How Can People Do This?

[Surei]

I've been visiting random towns through dreaming, and the amount of effort people put into their towns is amazing. I don't know how they do it. I barely have the patience to decorate my house, much less an entire island. Where do you find the inspiration?

Just the thought of having to find all the items needed for the theme is a pain, especially when you can only order 5 things a day. Does the amount of orders you can make increases eventually? Do people do most of their shopping around online?

The culture around this game is so different than other AC games. There seems to be more focus and trading than socializing. People sometimes ask for NMTs for payment. It took me a minute to figure out what a NMT was. I find NMTs being a form of currency amusing. How are you using online play?

 

[Moritz]

I think most people, of course not all, have spent hundreds of hours on the game, refining their islands as they go, over the course of a year.

Its a huge and daunting task when you look at it as a whole, but when cut up into smaller chunks, it's a lot more manageable and very satisfying.

Of course there are people who will flatten their islands and build it back up with a whole new theme over the course of about 2 weeks. We call them crazy people XD

 

[tajikey]

Tip #1: Don't let the creativity of others discourage or make you think you aren't good enough. I would have quit the game a long time ago if that were the case.
Tip #2: People most likely time travel to obtain all the items they need quickly, or they spend countless hours trading with others. The 5-items-a-day limitation doesn't go away.
Tip #3: Enjoy the game your way, otherwise, you likely won't enjoy it at all.

 

[Reploid]

Keep in mind that you don't have to do a thing with your island. If you don't have the patience to fully decorate it, don't do it. However, I will encourage that you try to do some things here and there. You might surprise yourself.

 

[Cloudandshade]

I think most people, of course not all, have spent hundreds of hours on the game, refining their islands as they go, over the course of a year.

Its a huge and daunting task when you look at it as a whole, but when cut up into smaller chunks, it's a lot more manageable and very satisfying.

Of course there are people who will flatten their islands and build it back up with a whole new theme over the course of about 2 weeks. We call them crazy people XD

Agreed - the key ingredient, for many, is time. I don't trade so have had to take it slow, but having a second character has helped me cope with the order limit. Over the course of a year, it really doesn't feel like a huge job - just months filled with fun, as it's meant to be! I never set out to 'finish' my island as quickly as possible, I am where I am now because that's just what happened naturally after playing consistently since launch. Just play whatever way feels fun to you, and don't worry about other people's islands. There's no point having a perfectly manicured island if you tortured yourself to get there!

 

[Sharksheep]

Time. I enjoy taking a longer time to finish my island because it gives me more flexibility to change stuff as I find new inspiration or when new items get added into the game and I don't have to decide what I needed to remove if I want to use the new items.

There are tons of island tour videos on YouTube and lots of amazing designs on Twitter, Instagram, and reddit if you don't know where to start

 

[lexy_]

Personaly, it took me 6 months to be really satisfied with my island's design and yeah, I do it little by little depending of the items I received from the game events or my inspiration. I put hundred hours to do it in the game but I started my game one year ago ^^ so that's reasonable I think lol.

 

[BlueberryDream]

It takes time! I probably play 3 hours a day on average, some days I'd play all day, and I'm still not happy with my island, even though it's been an entire year! I try to do things in sections.

 

[tiffanistarr]

I know a lot of people with beautifully themed and decorated islands have spent hundreds of hours playing and I don't think most people have the time or energy to do that. I try hard not to compare mine to anybody else's. I might draw inspiration from others and that's great, but I don't let myself feel bad for having a half completed mess.

I try and plan what I want to do and what I want to put where and then I focus on one area at a time. Then I can move on to the next thing I want to do without feeling overwhelmed by empty spaces and things like that.

 

[Wiimfiuser]

I want to see a Disneyland island. To be honest I'm the type that can't be bothered to improve my island that much

 

[Mattician]

Half of me likes to see pictures or watch videos of other people's islands. Then the other half is sad because I can't help but compare them to mine hah.

