Ramblings of Notch

[Peter]

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Introduction:

Hello, and welcome to the journal of my island -- Notch. I hope to come here to scribble down some updates of my islands progress from time-to-time, so I hope you'll enjoy reading my ramblings. :- )​

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Current Residents:

Stitches / Molly / Fang / Bam / Shep / Dom / Olive / Pango / Pippy / Vivian​

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Current Map (21/12/2020):

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[Peter]

Index of posts:

1. 24/04/2020 | One month in...
2. 25/04/2020 | Notch Neighbourhoods
3. 29/04/2020 | A Sushi-chef Stabbing
4. 05/05/2020 | Dom's Farm
5. 16/05/2020 | More Terraforming
6. 15/06/2020 | An overdue update
7. 10/11/2020 | City of New Beginnings

 

[Peter]

Post #1: 24/04/2020

ıllı One month in... ıllı
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Hello, and welcome to my very first journal/blog/ramble post on TBT. I've actually always wanted to write a blog like this for my Animal Crossing journeys, but it never felt like the right time, nor did I feel like I had the right place to do it. With the launch of this new board and all the excitement it has brought with it, I'm hoping this becomes an active part of my AC-playing routine. I can't wait to document some of my days here, and read all about everybody else's too! (that will no doubt give me lots of envy and send me spiralling into bulldozing my island and starting again...)

So... we're just over a month in now and well into the swing of things. It's fair to say this AC game is not unique in the fact it has taken over my life with its charm-covered hooks, dragging me back in hour after hour. There really is no better feeling than watching your town develop, and I feel like this is especially true of New Horizons, were we have started from scratch.

I have always been a fan of forest towns, and for the most part they have always been my go-to landscaping style. Notch is no exception, however with its island setting it didn't seem right to simply cover it in cedar trees like I have done in the past with so many New Leaf towns. This time I've tried to incorporate palm trees, colourful flowers and fruit trees, and a few tropical bushes as much as I can along the way:

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It just so happens that the day I start my blog is the day we have our very first thunderstorm! The pluviophile in me is delighted but it doesn't make for great photos, so hopefully I can take better ones at some point. But this is how my town is shaping up so far. I'm excited for the sprouts I bought from Leif yesterday to grow into full-sized bushes. The pics I've seen of them so far make them look great for landscaping, especially the camellias that very much resemble the windflowers that are almost taking over my island at this point. I guess you can have a second native flower after all?

My current goal is to continue landscaping. I absolutely love towns that you get very happily lost in, discovering new things along the way and not sticking to too much of a preset path, so I'm hoping to have areas of my town that incorporate that. My main town area -- that is, the area in which you were originally bound to for the first few days -- is surrounded by the same shape of river that it has been since day 1, and intentionally so. I have moved my villagers to their own little "neighbourhoods" around the edges of my map which are often secluded with mountains and rivers, and I've kept my main town area as villager-free as I can so I can make this the main bulk of my natural-looking zone. My buddy Dom and the dreaded Hans have their plots in the lower-right of this area, but I hope to move them to a better place soon.

Speaking of villagers and their neighbourhoods, I'm going to make them the topic of my next post -- whenever that may be, and hopefully when the weather is a little better for photos! I feel as though I've been very lucky with my first set of 10 villagers so I really want to show off the little neighbourhoods I've built for them.

I'll sign off here, thanks for reading. Please feel free to comment whatever below, I'd love for this journal to become a little conversation thread. :- )

 

[Peter]

Post #2: 25/04/2020

ıllı Notch Neighbourhoods ıllı​

I'm not planning on making this into a daily blog, but since the weather is so nice on my island today I got some great photos of my villagers houses -- so now is as good a time as any to show them off!

I had initially set my villager plots down in a straight line. The idea that you could do it in this game was just mind-blowing to me -- the memories of plot resetting for hours on end in New Leaf are still engraved in my mind, and I've heard so many stories of friends who have obsessively reset for days to get the house into just the right place. Being able to place villager houses is one of the great new aspects of New Horizons to me, as well as being able to decorate the area around them.

