Another question: Has anyone ever created a single pipe room, 1 solar panel and then attached a base pump to it in order to explore a wreck? Is that something worthwhile or a HUGE waste of inventory space?
Yes, but I don't consider it worthwhile. That is, unless I'm missing out on other wrecks (haven't figured how to get in the right wing of the mountains wreck), the only wreck worth creating a midway point for is the one nearby Lifepod 17. Pipes are something I find more of use to get in the JSC early (which makes it a shame there's barely anything to do there) or have a better time collecting quartz in the BKT.
Another question: Has anyone ever created a single pipe room, 1 solar panel and then attached a base pump to it in order to explore a wreck? Is that something worthwhile or a HUGE waste of inventory space?
Pumping air from a base seems a complete waste of time:
If you're only 50-150m below the surface, then it's better to pump from the surface without using a base at all. Beyond that solar panels at that depth recharge incredibly slow, maybe too slow if devs decide to give air needs a recharge speed. And as soon as you have the Seamoth you will just skip that hassle. You probably can do all stuff with 1 air surface connector, 1-2 pipe sets and a Seaglide. Enough for all early wrecks to find and good for the early caves too.
If you want a deep mobile base with fabricator, food, battery recharge and air, then you best use a MP room, hatch, bioreactor, 1 plant pot, 1 melon seed and the fabricator. That's a total of 15 titanium, 1 lubricant, 1 glass, 1 seed, 1 wiring kit and 1chip. Sum: 20 inventory slots. Of course only until you have your Cylops as a mobile base. Which can happen quite fast if you know where to find the fragments.
I had a couple bases for a while but always found one base to be the MAIN base and never really visited the others. So I deconstructed them.
My last "attempt" at a second base was to build a single structure that connected the surface of the ocean to the Primary Containment facility. Alas, after almost making it to the lava zone, the game became unplayable due to the size of the base.
Just saying, though, base pumps do make for pretty nifty "torches" to spice up a garden or the base itself. The oxygen could be a little less dusty-looking, but it adds dimension still.
At the beginning of the game, I only build a base by the lifepod, since you can only get shelf coral in the safe shallows - and you must have it for practically everything early game. I usually don't expand much on bases until after the main building stages (Seamoth, Cyclops and Prawn). Then comes the frantic search for the Modification Station, which is critical for everything. Without that, exploring wrecks is harder, keeping fed is harder and you can't go below 300 meters with the Seamoth. The big problem at the beginning without the drill of course is copper. The Sparse Reef is a good place for that pre-drill though. Once you get the modification station, the number one thing is to get the hull upgrades for exploring. Of course getting the Modification Station is easier said then done - a lot of times you have to explore wrecks at 350 meters when you can only dive to 300. And for me, even after 10 playthroughs, and with a printed map, I have a lot of trouble just finding the wrecks.
After that is done, I like building bases just for the scenery. There is enough titanium, lithium and once you have the drill even quartz to make that easy, if you aren't building totally huge bases and if you're willing to do some running around. My main base is the only one I bother to build the modification station, or the vehicle modification station for the moonpool.
The Floating Island by the cave entrance to the warp gate is a place I like to build. You get great sunsets, and easy access to the Mountain Island, which has the gate to the Lava Castle (once you go there). Solar power works great on land, so that's all you need. Once the teleporter to the Lava Castle is open, I like building a base by the castle, using the portal to get the materials there and then simply swimming through the castle to the base to make upgrades. The scenery is surreal, and you get to watch the sea dragon swimming around safely.
I also like building in the Mushroom Forest with its amazing night glowing mushroom trees, and near the ghost tree in the Lost River above 900 meters (which allows Seamoth access). That is a great location for getting resources - and a decent stopping place for the Cyclops after getting battered by angry river prowlers, on the way down to the lava zones. If you have nuclear power plants, the Lost River is the place to go for uranite. It seems to be super rare now everywhere else - and with uranite starting with 'U', the alphabetically listed scanner room usually isn't any help. (I wish they would change that scanner list to a scrollable list - probably like everyone else).
I sometimes even build a base in the kelp forest. It's fun watching the stalkers swim by, and it is a pretty biome.
Are they necessary? Not really. Do they make the game more fun? For me, they do! It's fun building seabases and just observing the biomes. I just wish you could scan more things, and plant more of the plants. There are a lot of neat plants in the world that would be nice to put in, such as the big glowing trees on the Floating Island, or the transparent mushrooms in the Lost River.
And for me, even after 10 playthroughs, and with a printed map, I have a lot of trouble just finding the wrecks.
My experiences are sort of similar to yours, but especially this point. I even get a Diamond for a Laser Cutter before I seriously go after wrecks just to avoid return visits. It seems that in recent playthroughs I stumble upon more wrecks, but I still have to resort to a map to find enough of them.
