Happy Home Paradise plot number speculation

[Insulaire]

After watching the Direct 50 times yesterday, I’m convinced that the HHP will differ from the HHD and limit the number of plots to 49 villager resort homes. Given that a picture of villagers occupying spots in the grid can be seen in the video, I think it’s unlikely that more than one home could occupy a plot. BUT with both the roommates function and the strangely unaddressed reveal that the homes can have multiple levels, I wouldn’t be surprised if homes could be upgraded to duplexes to fit in more villagers into the same spot. But I think what really sells it for me is that we are told to go back and remodel earlier villager resort homes— if we are creating 400+ homes, why would we ever bother or find the time? But if the number of homes is much smaller and preset, it would make sense to maximize the existing homes by remodeling. Plus, given that resort residents also hang out on the island and occupy the buildings we design, I can’t see 400+ villagers crawling all over the island. In the logic of the new mechanic, it makes sense for there to be fewer home plots. I hope I’m wrong, but I also don’t mind if I’m not either— being able to hand select which 49-98 villagers/NPCs I want to populate my resort is more like having a second island— much more, really!

 

[Marshmallows]

I'm guessing it's going to be 1 villager per plot (or pair.) Almost 50 plots plus the facilities will be enough to keep me busy for quite a while.

 

[Insulaire]

In a way the plots being limited makes this an improvement on wanting additional villager slots— now you can host all your alternates and favorites you didn’t have room for, plus Nintendo gets to sell more Amiibo cards for those not willing to wait for their favorites to appear on the beach at random. I do wonder if this means some furniture won’t be accessible to everyone since it’s tied to each villager— the trading market may still be alive and well!

 

[Khaelis]

I imagine it'll be one or two homes per square/acre. And since you can room people up in pairs... that is still a lot of homes to work on!

 

[Sheep Villager]

I feel it would be baffling for them to lock it to 49 animals even if you count pairs.
We know new requests unlock new items for you to use. By locking it to 49 that would mean you have to bulldoze previous things you've made to progress and get new stuff. It also means tough luck if you want to do more than one project in a specific environment. If I want to give a penguin an ice home but only have a desert plot left it's going to be... not great.

I really hope the map thing is just cute flair and not actually indicative of anything.
Personally it would ruin the game for me to be locked in to limited slots...​

 

[azurill]

I feel it would be baffling for them to lock it to 49 animals even if you count pairs.
We know new requests unlock new items for you to use. By locking it to 49 that would mean you have to bulldoze previous things you've made to progress and get new stuff. It also means tough luck if you want to do more than one project in a specific environment. If I want to give a penguin an ice home but only have a desert plot left it's going to be... not great.

I really hope the map thing is just cute flair and not actually indicative of anything.
Personally it would ruin the game for me to be locked in to limited slots...​

Agreed I don’t see them having only a certain amount of plots. I think the map is just there to help figure out where a villager could go. I think it will be like the original where you can use the same plot more then once.

 

[Insulaire]

The grid has 49 spaces, so if you paired everyone, that would be a max of 98 (and I suspect some can’t be paired, like Isabelle, so that number is probably less). Each environment has at least four spots on the map. You’d need to plan ahead to avoid something like the penguin issue you describe— though, wouldn’t a penguin wanting to get away from their usual grind on vacation maybe want to mix it up by visiting the desert?

I do wonder if the multiple levels of homes may mean we can do condos/duplexes and a second floor could be a completely different interior home for villagers but they share the same exterior, as this would double the interior home designing and villagers available

 

[Kg1595]

About the roommate situation— I am wondering if roommates only occur on occasion, and is something the player cannot control. This is something I can see the developers trying to keep a cap on.

 

[Insulaire]

About the roommate situation— I am wondering if roommates only occur on occasion, and is something the player cannot control. This is something I can see the developers trying to keep a cap on.

They said in the Direct that roommates only occur with the player’s suggestion, so I don’t think it’s forced. But like a lot of the mechanics, we just don’t know yet!

 

[Sara?]

i am also in the team that hopes we do not have a cap for plots, i dont want to tear down homes i gave to specific villagers just so i can add another one and get more furniture, plus it just cant be that you have 1 or 4 for example ice spots .... dosent really make sense, they are way too many who need or well i would need to give them an ice aesthetic environment, i mean i would not feel good giving a penguin a home located in the desert 🏜

 

[Sheep Villager]

The grid has 49 spaces, so if you paired everyone, that would be a max of 98 (and I suspect some can’t be paired, like Isabelle, so that number is probably less). Each environment has at least four spots on the map. You’d need to plan ahead to avoid something like the penguin issue you describe— though, wouldn’t a penguin wanting to get away from their usual grind on vacation maybe want to mix it up by visiting the desert?

