Landscaping

[The_Storyteller]

Hi all,

I have to admit when I started playing New Leaf I just dived right into it without doing any researching or anything. At all. I had no idea there was such a massive online community. I certainly knew nothing about themes or landscaping. I happened upon it somewhat by chance. I was visiting the DA of a town I found on a random website when looking for the snowman guide, and I saw that the town was incredibly landscaped. It was so daunting because I knew nothing about it and even after all this time, I'm still hesitant to start because it's such a big job. There are lots of amazing landscapers on this forum, but does anyone out there feel like me?

 

[Ichigo.]

That's exactly how I felt when I first joined the community. I had gotten into Animal Crossing on a whim with New Leaf and had no idea people dedicated so much time and effort into their towns. When I realized the extent to which you can decorate and landscape, I was pretty overwhelmed by all the possibilities. But then I started looking through what other players had done and was able to decide on what kind of look and vibe I liked best and went from there. It's actually fun once you decide on a goal and tackle one thing at a time. For example, I started out by laying out paths in order to get a general idea of how much land I would have left over for landscaping and other public works projects/placement. It's definitely a big project. I've been working on mine for two years (after deciding what theme I wanted) and I'm still not done yet. Almost there though! The progress is pretty satisfying to see.

 

[KaydeeKrunk]

Yes! When I first started I wasn't really aware of paths or basic landscaping. I was just plopping PWP's here and there and it all turned out OK, but really everything was everywhere and it looked tacky af. After I got into the forum and following blogs on tumblr I saw the amazing landscaping people did with paths and flowers and bushes and bamboo and I was just so jealous. So I basically tore down half my town to make it more landscaped, and then actually ended up restarting because I hated my layout and where I had put my cafe and campground. Then I went kind of landscaping crazy. Now I plan EVERYTHING out. It's a lot of work! And I also plan things for people to get during their dreams of my town and everything too so I can outfits that match the theme and little knick knacks and buried things because for me those are some of the funnest things to find when I dream of towns. But it's a lot of planning and it's pretty daunting to think about all the work I really put into my towns.

 

[Bilaz]

I honestly have always felt like this and I still do. I've played every main English installment in the Animal Crossing series and in all of them I never landscaped so I've grown attached to my little random forests. Beautifully landscaped towns are fun to visit but they just aren't me really. To be perfectly honest I've disliked every one of my attempts at landscaping and have hated every minute of doing so. :/ It's just really tedious and un-fun to me. I have however made my New Leaf town quite aesthetically pleasing by colour coding the whole thing! I have soft coloured flowers in one part of my town, with matching PWPs and fruit trees and summer colours on the other, so that's something at least. No paths though, and I still love my town, it's perfect to me.

Now my house on the other hand... I'm having a wonderful time decorating it to the best of my abilities and trying out all sorts of new things, I also love getting new badges.

I'll admit that I don't have a dream address so the only impression Streetpassers will get of me is my house, badge collection and Mayor character so I put all my effort in those things hahahaha.

 

[dizzy bone]

Yeah this forum opened my eyes man. I had no ideas about dreamies or map resetting... or that you could even get certain unorderable items that are only accessible through trading (like specific holiday items for japan etc.) Honestly I still don't really care about dreamies or the perfect map because I tend to settle with most of my original starters and I'm too lazy to reset for a map.. but I did become motivated to landscape more thoughtfully and design more creatively outside the usual "full set room".

 

[Fruitcup]

I think everyone feels like that at some point. I used to really fear big open spaces (since my main town is pretty narrow) but after a while you get the hang of it. Seeing so many gorgeous towns can be pretty daunting but also very motivating, it's also great for inspiration. When it comes down the line it's all about the love and effort one has for their town. Have fun with it, cheers!