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Nah, flowers don't show up anywhere on the passport and it is possible to control what to get and since I changed my birthmonth to January I cannot get Cosmos, so all is right with the flowers. Honestly, I meant it when I said that things either matter a LOT or not at all. I may have my long list of things I need/want, but everything else is cool with me. A yellow airport is a dealbreaker, though - blue and nothing else works.
The thing is that I did fine with NL. As in, I got my perfect town and played the game for many, many, many months in utter bliss, so I don't feel like "the game/AC isn't for me". I just need to get what I want and I'm doing great at the game. In NL, it was the same - I had a list of things I needed (a specific map, grass shape, fruit and shop placement) and did get it after something like two and a half months of resetting. NH has a lot more variables, which makes it harder to get what I want, but it is not impossible.
But yeah I hate it, too, that Nintendo doesn't just let us pick these things. If really every person on the forum has something about their island they dislike and cannot change, then that would be really, really sad.
My computer cannot run anything after Sims 2, but I generally only enjoyed house building in the Sims, not the actual gameplay. I loved the original Sims, but the later games got really, really stupid, with idiotic "plots" and aliens and I'm not one for games which are a life simulation but where everything is stupid and about llamas or cows or whatever nonsense. I played the Sims Mobile for a while and I hated it because of that. But yeah, I did buy Sims 4 once aaaaand it overheated my computer in less than a minute so I got a refund lol.
And I dunno, I only had the handheld consoles from Nintendo and a SNES, but I don't think that many 3DS games had crazy RNG? At least I can't remember any where I got frustrated. Maybe we're playing vastly different games, though!
If thats how playing AC is to you, resetting for months and missing out on what the game actually is, then you do you. You asked people for help and to try to convince you not to reset. Flowers show up in the shop and on mystery islands. You will never be able to get rid of the 2 main seeds in your shop.
Fire emblem, Pokemon, Mario Party, Animal Crossing, basically all rpg's... All are pretty heavily rng based. Sims 4 has a new potato computer mode and is optimized to work on many systems and I'm not sure where you're getting plots and llamas and cows from, but Sims 4 is literally based on Sims 1 gameplay. With tons of options to make it exactly how you want, unlike Nintendo games. Thought it might be a good fit, as I quite enjoy it myself.
Anyway, I tried to help. Good luck all the same! With whatever you try to do
If thats how playing AC is to you, resetting for months and missing out on what the game actually is, then you do you. You asked people for help and to try to convince you not to reset. Flowers show up in the shop and on mystery islands. You will never be able to get rid of the 2 main seeds in your shop.
Fire emblem, Pokemon, Mario Party, Animal Crossing, basically all rpg's... All are pretty heavily rng based. Sims 4 has a new potato computer mode and is optimized to work on many systems and I'm not sure where you're getting plots and llamas and cows from, but Sims 4 is literally based on Sims 1 gameplay. With tons of options to make it exactly how you want, unlike Nintendo games. Thought it might be a good fit, as I quite enjoy it myself.
Anyway, I tried to help. Good luck all the same! With whatever you try to do
I'm quite interested what you mean by that. A normal videogame is something that lasts...how long? 20-80 hours maybe? I dunno, feel like most RPGs do. But AC is a game meant to be played for years upon years and I feel like if I get maybe five years of gameplay out of NH, a few months of resetting aren't much in comparision to the actual gameplay lasting for so much longer? So I'm not totally sure what you mean by "missing out"?
Oh! Now I understand what you mean with the flowers! I actually do hate Cosmos but am okay with all other flowers. The seedbags look the same anyway, so I find that less mentally intrusive than the fruit and on top of that there's Leif and I watched a datamine video yesterday that actually speculated about Leif permanently setting up shop.
I never played Mario Party or Fire Emblem, but okay, for Pokemon it's true. I usually reset for good natures and IV on legendaries and a female starter but that's it. But yeah, you're right, lots of people do shiny hunting and the like. I'm more into games like Bravely Default, though, where RNG isn't really prominent.
Huh, Sims Mobile is full of dumb plots about llamas and it's stupid. Like, every single profession is about llamas or aliens in some way and I watched a few Sims 4 videos online and there were aliens in those, too, and a living scarecrow and you could actually romance both so I noped out of that video fast lol. But I had no idea there's a potato computer mode, that's actually really cool!
And know that I do really appreciate your posts! <3 Thank you for taking so much time to reply!
I'm quite interested what you mean by that. A normal videogame is something that lasts...how long? 20-80 hours maybe? I dunno, feel like most RPGs do. But AC is a game meant to be played for years upon years and I feel like if I get maybe five years of gameplay out of NH, a few months of resetting aren't much in comparision to the actual gameplay lasting for so much longer? So I'm not totally sure what you mean by "missing out"?
Oh! Now I understand what you mean with the flowers! I actually do hate Cosmos but am okay with all other flowers. The seedbags look the same anyway, so I find that less mentally intrusive than the fruit and on top of that there's Leif and I watched a datamine video yesterday that actually speculated about Leif permanently setting up shop.
I never played Mario Party or Fire Emblem, but okay, for Pokemon it's true. I usually reset for good natures and IV on legendaries and a female starter but that's it. But yeah, you're right, lots of people do shiny hunting and the like. I'm more into games like Bravely Default, though, where RNG isn't really prominent.
