# Island layout regret



## Sharksheep (Apr 15, 2020)

Does anyone regret the island layout they picked? I didn't know that the resident services area and the river mouths were fixed. My rivers are both south and my resident services area is not even in front my airport. 

I have too many diy recipes to restart now


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## Sanaki (Apr 15, 2020)

Yeah. I reset even though I had the full Sakura set and tons of recipes. Honestly it was worth it to me because I got a lot back (plus more) and better variants of furniture in my shops. I decided that it was worth it to reset because while diys are replaceable, a bad layout (meaning RS and river ends) isn’t and I didn’t want to dread playing.


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## Eirrinn (Apr 15, 2020)

Eh I only slightly regret it. Not worth resetting over as I can just terraform the rivers around if needed


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## thatawkwardkid (Apr 15, 2020)

Eh, I wish Resident Services and my airport lined up a little more but its not a huge deal. I was able to work around it.


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## Sharksheep (Apr 15, 2020)

thatawkwardkid said:


> Eh, I wish Resident Services and my airport lined up a little more but its not a huge deal. I was able to work around it.



Can I ask how you worked around? I'm struggling with figuring out my shop placements since I plan on moving all of my residents to back of the island


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## Moon Cake (Apr 15, 2020)

I was a little peeved that my Resident Services area is two spaces off-center from the airport and I also considered resetting because I had second thoughts about my island name. I started terraforming and decorating my island more and now these annoyances don't bother me at all.


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## Piroshi (Apr 15, 2020)

I do. My Resident Services is one spot off from being lined up with my airport. It's too late to reset now though.


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## trashpedia (Apr 15, 2020)

Ehhhhhh...I kinda wish my resident services was in front of my airport but other than that, I’m kinda fine with the layout of my island.


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## Dae (Apr 15, 2020)

yeah I kinda wish my resident services lined up with my airport, but I ended up working around it as well, for the most part. I'm slowly but surely having things come together, there's still some empty space around the RS but I think I have a few ideas. And as for the river mouths, I think the key to getting used to those is abandoning the whole 'water from the headwaters MUST flow down to the rivermouths' mentality that the map puts on you. try not to cling to the idea that a massive river has to stretch through the entirety of your island. Get creative with it, have a small pond close to the mouth flow into the ocean to make sense of the rivermouth instead. or some tiny moat-like rivers winding thru your residential area/shopping district and meeting at the mouth. somethin like that!


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## lucitine (Apr 15, 2020)

I do only because my town hall is located north of the airport. I needed that space for an idea and its kind of bothering me that my new cliffs are right up against the edge of the center.


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## thatawkwardkid (Apr 15, 2020)

Sharksheep said:


> Can I ask how you worked around? I'm struggling with figuring out my shop placements since I plan on moving all of my residents to back of the island


Luckily for me Resident Services and my airport is off by like 10 spaces so I just had to change my paths a little. My original plan was to have them line up perfectly and have a huge path leading up to RS with a fountain or statue in the middle. I might post pictures later since its a little hard to describe.


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## alyssaisrad93 (Apr 15, 2020)

Yes, now that I know how I'd like my island to be setup and everything I really regret my island choice. I only had south-facing river maps and I didn't know that you couldn't move them with terraforming, which really messes up my island. My resident services is also pretty centered, which is good, except it's more far north than I want it to be, so I have a limited area to work with for my neighborhood area. Also with both river mouths being south I have two little strips of land on the left and right, which I don't really know what to do with.

I really considered resetting a few weeks ago, but now that I have almost all of my dreamies and a lot of recipes and items I don't want to start over at this point. I wish Nintendo had been a bit more upfront about terraforming limitations regarding the river mouths, because by the time you unlock it you're pretty far along.


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## elphieluvr (Apr 15, 2020)

I have a lot of regret about resident services. I specifically chose a map where resident services was in the center of the island as a whole, because I thought it would be a better aesthetic. Didn’t think about the fact that it was waaay out of line with the airport.

but I have 200 hours logged on this game and I don’t host strangers much, only my irl friends, so I figured it wasn’t worth resetting over.


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## Alolan_Apples (Apr 15, 2020)

I don’t regret choosing what map I chose. I even liked my island more than I did from the start.


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## ForgottenT (Apr 15, 2020)

I have the abaolute worst resident service location..
It's right up against the dodos, closer than I've ever seen in other layouts, and it's offset, it's awful, my river locations are awful too, top left, and bottom right.