I do wonder if the multiple levels of homes may mean we can do condos/duplexes and a second floor could be a completely different interior home for villagers but they share the same exterior, as this would double the interior home designing and villagers available

That's still a good 300 villagers and their items left out even if you max out pairs though.
Even if you max it out you would have to tear stuff down to unlock items, assuming we don't get some sort of condo/duplex thing. Original HHD did let you do more than 1 room for villagers without any sort of mechanics tied to it so the floors might not mean anything.​

 

[Insulaire]

Fortunately I can see the plus side of either way: limited spots means it’s more curated and more like a second island for us, but if all villagers are able to have homes that means lots of homes to design and work to do to complete every villager’s request. So I say bring on either option! But I still think it makes more sense based on what we saw to expect limited plots.

 

[Bugs]

It's been a while since I played HHD, but if I recall correctly, that wasn't capped at all?

You could use the same plot for other villagers, it was essentially a template rather than an actual physical location. I thought it was just going to be like that again this time.

 

[VanitasFan26]

There is still is the question that is bothering me. If you were to invite your villagers to the archipelago does that mean that the villager who is moving there will have to move out for good on your island making it easier to get an empty plot? It would not make sense if your villager were to move to the archipelago island and they leave their home just sitting there on your home island doing nothing.

 

[King koopa]

I'm guessing it will probably just be 49-98 villagers (not counting npcs) and we will get more space as you progress. Now I say that because since hhp is pretty much hhd HD, there might not be a villager limit, since hhd didn't have one. Though if there is a limit, then you would just have up to 49 villagers. If not, it would allow you to give every single villager a home. Though I think it's more likely the first one, I guess we'll have to see when the update comes out

 

[Jinglefruit]

I think the middle square is the resort, and not an option to move to btw. (unless the centre can have some permanent move ins too?)
So 48 options for 96 villagers is what I'm expecting. I don't think reusing sites is going to carry over because it shows icons on the map. - Though I checked back to HHD and their map had ~85 options, so maybe they'll expand on this later?

Also note, the cinematic when you arrive shows there's plots mapped out to either side that aren't options. So maybe more unlock overtime too?

 

[Insulaire]

I think the middle square is the resort, and not an option to move to btw. (unless the centre can have some permanent move ins too?)
So 48 options for 96 villagers is what I'm expecting. I don't think reusing sites is going to carry over because it shows icons on the map. - Though I checked back to HHD and their map had ~85 options, so maybe they'll expand on this later?

Also note, the cinematic when you arrive shows there's plots mapped out to either side that aren't options. So maybe more unlock overtime too?

Good catch, you’re right, it would be 48 plots.

Also the image for the HHP headquarters on the map doesn’t show the buildings surrounding it, so maybe that’s evidence that the dot on the map doesn’t necessarily mean it’s only one building at that location?

 

[DJStarstryker]

HHD had a sort of roommate function, but not for regular villagers. Some of the NPCs lived together. For instance, Timmy and Tommy lived together (Tom Nook got his own house), the 3 Able hedgehogs lived together, Kapp'n and his family lived together, Reese and Cyrus lived together... There was no option to make them live separate either.

So yes, you definitely have a good point - even though HHP is EXTREMELY similar to HHD, I don't think it's exactly the same. The roommate feature that we saw in the HHP trailer was new. Also, we haven't seen the ability to place rugs outside like HHD has, so unsure if that's present or not.

I hope that there isn't a 49 home limitation. I'd really like to make houses for everyone eventually. That was a really fun thing to do in HHD, to try to think of different ways to be creative and not make everyone's house look the same even when certain villagers have similar tastes and aesthetics to each other. It was a good creativity sort of challenge, because you also had to decorate in ways you might not normally decorate for your own house or town.

 

[King koopa]

Also not sure if the facilities will take up plot space as well, or if they won't count.

- Though I checked back to HHD and their map had ~85 options, so maybe they'll expand on this later?

That's a good possibility. Since there will definitely be people who want to try to send as many villagers to the paradise islands at a time, this will make it easier for those people, and the player won't feel limited.

 

[Etown20]

I'm always hesitant to predict stuff like this because there is plenty of stuff they have changed or left out of the main game, but I don't anticipate them changing the HHD structure and limiting the number of plots. It could happen, but I don't see a reason to think they would change it based on what we know so far.

As far as the hub world where the villagers hang out or inside buildings, I think it will just probably pick a certain number of random villagers to be outside whenever you're walking around, regardless of how many homes you have designed.