Huh, Sims Mobile is full of dumb plots about llamas and it's stupid. Like, every single profession is about llamas or aliens in some way and I watched a few Sims 4 videos online and there were aliens in those, too, and a living scarecrow and you could actually romance both so I noped out of that video fast lol. But I had no idea there's a potato computer mode, that's actually really cool!
And know that I do really appreciate your posts! <3 Thank you for taking so much time to reply!
Yeah I guess thats pretty true! I guess just for myself I would feel bad about missing all the live events that they have for this particular game. Can always TT back to them at the very least. I really hated my old cosmos too so I get that haha.
Never played Sims mobile, I can't stand mobile games and micro transactions... that honestly sounds really bad though, glad I never touched that you could always give that potato mode a try, it's fairly new and it could really help!
I just HAD to reply to this cause I feel it so hard. Sorry that I said it may not be the game for you, I just mean the rng may never be in your favor, although I certainly hope that's not the case. And I didn't mean to question you so hard lol, just wanted you to think about what truly matters to you. If you can stick it out and make it into something you truly love, then obviously there's nothing wrong with that!
Yeah I guess thats pretty true! I guess just for myself I would feel bad about missing all the live events that they have for this particular game. Can always TT back to them at the very least. I really hated my old cosmos too so I get that haha.
Never played Sims mobile, I can't stand mobile games and micro transactions... that honestly sounds really bad though, glad I never touched that you could always give that potato mode a try, it's fairly new and it could really help!
I just HAD to reply to this cause I feel it so hard. Sorry that I said it may not be the game for you, I just mean the rng may never be in your favor, although I certainly hope that's not the case. And I didn't mean to question you so hard lol, just wanted you to think about what truly matters to you. If you can stick it out and make it into something you truly love, then obviously there's nothing wrong with that!
Yeah, that is actually true, the events are really why I never took really long breaks from resetting because I didn't want to miss so much. But honestly, from what I've seen on youtube, all the events so far were very underwhelming (the museum thing and May Day being really short and Bunny Day being...Bunny Day...lol) and instead I found the real value to be the seasonal stuff (spring bamboo and cherry blossom recipes).
And Cosmos are the flowers from hell I swear lmao.
Yeah, you didn't miss anything of value with Sims Mobile. I'd have to buy Sims 4 again to try potato mode; I'd have to save up for a month or two for that, but if I end up with maybe too much money for my birthday I might actually look into it!
And no worries, you're not wrong - RNG indeed might never be in my favor; that's actually really, really likely compared to getting what I want. It's not like resetting 10000 times will guarantee the perfect map. It's also perfectly fine to question me; after all, me being so indecisive shows I don't really know myself too well, though I am sure at this point that all the test islands I deleted were all me trying to compromise on things and every time I said "No more compromises, it doesn't work for me" and here I am again with a compromise that stresses me hahaha. I think I actually do know what truly matters to me (and that's every single damn thing on my list), I just don't really want to acknowledge it because it also means that my chance of ever finding "my" map is basically nonexistant.
Hey there, I've been lurking these forums for a while, but only recently made an account and never posted anything. I've been keeping my eye on this thread.
Everything you've been describing about your OCD, I get it, because I have it too. I'm also autistic, so my brain will go through phases with specific compulsions, and it just...sucks. Truly, in a way that most people could never understand.
I was very fortunate with New Horizons. I got my perfect map on my second try on release day. I could not be more grateful for that, because New Leaf was not nearly as kind to me. I reset my first New Leaf town hundreds of times until I got my "perfect" map...then later bought a second copy because I decided I wanted something different and couldn't bear to delete my first town that I'd searched for for so long.
My second copy...I reset that game well over 1,000 times, over the course of a few months, on and off. I needed peaches, circle grass (thank goodness there is only one grass pattern in NH!) and for my town hall and ReTail to be lined up at the top of the map. I needed a right facing river and a spot big enough for me to put my house by the waterfall in the bottom left corner. I would not settle for ANYTHING less!
After all that time, I finally, FINALLY got the map I wanted...and I completely understand what you describe, about how the anxiety is so much worse when you're undecided, versus actually resetting. As someone else pointed out, resetting gives you a sense of control. And OCD is all about feeling a lack of control and needing to find it in compulsive behaviors. That's the nature of the disorder.
If it were me right now, I would reset for the fruit I wanted. But I wouldn't keep my focus on New Horizons anymore. Instead I'd find another game to play, and reset NH for an hour or two each day, as sort of a side project. That's how I worked up the stamina to get my second New Leaf town that I still love so much. That way, all of your focus isn't on resetting. Resetting can take a back burner to the game you're really focused on, and your brain can have a rest.
I know that with severe OCD, that compulsion will just take the form of something else (been there...), but one thing I use to keep mine at bay is a conscious thought of "SHUT UP!" when I feel it getting bad. I think to myself, "THIS THOUGHT IS NOT MINE! THIS IS MY OCD AND IT'S NOT IMPORTANT!" and then I force my brain to be distracted by thinking of something, anything, else. I procrastinate my compulsions. Literally. "I don't have time for this right now." "I have more important things to focus on." "This can wait 'till later." Knowing the beast, as they say. Acknowledge it, but don't give it power.
While I realize my methods may not work for you, please know that I deeply empathize with your situation and that I'm here if you ever need to vent. I hope that you are able to take a step back and breathe until you finally stumble across that one, perfect, island.
hey sheba, hope you’re feeling a little better today. think taking a break from the game is an excellent idea. i am really sorry you have to go through this.
