Do you do pre-planning for your town?

[Pimmy]

If I have a really extensive landscaping project, I have a lot of fun planning it out first. I like to just open MS Paint and make a grid, so that I don't forget where everything is supposed to go, (especially bushes that you can't see the flowers on yet) to help me get the logistics of tree and bush limitations correct, make sure there's enough room for everything, etc.

Here's some shrunk-downs snippets of various stuff I've worked on in the past and currently.

Plans for the hedge maze behind my house and the garden. The big red square there is a 7x7 marker that I hovered over the grid to make sure that when I was planting all the bushes that none of them would wilt from being too crowded.

A WIP i'm trying to flesh out for the area between Re-Tail and the river! I'm still not sure what to do with the riverfront. (That big square is the path formation in front of Re-Tail, which isn't visible) The one on the left is the current state of things. Above it is some flower arrangement plans I have.

I'm sure other people do this, and I wanna see how you work! Post your own if you got em c:

 

[Bon]

I draw stuff out in SAI, but I don't have a grid or anything uwu

 

[Lin]

Yes, planning is one of my favorite parts! I don't really use grids though so I can't really show... I mostly just decide on paint with a picture of my map and decide where villager houses and pwps will go. For trees and stuff the planning happens when I'm in the game and walking around.

 

[Coexist]

You guys are crazy talented! Doing all that planning with grids and whatnot, should totally do landscaping or something as a career since it's fun, haha. c:
Me? No, I don't have time for it or the patience... if there was like a program to help with it, I would try but for now, I haven't been doing it ever since I got NL. I just walk around town, scope out spots that would make good places for PWP's as well as estimate and decide where my pathing is gonna go. So I just kinda wing it, but I think it's been working out for me so far, my town is pretty good in my eyes!

 

[Pimmy]

Yeah, I do a lot of PWP, flower/bush/tree and house planning while just walking around in-game, but sometimes I'm SO stumped on an area, or it's so complicated, that it's much better just to draw it out and slide stuff around XD It tends to keep me from trampling all over my grass just trying to get a bearing, as well. Also, even if you don't make grids and just doodle, I'm still curious to see it! I think that sorta stuff is fun.

 

[Mcow]

Never thought of it that way

 

[mizukitty]

OMG this is the coolest thing i've ever seen!! i think i'm gonna open sai and give it a go, thank you for inspiring me!

 

[Flyffel]

I just drew grid stuff in my gridless notebook lol.

 

[Pimmy]

OMG this is the coolest thing i've ever seen!! i think i'm gonna open sai and give it a go, thank you for inspiring me!

Glad to inspire! It makes planning stuff out SO much less of a headache IMO. I tend to dig holes or lay tiles to help me count how many squares there are in areas in game.

- - - Post Merge - - -

I just drew grid stuff in my gridless notebook lol.

Take a photo, your town is so cool I wanna see the drafts, learn your secrets >:3

 

[Flyffel]

Thanks. :3 Nothing too exciting to see there. I just planned my park there when I was bored. xP

Edit: I have a passion for cities and I just started studying spatial planning. That's probably my secret. My love for cities.

 

[Pimmy]

Thanks. :3 Nothing too exciting to see there. I just planned my park there when I was bored. xP

Edit: I have a passion for cities and I just started studying spatial planning. That's probably my secret. My love for cities.

Wow awesome! I like to draw but I don't know anything about that sorta stuff. I was actually thinking to myself earlier "Man I feel like I gotta read whatever books landscape artists read or something"

 

[Twisk]

I made a gridded map of my town for this purpose, so I can easily mess around with different landscaping ideas 'on paper'. I haven't plotted every little bush, flower, or tree on the map (yet) because that would be quite an endeavor, and things like that change so frequently anyway. Yours is much easier for others to read than mine! Like I can clearly tell that the PWP you drew is the wisteria trellis (whereas the wisteria trellis on my gridded map is just made up of purple squares ).

 

[J087]

Planning when I first saw the village map? Yes.
Planning where I'll put future Pwp's? Yes.
Planning where I lay my road, bushes, and flower fields? Yes.

Putting it all on paper? No.
It's all in my head.

 

[Pimmy]

I made a gridded map of my town for this purpose, so I can easily mess around with different landscaping ideas 'on paper'. I haven't plotted every little bush, flower, or tree on the map (yet) because that would be quite an endeavor, and things like that change so frequently anyway. Yours is much easier for others to read than mine! Like I can clearly tell that the PWP you drew is the wisteria trellis (whereas the wisteria trellis on my gridded map is just made up of purple squares ).

View attachment 17394

Woooow, the whole town! That's awesome. I love how you made such great use of the space. That central peninsula looks awesome even just with colored squares! It's probably not important for it to be readable to others anyhow, I know for a fact I waste a lot of time drawing out every little thing XD It just makes me happier when it looks pretty.

 

[Twisk]

Woooow, the whole town! That's awesome. I love how you made such great use of the space. That central peninsula looks awesome even just with colored squares! It's probably not important for it to be readable to others anyhow, I know for a fact I waste a lot of time drawing out every little thing XD It just makes me happier when it looks pretty.

Yeah, yours looks so nice, I love the way you drew everything! And thank you! ^_^ The colored squares in the middle peninsula are for a future illumination park I was thinking about making for this winter (but I haven't unlocked all the illumination PWPs yet).

 

[Flyffel]

Yeah, it's all in my head too, except for the park I messed around with when I didn't have my 3DS at hand. Drawing your entire town for this seems kinda weird but everyone has their own way.

 

[Pimmy]

Yeah, it's all in my head too, except for the park I messed around with when I didn't have my 3DS at hand. Drawing your entire town for this seems kinda weird but everyone has their own way.

It might be pretty nice to have a whole detailed overview, especially since the maps in game can only show so much.

Yeah, yours looks so nice, I love the way you drew everything! And thank you! ^_^ The colored squares in the middle peninsula are for a future illumination park I was thinking about making for this winter (but I haven't unlocked all the illumination PWPs yet).

Aw thanks haha. Dang, an illumination park is a really awesome idea. I used to go to something like that in the winter irl when I was younger!

 

[aetherene]

Wow some of your planning is really extensive! It's nice

I do pre-planning, but I mostly just do it in my game by counting spaces and such. Depending if I'm building somewhere perfect, I'll mark it with a pattern of Isabelle in the exact spot for future reference. xD

 

[Bon]

This is my little sheet by the way!

 

[Jinglefruit]

I usually use Excel and fill in squares to plan things, but I haven't saved any. Instead I draw it out to make sure the pwp and stuff I want fit in and then I put patterns down in my town while I wait to place everything. Only problem now is getting the pwp I need. :/