# Starting Island Layouts from Official AC Twitter Accounts



## pichupal (Feb 28, 2020)

Hey everyone! I stitched together all the layouts posted from the various language official twitters today. We all know terraforming is a thing, but maybe you don't want to make many changes, want an island you can work with while waiting, or just want some inspiration! The heart shaped lake and a lot of the islands (on your island, so double island???) give me ideas. Hope you enjoy!

I sorted them by where the river outlets are, just in case those are something we won't be able to change.

Edit: Important Notes:


I use the word outlet in the picture, but I mean the mouth of the river, or where the river meets the ocean.
*These are all RANDOMIZED maps layouts.* There will be more options then these, but we'll be seeing them four at a time. Consider focusing on specific features on each map you might like.
Every map has a dock on the opposite side of the East/West mouth (or random in double south). As an example, the west mouth set-up will have a dock on the east beach.
Residential Services and the airport are always in your *starting area*, which is enclosed by the two rivers. 
The starting area can have no cliffs
Each map has a small islet of land sticking out over the beach
Every north secret beach is always blocked/connected to the second or third tier





*Click for full size image!*

Edit 2: Setups I missed from the Dutch and German accounts:


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## Jhine7 (Feb 28, 2020)

Very helpful and what everyone was looking for, thanks!


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## Khaelis (Feb 28, 2020)

Hmmm... they all look great and can easily be worked into something fantastic looking, but the double south ones are looking the most appealing to me right now.


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## Jhine7 (Feb 28, 2020)

One in the double south outlet section (middle one) belongs in the west, still great job!


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## Feraligator (Feb 28, 2020)

I like the west outlet maps, will definitely go for those. Maybe the east ones too since they're just the reverse but for some reason west appeals more. Maybe it's to do with naming my town Westwind lol


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## The Orange (Feb 28, 2020)

This is awesome! Thanks for putting this together!

I'll use terraforming some,  but for the most part I don't want to deviate too much from the original layout of my island so this really helps me imagine the possibilities!

I'm particularly loving the maps with the circular rivers that make a little island within the island.


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## Amilee (Feb 28, 2020)

wow some of those rivers look wild lol
i will def do an island inside my island haha


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## Byebi (Feb 28, 2020)

thanks for compiling this together!

I wonder if youre able to change where the start of a river is.
Dont think ill be going for any of the east/west rivers because i feel like they dont look as nice but. i also dont wanna reroll too much so we'll see


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## moo-kun (Feb 28, 2020)

Thankies for these it's really interesting and exciting to see!!! ⁽⁽٩(๑˃̶͈̀ ᗨ ˂̶͈́)۶⁾⁾
Waaa sooo pumped!!! (ว ≧罒≦)งﾖｲｻﾖｲｻ✩︎‧ ˚


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## Byebi (Feb 28, 2020)

it looks like this one is misplaced though!


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## tajikey (Feb 28, 2020)

This is the type of content I come here to see, great work! The water sections in the bottom right "West" column seem questionable by design.


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## JKDOS (Feb 28, 2020)

Some of those look good

- - - Post Merge - - -



tajikey said:


> This is the type of content I come here to see, great work! The water sections in the bottom right "West" column seem questionable by design.



LOL, I was thinking the same


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## pichupal (Feb 28, 2020)

Byebi said:


> it looks like this one is misplaced though!



Yeah, I caught that one and fixed it, whoops ! Thanks for pointing it out though.


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## jeni (Feb 28, 2020)

I just realised that none of these rivers end in the lower east or lower west sides of the island


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## Garrett (Feb 28, 2020)

Thank you for this. Hadn't thought about tbeaps before, but I'm definitely picking a west outlet layout.


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## Bluebellie (Feb 28, 2020)

These looks little weird.
It will take some time for me to get used to these new maps. Definitely don?t look like the new leaf ones, but that?s ok, since eventually I?ll be able to terraform it to my liking


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## Romaki (Feb 28, 2020)

Thanks for posting these! I wish the residential area was exactly the middle point of a map, but I guess I'll have to go with it being in the lower middle.


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## Khaelis (Feb 28, 2020)

Bluebellie said:


> These looks little weird.
> It will take some time for me to get used to these new maps. Definitely don’t look like the new leaf ones, but that’s ok, since eventually I’ll be able to terraform it to my liking



Honestly, I think its because the island is quite large compared to other games. I think it terms of acres, New Horizons is 6 by 7.

Granted, the edges of the island are 'half' acres as they're beaches.


