Comments & Thoughts on Terraforming

[matchaman]

personally i rlly love the idea of terraforming, and i think all the ideas i've seen people come up with are amazing!!! but i do think there are some limitations on what you'll be able to do:

- seen comments mentioning having more than 3 tiers, and personally i think it'll be limited to 3.

- people are making map designs that would mean adding/removing rivers that connect to the ocean, and i believe that you won't be able to change the places where the river meets the ocean.

- people have been making map ideas where resident services is on a higher tier, and if you think about it, it's safe to say that resident services will always be on the lowest tier, and i don't think moving it to a higher one will be possible. same applies for moving the airport to a different area on the beach.

- not that big of an issue tbh, but i don't think we'll see a tool to change/remove the rocks on the beach either.

 

[Khaelis]

Yeah, I definitely feel you won't be able to move the 'exit' point of rivers as well, which really stinks because it means I'll still have to reset for a specific island layout... which is probably a good thing, but still. As with Resident Services, I hope it is movable, but I doubt it as well.

Having the exit point for my river in the wrong spot would put a MASSIVE dent in my town's plans that I've been sketching up. Oh, and another thing to mention are the permanent rocks on the land as well. Good chance we won't be able to move those, either.

Ah geez... those darn permanent rocks are likely going to muck up my grand plan. Welp, that sketch of my island I spent 5 hours on so far likely was a waste of time. Oof.

 

[Xara]

i’m a bit overwhelmed by all the new features of new horizons, if i’m being honest, but i’m still really excited to be able to terraform :3

 

[iExist]

I agree. Did you say rocks on the beach? Rocks on the beach only won't mess me up. Also, if the river exits are permanent... Gah... I'm screwed... I need a really weird town design

 

[Khaelis]

i’m a bit overwhelmed by all the new features of new horizons, if i’m being honest, but i’m still really excited to be able to terraform :3

If you have Minecraft, its a good method to practice terraforming. Find a nice hilly area, and tear out an entire section of the hill and rebuild it, trying to make it look natural as possible. It could help you get an idea on how it works.

 

[DJStarstryker]

The rocks on the beach are great. I like them a lot! I don't mind if they're not moveable for some reason.

I just don't like the unmoveable rocks that can be smack in the middle of your town and get in the way of pathing or where you want to place a building. I don't recall seeing those types of rocks in the direct. I wonder if there isn't any (regular) unmoveable rocks anymore? I imagine they might still have some for landscaping reasons though.

 

[SheepMareep]

I think in order to have a river/river fish it HAS to connect to the ocean. We may be able to cover up the initial ocean connections and make the rivers somewhere else but if not I dont think its too big of a deal since you can stop them right when they hit land if you truly wanted. (Would just give you less river to work with)

 

[meggiewes]

I think in order to have a river/river fish it HAS to connect to the ocean. We may be able to cover up the initial ocean connections and make the rivers somewhere else but if not I dont think its too big of a deal since you can stop them right when they hit land if you truly wanted. (Would just give you less river to work with)

I've been thinking about this. I have a theory that they may not care because of the mystery tours. We can bring things back from those, so we can bring back river fish from there if we get rid of our river completely. Of course, we probably won't know until we get the game and try it for ourselves.

 

[Feraligator]

I love the terraforming feature so much, really caught me by surprise. If the beach isn't terraformable, then I'd probably have to reset for river exits that I want. Seems oddly specific but now that I've got my eye on a map layout I really like I want the river to exit at the bottom (not in the centre) and one on the upper left/right.

I assume we can make the upper cliffs larger too, I'll definitely be making the 3rd level a lot bigger than what you start with. I'll probs also make a lot of ring-rivers or oxbow lakes even, so many possibilities!

 

[Tinkalila]

It really is amazing! I feel like they noticed the amount of people hacking their towns to rearrange the layout, and just gave us what we wanted. I never hacked my town, but for the people who have always wanted to rearrange the layout of their towns, I'm sure this must be great!

 

[sierra]

It’s gonna be such a great outlet for creativity. I get it might be overwhelming but picture something in your head maybe even draw it and commit to the vision. You can always remodel it!

 

[Mayor-of-Bliss]

I love it! But looking at maps I'm curious about the already built in layers. I hope you can move resident services as well but it will add a lo to landscaping and I cant wait to see what people do with it.

 

[Nougat]

I'm really excited about the terraforming! I was so happy to see it introduced in the Direct! I really don't mind if some things can't be changed though, like the river exits or any rock placements for example, as I think there's also great fun in working around some obstacles and still coming up with a nice town! I loved doing that in New Leaf so part of me hopes the terraforming won't make it too easy.. I find great fun in thinking up solutions and town layouts.
I'm most excited about being able to create waterfalls with the terraforming feature, and multiple tiers/levels to build houses on. The town they created in the Direct looked so cute with those features! I'm definitely going to have so much fun planning everything out and moving things around.

 

[rezberri]

i'm actually kind of surprised by it? i mean furniture outside, moving and picking locations for things like villager houses, the general new features seemed like the next step for the animal crossing series. like living on the island was the next thing for me. but terraforming? that'll be in future animal crossing games, it's the new standard, and they decided to add it into this game. i'm just really shook by it.

 

[-Apples-]

I really do love this option. This reduces the need to reset for a good map, and I can make some unusual maps.

Now I wouldn’t really add multiple levels of elevation or change where the river flows, but I can make a part where the river forms an island between the river or build the same big lake the GameCube version had. And if I can’t do that, I’ll think of something.

 

[mayortash]

I think you're right, there'll definitely be limitations. I'm excited to see what they are as I play through though!

 

[John Wick]

If I can't get a non split river, do you think I can fill in the parts I don't want, mainly the unused river mouth?

I know you can't move it, so how would I get rid of it?
My biggest fear is being trapped on an island I'll never be comfortable on, and a nightmare to navigate, for both villagers and myself.

I don't want levels upon levels in a cramped living area like I saw on the direct.

Just not sure of what we can and can't do.

 

[SmoochsPLH]

I love it so much! I don't know how restrictive it is (I hope they fix how annoying placing stuff could be in new leaf), but I'm really excited for it! Though when I think about the bit they showed in the direct where they built across the river...all I could think was what the point of bridges were then?

 

[Rainy Day]

As much as I love the terraform feature, I also believe there be limitations. So I've decided I'll go with a wishbone shaped river, (two entry points far left and far right of the southern part of the map). This way, if I'm limited on my terraform options I'm at least not stuck with a map I hate. If it turns out I'm not limited, then it's the best of both worlds either way.

I'll be resetting for a long time! My list is...too long.

Yellow Dodo Airlines and Office
South center Resident Services
Triangle grass
Peaches
Wishbone River

But New Leaf took me 12 hours of reseting before I got everything I wanted!

 

[Fey]

Has it actually been confirmed that the river exit points can’t be changed/deleted? The Direct didn’t necessarily give me that impression, but people keep talking about it like fact.