feeling a bit overwhelmed, am i just a boomer or what

[asuka]

so, i'm someone who had about 3k hours on acnl and had 2 copies of the game. i played the absolute **** out of acnl, and spent (an extremely long amount of time) on my main town. i had even gone as far as to hex edit my save file to manipulate how my town looked (basically did things you can do easily in acnh)
but okay, besides the point. THE POINT IS
i've recently re-picked up acnh after buying it in march 2020. i quit back then because i just got interested in other games, and felt a bit overwhelmed even then.
i've been having a lot of fun so far, but i'm still feeling kinda...behind/overwhelmed by the amount of choices in the game, i guess. like i'm lacking direction BECAUSE i have so much freedom, whereas in acnl, you just had to deal with whatever terrible layout you chose as a noob lol. has anyone else felt like this?
sorry if this has been asked before. i've not really been active on here since probably 2016/17, when i was still playing acnl every single day. i just wanted to see if anyone else had a similar feeling at the start of their acnh journey and if anyones got any advice, i'd love it <3

 

[dragonair]

No, I felt the same way and still feel that way sometimes. Especially with the new update that just came out! I have to pick something and super stick to it, otherwise I'll try to do everything and get so overwhelmed that I have to take a break.

 

[Scrafty]

i get that, i'd look at my island and feel like i had no clue where to start. i would compare my island to amazing finished builds. in new leaf we were all limited by the game, but when we start NH we're more limited by our own skill so it was hard to make the adjustment.

the biggest thing for me was to just start throwing up decor and terraform. it can always be changed, but having it there can spark ideas about what to do next.

 

[squidney]

i get that, i'd look at my island and feel like i had no clue where to start. i would compare my island to amazing finished builds. in new leaf we were all limited by the game, but when we start NH we're more limited by our own skill so it was hard to make the adjustment.

the biggest thing for me was to just start throwing up decor and terraform. it can always be changed, but having it there can spark ideas about what to do next.

I completely re-terraformed my island like 2 weeks before the update. The only thing I really finished planning was the neighborhood around my residents services. That build isn't even done yet haha. But because I made a neighbor hood around resident services, it added a lot of structure of the rest of my town. I still have a lot of designing to do, but like I said, it gave structure and my town doesn't feel desolate. I would start by making your resident services up, or the entrance of your airport and go from there! I time traveled 1 days when the update launched, but there's so much content (and I work) so I can enjoy the game on the real time basis!

 

[LokiBoy]

A good idea to get your started in island design and interior design is to go onto google and look up "animal crossing room designs" or "animal crossing island ideas". Take those ideas and designs and translate them into your own home or island then modify them. Eventually you will get used to the idea of designing and will be able to do it without any help. You just need to get your head into the design frame of mind. I was in the same boat as you at one point, practice really helps, and modifying other peoples ideas can really help you to establish your own ideas.

 

[imorileo]

This is actually exactly how I feel!

When I first unlocked terraforming, I was at a loss of what exactly to do since ACNL limited us to what the game thought was possible. It definitely still overwhelms me every now and then when I do boot it on, so what I like to do is step away for a bit every now and then. When I'm not playing, I enjoy watching other people terraform or decorate their islands, just to see what I could possibly do when I do get on the game Taking it slow and building one section at a time has helped a lot too!

 

[Wickel]

Same! I don't terraform much, I don't really go villager hunting and that kinda things. It just is too much "work" for me. Plus what doesnt help with ACNH is that instead of slowly building up your island and unlocking new features, they just kinda dump everything on you due to the update. At least, that's how I feel now. Suddenly all the new stuff is available at once and I don't feel very accomplished but I do feel kinda lost in where to start. I think if you restarted now it would feel more like the old AC-games where bit by bit stuff becomes available.

I'm about 300 hours in, bought it at launch day and still have the same island. Finally I'm slowly terraforming some small bits and pieces but it's definitely taking a long time. I'm usually just diving lol.

I'm also not buying the DLC yet because I first want to experience the normal update, and it just seems a bit overwhelming.

 

[AmyK]

Same for me. I haven't played New Horizons for almost half a year and parts of my island are still unfinished because I'm just not sure what to do with them and I don't wanna go through the hassle of terraforming only to tear it all down again. BUT I don't mind taking things at my own pace because I know that -eventually- I'll get there. Step by step

 

[Monokuma73]

so, i'm someone who had about 3k hours on acnl and had 2 copies of the game. i played the absolute **** out of acnl, and spent (an extremely long amount of time) on my main town. i had even gone as far as to hex edit my save file to manipulate how my town looked (basically did things you can do easily in acnh)

I have in my household 2 switches and two copies of ACNH (one for me, one for my GF) - we spent about 1500 hours, each of us and since we bought this game (August 2020) we playing every single day. Only mistake I made was adding new profile and use this additional profile for my daily life. I spent with this profile couple months and finaly I said enough - since I removed extra profile I enjoy this game. Not TT, not editing, not having any "friends" just two of us are playing ACNH.

but okay, besides the point. THE POINT IS
i've recently re-picked up acnh after buying it in march 2020. i quit back then because i just got interested in other games, and felt a bit overwhelmed even then.
i've been having a lot of fun so far, but i'm still feeling kinda...behind/overwhelmed by the amount of choices in the game, i guess. like i'm lacking direction BECAUSE i have so much freedom, whereas in acnl, you just had to deal with whatever terrible layout you chose as a noob lol. has anyone else felt like this?
sorry if this has been asked before. i've not really been active on here since probably 2016/17, when i was still playing acnl every single day. i just wanted to see if anyone else had a similar feeling at the start of their acnh journey and if anyones got any advice, i'd love it <3

I'm a bit surprised, as there no direction... sure, you've got to achieve some basic things, and then is up to you, what to do, when you do, how long you do. As a big fan of Minecraft, Dragon Quest Builder 1 and 2 I was afraid limitation of space would be a problem for me, as I really like to expand and travel further. At some point I realised, it's a different type of game - and playing ACNH or any AC games I don't need to abandon other games, like I mentioned.

 

[Marshmallows]

I decided when starting the game that I wasn't going to go crazy with the terraforming. I liked the natural look, so I pretty much went with what I had, adjusting small things (to build a bridge or incline.) I had a fear of messing up my island, too. But now terraforming isn't so daunting and the decor has slowly been getting done. I'd say just take it slow. It's been a year and a half and my attic and basement are still undone. Focus on the things you enjoy doing without feeling the need to finish, because there is no finish.

 

[Mairen]

I think the best advice I could give here is: dont feel like you have to do anything. Wait until you want to do it.

The game doesn't punish you for not terraforming. You dont have to create a designer-decorated island - just put what decor up that appeals to you. Take things easy one day at a time. Fish, catch bugs, wait until you get a spark of inspiration for something, then you'll be ready to focus on that bit.

In my case, a lot of that overwhelming feeling comes from feeling like you must do everything immediately.

 

[Weemaddz]

I was starting to feel OK with it then the update come out an now it all feels like there so much to do all at once and all these new things, that while it's fine it's just too much all at once, I get that most people will have finished islands an want to jump right in but I'd have felt better if they maybe spaced some of it out a bit, maybe every few weeks they would have brought somthing new to the game, right now I feel like restarting just because it was so much easier in the beginning when you had to wait for a day to move onto the next step but I know I'll hate myself for restarting as there's no way I want to go through trying to get diys again an trying to catalogue things, am still trying to recover from the last restart when my island was deleted by a family member with trying to catalogue things

 

[Hilbunny]

I’m really loving the update but unfortunately I have time constraints in my life that make it hard to sink time into ACNH. I go to school and work full time :/