Advice on resetting

[The_Storyteller]

Hi all,

I haven't been here in a while so I hope I'm posting in the right place. I've been contemplating resetting my island for a while now but I've held off because once I've done it, I can't undo it. Up to now, I've been running my original island from when the game first launched so I have a lot of stuff on my save file.

I don't mind a fresh start in terms of DIYs and Bells because I enjoyed grinding for those but I found it very annoying to collect all the furniture items I wanted. For those of you who have reset, what did you find it was helpful to bring along with you and what were you happy to leave behind?

Thanks in advance!

 

[EMLY]

to be honest, I'm happy with a scorched earth sort of reset. it might seem extreme to some, but when I want to break away, I want/need for it to be clean. I also worked hard collecting items, and thought I would want to try to keep those somehow - but I don't miss what I can"t remember.. and I honestly don't miss many of my items. It's like - don't let the items rule you and keep you from the island you want to have?? If that makes sense? also, if you have something you CANNOT live without, find a friend you trust and move it over for safekeeping!

lots of good luck from someone that just wiped their save as well. <3

 

[CL4P-L3K]

You should write down reasons to reset and reasons not to reset. Also write down specifically what your goal is. There's a benefit to putting this stuff on paper, then thinking about it. You may find your goals aren't very specific, but you may also find they're pretty good reasons to restart. It's hard to give advice when I don't know exactly why you want to reset. If you have amiibo cards you won't lose any villagers. Since you've been playing for awhile you'll also likely have a pretty good idea what you want your layout to look like. However, here's the problem I ran into while resetting: I got so used to my first island, every other island seemed like 'someone else's island'. The first layout was so burned into my brain I simply couldn't feel 'at home' on any other island. I have more than one switch, so I just went back to my first island after much frustration. If you simply want a better airport color, dock location, or elevation layout, sure go ahead. Reset until you're happy.

 

[The_Storyteller]

You should write down reasons to reset and reasons not to reset. Also write down specifically what your goal is. There's a benefit to putting this stuff on paper, then thinking about it. You may find your goals aren't very specific, but you may also find they're pretty good reasons to restart. It's hard to give advice when I don't know exactly why you want to reset. If you have amiibo cards you won't lose any villagers. Since you've been playing for awhile you'll also likely have a pretty good idea what you want your layout to look like. However, here's the problem I ran into while resetting: I got so used to my first island, every other island seemed like 'someone else's island'. The first layout was so burned into my brain I simply couldn't feel 'at home' on any other island. I have more than one switch, so I just went back to my first island after much frustration. If you simply want a better airport color, dock location, or elevation layout, sure go ahead. Reset until you're happy.

Thanks for your thoughts. I didn't think of writing down my ideas but that's definitely a good idea. I often find that kind of thing useful.

That sucks that you don't feel at home on your new island. The truth is I flattened mine several times and I was never happy with anything I did with it. I've always just moved stuff around so I've never had a layout that felt like it was my island.

Post automatically merged: Sep 3, 2021

to be honest, I'm happy with a scorched earth sort of reset. it might seem extreme to some, but when I want to break away, I want/need for it to be clean. I also worked hard collecting items, and thought I would want to try to keep those somehow - but I don't miss what I can"t remember.. and I honestly don't miss many of my items. It's like - don't let the items rule you and keep you from the island you want to have?? If that makes sense? also, if you have something you CANNOT live without, find a friend you trust and move it over for safekeeping!

lots of good luck from someone that just wiped their save as well. <3

Tbh I've always been scared of doing it that way but I haven't played in a long time so I think you could be right, I probably won't miss it that much. Thank you for your thoughts!

 

[Mad Aly]

I'm not sure if I can give you any solid advice, since I've never reset before. But, if anything, there are plenty of catalogue islands and treasure islands (both for free and for trade) that you can fall back on if you want/need to get any items or DIYs. They're honestly ideal for those who are restarting and/or getting a second Switch. If I was to reset or make a second island, I would probably make use of those.

 

[Pokeking]

I've never totally reset my towns. In New Leaf, I deleted and created new side characters. I still have some stuff to do on my island. I have two more critters to get before I complete the museum and some of the Nook Points stuff, and breed flowers until I get all the varieties. Even after I do that, I doubt I would be in the mood to reset. The closest I would would be to terraform and move houses around but I like where everything is.

It's the progress angle that prevents me from choosing to reset.

