(Terraforming) I've ruined my island!?

[SugarMage]

So last night I posted a thread about how I was about to try time traveling for the first time to move out a villager. I figured since I've been redoing my island I might as well do some terraforming and building moving while I was at it but.... It turned out HORRIBLE!
I have had this "loose plan" I drew to follow that I was going to add more detail to when I got it in the game here:

But when trying to make that moon shaped island it not only ruined how my river is currently, but I was trying to make room for it and I ruined the cliffs to the right... AND messed up the area around where my house currently is.
This is the WORST part about autosave too... I can't just reset!
I ended up getting so upset I just closed the game and didn't end up time traveling as planned...


Point is: Is there a better way to shape rivers? Should I just give up on this map and make a new plan? I'm just stuck.

 

[tybalt_cake]

What if you take a game screenshot of your current map? It could be easier to help

 

[Sicariana]

I would recommend using this website: https://eugeneration.github.io/HappyIslandDesigner/
Definitely work on a little bit (maybe one map grid?) at a time so you don't have to go back and redo your entire island.

 

[Cosmic-chan]

I love this idea don't give up! Believe me I suck at terraformin and tbh I don't care for it. I personaly just build on my existing island without altering it too much to keep it's island charm but that's just me,, I say keep trying,

 

[Hobowire]

wow.... this seems like such a big and delicate project. I could never get the river the way i want. It always looks awkward to me.

Don't be discourage. sleep it off and adjust.

 

[SugarMage]

What if you take a game screenshot of your current map? It could be easier to help

Because that would make sense and I didn't think too XD
My house is on a big square T.T

Post automatically merged: Jun 7, 2020

What it looked like before I started this...

 

[buny]

I would recommend using this website: https://eugeneration.github.io/HappyIslandDesigner/
Definitely work on a little bit (maybe one map grid?) at a time so you don't have to go back and redo your entire island.

definitely use this if you want a very specific river shape like that. You have to do it grid by grid, and it's honestly very tedious, but it's much better than trying to figure it out as you go

 

[Fendi]

I think when it comes to terraforming, it's pretty important to take into consideration tile size, and what is needed to create the curves you're looking for. Have you maybe measured how many tiles the crescent shape would require? It's better to look at it from a calculated perspective because it gives you an idea as to where to lay down the groundwork. For example, how many tile squares is the first moon curve going to occupy?

Creating curves and circles is pretty tough, but the app/website that was mentioned in one of the posts above is perfect since it gives you the perfect grid line to get an idea of how to carve out the shape you are looking for.

 

[tybalt_cake]

View attachment 271069
Because that would make sense and I didn't think too XD
My house is on a big square T.T

Post automatically merged: Jun 7, 2020

What it looked like before I started this...
View attachment 271070

As someone said above , use the map planner they shared in this thread.

The issue is that you planned rivers that would go curved and forgot that the way rivers work in the game , not your fault or anything! this is an easy fix , but next time you plan to do something in your island it's better for you to use the online island designer

 

[SugarMage]

I would recommend using this website: https://eugeneration.github.io/HappyIslandDesigner/
Definitely work on a little bit (maybe one map grid?) at a time so you don't have to go back and redo your entire island.

I think when it comes to terraforming, it's pretty important to take into consideration tile size, and what is needed to create the curves you're looking for. Have you maybe measured how many tiles the crescent shape would require? It's better to look at it from a calculated perspective because it gives you an idea as to where to lay down the groundwork. For example, how many tile squares is the first moon curve going to occupy?

Creating curves and circles is pretty tough, but the app/website that was mentioned in one of the posts above is perfect since it gives you the perfect grid line to get an idea of how to carve out the shape you are looking for.

Thanks guys! I actually... Hadn't considered it from a tile-by-tile perspective which I think is my problem! I'm gonna try out that app and see what I can do.

 

[buny]

good luck!! i'm sure you can make it look great!! i dont exactly love how my island turned out after terraforming either, but i'm gonna keep working on it and fixing it as i go!

 

[Squinish]

Thanks guys! I actually... Hadn't considered it from a tile-by-tile perspective which I think is my problem! I'm gonna try out that app and see what I can do.

The website they gave you is great. I actually used Paint with a grid set up. I must do a tile measurement with construction dirt to get the size of the area I was working with.

The website works the same way. Just better with AC orientated features. I wish I new about it before I started my big projects. Though you do need measurements for the area if you want to be exact. Otherwise things might not turn out as well they look on the sight.

 

[pinkcosmo101]

I recommend doing this the same way you eats an elephant:One bite at a time, thats how I went about terraforming

 

[meggiewes]

I also suggest using the pathing tool to plot out where you want your river to go. I just got done with re-doing my entire island (just to prove to myself that I can) and I used the light dirt path for the straight river edges and the dark dirt path to mark where I wanted the diagonal rivers to go. It made it so much easier to dig out the river.

 

[aesbea]

have you terraformed a lot previously? I remember i also wanted a moon shaped lake (yours looks more difficult since its like a moon-shaped land surrounded by water) and when I first started to terraform, it took me like 3 hours of trial and error! It's a 'lame' answer but the more you terraform the better you are at it and the more you know what you can/can't achieve in-game! I feel like looking at tutorials helps too, I'm sure there's a lot of tutorials for moon-shaped rivers/ponds on youtube! Your island map still looks beautiful though, so don't worry!

 

[SugarMage]

have you terraformed a lot previously? I remember i also wanted a moon shaped lake (yours looks more difficult since its like a moon-shaped land surrounded by water) and when I first started to terraform, it took me like 3 hours of trial and error! It's a 'lame' answer but the more you terraform the better you are at it and the more you know what you can/can't achieve in-game! I feel like looking at tutorials helps too, I'm sure there's a lot of tutorials for moon-shaped rivers/ponds on youtube! Your island map still looks beautiful though, so don't worry!

I actually had not terraformed much at all... Since unlocking terraforming all I'd done was tiny fixes like making a cliff smaller to fit a house or adding a little pond/waterfall. Before I started on the lake I did some cliff work on the edges so thought I was getting the hang of it but it's a lot harder to actually get into it then I thought! I'm gonna wait till I have time and use the tips in this thread and hopefully I can get where I want it!
That's actually a good idea to search moon rivers on Youtube as well! I feel like I gotta have one given my island's name/theme XD