# What do you look for in a town map?



## natalie (Jul 6, 2015)

So I got a new digital copy of ACNL, and ive been map cycling. I keep resetting until I find an acceptable map. I actually found a decent one, but then I decided I didnt like it and reset. :/ 

I like a mostly horizontal river,  a centered plaza, a town hall relatively close to there, and a retail by the beach.




(pink being retail)
(green being town hall)
(blue being river)
(beige being sand)
(grey being plaza)

what do you personally look for in a town map?
has anyone tried one of those map editors?


----------



## Voluptua Sneezelips (Jul 6, 2015)

Absolutely agreed with ReTail by the beach! When I set up my towns I didn't think about that much (just chose from the available maps, rather than map-cycling) and OF COURSE my Re-Tails are way off up near the top right of my maps, about as far from the dock as it's possible to get.

Other than that, I'm not too bothered with the map, so long as there are a couple of interesting little bends in the river to make good spots for either character-houses or the campsite.


----------



## The Blood Countess (Jul 6, 2015)

My map is actually pretty close to what you're looking for, aside from Re-Tail being by the beach. So I guess we share similar preferences. Good luck finding your perfect map!


----------



## creamyy (Jul 6, 2015)

I like to have 2 accessible beaches and I look for a bend in the river since I like to place my house there.


----------



## Biskit11 (Jul 6, 2015)

I like when the bridge is in the middle of the town.


----------



## Bynx (Jul 7, 2015)

I don't like rivers that flow toward the north of the town
I love apples
south facing water fall with a spot to build my house 
I don't mind having retail so far from the beach (mine is at the top corner of the map in a line with my cafe)
It took a long time for me to find a map I loved with apples but I love my town map now


----------



## Sanaki (Jul 7, 2015)

The map I currently have. Nice shaped river that's horizontal pretty much, a centered plaza and everything just lines up nicely.


----------



## Heyden (Jul 7, 2015)

1-2 lakes
Triangle grass
Cherry/Apple town fruit
Retail and Town Hall near each other


----------



## Akimari (Jul 7, 2015)

I hate rivers that cut through the town in a vertical fashion. I reset my town because I had this.

I prefer a map where Retail is close to the station actually, in case I need to run and grab something out of my locker and sell it. Alternatively I also make sure my house is close to Retail too... in my old town my house was directly east on the entire other side of the map from Retail. It was hell. 

Just river and Retail preferences matter to me really. I also like lots of open land as well, but that usually comes with the river


----------



## Yay Sweets (Jul 7, 2015)

Personally, I look for a map that is convenient right at the beginning with the bridge. For example, here's my map:




Really convenient.

I also like rivers that look like that- not all over the place. And Retail has to be in a place where I can move near.
And I got lucky with this map in terms of those two cute little ponds that are far enough for me to fit a house between.

So you can say the map I have now is my dream map. Lol.


----------



## Cottonball (Jul 7, 2015)

Town tree to the top right, retail close to beach, waterfall, little island you gotta swim to, a secluded location for my house, and lots of space.


----------



## The221Believer (Jul 7, 2015)

This is my ideal town map. And it happens to be my town map. I love the campsite's accessibility, I love where Retail is, and my house... My villagers have all plotted nicely, too, imo. You'd have to dream of it to see how nicely it works, probably, but it's such a good map. Apples and circle grass don't hurt either. And the blue train station, until I turn it into a modern one!


----------



## louise23 (Jul 7, 2015)

i like your town map


----------



## Xiphos (Jul 7, 2015)

I look for weird, tiny aesthetic things in my maps. For example, I LOVE triangle grass, circle grass is good, but if the town has square grass: bye-bye, I'm out the door. I feel like the grass pattern really sets the feel for a town. Square makes a town seem larger and wider and spacious, and that's just something I donrt want to feel like. Circle feels neutral in all aspects, it's a nice medium. Triangle feels cozy and close knit and detailed: there looks like there's soooo many more shapes on the ground in a Triangle grass village. Ironically, I believe both my towns have circle.

I also look at the color of the train station. I hate the green train station, and if the town has it, I can't do it. With my town called Blueplum, I wanted a blue train station for obvious reasons and so I looked until I got one. I love the red station the most because it matches the top of the bulletin board, and the brown the second because it looks town-y and sweet and its just classy.