...tho im not sure about the positions of the airport and town hall. i reset 5 days in because I wanted pears and I didn't like my starting villagers. (Apparently I'm part of the small minority who genuinely wants pears???) My airport is yellow which I'm fine with. Had to reset 8 times to get pears. Tbh the peninsula kind of annoys me, like what is it doing all the way up there...? But I had it in the middle on the left previously and it was rather awkward.
I don't care about a lot of the details and wouldn't reset this far in but omg your DEDICATION,,, i respect you
I empathize with your struggle, it sucks to see that you almost got the perfect map and then the fruit had to come along and shake up your OCD.
I think you should stick to your original plan of taking a break for now. Don't delete you current island yet but simply let it... rest, so to speak and once you decide to come back, you can always reset it then. Maybe something will change until then, even if it's just more confidence in knowing that you cannot arrange yourself with your current native fruit and you have to reset - it's better than being stuck in the limbo of "This is almost perfect but I just don't think I can ever be fully happy with it, I don't know..." Plus, like you said: What's a couple of months (resetting + break) in a game that's designed to entertain for years?
I don't know if you play any other Switch games but if not, maybe you have a trusted friend that would be willing to take your console for a while and reset a couple of times? Beginners luck is a thing! You could make them a checklist and see what comes out of it.
(I think resetting is fun because I love chance and gambling (probably not a good thing haha!) so if I were able to, I'd love to take an hour or two out of my day and reset for someone else. I wish there was a console equivalent of Teamviewer...)
And for what it's worth: I don't check my passport ever and to see the native fruit in the shop you have to scroll all the way down below the tools for sale - nothing of worth is there tbh, so once you swap all native fruits out for your desired ones, there are so few instances where you would be confronted with the fact!
This island is honestly the first time I feel really stressed and get anxiety; resetting never did that for me. Getting burnt out on playing video games does suck, but so far I always managed to avoid that by simply stopping if I felt myself becoming unhappy and feeling like the game turned into a chore. I seem utterly unable to comprehend how you (and so many others) can enjoy the game when you do seem bothered by things on your island that you don't like and have to actively convince yourself and force yourself to accept them as much as possible. I kind of feel like...this is not what games should be about? Shouldn't games be just fun? Unless you're a professional streamer making money with that stuff, I think games should not include stress and frustration and convincing and struggling. :/
Hmmm, for me, i guess i just keep reminding myself that the variables are innate to the game, and that the anxiety it brings is more of a personal problem instead of the game's? I don't know but i guess thinking of it that way helps me to adapt and to cope with the "imperfections"? But that's just in my case. Don't get me wrong though, playing this game still gives me anxiety. Now i have to do stuff like repeatedly putting up whole sections of cliffs then tearing them down entirely then putting them up again, rinse and repeat until the anxiety i feel goes away
Anyway, i'm still rooting for you and i really hope that you find satisfaction sooner rather than later
Good morning, dear people! Or, well, good afternoon!
Played some more yesterday and am now at 8/14 cherry blossom recipes. Hope I can collect the rest today and then move onto day 2, open the airport and find out what my sister fruit is to finally maybe make some decision progress and also chop down all the cherry trees lol. Sadly, housework comes first and who knows how lucky I'll get with the recipes, so for all I know I might still spend the whole day collecting them.
Hey there, I've been lurking these forums for a while, but only recently made an account and never posted anything. I've been keeping my eye on this thread.
Everything you've been describing about your OCD, I get it, because I have it too. I'm also autistic, so my brain will go through phases with specific compulsions, and it just...sucks. Truly, in a way that most people could never understand.
I was very fortunate with New Horizons. I got my perfect map on my second try on release day. I could not be more grateful for that, because New Leaf was not nearly as kind to me. I reset my first New Leaf town hundreds of times until I got my "perfect" map...then later bought a second copy because I decided I wanted something different and couldn't bear to delete my first town that I'd searched for for so long.
My second copy...I reset that game well over 1,000 times, over the course of a few months, on and off. I needed peaches, circle grass (thank goodness there is only one grass pattern in NH!) and for my town hall and ReTail to be lined up at the top of the map. I needed a right facing river and a spot big enough for me to put my house by the waterfall in the bottom left corner. I would not settle for ANYTHING less!
After all that time, I finally, FINALLY got the map I wanted...and I completely understand what you describe, about how the anxiety is so much worse when you're undecided, versus actually resetting. As someone else pointed out, resetting gives you a sense of control. And OCD is all about feeling a lack of control and needing to find it in compulsive behaviors. That's the nature of the disorder.
If it were me right now, I would reset for the fruit I wanted. But I wouldn't keep my focus on New Horizons anymore. Instead I'd find another game to play, and reset NH for an hour or two each day, as sort of a side project. That's how I worked up the stamina to get my second New Leaf town that I still love so much. That way, all of your focus isn't on resetting. Resetting can take a back burner to the game you're really focused on, and your brain can have a rest.
I know that with severe OCD, that compulsion will just take the form of something else (been there...), but one thing I use to keep mine at bay is a conscious thought of "SHUT UP!" when I feel it getting bad. I think to myself, "THIS THOUGHT IS NOT MINE! THIS IS MY OCD AND IT'S NOT IMPORTANT!" and then I force my brain to be distracted by thinking of something, anything, else. I procrastinate my compulsions. Literally. "I don't have time for this right now." "I have more important things to focus on." "This can wait 'till later." Knowing the beast, as they say. Acknowledge it, but don't give it power.
