Thank Grog It’s Firday!!
Let’s be honest about it. We have become a very, very, entitled little bunch when it comes to Christmas updates. As I wrote about last week, there are FAR more important things in the world to worry about than if we get what we want, when we want, and how we want…in a mobile game.
It’s kind of like what happens to a spoiled kid at Christmas that gets everything on his list…and then gets tired of playing with a lot of his toys, because he has so damn many of them! Parents end up trying to figure out where to put everything…and kids just move on to the NEXT thing they want.
But, I get it. I saw loads of comments about the dearth of land in the game, combined with the wealth of stuff we are getting in the update. One of you or more actually pushed back when I said, “quit yer whining…I have LOADS of land left to buy” by telling me to do a Friday Filler on Land Management in our games.
Well…me and Santa have a lot in common (besides our love of cinnamon rolls and wassail), so I am going give you your wish, and do just that.
How I have it all…and still have land left to buy…with GAME CASH!!
OK. Let’s start with a few basics about my design, and how I go about using land, decorations, and organizing my expansive layout, with land to spare.
First…I DON’T buy everything. The age of the “Completist” is over. It’s just silly. How much stuff do you really need? Even if you are a farmer, and can afford it all. At some point…there really is a “Too Much.” For me, that comes down to, “Do I like it? Can I use it in an area that I already have designed? Do I even remember the episode it came from?” And most important, “is EA just messing with me, and creating some huge, ugly thing, that really belongs in storage?”
Ooops…but before we get too far…let’s understand one thing…“Storage is unlimited.” You don’t lose anything that is placed in storage, you aren’t penalized for your “Item Limits” in storage, and it doesn’t effect the overall speed of the game, or put undue stress on the servers. The GAME part of the servers is partitioned in a different segment than the personal storage/game ID segments. So, STORE what you really don’t need or want, sometimes as soon as you win them.
A perfect example is the very out of scale, kinda ugly, and “do we really need FOUR of these?” Fair Booths. I placed them…just to move through the update task list, and then BOOM! Gone. Forever in storage.
Anchor Management? Nope. Sorry. I didn’t care for the episode…don’t like the building or the character, even though I CAN afford him. I’ll wait until it comes back, or just ignore it forever. Boom!
But, that is little stuff when it comes to managing land. And let’s face it, EA has been pretty weird this year regarding land in general. Starting at the beginning of the year, they started giving us “Free Land Tokens” that could ONLY be used for land that could be unlocked with those tokens. They altered that soon after, to allow you to spend your tokens on land that could otherwise be purchased with cash…if you still had some that was un-designated as such.
And boy…do I have a TON OF LAND left to purchase.
Th video below will give you an idea…
I have a HUGE chunk to the far right of my screen…
And, as you saw…I have an equally large chunk at the top of my screen…
That folds right into the land that sits adjacent to the giant chunks they gave us for Krustyland, Itchy & Scratchy Land, The Zoo, and the Halloween Event I have loads of water keeping them separate, but also giant parcels of land that have yet to be purchased.
The bottom line…is that anyone who sees my town, realizes that I design in neigborhoods, and themes, that are often separated by either water, or my monorail, or are simply allowed to be hanging off the primary land, like some huge peninsula. Ugly? Nope…for me it makes sense.
I have my “Heaven of many faiths” section off in the top right, next to my “Outlands” section…which makes sense, because it is a dystopian, “after the apocalypse” area. It transitions from Cows being held in “purgatory” right into the gates of my Holy Land. Makes me laugh. And a great use of Free Land.
Because I manage land well…and use every strip to it’s most efficient, while still being aesthetically pleasing, I am still able to maintain a ton of “Legacy” designs that I did in the beginning…including my “Buddhist Prayer Forrest and Gardens.”
But…THIS CHRISTMAS forced me to actually buy some more land…in order to make room for some of the “Frozen North” items that are entering the game (Snow Bank, and other snowy offerings). And I wanted Barney’s Fishing Cabin near my Frozen North/Christmas area (serviced by my Christmas monorail station)…so I had to BUY Land…and do a large removal/placement of my “Homage to Red Rocks”….moving it closer to my desert area, where a lot of my mountains, desert, and park installation hang out.
My Homage to Red Rocks used to be up North of Springfield Heights…but is now moved to make room for other “Permanently Frozen” stuff…and makes more sense near my desert areas.
I placed my Skating Rink and Krusty’s Kristmas on Ice in the “slummier side” on the outskirts of my huge Casino/Golf Resort area. I have lots of land to use as this area develops later.