Town hall color is pretty important for me, too. I don't like the plain town hall, the one that is colored exactly like AC:CF town halls. I think the blue and green ones are good, but my absolute favorite by FAR is the yellow town hall with the green roof. So pretty.

Fruit is also important to me. I love apples. I like cherries and peaches. Pears are cool too. I am not a fan of oranges, however. In real life, OR in the game.

Neighbors are huge. I don't mean I have to have popular villagers, I mean I personally have to like them, at least if just only a little. This is a priority for me because I love to make me villagers, all of my villagers, stay in my town for a loooong time. I like getting all villagers (that I've had) pictures and enjoy my time with them.

And lastly, I do look at the layout, but I usually don't judge too much while on the train with Rover. A town may "look" like it doesn't fit your taste upon first glance, but once you visit it you may see that it actually FEELS just right when you walk around. I look for spread out buildings and the right feel.


----------



## Dinosaurz (Jul 7, 2015)

I love my one, comes with apples and Whitney.
It's called Wolfmoor.





I like the area which has the dip, and the retail and plaza above the river.


----------



## Mairmalade (Jul 7, 2015)

I like having the town hall near the train station, having a pond somewhere nearby with a couple others scattered throughout town, and having a certain portion of the town enclosed by the river with the plaza in it. The plan is to try and have all the villagers homes within that section around the plaza so it seems like a little community.  

Grass and town fruit I'm not too picky on.


----------



## Royce (Jul 7, 2015)

mine always has to have apples! and the grass it whatever it is and i only accept 1 pond and i sometimes want a private beach and the town tree in the middle and the map is symmetrical and a curve where i can put my house in.


----------



## tumut (Jul 7, 2015)

I want any fruit but apples and my retail by the station. Also I don't like thin strips of land or my plaza in the center. Other than that I don't care. I like having more ponds too.


----------



## natalie (Jul 7, 2015)

The retail is almost always in an upper corner! its such a pain.

- - - Post Merge - - -



Xiphos said:


> I look for weird, tiny aesthetic things in my maps. For example, I LOVE triangle grass, circle grass is good, but if the town has square grass: bye-bye, I'm out the door. I feel like the grass pattern really sets the feel for a town. Square makes a town seem larger and wider and spacious, and that's just something I donrt want to feel like. Circle feels neutral in all aspects, it's a nice medium. Triangle feels cozy and close knit and detailed: there looks like there's soooo many more shapes on the ground in a Triangle grass village. Ironically, I believe both my towns have circle.
> 
> I also look at the color of the train station. I hate the green train station, and if the town has it, I can't do it. With my town called Blueplum, I wanted a blue train station for obvious reasons and so I looked until I got one. I love the red station the most because it matches the top of the bulletin board, and the brown the second because it looks town-y and sweet and its just classy.
> 
> ...



Ive never considered the grass! The color of the stations, ive never really cared about. I prefer apples, I cannot do peaches. I like minimal ponds also.


----------



## ACWWGal2012 (Jul 7, 2015)

Main things I seeked in both towns were I wanted the beach to be a two part where its one tiny part and then the rest was a long chunk. And I wanted a river that was a curvy but not too curvy. And the land couldn't be to small. As far as fruit or grass, I wasn't picky. When it came to animals, they didn't really affect my keeping the town or not unless I was on the line about the town and it was an animal I really hated.


----------



## natalie (Jul 7, 2015)

still cycling T_T


----------



## Ghostly (Jul 7, 2015)

1. Plaza in the center
2. Town Hall in either the top left or top right (the one I got it)
3. Right of where the train is going to the bridge. Left of where it came from the tunnel
4. River should be bottom and stay straight
5. At least a private beach with a stair

My map has exactly what I'm looking for. Although my train station should of been blue instead of red, Recycle should been either top left or top right instead of the center and my native fruit should of been apple instead of cherry.


----------



## Tommi (Jul 7, 2015)

Mines in my sig, I love it. I had to cycle a while until I got it.


