You have to complete Project K in order to unlock terraforming in ACNH

Bring on the music.

As you get further along in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you'll eventually be asked to work on Project K. Basically, you'll be asked to pretty up the island in order to accomodate a K.K. Slider concert. There are several steps needed in order to get this far in the game and even more steps to completing Project K. Here's a guide for completing Project K and bringing K.K. Slider to your island.

How to complete Project K, bring K.K. Slider to your island, and unlock terraforming

1. Upgrade Resident Services to a building
2. Talk with Tom Nook
3. Build the campsite
4. Invite new villagers to live on your island
5. Build new houses
6. Make improvements to your island
7. Get feedback from K.S.
8. Wait for K.K. Slider to appear
9. Purchase terraforming permits at the Resident Services kiosk

1. Upgrade Resident Services to a building

In order to get this far in the game, you must have upgraded Resident Services from a tent to a building. If you haven't done that yet, here's a guide.

2. Talk with Tom Nook

You'll find Tom in the newly erected Resident Services building. When you talk to him he'll give you a rundown of everything that you can do in the new building and then he'll mention that he wants to work towards Project K. Basically, the goal of this project is to get K.K. Slider to put on a concert at your island. To do that, you're going to have to make your island a more interesting place.

3. Build the campsite

Tom Nook will tell you that he's interested in bringing more people to the island. He'll ask you to pick the perfect location for a campsite. Run around your island and select a place for the campsite to be built. It will show up the following day. The campsite won't be usable the first day it's open, so you'll have to wait for the following day for someone to show up.

4. Invite new villagers to live on your island

You need more people to live on your island if you're going to coax K.K. to perform a concert there. There are two different ways to attract new residents:

A. The Campsite

The first camper that shows up at your campsite is chosen at random, but eventually you'll be able to invite specific villagers to your island using amiibo cards. However, this can only be done once you unlock the ability to use amiibo. While a camper is visiting, you can ask them to become a permanent resident of your island. Some of them play hard to get, so you might have to invite them multiple times before they agree to move in.

B. Island trips with Nook Miles Tickets

You can also invite villagers to your island using Nook Miles Tickets. Purchase a ticket from the NookStop at Resident Services and then take a plane to another island. While on your trip, you might just come across a villager you've never seen before. Talk to them and invite them to live on your island.

5. Build new houses

In order to accommodate all of these villagers that you've been inviting, you're going to need to build some more houses. Talk to Tom Nook at Resident Services. He's eager to sell more land for housing. You'll have to pay him 10,000 Bells for each house kit you take from him. For your efforts, you'll be compensated Nook Miles once someone moves in. You can have a total of 10 villagers on your island so continue to save up and place new housing plots until you reach the limit.

6. Make improvements to your island

The hardest and most time-consuming part about Projet K is raising the star level of your Island Evaluation. Check in with Isabelle at Resident Services to see what your island's current star rating is. She'll let you know what area you currently need to work on to improve your score.

The long and short of it is that you're going to need to build more homes, invite more villagers to move in, and increase the overall look of your island by placing decor and items everywhere in order to get a better rating. This will likely take hundreds of thousands of Bells and several days to complete.

7. Get feedback from K.S.

Continue to check in with Isabelle at Resident Services every day in order to see what needs to be done around your island. Each time, she'll read some feedback that visitors have written about your island. One day, she'll read a note signed by "K.S." Nook and Isabelle will quickly note that this feedback must have been written by none other than K.K. Slider himself.

Nook will then call K.K. from his phone. After a brief conversation, Nook will tell you that the famous musician will appear on your island as soon as tomorrow.

8. Wait for K.K. Slider to appear

You're going to have to wait for K.K. Slider to appear on your island. He'll likely appear the following day after Nook calls him. When that happens, you and your villagers will all gather around and listen to this pup's awesome tunes while the closing credits scroll by. He'll even give you a new track called Welcome to Horizons.

K.K. Slider then becomes a staple island visitor who appears every Saturday in front of Resident Services. For most of the day up until 5 p.m., he'll play whatever songs he feels like. However, once 6 p.m. rolls around, you can request him to play a specific song. An awesome perk here is that he'll even give you a copy of the song you've requested, which you can then take home and put in your stereo.

Purchase terraforming permits at the Resident Services kiosk

After the concert has ended, Tom Nook will talk with you and give you the Island Designer app, which unlocks terraforming capabilities. At first you'll only be able to make pathways. To unlock specific terraforming permits you'll need to spend Nook Miles at the Resident Services kiosk. But once you've acquired them, you can get to work moving rivers, adjusting cliffs, setting down pathways, and redesigning your island to truly make it the perfect getaway. Here are all of the permits you can purchase:

Live in Concert

Now you know how to get K.K. Slider to show up regularly on your island. This is a great way to collect all of his tracks and just bring more enjoyment to your game on Saturdays. Good luck with Project K! I hope you can quickly raise the star level of your island and get an amazing island evaluation from your favorite guitar-wielding doggo.