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## thelonewanderer (Apr 15, 2020)

Same map as you OP.  Reset on Day 5 (35 hours into the game) and never look back.  Best decision I ever made.  I'm on day 18 now and love my island.


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## Story (Apr 15, 2020)

A little. I was lucky that I knew Resident services couldn't be changed before hand so I made sure they lined right up. I dont like my river mouths though. But I’m working with it.
Also not a fan of my town name. Should have choosen Rookery or Roost. No way I’m resetting now though.


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## elimaycry (Apr 15, 2020)

i really liked it when i chose it but now I've done some terraforming and redecorating it's bugging me a bit.... wish we could move river mouths but I am stuck with it now lol


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## DovahTobi (Apr 15, 2020)

elphieluvr said:


> I have a lot of regret about resident services. I specifically chose a map where resident services was in the center of the island as a whole, because I thought it would be a better aesthetic.


Same here :\ I was like okay make it central! Then after a few days of playing I was like .... oh. But I didn't want to reset. I think I've done some decent stuff with paths so it's not the worst thing. Still regret it, but not enough to reset.


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## ForbiddenSecrets (Apr 15, 2020)

My resident services being just *one* off center with the airport and close enough to notice is painful.  If if was more off I would be happier. That said I'm just going to work with it. I'm happy enough with everything else. Nothing in life is perfect.


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## Jas (Apr 15, 2020)

ugh i liked it a lot before i started terraforming but the double south river is NOT doing it for me !! i would never reset though, i would not want to lose all my DIYs and donations lmao just making the best of it!


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## Hedgehugs (Apr 15, 2020)

feel like im the only person who's liking their double south rivers. If anything my residential services lowkey make me wanna reset but im managing.


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## jozial (Apr 15, 2020)

I don't regret the layout specifically, I'm able to make it work, but I do regret picking an island without caring what flowers and fruit grow on it. I got windflowers and cosmos, and I'm not a big fan of them. I love hyacinths. So if I were to reset I would make sure to get hyacinths and peaches on a new island. I can always trade for hyacinths or grow my own, but that doesn't stop random cosmos's from popping up everyday.


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## Underneath The Stars (Apr 15, 2020)

ForbiddenSecrets said:


> My resident services being just *one* off center with the airport and close enough to notice is painful.  If if was more off I would be happier. That said I'm just going to work with it. I'm happy enough with everything else. Nothing in life is perfect.



omg this is the same for me!!!! like if that's the case i'd rather it be anywhere, because i can put a park or something after the airport and then just lead a path to it......but it's off center near airport (but i think 2 for me) and even if i placed a fountain after the entrance walkway, it's still so odd that you have to move a few steps to the left to enter it ugh, i hate....

other than that though, my layout is perfect imo. one river to the right, one bottom on left and not near the pier or airport.


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## Squeaky (Apr 15, 2020)

Same gripe as everyone else really - wish my airport lined up with RS better.  I'm working with what I have though.  Asymmetry can be fun.


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## brockbrock (Apr 15, 2020)

Sure, if i could change some things I would, but I honestly love what I've accomplished so far, and I am enthusiastic about tackling any other issues that may arise from my layout.


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## Debs2107 (Apr 17, 2020)

Sharksheep said:


> Does anyone regret the island layout they picked? I didn't know that the resident services area and the river mouths were fixed. My rivers are both south and my resident services area is not even in front my airport.
> 
> I have too many diy recipes to restart now


Can you share some pictures because I have an island w 2 south exits and honestly I hate it


Hedgehugs said:


> feel like im the only person who's liking their double south rivers. If anything my residential services lowkey make me wanna reset but im managing.


do you have any pics you can share of your island or your map? I am kinda not liking the south exits and dunno what to do w my rivers


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## Garrett (Apr 17, 2020)

I'm very happy with mine. I looked at the map options before launch and immediately liked the look of the map with the river exit to the west and one to the south east. I remember people oohing and aahing over the double south river exit option but I knew I wouldn't like that  I also wanted enough elevated land in the north for the museum and campsite in separate areas and resident services close to the airport.

Luckily, I saw the option I wanted the first time I started the game which was just as well as I started at midnight and wasn't really in the mood to be resetting all night haha.


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## moon_child (Apr 17, 2020)

Jas said:


> ugh i liked it a lot before i started terraforming but the double south river is NOT doing it for me !! i would never reset though, i would not want to lose all my DIYs and donations lmao just making the best of it!