----------



## hemming1996 (Jul 7, 2015)

Nothing specific. As long as the town hall/retail is not too close to the plaza I can work round it


----------



## Mairmalade (Jul 7, 2015)

Xiphos said:


> Town hall color is pretty important for me, too. I don't like the plain town hall, the one that is colored exactly like AC:CF town halls. I think the blue and green ones are good, but my absolute favorite by FAR is the yellow town hall with the green roof. So pretty.



I was just wandering around my new town and noticed how off the blue station felt near a green town hall and a red bulletin board. My map right now is perfect, but I can't shake this. You've triggered me to aim for a red station to match the bulletin board. 

Excited to make it perfect...but not so excited to see how many tries this is going to take. :c


----------



## natalie (Jul 7, 2015)

Mairmalade said:


> I was just wandering around my new town and noticed how off the blue station felt near a green town hall and a red bulletin board. My map right now is perfect, but I can't shake this. You've triggered me to aim for a red station to match the bulletin board.
> 
> Excited to make it perfect...but not so excited to see how many tries this is going to take. :c




Welcome to torture!


----------



## Mairmalade (Jul 7, 2015)

natalie said:


> Welcome to torture!



I know it all too well


----------



## Dinosaurz (Jul 7, 2015)

I have the blue town hall, blues my favourite colour so I will take that


----------



## Ettienne (Jul 7, 2015)

I love my map. The symmetry, the central plaza, Re-Tail near the beach. My reasonably secluded house. And peaches! <3


----------



## natalie (Jul 7, 2015)

Ettienne said:


> View attachment 132238
> 
> I love my map. The symmetry, the central plaza, Re-Tail near the beach. My reasonably secluded house. And peaches! <3



Ive been resetting for two days looking for a map just like yours! Thats what my old ones used to look like </3

- - - Post Merge - - -



Almost


----------



## BitterCoffee (Jul 7, 2015)

I'm not bothered about anything apart from minimal ponds in my town. Usually only 1-2 and I hate the big ones xD
Oh, and I always want Apples as my town fruit, but its so hard to find :< 
Oh, and I prefer horizontal river based towns.

Oke I'm kinda bothered about a lot with town choices xD.


----------



## TheSeal (Jul 7, 2015)

Basically I look for a lot of open space
 Something I loved about my map was that my plaza was right in front of my town hall
it looks so lovely to have a pathway leading right down to it!


----------



## Dae Min (Jul 7, 2015)

If I wanted to make a new town, I'd look for

-a symmetrical river that cuts the town horizontally
-town plaza in the center
-retail by the train station

Any fruit is welcomed, and the grass shape doesn't matter


----------



## Ettienne (Jul 7, 2015)

natalie said:


> Ive been resetting for two days looking for a map just like yours! Thats what my old ones used to look like </3
> 
> - - - Post Merge - - -
> 
> Almost



I almost let this one go to keep looking. There isn't a ton of space, but I feel like it's cozy.


----------



## natalie (Jul 8, 2015)

Ettienne said:


> I almost let this one go to keep looking. There isn't a ton of space, but I feel like it's cozy.





I found a near perfect town that I settled on! I just dont like the skinny peices in the upper corners!
It even came with one of my dreamies (Rosie)
And I found out Marshal is moving in tomorrow.
Although I havent been searching for him, I'm wondering if I'll like him. (If I dont, Ill host some sort of auction, I suppose.)


----------



## TheGreatBrain (Jul 8, 2015)

I'm not too picky. I don't like having too many ponds. Too many rocks are annoying. That's pretty much it.


----------



## Shay10 (Jul 8, 2015)

I love long beaches to catch fish!!


----------



## tolisamarie (Jul 8, 2015)

I took one of the first maps I was offered. I think careful town planning is what makes or breaks a town layout.


----------



## katronsensei (Jul 8, 2015)

I kind fo look for where the recycle center is and thats it. o3o I know, I'm lame. xD Maybe the river cutting it in half almost?


----------



## hunterlocked (Jul 8, 2015)

I'm content with the map I have currently. I hate when it starts with diagonal bridges, and love when there is a short river and a semi even cut through the town with the river.


