Gah...I really need help...dream my town please!

[Ankhes]

I really really really need help with my town. It is a HUGE mess with stuff laying all over... I'll pick it up, but most of it now are bush starts that I'll need to know where to place. I have a few bushes already planted - Holly leading to the Police Station, Pink Hydrangea leading down from the Train Station, and White Hydrangea alongside my plaza interspersed with white flowers.

Now, the biggest problems I have are the two halves of the Town. Okay...that means the ENTIRE THING. *sigh*

Well, this town is dedicated to my paternal gandmother, Mae, and her favourite colour was teal and her favourite flower the rose. So the town flag and pattern that at least has to be by the town hall are the only things I am not willing to compromise on. I worked hard to find some paths that I thought would match yet add some flavour to my town.

Now the lower part I want to be my Ancient Section. Yeah...a WIP again. I want it mostly Egyptian and it is partially finished, but is looking crappy. I have the Old Roman Road pieces and one design of sand...but it all looks so weird. I love my gyroids all over for a sort of oldish totem feel...or...something...but all in all I am not happy with all the hard work I've done.

I feel like a finger-painting toddler. Is anybody willing to hurt their eyes and dream my town and offer advice? I have to log off now but as soon as I can get back on tomorrow I'm ready for all criticism.

Please remember that I do need to keep my Grandmother's Teal Rose, tho. Everything else is okay to scrap and restart.

Okay...crossing my fingers that my town isn't a lost cause...

Good night everyone, and sweet (or painfully messy) dreams!

My DC is 4800-4393-5660 and the town is Mrazek.

May Mae's spirit help me................

 

[trickypitfall]

I'll check it out! Just give me a few minutes to visit. c:

 

[trickypitfall]

Alright!
First off I think your main objective should be melding your two themes together better. The teal patterns you have in the upper half don't particularly meld together all that well with the egyptian theme you have in the bottom half of your map. Easiest way to do that is laying out more concrete paths and organizing your flowers. (Landscaping can come after that)

Your current paths are a little haphazard since you have so many different ones.
(Like the stain glass one? It's really lovely, but it's a little jarring since it's so bright. If you were to make it a focal point in the middle of a 3 tile wide path it could look really great! As in skipping every other one....I hope that made sense.)
Maybe try one or two more subtle patterns for your main path and then something sandy looking for a single tile trail? That could be really cute. (If you plan on doing a single tail trail I really suggest finding something with a border, plain sand tiles placed on top of grass can look a little strange.) acnlpaths on tumblr is a really good source for paths; I think their marble tag would be an especially good place to look.
Planning /where/ paths are layed can be a little more difficult. To be honest I'm not really the best person to ask, so I suggest looking into submitting your map here. The owner has some really really lovely towns, and their path plans are always really helpful.
What I can say about the ones you have now is that they're a pretty good base, but I think you should look into making some of them wider. I personally think it makes the town a lot easier to navigate (especially for people visiting) if your main paths are 2-3 tiles wide. The area you have around retail is a little awkward to walk around right now since you have it connected to the plaza. Moving the path inbetween retail and the cafe, and leading it up the the path that's connecting the plaza to the train station could solve that problem. There are also a few places where you have a path leading directly into the back of another house or building, I really suggest moving it to one side.

So now onto flora... generic flower areas (such as along paths) could be a mix of yellow, orange, black and white flowers (Possibly blue if you like? Or maybe gold roses, like you have around the pyramid, depending on how luxurious you want the town to look.) and then special areas like around houses/buildings and pwps can be "special" hybrids or colors. Since it seems like you want to the town to be more organized placing your flowers into patterns can do a lot to making your town look a lot more complete.
Bushes, bamboo and trees get a LOT easier to place once you figure out where you paths are going to be placed. But I find it helpful to lay down a pattern indicating where I want them to be. But I think planting can be on the back burner for now.

hhhhh, I know that was a huge fricken wall of text... so feel free to disregard anything you don't agree with! When it comes down to it it's your town so you shouldn't let people force you into the idea of what a town should look like. If you want any more suggestions or anything just let me know. c:

 

[Ankhes]

Magost, you've been extremely helpful! I got some really good ideas from your wall of text! And that wall is just what I need. I really am more horrible with organizing and planning than I ever thought. I have seen so many path patterns on Tumblr that my brain is a blur. I'll try the "marble tag" you suggested. I think I know what that means - I think it will narrow my search?

Yeah, I do want more subtle paths, but ones to match the teal are very difficult to find and most that I've seen look awful next to it.

I hadn't thought about the front of one house to the back of another, but I didn't know what to do about it. My brain is a jumble. Okay...try to make them more easy to navigate is the first step.

