Island design and themes

[sierra]

I'm going back and forth from witchy cottagecore, pastel and Tropical Mexican vacation. I'm working on a way to combine what I like about all of them into one cohesive style that reflects me. But it's hard.

The possibilities really be endless. If I had a second island, I'd go with a miami city coke dealer type of beat. Really gaudy, all tigers and lion villagers, maybe a gator bc Florida. But I want my town that I spend all my time in to be a little more chill and serene.

For the virtual landscapers, where do you pull inspiration? and how do you decide on a theme? What IS your theme if you've decided???

 

[Luca]

I'm having the same trouble with trying to decide between a cute white & pastel theme or a dark gothic theme, and I'm probably gonna wind up just splitting my island into separate areas... You could always try using a cottagecore theme further inland on a higher tier of land, and then a tropical theme around the beach?

 

[sierra]

I'm having the same trouble with trying to decide between a cute white & pastel theme or a dark gothic theme, and I'm probably gonna wind up just splitting my island into separate areas... You could always try using a cottagecore theme further inland on a higher tier of land, and then a tropical theme around the beach?

You mean I can have it all? ��

lol yeah that’s probably what’s it’s gonna come down to. I like too many things.

 

[Stevey Queen]

I was just going to do like seasonal themes that change every seasons.

 

[dizzy bone]

Not sure what I'll do for a theme yet because my "main town" usually doesn't have a specific theme and I'll would get inspired as I go along. For example, my New Leaf town themes were eventually decided as my villagers came in - my main town was a forest town because erratically placed villagers made me use a ton of dirt paths, and my second town was a bird town because I started off with 2-3 birds from the get go. I don't think I'll be thinking too deeply about the theme until I unlock terraforming. I know I want to go with the deserted island look for as long as I can though and I still want my island to have lots of natural forest areas even after we can modernise it. One thing for sure is that I don't want to go with a "full" pastel theme or full forest/modern/whatever theme. I want the island to be split up into different distinguishable locations depending on villager houses and shops and match the landscaping to the colour schemes of those exteriors.

If I were to go with very specific themes, I did have a few ideas though. I had this idea in New Leaf to make a town based on the game Fantasy Life and the world of Reveria, but it was just way too hard to separate the locations to have them distinguishable imo. It seems like it could actually be a possibility in New Horizons with the different tier levels and being able to landscape your beach! I would have separate sections for the areas Castele (+ the West Grassy Plains and Farley's Planation), Port Peurto (the main town and the beach area), Al Maajik (very situational based on if they give us desert-looking landscaping options), and Levitania (Plushling camp). Another idea would be to have a general island but have a few references to BOTW if I were to go with one of my BOTW island names. I feel like these game themes might be used by others as well but idk I just love both games so much lol. It's likely I'll stick to something themeless though.

 

[Xara]

because i’m indecisive and can never stick to just one thing, each tier of my island will have a different theme; the first lier will be my own little personal thing that’s full of decorations and flowers and all that jazz that i like.

the second tier will be vibrant and full of life and will change with the seasons and the third will be more mellow and will have more of a woodsy feel to it c:

 

[sierra]

Not sure what I'll do for a theme yet because my "main town" usually doesn't have a specific theme and I'll would get inspired as I go along. For example, my New Leaf town themes were eventually decided as my villagers came in - my main town was a forest town because erratically placed villagers made me use a ton of dirt paths, and my second town was a bird town because I started off with 2-3 birds from the get go. I don't think I'll be thinking too deeply about the theme until I unlock terraforming. I know I want to go with the deserted island look for as long as I can though and I still want my island to have lots of natural forest areas even after we can modernise it. One thing for sure is that I don't want to go with a "full" pastel theme or full forest/modern/whatever theme. I want the island to be split up into different distinguishable locations depending on villager houses and shops and match the landscaping to the colour schemes of those exteriors.

If I were to go with very specific themes, I did have a few ideas though. I had this idea in New Leaf to make a town based on the game Fantasy Life and the world of Reveria, but it was just way too hard to separate the locations to have them distinguishable imo. It seems like it could actually be a possibility in New Horizons with the different tier levels and being able to landscape your beach! I would have separate sections for the areas Castele (+ the West Grassy Plains and Farley's Planation), Port Peurto (the main town and the beach area), Al Maajik (very situational based on if they give us desert-looking landscaping options), and Levitania (Plushling camp). Another idea would be to have a general island but have a few references to BOTW if I were to go with one of my BOTW island names. I feel like these game themes might be used by others as well but idk I just love both games so much lol. It's likely I'll stick to something themeless though.

I very much know what you mean when you say villagers end up influencing decor. I got ankha randomly and made the upper left corner of my map little Eqypt. I feel good designing is equal parts planning and improvising.
You make a lot of sense when you say it’s hard to have a distinguished theme when you have to keep it going for a whole town. Smaller themed sections is smarter. That’s lends so much for creativity.

 

[ILikeFroakies]

My theme is just gonna be "Me". This basically means it's got stuff I'm interested and passionate about all thrown together. For example it will have a Marvel house, my dreamies, varies party places, movie theatres, sports rooms and areas, a space station, etc.

 

[iExist]

Split into quarters. Each corner has its own theme. It'll have a town area, a natural cottage area, and a shopping area!

 

[drowningfairies]

I usually always do pastel themes, but I'm really thinking of doing an overgrown mythical theme this time.
So very overgrown, lots of natural furniture, with small magical looking ornaments.

This is going to be super hard for me, since I always want to follow a theme, but with all of the extra customization, I may just do my own thing and not do an exact theme.

 

[Shannon1]

I'm going for a gothic rococo victorian theme for my town! I'm so excited that we can finally put furniture outside. I just hope there are a lot more victorian themed items. Or that the games has alot of pocket camps items in it because there were some nice furniture sets.

 

[fink]

I don't really have a strict theme more so just a vague idea of what I want. I want to have a bustling happy town with a neighborhood and mainstreet with shops and access to the beach and airport but I also want a mountain cedar forest trail for camping and relaxing. So idk, basically kind of realistic?

 

[AlyssaAC]

I've never done a theme before and it would be kinda hard for me to do, as I'm not the best at designing towns, so I'm just gonna do whatever feels best for me. For instance, I will definitely place furniture outside that I do like and I'm gonna try my best to make sure it matches in color, this way it doesn't clash. Really I just like choosing things that are my favorite.

 

[Noctis]

My two towns never had a theme. It was more of a split between this and that. I actually always wanted to make an island theme and new horizons is exactly what I wanted so I might just go with the plain tropic theme with a mix of zen. Also I'm a fan of forest but in a secluded area so hopefully I can find find a place on the map where I can do that.

 

[meggiewes]

I don't think I'm going to be able to decide until I see the furniture. However, I am really tempted to go all out Alice in Wonderland on it. With or without "themed furniture" there will be enough style in the game to pull it off! I just might have to get a bit creative.