And a couple of the Chestnut booths, and the Holiday Stage are in the homage to “Woodstock II” which is placed on a strip off of the airport (like the real one) and holds a variety of stages and X-games displays and booths. It’s a wild, mix-mash of booths, crowds, and music…just like Woodstock II.
And yes…to make my final point… Here is the math…
And yes…I counted…
I still have 54 Land tiles that I can purchase with Game Cash (or Land Tokens)
And…more than 160 tiles left to do with Free Land Tokens Only.
So…HOW CAN YOU BE OUT OF LAND???
And Yes… I KEM Farm. But, I do so the “Saffi way” which is “Casual Farming.” I farm 38 KEMS, in a very ordered KEM Growing Trench system…much the way they grow rice in California.
This generates between 50-65 donuts a day…every day. How many do you need?
So…yes. When I hear, “I’m out of land,” I have to call you out and say that you need a “Land Manager.” Just because you CAN have something…doesn’t mean you SHOULD have something. Just like life.
I have no complaints at this point. After almost 6 years of playing the game…I have what I want…with plenty of space to design. EA has gradually EAsed up on Item Limits, so I don’t even have that to complain about.
I guess I am more of a “Enjoy what you have…and conserve space, so you can actually SEE what you have designed once in a while. Huge Farms are ugly. Period. And now that EA has been forcing us into specific areas for some of the larger updates (the amusement park area is getting HUGER than HUGE), it is more important than ever to decide how you are going to make sense of your designs.
Water…monorails…and segmented planning of themed neighborhoods works for me. And if I need to bump one out every once in a while…I can do that easily.
In my case, I feel that I have the best of all worlds. I have large “Legacy areas” that have remained unchanged for years and years…because I like them. I have loads of room to try new stuff…and add to the overall design, without cluttering up, or confusing my “Legacy Springfield.”
Or…you can just do what Ebron and others have done. Nuke it all and start over.
There is no wrong or right way to play the game. But, property management and a bit of city planning can go a long way toward enjoying the game more. Sometimes less is more…
Where are you still finding land available for game cash?? This stupid token system has ruined the game & ability to place things the way you like. I have not seen a parcel available for game cash for many months.
I just didn’t use them all up…
I have land tiles that I can still buy, but have no money for it. How do you get so much money? I can place max. 32 kem per 4 hours.
I used house farms for years. I have 152 blue houses, and something like 30 each of the pink, orange, and purple houses. Blue houses were much cheaper back in the day, so it was a lot easier to get them than it is now. They’re all in storage now because I have enough premium items and characters to keep generating income, I’ve bought all the land, bought all the 10 million dollar items, and completed all the cash-consuming things (road to riches, mr burns giant gold pile thing). I had well over 300 million cash before Black Friday, spent 80+ million generating doughnuts, and I’m back up to 270 million. I’m not trying to boast, just saying that when you’re at the end-game money is essentially useless.
I cramp all my items together…starting spread out a bit….i put themes together.
I purposefully started out this way back when cash was slim and i couldn’t afford new land.
5 years later and a billion dollars in the bank…cost doesn’t matter much.
I have one road. And it is difficult to see the animations. Most time i click the task and they go on their way, never to be seen again.
Been thinking of opening things up a bit more. As I also have a lot of land.
In events where we need to tap neighbors. It has helped to keep character together. Not sure if it matters anymore.
I’m no where near close enough to be hitting land limits. But this article helped me to figure out design.
Going to go through after the Christmas event is over, and redesign my neighborhood keeping your suggestions in mind.
They are just suggestions… there are no wrong ways to design. Just some that are right(er).
Ooohh yeeeeehhhhhh !!! Patric oh Patric how I love your post. You hit the clown (nail) on the head. I too have been playing for almost the inception of the game. I still land and water I can buy. Not to mention about 9 or 10 land tokens. And I also have kept some of my old designs. Out of nostalgia I guess. There’s nothing worse then going into a town when doing tappabels and not being able to find them because stuff is all smoosed together. You don’t have to keep everything we get from a quest. Keep the things you really like and store the rest. My KL will never be the same but oh well I DIGRESS. Lol love and well wishes to all trappers around our beautiful earth.😎
Since almost the inception .
Stupid auto correct!!!!!!😬
In the end, item limits and lack of land depend on the design. I want more land but am under the item limit. Funny huh? Anyway, I don’t mean to complain but the new system doesn’t really help me. Creating designs for Springfield is most of the fun for me, especially when the missions and dialogue run out.
If you have a cool Springfield, I love having creative neighbors! Cerinthelives
Hey Cerinthe,
you really have a beautiful Springfield! Keep up the creative work!