I don't builds many bases, now just a minimal one under Lifepod 5, then a main one towards the Floating Isle on the high pillars in the Kelp Forrest just before the Grand Reef, close to other biomes. Haven't explored the LR but I'll likely build a base in the Tree Cove when I do. Barely have any time in the PRAWN suit. I've gotten enough mats just by searching and use of the Scanner Room, especially when catching later alphabet items on the list right after loading the game when it's still filling up.
narfblatUtah, USAJoin Date: 2016-05-15Member: 216799Members, Forum Moderators, Forum staff
edited July 2017
I used to build multiple bases, but now I just use my primary base in safe shallows(I blame Cyclops). I used to make a few secondary bases; my favorite was at the point where mushroom forest, koosh(bulb) zone, and mountains meet. This spot has a nice dropoff for the Moonpool, a geyser not far to the north, and a decent stretch where it was buildable( I haven't tried this base since bases stopped terraforming, but it should still work). Another place I built secondary bases was on the floating island, with parts built above and below the water. When bases terraformed, I built platforms into the underwater walls for support.
On my current playthrough I'm gathering materials and supplies to make a secondary base in the Lost River, both for recharging power cells and making the Prawn suit upgrades that require materials from down there. I'd hate to trek all the way out and back just for jump jets and thermal charging.
I would like to build multiple bases, but haven't really found a use for more than one near the thermal vent in the Safe Shallows since the Cyclops works just fine as a mobile base. However, the last time I played survival the power cell charger exploit was still functional, so if I were to do it again I would probably put a forward base in the Tree Cove to use as a recharging/jumping off point for the Lava Zones.
For an "ultimate" playthrough, I would like to build a satellite base near every thermal vent cluster, plus bases on each of the islands (including at the Aurora) and an outpost at the PCF. Maybe even have a few scanner room outposts scattered around as well to highlight resources.
I always like to build my first base in the Safe Shallows, and then build my main base in the Blood Kelp Trench, as it has easy LR access. I usually have two moonpools and my "laboratory" there. I build a mini outpost in the ILZ later to keep my cyclops alive (I'm too cheap to build more power cells). I was also going to build one in the underwater islands but my save became hopelessly corrupted.
There's no point really IMO, in building a secondary base (Outposts are still valid) before Lost River.
I find it problematic and cumbersome to navigate the Cyclops in and out of the lost river (Blood Kelp Trench and Grand Reef Caves are narrow), which is why I moved a lot of my main base from Safe Shallows (deconstructed and put in lockers in Cyclops) into the cave with the Cove Tree. This was the perfect place, as you have lots of elbow room for you cyclops, and this is the depth at which your Seamoth can't proceed. My beloved Seamoth has now been degraded to a measure for going back up to the surface, but I don't really need any ressources from that area anymore.
My first base is mostly abandoned now and don't sport much equipment, but does still have a moon pool for charging.
I made a plan for this building project, and I have CAD drawings and building list attached for anyone interested. Needless to say, I didn't follow the plan 100%, as placement of ladders and such, wasn't all possible as I predicted, but the result is very close and I love it. (And the view from Observatory is 'out of this world' HAH)
Unfortunately, I can't find the Spreadsheet with ressources for the building any longer, but I remember it required 13 large lockers to transport it all.
*Edit*
Drawing wrongly states 2 Moonpools, but I settled for 1, and I never miss the second one.
I usually like to put my main base somewhere on the edge of one of the safe shallows areas but close to the deeper biomes. I like to make outposts for the sake of easy resource gathering and the deeper biomes. For instance I usually build a base close to the edge of Reaper territory when I go to the aurora then later use the same base for gathering the rich resources scattered around the area.
My outposts usually consist of a multipurpose room to give me storage space and a reactor, a scanner room to make it easy to gather local resources and sometimes a moon pool. On occasion I find myself turning one of these outposts into a more complete base but sometimes this is more for aesthetics if I find myself spending lots of time there and it is a significant distance from my main base.
I actually haven't ever reached the magma zone yet despite starting quite a few games or found/activated many of the alien gates so that probably affects my base building tendencies.
I made an outpost/minibase at the base of the inactive Lava zone simply because I wanted a close place to recharge batteries and craft items for my PRAWN. I figured it was the perfect place to get the late-game mats, make a few extra batteries (Hate you Leeches!!!!) and put 5-6 on recharge.
Comments
Yes, but I don't consider it worthwhile. That is, unless I'm missing out on other wrecks (haven't figured how to get in the right wing of the mountains wreck), the only wreck worth creating a midway point for is the one nearby Lifepod 17. Pipes are something I find more of use to get in the JSC early (which makes it a shame there's barely anything to do there) or have a better time collecting quartz in the BKT.
Pumping air from a base seems a complete waste of time:
If you're only 50-150m below the surface, then it's better to pump from the surface without using a base at all. Beyond that solar panels at that depth recharge incredibly slow, maybe too slow if devs decide to give air needs a recharge speed. And as soon as you have the Seamoth you will just skip that hassle. You probably can do all stuff with 1 air surface connector, 1-2 pipe sets and a Seaglide. Enough for all early wrecks to find and good for the early caves too.
