New island layout doubts

[Sara?]

Is it possible to get like a new island default shape or like to flatten your island without having to loose everything from your inventory ?

 

[maria110]

You can't get a new shape. You can flatten, although it's time consuming. There's a thread here where you can request someone to hold your items if you choose to reset or you could have a friend or family member do it if they have the game and an online account. Sometime people post a picture of their map and others can give suggestions of how to make changes without a complete reset or flattening.

 

[J087]

You wish to change the layout of your current island back to what it was before you started using the island designer?

That's possible but it will require time and effort. There is a program on the Internet called "happy island designer". You can make a layout on your computer and then rebuild it on you island. Square by square.

 

[th8827]

The only way to change the main layout (Resident services location, river openings) is to delete the old island and start over.

You can't really transfer stuff over, but you can find someone who is willing to hold your important stuff for you, so that you can retrieve it later.

 

[Sara?]

thats such a shame, i wish we could go to nooks and just tell him to flatten all, so we could change our island layout without changing our game save

 

[VanitasFan26]

Its really complicated to find a right island layout that is perfect. It just depends on what you're looking for. Flattening your island is time consuming but restarting several times to get a perfect layout will take longer to do. For me it took me 50 tries on my 2nd island to get a layout that works for me and I have tell myself "Just keep it simple and don't do much terraforming" which is hard for me but I got used to it.

There is no way to change the layout and no way to change the island name. Once you go with the name thats it you can't change it. If Flattening doesn't seem to work all that well then you'll have no other choice but to restart, but again its up to you to decide. There is a way to save your items. You have to ask one of your friends who you trust to hold on to them while you restart. It may take some time but it does work.

 

[Akeath]

You have a lot of latitude with terraforming. Buildings, cliffs, and where the rivers flow within your island can all be changed. Most buildings and island homes can also be moved. Some people like to start over with a blank slate by a process they call "flattening", where they terraform to get rid of all the cliffs and water and move the buildings along the beaches so they start with one big flat island, a blank slate. It's a lot of work, but it can be done, and you won't lose your inventory or game progress if you do that.

However, there are some things that can't be changed. The things you can't change without restarting the game and losing everything are:
The location of resident services and the town plaza
The location and color of the airport
The location and size of the secret beach at the back of the island
The location of your pier as well as it's length
The river mouths, where the rivers go into the sand and then out into the sea
The shape of the beach and the location of large rocks
The size and location of the peninsula