Do you get inspired/influenced by dreams?

[Underneath The Stars]

I've just visited your island, I think you have a lot of cool areas, I really like the color coordinated flower fields, the little café, the book corner with the stars... really cool work with statues as well, at the entrance and on the statue of liberty part. It's pretty nice to have so many different areas on one island, it's something I've struggled with a lot on my island but you pulled it off pretty well.

I really wish we could have more saves. I think it's very easy to get bored of your own island, "used to it", and not notice anymore how great it is, in the dream tours you always get this huge first impression of so many different styles, so much inspiration you can't even all put to use lol.
For me, it's been the hardest to watch tours/visit islands that have a completely different theme from mine, because I always want to tear my entire foresty island down and go for a super neon urban city ><

I feel like playing with friends helps with this a bit as well. You see them developing their islands in real time, and somehow it takes this overwhelming effect away of visiting another island with hundreds of hours of work put into it and just taking it all in at once.

On the matter of dreams, I'm really happy they added them. Visiting an island really gives a completely different vibe than watching someone else tour it, and if you're really impressed by an area, you can study exactly what makes it work. How much tiles of this and that they used.

Anyways, I wish you luck in navigating this lol. It can be really hard to not get overwhelmed when making your island; at any point.. when you're starting out and don't know where to start, but also when you're already finished but still get so much inspiration.

thank you for taking your time to visit, and thanks for saying good things about it. i appreciate! the many different areas are basically the result of working little by little for months, and getting ideas as i go on, like one normally does. i also tend to think a lot before i apply it because aside from not having a theme & wanting the areas to blend, i know once i tear it down i have to work on the area. i know myself & i could lose interest once i leave it.

it sounds like you get what exactly i'm going through because "used to it" sounds like my problem right now. when i was working on my island, i couldn't decide a main theme. so in order for it to work i didn't have a theme for the center piece aka residential services & the areas near it. i had to make it as basic as possible so when someone walks around the different areas, it wouldn't seem like a huge change of vibe. then now, i realized dreams start at RS and it's the area i never worked on to have a certain theme. i'm struggling to decide what to do with it because i've avoided changing this area for so long and i'm sick of it now. some areas like the book corner behind, the little café, the hidden house near redd's beach & the entrance are kind of new additions so it's something that i'm not sick of yet.

i also feel the great first impression upon visiting & how you wish you have another save. because you saw my island, and i visited several urban styled islands and got inspired by it but how am i gonna throw that mix to mine? impossible! lol. i'm asian so visiting these urban islands made me feel more at home, but it's something i can't just apply because of what i already worked on. idk why i never had this theme initially though. probably because i never thought it was possible.

 

[Millysaurusrexjr]

I was definitely inspired after seeing Aika village, it was very creative. I'm trying to make my secondary house more creative.

In general there are so many great islands with such cool themes, it makes me feel like my island is boring lmao. But I don't think I will ever start over or reset!

 

[NatsumiSummer]

I don't really get inspired or influenced by the islands I visit (whether in or outside of a dream). I do enjoy visiting them, but I never really feel inspired nor influenced by them.

 

[Underneath The Stars]

I hear ya. Right now I’m scratching my head how to make this new area I made more interesting and not look identical to my other areas or in general with other people’s designs, not to mention make them all blend in well and not look like random ideas roughly put together. For my new area, it’s kinda hard when you can’t dig or make a new cliff on the beach or destroy the big giant rocks on the beach. Had I not read that one comment, I might’ve kept it the way it is now, but now it is bugging me along with the rest of my island.

I hope you’ll feel better after the break. I’ll try to think of some more ways that might help you and will post here again if I can think of any suggestions or a different approach to take. Some suggestions I received were to play around with the terraforming which I am, but I really stink at it lol and have no ideas what I want the landscape to look like.

what was said/the comment in regards to the cliff or giant rocks on the beach?
i hear you too though. that's why my center piece/residential services is as basic as it could get. i didn't design it with a certain way/theme just so i can blend the other areas without making it seem like a huge change as one navigates around my island. i've been holding off what to do with this center area & now i have to face it or at least after i take a break. but seeing different sorts of inspiration is making me scratch my head like you lol.