If you want a deep mobile base with fabricator, food, battery recharge and air, then you best use a MP room, hatch, bioreactor, 1 plant pot, 1 melon seed and the fabricator. That's a total of 15 titanium, 1 lubricant, 1 glass, 1 seed, 1 wiring kit and 1chip. Sum: 20 inventory slots. Of course only until you have your Cylops as a mobile base. Which can happen quite fast if you know where to find the fragments.
My last "attempt" at a second base was to build a single structure that connected the surface of the ocean to the Primary Containment facility. Alas, after almost making it to the lava zone, the game became unplayable due to the size of the base.
After that is done, I like building bases just for the scenery. There is enough titanium, lithium and once you have the drill even quartz to make that easy, if you aren't building totally huge bases and if you're willing to do some running around. My main base is the only one I bother to build the modification station, or the vehicle modification station for the moonpool.
The Floating Island by the cave entrance to the warp gate is a place I like to build. You get great sunsets, and easy access to the Mountain Island, which has the gate to the Lava Castle (once you go there). Solar power works great on land, so that's all you need. Once the teleporter to the Lava Castle is open, I like building a base by the castle, using the portal to get the materials there and then simply swimming through the castle to the base to make upgrades. The scenery is surreal, and you get to watch the sea dragon swimming around safely.
I also like building in the Mushroom Forest with its amazing night glowing mushroom trees, and near the ghost tree in the Lost River above 900 meters (which allows Seamoth access). That is a great location for getting resources - and a decent stopping place for the Cyclops after getting battered by angry river prowlers, on the way down to the lava zones. If you have nuclear power plants, the Lost River is the place to go for uranite. It seems to be super rare now everywhere else - and with uranite starting with 'U', the alphabetically listed scanner room usually isn't any help. (I wish they would change that scanner list to a scrollable list - probably like everyone else).
I sometimes even build a base in the kelp forest. It's fun watching the stalkers swim by, and it is a pretty biome.
Are they necessary? Not really. Do they make the game more fun? For me, they do! It's fun building seabases and just observing the biomes. I just wish you could scan more things, and plant more of the plants. There are a lot of neat plants in the world that would be nice to put in, such as the big glowing trees on the Floating Island, or the transparent mushrooms in the Lost River.
I don't builds many bases, now just a minimal one under Lifepod 5, then a main one towards the Floating Isle on the high pillars in the Kelp Forrest just before the Grand Reef, close to other biomes. Haven't explored the LR but I'll likely build a base in the Tree Cove when I do. Barely have any time in the PRAWN suit. I've gotten enough mats just by searching and use of the Scanner Room, especially when catching later alphabet items on the list right after loading the game when it's still filling up.
On my current playthrough I'm gathering materials and supplies to make a secondary base in the Lost River, both for recharging power cells and making the Prawn suit upgrades that require materials from down there. I'd hate to trek all the way out and back just for jump jets and thermal charging.
For an "ultimate" playthrough, I would like to build a satellite base near every thermal vent cluster, plus bases on each of the islands (including at the Aurora) and an outpost at the PCF. Maybe even have a few scanner room outposts scattered around as well to highlight resources.
I find it problematic and cumbersome to navigate the Cyclops in and out of the lost river (Blood Kelp Trench and Grand Reef Caves are narrow), which is why I moved a lot of my main base from Safe Shallows (deconstructed and put in lockers in Cyclops) into the cave with the Cove Tree. This was the perfect place, as you have lots of elbow room for you cyclops, and this is the depth at which your Seamoth can't proceed. My beloved Seamoth has now been degraded to a measure for going back up to the surface, but I don't really need any ressources from that area anymore.
My first base is mostly abandoned now and don't sport much equipment, but does still have a moon pool for charging.
I made a plan for this building project, and I have CAD drawings and building list attached for anyone interested. Needless to say, I didn't follow the plan 100%, as placement of ladders and such, wasn't all possible as I predicted, but the result is very close and I love it. (And the view from Observatory is 'out of this world' HAH)
Unfortunately, I can't find the Spreadsheet with ressources for the building any longer, but I remember it required 13 large lockers to transport it all.
*Edit*
Drawing wrongly states 2 Moonpools, but I settled for 1, and I never miss the second one.
Now, I may need one. I actually find I use the scanner room, too.
Then you're never gonna get to "Second Base" with anybody..., let alone 'Third' !!
<chuckle>
My outposts usually consist of a multipurpose room to give me storage space and a reactor, a scanner room to make it easy to gather local resources and sometimes a moon pool. On occasion I find myself turning one of these outposts into a more complete base but sometimes this is more for aesthetics if I find myself spending lots of time there and it is a significant distance from my main base.
I actually haven't ever reached the magma zone yet despite starting quite a few games or found/activated many of the alien gates so that probably affects my base building tendencies.