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## Fey (Feb 28, 2020)

Wow, I can?t express how thankful I am! I was literally just yesterday thinking about how I wished there was an overview like this, and I?m so glad someone actually put the effort into making one. 1000 thanks! ♥


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## Dizzardy (Feb 28, 2020)

Thanks for this. I'm thinking of having a sort of fishing village/harbour in the bottom right of my island. So I'm hoping to start with an island that at least has a river (and maybe a lake) over at the bottom right.


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## Stevey Queen (Feb 28, 2020)

Bottom left corner map is like perfect. I want it


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## Jhine7 (Feb 28, 2020)

Do you think these 24 maps are the only 24 to choose from? Or will it still be randomly generated with more yet to be confirmed? The way these maps are laid out, I'd like to think these are the only 24. But who knows.


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## pichupal (Feb 28, 2020)

Jhine7 said:


> Do you think these 24 maps are the only 24 to choose from? Or will it still be randomly generated with more yet to be confirmed? The one these maps are laid out, I'd like to think these are the only 24. But who knows.



Definitely more, but a lot will be similar to these. Some things, like the three outlet placements seem to be fixed. There's a dock on a bottom acre on the opposite side you start in. There is always one little islet of land that overhangs the water, the north/back beach always seems to be blocked by a cliff or linked to the second/third tier, starting area has no cliffs ect.

Things like the river paths, placement of ponds and cliffs will keep them different, but there's gonna be lots of similarities. Islands on layouts and isolated cliff sections will probably be rarer but still show up every so often.


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## Cheybunny (Feb 28, 2020)

I just want a heart pond.


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## SafariSuz (Feb 28, 2020)

|sf>As others have said, thank you for compiling this.  It reduces the experimentation time of island re-rolling and it gives us a chance to examine the possibilities and spot what is unique about a layout.



pichupal said:


> Definitely more, but a lot will be similar to these. Some things, like the three outlet placements seem to be fixed. There's a dock on a bottom acre on the opposite side you start in. There is always one little islet of land that overhangs the water, the north/back beach always seems to be blocked by a cliff or linked to the second/third tier, starting area has no cliffs ect.
> 
> Things like the river paths, placement of ponds and cliffs will keep them different, but there's gonna be lots of similarities. Islands on layouts and isolated cliff sections will probably be rarer but still show up every so often.



The first thing I appreciate from the maps is the variety of river shapes.  The Gamecube game was capable of generating some fun and amazingly winding rivers.  Some of these maps with their mini-islands remind me of some fantastic Gamecube-type layouts.  At my household, we used to reroll for mini-islands a lot.  I'm glad to see their return.

One unique thing for this game, however, is that some of the maps have Oxbow lakes.  They're a real thing that occurs in nature where the course of a river changes over time, leaving a former river loop behind.  I appreciate that Nintendo put that possible 'roll' into this game, because it expands the realism.  With the terraforming tools, we would have been able to create them anyway, but it's nice to see them as part of the optional starting mix.


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## Mayor-of-Bliss (Feb 28, 2020)

YES thank you so much!


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## Kaiaa (Feb 28, 2020)

I don't mind where the outlet is, but all I do know is that I want a mini island on my map. Thats where I want my house if possible!


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## xara (Feb 28, 2020)

thank you for posting this!


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## John Wick (Feb 28, 2020)

I've gone through them all several times, and can't find what I'm looking for, so I settle on one that might be ok but will still not be great, and then I see resident services in the middle of the land I want to work with. 

Do we know if RS can be moved because I don't want to terraform much, or be stuck for who knows how long until it is unlocked.


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## Khaelis (Feb 28, 2020)

John Wick said:


> I've gone through them all several times, and can't find what I'm looking for, so I settle on one that might be ok but will still not be great, and then I see resident services in the middle of the land I want to work with.
> 
> Do we know if RS can be moved because I don't want to terraform much, or be stuck for who knows how long until it is unlocked.



There are likely many more island maps we've yet to see, probably in the hundreds. Resident Services is unlikely to be relocatable.


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## John Wick (Feb 28, 2020)

Khaelis said:


> There are likely many more island maps we've yet to see, probably in the hundreds. Resident Services is unlikely to be relocatable.



Ok. Cool.
I still want a single river that splits the island in half, so I can colonize it the way I want.

- - - Post Merge - - -

And not have RS or ponds in the middle.


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## Khaelis (Feb 28, 2020)

John Wick said:


> Ok. Cool.
> I still want a single river that splits the island in half, so I can colonize it the way I want.
> 
> - - - Post Merge - - -
> ...



I'm not sure if I want mine in the center, or closer to the bottom left or right corner myself.