 

[EMLY]

Tbh I've always been scared of doing it that way but I haven't played in a long time so I think you could be right, I probably won't miss it that much. Thank you for your thoughts!

if you ever need help, feel free to message me. I know the first time I ever reset i was remorseful, but tbh, trying the 3rd time I'm so happy. you be you. its a game, so if it starts to feel heavy - it's time for a change

 

[The_Storyteller]

I've never totally reset my towns. In New Leaf, I deleted and created new side characters. I still have some stuff to do on my island. I have two more critters to get before I complete the museum and some of the Nook Points stuff, and breed flowers until I get all the varieties. Even after I do that, I doubt I would be in the mood to reset. The closest I would would be to terraform and move houses around but I like where everything is.

It's the progress angle that prevents me from choosing to reset.

The same thing has kept me back from resetting all this time as well. Sometimes I wish I'd reset a few times when I first got the game to learn from those early mistakes such as picking an island with poor layout of features that aren't able to move.

I've always created lots of different side characters as well because I can never decide on a theme I like. I've flattened my island before but then I didn't really know what to do with it so I think it probably did more harm than good.

 

[VanitasFan26]

As someone who has restarted several times I can understand why you would feel that way. I sometimes feel like my island gets so stale and boring that I would do it over, but I know doing that so much can easily burn you out. I will tell you that if you restart there are things you need to be wary of so that way you will have to ask yourself if its worth the restart.

When you Restart you will lose all of your catalog items, all the villagers you invited to your island, all the diys you learned, all the bells you saved, and everything that was in your home and the home itself will be gone. There is a way you can still save your stuff but it will require with the assistance of a trusted friend. You can ask them to hold onto stuff you need when you start on your new island. Stuff like Bells, Nook Mile Tickets, Tools, Materials, and anything you worked hard for getting in your catalog you can have your friend take them on their island to hold on to while you do your restart.

I would suggest this if you really don't care about losing all of your DIYS and all the villagers you worked hard for. I only do it on my 2nd island since I have a 2nd switch and whenever I am done with my island and whenever I need to restart I make sure to transfer all the important items to my main island before I even restart. But if you do really care about your DIYS and your villagers that much then restarting is not the best option. The other option would be flattening, meaning that you terraform your island by moving all of the buildings to the beach, demolishing all the bridges and inclines and lastly using the terraform to flatten rivers and tear down cliffs. That is time consuming so thats something to keep in mind.

At the end of the day its up to you to decide what works best for you.

 

[The_Storyteller]

As someone who has restarted several times I can understand why you would feel that way. I sometimes feel like my island gets so stale and boring that I would do it over, but I know doing that so much can easily burn you out. I will tell you that if you restart there are things you need to be wary of so that way you will have to ask yourself if its worth the restart.

When you Restart you will lose all of your catalog items, all the villagers you invited to your island, all the diys you learned, all the bells you saved, and everything that was in your home and the home itself will be gone. There is a way you can still save your stuff but it will require with the assistance of a trusted friend. You can ask them to hold onto stuff you need when you start on your new island. Stuff like Bells, Nook Mile Tickets, Tools, Materials, and anything you worked hard for getting in your catalog you can have your friend take them on their island to hold on to while you do your restart.

I would suggest this if you really don't care about losing all of your DIYS and all the villagers you worked hard for. I only do it on my 2nd island since I have a 2nd switch and whenever I am done with my island and whenever I need to restart I make sure to transfer all the important items to my main island before I even restart. But if you do really care about your DIYS and your villagers that much then restarting is not the best option. The other option would be flattening, meaning that you terraform your island by moving all of the buildings to the beach, demolishing all the bridges and inclines and lastly using the terraform to flatten rivers and tear down cliffs. That is time consuming so thats something to keep in mind.

At the end of the day its up to you to decide what works best for you.

I guess the main thing I'm disappointed about losing is my catalogue. I don't mind going to the trouble of collecting Bells and DIYs again. And there are lots of villagers that I really like. I'm actually kind of stuck at the moment because I love all my villagers and don't want to lose any of them but there are lots of other villagers that I really like and I wouldn't mind a change.

I probably do have some friends I could leave my stuff with but I guess I'm thinking, if I need to take so much stuff with me then I might as well not reset at all...

 

[Croconaw]

You already know the answer if you came back on the site for the sole purpose of creating this thread. I think you should go for it and you’ll feel better. You’re unhappy with your current island, so realistically, you’ll feel different about your next island. Have a friend hold your stuff and bring some bells over. It’s not really starting fresh. You’d have all of your stuff with a new map and new villagers. Do what’s best for you.

