Love/Hating Your Own Island

[Mairen]

Another thing to keep in mind is a lot of those islands are designed specifically for the "photography" aspect. They are impractical to play on because they were never meant to be played on, at least not as fully as we do. Sections of those islands were made to take pretty pictures to post up on instagram or wherever to get likes. This especially became prevalent when this game became the popular thing that everyone was playing. Everyone plays for different reasons and there's no wrong reason as long as you are having fun. But think about why you are playing Animal Crossing and remember to design your island based on that as well

 

[emily_e_c]

Part of me wants to move all my villagers again and part of me is too lazy. Like it's too much.

 

[Kars]

I really hate my island but tbh, it's my fault.
It's only like halfway done but I've had so little motivation to decorate that there are just weird barren patches, or areas with WAYYYYY too many flowers, or just temporary miscellaneous clusters. Even my more polished areas are still messy. I just need to get back into the groove, and maybe my island will start looking how I want.

 

[dizzy bone]

I agree with a lot of people in this thread. Visiting dream islands actually made me feel better about my own island I feel like a lot of the islands I admired looks great in pictures but I’m usually struggling to get around or I get close enough to break the cool optical illusions seen in photos. I never felt like I visited an island and thought "damn I wish I lived here". My island is like my little home so I'm most comfortable in it. But I also have a few friends who have islands I hang out in all the time because I love it and I do all my tourneys there because it's easier to do there than in my own It's like a fun little vacation, but in the end I like returning home lol.

 

[TaylaJade]

I agree with a lot of people in this thread. Visiting dream islands actually made me feel better about my own island I feel like a lot of the islands I admired looks great in pictures but I’m usually struggling to get around or I get close enough to break the cool optical illusions seen in photos. I never felt like I visited an island and thought "damn I wish I lived here". My island is like my little home so I'm most comfortable in it. But I also have a few friends who have islands I hang out in all the time because I love it and I do all my tourneys there because it's easier to do there than in my own It's like a fun little vacation, but in the end I like returning home lol.

I completely agree! While they're beautiful and impressive to look at/take photos of, a lot of heavily decorated/terraformed islands I've visited would be impossible to "live in". I once visited a beautiful DA island from Tumblr, got lost/stuck twice and had to call Resetti lol. It's important to me at least that I'm able to get around my island easily, visit my villagers, fish/catch bugs, etc...

While social media is great to get ideas/inspiration from, it's sad that so many people say their island isn't "good enough". Your island is YOUR island and it should bring you joy, whether you've terraformed every corner of it or you're leaving it natural.

 

[Manah]

I hate that I can't seem to decorate without leaving huge open spots everywhere. I just can't seem to arrage stuff the way I want it.

 

[Chris]

I don't let other people's islands impact how I feel about my own. I've yet to find someone going for the same vibe I'm aiming to achieve (my island is inspired by towns in Gameboy era video games, such as Pokémon and Harvest Moon) so nothing I've seen really feels comparable.

 

[meggiewes]

I don't let other people's islands impact how I feel about my own. I've yet to find someone going for the same vibe I'm aiming to achieve (my island is inspired by towns in Gameboy era video games, such as Pokémon and Harvest Moon) so nothing I've seen really feels comparable.

That sounds like fun inspirations! I bet it will be really unique.

 

[Mairmalade]

Seeing other beautiful islands used to give me a huge ping of envy (e.g.: "I could never do something like this"), but I've moved to simply seeing them as sources of inspiration if there's a particular idea that makes me do a double-take. A few places on my island have been based on others' ideas, and I'm happy to bring my own take to them. Seeing a beautiful island doesn't make mine - or yours - any less.

 

[rezberri]

i think it's natural to compare your island to others' islands bc they're artistic creations in a way. those same people whose islands you take a lot of inspiration from (probably) also compare their islands to others and may even feel like their island is a bit inadequate themselves. it's easier to see the "flaws" in something you make in comparison to something someone else makes. but that doesn't mean your island is bad!! it's still a reflection of you and can always be changed/improved, but sometimes that's hard to do. maybe taking a step back from looking at screenshots or taking a break from decorating/terraforming your island would be helpful. it's easy to get overwhelmed with ideas sometimes.

i agree that pinpointing the purpose of your island can be beneficial for figuring out what you want to do with it. there are some dream islands i've visited from tumblr that look so pretty in screenshots, but when i visited the island it was really hard to navigate and it took a while for some furniture to load in. while this was fine for the player because they created their island around picture-taking, if i were to do something like that with my island it would be a bit annoying bc i focus more on playing everyday & doing tasks. with that in mind, if you want to continue to look at screenshots of people's islands for inspiration or just bc your curious, it may be better to look for people who play the game similarly to you and see how they've laid-out and decorated their islands.

