Natural Dirt Paths

Pansy

Tom SHOOK
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To the people who don't have paths in their town, do you end up creating natural dirt paths? If so, how long did it take? Do you wish you didn't have them? Are they coherent (end up in areas you want them to, actually go somewhere)? How quickly do they fade? Do you walk over them everyday? I'd just like to know everything about dirt paths because they're interesting and I'm thinking about incorporating them into my town.
 
I'm doing a no-pathed town - and I discovered that if you want to play every day, paths will need to be made - unless it is winter. Otherwise, you will wear off tons of grass - even if you walk slowly. I wanted a pathless town, so I wish I didn't have dirt ones.

If you run carefully each day, fully dirt paths can form in about 2 weeks - And longer if you walk slowly. I do very thin paths, and found that path patterns are great for guiding where you walk to make them. Use them, and you will have nice control over where the paths form.
 
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I agree with everything Lanstar said. I also wanted a pathless town, but ended up killing most of my grass even though I only walk through my town. So I planned out paths and laid down stepping stones to make it easier to follow them. Eventually, I'll probably pull up the stepping stones as well.

I've been planting bushes and bamboo along my paths to help me stick to them as well. Walking the same paths daily, it took about 2 weeks to wear the paths in. I think it takes about the same amount of time for the paths to fade if you never walk them? That's a guess based on how quickly my other grass regrew once I stopped walking on it.

In winter, when it snows, dirt paths will get covered. And when the snow melts in the spring, you'll have fresh grass and need to work on your paths again.
 
I have natural dirt paths in my town and I love it. I do admit that they are a pain to maintain though. Like the others have said, you have to establish your path ways early on otherwise you'll find unsightly dirt patches everywhere from running all over town. I use a combination of Qr paths to direct where I run on and bushes to define the edges so they don't spread out by accident. After a while you can kick the paths away to reveal your dirt path. if you play regularly then you don't have to worry about the paths filling in again. I like to use cobble stone qr paths in the winter and rainy seasons because the snow and rain will make them grow back faster.
 
My dirt paths run the perimeter of my town (for the most part). I have a few branches that go down to the river for the campsite, center of town where my park is, and to the waterfall seating. I've planted bushes, avenues of trees, and/or flowers to line them, so it was pretty easy to see where I wanted to walk/run.

Most of the paths are 2 tiles wide, so I can get by a villager, but in some areas, I brought it down to 1 tile, to make it more interesting and give a winding feel to things.

If you're starting them now, know that they will disappear over the winter, from the snow, and you'll have to run the grass down again in the spring, but that might be a good thing, if you decide you want to change course or establish something different. You can get used to a certain track, plot it out, and then when the snow goes, you'll already be in the habit of going that way. :)
 
i used to have paths in all my previous towns, but with my new one i dont have qr paths and i love it. what i am using is bushes to connect my main pathway, and i will do one bush and one space, one bush one space like this XOXOXOXO. x=bush O empty space.

anyways thats how im doing it and i love it. i tried having a path at first but i love this way more. i feel like most of the paths i find now liik too pixelated and fake and it just really doesnt look right in my town. and now that the grass is a really light shade of green i really cant find any qr paths that will look good with the grass, it all just looks bad in my opinion
 
Thank y'all for your input! I'm planning on lining my paths with random flowers and including a stepping stone qr code every now and then. I looked at some dream town videos with dirt paths to see if I still wanted them, and they're just so nice looking I don't think I could ever not want them. I didn't know that rain and snow regrow grass, so I'll have to keep that in mind. Thank you again!!
 
I made dirt paths for Willow. What helped me was the cobblestone qr paths like Dizzy said at first, and then I got a lot of 4 leaf clovers to make the paths with and lined them with trees bushes and flowers. I ran the paths every single day to establish them and I think it took a few weeks, even with TTing. It is a lot of work but I think it was worth it!
 
Man, I must be doing something wrong. I feel like my grass never deteriorates. How much do you have to walk over the same place before it starts to deteriorate?
 
Man, I must be doing something wrong. I feel like my grass never deteriorates. How much do you have to walk over the same place before it starts to deteriorate?

I wish I had that problem. LOL

But it takes a few weeks of regular game play to start noticing any change. I walk over the same paths a minimum of 1-2 times a day. At first, it's just a light fading. You'll notice the grass getting lighter in the places you walk. Then, the dirt eventually shows through.

I don't time travel or even work on my paths all that much. Mine form just through my regular game play as long as I stick to my paths.
 
I don't time travel or even work on my paths all that much. Mine form just through my regular game play as long as I stick to my paths.

Do you think it'd be redundant to try force paths, then? Because what if I end up making a path that isn't as convenient and I just end up ditching it, so it becomes overgrown again? Should I try to wear the grass before I set up markers/borders? Sorry for all the questions; you just seem to know what you're doing when it comes to dirt paths oof
 
I was thinking about doing dirt paths in my town, but I don't play enough to keep them before they eventually grow back with grass, so I just have a stone pattern for paths.

But I do think that dirt paths look very nice :blush:
 
Hmm well I know you run over the grass to make it deteriorate. I used to have them in one of my old towns and all I would do is that. Walking also makes it deteriorate (albeit in a slower rate)

The main problem imo is the fact that in Winter it snows a ton, which means your dirt paths are more than likely to disappear. :/

I myself would remain and use dirt paths if it weren't for the fact the weather can ruin your hard work. Even then though the dirt paths are really great.
 
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Do you think it'd be redundant to try force paths, then? Because what if I end up making a path that isn't as convenient and I just end up ditching it, so it becomes overgrown again? Should I try to wear the grass before I set up markers/borders? Sorry for all the questions; you just seem to know what you're doing when it comes to dirt paths oof

I can't really say if it would be redundant since I've never tried it. I've heard that running, logging in multiple times a day, and time traveling can speed up the process. Of course, you'd still need to run along your paths each day/each time you logged in for that to work. I can't confirm it though, since I don't have any experience with those methods.

It's really strange because it seems like each person has different experiences with grass deterioration, so what works for me may not work the same for you.

Or it could just be that I'm really patient because as I said before, I really didn't want paths to begin with. I was sort of forced into them because my grass wear was so horrible.
 
i have dirt paths! i block things off with flowers. i need to run on them more to really get them worn down tho....
 
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