-
Figure out what you want in your town map/layout before you completely settle on one. Unless you're not super picky! In New Leaf you have to consider where you'll put PWP's and sometimes the layout can make that tricky. It's much easier to pick a map carefully so you don't end up hating it down the road. (I realize there's not a lot you can do at the start, but like, river shape, main building placements, rocks, ponds, etc.) In fact,
here is a guide for rock and pond placements so you can get an idea of where they'll be before you even pick a map.
- Like Drokmar said
be wary of landscaping before your villagers are settled! Luckily the new update has made it easier to plot villager houses! Just ensure any area you
don't want a villager house to go is covered in patterns, and so long as they have room elsewhere they won't plop down on the patterns.
- Sort of goes along with number one here, but
be super careful and sure about where you place permanent PWP's! So many people make posts about hating their towns after they placed a PWP they couldn't demolish in a bad spot. It can ruin an otherwise perfect map Dx
I'm sure I have more tips and tricks to share, but I need some time to think lol
- Here's a guide on villager house exteriors, just in case you want your town and villager homes to have a certain theme or look
https://aforestlife.com/guides/villager-house-exteriors-in-ac-new-leaf/
- Amy also has a good guide on naming your town:
https://aforestlife.com/guides/animal-crossing-town-name-ideas-and-methods/
- I'm not sure if this was a part of the older AC games, because I only played City Folk very briefly, but when a villager asks me to bury a time capsule I
always bury it right in front of their mailbox. That way I know not to dig it up later (because I am very forgetful) and I can find it when they ask me to dig it back up.
- So long as
one pitfall seed is buried in your town, another one will not spawn. So I like to find it, dig it up, and bury it in the most remote corner of my town possible so it's out of the way and I don't have to worry about falling into them randomly.
- - - Post Merge - - -
Oh yeah, and talk to Sable every day in Able Sisters!
- - - Post Merge - - -
You can also talk to Isabelle on your first day and she'll keep giving you tips. She'll end up giving you a basket of fruit not native to your town, you can buy either a fishing pole or bug catching net (I'd suggest picking whichever isn't for sale in Nooklings), and if you go through all of her tips she'll give you a watering can, which unless you trade with someone to get, I don't think you can get one for a little while otherwise.
- - - Post Merge - - -
I'm sorry for spamming, you have no idea how long I've waited to talk to someone totally new to New Leaf lol. And now i'm spacing on all the things I could tell you x_x