Town Planning woes?

[Mayor Em]

So, I'm a serial resetter, and I find that a lot of the reason I've been resetting my town lately is because there's this weird point where my town feels cluttered and SUPER ugly. Let me explain:

I recently reset to find a town map I'm content with. That, in and of itself is super hard for me. I think I have some "grass is always greener" syndrome, and every map I looked at was "okay" but I wanted to see if there was something that better suited me. So I reset for a whole 24 hours. Anyway, now I have a town I can be ok with and didn't feel like I need to reset after I plotted my home.

I've been tting to collect some items I wanted but wouldn't be able to otherwise, and NOW I HAVE ALL THESE WONDERFUL (plain) FLOWERS, and a cool new neighbor to chat with (Cheif).

Anyway, I organized the flowers, pulled up the weeds, and I'm in the process of breeding some hybrids - and the feeling hits me. My town looks like it exploded right now. Nothing is in order (except the flowers I'm storing on my beaches) and that feeling to start over has popped into my head. (The ugly brown trees and grass isn't helping matters.) Now, I don't want to. I want to try and make something wonderful this time instead of just giving up. But the idea to start from a clean slate is tempting.

My question to all of you is: Does town planning get harder before it gets easier? Please share your stories of accomplishment and anything that helped you along the way!

 

[Vanila]

I never reseted, or TT, but I do plot reset, and to be honest, thats the worst when you want a simetrical town It can be just one space to the right, when it has to be to the left, and here you go, baii-baii perfect town ;_;. What actually helps me is visiting dream addresses, and try to find a town with a shape simillar to mine and take ideas

 

[wintersoldier]

i think it does get harder before it's easier. i was feeling the same way you were when i decided to restart on landscaping in early november bc the transition into fall was difficult for me to imagine what my town would look like when completed. your town will always looked unkempt at first, especially when you're just starting on working on it. but once you plant things (bushes, trees) you really get a feel for it. i've been there (i've restarted my town i think at least four or five times) where it's a feeling of dread regarding your town, but you really need to just spend your time landscaping and getting a feel of what you want.

it always helps to look at other people's towns for inspiration, but always remember to do what you want with your town. i would always compare myself to other towns and wonder why i wasn't creative enough, but i decided to just do what i want and now i feel confident.

i think once december 10th hits and the ground has snow and stuff, you'll feel better. it seems more of a neutral ground compared to the brown trees atm, but of course it always looks best in spring/summer! so don't give up. unless you really, really want to restart (if you know that'll make you happy) i would suggest to keep at it! you'll be proud of what you accomplish in the end.

 

[WonderK]

It took me about 10ish hours of resetting to find the perfect town map layout. It just takes a lot of time. You need a good town map that suits your needs and wants.

 

[lazuli]

whe you first start, your town is going to look like trash BUT ITS OK. itll look much better once you have more and more dreamies, put dow more PWPS, and have landscaped better. my town is a barren wasteland but im working on it and the plaza area actually looks GREAT.

 

[Mayor Em]

Thanks you guys. I'm going to stick with my town. Like I said in the opening post - I'm tired of resetting. It's not fun, and I don't get to enjoy my game. I'm trying to start with small areas at a time to landscape. My town doesn't yet have a T.I.Y., so trying to plan where bushes might go means just putting down an ugly place-keeping pattern for now. It's nice to hear that it'll look ugly before it looks good, and that others have gone through what I am.

 

[wintersoldier]

that's ok! you could always figure out what bushes you want in the future to match your town before you get t.i.y. or buy bushes from other people on this site. if you need bushes, i do have some remaining hydrangea ones from when i was landscaping before so if you'd like those i can give you some for free. but don't stress yourself about landscaping and just try to have fun with what you can do now. it's always hard in the beginning, but it'll be rewarding in the end.

 

[toadsworthy]

Your first post sounds EXACTLY like what I did with my first NL town... by the end I TT and the bamboo went EVERYWHERE and I had all my then dreamies and I just didn't know what to do next! Now I have a new town with some dreamies and going through villagers I always wanted and some surprises to find new villagers I absolutely love! (Flurry) I'm trying to plan farther ahead with what I ultimately want around my village, but not rushing anything and focusing on enjoying the game and the relaxing atmosphere of it... hopefully that helps a little bit and lets you know that someone else out there is a major serial resetter too...

 

[Mayor Em]

Thank you so much @wintersoldier and @toadsworthy. You guys are giant helps, you have no idea.

I'm gonna take it day by day I think and slowly plan out my town. The area by my mayor's house is going to be first. Since I'm constantly talking to my neighbors, I'm hoping one of them suggests a modern bridge sometime soon. C:

Also, I think I'm going to get the Dream Suite. I found a tag on tumblr #acnl map buddy, that might help me see how others have mapped out their town. None of the maps posted are exactly like mine, but I did find two that have rivers that are mirrored images of the one in my town. Hopefully that can give me some insight and ideas.

