# Balloons not spawning...?



## Lynnatchii (Nov 20, 2020)

I haven't seen any balloons for awhile. Yesterday I played for some hours, but i only see 1 balloon. They say they suppose to Spawn every 4 and 9 minutes?? Today, i haven't seen or hear any balloons. I've waited for some hours! Am I dumb or something?? Is this a bug?


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## Megaroni (Nov 20, 2020)

I have the same problem. I'll be balloon hunting for hours only to get a few. I guess it's just really hard to catch them and predict where they'll be at what times.


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## Tinkeringbell (Nov 20, 2020)

I've heard conflicting stories about whether it's needed or not, but for me it helps to go inside a building (the museum or Nook's Cranny), talk to the NPC there (pretend you're donating or selling something), then go out again.

You need to be outside before the clock jumps to 4 or 9, then go to the side of your island where your balloons are spawning (for Northern Hemisphere islands, this means to the west side beaches during the day and the east side in the evening). Then you wait, and when the time is there for balloons to spawn, run up and down the beach. Sometimes it can take a minute or a bit more for a balloon to reach the island (they spawn at the edge of your map, over the sea, and their speed depends on the amount of wind), so don't give up too soon! If you shot one or there seems to be none, repeat the process of going inside and talking.

This way, I can usually hunt down 8-10 balloons in an hour. I've tried doing this without going inside, but for me, it could take 20 minutes or more for the next balloon to spawn that way.


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## Burumun (Nov 20, 2020)

Tinkeringbell mentioned basically everything already, and if you want balloons, especially for the very limited maple leaf recipes, there's really no way around farming. The only thing I can add is that it seems, from my experience, that if you stick to one area, they'll spawn there - for instance, I've had times where I was working on decorating one small part of my island and barely moved, and I would see a lot more balloons than normally, when I move all over the map. It might just have been coincidental, though, of course.


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## Rosch (Nov 20, 2020)

Check the wind direction. Look at the smoke at your chimney. If the smoke is going to the right, then the balloons will come from the left beach and stay there. Or vice versa.

Also, while the balloon does spawn on the xx:x4 and xx:x9 minutes, the balloon can't be seen on the beach until xx:x5 or xx:x0 minutes.


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## m00ngoose (Nov 20, 2020)

Tinkeringbell said:


> You need to be outside before the clock jumps to 4 or 9, then go to the side of your island where your balloons are spawning (for Northern Hemisphere islands, this means to the west side beaches during the day and the east side in the evening).



I'm curious about the side of the island thing - for me (in the Northern Hemisphere) the balloons spawn from the right during the day and the left during the night. Is there variability in this then?


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## Rosch (Nov 20, 2020)

m00ngoose said:


> I'm curious about the side of the island thing - for me (in the Northern Hemisphere) the balloons spawn from the right during the day and the left during the night. Is there variability in this then?


It varies. I once had balloon direction change in 9am.

And most of the time, it comes in from the left during the day for me.


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## Lynnatchii (Nov 20, 2020)

megantron said:


> I have the same problem. I'll be balloon hunting for hours only to get a few. I guess it's just really hard to catch them and predict where they'll be at what times.


I have waiting, for them, and i planned to hunt today. But i didn't get any.


Tinkeringbell said:


> I've heard conflicting stories about whether it's needed or not, but for me it helps to go inside a building (the museum or Nook's Cranny), talk to the NPC there (pretend you're donating or selling something), then go out again.
> 
> You need to be outside before the clock jumps to 4 or 9, then go to the side of your island where your balloons are spawning (for Northern Hemisphere islands, this means to the west side beaches during the day and the east side in the evening). Then you wait, and when the time is there for balloons to spawn, run up and down the beach. Sometimes it can take a minute or a bit more for a balloon to reach the island (they spawn at the edge of your map, over the sea, and their speed depends on the amount of wind), so don't give up too soon! If you shot one or there seems to be none, repeat the process of going inside and talking.
> 
> This way, I can usually hunt down 8-10 balloons in an hour. I've tried doing this without going inside, but for me, it could take 20 minutes or more for the next balloon to spawn that way.


Thank you, I'll try that!


Rosch said:


> Check the wind direction. Look at the smoke at your chimney. If the smoke is going to the right, then the balloons will come from the left beach and stay there. Or vice versa.
> 
> Also, while the balloon does spawn on the xx:x4 and xx:x9 minutes, the balloon can't be seen on the beach until xx:x5 or xx:x0 minutes.