The double south river mouths are tricky to work with. I feel ya. I’ve considered resetting several times myself. Maps with one side exit and one south exit are easier to decorate.


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## Miqo (Apr 17, 2020)

The layout of my island before I restarted was nicer when it came to jumping over the river. It didn't matter which side I was on on the upper side, as long as I jumped over it downwards, I would always end up in the main central part, it was great. The cliffs at the back were a lot more simple too. My new one doesn't have the convenience of either of those things, but the fact I have enough space on the bottom right side to house all my villagers next to each other nice and neatly is worth it.


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## Sharksheep (Apr 17, 2020)

Debs2107 said:


> Can you share some pictures because I have an island w 2 south exits and honestly I hate it
> 
> do you have any pics you can share of your island or your map? I am kinda not liking the south exits and dunno what to do w my rivers




I don't have a picture right now but I planning on going with a double waterfall design


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## niko2 (Apr 17, 2020)

The only thing I don't like is that I don't have a really spacious rock to decorate like I've seen in other islands. I still have some spacious ones, but not big enough to create a whole cafè on it. But I've a cute private beach between the river and the peninsula, so that makes up for it!


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## JKDOS (Apr 17, 2020)

No. We all knew about terraforming, and its limitations before the game released. So I had an idea of what I wanted, and since Happy Island Designer was around before release, I was also able to play around and design the future island I wanted.

There are a few things I wish I could change about my current map, (like RS, airport, secret beach) but My main goal was getting a river outlet similar to what I've been planning for.


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## Imbri (Apr 17, 2020)

I don't think, in terms of getting RS, airport, river mouths, pier, flowers, and trees all to line up, there is a perfect map. Knowing that, I tried to find one that gave me most of what I wanted - namely some good cliffs to begin with, pear trees, and starting villagers that didn't make me cringe. 

My RS is up and to the right of the airport. I got around things by setting the shop up next to that, which made it directly across from the ramp from the airport. I figure I'll be using it most often, to do island tours to get resources and farm fish and bugs, so that makes it easy to run into the shop to sell when I get back. If someone comes over, they can go right there to buy items (which will be nicer once the shop expands). The tailor shop is on the left, so the three make a bit of a "business area", and keep things compact. 

I've seen some amazing pictures from people, so you can really make any layout work, as long as you are willing to be a bit flexible in your plans. After all, it could be worse - we could still be stuck having to plan around ponds and rocks.


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## marea (Apr 17, 2020)

My services building i so close to my airport, like 4 steps away. I saw all these pics of islands with wonderful long winding paths that lead from the airport to the residnt services, but mine is so close with little room for decoration.
I started working around it today and i like it a little more so i dont plan on restarting my save file because of it. I am sure you can make something unique from your layout that will make people go "I wish that was my layout!".


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## Lazaros (Apr 17, 2020)

i'm pretty much happy with how island is looking - the only thing bugging me a bit is that the RS is SO CLOSE to the airport and also off center, like ... i used the map designer before, only to realize that my assumed airport entrance was actually a stone formation right next to it which just makes me facepalm real hard. i wouldn't start over now, not after pouring +250 hours into this game, but truth be told if we could move the resident services just A TINY bit, i'd sell nintendo my left leg.


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## coffee biscuit (Apr 17, 2020)

I saw someone who had resident services in the direct center of their map and it made me regret everything lol
I kinda wish I went with a double south river mouth. I didn't think I wanted it when I was first resetting for maps but now I do.

I want to restart for a new map and possibly a new island name but I have WAY too much to lose. Oh well! Terraforming is a pain but I think I can make it work.. eventually. OCD makes this stuff really, really hard for me.

I _highly_ doubt it would ever happen but I would love if we could get the option to change names and/or move Resident Services in the future.


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## Romaki (Apr 17, 2020)

I regretted mine and I chose to reset. Now I know which layout works for me and what I like about maps. 

I really regretted two south exits for my rivers, it really took away a lot of space. Now I only have one and I could place all of my villager houses in one row for the time being. Also vertical space isn't that great to work with, at least when you're someone who doesn't know how.

As for the airport and the residential area... I had them close on my first map but I don't enjoy it now. I didn't have them close in New Leaf and I wouldn't ever have them like that for the multiplayer. For me, the residential area seems more fitting in the middle of the island, but I also really appreciate the people who made an effort to line up their airport exit with the middle of the residential area. It's great to work with, but takes a long time to reset. I resetted for like 2 days and those really sucked a lot.


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