How do you all deal with a creative block when it comes to your island?

[Moonliet]

I've seen so many beautiful islands that have inspired me but when I open my game and try to plan out my island or make changes my mind goes blank. I feel overwhelmed by just how much creative power we have in this game, and I don't know where to start!

Does anyone else feel the same way? How do you deal with it?

 

[daisyy]

i totally feel this way myself... sometimes you're just burned out. i take a break and do more slow-paced activities that make me happy, for example talking to my villagers or just fishing on the beach. once i take a break and look at/do other things, i usually feel refreshed and inspired to try again, even if it takes a couple times to get exactly what i want. another tip is doing one small section at a time, for example 3x3 or 4x4 - that way it's not so overwhelming. good luck!! you can do it!

 

[WolfyWolf]

If I see too many other islands with crazy stuff going on I tend to rage quit for the day. I've found that I have to remind myself I don't actually like stuff as compact together as some of those islands tend to have.

When I'm bored of my island on my own, I brainstorm what parts are the key areas bothering me and even if I don't know fully what I want to do (which usually starts to deter me from doing anything), I remind myself I can always fix what I broke. It sometimes feels daunting to make the change but then once I do I never go back. Getting started in some small way tends to just, make me keep trying stuff 'til I like an area. My two cents ramble.

 

[Splinter]

Just sit staring at my map.

 

[Nooblord]

Try focusing on one area at a time. It took me a while before I finally started to landscape beyond the starting area, before we could cross the river. I worked on making the layout the way I wanted it before expanding out to other areas on my island.

 

[Figment]

Maybe try taking inspiration from something else. Look to real life, or other games you like. Maybe visit friends' islands. I sort of feel like seeing videos of islands isn't exactly the same as visiting in game since you can take it at your own pace.

Maybe look up items that you like or your dreamies and imagine what kind of town they would want to live in. If your villagers are cute with lots of pastels, maybe consider an island with lots of flowers.

 

[starlightsong]

i basically just rage quit lmao, i’m so mad right now because my orchard is in a terrible awkward spot and i don’t know where to put it because i don’t think i have enough open space elsewhere and even if i move it idk what else i would wanna put in that spot, just that the orchard looks awful there... it doesn’t help that the one island per console thing is forcing 2 of my family members to waste space on my island and preventing me from having enough room to have the secondary characters i wanted, and i’ll never have the full control i need to make what i really want until my brother gets his own switch so they can both live on his, and idk what to do and AGHHHH whenever i think about it for more than a few minutes i get so frustrated i just can’t play anymore. i don’t know how to really deal with it other than keep desperately wishing for the dream suite to come back.

 

[Clock]

I just continue looking at videos on youtube or images of other town layouts and brainstorm on what I can do next.

 

[Kokillue]

i absolutely take inspo from wherever i can. usually vids or pictures of other islands, generating ideas of what i like.

it also helps to have a blank slate. chop trees, remove flowers, level the ground, remove rivers, etc from an area just to remove the visual "clutter". it usually helps me focus better.

if you have an idea for an area and aren't sure where to start: when in doubt, make a second level. alternatively: when in doubt, make waterfalls lol. just something to help improve the scenery.

if you're really feeling burnt out though, it's better to take a break for the day and try again tomorrow. it's much better than beating your head against a wall.

 

[Fluuffy]

I just leave it be. I have not touched terraforming in a week. I know it’s gonna frustrate me more if I continue so until something pops in my head, there will be no new river or cliffs.

 

[Chiana]

Every few days I start landscaping. then I return it all to the way it was because it nevers works out quite as I envisioned. then I watch a few youtube videos of super pretty towns, get inspired, and try again. Unfortunate;y, it is never any better than previous attempts. I have a couple of nice little areas, but would love to do so much more. I basically had the same issue with HHD. I made some nice houses. A couple of them were cool, but mostly I just had coordinated furniture in boring layouts. I had heard of people ripping everything out and starting with a blank slate. I am pretty sure I would ruin my town by doing that. I would also need to move house and then move them again to organize it all. Maybe I am just not ruthless enough when it come to design.

 

[Millysaurusrexjr]

I try do some terraforming if there's a certain part of the map I don't know what to do with. It's worked out really well once so far!

 

[Ace Marvel]

For me it really work to map it out and start little by little, like for example, I found a spot for a fountain and I place it, then I start to build roads, then I think what will complete this area, and you start connecting everything. If you want to do all at the same time you will be overwhelmed. Just try to do little by little. And it's okay to change your mind or to move to something else and come back.

 

[birdsquad]

I take it super slow and take large breaks if I feel I'm hitting a wall.

Love to scroll through twitter and tumblr to get inspo, that usually makes me super excited to keep attempting to landscape, even if it doesn't look as good, I think about it like any creative thing: you gotta keep practicing in order to get anywhere.

 

[kasane]

i take a picture of the map and put it into photoshop and use the brush tool to kinda erase what i have and see what else i can do

it is a bit annoying having to clear out all of the cliff though

 

[kotinni]

i browse regular non acnh related pictures or photos of stuff i want to build!! a lot of times that would inspire me.

and yea, focus on one bit at a time! i have a general idea of how to plan out my island but def keeping that flexible

 

[Galbador]

I saw a lot of great and beautiful island, but that was never a problem for me when it comes to my island. I follow the way of Chaos... allow me to explain. Depending on what I find, buy or get, I change the look of my island to what I believe would fit best. For example, when I got some fitness tools, I placed them together with some seats in a close willow-like space. But there was so much space next to it, so I made out of pure randomness a lake in the form of my logo. When I got a telescope, I redesigned my mountain and gave it a lake, on which I now plan to place a house in the middle and connected via a bridge close by a waterfall.

And this changes so dramatically on my island. There is no day where I terraform or place new stuff around or make new alleys out of trees. If I had more time for this game... gosh... I believe I would starve to death because the creativity of this game is simply amazing and leaves to so many possibilities. And now I got a dish antenna!

What I try to say here in my rambling, is that if you go all random on your island, it can leave to so many amazing things. But if you need inspiration, which could be helpful, but I'm not a big fan of it, take a look of locations and not only famous once but also local villages or towns.

 

[meatballsaregood]

I like to do what I want and not really follow what other people do too much. Personally, I'm a fan of finding pockets of space on my island and filling it up with stuff. I feel like part of decorating your island is just doing it at your own pace and when you want to. If you have to force it, it's not really fun. And as a king once said: "If it's not fun, why bother?"

 

[Sweetley]

When I did the major redesign of the island, I was also burned out at first because nothing looked good, the space was not enough etc. So I took a piece of paper and draw a rough doodle of my map, trying to imagine what may could work and what not. And then I just started to make paths, plant trees, move buildings and houses from one place to another... And after two days, I had the rough layout I wanted. In the following days, I made part for part the small details and such. It was not easy and sometimes pretty frustrating (not to mentioned the tons of bells that I wasted...), but I'm happy of how my island looks right now. The best thing is to plan certain things before starting, take also as much time as needed and don't get too much stressed if something doesn't work right at the first try.

 

[Tako]

I'll always take a break to do something else when I run into a block. Either IRL, or just running around talking to my villagers. Or even hanging out in the forum for a bit.

I feel like sometimes we're just forcing ourselves to decorate our islands because we're unconsciously trying to catch up to the people with amazing islands. And honestly, there is no need to. It's completely ok if you can't think of an idea, for your island right now. The game was designed for us to take our time to enjoy, so take as much time as you need to!