How to Archive and Preserve Your Animal Crossing Worlds Before They Vanish

Don’t wait until it’s gone: how to archive and preserve your Animal Crossing worlds

Fear of losing years of island builds, custom designs, and community memories? You’re not alone. After Nintendo quietly removed a long-running, high-profile Animal Crossing: New Horizons island in late 2025, creators and visitors were reminded that platform moderation and cleanup can erase digital places overnight. Whether you’re a solo creator, a collaborating town team, or a curator documenting community culture, this practical guide gives you the tools and workflows to document, export, and back up your islands and UGC before they vanish.

Why archiving matters in 2026

Since late 2024 and through 2025, platform moderation policies across gaming portals tightened. Nintendo’s decision to remove controversial Dream islands highlighted two realities: (1) shared cloud-preserved content is still under the platform’s control, and (2) creators can’t rely on Dream addresses or storefronts as permanent archives. At the same time, archival tech has become more accessible — cheap capture cards, AI upscaling, open-source photogrammetry, and web-native 3D viewers make it possible to create museum-quality records of islands without modifying consoles or breaking terms of service.

"Nintendo, I apologize from the bottom of my heart ... Rather, thank you for turning a blind eye these past five years." — island creator @churip_ccc on the removal of a long-running Dream island (2025)

What this guide covers

• Practical, step-by-step ways to capture and export islands and designs.
• Safe and ethical options — including why you should avoid risky save editors or homebrew.
• Advanced preservation: creating searchable metadata, 3D models, and web galleries.
• Recommended hosting and licensing so your archives last.

Immediate, non-technical actions (first 24–48 hours)

If you suspect a platform cleanup or just want to be cautious, do these right away. They require only your Switch and a phone or microSD reader.

1. Capture screenshot proof of everything

• Take screenshots of: island maps, entrances, the plaza, major builds, custom designs (Able Sisters display), NookPhone apps that show event logs or island info, and player catalog entries. Screenshots are the fastest, legal-first record.
• Transfer them to your PC via microSD or the Nintendo Switch Online app. Name files with timestamps and short descriptions (e.g., 2026-01-12_BeachPub_Detail.png).

2. Record a guided video tour

• Hold the Switch capture button to grab short clips, but note the Switch's onboard video limit (short clips only). For full 10–30 minute tours, use an HDMI capture card (Elgato or similar) or dock-to-PC capture over USB-C dock passthrough — see our field rig guide for capture-card recommendations and workflow tips.
• Narrate as you go: call out build names, designers, and coordinates so the recording doubles as audio documentation. Save at the highest quality the card supports — these recordings are primary evidence of layout and scale. Tools like OBS Studio and mobile capture approaches from the mobile micro-studio playbook can streamline multi-file workflows.

3. Save design metadata

• Open each custom design and capture a screenshot of the design grid and the pattern preview. If the game shows a design ID or creator ID, screenshot that too.
• Make a short CSV or text file that lists design name, creator, in-game location, and any license or reuse permission you’ve been given.

Structured archiving: build a durable package

After the immediate captures, assemble a structured archive that will still be useful in five or ten years. Structure and metadata are what turn a pile of screenshots into a research-quality record.

What to include in your archive

• High-res screenshots (PNG preferred) organized by area: plaza, waterfront, residential streets, notable builds.
• Full video walkthroughs (MP4/H.264 or HEVC): at least one complete aerial-style tour and one narrated close-up tour.
• Design files: screenshot of the pattern grid, any exported images, or raw design image files if you’ve exported them via the phone app or Able Sisters (some players export PNGs manually).
• Metadata.txt: island name, Dream Address(s), creator NNID/Account ID, date range of creation, known contributors, patch/firmware version, and notable events (stream highlights, collabs).
• Permissions.txt: explicit permission statements from creators if you plan to redistribute patterns or builds.
• Changelog: a simple log of when you updated the archive, who edited it, and where the master copies live (cloud folder links, physical drives). Consider the observability and cost-control implications of storing large video masters.