 

[Nodokana]

I find my inspiration from various social media platforms and watching island tours on youtube. I love to decorate and I am still finding ways to improve my island thanks to more design slots. At times decorating can be daunting but focusing on other things outside of acnh is a way to not stress on designing and hopefully have new ideas. I use online play mostly for trading and sometimes having hang outs with my friends.

 

[Pyoopi]

I'd say time, trial and error. If you find a map progression thread on here, you can see how many changes people went through over the span of the year.

I like to screenshot my map and sketch out my plan; then use happy island designer, or the 3D island planner to test it out. Then finally transfer it over in-game which sometimes works well or requires a lot of problem solving. I'm used to the pains of creative problem solving because this is just fun-work. If I get mad enough, then I will try again another time because there's no deadline to finish.

 

[satine]

Of course there are people who will flatten their islands and build it back up with a whole new theme over the course of about 2 weeks. We call them crazy people XD

sdlkfjsdf I guess I'm crazy I did this with my last island. I did it in about 2-3 weeks tops. I played nonstop and had a headache from the screen. I went through a BRUTAL burnout with my academics at the time and it was my coping mechanism lol. It definitely didn't help to do that with school at all of course, either.

I have ADD, but because of it I hyperfocus on things a lot. So when I CAN focus on something, I zone in on it and it's hard to break away from it. That's what I do with my papers, but it takes me forever to get hit with the inspiration/bug to actually get going with it. But when it finally snaps into place I can complete things like this easily. It's frustrating because it's not something I can really control lol. I did this during midterms week the last time I did it so it was rough to suffer the consequences with school afterwards lol.

 

[amylsp]

I’m too much of a hoarder to not decorate. I have the opposite problem. I have to restrain myself from over decorating. I love to visit islands with big open spaces. I have wide paths on my island, but there is no open space anywhere, lol! I agree with others. Decorating is something you can take your time with. My island has very slowly evolved over time.

 

[Mr.Fox]

The intricate islands, while looking great, will generally cause lag when walking around, so I don't worry about every single space of my island needing to be filled with something.

My front half has a 'boardwalk' that has RS, Museum and my shops...while the back half of my island is natural, and generally where my villagers houses are.

 

[amylsp]

The intricate islands, while looking great, will generally cause lag when walking around, so I don't worry about every single space of my island needing to be filled with something.

Ive noticed that’s sometimes the case when visiting islands. But on my own island, I experience very minimal lag. The only time I notice any lag is when switching between characters, and even then it’s pretty brief when I first enter an area while the items load. Is this because on my own island things are cached in the game storage?

 

[Mr.Fox]

Ive noticed that’s sometimes the case when visiting islands. But on my own island, I experience very minimal lag. The only time I notice any lag is when switching between characters, and even then it’s pretty brief when I first enter an area while the items load. Is this because on my own island things are cached in the game storage?

It could also be how intricate a certain area is...I made an outdoor concert area, so it's got a bunch of chairs, 6 different musical instruments, a music player, and floor lights. That area always lags a bit for me when I run through it....ultimately I'm blaming the instruments in this scenario lol

 

[amylsp]

It could also be how intricate a certain area is...I made an outdoor concert area, so it's got a bunch of chairs, 6 different musical instruments, a music player, and floor lights. That area always lags a bit for me when I run through it....ultimately I'm blaming the instruments in this scenario lol

Yeah, I guess I do notice in some areas I ‘run’ a little slower than in others. But not enough to bother me too much. It’s the waiting for items to load when entering an area that I definitely notice when switching characters.

 

[Mr.Fox]

Yeah, I guess I do notice in some areas I ‘run’ a little slower than in others. But not enough to bother me too much. It’s the waiting for items to load when entering an area that I definitely notice when switching characters.

At first I was going to blame interactive items...but I've got lamps and train sets outside and they never slow me down.

I think I've just realized it is definitely the instruments for me. There's a little more 'depth' to them coding wise than your average interactive item since they have to both be able to make random sounds (if you're just button mashing) or they have to be able to play along with whatever song is playing near them....but only if you're good enough at that lol I can only play along with Forest Life for the most part...