Quickly I decided though that straight-line houses in organised patterns just aren't for me. They look great in some towns but they really didn't suit the vibe I was going for in mine. For Notch, I've decided to create some "neighbourhoods" that I thought some villagers would enjoy living in. The first was at the far right portion of my map:

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I wanted to create a little enclave in the mountains, with my campsite nearby. The entire area is built up on the second layer, and I intentionally crammed the houses in to make it feel like a real village. I chose villager houses that looked neutral-looking, and who I thought would like to live together. It's currently home to Molly, Olive and Fang and I affectionately call it my Retirement Village :' ), which is even more apt now that I've given Fang the most grandad-looking shirt, tie and jumper combo I could. Of course no Retirement Village is complete with a board game set out, and a radio playing throwback songs.

Next up, I created another little village in the lower left portion:

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This village I've tucked in cliffs, and I put a little narrow path down the side of Able's leading to it to give it a secret area-type feel. The path leading out the other side is surrounded by waterfalls. Which frames passing presents very well :- ).

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Here I have placed Pango and Shep who are very good neighbours! I placed an amp outside Pango's house as she is always telling me how much she wants to be a pop star, and gave Shep a pawprint doorplate for obvious reasons. A waterfall and river with stepping stones separate the two, and in the upper portion near Pango's house is a reading nook with beekeeping area that I'll show off in another post.

I'm very happy with the two villages I've made so far! They fit my town and the villagers who live there very nicely. Stitches and Bam live very close to me so I might show this off in another post about my home. Pippy lives near my museum which I'll also show another time, and I still have two villagers -- Dom and Hans -- that I also need to make neighbourhoods for. But first I need to know who I'm kicking Hans out for...

 

[Fridaynightcatlady]

Oh this is very cute!! I really like how you've made each neighborhood. It certainly looks so good. I love your villagers as well. I find them to be very diverse looking and cute, but I feel they have a lot of character if you want to play stories between them haha.

I hope I can visit some day!!!

 

[Peter]

Oh this is very cute!! I really like how you've made each neighborhood. It certainly looks so good. I love your villagers as well. I find them to be very diverse looking and cute, but I feel they have a lot of character if you want to play stories between them haha.

I hope I can visit some day!!!

ahh thank you for the kind words! I'm very happy with my villagers so far, they're making me some good friends . I'd love for you to visit me one day, I'm hard at work sprucing everywhere up but i'll definitely let you know when I'm open to visitors :- ). and the same to you

 

[Peter]

Post #3: 29/04/2020

ıllı A Sushi-chef Stabbing ıllı

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Note to self: on a trip to @dizzy bone's town never catch a tuna. Next time they're in your town you'll be served into tuna sushi and stabbed with a freshly caught Blue Marlin from your own waters. Water-ever it takes to help a friend catch a fish for their Critterpedia I guess.

 

[Peter]

Post #4: 05/05/2020

ıllı Dom's Farm ıllı

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After seeing the silo item I really wanted to craft a farm of my own but never knew where to put it or what to do with it. I saw someone on tumblr use a villager house as the barn building and I thought Dom's house suited it perfect. So off I went to craft a farm of my own -- and I think it turned out really well! I also stayed up until 2am trying to make a nice QR sign for the entrance...

It has the added bonus of being right next to my home, so now Dom hangs out here all the time. Now I've just got to gift him cowboy clothes to finish the vibe .

 

[eggie_]

i love the landscaping on your island so much - the palm trees look super nice! and the village seems so cozy ❤

 

[Peter]

i love the landscaping on your island so much - the palm trees look super nice! and the village seems so cozy ❤

Thank you very much :- ). I’m in the process of redesigning lots of my island so I hope to post more photos in the coming days

 

[mocha.]

I really like the look of your map and how you've designed your island - it looks so unique

 

[Peter]

Post #5: 16/05/2020

ıllı More Terraforming ıllı

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This week has been a big one for getting stuck into some proper terraforming. My map has changed quite a lot from when I first started posting here, as you can see from the screenshots above. I've started building up the area in front of my airport a lot into tall mountains that you get lost in as soon as you enter. That's always been a dream of my Animal Crossing towns, and it's so much more enjoyable to do with terraforming now instead of just using trees and bushes compared to New Leaf. I've also removed the central portion of my river, and started making a linking pathway between my town hall and the NW portion of my map, which includes my museum:

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I'm really happy with how this has turned out so far! And all the colours look even better in the sunset lighting. The wooden bridge over the small river looked quite zen like, so the area immediately after this part is gonna be much more muted -- a good excuse to finally use the outdoor bath item that I could never find a place for. It's also a really sweet place to watch my villagers wander over.