----------



## Barbara (Jul 9, 2015)

When choosing a map, one of the first things I look at is where the Re-Tail is located. If not near the beach, I skip immediately. If it is in a convenient place to easily access from the dock, I look if there is one long beach or not. I don't like having two accessible beaches. I also prefer the beach on the west-side. The plaza shouldn't be too much at the top of the map, rather somewhere in the middle - bottom. I also prefer the town hall near the plaza, preferably next to or above it. I also quickly look at if there is any convenient place for my house and eventual other projects, and if so I go and look at the town. I'm fine with any fruit but apples and oranges, with cherries as my favourite. I also prefer triangle grass, but don't mind square grass. Circle grass is a no to me. And I also look at the town hall/station colour, I don't want any particular for those but there are some I certainly don't want, like the red station. There are also some other things I take into consideration, like the river shape, but if there is one large beach and a nice place for my house, then the river is fine. I would prefer as little as possible rocks, though I actually like ponds, as long as they aren't completely in the middle of something.
I thought I was pretty easygoing with maps, but I may be more picky than I thought. Oh well, I found a map yesterday that suits all those needs and I'm really happy with it. Cherries, triangle grass, only 5 rocks, 4 ponds (one by Re-Tail, one by the station, one by town hall and another one next to the one by the town hall where the police station would perfectly fit) and a cool place for my house.


----------



## SeraphicOrder (Jul 9, 2015)

In choosing a map I choose a map in this order:

1. 1 pond. I hate ponds so 1 pond is my very first requirement. those things are pretty much useless in game. I also dont like the pond to be very near the train station.

2. almost straight river. I hate super curvy rivers that take up most of the town. there must be ample space for PWP.

3. Villager houses needs to be in one place or two places only. I hate it when they are all over the place.

4. one long beach. It is weird that you have one long beach and one small one. 

5. Villagers that greet me should be cute. Jambette, Diva or Vic greeting me? RESET!

6. NO to pears and oranges.... they look so simple and uh... simple.

that is all..


----------



## louise23 (Jul 9, 2015)

I like the shop to be near the beach so when I go to the island I don't have far to sell


----------



## BitterCoffee (Jul 16, 2015)

Got the perfect map but not my beautiful apples.. Got peaches instead ahh.
Imma take it, I no longer want to reset for another day, which would make it 4 days


----------



## Mizuriri (Jul 16, 2015)

I look for a southern waterfall and the beach facing west, that's the most important thing for me. The retail would have to be near the train station, or close to the tracks/top part of the map in general. Ah.. and also some decent animals as a starter, I lose immediate motivation if they're ugly lol.. !!! oh and cherries/apples, those are a must for me. The plaza and town hall should *always* be next to, or vertical from each other. Though Town hall should be on top. I extremely dislike when plaza is on top.


----------



## Locket (Jul 16, 2015)

I don't care most of the time, I found a map and I like it.


----------



## PaperCat (Jul 16, 2015)

Not a lot of ponds and no overly narrow pieces of land.


----------



## natalie (Sep 29, 2015)

bump )


----------



## Cheremtasy (Sep 29, 2015)

Hmm well I guess I like it when the big tree is close to town hall, re tail near the train station (or at least to the top/north of the map) and if I did reset my town I'd like a beach that connects. XD


----------



## Astro Cake (Sep 30, 2015)

If I was being picky about maps, I'd think I'd want a waterfall that flows south and for town hall and the plaza to be next to each other.


----------



## natalie (Jul 4, 2016)

bump!


----------



## Chicha (Jul 4, 2016)

I try to do something different with each town I have.

For my main town the river layout, placement of retail, and location of permanent rocks was extremely important to me. If the rocks were at super annoying places or too many for my liking, it was a deal breaker to me. I had a pretty good idea of where I wanted to put my mayor's house and side character's homes ahead of time so layout hunting wasn't as bad.

This was the final result below. There's a few quirks with it but made it work.






As for my second town, I recently restarted because I wasn't crazy about my town map. I had a decent map and initially had a few doubts but I thought I'd be okay with it. Eventually, the placement of town hall annoyed me for being in a really tough location where landscaping would be almost impossible. Retail's location was meh to me so after I got almost all my dreamies, I reset. Welp.

After looking for maps, I decided to go for a river layout going south since I've never had that yet. I'm very happy with the layout, especially with town hall and the plaza. I plan on having my villager's homes be at the right side, kinda like a little community for them. It's far from finished but I'm happy with the progress so far.


