trying to plan out my island and come up with ideas for it is how i kept myself sane while waiting for new horizons to be released, and i’m curious if anyone else did the same!
i couldn’t 100% plan out my island since we didn’t know every item, customization option, terraforming and landscaping option etc that would be in the game, but i decided on what i wanted my island name to be, what i wanted my native fruit to be, a general idea of what i wanted my map layout to look like (specifically where i wanted resident services and the airport to be, since i knew i couldn’t change their locations later), came up with some potential themes and area ideas, and created my dreamies list.
my plans of course changed once i actually had my island, but my island name, desired native fruit, and my dreamies list (for the most part lol) stayed the same
I didn't plan my first island, but I did plan my second island. It didn't go completely to plan, but I was pretty happy with the terraforming. I think I enjoyed the experience more from not planning.
Nope, just went in blind! I usually like to make do with what I get, I think it's more fun that way than trying to plan every single thing to be perfect... I think that's definitely more stressful if you don't happen to roll what you want.
The only pre-planning I did was deciding on some of the villagers I wanted to be residents on my island, if I remember correctly. It's a habit I developed in New Leaf; after my first town, I got additional copies where I could make new towns with different themes and with different residents who fit the town's theme.
I'm generally not good at naming things, so I didn't have a name for my player character (I don't play games as myself) or my island. I think maybe I assumed I'd just do a horror theme again like my main New Leaf town, but it was never a solid thing. My island's name, Poveglia, is probably a holdover from that because Poveglia is an actual island in the Venetian Lagoon of Italy that is supposedly haunted. At some point I came up with the theme my island has to this day; a coming together of people (and animal people) from different countries and cultures and throughout history all in one place. I think I decided I wanted apples as my island fruit because 1) it's the only fruit I hadn't had as a town from in any of my New Leaf towns up to that point and 2) I didn't know that perfect fruit wasn't going to be included.
I didn’t really have any plans before starting NH but decided I’d be a bit strict on starter villagers - at least one had to be one I liked which led to my restarting a few times. I hadn’t looked at any maps or the differences with the airports and didn’t know what I wanted my island to look like so just took those as they came. In the end I did end up with apples as my starting fruit which was nice as they’ve always been my first fruit in each game.
When I first got this game back in 2020 the day that it came out (March 20th) I had no idea what to even expect. All I remember was I was greeted by Timmy and Tommy then picking a map layout for the island. I had no idea what I was even doing. The idea was that I wanted to make an island based around Kingdom Hearts but the original idea I had was that I wanted to name it "Kingdom" but that didn't work so I choose the name "Traverse" instead. The name is a reference to the world of "Traverse Town" from Kingdom Hearts 1. I always liked that area and the music so thats why I decided to go with it.
I didn't have many friends going into this island. It was just me. I was just doing a lot of stuff because truth be told I was new to Animal Crossing and know nothing about what it had to offer. So I was just making helping out Tom Nook making this strange desert island (honestly I knew that he would fool me) but I had to pay a lot of bells. At the time I did not know how to earn them. I went around catching fish and bugs the first time after learning how to craft a Fishing Rod then a Net. I give them to Timmy to sell and I was able to make bells. After a while blathers came (thank god because the fishes and bugs were pilling up), Nook's shop was opened, Able Sisters was built, I had 10 villagers who were Antonio, Rocket, Patty, Skye, Charlise, Dobie, Anabelle, Eugene, Shari, and Nate. Then KK slider showed up and I was given the app to make my island the way I wanted so thats when I started to make it.
Of course I was struggling to make idea of what I want my island to be. I was just going around making cliffs and rivers because I had no idea what else to think of. My island was in a complete mess I had trees cluttered everywhere, homes were scattered, and so many areas were empty. I was losing my mind because I had no idea how to make a good island. I go and see other people's islands and I did take inspiration from them. Eventually I made my island better thanks to them but then around May 2020 is when I started to feel unhappy with my island. So I decided to start over and go back to square one. Eventually I made it how I picture in my head that stood out. As the months went by I began tearing down my island and remaking from the way I see it. By October 2020 it was fully completed.
When I got my 2nd switch I started deleting Traverse for good I decided to start over fresh again. I got my other island Twilight to transfer all of my items and back to this island so that way I would start. This project was started back in May 22nd, 2021 after I deleted Traverse. I called this island "Destiny" named after Destiny Islands from Kingdom Hearts 1. I decided that I didn't want to make a replica of that island from that game, I just wanted to make an island that fits my personality and is something that I created from my imagination.
I wasn't able to pick up the game until June (a few months after release) and obviously Animal Crossing was EVERYWHERE at the time so I was being bombarded with so much inspo from every corner of the internet. As a result I definitely made some plans for my island before I ever got there.
The two biggest ideas that stuck and are still features of my island to this day are:
1) I knew for sure I wanted red brick path and red brick bridges for the "main area" of my island. I was experimenting with red brick custom designs in NL but could never find something I was happy with so I knew I wanted this for sure.
2) The idea of having all my villager houses on individual "islands" surrounded by river was also something that I decided on as soon as I saw the capabilities of water terraforming. I didn't have a specific plan for how this was going to look but I knew everyone was gonna get their own "island" on my island.
oh absolutely tried to before i unlocked terraforming but once i actually started working on my island, things started to change so i just gave up planning and just stuck with finding inspiration instead
I had a general idea of what I wanted for my island, but when I actually got the game and chose my island I didn't end up following my plan at all. Instead, I kind of just let my island develop organically.
I planned the name of my island and was looking up extensively what were the max characters I could use by looking at the JP and English accounts. As for choosing maps and fruit, I don't care. I find the whole obsession of having the airport and resident services being centered is odd. Like the fact it has become THE advice, is bizarre, lol.
I know I definitely wanted pirate themed and then before I terraformed or create paths, I would sketch out the design in Photoshop or another program or place markers in game to make sure it would work out. I did a lot of research for my island, it's just how my brain works before I build something.
I was so excited for nh release, I spent hours planning out ideas for my island, except I was going in with minimal spoilers so I didn't fully know how much I could decorate outside. I made a journal page planning ideas out, including drawing up a unique alphabet because I was initially planning an ancient ruins island before realising that there were no items that fitted that in the game vfnd.
But after starting and naming my island, I traced it on my computer and drew this map:
I didn't end up sticking to pretty much any of my initial ideas, but it was fun to plan!
no, i don't think i planned anything before i chose my island. i had a look at a couple of island map designers online i think after i started terraforming but nothing really happened cliffs/rivers plan-wise. i just gave up with it tbh
I did plan my island before I got the game I had all these pages in my notebook of name ideas, islanders I wanted, fruit, airport colours and so on hahaha
It didn't go completely to plan, but I was pretty happy with the terraforming. I think I enjoyed the experience more from not planning. 
