Is anyone else struggling with designing their island?

[LovelyLucifer]

I was so excited to see how much creative freedom I'd get to have when the commercials first came out! However, I never took into consideration how much of a perfectionist I was. I've played animal crossing since I was a kid way back with game cube! I think this is the most I've struggled though :c I've been hesitating to play lately because I put so much pressure on myself to have a desirable looking island.

Does anybody else feel the same way?

Feel free to post your island progression! I plan on moving my museum into the small middle portion of the island today and moving the two houses down below... somewhere!

Spoiler

 

[Spooky.]

I have ideas of things I'd like to do but my progression is slow because I never seem to get any good DIY stuff.

 

[LovelyLucifer]

I have ideas of things I'd like to do but my progression is slow because I never seem to get any good DIY stuff.

I have that issue alot as well! The easter event is especially making things slow

 

[Pyoopi]

A little bit, yeah. I'm more dreading the amount of bells I have to spend moving around the buildings. 50K for a villager house is ouch territory.

I unlocked the island designer app but I want to finish bridges, my last house loan and mark out layouts before I start plowing through.

I'm going to look at real towns for inspiration and references.

 

[CowKing]

I'm struggling on what to do with my island too and I'm afraid that I'll have all this extra space because I'm not that creative...

 

[Hedgehugs]

im a big dumb dumb and decided to make most of my map symmetrical minus a few things. i would stop but im in too deep now all villager houses minus the ones at the top need to be moved lol.

Spoiler

in short yeah im kinda struggling but it's making the game more fun to play so i cant complain too much

 

[Kurashiki]

yup, it can be pretty overwhelming! i am finding it best to just focus on one area at a time - currently i'm trying to fix up my residential area but it is quite daunting how expensive and time consuming it is. i have 5 houses to move, and one or two of them will have to b moved twice as their current locations are "in the way" of where i want them.. at 50k and an overnight wait time per move it really stacks up lol

 

[tajikey]

A little bit, yeah. I'm more dreading the amount of bells I have to spend moving around the buildings. 50K for a villager house is ouch territory.

I unlocked the island designer app but I want to finish bridges, my last house loan and mark out layouts before I start plowing through.

I'm going to look at real towns for inspiration and references.

My issue isn't the cost to move buildings, but rather, the fact that we're limited to one bridge/incline demo or construction and one building per day.

I'd be a lot further along if not for that limitation.

 

[LunaLight]

My town’s in a crisis. I’ve essentially remodeled the whole thing twice in the past few days. I have some ideas I just don’t know how to execute them. And I have no idea with how I want my layout to be, with the river.

 

[seliph]

i was for a bit, once i figured out where i want bridges/ramps and figured out paths between essentials (airport, town hall, museum) it started coming together

 

[LovelyLucifer]

im a big dumb dumb and decided to make most of my map symmetrical minus a few things. i would stop but im in too deep now all villager houses minus the ones at the top need to be moved lol.

Spoiler

View attachment 235453

in short yeah im kinda struggling but it's making the game more fun to play so i cant complain too much

I think thats super neat looking!! You could possibly make one of those strips of land an orchard, maybe both!

 

[hydrophonic]

i was very frustrated the day I unlocked terraforming. After seeing so many cool ideas I tried to put 1. a two floor cascade ...in a very narrow space and right after a portion of land cut by the river, essentially making me build two bridges across a single acre. 2. build a mini mountain near the plaza just to put the museum there.

Everything looked horrible, so I reverted to the original layout with a few tweaks. I've decided to take it in very slowly and see how things progress.

 

[Rosewater]

Yeah I'm just going with the flow tbh lol. I don't really care if my island's perfect or not.

 

[Khaelis]

I spent weeks designing it after terraforming was revealed. I have a pretty good idea of what I want as an end result, though it is likely things will change in due time.

I suspect the whole process will take me about two months to fully complete, since I'm not time travelling.

 

[Mairen]

I'm trying to take it one thing at a time. I first decided on my river shape, then the basic cliff formations. Now I'm working on individual areas like my island's entrance. Earlier today, I put up an orchard. and yesterday I made a playground and a campground. Piece by piece, day by day, it's slowly coming together into a result I'm finding myself pleased with. The part that really slowed me down was having to move every single building. Tomorrow I will finally have all of my facilities in place, so I'll work on moving the personal houses next.

 

[Maiana]

Was looking at other peoples towns and got so sad about mine that I cut down all the trees and sold all the flowers.

I think I have a new idea for my town though <3 So we'll see how it goes~

 

[Peter]

As much as I want to knuckle down and start having everything perfect now, you've just got to be patient, as with all other Animal Crossing games. I'm in the process of moving my villagers around and at one-house-per-day it feels like a chore sometimes, but you've just gotta slowly work towards an end result.

most of the time i've found that going into terraforming blindly has often brought the best results rather than trying to do something i'd had planned. so i'd say don't worry - it will all start to come together eventually and the less pressure you put yourself under the better.

 

[Zura]

Not really but I'm currently at a roadblock/standstill

 

[Romaki]

Definitely. I'm more practical than creative, so it'll be difficult to work with what I terraformed for myself.

Spoiler: Map & Future Ideas

1 - museum spot, I wanted it at 2 but it'll definitely not fit there. I'm worried about the river part there
2 - this will be a viewing spot and just a nice decorative spot, I'll probably showcase foreign trees there as well
3 - path to the secret beach, I'll probably try to turn it into a nice singular spot to enjoy the beach in quiet
4 - neighborhood section. I changed my mind to a clutted spot because it's nice. might add the café if possible
5 - shopping area right by the neighborhood, able sisters will move there. will add a pond area behind there
6 - government and welcome area. no ideas yet, but will add the police station there if possible
7 - giant garden in front of my house. i'll probably make it look like a nice park someday

My island is a mess right now, but I'm happy with the walking path I created. Not so sure about the rest, but I'll try my best.

 

[mocha.]

Yes! Hugely. I think there’s a lot of pressure to have a perfect looking island and it’s so easy to compare with a strong presence on social media. Every time I log onto twitter I’m flooded with aesthetically pleasing images of perfectly planned islands and it really knocks your confidence, especially if you’re not that creative.

I think we have to remember the game hasn’t been out for very long and we have so much time to mess around with our islands. There’s no race or pressure to have things perfect straight away and it’s okay to make mistakes. Even if you don’t want to terraform that’s okay too! There aren’t any rules for playing this game. just take it one day at a time and strip things back to basics if you’re feeling overwhelmed - focus on hybrid breeding or just chatting with your villagers for a couple of days and go back to it once you’re ready.