----------



## Hurplepippo (Jul 4, 2016)

I need cherries as my native fruit, a town hall near the train station, a river that flows south and not north, and no slim pieces of land. No dead space. I chose my map with retail practically in line with the ramp, but just my luck, my island is glitched and won't spawn bugs. I also like symmetry when it comes to the rocks, and enough room for two wide paths.


----------



## Crescental (Jul 4, 2016)

I look for a river that provides lots of space whilst still being visually appealing, nothing in the centre of the map, anything except pears as my town fruit, the train station without the pond due to the rock in the direct front, only one pond (the Re-Tail pond), and a top corner free so I can put my house in a corner. The last one's very personal. I'm very picky, I know.


----------



## vel (Jul 4, 2016)

i don't like all the houses bunched up and blocking places, or a lot of space on the second part of the town. i also don't like when there's a tiny part of land on the corner of the map with nothing there, and a crazy river pattern. and the retail being in the second island.


----------



## xInfiniteStars (Jul 4, 2016)

I want a lot of space near the train station (usually for fruit trees and villagers houses), the plaza either being on a separate island of some sort or the plaza being in front of the bridge. I don't really mind where the Re-tail or town hall are.


----------



## tolisamarie (Jul 4, 2016)

Things I love about my map:

Mostly horizontal river - it makes river fishing easy and doesn't take up a lot of space like winding rivers do.

All my main buildings - town hall, caf?, police station, and Retail all line up to make a convenient "Main Street" in the south half of town.

All my character houses line up to make a nice residential street in the north half of town.

The top left corner has just enough room for my campsite - it's a perfect secluded spot.

My beach is continuous, not broken in half like so many maps I see. It's great for ocean fishing and I still have a little private beach you can only reach by swimming to it.

I don't care about train station/town hall colors. I remodeled both to fairy tale so long ago I don't even remember the original colors! Brown maybe???

There are only two ponds, one right behind my mayor's house, which is cool (lake front property!!) and one to the right of retail. Ponds take up too much space so I wouldn't want more than two.

There are no rocks in the way of any of my paths. I was so lucky about this and my paths are set up so that my town is so easy to navigate.






Honestly, I've seen literally thousands of maps on here and I've never seen a town layout I like more than mine.


----------



## Leedle-lee (Jul 4, 2016)

^^That's a tough act to follow LOL

I enjoy layouts where the town hall and retail are near each other, and an isolated area for one of my houses to be. 

Edit: Oops that's a big picture >.<


----------



## Svive (Jul 5, 2016)

I like my retail, plaza, and town hall to all be clustered in one place to make pathways easier.
I like the shortest possible river, horizontal only. I look for a very long beach maybe even a private beach!
I look for the placement of the original villagers houses because this dictates where villagers will be plotting later on...

Last thing I look for is Where I am going to put my unmovable landmarks. If there is space for all that and then some then I'm happy!


----------



## thatawkwardkid (Jul 5, 2016)

It mostly depends on my mood. With my current town, I tried to not be _as _picky compared to my previous towns. 



Spoiler: I started blabbing while writing this, so I'm putting it in spoilers



-I prefer to have the Plaza near the middle, away from the rock walls at the edge of town. I don't mind if it's at the top by the train tracks, but I don't want it near the town edges. I like to decorate the area around the Plaza and it's really awkward when I can't put any trees or bushes on the sides because it's too close to the town edges.

-The only fruit I refuse to have in my town is cherries. I don't like the way perfect cherries look.

-I'm fine with any grass pattern, but I prefer to have square grass if possible.

-The exterior of the Town Hall and Train Station: Since I prefer the look of the original Town Hall/Train Station exteriors over the ones you unlock, I'm a little picky with these. I try to avoid the brown, yellow, and red train station exteriors. I don't like the look of them. And I like it when the Town Hall exterior color is near the darker side. 

-River/waterfall: This isn't really an issue for me, I can work with anything. But I prefer it if the waterfall is either facing south, or if it looks like this:

View attachment 176758
My town has neither of these, but I really liked my town layout so I stuck with what I got.

