Making an island that looks beautiful but is actually quite dark on the inside also talking about personal issues keeping me from playing the game

[The friendcode exchanger]

So for a while now I have been fairly inactive in acnh not playing for several months often but this time I remembered I started working on my island some time ago after flattening everything and so far I am mostly finished with my first house that has a heavy japanese theme going on but it also has it's own incredibly dark secret in the form of symbolism based on something that I myself saw on the web a few years ago that I will never forget about.

As for the town itself I am trying to make a zen japanese themed island with a lot of flowers mainly red pink purple and black but also bamboo and lot's of fruit trees +zen fences which I don't have the recipe for sadly but the main attraction will be the various houses such as the one mentioned above but the outside will have it's own things to see .

For example I created a fenced off area with a well and a pair of socks and shoes in front of it and the area is surrounded by flowers and I got this idea from the famous Japanese horror movie Ringu or The ring in english from the scene where Samara comes out of the well.

The thing I have always wanted to make as described in earlier treads and as the title says is to make a town that looks innocent but it holds some dark and gruesome secrets which is also what I did in acnl but in that game there was already a prebuilt map from the beginning that I could actually use to design my town without having to plan too much by just doing the first excellent fitting idea I could think of then doing a few revisions until I was satisfied with the results.

I have written similar threads before about trying to make this type of town or other types like it before but I am just not nowhere near as active on the forums as I used to be back when I was playing animal crossing new leaf back around the peak of it's popularity when it was more new and felt fresh and I used to write similar threads back then as well about ideas that mostly never came into fruition because I suck at planning things either that or the issue with ingame money and time in general just kept on getting the way which is an even bigger problem for me in New horizons and besides that my memory absolutely sucks so I end up writing about the same thing because I forgot I even wrote a similar thread maybe several months ago.

I also have no idea what to use the terraforming tools for because most of the time I just find it looks really ugly and unappealing and can't figure out a way to actually make it look good so I just end up getting rid of it and I just stick with the flattened ground only when designing my island which is how I am used to doing town design anyways from playing acnl for several years from 2014 to the end of the 2010's basically.

I also have a lot of empty areas in my town that I have no idea what to do with that are filled with brick paths but nothing else besides villager houses but I am not sure how I am even supposed to approach this in the first place as it just becomes too overwhelming which is really annoying and kind of sucks the enjoyment out of designing the island which is about the only thing I do really when playing acnh because the game bores me to tears otherwise even though I am nowhere near close to doing everything the game has to offer it just feels empty and barren especially when compared to New leaf even.

I also have issues of my own that need to be resolved eventually that also prevent me from truly getting back into the game such as long term highly detrimental sleep issues since childhood because of high functioning autism but even worse is that now that I live on my own my daily routines are either irregular or missing tasks and I am unable to find a solution for these issues myself and what is also awful is that my weight is rapidly getting out of control which used to not be an issue previously and I am seeking help for it currently .

Honestly the best part about the animal crossing franchise has always been how calming it can be and it's exactly the kind of game that is good for me because for example I sometimes tend to get stressed out ,even feelings of anger or other things that happen in life and because of that animal crossing is perfect for helping me deal with the feelings of that at least temporarily which Is why I am disappointed at acnh because I just personally feel it fails at this unlike it's predecessor game New leaf with it's calming non repetitive music that did not force me to turn off the volume while designing my town and characters I actually used to bond with even if they had repeating dialogue sometimes they still felt more like actual friends and not robots.

To summarize the contents of this thread basically I have been starting on my island again after previously flattening along with the ideas and concepts I have for it and I also talked briefly about myother ideas and projects that never came to be and also my issues with designing the town with everything from terraforming but also things like large empty areas I have no idea what to do with and even just personal issues in my life that stop me from playing this game altogether.

I am just really tired when writing this right now and my eyes just feel drowsy and I am not sure what else to write but I could add more irinformation later on eventually and I hope I don't annoying or boring .

 

[apeisland]

You are not annoying or boring, I really enjoyed reading you. I am happy Animal Crossing helps you but I am sorry NH doesn't that much... I use AC to try to help with my anxiety but it feels somewhat weir too. As you said, I really value feeling like villagers are my friends and they do seem a little robotic here I wish you the best of lucks with your island, it seems like a very interesting concept !

 

[Xara]

first of all, your first house honestly sounds really cool. i absolutely love things that seem normal or innocent or cute but actually have a dark meaning behind them, so it’s right up my alley. your island itself also sounds great, and your the ring area is such a cool idea!

i’m sorry that new horizons hasn’t been as enjoyable for you as new leaf. i honestly struggle a lot with feelings of anger and depression and getting stressed out easily as well, and animal crossing is also one of my safe spaces. new horizons has helped me a lot during the past 2 years and i’ve had plenty of fun with it, but i was definitely interested in new leaf for a lot longer. i’m even thinking of picking it up again. idk. new horizons is superior in a lot of ways, but i miss a lot of what new leaf offered. i had fun with it for 4 years, whereas i was burnt out from new horizons after only 1.5. i wouldn’t say that nintendo completely dropped the ball, but it really feels like the game was abandoned too soon, and so much was left out.

i’m afraid i don’t have any advice for you, but you are absolutely not alone. i relate to a lot of what you’ve said tbh. i’m not the best at planning things, either, and trying to figure out what to do with my island and how to fill up all my empty spaces overwhelms me a lot, too, and deters me from even trying. i’m also not too sure how to go about terraforming — i’ve watched plenty of tutorials and read plenty of advice, i just... suck at it, i guess lmao. the best thing i’ve managed to build so far is a heart-shaped pond, and even that took me forever.

you’re not annoying or boring at all, don’t worry. i’m sorry about the issues you’ve been having as well — you’re definitely not alone in them, though. i hope you’ve been able to get some rest since writing this post. take care.