature and contain things other than the normal fruit, etc.
Fixed an issue where shining soil disappears after returning to your own island after a dream and buried Bells appear in that location instead.
Fixed an issue where the player swings their shovel through the air when attempting to hit a rock placed at a certain location.

If you're unsure how to install this update, complete the following steps, according to Nintendo themselves:

Connect your Switch console to the Internet.
Open up the HOME Menu and launch Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Allow 10-20 minutes for the update to download and automatically install.
Check the game's title screen for version number: it should say 'Ver. 1.4.1.'

And you'll be good to go! If you never dabbled in applying hacks to your savegame, you'll see no real difference, other than having to deal with a few bugs less. If you did, however, get a modified Money Tree this way or the other, it obviously will no longer work! You can't really sidestep client updates, so it's not like you have a choice in the matter if you want your copy of New Horizons to work properly.

Thankfully, there aren't any real-world consequences for those who used Star Fragment Money Trees that we know of.

Exciting New Datamines for Animal Crossing New Horizons

Data-mining continues in the world of New Horizons! This time around, clever code-scroungers have uncovered further references to gardening and various vegetables: something that's already been hinted at with the previous batch of datamines. It just so happens that the big Wave 2 update that launched last week had a number of things that were previously mined, like the Dream Suite feature!

Without further ado, here's what the latest post by Ninji (a prominent and reliable dataminer) has "announced":

new Gyroid item
Tomato, Wheat, Sugar Cane, Potato, Carrot, and Squash vegetables
Plumeria - an all-new bush time
references to sewing and cooking DIYs

That's... a lot, actually. While most of these are pretty self-explanatory, newcomers to Animal Crossing probably won't know what Gyroids are. It's simple, though: these are unique furniture items that also work as NPCs, sometimes. It's weird, in true Animal Crossing fashion. We'll see what Nintendo does with them in New Horizons, but we've got some big hopes already!

"Usual disclaimer of course that these changes don’t mean a particular feature is certainly coming, or not coming Things change during development! They’re almost definitely still working on cooking etc, they’ve just gone “oh shit, Ninji tweeted about this, add an #ifdef”."

Wise words, but it's hard not to get hyped about new features in Animal Crossing! We'll see whether stuff such as sewing makes an appearance in the game, but our mantra is really simple: the more the merrier! Keep 'em coming, Nintendo.

What was that about new Limited-Time Seasonal Items?

If you're anything like us, you're all about the latest and greatest limited-time Seasonal Items in Animal Crossing. Something about the game just appeals to our collection-loving lizard brains, and this obviously includes new releases, too! Well, this month only, you'll have the opportunity to grab two all-new outfits for your in-game avatar, as well as the awesome 'Rodeo-style Springy Ride-on' ride-able horse. Fun!

Rodeo-style Springy Ride-on Placeable Item - 2,000 Bells
Hikoboshi Outfit - 2,500 Bells
Orihime Outfit - 2,500 Bells

It's a pricey sort of investment, for sure, but still! One thing to keep in mind is that these items will be going away on 31st of August. If you'd like to add them to your ever-growing collection, we suggest you make your investments as soon as possible.

Wrap-up!

That's about everything exciting that's happened in Animal Crossing New Horizons this week. Don't forget to keep track of our community announcements over at AC Runway, because we're on top of things on a weekly basis, no matter what!

Having said that, chances are that you're actually visiting our site to grab the cutting-edge swag that's being released daily! That's right: our - rather enviable, might we add - list of awesome streetwear for Animal Crossing is always growing. We're sure you could find something new to wear if you visit our hub pages, so don't miss out!