 

[Noctis]

I used to feel the same way. There was many areas in my island that I genuinely loved and then there was a specific area I really hated. I didn't know how to work with it and how to connect my path with it. I eventually decided to destroy almost my whole island while leaving an area I was proud of the way it came out. I almost regretted destroying my island as I was doing half way, it really took 7+ hours to do this but now I'm happy with the way my island is looking which honestly is what I wanted to do in the first place but seeing islands influenced me to go a way I really didn't want in the beginning anyway.

 

[Greatfox424]

All your responses are making me feel better! I don't think we will ever fully feel "satisfied" and it's worth remembering that the game is supposed to be played the way you feel comfortable playing it. I agree with many of you that I like my island in that it feels practical and easy to navigate. I like that I have the flexibility to decorate for holidays (for example Halloween), etc.

We are all out there doing our best (just like in real life). I am not going to get bogged down about making "the perfect island" anymore.

 

[Le Ham]

I think I've developed a relationship with my island where I want to see it improve, and I want to incorporate ideas I see in dream islands as well as stuff that pops into my head like "what if I moved this over there?", but I don't mind how long it might take. (I don't time travel either.) You don't have to be fully happy with your island the way it is now, nor the way it will look, say, 6 months from now. I just see it as a never-ending art project. No due date, no final state. It looks a bit awkward in some places, but that's okay, I'll get around to figuring out how to make it better in maybe a month or so. Or whenever that inspiration hits. As someone who doesn't have a complete catalog or art gallery, that's also a factor in me not knowing how to decorate an area. Or that lack will define my wishlist.

We also all have different approaches to design. Almost different "artstyles." Different associations we make with furniture and such. Some people leave their beaches completely empty as a stylistic choice, and it works. Some people do bare-minimum terraforming, and it works. My downtown area went through a lot of iterations before it became what it is now, and when I look back at pictures of it from March or April there's almost this nostalgic beauty to how it looked the way I had it back then, with all the grass, color-coordinated roses lining the paths and small sectioned-off blocks. Maybe somebody could make that kind of design work. I still have changes I want to try with what I've got now, and I'll always eventually get bored of what I created even if it's beautiful.

edit to add: Sometimes it's also nice to be able to look at the amazing screenshots, ideas people had, and just admire them for what they are, without feeling the need to do that on my island too. I'll visit the island to experience what they did, and it helps me appreciate what that feature brings to their island. Which I can then revisit if I want.

 

[ranch]

I agree with a lot of what's been said here...sometimes I worry that my island is too 'simple' because a large portion of it is on a single level instead of having lots of hills and inclines, but then I go to an island with all those pretty cliffs and inclines and they're just a nightmare to navigate. I try to instead take pride in a balance between an island which looks cute and intentionally curated, and an island which feels smooth and straightforward to navigate. I sort of let paths naturally emerge based on my usual walking patterns and THEN put the actual pathing down, and as a result it's ended up feeling kind of personal, which I like. I know my island might not be super instagrammable and some parts are still a little half-baked, but little by little it feels like I'm creating something that's my own.

also, I think it's really easy to focus on the things that frustrate you and undershoot how much time and effort you've actually put into crafting the island you run around every day - I thought I hadn't done anything much over the past few months, but I had a friend visit my island and immediately comment that I'd done tons of work since they last saw it, which surprised me. basically we're all too hard on ourselves and we all have different things about our islands that somebody else would see from the outside and love the look of!

 

[Bilaz]

My island is ugly and both badly and barely decorated
I don’t care
I didn’t buy animal crossing island designer
I bought animal crossing
My museum is complete, take that decorators

I joke but, I honestly don’t know how people decorate outside, everything I try looks ugly lol