What are your design priorities?

[Moritz]

For me, when I designed my island, my first priority was "can I chase a dragonfly and catch it?". If no, then it's no good and I should do the area again.

 

[Imbri]

Pretty is obviously nice, but if I can't get around easily, or I need to constantly look at a map to get from one spot to another, I'm not going to enjoy myself.

I've visited some dream islands that were incredibly detailed, and you know the people put loads of effort into them, but I felt like Alice in Looking-Glassland trying to get from Point A to Point B. I can see it, but I have to walk in every direction but that to get to it.

 

[Jam86]

my island is kind of both, it's cute, very decorated and i can still easily get around ☆
i caught all bugs before decorating so i'm not too fussed about that but even after i fully decorated, i can still get to a bug or a cherry petal if i see one

it's not like those dream addresses with a tree or item in every spot because while those islands are cute, i need to be able to move

 

[Aquilla]

I'm a very detailed oriented person and I love decorating and arranging things. Although I don't particularly enjoy getting stuck at every other corner, the design of my island is very important to me. I believe that it's possible to put the emphasis on decorations and beautiful terraforming and also manage the island in a way that traveling from one spot to the next is convenient and not too difficult. Having more delicate and intricate paths also means people slow down and take time to take everything in so I guess that's also a good thing. To each their own

 

[Bluebellie]

I like to have a nice island decoration wise. I also want to have an island that I can run around in without having to use the vaulting pole, the ladder, without having to hop, and without having to shimmy myself between items. Right now my pathways are double squares because I need to be able to move when an islander blocks my way.

I don’t like areas I can’t access by just walking. I also don’t like maze towns. I just want to be able to walk around.

If I dream of an island that has a ladder or vaulting pole offered, already I know I won’t be going to those areas, so I’m slightly disappointed.

 

[_Donut_]

Mainly that it looks good. I do make my "main roads" across the island efficient and not too crowded but everything else around it it usually totally filled up with furniture with the pathways being more narrow or a challenge to get to some places, but sometimes there's something fun about that too

 

[Cirice]

Same as OP. Full decorated island are pretty when they're others', but I want to be able to run in big circles in mine, find the treasures my villagers asks me to dig easily, and run after bugs.

 

[Licorice]

I agree with you. For me I don’t like clutter irl or in games. Even my houses in the sims are minimally decorated. My island is easy to walk around/chase bugs/fish etc. There aren’t any inaccessible cliffs or areas. I did barely any terraforming. Most of my island is on ground level. I’d like to think it’s easy to navigate for visitors since no one ever asks me where the shops are or anything. They just find everything on their own.

 

[deana]

I agree that navigation is the most important. I don't want to clutter up my island with so much stuff that I can barely move around anymore. I like double wide paths, not single wide ones, I like room to run! I do try to make it look nice of course but not at the expense of navigation.

I also try to make sure that items you can interact with are actually within reach, so that you can actually touch them. And that chairs can actually be sat in (usually but I'm less strict on chairs). I don't like when cool stuff is out of reach and I can't touch it.

 

[annex]

Pretty is obviously nice, but if I can't get around easily, or I need to constantly look at a map to get from one spot to another, I'm not going to enjoy myself.

I've visited some dream islands that were incredibly detailed, and you know the people put loads of effort into them, but I felt like Alice in Looking-Glassland trying to get from Point A to Point B. I can see it, but I have to walk in every direction but that to get to it.

Yes. I've gotten so frustrated trying to find my way to a certain area that I just gave up. It wasn't worth the stress. I visited a well developed town that had a house I wanted to see. I could see it, but couldn't find a way to get there. I checked my map numerous times. I finally got there only to realize that I needed a ladder to climb up to it. After exploring the area a bit, I found a ladder. Now the tricky part was figuring out where I could climb. I finally discovered a small area that would let me in. After I explored the house, I had to figure out again how to get down. Honestly, it wasn't worth the time.