While I realize my methods may not work for you, please know that I deeply empathize with your situation and that I'm here if you ever need to vent. I hope that you are able to take a step back and breathe until you finally stumble across that one, perfect, island.
Wow, so many people seem to be able to relate! ;O; On one hand that makes me really happy but also really sad because I don't wish OCD on anyone in the world since it just sucks so, so much.
It seems we went through such similiar NL experiences (down to the circle-grass+peaches decision!), that's amazing! And I'm so happy to hear you got your NH dream island so quickly because it sounds like you had prepared for resetting a lot, so that's a real miracle!
The thing is that resetting doesn't feel like a compulsion. I could just walk away from resetting and not care and I definitely can't do that with my normal compulsions. I think the way OCD affects my game is simply by not letting me compromise, else I feel unhappy because it's just not perfect, which is on par with how I play other games as well. The anxiety comes as a result of having to make a decision because I suck at decisions. While the pressure of the decision is definitely born from my OCD-need of having a perfect island vs. trying to accept what I have now, I am having such stress and anxiety during every single decision-making process in my life that comes with somewhat lasting consequences, so I don't think my current stress level is OCD-related.
I honestly rarely ever reset for more than 1-2 hours lately anyway. During my third reset cycle, I basically used my Switch Lite down to 50% charge and wasn't even fast-resetting since I was also watching videos at the same time, so it was definitely neither excessive nor compulsive and just chill.
I still haven't made a decision about the island. I know I will only truly be happy if I follow your advice and reset, but at the same time, I also feel sort of stubborn and dumb for resetting over fruit. On top of that, I do feel like...I would regret resetting that island and that's a thought I didn't have about any of my other islands, including the first one I spent so many hours on. That thought is, however, not born from the almost-perfection of the island, but because I do feel that I don't have the sort of stamina you have; after hundreds of resetting hours I think I just don't feel like doing it for weeks anymore and actually, unless RNG blesses me in like 5-10 hours, just drop the game completely and for good. I know myself well enough for that; I don't really ever return to things I've dropped for a long period of time. So apparently, what I am doing is yelling at myself just like in the examples you have given to convince myself to keep the island, but that really would be something I'd have to do every single day for as long as I play the game on the island and...yeah, it would be healthier to just stop and walk away for good. After sleeping on it, I'm am very, very certain that it would be for good.
hey sheba, hope you’re feeling a little better today. think taking a break from the game is an excellent idea. i am really sorry you have to go through this.
Thank you so much for caring! After sleeping on it, I'm pretty sure that 'taking a break' would definitely result in me abandoning the game for good, so that's really, really sad, but it would really be the healthiest thing to do. :/
I empathize with your struggle, it sucks to see that you almost got the perfect map and then the fruit had to come along and shake up your OCD.
I think you should stick to your original plan of taking a break for now. Don't delete you current island yet but simply let it... rest, so to speak and once you decide to come back, you can always reset it then. Maybe something will change until then, even if it's just more confidence in knowing that you cannot arrange yourself with your current native fruit and you have to reset - it's better than being stuck in the limbo of "This is almost perfect but I just don't think I can ever be fully happy with it, I don't know..." Plus, like you said: What's a couple of months (resetting + break) in a game that's designed to entertain for years?
I don't know if you play any other Switch games but if not, maybe you have a trusted friend that would be willing to take your console for a while and reset a couple of times? Beginners luck is a thing! You could make them a checklist and see what comes out of it.
(I think resetting is fun because I love chance and gambling (probably not a good thing haha!) so if I were able to, I'd love to take an hour or two out of my day and reset for someone else. I wish there was a console equivalent of Teamviewer...)
And for what it's worth: I don't check my passport ever and to see the native fruit in the shop you have to scroll all the way down below the tools for sale - nothing of worth is there tbh, so once you swap all native fruits out for your desired ones, there are so few instances where you would be confronted with the fact!
I think taking a break+not resetting is nothing I can do; it would just keep giving me anxiety that I still have to make a decision about the island. It's either keeping the island or resetting+break (likely for good as resetting hell is unlikely to entice me enough to return to this game instead of playing one of the million other games I have waiting).
I don't have any other Switch games, but also sadly not anyone who would be willing to reset for me and whom I could give my console to easily. All my friends live either overseas or, if they're in Germany, at least a few hours away and the only friend who also owns a Switch and actually NH (and is currently still sitting on 500 of my items from my first island, poor woman...) definitely doesn't have the time to do something like that for me as she's in the final years of her teaching degree and is learning and working basically 24/7.
I actually don't mind and sometimes even like resetting, too! I don't think it's fun, but it's a bit...relaxing because of the repetitive movements. There are days I definitely don't enjoy it and some on which I definitely do, haha.
But wow, I sooooo often use the tool section of the Cranny to buy stuff and always see the fruit (note: I never had the upgraded version of the Cranny, so I dunno how things are looking in the tool section then). I always buy tools and seeds. I think the issue is really that I'd know it's cherries when my whole island would be littered with peaches and that it's all a lie (lol) and also the perfect fruit issue on top. After someone told me that the peach furniture can be customized to perfect-fruit-color now, I'm more assured than ever that perfect fruits will happen.