Thank you! You and my other neighbors always inspire me 😉
I’m glad to hear you still have a ton of land available for purchase! So do I, and I’ve gotten sick of people declaring authoritatively that anyone not using every bit of available land must have crappy, crowded towns. I’m no Ebron, but I think I have a pretty good layout (except for a few spots I haven’t figured out yet).
Here here!
How does it come you only have 4 1/2 star Patric?
Because my friends and I like to tag one another. We consider “Righteousness” as a silly, unnecessary label. Plus…if you have played the game long enough, you realize that the stars change with about every update. There is no real significance once you hit a certain level of XP/Bonus and are farming. When I see my rating fall below 5…it makes me know that I am “loved” by my friends…who regularly “Leave their mark” when they visit.
Even though I don’t tag I hope you realize I “love” you too!!!
I just show my love a different way.
If only others showed the same dedication as you, Jack! Tag or no tag, you are one of the good ones!
I didn’t want to offend you Patric, i was just curious. I often get tagged too, and i like it. But it has been a very long time since i lost some rating
You didn’t offend me. No worries 🤘😆👍
Im surprised by the fact that the number of items that improve righteousness are so few.
I used a whole plot of land to put up those brick training walls and never had a problem with righteousness dropping from neighbor visits after that.
Yes…I have a ton of theme as well. But, then I figured out that my neighbors REALLY like to tag…and it just doesn’t make that much difference in the end. The change in percentage is infinitesimal;, and a fair price to pay for neighbors with a sense of humor!
Great looking town! I’ve been playing for years and consider myself a Land Miser. I’m not a plopper, but I don’t have elaborate designs for every single building I get. I reserve my larger designs for stuff I absolutely love like my music area with the stages, zoo, and airport. Those are probably my largest land consumption areas that don’t earn a lot of cash.
I also don’t like to store things. I have at least one of most things out in my town from events, and yet I still have tons of land and water available. However, I don’t use a lot of water within my town, so that probably saves some room.
After reading this post, I bought 38 KEMs last night and leveled up this morning and got a donut. I might have to finally quit being lazy put that unused land to use.
Nice! But, 38 isn’t a magic number…it’s just MY magic number. It comes from how much I earn in a 4 hour cycle…to offset the expense of the KEMs every four hours.
I still have open stretches of water (I keep my empty space as water tiles) and have 28 land tokens unused, so no lack of space here. I prefer Rat Trap Truck farming as there is no grind or space requirements, and I used the zoo/Halloween free space to store the multiplier boosters like the Springfield Heights buildings. I don’t buy everything, but I buy a lot. And it’s all about the monorails, after all
AGREED! Monorail, Monorail, Monorail! I have two huge loops that go through almost every quadrant of my layout.
Popular mechanics website has a pretty cool article about the Simpsons 30 seasons with 30 of the best clips from the past 30 seasons
Well.. I still NEED MORE LAND than you do! 😬😂
I play to display. I’m not into storing anything I have won or paid for.
😾
Yes. Like I said… being a completionist is over…or not!
I do not agree with you completly, Pat. We have lot of game space, but not enough. I love the Simpsons and game design and I just do not have enough land space to create Springfield as I remember it. Take a look at my Springfield.
“Anchor Management? Nope. Sorry. I didn’t care for the episode…don’t like the building or the character, even though I CAN afford him. I’ll wait until it comes back, or just ignore it forever. Boom!”
That’s interesting Patric. Most seem to find that a classic episode.
Classic is in the eye of the watcher? 600 episodes. They can’t ALL be classics. Right? I think people see an episode listed…go back to check it out…and then go, “OH!! I really liked that episode!” A classic is one that you literally can recall off the top of your head. This isn’t one for me.
I love this episode. It never hit me as hard until i had kids…epsecially my “special little guy”. Now i cry at the end every time! And Brodka just adds to the fun. =)
Sweet…there are more than a few episode that make me cry. Yes…even me…old football/rugby/tough guy.
I think what a lot of the “complainers” do is make unnecessary slots & streets for 2/3 buildings. for example they will use a whole land tile just to place one building in it surrounded by pavement & roads to avoid it blocking any other buildings being on show when in all fairness there are more ways to show off everything you have while being efficient.