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## John Wick (Feb 28, 2020)

Khaelis said:


> I'm not sure if I want mine in the center, or closer to the bottom left or right corner myself.



In the center of large areas of land puts a dent in my landscaping plans.
I'd like RS to be far right, bottom or top, out of TEH way.


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## twinkletoes (Feb 28, 2020)

Wow, so cool! The one at the bottom of the east outlet column stood out to me most!


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## Hanif1807 (Feb 28, 2020)

I think i'm gonna choose the layouts that have island inside an island

But, are these the only starting island options? or there's more?


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## HoennMaster (Feb 28, 2020)

Thank you so much for compiling this. Seeing this literally makes me beyond excited for this game. The map second down in the far left column and the top right corner are gorgeous.

I'm glad to see this because it looks we will be stuck with resident services in the southern half of town. Overall though, really great.


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## oath2order (Feb 28, 2020)

I'm glad we get to change the layout

Because the rivers seem a little much


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## Fey (Feb 28, 2020)

Patterns I’ve noticed for maps that have a river mouth off to the east or west:

• the little dock is on the side opposite the river mouth
• resident services and the airport are either centered or toward the river mouth side


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## Khaelis (Feb 28, 2020)

Fey said:


> Patterns I’ve noticed for maps that have a river outlet off to the east or west:
> 
> • the little dock is on the side opposite the outlet
> • resident services and the airport are either centered or toward the outlet side



By "outlet" you mean the chunk of land that goes into the beach, into the water? Cause if so, there's a couple on there where the dock and outlet are on the same side.


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## pichupal (Feb 28, 2020)

Ah, that's my fault. I used 'Outlet' for the River mouth because it was early in the morning and couldn't think of the word at the time, ahaha....

Basically, layouts where the mouth is on the west has a dock on the east, and vice versa.


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## Fey (Feb 28, 2020)

Khaelis said:


> By "outlet" you mean the chunk of land that goes into the beach, into the water? Cause if so, there's a couple on there where the dock and outlet are on the same side.



No, I meant where the river meets the ocean. Maybe that’s an inlet? A delta? I’ll look it up and edit for clarity accordingly.

~

Also sorry OP, I didn’t see that you’d already mentioned the dock placement, despite reading through all the posts before writing mine lol


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## Bosca (Feb 28, 2020)

The bottom left map is exactly the kind of map I'd love. With higher ground covering the majority of the north of the island and a mini island. I'd totally work with the top right too tho.


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## The Hidden Owl (Feb 28, 2020)

Bosca said:


> The bottom left map is exactly the kind of map I'd love. With higher ground covering the majority of the north of the island and a mini island. I'd totally work with the top right too tho.



I was thinking the same. It leaves a lot of room to work with features I already like. I'd probably change the course of the northernmost river but that's about it, I think.


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## pichupal (Feb 28, 2020)

> Also sorry OP, I didn’t see that you’d already mentioned the dock placement, despite reading through all the posts before writing mine lol



Lol np, me not being fully awake when I made this has lots of people saying outlet for the river mouth today, because I forgot the word mouth.

I might edit in some stuff into the OP though just to help answer some repeat questions.


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## watercolorwish (Feb 28, 2020)

I took one and made my map with it a bit ago so i figured i'd share it here :> its fairy themed



Spoiler


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## John Wick (Feb 28, 2020)

poyonomatopoeia said:


> I took one and made my map with it a bit ago so i figured i'd share it here :> its fairy themed
> 
> 
> 
> ...



That looks pretty awesome actually!


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## sierra (Feb 28, 2020)

Amilee said:


> wow some of those rivers look wild lol
> i will def do an island inside my island haha



Some of those ponds look wiener.


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## pichupal (Feb 29, 2020)

Just added some stuff to the first post to answer some questions:


I use the word outlet in the picture, but I mean the mouth of the river, or where the river meets the ocean.
*These are all RANDOMIZED maps layouts.* There will be more options then these, but we'll be seeing them four at a time. Consider focusing on specific features on each map you might like.
Every map has a dock on the opposite side of the East/West mouth (or random in double south). As an example, the west mouth set-up will have a dock on the east beach.
Residential Services and the airport are always in your *starting area*, which is enclosed by the two rivers.
The starting area can have no cliffs
Each map has a small islet of land sticking out over the beach
Every north secret beach is always blocked/connected to the second or third tier


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## John Wick (Feb 29, 2020)

With a secret beach, we previously had to swim to it, I know I did in New Leaf, so this could mean swimming is still a thing, and wetsuits.