Hmmm, for me, i guess i just keep reminding myself that the variables are innate to the game, and that the anxiety it brings is more of a personal problem instead of the game's? I don't know but i guess thinking of it that way helps me to adapt and to cope with the "imperfections"? But that's just in my case. Don't get me wrong though, playing this game still gives me anxiety. Now i have to do stuff like repeatedly putting up whole sections of cliffs then tearing them down entirely then putting them up again, rinse and repeat until the anxiety i feel goes away
Anyway, i'm still rooting for you and i really hope that you find satisfaction sooner rather than later
Hahaha, yeah, of course it's my own personal problem that the game gives me anxiety and I do actually think that the amount of variables to ensure the island is unique for everyone is really nice! I just...wish I could pick.
Terraforming is a whole anxiety-inducing matter in itself, but at the very least, it's something that can always be redone. But don't get me started on the amount of screenshots I took of my terraformed things on my first island if I liked-but-not-REALLY-liked them before tearing them down to make sure I could replicate what I did for sure if I wanted to.
Thanks for the good wishes! I really need them! XD
I think taking a break+not resetting is nothing I can do; it would just keep giving me anxiety that I still have to make a decision about the island. It's either keeping the island or resetting+break (likely for good as resetting hell is unlikely to entice me enough to return to this game instead of playing one of the million other games I have waiting).
I don't have any other Switch games, but also sadly not anyone who would be willing to reset for me and whom I could give my console to easily. All my friends live either overseas or, if they're in Germany, at least a few hours away and the only friend who also owns a Switch and actually NH (and is currently still sitting on 500 of my items from my first island, poor woman...) definitely doesn't have the time to do something like that for me as she's in the final years of her teaching degree and is learning and working basically 24/7.
Ah, I wish you had found your perfect island already so you wouldn't have to deal with the possibility of never getting to play the game! Since ACNH is your only Switch game, I guess you could at least sell the whole console if you were to never consider getting any other games?
I feel you, my only AC playing friend lives a couple hours away as well - feel free to hit me up if you're in Southern Germany and want me to reset your island for you! (jk - or am I? XD)
I wonder...since you have quite a few criteria your island has to meet right now, I assume they're all based on a specific plan you have for your theme/ layout, right? Maybe you'll end up having others ideas somewhere down the line and your criteria change, ideally to something more manageable? That would be a blessing, even if it just means you'll consider both short and long docks or whatever! (I didn't even know there were different dock sizes before this thread... the more you know)
Ah, I wish you had found your perfect island already so you wouldn't have to deal with the possibility of never getting to play the game! Since ACNH is your only Switch game, I guess you could at least sell the whole console if you were to never consider getting any other games?
I feel you, my only AC playing friend lives a couple hours away as well - feel free to hit me up if you're in Southern Germany and want me to reset your island for you! (jk - or am I? XD)
I wonder...since you have quite a few criteria your island has to meet right now, I assume they're all based on a specific plan you have for your theme/ layout, right? Maybe you'll end up having others ideas somewhere down the line and your criteria change, ideally to something more manageable? That would be a blessing, even if it just means you'll consider both short and long docks or whatever! (I didn't even know there were different dock sizes before this thread... the more you know)
Well, I DID get 150 hours in on my first island, so it's not like I wasted all my money on console+game. And I do actually have Pokemon Sword and believe that hopefully down the line, there will be more Switch games I'd like to play, so selling the console is nothing i'd want to do (though tbh, with the Joystick already half-broken after 5 months, the thing is a mess anyway).
I'm in western Germany unfortunately or I'd drop by.
My criteria are based off of specific plans and things I like alike. Like, I think all airport colors aside from blue are really ugly and too neon-y, so that has nothing to do with my island plans. Other things (like RS centered) are also less because of plans and more because of how I find things nice. My plans could easily accomodate a RS in the top left or bottom left, but I like it in the center as a literal "town center" and because it's nice to reach it equally fast from all sides of the island. Same for the airport. Stuff like the long dock are, of course, also just personal preference. The only things that really matter for my plans are peninsula shape and peninsula-position, the river mouths and, I suppose, the fruits since I plan a peach-island (well, basically my whole island is to be decorated in pink, blue, white and purple and as it turns out, oranges, pears, cherries and apples are neither pink, blue, white or purple...lol.)
The dock size is actually maybe something I could compromise on; I've seen the short dock and it's really not as pretty and I do like to watch the sunrise from my dock, but I suppose I don't use it enough to truly justify needing the long dock, but again that might be me stating it now and then being deeply unsettled if I find an island perfect except for dock size... but the long dock is also a LOT more common than the short dock.
Also dear goodness, whenever I talk about the dock I have to be so careful to type the right letters because this all would sound a lot more awkward if my finger hit just to the left of the 'o' key like it sometimes does. XD
Well, I DID get 150 hours in on my first island, so it's not like I wasted all my money on console+game. And I do actually have Pokemon Sword and believe that hopefully down the line, there will be more Switch games I'd like to play, so selling the console is nothing i'd want to do (though tbh, with the Joystick already half-broken after 5 months, the thing is a mess anyway).
I'm in western Germany unfortunately or I'd drop by.
