Help! With island design...

[rayraysparkles]

hi!

So i have a rough idea of how i want my island to look eventually, but how do i start? I've read loads of advice about going slowly, picking a small area, etc, but how did you guys actually design your island to begin with, before setting out to terraform? I would really appreciate your advice! Thanks

 

[Mosshead]

The one thing I started with was laying down the paths in my main area AKA the area with my town hall along with most of my buildings; I felt that completing the busiest part of my island with paths would allow me to visualize where I really wanted things if they weren't at the right place and as I went along, I started to get a clearer idea of the specific furniture/flowers/trees to place to fill up the gaps. I've heard a lot of players start with paths too so that can be an aspect you can consider.

I didn't terraform my entire island though so if you are thinking of doing that, my advice might not be useful. Good luck!

 

[Khaelis]

Try sketching out ideas on paper, and not just the entire island. Pick an area, sketch it out. Then pick another area and sketch that area out. Repeat a few times and try to mesh your ideas together. Since you have a ton of different areas sketched out you'll eventually create something really unique. You might have to do some creative stuff to connect them and make them look a bit natural, but the results are surprisingly great.

This is what I did, and to give you an idea of what I ended up with, here's an image:

Do note that this is an older image, and a few things have since changed a bit since I've been tweaking the odd thing here and there.

As a little bonus tip, terraform first, decorate last! Never decorate as you terraforming! You don't know if you'll end up changing things up, and having to put in extra work to remove things is a huge hassle. Only decorate areas you know you won't be changing!

P.S. Use dirt path to draw out cliffs before you build em' up to get a rough idea of what it may look like!

 

[Figment]

For me, I basically started by terraforming my entrance. I put a cliff with a waterfall to the right of the entrance and from there I decided to redo my island with a cozy woodland theme.

I think it's a good idea to have a theme in mind. When I started my island, I had more of a grid system in mind with specific neighborhoods, but I decided that wasn't for me. Don't be afraid to try something new and different, even if that means you'll have to move buildings around to get what you want.

 

[Bk1234]

I take one area at a time. I have a river that basically splits my town so right now I'm currently working on that area. It is very overwhelming and that's how it will be with all your ideas. I cope with this by setting daily goals for myself.

 

[Moon Cake]

I definitely agree with Mosshead on making paths first! It helped me figure out spacing for buildings, villager homes, bridges, and inclines. Afterwards, I started working on smaller areas one at a time. I would also recommend using Happy Island Designer to help you get a general idea of where you want your buildings/areas to be!

Here's my map if you'd like some inspiration!

 

[fallenchaoskitten]

My Suggestions:

• First: Look at what you CANNOT change
  • you can't change your rive outlets, resident services , dock, airport, or beach layouts
  • you need to take this into considerations before you really start planning
• Second: General "wants" list
  • What areas do you want on your island?
    • Residents Area?
    • Shopping Center?
    • Bamboo/Reg Forest?
    • Graveyard
    • Zen Garden?
    • Orchard?
    • Cafe?
    • Waterfall Feature?
    • Park?
    • Playground?
    • Shaped lakes?
  • Make the list however big you want. Don't get worried if it is really long
• Third: What goes well together from your list?
  • This is where the planning really starts to flow so your island "makes sense"
    • examples:
      • Forest, Campground - makes sense
      • Playground, Park, Resident Area - makes sense
      • Bamboo Forest, Zen Garden - makes sense
• Fourth: How can you separate these "areas" on your list?
  • Rivers?
  • Cliffs?
  • Fencing?
  • Trees?
  • Paths?
• Fifth: Path it out
  • Before you move ANY building, utilize paths.
    • 1 path color: your path
    • 1 path color: building placement
    • 1 path color: fencing
  • This will save you time and bells in the long run because you will get a feel for how much space you REALLY need before you do it.
• Sixth: Move it~ Move it~
• Seventh: DON'T BE SCARED TO CHANGE IT
  • don't like that river? change it
  • don't like how close the villagers are together? move them
  • don't like how "flat" and "unnatural" the map looks? add more jagged cliffs, random ponds, random waterfall
  • don't like the path you just used to payout your entire island? you guessed it... changed it. lol

Hope this long winded thought wall helps!

 

[rayraysparkles]

Wow thank you so much! You guys are the best I've made a start now, focusing on one area at a time and I've found that I'm getting more of a feel for it. But how do you guys link areas? I have open spaces between stuff and I'm not sure what to do. With themes, do you make decisions using what you've done in other areas? Mines a kind of mash of Japanese/studio ghibli/ random uk stuff haha.

 

[fallenchaoskitten]

Wow thank you so much! You guys are the best I've made a start now, focusing on one area at a time and I've found that I'm getting more of a feel for it. But how do you guys link areas? I have open spaces between stuff and I'm not sure what to do. With themes, do you make decisions using what you've done in other areas? Mines a kind of mash of Japanese/studio ghibli/ random uk stuff haha.

A lot of my "major" differences are either separated by water or cliffs. Smaller differences it is with trees, fencing, paths, and/or flowers.

There is a river that keeps my more "natural" part of my island and my "man made" part of my island separate for example. Both of those sections have MULTIPLE things happening in them. And some of them bleed together, too.
I have fencing, flowers, and tress that separate different sections in shopping district for another example.

A lot of it is trial and error to see what feels right.

 

[JKDOS]

I share this link a lot, but it's because it has proven useful to me.

Happy Island Designer

Plan your dream island map. Made for Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Draw terrain and paths, place buildings, and trace your in-game map.

eugeneration.github.io

You can use that tool to create a mockup of your current town and then start experimenting with how you want things.

If you like it, you can use it as a blueprint, and start building it piece by piece in the actual game.

 

[rayraysparkles]

I share this link a lot, but it's because it has proven useful to me.

Happy Island Designer

Plan your dream island map. Made for Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Draw terrain and paths, place buildings, and trace your in-game map.

eugeneration.github.io

You can use that tool to create a mockup of your current town and then start experimenting with how you want things.

If you like it, you can use it as a blueprint, and start building it piece by piece in the actual game.

Yes that's what i did last night! Took me forever lol