How large do you like your Sea Base?

Lonnehart

I've seen some Youtubers who build gigantic bases. I mean... they're sprawling everywhere. And they take large amounts of time to walk through. I'm never comfortable with that. Walking all that distance is annoying and if the place is damaged you'd need to run all over the place like a rooster with its head chopped off trying to find the damaged sections.

I've found that compact bases are the best thing for me. I don't have to travel too far. Then again, I don't hoard materials either (I use a maximum of three lockers most times) and I only build if I need to.

Anyways, what's your preferred size for your base?

Ralij

Large and sprawling for a main base with multiple levels and compact for depots and observation stations.

DrownedOut

I go for compact. I don't see the appeal in making a journey of walking in my own base. But I do care about "finishing the project" so I need at minimum one moon pool, one scanner room, a central MP room tower (at minimum two rooms high; I'd have a higher minimum if building above water wasn't so difficult), and what room I have for farms.

So, compact but complete.

bwc153

Depends on where I'm at and what technologies I have unlocked, but I try to make it as compact as possible. Use a single X tube packed to the brim with stuff - usually once I get an MPR I become less space efficient, but still try to minimize the walking distance.

Rainstorm

I would like another answer option like: all of these answer.

Thru the course of a game ill almost always build all these kind of base. At the beginning of a game most times i'll build a very compact base -- 2-3 tubes with several lockers for more storage space --

then after a few hours (3-4) i'll move somewhere else then build a more advanced one, 8-10 tubes and 1-2-3 MP room for botany/aquarium.

Eventually i'll settle in somewhere more definitive, where i'll build a more complex base with several MP room and 1/2 Moonpool, scanner room 'n all da cool shizznits

Fathom

I like my bases compact or at least organized in a way that minimizes walking around. Sure, I may add decorative bits and modules here and there, but I never let them get in the way of efficiency. Four Corridors on a Foundation provide ample space for an outpost, hell, even a single T-Corridor with a hatch on top and windows to the front and sides makes for a good looking shelter with a view.

DaveyNY

At the moment, I've got a multi-tiered, above & below the waterline Base (Seabase Alpha), that I would call in the mid-range size...

11 assorted sections above and about 28 sections below.
(this includes platforms for higher number strength)

I built it over one of the Shallows cliffs facing a Kelp Forrest for a more dramatic effect.

Have one each of a Moonpool, a Scanner Room and two Observation Rooms. (one above and one below the waterline)

I have a 15 Level Multipurpose Room Alien Aquarium, stocked full of assorted creatures.
It runs from the ocean floor up to just below sea level.
When they fix the surface water so it doesn't go through the compartments, I'm going to add one more Mp-Room full of windows as a home-made Observation room.

Have built the Cyclops (named Seaview II) and three Seamoths.
(ORCA I & ORCA II had unlucky run-ins with those damn Crashfish)

The current one (SEABEE) got me to the entrance of AURORA yesterday and I managed to find the 4th P.R.A.W.N. suit fragment I needed before being done-in by those stupid Blighters.
(didn't bring enough First Aid kits with me)

Today I'm mostly planning on gathering the materials to build my first PRAWN suit and fiddling with it.

Then I have to go retrieve SEABEE from where it was when I died yesterday.

I'm thinking about adding a seafloor extension out into the Kelp Forrest where I can observe the Stalkers up-close and personal without getting bitten.

At that point, I may start a new game and do it all over again in a different location.



Addendum:
I'm fiddling with the in-game camera system this morning, so I'll try to post a few pics in the "Seabase Showcase Thread" if I'm successful.

Sidchicken

I like them small and efficient. An 'X' corridor section will last me quite some time in terms of my base needs. If I decide to use things that require MP rooms, I'll build what I absolutely need, but generally not more than that.

CaptainRon

I try to look at it as a lone survivor maintaining everything so I built mine compact. Had to resist the urge of building a 2nd moonpool cuz it made the base felt way too big.

Avimimus

I try to build elegantly placed bases (using the landscape) that consist of two or three rooms. I try to place one in each area of the map.

Usually they will have a moonpool and scanner room, along with a couple of connectors and an observation room. Sometimes I'll add a multipurpose room.