My criteria are based off of specific plans and things I like alike. Like, I think all airport colors aside from blue are really ugly and too neon-y, so that has nothing to do with my island plans. Other things (like RS centered) are also less because of plans and more because of how I find things nice. My plans could easily accomodate a RS in the top left or bottom left, but I like it in the center as a literal "town center" and because it's nice to reach it equally fast from all sides of the island. Same for the airport. Stuff like the long dock are, of course, also just personal preference. The only things that really matter for my plans are peninsula shape and peninsula-position, the river mouths and, I suppose, the fruits since I plan a peach-island (well, basically my whole island is to be decorated in pink, blue, white and purple and as it turns out, oranges, pears, cherries and apples are neither pink, blue, white or purple...lol.)
The dock size is actually maybe something I could compromise on; I've seen the short dock and it's really not as pretty and I do like to watch the sunrise from my dock, but I suppose I don't use it enough to truly justify needing the long dock, but again that might be me stating it now and then being deeply unsettled if I find an island perfect except for dock size... but the long dock is also a LOT more common than the short dock.
Also dear goodness, whenever I talk about the dock I have to be so careful to type the right letters because this all would sound a lot more awkward if my finger hit just to the left of the 'o' key like it sometimes does. XD
150h is pretty iimpressive considering that I have around 130h right now and I've played every day since release XD I'm just so indecisive when it comes to terraforming so I spend a lot of time just doing my daily chores, running around in circles hoping for inspiration to strike, and then closing the game for the day! And now that I'm finally at the point where I'm trying to decorate my RS area, the restarting itch resurfaces because I found so many cool ideas on pinterest but my plaza is too close to the beach to do any of them aaaah
Maybe any future game update will make you change your mind on any of the criteria (ideally the confirmation that there won't be perfect fruit lol - although I hope we won't be getting that as my native fruit is apples which I love, but the perfect version looks horrendous!)
And you know what they say... dock size matters XD
I hope you'll come to a conclusion that you'll be okay with eventually, whether it'll be going back to resetting eventually or letting the issue rest and focussing on any other game or hobby! I'll let you know if I should ever end up in Western Germany
The thing is that resetting doesn't feel like a compulsion. I could just walk away from resetting and not care and I definitely can't do that with my normal compulsions. I think the way OCD affects my game is simply by not letting me compromise, else I feel unhappy because it's just not perfect, which is on par with how I play other games as well. The anxiety comes as a result of having to make a decision because I suck at decisions. While the pressure of the decision is definitely born from my OCD-need of having a perfect island vs. trying to accept what I have now, I am having such stress and anxiety during every single decision-making process in my life that comes with somewhat lasting consequences, so I don't think my current stress level is OCD-related.
I’m sorry if this is presumptuous of me, but the situation you describe definitely sounds like a manifestation of OCD to me.
As a parallel: my problems were solely focused on my own living space. If I was somewhere else, I had no compulsions and wasn’t plagued by obsessive thoughts. To me, that is what’s happening with your game. You obsess over it while you’re engaging, but once you put it away you’re fine.
150h is pretty iimpressive considering that I have around 130h right now and I've played every day since release XD I'm just so indecisive when it comes to terraforming so I spend a lot of time just doing my daily chores, running around in circles hoping for inspiration to strike, and then closing the game for the day! And now that I'm finally at the point where I'm trying to decorate my RS area, the restarting itch resurfaces because I found so many cool ideas on pinterest but my plaza is too close to the beach to do any of them aaaah
Maybe any future game update will make you change your mind on any of the criteria (ideally the confirmation that there won't be perfect fruit lol - although I hope we won't be getting that as my native fruit is apples which I love, but the perfect version looks horrendous!)
And you know what they say... dock size matters XD
I hope you'll come to a conclusion that you'll be okay with eventually, whether it'll be going back to resetting eventually or letting the issue rest and focussing on any other game or hobby! I'll let you know if I should ever end up in Western Germany
Well, I've got double that on total time, which is all resetting, sooo...XD; I played waaay too much. And terraforming is super-scary, I can understand putting it off. All the online ideas are pretty much breaking everyone, though - I saw so many I loved and when I then tried to do them on my first island they all didn't fit or sucked and it was just frustrating. And I have heard from soooo many people in this thread by now how much they hate their close-to-airport plaza and it made me ditch so many maps I originally had on my list. Really glad I got told about that... I hope you can live with your plaza or, if you reset, that your new map will come quickly and be perfect! :O
I also hope we won't get perfect fruit after all this drama I've been going through now lol! XD
Yep, dock size matters! I think that, now that I am used to a big dock, I would feel insecure and get dock envy if I would have to settle on a small one. It might be shallow because I know it should be about how you use a dock and not its size, but well, I got spoiled by my long dock and I don't really want to settle for less.
Thank you so much! And if you ever do come up here (though why would you, the south is so much nicer!), then let me know! XD
I’m sorry if this is presumptuous of me, but the situation you describe definitely sounds like a manifestation of OCD to me.
As a parallel: my problems were solely focused on my own living space. If I was somewhere else, I had no compulsions and wasn’t plagued by obsessive thoughts. To me, that is what’s happening with your game. You obsess over it while you’re engaging, but once you put it away you’re fine.
Nah, I also obsess over it if I'm away, else I would sleep better at this point and not be stressed even if I'm not playing. But OCD is different for anyone. It's definitely good to hear you didn't have OCD when somewhere else since I had it everywhere and public OCD is the worst OCD because you get distracted all the time and people come and ask if you're alright and uggggh.
