How do you plan the layout of your island?

[Peach_Jam]

Rather than meticulously planning out every inch of my island, I kind of just go with what I personally like and take many breaks in between building up areas. My biggest problem at the beginning was trying to make everything flow together, rather than it being a patchy island. Looking at other islands for inspiration helps a lot as well, especially if you've ran out of ideas or are not sure how to execute one of your own.

 

[Khaelis]

I tend to be very meticulous, often planning things out with tools that are online, or on paper. However, I actually just restarted today and I plan on taking a more free-form approach this time around.

 

[Le Ham]

I had a rough idea before starting the game where I wanted certain buildings to go, then picked a map that fulfilled that basic need. I'm one of those people who've mostly stuck with the starting map - I would not be able to function if I flattened the whole island. The strategy I use assumes you don't flatten your island. However, I have made a few changes to my terrain based on stuff I knew I wanted to do.

The first thing I always do now in any AC game, after landing in my new town/island, is to start marking the paths. I use default patterns as markers to decide where the paths/roads will go - ofc you can also use branches, weeds, etc. Connect the unmovable buildings together with paths first (airport, RS, peninsula, dock), work on getting trees and rocks out of the way, and then look at your map, think of the layout you have in your head and start working out from there. It may change a lot over time as you figure out what's going to work and what won't, but ye that's my take

My map before/after

 

[niko@kamogawa]

I simply adapted to whatever the game gave me.

I have no plans overhauling the entire island layout. However, I only trimmed some sections.

 

[DVD]

I honestly never planned anything in my main island; I'm a super slow player, and I basically only made some paths around resident services to have all the homes around it, and just kept going from there! I've moved some stuff too as time has passed until reaching a point where I just have a few empty areas which I still don't know exactly what to do with

 

[Mairmalade]

I started with a theme and enclosed the area I wanted to build in with cliffs (about 1/3 of the island’s surface). Instead of moving buildings to try things out, I used patterns to plot potential spaces for buildings/waterways and worked around them before ’locking’ them in. I filled the entire area with terra-cotta files and erased them in places where I felt a little greenery or water would look better rather than planning strict paths/rivers first.

I do like having shops close together, but I didn’t like having them side-by-side. I instead opted to place Nook’s Cranny on higher ground, with Able’s on the first level ‘beside’ it. It keeps the marketplace vibe but adds more...visual interest? You aren’t pressured to keep both on theme this way either. Each area can be decorated differently without losing that feel of cohesiveness. It makes it easier to experiment!

I prefer smaller spaces and the reduced area made building up my island a lot less stressful.

 

[maria110]

I try to pick an island layout I basically like and I go from there, trying to work with the natural design rather than fighting it too much. I like natural-ish islands for myself.

 

[bleached]

I always take a picture of the map, then use procreate to select the houses and move them to a general area I want them to be. I make new rivers and change the land levels a bit, then add in paths where I want them to be. I get most of my inspiration from pinterest, and kind of fit together the inspiration I find (change the colour of flowers so they're matching etc.)
I just slowly piece my ideas together until I can draw out a good enough map. I always choose a section to start with, and develop the areas around it (instead of decorating random areas and trying to work around different areas of the island). Start slowly - make sure you 100% like the places you decorate and design. You don't want to change your mind when you've already finished everything around it! :']