Now with hindsight, what are the things to look for in a map?

[jiojiop]

Since now everyone's been living with the maps they picked when they started, we've all learned what actually matters and doesn't matter to us in a map layout (some people have even restarted because they grew to hate their original maps!)

Now that you know what to look for, what is key to making a map "good" vs "bad"? I remember originally, many people say they wanted a resident services very close to the airport and aligned, etc, and many people were concerned about the mouths of the rivers. How do you feel about all the map features now that you've been trying to terraform and design your islands?

 

[raqball]

I did not want resident services close to the Airport and think it's a terrible location for it.. I got lucky I guess as when I picked my map I was not really sure what I wanted but it's worked out great!

 

[alpacalypse]

- resident services location! mine is thankfully fairly far away from the airport, which gives more flexibility in entrance terraforming, but i’ve seen maps with only eight or fewer spaces between the two!
- beach sizes—some beaches end up being terribly small, and they end up being difficult to decorate.

i’ve also seen people debate dock and peninsula sizes o:

 

[Bcat]

Resident services as far away from the airport as physically possible

 

[Jesusrey91]

I'm gonna chime in and say that airport and resident services distance is crucial more than anything else. Mine is too close and weirdly positioned, that limited my ability to create a proper entrance.

And I'll add another one. The secret beach where Redd comes in? In needs to have enough space to build an incline around it. Mine has TWO cliffs in front of it so it is a nightmare EVEN if terraforming everything

 

[RiceBunny]

Not much really. I knew I wanted a blue airport and knew I wanted my rivers to be south facing, other than that, I did not have many requirements and still don’t. My airport and plaza line up, fortunately, if that wasn’t the case, then I would have to reset. Different from everyone, I actually wanted resident services to be somewhat close to the airport, as I like the main area to be busy

 

[Miss Misty]

Echoing the resident services location. Mine is just so awkwardly placed. I like how I've handled decorating the area, but it took a while to decide what to do with it.

 

[ForgottenT]

Resident service location, I'd also want it as far away as possible, or perfectly centered, though keep in mind the size changes a bit after it's built.
And where the rivers exit into the ocean.

 

[Red Cat]

i’ve also seen people debate dock and peninsula sizes o:

You definitely don't want to have a short dock because you'll have a complex and try to overcompensate for it.

 

[Aliya]

This is super subjective, but I personally don't mind my Resident Services close to the airport since I like the airport dock to be lined up with the door for Resident Services so that you can run straight up if you wanted to. I originally reset my island for this setup since my other Resident Services was off by one row and was challenging to plan around.

River exits are also really important and I couldn't accomplish what I wanted to accomplish with two south river exits since the land on either side was really thin.

 

[Lokidoki]

I wish the airports honestly could be on either the left or right also not always the middle.

 

[Altarium]

Three things for me!
-RS location: honestly I chose my map specifically for this, it's far and to the right of the airport meaning I have plenty of space to create an entrance piece and then transition into the plaza (which I've not been very successful in doing, but that's not the point now lol)

-Peninsula size: I wish I paid more attention to this because my peninsula is incredibly small and I've really struggled to do anything with it. In the end, I just built some random cliffs, two small waterfalls, and put the lighthouse on top, but I'm not happy. I wish it was bigger.

-River exits: anything except double south exits. I have war flashbacks from New Leaf for having thin strips of land and I didn't want to relive that struggle. It was a nightmare.

 

[Feraligator]

Echoing the resident services location. Mine is just so awkwardly placed. I like how I've handled decorating the area, but it took a while to decide what to do with it.

Same, I've managed to decorate something out of it but I regret purposefully looking for a map with RS so close to the airport. I don't know why I thought that was a good idea.

 

[DawnAri]

I agree with the thing about the residents service, I wanted mine to be close but I regret it, I only have 7 spaces between it and
the airport. I still enjoy it not being far away from the airport, but mine is ridiculously close
it does line up okay though, I can make a nice path of 2 starting from the airport next to it
but I would have preferred more room ):

also a bigger peninsula, mine is fine but I've seen some that are so small you can't do much with it

I am really glad that my river exits are on the east and on the south side,
and my beaches have enough room for decoration too

 

[kojuuro]

Airport and Resident Services should be far away from each other to give flexibility in terraforming. Also, choosing a map with 2 south river maps severely limits where you can place things at the beginning and you need to spend a ton of bells moving EVERYTHING.

 

[Etown20]

I chose my layout because Resident Services was mostly centered on the map, and I still really like that.

I also have the two south river exits, which looked nice and symmetrical at first. It hasn't been a big problem and it's not enough to make me want to restart, but in hindsight, that is the one thing I would change.

 

[Miss Misty]

Same, I've managed to decorate something out of it but I regret purposefully looking for a map with RS so close to the airport. I don't know why I thought that was a good idea.

It's just so hard on your first island to know how it's going to look in game. At least that was the case for me.

 

[Bcat]

Yeah, I’m going to chime back in and say I wish that I hadn’t chosen both south river exits. It makes the land a little too narrow to properly landscape. I like what I’ve done and its not enough of a bother for me to reset or anything, but hindsight being 20/20 I definitely would’ve done this.

 

[stiney]

All I really wanted was not to have two south facing rivers and I prefer to have to dock and peninsula on opposite sides. Even if they aren’t lined up it feels more balanced. Still want that, but now I’d also look at peninsula size. Mine is *just* too small for my house. I put a bonfire there instead.

I didn’t know about the secret beach for the first couple weeks and then I was sad because mine is right behind a third level cliff with a pond on it that I didn’t want to terraform away and I wanted to make it a stargazing spot but the cliffs were in the way of the camera. Now that I know it’s for Redd’s smuggling operation, I’m actually okay with that. It feels sneakier to run behind a cliff and climb down via ladder and I selected a different spot (the left uppermost beach rocks) as my stargazing/sunset watching spot (though I have places closer to my house I usually wind up for shooting stars).

 

[Hesper]

I...regret having two south facing rivers. :\ But I have too many lovely villagers now to reset...