TerraBlade

I try to keep it specialized and compact, usually starting with a cross piece. Then one branch is engineering and vessel docking, one for energy, one for food/water with the bed and desk above, and one for alien containment. So far I haven't had to expand upon this design.

scubamatt

Compact. I'm a shipwreck survivor, not a scientific expedition. I pack as much utility as I can into the space I have. I usually end up with two or three small bases,one of which has (is) a moonpool for the Seamoth. With the PRAWN in Game, I might build a dual moonpool version now.

Sidchicken

In light of the new PDA downloads/Transmissions that clearly indicate you are being hunted, my new base is hidden in one of the giant coral tubes. I'm thinking with a bit of work I can cram a moonpool in there, and attach an MP room with a bioreactor for power. Right now I'm running on solar panels, which annoys me that it works, but I'll live with it.

Michlo

As far as we know, this is going to be our home for some time. I wouldn't want things too compact. I like some room to (safely) move around and get a change of scenery.

Also, it wasn't until after I had built a portion of mine that I learned we need to launch our vehicle pod in deep waters (I started at 13 m). I decided to extend to a nearby shelf so that I could walk safely to and fro.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=762405695

I'm only a few hours into the game, though.

Cheers.

EvilSmoo

I went with a core of 4 MFR rooms connected to each other. The center is a good place for a thermal gen backup and beacon. From there, a corridor with a bunch of tanks for various rare fish breeding for no real reason, and a couple moonpools and a scanner room. A few stacked MFRs is MORE than enough space for anything reasonable.

DagothUr

Considering that I lose 2FPS for every module I build, small as possible.

Enderguy059

My base pretty much consists of two towers, one tower is dedicated to a four story aquarium with a bio-lab and observatory on top, and the other tower is dedicated to my bedroom with an attached scanner room, greenhouse, reactors+storage, Reginald farm and prep-room. Both ground floor rooms lead to two, interconnected moonpools, while my cyclops is parked in the middle.

DrownedOut

I might as well upload some pics of my default base. I always built my Safe Shallows base on this particular slope, not so much for orientation as for its tested effectiveness in regards to my wishes, like getting my Cyclops parked nearby. The design features two towers which height I only care about to have one full MP room above water for my gardens. The towers are connected by interspersed 2-2 hallways, which means they're long enough to replace with a moon pool. The Seamoth is small enough to be able to go between the hallways, so I can start or end my travels with minimum hindrance.

I wanted to incorporate my PRAWN moon pool like that too and would've gladly sacrificed one hallway beneath it to get the required space, but it was either sacrifice two hallways beneath or wreck the environment underneath. In the end, I built the PRAWN moon pool next to the almost-highest hallway to spare both. I'm satisfied with this solution; it's pretty cool to fall a little after entering the suit or to fly up to dock. The PRAWN is small enough to go underneath the lowest hallway, so minimum hindrance bonus here too. The only thing I am not satisfied with is the location of my scanner room. I hate my current solution (which forced the ugly T-split next to the moon pool because a corner doesn't allow ladders), but without a way to protect the cameras from the stalkers or other specialized rooms to consider more coherent expansion, this is for now the best I can do. There's a observatory towards the kelp forest on the taller tower, but it's not visible in the pics.

Normally I'd get my lifepod alongside the MVB inside the bay formed by the two towers, but moving the lifepod is slow and awkward, it landed up very far from this spot this save file, and the one time I tried my game crashed when I was at about 2/3rds and I haven't been in a well enough mood to try again.

GC13

How compact do you call it when there's a moonpool, a room for the fabber, the chargers, and a bunch of lockers; a two-story room for the food fish tank; a two-story room for the airsack tank; optionally a room for any water purifiers I might have; and also optionally a room for each bioreactor I might have?

I went for compact because while it's a lot of rooms, I could only remove one of them and put its stuff on walls in other rooms—every other room has to be separate (or could I fit water purifiers in with a bioreactor?). Even the fabbing room is much more convenient as its own room (though it might be more convenient as an I-corridor, since there's less dead space in the middle).

