anyone else overwhelmed with how to even start designing their island?

[Splinter]

does anyone have any tips for tackling this overwhelming project?

Take it one square at a time on the map. I started top middle and then just went from there. Don't try and do drastic changes all at once, the game gives you some pretty unique areas that you might regret knocking down and they can be hard to recreate, so bare that in mind too.

I've been chipping away bit by bit and I'm happy with the stuff I've done so far , but I still need to add an upper level river and waterfall basin. I spent the whole of yesterday terraforming it and knocking it down again.

 

[Imbri]

I never planned to do a large amount of cliff/water moving, but even what I did made me a bit nervous. The best way I found was to start in one area and just tackle a small part. Once that was the way I liked it, I'd move to the next adjacent area. This let me stick to small spots, but also make sure I had some continuity.

I know some people are leveling their islands and building up from scratch, and I admire that a great deal. It would be far too overwhelming for me, so I looked at it in terms of how I could tweak what I have. Best of luck and I'm sure your finished island will be wonderful!

 

[Bugs]

When I unlocked terraforming, I had no idea what to do, but I was so excited that I just started building cliffs and ended up with a waterfall, then I just started experimenting from there.

I only build small parts at a time of my town though, so everything is sort of in little features rather than one big impressive town.

But then I never had a specific theme in mind for my island, it's sort of become a theme now that I've already built a lot of stuff up already (a sort of secrets and adventure theme I guess) Some bits I do hate but I can always keep tweaking it until I like it like some of the other sections.

 

[Demeter_Deme]

Yeah, so I'm just trying to take it one step at a time. Make one change I like, then another.

 

[cheezu]

I'm trying to take things day by day. I focused more on my house first (I'm super happy with my kitchen) and I'm trying to pay off the house loans to expand my house (I need a basement now)
Yesterday, I created a little plaza (basically laid out a brick path in front of the museum and put a fountain in the middle - lol) and today I started working on a small orchard.
It works for me because I intend on playing this game for many years to come so, in a way, I wouldn't want to get everything perfect in under a month if that helps at all.

 

[arbra]

For me, I am using the tools to make minor tweaks instead of major.

So I had to clear 2 rows to allow my houses to go where I wanted them. I had to shorten a pond. I evened out a river to put a bridge. This allows me to get used to the tools and not get overwhelmed.

 

[Annika.]

Definitely. I resetted and now I just go by my islands' inital design. I want to reroute a river and make some land wider in one spot, but I'm scared of making it look unnatural.

 

[Shyria]

How hasn't Happy Island Designer been posted yet ?! Haha

I'd advise taking it slow if you can, I understand the desire to have a perfect island but bare in mind that once that happens you'll be so far in the game you won't have as much left to do, so it's actually pretty good to not entirely be satisfied yet, that means you still have lots to explore and play with!

I unlocked terraforming a week ago now, and my island is almost there cliffs/rivers wise, otherwise it's a huge mess haha.

I agree with what have been said previously, I too focus on one small part and work on it until I'm happy with it (for however long that is...) then move on.

That said, the Happy Island Designer Tool has helped me tremendously. It's much easier to envision what you want this way. You can also make several versions of your map to see what you like best, or rework small parts and save several options.

I also recommend looking at pictures to get some inspiration! It can really get the flow gowing if you're feeling stuck, just by realising what you like and don't like.

I can never stress this enough but don't forget that sometimes the best to do is to let go! Turn it off for a day, and come back when you feel like it, it does LOTS of good. ☺

 

[arbra]

It's really comforting to see threads like this and seeing other people struggle with layout.

I feel like I made a ton of mistakes when I first started. I picked a map that had an "island" surrounded by rivers in the not-quite middle where I wanted to put my house. I put my museum and Nook's Cranny ridiculously close to the airport, which aside from convenience, had no real planning at all for layout purposes. I moved my house there when I was able, but now I feel like my plans changed again. I like my island and think it's cute, but I feel like it takes up a lot of real-estate.