So, to let all of you guys know how things went:
After spending quite a few hours collecting all cherry blossom recipes, I then finally let the island roll into day 2 and got to explore the rest of the lower-layer island.
The east beach turned out to be not as pretty as the west one, but without anything being wrong about it - I'm just used to horrible west and really pretty east beaches from my first three islands, lol.
There were a total of 31 cherry trees of my island and I chopped down all but three since I usually keep three of each fruit tree.
However, then I checked my sister fruit and it wasn't peaches or at least apples, but oranges; oranges being the least desireable fruit because in the case perfect fruits come and we can grow at least the native and the sister fruit into perfect fruits...well, oranges and cherries are the two perfect fruits I like the least. So really, really bad.
I then did all the work on the island - cleaned up everything (Bunny Day coming up, uggggh all that egg trash...), gathered all the wood, weeded the whole thing, carefully picked a shop location where the shop wouldn't be in the way but still look pretty.
Said location ended up being where I had planted my three oranges, so I had to uproot them again and also move the three cherry trees and...somehow that really, really got to me. So I went on the free, first Nook Mile Ticket tour you get on day 2, reached the island, saw cherry trees everywhere...and shut down the game and deleted the save data right then and there. Honestly, the oranges did me in. If it had been peaches, I think I would have managed, but the oranges were too much suck.
It's been like...10 minutes now and while there is some regret it's right now more about me making a rash decision because I got unreasonably annoyed. I should have tried to plant peach trees on my island first or something, though I think deep down, given how much I go on Island Tours, it would have always bothered me really much since there was no real escape from the cherries (and some oranges on the fruit island).
It's kinda frustrating because I thought yesterday I could actually make it work and tried to figure some things out what I could at least do with perfect cherries (maybe plant them in the sakura-area I want to make in my town since that's...like cherry blossoms and putting perfect cherries there might have been a nice touch) and maybe I will regret this terribly in an hour or two, but...well, I reset, no way to undo it. Ultimately, it's probably really for the best. In the end, I do actually blame the oranges, but yeah, stupid reason galore.
Not sure where to go from here now, to be honest. Maybe that's the end of the thread as I'll drop the game for good, maybe I'll reset for a few more hours in case RNG feels like super-blessing me again, just this time with a really perfect island, I don't know. I have a huge and life-changing tooth procedure on Tuesday, so depending on how that goes I might just reset for a while to take my mind off of potential pain or I might say that that's really it and I'm done with the game because other stuff is more important anyway. I'll keep you guys updated, but yup, cherry island is gone and I'm...mostly relieved but also upset with myself at the same time. We'll see how much I will regret it and hate myself after I got some sleep. Honestly, I fear I might regret it a lot in the long run, at least if I end up resetting again and not getting what I want (which is...what will happen. Because, yeah, one-in-a-million chance and all that).
So, to let all of you guys know how things went:
After spending quite a few hours collecting all cherry blossom recipes, I then finally let the island roll into day 2 and got to explore the rest of the lower-layer island.
The east beach turned out to be not as pretty as the west one, but without anything being wrong about it - I'm just used to horrible west and really pretty east beaches from my first three islands, lol.
There were a total of 31 cherry trees of my island and I chopped down all but three since I usually keep three of each fruit tree.
However, then I checked my sister fruit and it wasn't peaches or at least apples, but oranges; oranges being the least desireable fruit because in the case perfect fruits come and we can grow at least the native and the sister fruit into perfect fruits...well, oranges and cherries are the two perfect fruits I like the least. So really, really bad.
I then did all the work on the island - cleaned up everything (Bunny Day coming up, uggggh all that egg trash...), gathered all the wood, weeded the whole thing, carefully picked a shop location where the shop wouldn't be in the way but still look pretty.
Said location ended up being where I had planted my three oranges, so I had to uproot them again and also move the three cherry trees and...somehow that really, really got to me. So I went on the free, first Nook Mile Ticket tour you get on day 2, reached the island, saw cherry trees everywhere...and shut down the game and deleted the save data right then and there. Honestly, the oranges did me in. If it had been peaches, I think I would have managed, but the oranges were too much suck.
It's been like...10 minutes now and while there is some regret it's right now more about me making a rash decision because I got unreasonably annoyed. I should have tried to plant peach trees on my island first or something, though I think deep down, given how much I go on Island Tours, it would have always bothered me really much since there was no real escape from the cherries (and some oranges on the fruit island).
It's kinda frustrating because I thought yesterday I could actually make it work and tried to figure some things out what I could at least do with perfect cherries (maybe plant them in the sakura-area I want to make in my town since that's...like cherry blossoms and putting perfect cherries there might have been a nice touch) and maybe I will regret this terribly in an hour or two, but...well, I reset, no way to undo it. Ultimately, it's probably really for the best. In the end, I do actually blame the oranges, but yeah, stupid reason galore.
Not sure where to go from here now, to be honest. Maybe that's the end of the thread as I'll drop the game for good, maybe I'll reset for a few more hours in case RNG feels like super-blessing me again, just this time with a really perfect island, I don't know. I have a huge and life-changing tooth procedure on Tuesday, so depending on how that goes I might just reset for a while to take my mind off of potential pain or I might say that that's really it and I'm done with the game because other stuff is more important anyway. I'll keep you guys updated, but yup, cherry island is gone and I'm...mostly relieved but also upset with myself at the same time. We'll see how much I will regret it and hate myself after I got some sleep. Honestly, I fear I might regret it a lot in the long run, at least if I end up resetting again and not getting what I want (which is...what will happen. Because, yeah, one-in-a-million chance and all that).