I just can't do the big bases everyone else does, since I don't make purposeless rooms and there aren't very many different purposes to give rooms.

arcasor

I'd say somewhere inbetween; my main base generally consists of a work area, a nuclear reactor, a moonpool and a relax area with a bedroom, an office, a greenhouse room, a three-storey aquarium and an observatory

RichieC

I have to say that my version of compact is VERY different from many here. LOL. I guess I like in between or large with maybe 4 or 5 MP rooms, a moonpool, maybe an observation if I'm in a nice area and a scanner room.
At the start though, I'm happy cramming everything into a T section. The convenience of having everything in front of you is great, but later on a moonpool is helpful, and more space for lockers, power generators and plants.

Nautical_Nick

I start small and compact and then start expanding but not too much.

Qelsar

So normally I'm a 3-4 MP + moonpool type of guy with space for a reactor, workplace, mini office, and an aquarium......... BUT a few weeks ago I caught a Field of Dreams rerun and it got me thinking. "If you build it, they will come" ;-) So since planet 4546B has a metric butt load of resources I said WTH, lets do this! Without further ado, I present to my fellow Subnauticans my main "Project Base"
It has dual reactors in the rear left tower(with a quad set of solar cells atop each tower as well), a lab/alien containment study area in the front left tower(with attached scanner room to find things to study), an observation deck overlooking a wonderful view of a grassy plateau canyon and kelp forest, a garden/cafe in the front right tower(complete with trash can bar tables and the vending machine), a workroom in the lower right tower next to moonpool, and a pair of sleeping quarters in the rear right tower complete with luggage from the wrecks ;-). Top it off with a neat office, located in the center with dual fish tanks housing all the various catch able species of fauna in SN, from which I plan my missions and collect data. Long and short if it was in game I used it somehow in the base. I still have plans to create a full assortment of underwater floral beds located in the center and sides to give it a more pleasing aesthetic, but I'll need a little bit of time to collect all the plants and arrange them.

I also have a little secret bit I'm working on, but so far it is causing me problems so I have to find a work around.

Qelsar

scubamatt wrote: »

Compact. I'm a shipwreck survivor, not a scientific expedition. I pack as much utility as I can into the space I have. I usually end up with two or three small bases,one of which has (is) a moonpool for the Seamoth. With the PRAWN in Game, I might build a dual moonpool version now.

I like your idea Matt. I think after I "complete" the Field of Dreams base I'll have a bunch of mini bases with just a MP+Moonpool scattered around.

Lonnehart

I guess I could show off the base I usually build now. I used to go large (with over 10 bioreactors and three tall aquariums), but I found it time consuming to walk around the thing. Now I just use solar panels to power the thing (four or five). One glass tube for my office, and the other for a small garden.

AceDynamo

My Alpha base is usually in the shallows (50m - 100m) near a thermal vent and close to a deeper biome so I can expand. This base get's bigger and better equipped as I unlock blueprints, eventually becoming a multi-moonpool monstrosity with all the power and food I will ever need. Satellite bases are much smaller, usually just a couple MP rooms a few food plants and a bioreactor. I will build a satellite base near my Alpha site, complete with lockers power supply, and planting stock, then deconstruct and pack it all into floating lockers (floating lockers take the same inventory space as the gear they hold, and they remember what's packed inside them when picked up). Then pack it all into a seamoth (in one load) and jet off to establish a new base!

Qelsar

Where are the solar panels @Lonnehart ?

Nautical_Nick

@Qelsar, if you look at the 'office' furthest from the camera the solar panels are just behind that.

Ralij

Definitely not running out of food any time soon. Fruits, vegetables, and 8 types of protein to make sure I survive in the best shape possible. (all those MP pools on the top level have alien containment units) I think I'm in the sprawling catagory pretty solidly, lol. Haven't even put in the research labs yet.

Fish storage units have expanded a bit since this picture, but its so close to the surface its a pita to get a decent picture.

CaptainRon

GC13 wrote: »

every other room has to be separate (or could I fit water purifiers in with a bioreactor?).

You can, I have my bioreactor in the same room with my water purifier with all the lockers I need for my raw materials, 2 aquariums for overflow fishes from my fish farm along with the fab and mod station in the connecting corridor.

MadeMyDay

I am a Looter in and out. I cannot let it on the Floor when there is space in my backpack. So i need many lockers to store all my minerals, metals and so far. But, when i want to build something ... all needet is here.

So my base is most hug. 4 towers in square , most time 2 or more floors and each 8 solarpaneels on the top.
And ... i build without cheats.