Anyone else get like... really overwhelmed when it comes to decorating your island?

[Tianna]

Had this game since release and recently restarted and I swear both of my islands just end up looking like barren wastelands with overgrown flowers and then I get super frustrated cuz I have this perfect vision of what I want my island to look like, but actually executing it is beyond stressful... What the heck, how do people on YouTube create those beautiful islands but then there's me crying when I plant a single tree because it don't look right

 

[ScriftyCrossing]

Yes!! That happened with my last island! It's completely normal.. I think, haha.

 

[Xara]

you’re so me… i’m the exact same way when it comes to decorating, which is why i hardly do it lol. my problem is i get overwhelmed when i have too much creative freedom, and lots of things to choose from; there’s so many furniture items and customization options, so many custom design options, so many plant options etc and it’s overwhelming because i feel like i can’t utilize all of it in a way that looks good and that i’m happy with, if that makes sense. i also have a hard time making areas flow and look nice together. i have so many ideas for things i’d like to do with my island, but no idea how to decorate or plan things out. >_<

 

[Pyoopi]

I haven't watched the YouTube island builds extensively however, to kind of knock them down a peg, they do take a lot (a lot) of inspiration from Japanese player's islands. Or you know Pinterest (which is pretty notorious for uploading art/images without the original owner's consent). What I'm getting at is their builds isn't as truthful as an average player.
Personally I wouldn't look at those videos unless you're looking for a specific tutorial or something.

I would compare island decorating as a process or a journey. We work at different speeds and have different methods. There are people who can work within a day and there's others who need months or years. I know the trial and error route isn't always enjoyable and that's when you let your brain take a rest.

For me, I love the problem solving process. I can sit there for 6 hours at time and tinker away until I'm satisfied or tired. Then repeat the process the next day. For you, maybe you need feedback and another set of eyes to help you out. You can always ask here.

 

[Paperboy012305]

Absolutely! This is why I prefer playing New Leaf rather than this.

With so many items to place on the whole island it creates too many ideas for my brain to comprehend. Also by the fact that it takes so long to remove something you just built and you don’t like it is so exhausting.

New Leaf on the other hand I can rest easy knowing that all you have working with is PWPs, paths and foliage.
Back in the New Leaf days, I knew exactly where and what I wanted my ideas to go, because I didn’t need to think too much of it, I just did it.

I can’t have this feeling in New Horizons, knowing that I want to aim for a city themed island.
Additionally, it took me only one year to finish the outside of my New Leaf town, where I’m only 2% done with my New Horizons island. I only got the entrance finished up.

One day I’ll get the confidence and ideas down to finish my island.

 

[VanitasFan26]

Look I'll just say this. Ever since when people started sharing how cool their islands are on Social Media I feel like this has led to people feel peer pressured to make their islands perfect like theirs. Like I have nothing against the people who post how their islands look but Its creating this trend where people have to try so hard to make their islands perfect.

Let me just say this, I feel like sometimes people take designing way too seriously with their islands which is one of the reasons I've seen people get so mad and frustrated with the game. I mostly blame Social Media for trying to compare who has the better island. The reality is there is no such thing as a "perfect island" your island can be just as good as long as "you" are happy with it. You don't need to let people tell you otherwise. I know from experience what it feels like to feel "pressured" to have a great looking island, but at the end of the day, just make what stands out to you.

Just remember don't feel bad about your island. If you do want feedback my advice is make your island a bit more open and not so cluttered. As for themes I don't take it too seriously since I keep it pretty basic based on my personality in real life. Stuff that I like and stuff that I always relate to in real life that I feel really made me go "wow that was amazing". To get to the point its your island and however you make it should make you happy and not sad just because you see other people's islands.

 

[Roaldisthebest]

im gonna be real with you i have no idea what im doing with my island. I'm currently focusing on the gameplay stuff but the decorating stuff excites me alot, i just dunno what i wanna do with it. Personally, just do what you love. If it feels good, it is good

 

[drowningfairies]

It is very overwhelming. I stopped watching island tours and stuff while building, as I start comparing mine to theirs, and would tear it all down completely. Now I’m just trying to see where things fit the best as I go.

There’s a lot of space to cover, so it can be difficult without a direction to go. I use a lot of blankets and stuff to make reading areas and picnics.

 

[azurill]

Decorating and terraforming can both be overwhelming. I find working on small sections when I feel inspired to works for me. It took me a long time to decorate and feel comfortable with my first island. I restarted my second island back in Dec and it is no where near done. I try not to pressure myself into thinking it all has to be done by a certain time since that’s not going to happen. Both my islands will always be a work in progress.

 

[. Rarity .]

Well first thing I'd susgest is that you should take a break from the game if its making you cry maybe avoid Island tours too. Coming back to it with fresh eyes can work wonders.