Hmmm...how about a different approach? Try to forget your island plans first and formulate new plans after getting the actual island? Like, reset for a map and target peaches and your fave color airport but don’t think about your island plans yet and then when you arrive on the island, or see the map, start formulating brand new island plans from the way the map is. Like...make island plans based off of the map. Wouldn’t that be easier as you’ll have countless of choices and it’s gonna be more flexible in the sense that you’ll just adapt your island plans to whatever the game gives you? It’ll be just like getting a new puppy but instead of thinking of the name first (the name Brownie would force you to find a brown puppy), see all the puppies first and choose one and then actually just name him based on how he looks or what his personality is (if you fall in love with a white one you could call him Vanilla or if it’s a spotted one you could call him Oreo and so on). That would just open up a whole new entire world of possibilities. There are a lot of ways to design an island and I’ve been to a lot of tours with varying themes and varying maps and most people seemed to make everything work and look super nice regardless of where things are by coming up with concepts that suit their maps. Maybe this can solve your problems?
I also forgot to say that I’m speaking from experience too, since my initial map, my planned map and my final map all differs drastically because my plans kept changing as I go along with designing my island. I think that to have this mindset (flexible plans to adopt to the map and the game) is important in NH since they’re giving us updates little by little and therefore, you’d really need to be prepared to be flexible and work around whatever they give us. Like if they add new buildings and shop, we all gotta be ready to make amends and make it work even if we’ve finished designing our maps and throw our previous plans out the window to make room for new ones.
It's a new day!
And there's still no regret about resetting.
However, there's also an overwhelming sadness because my mindset has clearly changed. I've accepted now that I really need everything on my list to be perfect to enjoy the game and getting that is basically impossible, so I have exactly zero motivation for resetting anymore. I'm done. And that's so sad. I never got to meet most of my dreamies or even to lay down paths and make the island I wanted. I wanted this game to be part of my life for years. But it's not happening and I don't want to play a game I don't enjoy. Resetting the island was the right choice, I'm certain about that as it would have never made me happy, but the reality of it also making me put the game down for good just...sucks. It really, really, really sucks and I wish I could take up the offers of everyone who said stuff like "Hey, if you would live next to me I'd reset for you" because I want to play so badly, but alas.
Hmmm...how about a different approach? Try to forget your island plans first and formulate new plans after getting the actual island? Like, reset for a map and target peaches and your fave color airport but don’t think about your island plans yet and then when you arrive on the island, or see the map, start formulating brand new island plans from the way the map is. Like...make island plans based off of the map. Wouldn’t that be easier as you’ll have countless of choices and it’s gonna be more flexible in the sense that you’ll just adapt your island plans to whatever the game gives you? It’ll be just like getting a new puppy but instead of thinking of the name first (the name Brownie would force you to find a brown puppy), see all the puppies first and choose one and then actually just name him based on how he looks or what his personality is (if you fall in love with a white one you could call him Vanilla or if it’s a spotted one you could call him Oreo and so on). That would just open up a whole new entire world of possibilities. There are a lot of ways to design an island and I’ve been to a lot of tours with varying themes and varying maps and most people seemed to make everything work and look super nice regardless of where things are by coming up with concepts that suit their maps. Maybe this can solve your problems?
I also forgot to say that I’m speaking from experience too, since my initial map, my planned map and my final map all differs drastically because my plans kept changing as I go along with designing my island. I think that to have this mindset (flexible plans to adopt to the map and the game) is important in NH since they’re giving us updates little by little and therefore, you’d really need to be prepared to be flexible and work around whatever they give us. Like if they add new buildings and shop, we all gotta be ready to make amends and make it work even if we’ve finished designing our maps and throw our previous plans out the window to make room for new ones.
Nah, I'm done with the game, it's not happening. Unfortunately, 95% of my "requirements" are not influenced by my island plans but solely by what I like and dislike in the game. The only thing that does interfere with my island plans is the RS position and river mouths, as I found out that two south river mouths just suck in terms of terraforming.
But honestly I'm a planner by heart. In every area of my life, I hate just "winging" it. It brings me no enjoyment and only anxiety. To stick with your example, I wouldn't go to a shelter to adopt a random puppy because I would want to read up on the breed and its needs first before committing to a dog to make sure it fits me and my lifestyle and to ensure I can give the animal a great life and that would include looking for a dog with a certain personality matching what I want. Would I pick a name first? I'd have a list of names I would then choose the best-matching from. But that's just like I handled NH - with a list of things I love/want, while other things are unimportant (because no matter what people say about my list, there ARE actually things I don't care about hahaha - like starting villagers, hidden beach placement, beach rocks and mostly flowers (just no Cosmos please lol)).
When it comes to updates, yeah, I hate that it's impossible to buy a finished game these days. It sucks. But I find adding new, changeable things easier than being stuck with something unchangeable. I can change the position of my shops, but I can't change what fruits I will see on every mystery tour ever.
you could always give that potato mode a try, it's fairly new and it could really help!