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## pichupal (Feb 29, 2020)

Added two layout images I missed:


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## Fey (Feb 29, 2020)

I see now what you mean with “starting area”—definitely important to keep in mind that we initially won’t be able to explore past that section. 

I’m going to study them for a while and try to visualize my general layout. For now, all I know is that I’m very much leaning toward having one river mouth off to a side (instead of both in the South).


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## Khaelis (Feb 29, 2020)

You can definitely tell New Horizon's map is quite a bit larger than past games, solely based on the river's structure. The extra room definitely allows for a more free-flowing river -- more natural. 

It's amazing what a 7 by 6 acre map can do for you, huh?


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## Aaren (Feb 29, 2020)

What do you guys think, can we make bigger "lakes"?


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## John Wick (Feb 29, 2020)

Aaren said:


> What do you guys think, can we make bigger "lakes"?



If you made an already existing pond any bigger, I think only pond fish would show up there.

You could widen the pond part of the river, where the giant snakeheads spawn.


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## HoennMaster (Feb 29, 2020)

Seeing what some people are coming up with for map concepts, I'm really curious about how big the game will let you make the ponds.


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## Feraligator (Feb 29, 2020)

The maps shown on the Russian Nintendo account are soooo neat, I'd definitely want one of these to start with!


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## pocky (Feb 29, 2020)

I love the ones that have an island within an island


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## Khaelis (Feb 29, 2020)

JezDayy said:


> View attachment 231585
> 
> The maps shown on the Russian Nintendo account are soooo neat, I'd definitely want one of these to start with!



Whoa, the bottom right one is very close to what I'd likely pick. If only Resident Services was a little more south...


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## Corndoggy (Feb 29, 2020)

this looks like its going to take me a while to choose a layout haha


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## John Wick (Feb 29, 2020)

I still haven't seen one I can work with.
I hope they aren't all split into three.

I want two large areas of land, with one river dividing them.


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## aikatears (Feb 29, 2020)

I saw a map layout that was an small island with water around it...looked a good size too. I hope to get that one for my map I had so many ideas when I saw it.


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## Pokeking (Feb 29, 2020)

I'm probably going to go with an East outlet island. In New Leaf, my town had its beach on its right.


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## Carina (Mar 1, 2020)

I love all of the maps! I can't wait to choose my island. 

I've noticed that there is no map with east AND west mouth of the river. Do you think that at least one of the river's mouths has to be in the south?

Also, one of the maps has a very interesting pond:


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## meggiewes (Mar 1, 2020)

John Wick said:


> I still haven't seen one I can work with.
> I hope they aren't all split into three.
> 
> I want two large areas of land, with one river dividing them.



Sadly, I don't think you are going to be able to get that right away.  All the rivers look to be three branches. But, some look more streamlined and easier to get rid of when you unlock terraforming.


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## John Wick (Mar 1, 2020)

meggiewes said:


> Sadly, I don't think you are going to be able to get that right away.  All the rivers look to be three branches. But, some look more streamlined and easier to get rid of when you unlock terraforming.



Yeah, I can fill one branch in when terraforming is unlocked, it's just the closed in feeling from not having wide open spaces and getting frustrated at not being able to do anything.


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## sierra (Mar 1, 2020)

Are the starting points of the the rivers waterfalls??


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## Khaelis (Mar 1, 2020)

sierra said:


> Are the starting points of the the rivers waterfalls??
> View attachment 231612



Yeah. Many rivers start at lakes. Just in these cases, they are smol lakes.


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## visibleghost (Mar 1, 2020)

i really like those with a little island on the island... so cute


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## MiniPocketWorld (Mar 1, 2020)

Think I am going to aim for an East Outlet, heart lake, triangle grass, and apples and have the workshop more inland than closer to the beach.
Is that too much to hope for? lol
I am willing to let the heart lake go.


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## SafariSuz (Mar 1, 2020)

|sf>Well, you never know what will appear in the beginning maps until you see them appear on your actual screen.  One of my New Leaf maps forms a giant smilie face.  The map has two large lakes in the northern part of the island with a river that curves horizontally.  It started with one bridge on the left side, so I built a second bridge onto the right side to keep things balanced.  All the shops are north of the river in a perfect line along the upper fence with the town tree in the upper right side.  Even though I can't control villagers, most of them build their houses on the residential section south of the river.


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## John Wick (Mar 1, 2020)

Khaelis said:


> Yeah. Many rivers start at lakes. Just in these cases, they are smol lakes.



That bottom left map.
Damn.. if RS was on the right, I could work with that.


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## Khaelis (Mar 1, 2020)

John Wick said:


> That bottom left map.
> Damn.. if RS was on the right, I could work with that.