– another thing people do (which some of my friends have attempted to do…it’s never worked out well) is try to recreate Springfield as they see it on TV. we never see Springfield as a whole city on the TV, we only see certain streets/areas at a time & they always change it up as episodes continue to pour out. e.g the “brown” house wasn’t always brown, it was blue. the Lard Lad Donuts always changes locations & has different houses surrounding it but to my knowledge it’s always been next to the Kwik-E-Mart.
people sometimes fail to realise that it’s about recreating Springfield to how you’d like it to look in your imagination & seeing how creative you can be. it’s 1 of the many things i love about the game is all these characters from hundreds upon hundreds of episodes can live together in my own little Springfield but may never be in an episode of The Simpsons together…ever. if all people ever do is complain eventually EA could pull the servers & it ruins it for those who love TSTO. just be grateful for what you have within the game & take your time with designing your worlds, it’s not an event where you have a certain amount of days…you have forever in hypothetical terms so let your creative juices flow & have FUN.
Totally agree!!
Here’s the thing, people… Walk down the street in any small town, or city. Buildings are crammed together…with an occasional alley between. But it isn’t the norm. If you look at the opening sequence of the Simpsons…you see LOADS of shops crammed together, side by side. I give my neighborhoods (where I have houses) a bit of yard, some trees…flowers… but, they don’t get their own full square.
I don’t know where you folks live, but for most of the USA…a 100×300 foot lot is pretty much standard. People seem to think that everyone deserves a half acre of land. Not. The. Case.
Finally……. as I said in the post, there is no wrong or right way to design… but, if I can have an aesthetically pleasing town…with loads of trees, flowers, and decoration, and still have more than 150 spaces available…there should be no reason to be “out of land” unless you are over-indulging your townspeople. These folks live in a small town. Not Connecticut or upstate New York.
I just upped my KEM farm to 37 after reading this post, I acquired a bunch of new characters recently and was making more in game cash than I was spending, thanks for the inspiration!
https://m.imgur.com/gallery/TgwTTlQ
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hassenpheffr/46321158641
Good job!
The “Saffi Way to Casual Farming” has us first figure out how much we earn in a 4-hour cycle from characters and buildings…then spend just below that figure on KEMs. It has worked for me since I started. I have slowly but surely added to my Bonus %… and am now around 570%. This yields me between 50-70 donuts every day. Which is MORE than enough to have enough for what I want. No…I can’t afford everything. But, I don’t want everything.
Yeah im only at 394%, but that’s still AT LEAST 6 donuts per 4 hours, every day, all the time (which is why that so-called donut factory dealie was so ludicrous). I was at 29 KEMs for a long time, and kept a bank of 3 million in game cash. And at the end of the 10 day XP collider cycles I would go on a RTDT/BMB buying frenzy with the surplus cash until I got it back down to 3 mil. OCDonuts!
You are on track for Donut Farmers pin!
I purchased all the land available while holding back free land tiles and using them as needed. My whole goal was to push my desert / old west / south of the boarder area as far south as possible to allow for open area between it and parts of my original Springfield. YET, with the new update, I find it’s harder to craft a new “themed” area because of all the extra items they are tossing out. I need to push further to the east. If you want to check my area out, friend me under: Johnrsheld170.
Be aware that I had to place any comprehensive designing on hold due to my slow POS Samsung S4 Galaxy phone.
Have you nuked your town since you started?
I quit being a “completist” back in 2016 (I gave up because of Springfield Heights – admit it! EA needs to open up more Land up there!) 🤔
This year? I began carefully removing what I didn’t need in my Springfield (wow! I’m getting Free Land back! I can work with “themed areas” again!) 😀
Yes, I’m stuck being a “plopper” during an Event (aren’t most of us? (lol), but I definitely Store what I don’t need (I rarely spend Simpson’s $ on anything, unless it’s worth it) and yep, take time to “do it right” post Event (it helps when EA gives us a break in-between) 😂
Now, I still wish EA would let Tappers get rid of our “excess in Storage” (it would be less stuff to scroll thru!) – I know I’m not alone in asking for this! 👍
Stay Festive! 🦌🎅🎄⛄
YESSSS! Get rid of “excess in storage”!!!! Here here!
Yes! I think we should be allowed to dispose of our extra stored items at the dump…for a fee? For free? For XP?
Ohhhhh, great post. I *LOVE* your homage to Red Rocks (I’m from Denver–I have a DIA airport in my town!) and I’m going to steal it. But also, I’m going to look at all my things and see what doesn’t bring me joy and store it. FREEDOM! Can I just say again? GREAT post. Thanks, Patric.
Agreeeeed! Happy to help!