In other updates, Hans moved out and was replaced by my first snooty -- Vivian. I really like her design so had no hesitations inviting her from the Nook Miles islands. Her house is in the SE corner by the beach, which I might post about in another journal update.

:- )
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I really like the look of your map and how you've designed your island - it looks so unique

thanks a lot! my map is changing all the time but I think my villages will stay the way they are for a while as I'm so happy with them.

 

[Angelbearpuppy]

I really like the natural feel to yournisla d. It does seem a place you could get lost in and suprised aroumd every cornor you turned.

 

[AshdewCrossing]

Hey I follow you on tumblr! Notch is a pretty unique name so I immediately recognised it haha
I'm in love with how your map looks and the natural farm aesthetic. Can't wait to see more!!

 

[Peter]

I really like the natural feel to yournisla d. It does seem a place you could get lost in and suprised aroumd every cornor you turned.

thank you :- ). that's absolutely the feel i was going for so i'm glad i'm getting that across in my pics!

Hey I follow you on tumblr! Notch is a pretty unique name so I immediately recognised it haha
I'm in love with how your map looks and the natural farm aesthetic. Can't wait to see more!!

i recognise Ashdew too it's so beautiful! thanks, and you too

 

[Jared:3]

Loving the natural look to your town I as well want a forest look to my town but I've been largely unsuccessful, definitely taking some inspiration here!

 

[Peter]

Loving the natural look to your town I as well want a forest look to my town but I've been largely unsuccessful, definitely taking some inspiration here!

thanks — yeah forest towns are hard . still learning how to use fences and mountains properly but getting better as I go along. :- )

 

[Angelbearpuppy]

I imagine they would be. Still gorgus work and inspiration for my own island. My theme is going to be a tropical island oasis.

 

[Peter]

Post #6: 15/06/2020

ıllı An overdue update ıllı

Hello! Long overdue update time -- I can't believe it's been a month since my last post here. As you can see from my map now compared to the last post, I have terraformed a lot. Mainly adding mountains, rivers and waterfalls to flesh out my town and give it the natural look I'm going for. We also have a new resident! Plucky has moved in taking Olive's spot. I loved having Olive in my town, but two normal-personality villagers was just too much for me. I find their dialogue very repetitive, and although I have fond memories with Olive, I'm looking forward to having an uchi back in my town. I actually found out today that due to this games new - SuPeR vOiD -, Olive actually moved into my friends town -- so I can visit her anytime if i ever miss her cute little bear face. She is also the second villager this particular friend has gotten from my void... I'm so sorry

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I also realised I've never shown my entrance, so here it is. You're greeted with a waterfall smack bang as you walk into town. The road forks off left and right and leads to a little maze of cliffs and winding paths before you reach Resident Services, which I really like. It adds to the rustic feel of town.

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Sunset is always my favourite time to take pics, so here's some of other parts of town. Vivian's house is near the beach and next to a simple waterfall and stream. Pippy lives on the hill behind her and I often see them both hanging out . On the right is my mini little farm, which is not a patch on Dom's from my previous posts I may add :' ). But it brings some life to this part of town, and has a nice view of the well across the river.

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I put a series of thin streams in front of the Museum, that you have to snake your way through to get to the other side. On the left and right are mountains and waterfalls, with stairs on the left that lead to Stitches' and Dom's houses, as well as my very own clifftop house. In the right pic is a mini statue garden path I'm working on, using some of the new wedding furniture from the Reese and Cyrus event. It's a good spot to have a midday nap, as demonstrated in the pic :- ).

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A lot of the past month has just been hanging out and having fun with friends though. Doing leg-up-power-stances on the beach border and having night time fishing sprees in night-vision goggles -- which are two of my favourite hobbies. Shout out to Dizzy for letting me use her town as my own personal fishing spot, as I always seem to catch the best fish there :' ). Fishing with friends is v fun btw, I recommend it...

Aaand that is about it for now! Over the next few weeks I hope to fix up a few more locations in town, and remodel my house. It's also placed on a weird hill that seemed great at the time, but is now using up four of my eight inclines, so I'm definitely going to have to rework that. I'll end this with a cute video I took today of my villagers having a little singing club in the town square. Dom's chin kills me everytime:

https://imgur.com/08N5vhp

 

[AppleBitterCrumble]

gorgeous island!!
I am a huge fan of the terraforming, you make everything in your town flow so seamlessly (truly is a talent)