 

[Marmoset]

I agree. It does get harder before it gets better.

I always hit a really awkward point like you describe. For me, I seriously have NO idea about paths. Right now, I'm planning to put all the main places near one another (my town square/town hall/retail/camp site are incredibly close together, and I hope to put the coffee shop and the police station close as well to create a city effect). So I'm hoping this time around path planning is easier.

I agree with the people above. I've been using the forum to get a lot of the items I need in bulk (like bamboo shoots and furniture) this way it saves me the trouble for a few things and I can work on PWPs and other items.

 

[MadamSpringy]

I definitely agree, it's hard before it gets easy. I only reset once, like 5 days after the game first came out and a stupid villager plopped his house right in front of mine. I quickly learned the value of simple PWPs to ward of villagers, and thats where my town landscaping began. Then like you, I used the ugly free patterns to mark off areas for other PWPs and bushes, since my town wasn't that developed. And many times I looked at other people's towns, criticized myself for not being creative or having an ugly town layout, felt the urge to reset, but I stuck it out and now I'm very happy with my town and it's villagers. Definitely takes some work, but that makes the game fun for me. If you're constantly resetting, hoping for that 'dream' town layout, you'll never actually get to experience the game! c:

I'm glad you decided to stick with your town. Just think, after putting in so much work and effort, that feeling of accomplishment will be wonderful and so worth it.

 

[Elise]

Yes definitely. My town looked awful during a lot of the early stages of designing it but I just kept going and found that most of it ended up looking great. I only had to rethink and redo small sections. Keep in mind too that I didn't even reset for a map at all and I only started plot resetting for new villagers after I had finished planning my town. I started landscaping and making paths quite late too. At this point I had a good number of dreamies and the cafe and station already placed but I worked with what I had and made something that I am really proud of.

If I could do it with so little planning ahead, I'm positive that you can having reset for this map and started planning early.

 

[puppycat]

I have the EXACT problem that you do! I've restarted my game about 20+ times. It's horrible. I'm so OCD about where everything is. I've finally found a map that is to my liking, though. Also neighbors that I'm content with (for now). Anyway, the point is, you've just got to keep going. Because your town isn't going to be perfect to moment you start playing/reset. See how well your town turns out to be once you actually get it going. You'll be amazed. c:

 

[peachesandicecream]

Do you need any help with your town I can come over and help

 

[Royce]

I would have just fixed my town up step by step so first I would have terminated every single tree and flower then added paths and decorated it slowly or speedily

 

[fashions]

This is why I don't town plan. I know that if I did I'd get way too obsessed, so I basically let everything just flow.

I'm happy with where my villagers are (though Boone did move in front of a bridge I wanted to rebuild...), and I only plot reset to get my villagers away from the orchard I grew near Ankha's house and the hybrids I have floating around.

Apart from that? I don't really care anymore. I tried in the beginning, but lets face it, it's better just to let things take their natural course.

I would have just fixed my town up step by step so first I would have terminated every single tree and flower then added paths and decorated it slowly or speedily

^ Also I did chop down a lot of trees and replanted them, and as a result I spent a few days wondering why my town's rating was so low. :'D

 

[marcko0412]

Well personally, I let my town naturally develop... It was my first animal crossing game so I didn't know about plot reset, and map resets, etc.. But I'm really happy about my town now, and in a recent town review, they said they really liked the town in my dream address... Basically what I did was work around what was there... If someone new moved in, I look for ways to decorate their area that would work with my town, and in the end it actually worked out.. I guess it was easy for me because it developed naturally and I didn't overthink it... so maybe don't overthink it? just be creative and make the most of what you have

 

[Eline]

I used to have a very strict fairy-tale themed plan for my town. But I realized it'd be plain if I'd only put the fairy-tale themed stuff in there. So now it's kind of getting a forest/fairy-tale theme thing. Ha. I think it got easier.

 

[Hypno KK]

Your town will always look like a mess while you're still organising things and breeding hybrids. It's normal, and if you reset, you'll only have the same problem in any other towns you start. Personally, I wouldn't reset over something like it.

 

[lizzy541]

i'm facing the same thing! this is my second acnl town because i reset (i stopped playing on my last one and the weeds and new villagers was too overwhelming) and i am finding myself unhappy with my town layout because there isn't a central spot to put (or try to) the villagers homes. i want to place all of the villagers in a central area but i'm having a lot of trouble with it! so yes i do agree that landscaping is difficult at first but it's possible since i loved my first town!