 

[nightglow]

My island has to be playable. I kinda struggle with balancing decorating with plants and stuff vs being able to use my island correctly.
I mean alot of the pretty islands that aren't cluttered still block trees in and things...
My island's terraform currently feels wonky to me... and I have been thinking about how to reform it better while also keeping in mind of being able to move and do what I need to do on my island. Lots of plants looks cool... but can be annoying if you are needing wood or chasing a bug.

 

[Moritz]

Yes. I've gotten so frustrated trying to find my way to a certain area that I just gave up. It wasn't worth the stress. I visited a well developed town that had a house I wanted to see. I could see it, but couldn't find a way to get there. I checked my map numerous times. I finally got there only to realize that I needed a ladder to climb up to it. After exploring the area a bit, I found a ladder. Now the tricky part was figuring out where I could climb. I finally discovered a small area that would let me in. After I explored the house, I had to figure out again how to get down. Honestly, it wasn't worth the time.

Not going to lie your story did get a chuckle out of me

 

[oranje]

For me personally, while I love decorating my island, I also want to make sure that I (and my dream visitors) can navigate pretty easily. Since my island is pretty much designed to be a small town, I like having paths so people know where to go and having paths wide enough that it doesn't annoy people trying to walk around.

I've been to a few dream islands that are beautiful but are such a pain in the butt to actually walk around in because of all the items scattered around and very narrow paths. Usually those islands fustrate me enough not to want to explore much of the island, especially if I have to call on Resetti to rescue me.

 

[Artemis.29]

For me I think it kind of goes hand in hand
Wanting things to look nice without it being too cluttered!

Then again, that strategy works sometimes better than others..! lol

 

[watercolorwish]

a good looking island was important to me until mine started lagging pretty bad. So now im all about designing my island to be lag free and accessible and also pretty lol

 

[Pyoopi]

I'm both, so I can't take the poll. I'm a game developer, so I know how to level design and populate an environment space.

What I'm trying to do with my island is create a story. I do have areas that are inaccessible to the player because I'm creating a jungle effect but I give alternative routes for someone to reach an area.

Personally, I want players to clamber all around, explore and stray off paths. When I do create a DA, I'll leave out ladder(s) in key areas.

 

[piske]

I don't think the two are mutually-exclusive? Just because something is cluttered doesn't mean it looks good, and just because something is easy to navigate doesn't mean it is poorly decorated. I think a good design necessitates ease of use or it's not really a good design in my opinion.

 

[WaileaNoRei]

I said ‘a good looking island’ but for me, part of the fun in designing that is to make it useable. I like to make most places on the island accessible to me and my villagers (meaning not through scooching. A few areas I will make more blocked off and purely decorative, but mostly I like the furniture to be useable and to be able to fish and catch bugs and shoot down balloons, and easily navigate to wherever I want to go with minimal effort. I think the challenge of balancing the look and the usability makes it more satisfying and better looking - sometimes it forces you to self edit more.

I can’t say whether everyone would consider my island good looking or if everyone would find it easy to navigate or balanced between the two. But i prioritized making an island I enjoy playing on and which makes me happy to visit.

 

[Moritz]

I don't think the two are mutually-exclusive? Just because something is cluttered doesn't mean it looks good, and just because something is easy to navigate doesn't mean it is poorly decorated. I think a good design necessitates ease of use or it's not really a good design in my opinion.

Never said they were mutually exclusive.
But the prettiest islands tend to be hard to navigate and the easiest to navigate tend to have spaces that aren't as filled.

But even on a smaller scale, such things as deciding to have an opening in your fence panels when it would look better without count as chosing one over the other.

I doubt many if any people never had to make this choice at all when designing

But it sounds like you chose navigation over looks

 

[piske]

Never said they were mutually exclusive.
But the prettiest islands tend to be hard to navigate and the easiest to navigate tend to have spaces that aren't as filled.

But even on a smaller scale, such things as deciding to have an opening in your fence panels when it would look better without count as chosing one over the other.

I doubt many if any people never had to make this choice at all when designing

But it sounds like you chose navigation over looks

At that point, I think it's about personal taste - what is prettiest is totally subjective! Overall, I get what you are saying though. I haven't chosen anything yet because my current island is only 5 days old! c: