Both! If I can't catch bugs and fish freely [and find all my fossils and rocks!], then what's the point? My island is cluttered with decorations, but tactfully so that I can still move around.
Oddly, my sister finds it terribly cluttered [she has nothing on her island but a bench and bonfire by the beach, however].
Mix of both, but more for convenience. I like the look of super terraformed islands, but would never do it on my own since it's sometimes really annoying to get around to different places.
In NL I was super picky about location of things for what I preferred for ease of doing my normal daily routine (most particularly was NEEDING retail to be close to the train station and have the ability to almost run straight down to the dock from there), with NH though since it is a whole new routine with new features I ended up tearing down my entire island and almost completely re building with esthetic in mind. I still keep to almost 100% right angled paving so most travel around the island is straight shots from point A to point B, but being mostly a recluse in real life I wanted to make my reps house sort of tucked away from easy access which is incredibly inconvenient for some things, but the relaxed nature of AC makes that still ok for me, I'm not suffering for it lol
convenience! one of my main peeves with the beautiful islands i always see is how hard it looks to move around—this isn't a universal thing, of course, but i often see narrow walkways and generous usage of fences. they can seem so suffocating to run around in, not to mention how easily paths can get blocked by other players or chatting/sitting villagers! because of that, i try to prioritize mobility—for example, i lined my pavement with a combination of both furniture and flowers, so that if i ever get blocked on a path, i can just go around through the flowers. of course, i personally think my island is very pretty, but i'm prouder of how convenient it is more than how it looks~
More convenience than aesthetic, though that's more in the sense of "I need this much space to run around" than building placement. When I start making paths and squares, they somehow always grow bigger than originally intended.
It's based on how angry I get. I start with mighty expectations, then some dumb mistakes and the end result is throwing my hands in the air or perseverance.
Basically aesthetics comes first and then it might end in convenience out of frustration.
Mainly aesthetic, BUT I do like the convenience of having the resident centre, museum, nook's cranny, and able's sister all in the same area, as well as having most of the villager houses in a neat little neighborhood. With those two sections having their buildings be close and neatly organized, it opens up a lot of room for more aesthetic things, like space for a playground and an outdoor spa, etc.
both. but that doesn't mean aesthetic isn't important. you can get to the other side of the island in like, 3 minutes? so i don't really mind walking. you have to go from left to right anyway to complete certain tasks or to find something. some of my aesthetic changes could be more practical, but i manage. besides, i think mine island is pretty convenient. i have the market area separate, museum then parks, then neighborhoods--separated into 3, so not villagers all walk on the same area.
Both. I wanted a more relaxed feel where I can move around freely, have the flowers decorate smaller sections and as I get more hybrids I'm slowly building towards aesthetics.
I knew I wanted a bamboo garden or forrest so building that was my first task. Everything else I don't really have planned too much, just want it to go naturally.
With the shrubs added I only need 2 more types to finish planting those. Still figuring out where I'll be putting one of them.
I have the shops next to the airport, so I can block it off if need be when inviting strangers, then have the houses nearby for the same purpose but have made a 3x3 neighborhood so that it looks nice.
I'm planning on using the first section of the island for buildings, then using the other two for purely aesthetics.
Definitely both. I like to have paths I can run through, but I also like making aesthetically pleasing winding paths. I have all my shops and museums together in a kind of downtown district area, but my residents are all kept separate.
I terraform and place buildings and houses based on a mix of both. For example, I've created a neighborhood for my villagers; that way, I can easily check on them (I talk to my villagers like a thousand times per day lol) and check who's crafting and who's not. I've also placed all the important things together. That way, I can identify fossils and quickly sell them if they're not new or I'm not interested in them.
A bit of both. My townhall is near the airport which I like, so I put the stores on the same level to have them all together. They're also apart enough from each other so that I can do something pretty around them, for example right now it's an inner city with market stalls as well.
I'm also working on a neighborhood right now, but it's also important to me that it looks nice and the houses are far apart enough so that nothing stands in the view of them. The upper side of my island is very unstructured, and I'm really struggling to just make it look nice.
Honestly, not really. It depends on the day. Some days I'm like "does this look good and is easy to get to?" and other days I'm like "is it convineient and does it look good?". So, I would say they are just about equal for me.
I don't want my island to be completely unwalkable or frustrating to move around in, but I think aesthetics wins for me.
On my second island, I have islands on the beach complete with cozy decorations to accompany them. I have walk-able paths with minimal need for scooting around objects, but if I was going for pure convenience I wouldn't have put my houses on the beach.
On my main island, I put my Nook's Cranny toward the back of the island on a third tier cliff. It's not impossible to get to by any means, but it takes the scenic route to get to. Same with the Able's shop.
I think I'm unconsciously doing both, but more in a sense of wanting enough bridges and inclines so I can just run across my whole island without needing to use the ladder and vaulting pole. I am not there yet though. Still busy terraforming.
I think what also was in my mind when I started, was that I wanted to have a lot of the island feel foresty and natural, so I have a residential area near the airport and plaza (which just happens to be convenient as well). The museum is on a third level cliff pretty much all the way north, and I am thinking about moving the other stores there too because of how big it is. It will end up pretty inconvenient running all the way there, but I am fine with that.
My town is...neither...it's mostly just inconvenience (and it's pretty ugly too ). My Nook's Cranny and Museum are in the very top left corner on as FAR away from the airport and the plaza as possible. And the villagers homes are also really spread out.
). My Nook's Cranny and Museum are in the very top left corner on as FAR away from the airport and the plaza as possible. And the villagers homes are also really spread out.
