**Starting to Build My Island for the First Time! Any Pointers or Advice?**

[Cosmic_Crossfade]

Hello everyone! I hope you all are doing well!

So, after having purchased this game at launch and for holding back building my island due to feeling overwhelmed on how or where to start, I am now feeling that, with this upcoming update, I'll finally want to build my town the way I want it. The issue is, I still don't know where to start or begin

I was wondering if any of you awesome town making veterans have an tips or pointers for me on how to start on this or what I should be doing first? I still feel overwhelmed a bit and thought I may need to unscatter my already scattered brain as to where to start lol I'd greatly appreciate any advice you can offer! Thank you!

 

[Serabee]

Personally, what I did was start piece by piece. I had a general idea of what I wanted to do/where I wanted to go, but I focused on one area at a time- I started at the front (where my RS plaza and shops are located) and just moved out from there. This made it a lot easier and less overwhelming, AND had the added bonus where, if I decided I didn't like something after all, there was less stuff to remove/modify.

I would suggest getting a general idea of where you want things (like "my house goes here" "villagers go here" "shops here") and then building those areas up. Once those start to fall into place, you can start looking at areas between/around them and plan how to fill those out. And, if you're ever stuck, maybe try checking out some DAs! Those can be great for inspiration.
(or, in some cases, making you feel better about your own island... who said that? not me...)

 

[Cosmic_Crossfade]

Ah, thank you so much! ☺ Yes, I get very overwhelmed at the thought of where to start and held off so long because of not knowing how to utilize my surroundings to help reduce the amount if stress. I like the idea of starting around the plaza! I also never thought of going area by area so that will definitely help with some.

Haha I have looked at so many amazing DA's and I'm just in awe of what people have done! I literally took one look at went "Nope, I can't do this I don't even want to start" I have a different mindset now and I think I just need a general idea on where I want things!

 

[NeighborNoon]

Serabee said exactly what I would say! I was completely overwhelmed with terraforming at first...it really takes some getting used to. I picked my favorite place on the island first and did some terraforming, then shifted my house there. Tried to think of where my villagers would want to live and built each area/moved houses one at a time. I'd occasionally find some inspiration online, but I'd only work on one area at a time (park, museum, shopping district, etc). Eventually it all flowed together. Personally, I wanted to try to keep my cliffs and rivers natural-looking so it was easier for me to just fill in the in-between spaces with brooks and hills.

 

[UnendingHope]

make an incline to the secret beach if you have a cliff there, makes going to redd's shop more easy

 

[Khaelis]

Use some online tools to plan things out, and work in small chunks. Do an acre or two a day, or set aside an hour a week to work on things. Rushing things leads to mistakes, and quite frankly mistakes in this game are a pain to fix.

Basically, don't rush it.

 

[Speeny]

Even though this may be obvious, it helps to use your imagination to bring ideas to life. This is what I did at least. I didn't physically ever plan anything out, just kind of had a mental image in my head and went for it. Personally, if I get too technical with something, it never works out. That's just me though. Plus, you are limited with space depending on what area you decide to work on.

Thinking of a particular area catered to an islander/villager can also spark ideas if that's what you want.

 

[Akeath]

It doesn't have to be done at once. It doesn't even need to be cohesive or to other's tastes. Just do things that strike your fancy. Some of the things won't turn out well, and you can just take them down and do something else. Start small and practice, and you'll get better and better at it. You may never be as great as the islands of some artistic geniuses online, but that's okay as long as you have fun with your game.

When I'm having trouble thinking of what to do I like to make stuff for my villagers. My Kangaroo can get a playground by her house. I see some scattered papers and make an art studio for my smug, customized with bad scribbles. My peppy can get a stage, autograph line, and scattered flowers and chocolates from her fans. A lucky golden cat turned my villager Drago's yard into a spot for a mystical dragon amid waterfalls. And once I've made a few areas like that, it becomes easier to keep playing around with things. Just checking out your catalog and building around a furniture item can help too. A Gnome can become a garden with 7 Dwarfs. Glowing mushrooms can turn into a fairy portal. A Thwomp can turn into a maze. And eventually you might see some common threads among the separate areas and start to make a theme. Mine ended up being fairy tales, and once I realized that I started making more theme-specific places and gradually uniting my separate areas.

 

[DJStarstryker]

I didn't terraform my island for a few months after unlocking it. I took the time to think about what I wanted. I didn't write it out at the time, but here's some questions you can ask yourself that can help you plan.

- What theme do you want for your island? Once you figure that out, you can start hoarding and trading for items that fit the theme.

- What are some large features that you want for your island? Don't worry about tiny details right now, just think about general things. For example, I wanted to have a little shopping district area by the resident services so I could have it, Able Sisters, and Nook's Cranny all together in a way that made sense. I had decided I wanted a Japanese themed island, and the museum was supposed to fill the place of a Japanese shinto shrine, so I wanted a bamboo forest leading up to it. I wanted to put all of my villagers together in a little neighborhood area.

- What do you want to do with your river? You don't necessarily need to think of the nitty gritty details of how it's going to flow yet, but combine it with the above. Would you like the river to flow by any of your large features? Do you want to make waterfalls? For me, waterfalls were a beginning point to helping figure out where I wanted to put cliffs and how to build up different tiers on my island. Do you have anything you might want to put a pond next to?

Once you figure out those questions, details should start filling themselves in. I decided it would be cool to have the "shrine" museum up on a 3rd level tier in the back and middle of the island, for example. And then I decided maybe it would be fun to cross over a bridge going over a river, then up some stairs, to go towards the museum. I just kept slowly thinking of ideas.

Just take out a piece of paper or boot up a notetaking app and start writing/typing out ideas. I would suggest working on ideas first before you start building. And then once you start building, don't expect things to be perfect the first time. It took me a few months to get the setup I have now with constant tweaking. Some aspects of it I'm super happy about and don't want to change. But other aspects I'm still refining to make things better. I'm slowly getting happier and happier with my island, and eventually I will make something I feel is done. But I don't feel in a rush to do it either. I'll figure it out as I go. Also, try not to compare your island to others. Feel free to use others' ideas, sure. But don't let yourself feel like there's no way to get an island as nice as someone else's. That's not true. You can do it too! Just take your time!

 

[moon_child]

Consider your playstyle first and think about what will work for you. Others like to plan, others work best when they’re winging it. Others like to clear out the island and flatten it at once to work on a blank slate, others find that too overwhelming and daunting to look at a barren land. Others like to do portions of their islands little by little. When you figure that out then it’s time to figure out other stuff like what theme you want to go for, will you want a more touristy island that’s heavy on design or a simpler island that’s made for ease of play? Neighborhood or scattered houses? Will you use the in game paths or custom designs? Then start trading or gathering stuff you will need to decorate the island and start decorating!