Oh, i didn't know that. I'll try
Also, balloons used to be very common when I played it (before i took a break). Then i come back, it become really rare somehow. Thank you for the tips, it'll be useful!


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## Tinkeringbell (Nov 20, 2020)

m00ngoose said:


> I'm curious about the side of the island thing - for me (in the Northern Hemisphere) the balloons spawn from the right during the day and the left during the night. Is there variability in this then?


If there is, it's the first time I hear about it... But I don't think it's impossible? I guess the chimney smoke check that Rosch mentioned is a better way to figure out where to look than time and hemisphere, then.


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## tajikey (Nov 20, 2020)

m00ngoose said:


> I'm curious about the side of the island thing - for me (in the Northern Hemisphere) the balloons spawn from the right during the day and the left during the night. Is there variability in this then?


Also in the Northern Hemisphere, and what I've noticed is that on Wednesday, the loons switch sides at 8a and 8p, while every other day it's 7a and 7p.

Regardless, thanks for the chimney smoke trick. That'll be an easier way to check rather than running up and down the beach.


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## Livia (Nov 20, 2020)

Tinkeringbell said:


> If there is, it's the first time I hear about it... But I don't think it's impossible? I guess the chimney smoke check that Rosch mentioned is a better way to figure out where to look than time and hemisphere, then.



on Goose Isle balloons spawn from the west during the day and east at night but on my second island it’s the opposite. They spawn  from the east during the day. Both islands are northern hemisphere.


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## Commodore (Nov 20, 2020)

I run up and down the beach but still miss balloons I eventually find elsewhere on the island, assuming the balloons even spawn (it's not guaranteed, or so I've read). I try to keep the correct angle on my vision, too, because I learned I can be standing on a dock but have my field of vision too high up, and when adjusted lower, a balloon falls into sight.


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## Ossiran (Nov 20, 2020)

Balloons will start the day coming from one side of the island. Then, between 6 and 7 PM, the balloons will start coming from the other direction. (Time seems different for various people. For me it's 6:30.) Balloons have a chance of appearing every 5 minutes on the :05 and :10 markers. However, they actually start spawning off your island a bit before that, so if you put your Switch on rest and then being it back at :04 mark or :09 mark, it'll be too late.

It is possible to be unlucky and go through extended periods of no balloons (i've had days with few balloons), but on average on you should see at least 1 every 20 minutes.


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## visibleghost (Nov 20, 2020)

i'm doing balloon hunting methods specifically and will still miss balloons from time to time. maybe they're spawning and i just don't see them, but believe me, it's hard even when you are specifically looking for balloons...


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## TheSillyPuppy (Nov 20, 2020)

I have noticed fewer spawns this week (before the 1.6.0 update) compared to earlier this month. I'm doing what I did before (entering a building and initiating conversation with an NPC/villager at the xx:x3 and  xx:x8 minutes), so I wonder if this is just luck and not the balloon spawn rates getting lowered.


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## Pintuition (Nov 20, 2020)

I am finding that even though they're supposed to spawn on 4 and 9, I'm only getting one every other marker, so 1 per every 20 minutes. Previously they would come without fail and I'm concerned they've changed the spawn rate in one of the recent updates. I noticed this before this latest one, so my guess is they fiddled with it in the October update. I can't seem to get hardly any balloons and my island is new and not built up at all so there's no possibility I'm not seeing it. It's so frustrating given you only get a few days for maple leaf recipes!


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## TheSillyPuppy (Nov 20, 2020)

Pintuition said:


> I am finding that even though they're supposed to spawn on 4 and 9, I'm only getting one every other marker, so 1 per every 20 minutes. Previously they would come without fail and I'm concerned they've changed the spawn rate in one of the recent updates. I noticed this before this latest one, so my guess is they fiddled with it in the October update. I can't seem to get hardly any balloons and my island is new and not built up at all so there's no possibility I'm not seeing it. It's so frustrating given you only get a few days for maple leaf recipes!


I'm a bit reassured that I'm not the only one noticing this. I just realized something... what if they fiddled with the balloon spawn rates in the October update _because_ we could get Spooky set recipes from villagers crafting them, then forgot to change it back once the Acorn/Pine cone recipes kicked in? Fail whale...


