The Vylbrand Restoration Project
Bringing a neglected and overgrown island back to life.
Nov 8 2020, Pt 1.
I started playing ACNH on launch, but I didn't start terra-forming until several weeks after unlocking the Island Designer app. In the meantime, I saw a lot of threads where people were concerned they had built too large and were running low on space. It might be because of this that I ended up with the opposite problem: I built too small. I kept my buildings close together by design to maxmise space for creativity and to build. In hindsight I've realised my preference for environment-driven design (rather than manufacturing locations using objects) does not translate well to lots of large, open spaces. This means a large amount of my island simply feels desolate and consequently dull. The Vylbrand Restoration Project founded November 8 2020 by Chris and Rose—with Goose, Katt, and Wolfgang acting as witnesses—is about to change all of that.
Of course the first part of the process was to move my house. Tomorrow I will move Rose's house (secondary character) in order to progress toward completing this area.
On the surface, I am merely moving my house back by several tiles. In reality, this house move is simply the catalyst in a chain reaction. The issue with relocating these two houses is that it then disrupts the entire flow of that section of my island. It was essentially one long 'street' consisting of three 'blocks'. In the first block is the museum, the second hosts Carmen and Wolfgang's houses, and then the third of course the player houses.
This clear disruption in flow makes the top tier of my island the obvious starting point for The Vylbrand Restoration Project. Thankfully this is also where my clearest vision is for the island. So I pulled up my map in Procreate and started playing about with it. This is what I came up with:
1 = Goose. 2 = Katt. 3 = Wolfgang. 8 = Carmen. 9 = Papi. 10 = Sylvana.
I'm planning to move the museum back several tiles to bring it in line with the new position for the player houses, eradicating an area decorated with bamboo furniture in the process. Rather than moving Carmen and Wolfgang's houses in the same way, I'm instead going to remove them from this section of the map entirely and replace this area with a chapel and cemetery. I'm going to need help to transfer some items from my second island to Vylbrand in order to achieve this - if anyone is willing to help me with this project I will love you forever.
I've no idea where Carmen's house is going yet, but I'm thinking of moving Wolfgang over to the north-western corner of my map. To make space for his house I would first need to remove a waterfall. But that's fine, because I wasn't totally happy with how that area was looking anyway. I won't be able to start moving villager houses until Wednesday (Mon = Rose's house; Tue = museum), so I've a few days to think it over yet.
This project is going to take a minimum two weeks to lay the ground work, then likely even longer to completely finish. It'll be worth it to be happier with the overall feel of my island.