Any Tips and Tricks on Town Building?

[ClassiGlass]

I've had Animal Crossing New Leaf for a while, and like every other player ever, I've decided to do some town building. (Putting down a path, trees, bushes, PWPS, ect. ...)

I really want to have my town be half zen and half "fun" (Playgrounds, parks, ect. ...) and I'm looking for a little advice on what I should do first. I have enough money to fully expand my house now, and currently I'm trying to get all of my dreamies moved in. I made a huge list of all the PWPs I could possibly want in my town, too.

I honestly feel a little stuck right now. I cut down all of the trees in my town and I sort of know where I'm gonna put a couple things, but I feel like my progress has slowed to a stop. I've been looking for a nice brick path to put down, but none of them really look like one I'd want in my town.

Basically what I'm asking you about is, how did you build your town to be the way it is now? What steps did you do? How long did it take? Hearing from people who've done all this before will probably help a lot.

If you have anything to say, do tell! I'd like to hear it!

 

[pillow bunny]

Look at tumblr blogs for inspiration.

 

[roseflower]

Don?t rush to build the permanent public works projects like the cafe and police station in your town, it?s better to wait until you are 100% sure. It took me a long time to find a good path, so the best is to keep looking out, and to try the paths out. Also you can visit dream towns for inspiration.

 

[Aeristria]

Spoiler: Spoilered for length.

I'm actually in the process of going through what you're going through. My town is by no means developed (about a month and a half old) and I'm slowly working toward what I want to do.

I don't have any dreamies, or rather, would like to keep the villagers organic (save for the 10th, which I feel entitled to cherry pick) because while I have played an Animal Crossing before, I don't feel like I played it long enough for it to "count." Therefore, I'd rather try to get to know whomever the game gives me, rather than going through the full list of villagers and choosing who I think is the most interesting/cute/cool/what-have-you.

So, that being said...

I have nine villagers. I wanted to wait for the 10th to start landscaping, but that was taking too long, so I'll end up plot-resetting a lot when I get that last one (if they end up interfering.) My process started with looking at the town map and rationalizing what each section of landmass could be dedicated to. I came up with 3 main landmarks just by looking at the map: My campsite, an orchard, and a hedge garden.

While the campsite and orchard are in their own little contained sections of map, I had a big empty space in my town for the park, but I had to figure out how much room and just what it'd look like. I chopped down 2/3rds of the trees in my town, and then began measuring out how big I could make the garden by digging lines of holes to approximate the perimeter.

Around that time, I went and found a pathway I liked (it had to be simple, since I don't intend to make more PC villagers for pattern storage) and made a course from my Bulletin Board to my Town Plaza. That same sidewalk just so happens to pass Town Hall. Then the path ended up extending down to Re-Tail, and finally to the bridge closest to my house. Do not be afraid to put off laying paths until certain sections of your map grow a bit. Though you will have to contend with looking at grass-wear in some places, it's better to know what you're placing where and then building the paths to it rather than trying to shoehorn buildings around your already laid paths later. Or worse, having to re-lay paths all over again.. one tile at a time. :/ Especially if they're intricate.

Once I got focused on path laying, I started visualizing where the caf? and the police station are going to be. I haven't built them yet, but I at least have a rough idea how much space I'll need for my layout. I also took the time to connect the Bulletin Board path to the pre-laid pathways that'll soon be my hedge garden. To figure out what those were going to look like, I spreadsheeted the approximate design, thanks to a tip I received in a thread I started when I, too, was having savvy design visionary woes.

Since dug holes will disappear each time you save and reload the game, I needed another sort of permanent ruler to remind myself what goes where. I feel confident in pre-laying those paths for this purpose because I've thought it over and planned it out in several different ways, then picked what I liked best. Once I finish gathering bush starts, I'll be able to finish constructing the hedges around the already placed paths.

I'm not exactly sure where my town will move after all of the aforementioned is finished. It'll probably be as simple as arranging trees and flowers to accentuate the buildings. But I have time to figure that out because it's going to be a very long time before I get all the PWPs necessary to finish the park and place and decorate the Police Station/Caf? and connect the pathways already present to the other parts of town... I'm not even worried about what hybrids I want or what shape and color the flower beds will be in because by the time my project finishes filling out, I'll probably have grown a whole bunch of flowers just trying to counteract all the grass wear.

It's a domino effect, really. Start small, in a single corner if you have to, and branch outward. Let your designs be flawed. Let them flow in ways that feel right at the time. Do not get caught up in absolute symmetry for every little thing and things will start to fit together before you know it.

 

[spelling88]

because I'm such a nerd, i drew my map out physically on paper and labeled stuff lol! it really helps though, i recommend it if you want to be super organized like me

 

[Mega_Cabbage]

I looked at paths online and made my own because I either didn't like them or they took up too much slots. I cut down all the trees and made a path to the main areas, then I branched off to villagers' houses. PWP placement was easy from there.

 

[Duzzel]

I'm in the same boat, trying to fit everything I want into a cohesive and functional town.
What I end up doing is going through animal crossing tumblrs or going to the Dream Suite and see what others are doing or have already done.

But the method I find best is to try something that isn't permanent and see how it feels to you. It takes much longer, and can cost more in the long run, but it's good to be able to visualize how things will work out and how you can tweak or completely change something.

My current issue is sectioning off the town based on tree types and how to blend the areas smoothly. It's a lot of effort, but the harder the project, the more satisfying the outcome.

Best of luck ~