 

[Imbri]

I think most of us don't see how great our islands are because we're seeing it all the time, plus we're always looking for something to spruce up corners here and there. The dreams you're seeing are for the first time, so you're getting the benefit of all the hard work at one go. Others who dream your island have the same reaction.

I love my island, and there are still areas I have to finish. I've seen some dreams that are incredibly polished and it's amazing and inspiring, but (and this may just be me) also a bit overwhelming. While I can appreciate a heavily decorated/pathed island, I know I'd be uncomfortable living there. Instead, I try to find little vignettes and items used in unexpected ways that I can adapt to my island.

 

[Dunquixote]

what was said/the comment in regards to the cliff or giant rocks on the beach?
i hear you too though. that's why my center piece/residential services is as basic as it could get. i didn't design it with a certain way/theme just so i can blend the other areas without making it seem like a huge change as one navigates around my island. i've been holding off what to do with this center area & now i have to face it or at least after i take a break. but seeing different sorts of inspiration is making me scratch my head like you lol.

Oh nothing was said in the comment about that. I was just saying the fact that I can’t destroy the big rocks or build cliffs on the beach limits my options a little. At the moment, I’ve been holding off on a lot of things until either we get more furniture and diys or until i get some more ideas. I just figured out a way to make my beach better by messing with some furniture and I think for now I’m happy with it, though, not sure if it will blend well with the rest of my island. I’m not in a rush to get my island done fortunately.

 

[Serabee]

Oh yeah. ...Specifically, after I play through August, I'm planning on TTing to November for Mush season! I simply can't wait to get those awesome items
I've also been inspired by neat themed islands. I'm thinking about getting a second Switch Lite/copy of the game and starting a new island (I'm hoping to wait for a good deal but, when I start up work again, I'm getting a raise and may just treat myself). I was thinking of doing a themed island- Halloween! But, like, not a gory, super scary horror island like some. More like jack-o-lanterns and candy and carnivals and playful scary, y'know? I'm sure there will be a lot of islands like that once the Halloween event rolls around (which I can't wait for- it's my favorite holiday and I pretty much always TT ahead for it), but I'd love to give it a go myself!

 

[udinafrog]

I just enjoy watching other islands, like going on a vacation. I play in a pretty relaxed way. So, I simply admire the hard work and time that others put on their islands~

 

[CrankyCupcake]

I don't know if it's accurate to say that I don't get inspired or influenced by dream islands because I tend to visit the ones that are completely not what my own island is about. Visiting dream islands that look and feel totally different satisfies my curiosity and need to see something dissimilar and refreshing. Because they are so different from my own island, I'm never tempted to compare or emulate.

But. I do get excited when I see items that I've not yet seen in my own game. And that sets me thinking about what I would do once I'm able to get my hands on those seasonal items. The urge to tt then becomes horrifically strong!

Ooh. I almost forgot to mention this: I love making screenshots. My own island journal here is a collection of screenshots of my islanders. When I get ready to visit dream islands, I am definitely looking forward to being able to take screenshots of other players' islands and villagers. I guess it's like photography in real life. (I've done a 365 project before.) You're always looking for new locations and opportunities to take different types of photos of different subjects. It's exciting and fun!

 

[Splinter]

Absolutely not. I wouldn't want something someone else thought of on my island, and most of the "inspirational" island just look like clutter to me.

 

[JellyBeans]

the islands I visit tend to have a different ~vibe~ to my island so I wouldn't strictly say that they inspire my own island, but I might see an idea that I then adapt to fit in with my island's theme, which personally I feel like is part of the point of the dream suite! admire other people's islands and be able to see what potentials there are within the game that you can shape to fit your own style of island/play

 

[wanderlust//]

yes, for sure. mostly with terraforming because i think it’s harder to get ideas for themes.

 

[Arckaniel]

It does especially on the terraforming part since I kinda suck at it tbh lol, but I try my best not to compare, I like getting different ideas on dream islands that I want to incorporate on my own island so it's fun, but I mostly take inspiration from pinterest than tours/dream islands tho...

 

[SirSean]

I mainly visit dream islands just to see what crazy and cool stuff people have come up with . If I'm looking for inspiration I'll usually browse my Instagram feed to see some new things.