What are you doing with your upper levels?

cainhurst

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I feel like a lot was opened up to us in terms of design, given the fact that we now have multiple levels of height to work with. But in my case at least, I'm a bit at a loss as to what to actually DO with the higher levels. We're limited inthat we can't place bridges over anything but water (as far as I'm aware at least...?) but I also don't want to have tons of waterfalls everywhere.

What have you done or are you planning to do in terms of height in this game?
 
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I feel like a lot was opened up to us in terms of design, given the fact that we now have multiple levels of height to work with. But in my case at least, I'm a bit at a loss as to what to actually DO with the higher levels. We're limited and that we can't place bridges over anything but water (as far as I'm aware at least...?) but I also don't want to have tons of waterfalls everywhere.

What have you done or are you planning to do in terms of height in this game?
I'm putting my villager houses there
 
i havent done much with them yet, but i plan to make resort-type spots on top of the cliffs with inclines n such
 
O0xCZSU.jpg


Most of it still needs terraforming, but this is my idea. The museum area will have foreign fruit trees and whatever seems suitable. The right is the camping area that'll act as the beginning of the river which will become more elaborate. I still have to design the neighborhood to know exactly how that'll look like.
 
My highest level runs the back length of my island, and is the decorated storage for spawned/cloned hybrids. I don't really have any plans for it right now other than a catch all. Originally, it was my breeding ground, but walking people back there to water proved cumbersome, so I moved all my breeders and cloners to the very front for ease of access. Once I'm content with the number of hybrids I have (already have a ton), I'll start to manipulate the area for hanging out.
 
My hills are towards the back because of how you can't do birds eye in game so it feels pretty limiting in where you can place them to be able to view everything comfortably. I put my campsite on the top left hills, and a portion of my villager neighborhood (4 houses) is on the top right.

I was thinking of putting my musem on some hills too but I kind of want to save my ramps.... so I'm not sure. I might end up putting the museum near my shops to make it feel like it's basically a "main street". The more I think about it the more it's unlikely that a museum would be located in a remote clifftop off to the side of the town as opposed to just on the streets where everything else is, albeit with a grand entrance. But I kind of like when people make grand hilltop entrances for their museums cause it reminds me of museums IRL and the only place to get so much space for those is in the back on the hills. So idk. :(

O0xCZSU.jpg


Most of it still needs terraforming, but this is my idea. The museum area will have foreign fruit trees and whatever seems suitable. The right is the camping area that'll act as the beginning of the river which will become more elaborate. I still have to design the neighborhood to know exactly how that'll look like.

I like your layout so far it's so clean and has that nice symmetrical a-symmetry that looks so satisfying.
 
O0xCZSU.jpg


Most of it still needs terraforming, but this is my idea. The museum area will have foreign fruit trees and whatever seems suitable. The right is the camping area that'll act as the beginning of the river which will become more elaborate. I still have to design the neighborhood to know exactly how that'll look like.
teach me how to make my island this niceee
 
I typically did them on the back parts of my island since I find landscaping behind cliffs / higher levels sorta awkward. I'd love to integrate more in general, but the 8 incline limit is quite a daunting thing to work with
 
My second tier cliffs so far have a couple of villager homes; it's easy to plan and decorate around houses than it is to work with totally empty space, I feel. My top most cliffs however house gardens and bee hives, a hot spring, and I'll be making an outdoor cafe soon. Still a lot of work to be done but it's progress.

Don't stress too much about having the perfect island right away. Take the time to survey the land and look at other islands for ideas.
 
I put my orchard, flower field, and a heavily forested area in the higher parts of my island. Most of my island is on the lowest level.
 
I have an enchanted forest on one side where Dom and I live (lots of cedar trees, mush stuff and hyacinth lamps), and the other side is a more open mountain-y feel, where Marshal and Goldie's homes are. Marshal has a posh, fenced in mountain mansion with a pool and I am portraying Goldie as a painter living in the mountains, so her house is surrounded by trees, with a small clearing for her painting supplies and canvases.

I got rid of my neighbourhood zone and all my villager houses are scattered more naturally now so the island has a more rustic feel, which I really like!
 
I started by having all different fruit trees there to sell, but now I’m rich lol. So I’ll clear some away and keep some. I’ve slowly added more gardens and things. I also have like 10 lily of the valleys and my logo spelled out on art canvases set up at the highest point of my town right above the waterfall.
 
I feel like a lot was opened up to us in terms of design, given the fact that we now have multiple levels of height to work with. But in my case at least, I'm a bit at a loss as to what to actually DO with the higher levels. We're limited and that we can't place bridges over anything but water (as far as I'm aware at least...?) but I also don't want to have tons of waterfalls everywhere.

What have you done or are you planning to do in terms of height in this game?


I have set up a shopping distract (based on the Main Street from New Leaf.) Where I have the Museum to the right, Able Sisters, then Nook's Cranny, all in that order in a straight line. With money trees lining the boarder of the cliff with bushes in between them and a nice pathing with bushes also used as decoration lining the pathway to each of the businesses. I also have jukeboxes playing "Animal City" (the City Theme from City Folk)
 
I have set up a shopping distract (based on the Main Street from New Leaf.) Where I have the Museum to the right, Able Sisters, then Nook's Cranny, all in that order in a straight line. With money trees lining the boarder of the cliff with bushes in between them and a nice pathing with bushes also used as decoration lining the pathway to each of the businesses. I also have jukeboxes playing "Animal City" (the City Theme from City Folk)
ooh i actually like the idea of moving my shops n stuff up there, thank youuu
 
most of my upper levels are overtaken by flowers , especially the top right, the entire thing is just white hyacinths. Then I have my campsite, to the right of that a graveyard, and a small mothman-spotting area too.
I have so much empty space I don't know what to do with it😅

BE388C86-F060-4238-9689-A01F3A65F34A.jpeg
 
I put my Nook's Cranny on a third level cliff that was terraformed to be a part of the third tier river source that was naturally on the island. I put lots of trees, flowers, and some potted plants here, to give it the illusion of being a wild appearance. In my island's lore, it's been a mom-and-pop shop that's been in the Nook family for generations.

I have another third level cliff, where I have some bamboo planted as well as a small pond. This was actually one of the first places on my island I terraformed and it was at one time a Japanese inspired garden, but at this time it's just a placeholder. I'm waiting to see if more buildings will be added to the game before I focus on my final plans.
 
I've got my house in top right corner of my map on a hill and then opposite corner will be a space station/area 51 type thing on a hill. That's the plan anyway.
 
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