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I was the same with putting it too close to the airport. I know where to move my museum (already moved), but struggling with Nook's Cranny.

I choose the island to eventually put my home there (on the beach right now), but now am concerned that I will not like it and afraid to move it.

 

[Figment]

I choose the island to eventually put my home there (on the beach right now), but now am concerned that I will not like it and afraid to move it.

It can be a really cute choice, I think. My advice would be to leave your house where it is for right now and really think hard about your overall vision for your island as a whole before you do decide on anything. No need to be rash. (Though, of course, the good thing with this game is if you do decide to move something and your goals change, you can always move it again at a later date.)

 

[MyVisionIsDying]

When I first unlocked terraforming I was quite overwhelmed as I only had vague ideas on what I wanted my island to look like- I've seen that quite a few people like to elaborately plan where they want to put things and that kind of motivated me to doodle some rough ideas and keep an open mind when considering dimensions of the buildings etc.
I think it's good to be constantly changing the landscape of one's island because that means we're thinking of new ideas for everything. Hell, I'm changing the area surrounding my museum for the third time; it had originally been more of a simple, humble path leading to it but switching to a grander looking walkway means I can play around with extending the river beside it as well as using another type of path and having a proper designated garden/eating area.

 

[moonolotl]

Im so definitely in your shoes!! I'm such a big perfectionist and i spend so long on things to the point where i end up giving up or getting overwhelmed pretty easily. What i suggest is to definitely make a rough map of what you'd like all your terraforming to look like on paint or some sort of drawing program (i have an ipad and so i took a screenshot of my current map, traced over it and then edited it until i liked the shape)
Then, little by little, start working on that. Depending on how much terraforming you're doing this may take like a day or like a month (in my case, probably a month). Move all buildings to the beach so theyre completely out of the way and try your best not to care what your island looks like for a while because its gonna get messy.
Then slowly work on little bits at a time! If you feel yourself getting overwhelmed or stressed, turn the game off and come back later. This may not work for everyone but its how ive been doing it and its worked wonders for my play style

 

[Paperboy012305]

Overtime when I first began yeah. Then I saw some videos with really good towns, and what did they do? At least I think. They removed all of the cliffs and rivers and started from scratch. Which is exactly what I am going to do. I have to get rid of All of my bridges and inclines to begin.

 

[Capeet]

i've struggled with this so much. often people say to just take it slow and work on one area at a time which IS excellent advice, but it didn't really help me because to actually take it at any pace at all or to work even on that one small area, you need to have some kind of plan in mind and i simply didn't. i tried to blindly work on areas and see what came out of it, but even if something i made did end up looking nice, i'd just tear it right down because it wasn't the kind of island i wanted for myself or wanted to play in.

anyway! do you have any sort of vision in mind for your island? because if you don't, it might be helpful to try to come up with something! it really makes concrete planning so much easier! maybe it's silly, but after i knew somewhat what i wanted to make, what i did was think about questions like these:

-if there was a foresty/medieval/fairy tale/gothic/whatever-your-theme-is island, what kind of areas and places would it have? a castle? a farm? forest? graveyard?
-where would the buildings and areas be located? castle on top of a mountain? under a waterfall? in the furthest corner of the map? right in the middle?
-what kind of characters would live there? where would they live?

if you don't have any ideas, thinking about those things should at least give you some. even if you don't want to have a 'theme' per se, maybe there are some things you want to have on your island. i don't know if this helps at all lol, maybe you just struggle with implementation? don't be afraid to experiment and completely re-do areas but try to not just get completely caught up in doing that either - at some point it's better to leave it for a while and work on something else. when you have a clearer view of what's going on, then it's a good idea to go back and re-do the area you don't like.

wow SORRY i have so many thoughts about this but maybe i'll just stop here, hope it's even remotely helpful to someone...

 

[Mink777]

I’m finding getting rid of all the trees to be a little helpful.