-Rocks: They don't bother me too much, I usually find a way around them. The only time I get really frustrated with rocks is when I can't find a way around them, they're in _really _awkward places, or if there's too many in one area (once I had 3 by the Train Station, none were ore rocks.)

Ponds: I don't like it when there are too many ponds in one area, especially if it's all by the Train Station. I'm a little picky with ponds.

Beach: I'm not to picky with the beach. I'm fine with it facing both left or right, I'm also fine with having the beach that can only be accessed with a swim suit.



It's funny how I said I tried not to be as picky with my current town, but judging from what I wrote, I probably seem picky.


----------



## I_Jessie_12_xx (Jul 5, 2016)

Yay Sweets said:


> Personally, I look for a map that is convenient right at the beginning with the bridge. For example, here's my map:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thats a bit like my map to be honest but my river is a bit higher 

And also my map has a river like the one at the top of your map that you showed at the first post


----------



## Awesomeness1230 (Jul 5, 2016)

Here is my map: (prepare for lengthy post guys )



What I look for in a map:


Curvy river that isn't so curvy that it takes up too much room

Apples or peaches as native fruit (never happened  )

Blue train station

Green or yellow town hall

Little nook to put my house

Private beach (don't have one)

No annoying peninsulas (again, I have one)

Main plaza not near traintracks


----------



## Awesomeness1230 (Jul 5, 2016)

Leedle-lee said:


> ^^That's a tough act to follow LOL
> 
> I enjoy layouts where the town hall and retail are near each other, and an isolated area for one of my houses to be.
> 
> Edit: Oops that's a big picture >.<



Omg your map is like a back to front version of mine :O


----------



## aleksandras (Jul 10, 2016)

i normally want for my river to be horizontal and the event plaza, retail and town hall to be on the top part of the map. i like for my villager houses to be spread out, there's nothing more boring than having them all in a line and it's very annoying when they're packed together in awkward spots. the town map i got when i made my first town in ACNL was like i described (the good parts, not the bad parts) so that's kinda what i'd want if i were to make a new town.


----------



## AppleBitterCrumble (Jul 10, 2016)

My map can have a verticle river
Town plaza has to be centered
Retail near beach
No narrow spaces
Town fruit cant be orange or pear


----------



## Acnl_starfall (Jul 12, 2016)

Horizontal river. 
Pond in front of train station
Plaza not next to train station
I am trying to be not so picking with my ton layouts anymore


----------



## SilkSpectre (Jul 12, 2016)

From now on, it'd be apples or cherries and retail by the beach. I do like how my tree is right by the train station though.


----------



## ams (Jul 12, 2016)

I look for:

- blue train station
- blue town hall
- circle grass
- one continuous beach
- town hall north of the river
- retail south of the river near the dock
- room for my house in a secluded area
- minimal ponds (preferably 1 or 2)

In an ideal world I would also want cherries as the town fruit, but I found that made resetting take way too long. My main town meets all of the above criteria and I'm very happy with it despite the peaches. My second town has Retail north of the river, which is inconvenient, but it still has everything else so I'm really happy with it too.


----------



## moonbunny (Jul 12, 2016)

Verical river
One or two ponds
Apples as the town fruit
Beach on the right side
Circle grass

I've got all of that except for the circle grass. I like my map a lot, though. The grass isn't that important to me since I plan on covering up most of my town anyway.


----------



## dudeabides (Jul 12, 2016)

I like having the retail and town hall close together with room for only one house in between, then put mine there.


----------



## jessicat_197 (Jul 13, 2016)

I'm not really too picky, mainly because I don't have the patience to keep resetting lol, but when I started my town I wanted a mostly horizontal river, retail close to beach so i can sell my bugs and fish from the island, wanted my town hall and town tree at the top near the station because i dont like having space behind big buildings, and as for beach ramps and ponds and stuff like that I don't mind too much. I'm very happy with my town map and look forward to developing my town.


----------



## Fairytale (Jul 14, 2016)

I actually don't mind the rivers. As long as they aren't too long. I look for:
- cherries /apples /peaches
- red/blue train station (but I don't really mind)
- triangle grass (again, I don't mind)
- 1 or 2 ponds
- Not too many rocks
- Plaza in the middle of town

That's basically it. I'm also looking for a more unique map.


----------

