Natural paths

[Snowfell]

I use path patterns in all of my towns. I love natural paths, and I'm thinking of challenging myself to do that in Meryton, but maintaining it might be too much for me. That and I'd need a ton of bushes.

 

[Barbara]

Maintaining a natural dirt path can be a big challenge. If you don't play your game for a while, then the grass starts to grow back so you have to constantly play every day to maintain the look. I've seen guides say to plant bushes and trees lining up with the natural path so your villagers are encouraged to walk those pathways. Your character would have to constantly walk/run on where you want the dirt path for it to work. Someone on here mentioned using PWPs to help create dirt and then demolish them the next day which is also a useful tactic.

I have a pattern path but I do like the look of natural dirt paths. I have trees and bushes lined up throughout my town so I can technically go for a dirt path but it wouldn't suit my town at all. ^^;

I was talking about natural paths, not only dirt paths. Natural paths can also be grass patches covered with bushes, trees, flowers et cetera. That's what I'm looking into, because those paths will look good both when the dirt is (partially) worn out and when it isn't, which is ideal for my playing style.

 

[lolita.x]

i luv luv luuuuv my path and i change it every season. i think when done right, paths in your town can look very beautiful- plus it's a quicker option. however the natural paths are gorgeous.( it's just acquiring the materials, time and energy that stops me from doing it!)

 

[Invisible again]

I've been doing natural paths for a while now, and it's really paying off right now. ;v;

 

[Barbara]

I've been doing natural paths for a while now, and it's really paying off right now. ;v;

Please post pictures! I'd love too see.

- - - Post Merge - - -

By the way, here are some pictures I found. (beware, some are blurry and/or edited) Don't hesitate to post yours here, even if they aren't finished yet - it's about the process as well!

Spoiler: Natural paths

 

[Barbara]

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to bump topics like this, but since I mainly made it to hear up- and downsides of natural paths and how people made/use them, I think I can. For example, if you don't have natural paths, have you considered them and why did you go for pattern paths instead? I'm really trying to decide if I want them myself here.

 

[Rubylena]

I have pattern paths but plan a huge park area and want to only use natural paths there! Not sure HOW I will do it yet but I think it will be a mix of dirt paths, bush linings and clover paths for the forest area! I think the look really nice in most cases and a BIG upside is that they can be diagonal other than most pattern paths!

 

[Svive]

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to bump topics like this, but since I mainly made it to hear up- and downsides of natural paths and how people made/use them, I think I can. For example, if you don't have natural paths, have you considered them and why did you go for pattern paths instead? I'm really trying to decide if I want them myself here.

If you want natural paths I say you should go for it!
Pros:
No set width
No set direction
look very nice and thought out
more qr room
Natural curve of a path instead of blocky corners
Can fit almost anywhere you need them to
Keeps an active interest in the game as they can be constantly changing.

cons:
Kind of suck in winter
Lots of work
Lots of planning because of plant spacing rules


Here are some of my mostly finished areas and what it looks like when I'm planning

The convenience of being able to squeeze in a path where it's needed:




fun bush formations




before and afters




me and punchy kickin it near my cedar paths


any way, sorry for the huge post but I hope this helps give you an idea of what fun they can be but what cons come along with it and maybe give you some ideas for your own

 

[Barbara]

I've been to the dream town of supposedly the picture in the main post, although the area shown there has changed now. It's a wonderful town and it felt so peaceful, I really want to have natural paths now. The dream address is 7600-3528-8357, Lilli from ★-City. She has a tumblr blog located here.
I also tried out a natural path in my town, here's a picture:

Don't mind Molly, she was walking along and seems to like the new path as well.

 

[llamasity]

I think it would be cool to do a checkerboard type thing with clovers like:
x_x
_x_
x_x
(if you think that's too much and looks unnatural you could kinda change it up a bit! I also think it would look cool to kind of add a stepping stone qr path in certain areas it would look natural and also add a really pretty part to it without having a full path. You could also just add nothing in the center and make a border out of greenery! I bet everyone else has also said these but I felt like I might as well chip in! Good luck

 

[Kolechia]

I just have a clover path (I posted it earlier on in the thread)

It is just a zig zag pattern:

- X
X -
- X
X -
- X

X = Clovers - = blank spaces

 

[Barbara]

@ llamasity
If I had enough clovers to do that, I probably would, but I'm not able to get that many clovers. If clovers grow on my paths, I would leave them there and they're a nice decoration for where they are.

 

[RaineyWood]

Well I didn't know what to vote for since I have dirt paths going.
And that wasn't an option haha.

I am thinking about switching to pattern paths, but I'm not sure yet.
Dirt paths are my favouite, but they are a lot of upkeep.

Downside of natural paths:
-Collecting all the necessary plants for landscaping the paths. That would take a lot longer than just using patterns.
-Accidentally trampling flowers. You can replace them but, trampling flowers isn't fun.
-Finding and collecting Four Leaf Clovers, if that is one thing you want.

Upside:
-Don't have to have all your slots taken up for path codes
-Has a more natural feel, which if you're going for a really natural based town, is good.
-These can be very pretty because of all the flowers and trees, pattern paths can achieve this as well, but this is more natural as I mentioned.

 

[Barbara]

Well I didn't know what to vote for since I have dirt paths going.
And that wasn't an option haha.

But dirt paths are natural paths! I only specified that they don't need to be dirt paths because everybody thought that's what it meant, while I was really talking about paths made by only the game's natural elements. (since, you know, patterns are still something that lay a bit awkwardly on the ground) Thanks for your advice, by the way. I think it'll be hard to get what I want, but it's a fun process.