Not being a perfectionist

[Moritz]

I have just started a new island.
Literally just started. I've not even named it yet.

I made sure it had the right fruit and airport colour as those are big deals to me.
But for the rest, I'm going to try really hard to go with the flow.

I've made sure I went with a map that I've never used before because I don't want to be tainted by memories of how it looked last time.

Ever since making my original island exactly how I wanted it. I've found it very hard to settle for less.

How do you find playing the game this way on subsequent playthroughs? Do you have any success?

 

[VanitasFan26]

I said this is in a different thread so I'm going to say it here. Ever since when people started sharing how cool their islands are on Social Media I feel like this has led to people feel peer pressured to make their islands perfect like theirs. Like I have nothing against the people who post how their islands look but Its creating this trend where people have to try so hard to make their islands perfect.

Let me just say this, I feel like sometimes people take designing way too seriously with their islands which is one of the reasons I've seen people get so mad and frustrated with the game. I mostly blame Social Media for trying to compare who has the better island. The reality is there is no such thing as a "perfect island" your island can be just as good as long as "you" are happy with it. You don't need to let people tell you otherwise. I know from experience what it feels like to feel "pressured" to have a great looking island, but at the end of the day, just make what stands out to you.

Just remember don't feel bad about your island. If you do want feedback my advice is make your island a bit more open and not so cluttered. As for themes I don't take it too seriously since I keep it pretty basic based on my personality in real life. Stuff that I like and stuff that I always relate to in real life that I feel really made me go "wow that was amazing". To get to the point its your island and however you make it should make you happy and not sad just because you see other people's islands.

 

[. Rarity .]

Not finished.

 

[Bilaz]

I totally get how you feel. I recently finished a total revamp of my original island (my launch day island) to get it ‘perfect’ but it took me all year and it really wasn’t fun for me. Even now that I’m enjoying walking around it and fishing and doing quests for my villagers I have to watch out to not watch too much animal crossing content on youtube or I start feeling like my island is lacklustre again, and I am NOT doing a second revamp forget it.

I recently started a second island on my second switch and I too am going with the flow. I settled for the ‘wrong’ fruit and airport colour, villagers I was meh on (and wow, I’ve already gotten attached to my jock so just goes to show you) and a layout unlike what I’ve ever had before. I’ve decided to go totally basic with this one. No trading, no custom paths, minimal terraforming if I feel like it. I’m having fun just building whatever furniture I happen to find the DIY of or buying whatever looks interesting in the store. Then I place it somewhere on my island where I think it will look nice. I’m also trying to breed my own flowers, not going for a particular hybrid or breeding a certain amount.

I wish you the best of luck on your new island! I hope we can all find the joy and relaxation this game is supposed to bring

 

[DJ-Mika]

I still have my original main island that I first started in 2020, and as someone who knew nothing about Animal Crossing and how much those first choices really effected your island, I very much just "went with the flow" as I played regardless, and I honestly like it better than just redoing everything over and over so that it's "perfect".

So my starter fruit is Pears (my least favorite fruit)? Oh well, I can just dig up my Pear trees and replace them with what I really wanted (Peaches)
Ok, so my airport entrance and RS are literally 2 inches from each other? That's fine, I looked up tips and advice on how to utilize a small entrance space and experimented and now I have something I really like!
An unexpected and unplanned villager popped into my Campsite right as I had an open plot? I invited them and now they're my favorite villager in the entire game.

I feel like half the fun from this game can come from just "going with it" or just letting things happen. As others have said, trying so hard to make it 100% perfect no flaws everything goes according to plan/the "aesthetic" just feels so... unnatural. Like you're just copying a ready-made template someone else planned out instead of just dong your own thing from your own mind/interests (not saying you can't take inspiration, I do that all the time, but trying to perfectly copy every layout you see on Instagram is just not it for me)
So much about this game is kind of random and unplanned, and I think if you just work with it and try to open up to new things instead of hitting the redo button the moment an "ugly" villager autofills or something, can both be really rewarding when you can make it work and help your island to feel very special and personal to you.

 

[KittenNoir]

I understand what you mean I still have my original island and I kept restarting it till I got the perfect fruit, airport colour and island layout took me a good hour to start actually playing the game on launch day.

 

[KazooSquirrel]

In previous save files I have gone hog wild with terraforming and turning the island into a perfectly polished little village....and then I end up hating it.

You see all these great pictures of people with villages like that and then even if you get something comparable it can feel kind of hollow.

I always end up missing the old school AC vibe, so this time I am going for a wild forest village/untamed vibe, and for villagers I am purposely picking misfit villagers people usually hate and are mean to (because it makes me sad and I want them to have a happy safe place to live too.)

It's a slow ans steady process. So far I have Hazel, Lyman, Barold, Jambette, and Tabby.

Already feeling so much more optimistic about this run than I have previous ones.

This might finally be the one that sticks!

 

[ConfusedDad]

I said this is in a different thread so I'm going to say it here. Ever since when people started sharing how cool their islands are on Social Media I feel like this has led to people feel peer pressured to make their islands perfect like theirs. Like I have nothing against the people who post how their islands look but Its creating this trend where people have to try so hard to make their islands perfect.

Let me just say this, I feel like sometimes people take designing way too seriously with their islands which is one of the reasons I've seen people get so mad and frustrated with the game. I mostly blame Social Media for trying to compare who has the better island. The reality is there is no such thing as a "perfect island" your island can be just as good as long as "you" are happy with it. You don't need to let people tell you otherwise. I know from experience what it feels like to feel "pressured" to have a great looking island, but at the end of the day, just make what stands out to you.

Just remember don't feel bad about your island. If you do want feedback my advice is make your island a bit more open and not so cluttered. As for themes I don't take it too seriously since I keep it pretty basic based on my personality in real life. Stuff that I like and stuff that I always relate to in real life that I feel really made me go "wow that was amazing". To get to the point its your island and however you make it should make you happy and not sad just because you see other people's islands.

omg, I always feel like this. Like, I just feel pressured to make a perfect island because I see other people's. I'm trying to not let this influence me but what can I say, I'm a perfectionist.

 

[Imbri]

I'm on my original, launch-day island, but I understand the feeling of 'not perfect enough'. As others have said, seeing those pictures online can make you feel like your island isn't good enough. The thing I've found though, is that if you go visit some of those 'perfect islands', they are actually incredibly cluttered and difficult to maneuver in. What makes a cute Instagram post doesn't necessarily translate to an island that you can play.

Nothing against them; if you want to make a photo-pretty island, go for it! Me? I prefer a little less perfect and the room to run around and play. Which makes my island perfect for me.

 

[Corrie]

It's funny because I actually don't like too many island shared on social media. They have too many unnatural waterfalls, too many fake looking paths/designs (pools, for example), and are usually squishy with too much clutter.

Not shaming them or anything but it's helped with me not getting jealous. Can't get jealous if you don't like the designs anyway lol.

 

[JKDOS]

they are actually incredibly cluttered and difficult to maneuver in.

This is my impression when visiting random dreams. Maybe it's just me, but I also like to take bug hunting and finishing into consideration, even after my museum is finished. I can't imagine it's easy finding bugs. And if you don't have a stretch of river, it will make finding river fish take a bit more of an effort.

I do love the good photos these islands produce though. No matter how many times I design and redesign my island to my liking, I always end up hating it after some time. And I almost never have any motivation to start redesigning due to how much time it takes to move buildings and flora, and terraform cliffs. I feel it would be so much better if we could have 1 island per profile, that way I could have a variety and not feel locked into 1.