 

[The_Storyteller]

You already know the answer if you came back on the site for the sole purpose of creating this thread. I think you should go for it and you’ll feel better. You’re unhappy with your current island, so realistically, you’ll feel different about your next island. Have a friend hold your stuff and bring some bells over. It’s not really starting fresh. You’d have all of your stuff with a new map and new villagers. Do what’s best for you.

Thanks for your input. My question isn't really about whether or not I should reset but from other people's experience, what did they find was useful to bring with them or not.

 

[JKDOS]

I would bring enough money for first house expansion, this way you can get some good house storage early on.

Bring a vaulting pole and ladder for early access.

Maybe your favorite outfit.

 

[VanitasFan26]

Thanks for your input. My question isn't really about whether or not I should reset but from other people's experience, what did they find was useful to bring with them or not.

Also another thing to keep in mind when you restart. The island map layout is going to be different. That means that your location of Resident Services, Secret Beach, The Rocks, Airport, and Dock will change. Personally I would recommend that if you want more space on your island you should pick an island map where Resident Services is far from the airport and kinda in the middle of the map, but again its up to you to decide what works best for you.

Also your Native Flower and Native Fruit will also change, but if you don't care about that stuff then you don't need to worry about that. One last thing is that you would get a different color Airport. That means that when you get your Resident Services upgraded you can see what color your Nook Mile items will be that you never had on your old island. Not only that but the Furniture variants that Nook Cranny's sell will also change. Its all RNG so if you're looking for a color you want, it can be really hard to get so really think about that if you care about the variants of furniture. Like I said before and others says do what you think works for you.

 

[The_Storyteller]

Hi all,

Just thought I would post an update on my progress for anyone who is interested! I decided to do a full reset and didn't transfer any items. I gave all my Bells to a friend and just reset without looking through my inventory too much.

I ended up on an island with the same native fruit (apples) and same coloured airport (yellow) as my previous island, both which I am happy about. My resident services building is also a bit further away from my airport than last time. The layout of my island is currently a bit strange and it feels like it doesn't have much space because of the river layout even though I know it's the same as my previous island.

I love the natural rivers and tree placements and flowers. I'm thinking I might want to keep that soft, natural vibe when I begin redecorating.

Thank you so much to everyone for their ideas and thoughts.

 

[VanitasFan26]

Hi all,

Just thought I would post an update on my progress for anyone who is interested! I decided to do a full reset and didn't transfer any items. I gave all my Bells to a friend and just reset without looking through my inventory too much.

I ended up on an island with the same native fruit (apples) and same coloured airport (yellow) as my previous island, both which I am happy about. My resident services building is also a bit further away from my airport than last time. The layout of my island is currently a bit strange and it feels like it doesn't have much space because of the river layout even though I know it's the same as my previous island.

I love the natural rivers and tree placements and flowers. I'm thinking I might want to keep that soft, natural vibe when I begin redecorating.

Thank you so much to everyone for their ideas and thoughts.

We're happy to help anytime.

 

[Shipper-Girl-27]

Personally, I prefer to flatten everything instead of completely deleting the whole island. Reasons why I just bought another switch to begin with. I hate the idea of collecting everything again and I just like my layout. If you really want to completely reset, I’d hold onto specific items.

 

[LuluLove]

I’ve been in the same spot for a while now because there’s not much to do on my island anymore.
Still I can’t make that choice, mostly because I’m hoping that we will get some updates that will lure me back into the game and I am sure I’d like to experience those in my actual island.
Refreshing is good tho, it allows you to experiment new island styles, villagers, airport colours, designs and so on, and it can be so refreshing just to go back to the early stages, where you actually enjoy fishing, catching bugs and collects resources

 

[DarkSlayer1331]

Every now and then I think about resetting my island, but ultimately decide against it. I can't imagine not having all of the DIY recipes that I do have - and I don't have all of them yet. To be honest, that's mostly what it is for me. Well, that and I actually really like my island. I prefer keeping things simple and natural, so I don't do a lot of terraforming. I've created an additional pond to create a cute little picnic area on one of my mid level cliffs. Done some smoothing of a river, and I had to take down part of a cliff for an incline. But other than that, it's the way it was when it was created, and I actually really like it.

With that said, if you're thinking of doing it, and you're so close to jumping off the proverbial cliff, then go for it. It's just a game. But this time, take your previous experience in hand and try to decide what you want to do with your island this time. That way you can start reaching for that goal from the start. Then hopefully you'll never have to flatten your island, and find yourself in the "meh I don't like what I did" spot.

I wouldn't worry much about the catalog. There are a lot of people around that will help you fill that out with the things you need/want.