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## Pintuition (Nov 20, 2020)

TheSillyPuppy said:


> I'm a bit reassured that I'm not the only one noticing this. I just realized something... what if they fiddled with the balloon spawn rates in the October update _because_ we could get Spooky set recipes from villagers crafting them, then forgot to change it back once the Acorn/Pine cone recipes kicked in? Fail whale...


That's a good point! I hadn't thought about that!!


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## Debeers (Nov 20, 2020)

TheSillyPuppy said:


> I have noticed fewer spawns this week (before the 1.6.0 update) compared to earlier this month. I'm doing what I did before (entering a building and initiating conversation with an NPC/villager at the xx:x3 and  xx:x8 minutes), so I wonder if this is just luck and not the balloon spawn rates getting lowered.


I have similar experience with the maple leave diys hunting, but still managed to get all of them for 2 accounts in 3 days. So there is hope .


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## TheSillyPuppy (Nov 20, 2020)

Debeers said:


> I have similar experience with the maple leave diys hunting, but still managed to get all of them for 2 accounts in 3 days. So there is hope .


Most definitely. I'm hoping to hone in on farming balloons this weekend to get the last three unique recipes for my alternate and enough duplicates for my S/O's alternate.


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## Debeers (Nov 20, 2020)

TheSillyPuppy said:


> Most definitely. I'm hoping to hone in on farming balloons this weekend to get the last three unique recipes for my alternate and enough duplicates for my S/O's alternate.


You have more work than me! I only need to take care of 3 accounts :lol:


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## Khaelis (Nov 20, 2020)

There was a time where I didn't see a balloon for a  good 45 minutes. It all comes down to luck (or bad luck, in some of our cases).


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## sleepydreepy (Nov 21, 2020)

Last night I tried hunting balloons for the first time. I did pretty well for the first hour, then went to eat dinner and came back and balloons seemed to only spawn every 10 minutes instead of 5. I have no idea why (I was doing the exact same thing the first time/basic balloon hunting strat) but only got 4 or 5 balloons instead of 8-10 for that hour. I also only got 1 new recipe yesterday.  I feel like they definitely nerfed the DIY rates in balloons with the newest update.

edit: this just happened to me again and I'm so confused. I had balloons spawn at 11:39 and 11:44, but at 11:49 there was nothing. I ran up and down my beach and didn't see a single balloon until 11:54....


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## matt2019 (Nov 21, 2020)

Tinkeringbell said:


> I've heard conflicting stories about whether it's needed or not, but for me it helps to go inside a building (the museum or Nook's Cranny), talk to the NPC there (pretend you're donating or selling something), then go out again.
> 
> You need to be outside before the clock jumps to 4 or 9, then go to the side of your island where your balloons are spawning (for Northern Hemisphere islands, this means to the west side beaches during the day and the east side in the evening). Then you wait, and when the time is there for balloons to spawn, run up and down the beach. Sometimes it can take a minute or a bit more for a balloon to reach the island (they spawn at the edge of your map, over the sea, and their speed depends on the amount of wind), so don't give up too soon! If you shot one or there seems to be none, repeat the process of going inside and talking.
> 
> This way, I can usually hunt down 8-10 balloons in an hour. I've tried doing this without going inside, but for me, it could take 20 minutes or more for the next balloon to spawn that way.


This usually works for me too


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## Lynnatchii (Nov 21, 2020)

sleepydreepy said:


> Last night I tried hunting balloons for the first time. I did pretty well for the first hour, then went to eat dinner and came back and balloons seemed to only spawn every 10 minutes instead of 5. I have no idea why (I was doing the exact same thing the first time/basic balloon hunting strat) but only got 4 or 5 balloons instead of 8-10 for that hour. I also only got 1 new recipe yesterday.  I feel like they definitely nerfed the DIY rates in balloons with the newest update.
> 
> edit: this just happened to me again and I'm so confused. I had balloons spawn at 11:39 and 11:44, but at 11:49 there was nothing. I ran up and down my beach and didn't see a single balloon until 11:54....


Yeah, at night times balloons spawn every 10 minutes for me


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## AlyssaAC (Nov 21, 2020)

My mom had the same problem. When she was hunting for balloons, hers would take somewhere between five to twenty five minutes for it to show up. Personally I think its random when they come. Kinda wish it was every five minutes instead of this random times thing. :/


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