I had hoped to keep the two themes as my town is in two halves, so I'll try to do that, at least for now. But maybe trying rock and sand...maybe just chuck what I have and try the single sandy trail you suggest. I didn't know if that would add or detract, but what I ended up with just is...ugh...awful.

I do want a rather luxurious town, but I don't want to go ALL hybrids, but I'll have to try and grow more of a few type and try to save TBT and buy the ones I can't. I'm not good with breeding flowers at all. >_<

I will try those links you suggested right now and come back with questions.

Thank you so very much for your help! I needed a start and you've given me one. Thanks!

 

[trickypitfall]

I'm so happy I could help!! I know what you mean about all the qr codes on tumblr, sometimes it can feel like a sea of stuff so it gets a little overwhelming. Hopefully the marble tag I linked will have something you like! No worries if not though, that tumblr is really well organized so it's pretty easy to browse through.

I only have one theme in my town so I don't know how helpful I would be in melding the two you have together, but I think finding one main path will definitely help with that. Maybe try asking around for some towns that manage to blend two or more ideas together to help you get some ideas. I know I've seen a few people on here talking about multiple themes. c:

But anyway, good luck on your renovating!! I really look forward to seeing what it looks like when you're finally happy with everything! (And I can of course visit again if you'd like any more suggestions)

 

[Yay Sweets]

Oh my goodness, the marble path link is super helpful, thank you magost @v@

 

[trickypitfall]

Oh my goodness, the marble path link is super helpful, thank you magost @v@

Glad I could help! :y

 

[Ankhes]

I'm still having trouble finding a path that looks good next to my dark teal. Maybe this one? http://new-leaf-qrcodes.tumblr.com/page/17 It's about half way down and has a total of 5 bricks, that include a sort of teal, blue, white, and little dark flowers at the borders.

But wow...there are lots of nice possibilities! I just wish I didn't have such a difficult beginning tile to work around. I love it so much, tho, that I'll keep trying. Also I'll work on the suggestions to better my paths and then update the dream.

Oh, I still wonder if all the gyroids on my bottom of the map are good or not! Well, either they work and are cool, or else I'll make a butt-load of trips to Re-Tail sometime!

Now, back to Tumblr...

 

[trickypitfall]

I'm still having trouble finding a path that looks good next to my dark teal. Maybe this one? http://new-leaf-qrcodes.tumblr.com/page/17 It's about half way down and has a total of 5 bricks, that include a sort of teal, blue, white, and little dark flowers at the borders.

But wow...there are lots of nice possibilities! I just wish I didn't have such a difficult beginning tile to work around. I love it so much, tho, that I'll keep trying. Also I'll work on the suggestions to better my paths and then update the dream.

Oh, I still wonder if all the gyroids on my bottom of the map are good or not! Well, either they work and are cool, or else I'll make a butt-load of trips to Re-Tail sometime!

Now, back to Tumblr...

The one you had in your plaza was actually really pretty (so is the one you linked!), so if you're having troubles finding a new one maybe just stick with that one? Your teal rose and the stained glass (if you want to keep that one) blend really well with it. c:

The gyroids are a cute idea, but I think it might be a little too excessive? Maybe disperse them along the edge of that paths a little bit more?

 

[Ankhes]

The one you had in your plaza was actually really pretty (so is the one you linked!), so if you're having troubles finding a new one maybe just stick with that one? Your teal rose and the stained glass (if you want to keep that one) blend really well with it. c:

The gyroids are a cute idea, but I think it might be a little too excessive? Maybe disperse them along the edge of that paths a little bit more?

Ooh...yeah! If I can stick to the one in my plaza, that would be cool. It's not too dark? Anyway...yeah...I think I could thin the gyroid herd a bit.

I'm working on my town now and I'll try to intersperse the stained glass with the teal (or the one I linked) and see what happens. Thank you again SOOOO much! I may ask you to Dream again soon. Urgh...for your trouble I'll happily reimburse you the bells you spend on my eyesore of a town...

 

[trickypitfall]

Ooh...yeah! If I can stick to the one in my plaza, that would be cool. It's not too dark? Anyway...yeah...I think I could thin the gyroid herd a bit.

I'm working on my town now and I'll try to intersperse the stained glass with the teal (or the one I linked) and see what happens. Thank you again SOOOO much! I may ask you to Dream again soon. Urgh...for your trouble I'll happily reimburse you the bells you spend on my eyesore of a town...

Nah, it's bright but not in a super-overpowering way so I think it'll be fine! I'd just try to keep the flowers along the edge of your path complementary so it doesn't get too clashy. (Ooh, and the gyroids will look nice along the edge of it too since the border of it is brown!)

Oh man don't worry about any kind of payment, I'm really enjoying myself! I already have a set theme in my only town so getting work on a different theme (even if it's just helping) is fun. :y