Resident Services is likely going to be the bane of our existence for many of us, especially if we can't relocate it. Literally needs to be in the perfect spot for your plans in a few month's time.


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## John Wick (Mar 1, 2020)

Khaelis said:


> Resident Services is likely going to be the bane of our existence for many of us, especially if we can't relocate it. Literally needs to be in the perfect spot for your plans in a few month's time.



So RS is basically the immovable rock.

Damnit!


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## Khaelis (Mar 1, 2020)

John Wick said:


> So RS is basically the immovable rock.
> 
> Damnit!



I'm treating it like that, just in case lol.


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## Bluebellie (Mar 6, 2020)

Ummm do you guys know if we are able to move the villager service around? Or do you think it permanent?
Just asking since it affects what type of map I would like.


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## Gurgi (Mar 6, 2020)

Thank you for putting all of these together! It's very helpful. I'd love my house on a little island in the rivers, but since we're restricted at first to the area around RS, I'm not sure that's possible yet. Do we know if we can move our houses around later?


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## Mairmalade (Mar 6, 2020)

Bottom-left on the west-side.

Yup.

This is all me.

Resets baby


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## pichupal (Mar 6, 2020)

Bluebellie said:


> Ummm do you guys know if we are able to move the villager service around? Or do you think it permanent?
> Just asking since it affects what type of map I would like.



Sadly nothing confirmed yet on this. It's Resident Services and the Airport people are thinking might not be fixed in place.




Gurgi said:


> Thank you for putting all of these together! It's very helpful. I'd love my house on a little island in the rivers, but since we're restricted at first to the area around RS, I'm not sure that's possible yet. Do we know if we can move our houses around later?



Moving your house is confirmed.


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## DJStarstryker (Mar 6, 2020)

Bluebellie said:


> Ummm do you guys know if we are able to move the villager service around? Or do you think it permanent?
> Just asking since it affects what type of map I would like.



I would assume that you can't move Resident Services or the airport, just in case, because we haven't gotten confirmation for that. 

I would also assume that you can't change the mouth of rivers, the island shape, or anything regarding the beach. Again, just in case.


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## Azrael (Mar 6, 2020)

Not sure if someone noted this yet or not but it looks like the rivers always end in the same spots. Only the top left/right and the two spots on the bottom. Left side is always paired with the bottom right and vise versa for the right river. I was actually hoping for a bottom left ending river.


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## John Wick (Mar 6, 2020)

Yesterday I saw an image of a NH map on Youtube that had a single river dividing the island into two, which is what I wanted.

The map looked real, so there's hope for me yet!


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## HoennMaster (Mar 7, 2020)

John Wick said:


> Yesterday I saw an image of a NH map on Youtube that had a single river dividing the island into two, which is what I wanted.
> 
> The map looked real, so there's hope for me yet!




If you're referring to this:

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/pRmDJJwS4Mo/maxresdefault.jpg

It's just an edited picture for a thumbnail. That video is very old, before we saw what river layouts were like.


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## John Wick (Mar 7, 2020)

HoennMaster said:


> If you're referring to this:
> 
> https://i.ytimg.com/vi/pRmDJJwS4Mo/maxresdefault.jpg
> 
> It's just an edited picture for a thumbnail. That video is very old, before we saw what river layouts were like.



Well that sucks.


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## Sweetley (Mar 7, 2020)

This layout is already my favorite:







Reminds me of my old NL town, probably gonna reset till I get an island that looks (similar) like this one.


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## Marte (Mar 7, 2020)

Seeing these maps makes me more and more excited for the game! I can't wait! No idea what type of map I want tho, because I think I will have fun with whatever I get, so no map resetting for me, that's for sure. AAA March 20th can't come soon enough.


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## Krissi2197 (Mar 7, 2020)

So is this implying most of your island will be closed off until you are able to make the vaulting pole, as there will be no bridges to start like in previous games? o:


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## Blue Cup (Mar 7, 2020)

Absolutely none of the starting layouts look appealing to me, which is fine considering we can terraform it into whatever we want. The location of the residential center and river exits matter not to me in the end.


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## HoennMaster (Mar 7, 2020)

John Wick said:


> Well that sucks.



Hopefully you will be able to change it with terraforming. There are some layouts that divide it into three pieces that are roughly equal though.


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## John Wick (Mar 8, 2020)

HoennMaster said:


> Hopefully you will be able to change it with terraforming. There are some layouts that divide it into three pieces that are roughly equal though.



I only want two.

I avoided all these type maps since Wild World.


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