So I've tried doing a nature themed island... and it's just not me.

[meggiewes]

Whenever I try to go with a trendy style, I hate actually playing it. So I finally decided to make my town the way I wanted to make it which doesn't really have a proper "theme". But it is easy to get around in, easy to play in, and still has room for a nice (in progress) Tudor Style Garden and a rainbow garden, and themed color gardens for my villagers, and a pumpkin patch, and a playground, and a forest, and a Japanese styled zen garden area. It sounds like it should be super crowded, but it isn't.

I like to joke around and say that my town is villager themed, but in a strange way, it might be.

 

[Matt0106]

I have some little natural parts here and there, but honestly I can't imagine making my whole island like that. Mostly because I would hate only sticking to a single theme.

 

[OiGuessWho]

I find it ironic that making a natural looking island is difficult in the most in-touch-with-nature Animal Crossing to date.
My island's home to a bunch of ruins and standing stones, so I go with rocky paths. Simpler, takes less space in the design slots.
I wish there was more room though, I'd love to have a larger Forest section.

 

[Pintuition]

I have two islands- one is organic and natural, the other is more straight lines and is set up in a more organized way. I have to say, I seriously struggle trying to make the natural island work. I like certain small areas but haven't settled on a complete look for the island yet. I much prefer the functionality and look of my more developed island. Maybe in the future keep a smaller natural area for seasonal stuff but also keep many of your more developed areas! For me over the next few weeks it's going to be a matter of finding out just the right amount of natural and developed to be functional and pretty!

 

[dizzy bone]

I went from a mostly nature-themed island to half rural town half nature themed island. While I like town-like or urban themes better, I wanted to have some natural areas to keep a balance (plus constantly thinking of urban type landscaping ideas saps a lot of my brain power lol). My original island had a lot of cliff structures and waterfalls which looked pretty in the spring and summer because of the greenery, but started to look ugly and bland in the autumn. I also started to get annoyed with how noisy the waterfalls were and how much space they took up on my island. I’m definitely enjoying having parts of my island with big wide roads and cute little fake shops that otherwise wouldn’t work in a more natural setting. I have no idea how I’ll feel about my current island layout in the winter, but I’m just glad I got over my fear of “destroying my work”. If your island makes you unhappy or you want a theme change, it’s good to know that it’s easy to start over and re-theme! I think that’s the great thing about this game

 

[Sheando]

I hate the fake looking in game paths, but I loathe fake paths even more, so I just stick to the in game fakeness.

I really miss my winding, curvy, beautiful, natural NL dirt paths.

I agree with this! I don’t hate all the NH paths (brick and cement sidewalks do tend to be more straight, so they work pretty well if that’s the look you want) but I really, really miss being able to create natural-looking dirt paths. The NH ones look good if I want to make an area look deliberately manicured, like a public park or something, but sometimes I want a dirt path that looks like it might actually exist in nature and there’s just no way to achieve that kind of variance with the default paths. I spent months running my paths in NL and was so pleased with the result.

 

[Perri]

I really like the sound of your former design.

I really liked my summer themed island - straight paths, boardwalk, river walk with carnival, drive in movie, putt putt golf, villagers all lined up with fenced yards and decor. I decided I wanted to go more natural for fall. I even used a variation of "the path". I have a couple of areas I really like (my apple orchard, pumpkin patch), but really, I miss my straight lines and orderly style. So, as much as it pains me, I'm changing everything for winter. Once Thanksgiving is over, I'm going back to my former style.

Has anybody else tried a different style and ditched it?

That original theme sounds wonderful! And good on you for trying something new, haha. I hope you have a lovely time redecorating after Thanksgiving!!

I've learned that I like a mix of everything. A bit of feral and spontaneous to begin with is fun, and I love a simple natural look, but I've only been able to create a nice natural layout in New Leaf. I also like orderly paths and designated areas for activities, which was my original New Horizons island's setup once I unlocked terraforming! I was heavily inspired by a friend to make one big elevated foundation in the middle top part of my map, with space on the sides, and layers of waterfalls! I'll do some sort of improved iteration of that for my new town.

I also have to realize I dream up different island themes quite frequently, and I can only handle so much! But I agree, it's lovely hearing everyone's own ideas and experiences.

 

[Kalle]

You could try a mix of themes.

 

[Kiracuils]

I have discovered that while I'm drawn to more urban and symmetrical themes, I have bad OCD irt symmetry and making everything "perfect", to the point that it was making it impossible for me to actually make any progress towards getting my island to five stars.

I've had the game since April and haven't made it past three stars lol so now I'm redecorating my island to be more natural with some urbanization and it involves just kinda throwing things around and putting flowers, weeds, and bushes willy nilly to fill in spaces and I'm actually having more fun than I was before, and I think my island looks better now too.
I also had a similar problem when I played ACNL in high school except I could at least get my island to five stars. But I really never did perfect my island. I really should have tried a mostly natural island back then too, lol.

 

[Imaginetheday]

I really like the sound of your former design.

Thank you! It's in my dream address, if you want to see it. I haven't updated my DA since summer because I'm just not happy with it. (DA is in my signature.)

 

[Purities]

I've always been far too scared to try a new layout for an entire island! I've never even changed something as simple as my interior design of my own house- one of my favourite things about coming onto the game is the familiarity of it all

 

[oranje]

I originally was going for a tropical themed island with really bright colors, but as I decorated my island, I just wasn't feeling it and didn't want to continue. So I went back to an old idea I had and instead I'm going in the opposite direction. I'm making an old fashioned East Coast/New England sailing town and now I feel really inspired to complete my island again! So I think it's pretty normal to cycle through and try out different themes until you find the one that really speaks to you.

 

[jokk]

i once tried to do a natural island to mimic wild world, but i found that it just made me feel like i was missing out on all the creative potential in NH