It used to be, that a critter would show up even when the attracting plant was removed, when it had been programmed to show before the plat was removed.

With the Candy Critters it seems that the programming changes immediately when the plants are moved.

Did anybody else notice that?

I've seen (and had) things show when they've already been programmed in before a change of setup.

Several people have had four plants in their gardens, but the stuff which has been recently programmed in has still shown, which has confused some people into thinking that they can have four plants rather than just three.

So no, I don't think it's changed.

I had a Yellow Candydevil show up about 2.5 hours, I moved the plants and got an Indigo Cherrymole just over 5 minutes later. The two cannot come for the same positions of plants. I must have been programmed in immediately after I moved the plants, when the last feeding on that plate had been 1:20 hours before.

Or am I missing something?

Yes, the same plant grouping can attract more than one critter, usually in different food.

From what I've seen it doesn't look like it has changed, it just depends on your setup when the game "tick" reaches your garden. "Tick" refers to a script running on the back-end which queries on all gardens and queues the next creature either a few minutes before or a few minutes after the slot for the previous creature ended.

I have noticed it, Iris - I changed my plants around and it was a surprise 10 minutes later to get a critter on the NEW position. It was not new food - the system slid over to the new plant!!

It has always been this way. As Jordan said it depends on when the programme "reads" your garden - this can be just after you changed the plant so the new critter gets programmed instead of the one before. If it would have read the garden a few moments before, then the old critter would have been programmed.

I think this is being noticed more because of the way people are treating their gardens.  Most people generally change their setup and then put out fresh food.  With the candy flowers, more people are changing their setups mid-plate, so it's more noticeable how quickly new critters may be attracted.  I haven't seen anything to support that a change has been made, though.  This thread has posts representing the fact that new critters may come after the change but old ones may as well, and that's how it's always been.

I hear you. So it was just a coincidence I happened to change the setting at the right time.

It just seems weird. I mean, I have seen twins of Babies apperar well over half an hour after the first had been spotted and the plant removed...