A lot of my land is under water…I just dredge when I need to add something new😁. Case in point – the Sea Captains new “Retirement Annex”.
https://imgur.com/a/uw04vOu
absolutely amazing what you’ve done with your town! you’ve completely redesigned it. I was looking for the boat in your town – couldn’t find it. it’s really impressive – thanks for sharing the pics
It’s in the pond between the retirement home and the ymca…just scroll left from the county fair area. Thanks Lola, for the nice post.😁
EBRON – OMG. That’s fantastic 😍
Thanks Ella…sorry for so few visits lately, I keep getting dumped when I try to visit neighbors.🎄😊🎄
EBRON – No worries. My game keeps crashing too. So I can’t visit neighbours too often either. I really don’t mind if neighbours can’t visit. EA doesn’t exactly encourage it. Some of mine have been dormant for almost a year & I’m cool with that. Spend your time designing☺️🌻X
My ocd requires that my land be even. I make enough in game cash every day to earn about 15-21 donuts with my multiplier on. I have, I believe, 1.2 billion dollars. So I could farm the heck out of trucks if I wanted to. I’m too lazy. I realized that I no longer have to have buildings to earn $ because I have enough. So I’ve put away all the ugly things and duplicates (house farms) and things that don’t earn bonus percentage, cash, or that don’t just make me happy to see them. That alone probably cleared 30 squares of land. I also store all the new crap from events unless I love it. I hate that I can’t buy all the land and make it even but I don’t want to buy any more until I can make it even so I’ll keep putting things away until I have enough to buy the whole strip. I’m glad I figured out that I could store my earning buildings (took so long for them to get me where I am today!) because I have so much (useless) in game cash. So in a way, I still can buy land for cash (opportunity cost-put s bunch of stuff in storage and earn less in game cash-but get more space). I don’t need the in game cash. I do need the space. It’s a trade off. Thank you for helping me figure this out.
Can you do a “should I buy the boat house” now so we can use it to generate snowballs now and not just on the last few days. Thanks!
Uhm…ya kinda hit it. If you want to get the extra currency, buy it. It really doesn’t make a huge dent overall… it earns 11 snowballs every four hours. Nothing after this act…but it is also cute.
I absolute love the Sea Captains dialogue with the boat house. Too funny!
Release the Kraken! 😆🦑😆
I bought it.
looks cool.
The ice is cheap and is huge. Love it, too.
Thanks for this post, Patric. I agree with you. This Halloween marked the moment I transitioned from completist to “oh God where will I put all this stuff” 😂
Hi Patric. I’m with you on the land management issue. Like you I’ve beening playing the game as long as you have. I’m also a tap farmer and KEM farmer. So far, I still have original land tiles with the debris. I keep what I like and what I find useful out and store the rest.
Roads also takes up a huge amount of real estate. I limit my roads to where I want the action to be. Makes it easier to manage characters and NPCs when they’re in easy to spot and tap areas. And no, I don’t have everyone together in one giant mass of characters. I have a road from the water to the far end of the last event’s free land. It’s a consideration for my neighbours when they visit me so they can easily tap the event NPCs.
That said, Springfield Heights needs more land. The one area that has not had an expansion in ages.
Agreed👍
Proof that we all have different ways to play. I respect your method but I’ll just keep demanding more land
Plus for me, it’s like a timeline. Like a real city as it grows neighborhoods become defined by groups of land developed in proximity at the same time.
Yes you do have a lot of land left, it’s definitely got to do with your design, which in My opinion is cluttered, out of sorts, you have a lot of wasted land by the looks of it too, I know everybody has different ideas about town design, some like it spacious, some like to cram whatever they can into a small space, but in the end the more land we have the better our designs can be.
P.s…. you have some good ideas I’m going to try!
Cheers
Most real cities are cluttered. Land is expensive. So…
The central part of a city may be cluttered, but the suburbs are not. Neither are parks. And is our game a single city? There is Spring field heights, Shelbeville, the North Pole. two mountain ranges. Then there are odd graphics: cars as big as buildings. One might want to keep proportional items together. And there are the Italian, Egyptian, Irish, British, French, etc items. You can either consider part of a great big park or like Las Vegas, or as separate cities. There are graveyards and prehistoric areas. And what is Dam without a lake?
I learned the hard way to use the land tokens as soon as I get them. During one of the game glitches a year or so ago, I lost a bunch of earned free land tokens that I was saving, they just vanished, poof! So lesson learned, I use the tokens right away now, so as to not lose them again in some future game glitch.
Yeah, me too. Only lost two, I think (maybe five), but still annoying.
Me three. 10 or 12 land tokens just disappeared, I was so bummed out. Now I use them pretty quickly just in case. I did luck out with Krustyland, I had bought up all the available acreage not long before it went away. That paid off!
I always use them immediately…I don’t usually put anything on them, but I use the token. For the most part, they just become part of a larger lake…this game is too glitchy to trust EA’s stewardship.
I have 100 free land tokens. I save them like Patrick and only use them when I need to. Perhaps I should rethink that now.