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Building a proper base is essential, without one you would quickly find that you lack resources and the necessary power output. Even if you plan on being a nomad later on, you'll still need a base to be able to build your ship.
Although this guide is aimed more at more advanced players who have already found a planet, it is friendly to noobs wanting to build their starterbase which have found the instructions in Getting Started inadequate. As such the first few sections may be a little more hand-holdy than other articles.
Starting off
To start, you must find a suitable spot for your base. It should have necessary resources (Iron, Copper, mountains and what you'll use to generate power [eg. Coal] ) nearby. Having other resources nearby is a plus, but not required as you can later transport them using Transporters.
If possible, the area should also be fairly clear and flat as it will make building a base easier. This is not necessary however, mountain/hill bases are possible and may even be favorable at times.
Gathering resources
(Note you can skip this step if you brought resources with you, eg. if you just escaped from a starter)
Once you are satisfied with the location, the next step is to find the closest iron and copper nodes to you. You should head to the iron node first, mine a few pieces of iron by equipping your harvest (pickaxe) tool, then clicking on the iron node. If done correctly, you should see pieces fall out. Get 8 pieces of iron and craft the following using the crafting (V) menu;
- 1 SpawnPoint
- 2 Bins
Immediately lock the SpawnPoint using the locking (C) menu and place it where you expect the center of your base to be. This will ensure you spawn back at your base if you die or leave the game.
Next, place one of the bins up against the iron node using your hammer tool and resize it (6×6×6 should be more than enough). Then, mine some more iron (place your cursor right above the bin so the iron falls into it). If you're setting up a starterbase, you'll need at least 14 pieces of iron, though more is advised. You should then drag both of your bins to the nearby copper node and repeat the steps you did with the iron node, note youll need to use the empty bin as the now filled iron will not accept anything but said resource. Once youve gathered the necessary copper, go to a mountain and mine it until sulfur appears (long yellowish stick-like resource), then drag it over to your bins. You may then proceed to the following section.
Setting up power
You'll now want to set up power. For more advanced sources like reactors consult Guide: Electricity, this also assumes you brought the necessary resources to build them. If you just need to set up a basic coal setup though, this should suffice. Do note that a basic coal setup will only be enough for a starterbase or for bootstrapping a proper base (eg. you forgot to bring resources from your previous base and must start anew). Start by crafting the following IN ORDER with the resources you just gathered;
- 1 Extractor
- 1 Bin
- 5 Wires
- 2 BurnerGenerators
- 1 PowerCell
If you followed the previous section, this should leave you with 9 copper. More than enough for wiring. You'll now set up power generation.
Find a nearby coal node and bring all your newly crafted items to it, be careful not to bin anything as you should now have an empty iron bin! If this happens, you can always click it to take out the item.
Place your extractor on the coal node with the hole (front) side facing AWAY from it. If your nodes are close together, you should also be wary of the fact that extractors won't work if they are within 40 studs of another extractor OR on the same node as one (doesn't apply to mountains or the ground).
Resize your bin to 10×10×10 and place it on the extractor's front side. The bin won't fit perfectly but that's okay, as long as the bin is 10×10×10; it should work regardless of where you place it due to it's size.
Attach BurnerGenerators to the side of the bin (you could also attach them to chutes connected to the bin and place them elsewhere).
All that's left to now do is to place the PowerCell, resize it to 10×10×10, and wire it to the BurnerGenerators (if you played the Tutorial you should know how to do this, if not Guide: Electricity provides an explanation). You should now mine a piece of coal and drop it into the bin (drag tool while holding CTRL). You should see black smoke emanating from the Extractor if you've done everything correctly. Another indication that you've done everything correctly is the PowerCell filling up with power.