Suggested archive folder layout (example)

• /IslandName_2026-01-12/
  • /images/ (screenshots by area)
  • /video/ (walkthroughs and clips)
  • /designs/ (pattern grids and IDs)
  • /metadata/ (metadata.txt, permissions.txt, changelog.txt)
  • /3d/ (if you create photogrammetry exports)

Capture workflows: hardware and software options (advanced)

Pick the level that matches your goals. For long-term preservation and reuse — especially for community or museum work — aim for lossless screenshots, high-bitrate video, and an exported 3D model when possible.

Basic (no extra hardware)

• Use the Switch capture button for screenshots.
• Use short video clips captured on Switch for quick proof. Transfer files to PC for backup.

Recommended (capture card + PC)

• HD60 S+, 4K60 Pro (Elgato) or similar — capture 1080p60 or higher depending on your setup. Record long video tours with high bitrates (10–25 Mbps minimum for archival).
• OBS Studio for recording. Create separate files for overview and in-depth shots. Record at 60fps if possible; slow pan through builds for better still-frame extraction later.

Archival-grade (photogrammetry + 3D)

• Capture a dense set of overlapping screenshots or video frames (60–80% overlap) while walking every visible angle of an area. Use a capture card so frames are clean.
• Use Meshroom (open-source), Agisoft Metashape, or RealityCapture to build meshes and textures. Export to glTF for web viewing or OBJ/FBX for preservation.
• Host interactive glTF on GitHub Pages, a static site, or a WebGL viewer like three.js so visitors can pan and inspect builds in 3D.

Metadata and searchability — make your archive discoverable

Files without context are hard to reuse. Add structured metadata so future curators and researchers can understand what they’re looking at.

Key metadata fields

• Title, creator, and date created
• Dream Address and in-game landmarks
• Contributors and their social handles
• Game version and Switch firmware when relevant
• Keywords (e.g., beach, cafe, pixel art, event)
• License (CC BY-NC, CC0, etc.) and any usage restrictions

Automate tagging with AI (2026 trend)

As of 2026, affordable AI image taggers and vision models make it possible to auto-generate descriptive tags (e.g., “waterfront”, “stone bridge”, “custom archway”). Run your screenshots through AI-tagging tools to create searchable indexes and speed up curation — but remember to budget for the processing costs and the platform observability practices described in observability & cost-control.

Where to store archives for longevity

Redundancy is the cornerstone of preservation. Keep at least three copies: local, cloud, and a public archive.

Local (fast recovery)

• Use two external drives with different manufacturers; keep one offsite if possible. Consider local-first sync appliances and privacy-minded appliances in our field review of local-first sync appliances.
• Use checksums (MD5/SHA256) to verify file integrity over time.

Cloud (easy sharing)

• Google Drive, Dropbox, or Microsoft OneDrive for collaborative archives. Keep master files in a paid account to avoid removal for inactivity.
• Use Git LFS for versioning small-to-medium archives (designs & metadata) and cloud buckets (S3, Wasabi) for large video files. Plan for storage and egress costs using the observability & cost-control patterns above.

Public archives (community access & long-term preservation)

• Internet Archive — great for videos, screenshots, and metadata. Use detailed descriptions and tags.
• YouTube or Vimeo for video walkthroughs (use unlisted if you want controlled access). YouTube provides the widest discoverability for streams and walkthroughs.
• Zenodo for a research-grade DOI if you’re archiving for academic or preservation projects.

Licensing, ethics, and Nintendo rules

Preserving public culture doesn’t remove ethical responsibilities or platform rules. Follow these basic principles.

Respect creators and IP

• Get explicit permission before redistributing someone else’s designs or using their name for publicity.
• Don’t republish proprietary Nintendo assets beyond your screenshots and personal documentation. Avoid commercial redistribution of Nintendo game files or textures.