Second is that if your getting stressed about things, is that your not only judging yourself, but your worried what others will think. Well it is your island, it will look great regardless.

People on tours have worked super hard to get there. Defently didnt happen over night. So its alot of determination, so try not to worry and compare yourself. You'll have an easier time decorating if you dont question yourself Also don't rush in expecting things to fall into place instantly. You may not like the results, trust me lol.

--

Heres how I started. I took advice from how an island creator started. They said they didnt know what to do, to start. They did tell themselves that they wanted a castle. But after said they only went back in when Ideas struck them. Which honestly is how I operated. I started with one thing then another. Then I just didnt really play the game until something else came to me, and it just kinda grew from there.

So take a step back, look at your island, think about the first thing you want and only work on that. Dont worry about any other area, just that one project. I had a whole barren space with only two parts with something, and that was my own castle at the other side of the island, and my entrance. My villagers were wondering around aimlessly for like a month lol. But it did come together over time, and a lot of trial and error. One area was alot of caluclating and planning and it took awhile. But I enjoy projects and tinkering.

But first take a bit of a break from the game so you come back with a fresh mind set. If your worried about your flowers spreading, then put them all on your beach before your break. I had a whole beach full of flowers for the longest time because of my billions of flowers. So yeah, I feel your pain. But putting them on your beach is the best way to stop the spread of more.

Hope that helped a bit ♡

 

[KittenNoir]

I am literally stressed about decorating all the time haha I will spend heaps of time designing an area then I will hate it later.

Or I see someone post online an area they built and I am like why do I bother

I had my island finished a while ago but then I decided I hated it so I kept it but took everything I had a sold or binned it and started decorating it again.

 

[Hypno KK]

Yes! It feels like there's almost too much to do in terms of decorating and it feels a bit stressful sometimes. I say this as someone who normally loves decorating everything!

 

[nightglow]

With my current, I wanted my museum lined up with the beach edge that sticks out a bit further than other edges, but I found that if I didn't and have that right angle for the path, it makes it feel more unique if you plant trees in the angle to kind of block the view of the building from the beach. The trees are far away from the main path behind the trees, that the path can be seen when walking on it.
I have a lining up problem, but if I don't worry about it, and focusing on blocking view instead, it feels a little bit better, like the older ac games.
Hopefully the next game will have a random placement option along side deliberate placing. It could be presented like "Blathers can choose what he thinks is the best location for the museum." It could make it fun, and give ideas to people who have no idea what to do with said building.

 

[oath2order]

Yes! There's so much to possibly do and I'm convinced nothing looks good on the top tier.

 

[Clock]

Always, it's funny how my brain is too ambitious about that kind of stuff.

But in reality, it's a different story

 

[CouchPotato]

Yes definetly, especially when it comes to terraforming. Thats why I've restarted 6 times lol.

 

[moonz]

For sure, imo NL have the perfect balance of customization, you can put a variety of decorations to make your town beautiful, but its not so overwhelming, as there is not many, yet enough to make a town look nice. On New Horizons there is TOO MANY information, you have to decide if your land is small or big, where to throw a certain item, where to put a decoration... Ofc its fun having so many things to do, but its really overwhelming.

 

[oath2order]

For sure, imo NL have the perfect balance of customization, you can put a variety of decorations to make your town beautiful, but its not so overwhelming, as there is not many, yet enough to make a town look nice. On New Horizons there is TOO MANY information, you have to decide if your land is small or big, where to throw a certain item, where to put a decoration... Ofc its fun having so many things to do, but its really overwhelming.

And the fact that the game is purposefully, painfully slow. Which is a problem when something doesn't work out properly.

 

[Bruscoe]

You're definitely not alone. When I completely flattened my second island Parkwood, I really didn't know where to start. It literally took me several days of me trying to picture things in my mind and looking at inspiration pictures before I actually started decorating it.

I made the process go by way faster by time travelling (I refuse to do it on Wahu; I only created Parkwood to show it off to all the lovely people here when I'm done with it), and if you don't do that, then it's just kinda like what's the point. I don't have the time really to wait several days before all my buildings are laid out.

And then come decorating, I will suddenly come up with a better way to do an area, and then it becomes too good not to do, so I start over sometimes. I only wish Nintendo gave us more custom design slots, but that would be asking for too much

 

[Halloqueen]

I don't get overwhelmed with designing my island, no. The layout is practically the same as it was when I first settled on the island, with only minor terraforming like rounding out edges of things. My island is also pretty well already designed by this point as I've had the game since launch and it's all pretty figured out. That said, in the past year I've grown more interested in rearranging some of the things, like moving my museum and farm around, making the residential area more organized and nice to look at, etc. It will pretty much just be moving things around, not really changing the items decorating the island.