Is it just me?

[kasane]

me trying to figure out wtf to do with the top half of my island, because i want to use cliffs and the water tool but mine just look so bland and boring. and i suck with the water tool, the ponds i make end up looking ugly
i'm very uncreative with waterfalls

 

[Speeny]

Don’t worry, I’m feeling stuck too. Especially now that I’ve unlocked terraforming and paths, it’s actually quite a tedious process to be totally honest. I get tired of it easily. Plus, I want everything to look 100% centred/even which I don’t think you can do even with terraforming?

I find myself making impulse decisions and then deciding: “Yeah, that’s not going to work.”

Even though I’m stuck, what’s helped me a bit is jotting down notes on my Ipad of ideas I plan to put into motion. Then, it just comes down to the placement and overall look which is honestly the hardest part.

 

[niko@kamogawa]

Does everyone come to a point where they’re absolutely unhappy with the way their island is? I’m upset with how I terraformed, and how most of my island is flat. I know I shouldn’t compare my island to others, but seeing the depth and complexity some people have done makes my island just look - small. There’s a lot of land but nothing clicks. And here I am hating it. I don’t want to start over, but I wish I could figure things out. :/

maybe it’s just me that hits this brick wall.

You're already on the right track. The feeling of dissatisfaction is normal. After all, who else is the harshest critic other than yourself? For those people who showcased their beautiful islands, I highly doubt that they reached the point of satisfaction. Honestly, this is part of human nature that we always strive to improve no matter how much work we put on it.

 

[Xara]

i’m kind of the same way. i didn’t terraform much but i’m often sort of unhappy with the overall design of my island - i’ll look at other people’s islands and how gorgeous they are and then look at mine and feel almost inferior in a way ;w;

 

[Underneath The Stars]

yes... i thought i'm happy and proud of what i have done until i see screenshots from social media

 

[Ella.]

This is my current mood. I added some waterfalls and changed where the museum and store are and I'm dissatisfied with the placement. I'm questioning if I should move the villager houses to another area and put something else in its place. I thought I was decently creative but my mind is almost at a complete blank right now.

 

[sfelix]

Definitely! Sometimes I don't know what I'm doing or where I'm going with it and I'm hesitant to destroy what's already there... but I found what works for me is just to take the plunge and go "demolish demolish demolish!" But, while doing that, to work on one specific area at a time.

I've been doing it while working from home when I have time in between dealing with customers, which leads to popping soooo many balloons.

 

[Bloobloop]

yes!! i keep wanting to change my design for the best possible island and it’s just not working out. i want to fit too many things and rielsndbwkan it’s so stressful. i wish i had the creativity that others did qq

 

[Sencha]

This is the reason why I decided to play my own pace and stay away from forums and other social media until I had a design for my island I knew I wanted. Now I can see others and be impressed, but still like my own island because that's the way I wanted it to look. But there will always be others who do everything so much better, so why bother making the "best" island, when I just want to make my own island?

 

[Manah]

A lot of it is being aware of your own preferences. Those towns with narrow pathways have always looked amazing to me, but I know my main roads need to be at least two spaces wide or else it feels too cramped to actually play.

I haven't terraformed a lot, but i found it easier to start with areas I can't change, like Redd's beach or the coastline between the airport and the river. Then I just try to visualize what I want tge area to look like and try to match it as much as possible. None of my ideas look anything like the super pretty islands on Youtube and the like, but they do look personal to me.

It's very awesome that NH reached such a huge audience, but one of the downsides is the social media pressure bleeding into what should be a chill experience. You have to remind yourself that plenty of people deliberately create things to look good on Instagram and don't actually live like that, social media in general is designed to pit people against each other because that's what generates traffic, you don't have to impress anyone, there is no "good" or "bad" when it comes to personal taste and aesthetics, and life is already stressful enough.

 

[Rosch]

This is my approach...

Don't try to finish everything at once. If you have an empty space, leave it be. Because you don't know when you'll get a sudden spark of creativity and idea on what to do with it.

There were areas in my island that I was unhappy with, but I ignored it. Then one time, I suddenly thought of something I could do with it. Baby steps.

Too much planning can burn you out. Besides, this game is continuously updating. Who knows when those empty space could become Brewster's Cafe, or possibly a farm (if the datamine is considered).

 

[Splinter]

I love my island. But yes there was a time after I'd done a lot of terraforming when I wondered if I'd made a few mistakes. Then I started decorating the island and it looked cool and really started coming together, put my own stamp on without being influenced by boring "5 star island" tours. It's still only 20% finished tho in my head, lol.

 

[Imbri]

We're always our worst critic. I'm sure your island looks amazing, and there are probably people who see it and think theirs isn't as good or looks tiny in comparison.

I know I'll be doing tweaks to my island for a long time to come, and that's okay. Your tastes will change over time, so you'll probably want to shake things up. That's what makes the game fun.

 

[tombook]

I just keep mine pretty chill