Avoid risky workarounds

Homebrew, console modding, or save editors can expose your account to bans and may violate laws and terms of service. We don’t recommend these options for preservation. Stick to capture, documentation, and community-led archives — our micro-event launch sprint playbook shows how communities can organise short capture sprints without risky tooling.

Advanced workflows for creators and community curators

Creators and community managers who want to build an archival project or museum exhibit can do more than store files. Here’s a roadmap.

1. Create a public archival pack for each island

• Include a README, high-res images, video tours, design PNGs, and a small public license (e.g., CC BY-NC).
• Offer a lightweight web preview — a gallery and embedded video with basic metadata.

2. Build an interactive web viewer

• Export photogrammetry models to glTF and integrate them with three.js. Add hotspots that link to screenshots and creator notes — see collaborative visual authoring examples in the collaborative live visual authoring field.
• Provide navigation controls, a mini-map, and timestamps of major build phases.

3. Crowdsource contributors and provenance

• Invite visitors to submit screenshots and their memories (date visited, event attended). This crowdsourced provenance strengthens the archive’s historical value — coordinate contributions using the 30-day sprint approach.
• Host a Discord or subreddit with pinned archival guidelines and an upload channel.

Example action plan: 30-day archive sprint

1. Day 1: Immediate screenshots + one full video walkthrough.
2. Days 2–7: Collect design IDs, contributor contacts, and assemble metadata files.
3. Days 8–14: Re-record detailed walkthroughs with capture card; extract key frames for pattern imagery.
4. Days 15–21: Run photogrammetry for two key builds/areas; export glTF previews.
5. Days 22–30: Upload to Internet Archive/YouTube, create a GitHub repo for metadata, and publish an archival pack ZIP for community access.

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

• Pitfall: Relying only on Dream Addresses. Fix: Always make local captures — Dream hosting can be ephemeral.
• Pitfall: No metadata. Fix: Record creator names, dates, and version info at capture time.
• Pitfall: Single backup. Fix: Maintain at least three copies across different media and locations; consider local-first appliances reviewed in our local-first sync appliances field review.

Case study: how one community preserved a festival island (real-world style)

In early 2025 a community-run festival island was scheduled for deletion due to a player account ban. The festival team executed a fast archive plan: they recorded 4K walkthroughs with a capture card, exported every custom design as PNGs, logged contributor lists, and uploaded a master archive to Internet Archive with a descriptive metadata record. Months later, parts of the island were reused for a museum exhibit, with explicit creator permissions documented in the original archive pack. The key win: clear metadata + permission statements turned ephemeral gameplay into preservable cultural material.

Final checklist: what to do right now

• Capture screenshots of your entire island — name them and move them off the Switch.
• Record at least one full-length, narrated walkthrough using a capture card if possible.
• Make a metadata.txt that lists creators, dates, Dream addresses, and permissions.
• Upload master copies to at least one cloud account and the Internet Archive.
• If you’re a creator, include a simple license granting noncommercial reuse to help community projects.

Why preserving Animal Crossing worlds matters

These islands are social artifacts — built collaboratively, exhibited to millions, and often tied to real-world events. As gaming culture becomes a subject for historians, archivists, and scholars in 2026, taking preservation seriously ensures that the creativity of players is not lost to moderation purges, platform changes, or time.

Get started: actionable next steps

Start small: take screenshots today. Then schedule a capture-card session this week, make a simple metadata file, and upload a starter archive to the Internet Archive. If you want a template, we’ve prepared one for creators and curators — share your email in the comments or follow our newsletter for a downloadable ZIP with folder structure, metadata template, and a step-by-step capture script.

Preserve your island before it vanishes. The tools are cheap, the workflows are proven, and the cost of inaction is losing years of creative work. Archive now, share responsibly, and help keep Animal Crossing’s digital heritage alive for future players and researchers.

Call to action

Ready to preserve your island? Start with a single screenshot and tag us on social with your archival pack link. Subscribe to our preservation newsletter for templates, step-by-step capture guides, and a community list of archival-ready Dream islands. Share this guide with your town team — don’t wait until it’s too late.

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