What rooms/essentials does my first base need?

[Daddy Gibby]

Just got the game, currently planning to make my first base in the Shallows. What rooms should I plan for? Please try to avoid spoilers if there are any, thank you.

[Coops]

Basically you need a tube with lockers and a hatch. a solar panel would help but is not required. you can use the fabricator in the lifepod. This early base is just to hold the overflow of materials you collect early on.
If you want your permanent base in the shallows with more useful rooms, you will need to explore using the radio messages from the lifepod after you repair it. There are base modules you only get after scanning them when you find them or by scanning fragments you find in wrecks and on the sea floor.

[Drizzt]

probably all spoilers - since the rooms get discovered as you explore lol :-)

i actually didn't build many bases at all in my first few playthroughs - and no big ones - just enough to have a fabricator, radio and some storage (and some with a few other rooms that would be spoilers lol)

am currently building my first biggish base now - several hundred hours in - and just using lots of the starting glass pieces so i can view the world

so i would say be aware that more pieces = less structural integrity - and so at the beginning you will need foundations if you want to have more than a few windows or glass tunnels - and foundations need lead

and later in the game you will find lithium which allows you to build reinforced panels which increase structural integrity but take up less room - and will be pretty much essential for building certain rooms, or building deep

the first room you will likely discover doesn't need much space

but yeah - trying to tell you about most of the rest would be spoilers

and worst case scenario you can build some tunnels to connect stuff up if you need to build a bit further away later on

but probably you will be building multiple bases, since the map is pretty big, in all 3 dimensions

right - stopping there before i spoil anything

enjoy :-)

[Drizzt]

also - since the game now allows you to pin recipes - you can pin the recipes for a hatch, solar panel, fabricator and radio - and that and 2 titanium for a tube and 2 for a wall mounted locker will be the resources you need to build a basic base anywhere

just be sure to have that piece of coral for the fabricator - since the other resources can usually be found all around the place - but table coral can sometimes be elusive if you don't want to travel halfway across the map

[MADE IN IRON]

Don't invest too much time or resources to build a base on the shallows, mid/late game you'll find better places.
As mentioned, you only need a tube with lockers and a hatch and use the fabricator from the lifepod.

[prime11]

1 multi purpose room fill with storage boxes. You will need lots of storage.
1 multi purpose room for a bed, your personal bedroom
plants both inside and outside
Moon pool, scanner room, mod station, battery charger, powercell charger. Only need 1 each.
A few solar panels, until you get the bio reactor. Keep the solar panels even after you get bio reactor, its good backup if you ever forget to refill it lol
There's no harm if you stay in the shallows till end game. So invest all the time you want into it :)

[dreamrider]

To answer your very first question...
...My recommendation is that you don't do ANY planning for future rooms on your first base.

Just build a single I-tube or X-tube pretty close under your lifepod. Put the hatch on top to maximize interior space. One Solar Panel to get the lights and oxygen working.

This first one isn't so much a base, as it is a "storage shed".
Fill it with lockers. And a chair, when you get the blueprint.
Maybe eventually an extra fabricator, for convenience.

Maybe experiment with building (and add more storage) by adding another tube off one end, play with installing windows, platforms, lockers, outdoor pump (for caving, perhaps?), etc.

When you are confident on how to do building (including reading up on the weird initial orientation, and Moonpool placement limits =reading about these is NOT spoilage; they are NOT intuitive= ), find a spot you like which has plenty of room and lay out a real home base you can live in.


Here is a base lay out tip:
Before you discover larger room blueprints, you can still lay out a larger base.
A complex consisting of an X-tube with 4 I-tubes attached, 1 at each branch, takes up exactly the same building grid space, in the same possible orientations, as a Multi-Purpose Room.
You can lay out a large base with these complexes initially in place, then later "q" them and insert the larger rooms. (As long as you don't fill the placeholder tubes with lockers, etc, that have to be removed.)

[tr pr dr]

I think it's best to just build with what you have and explore. You can think forward about what you MIGHT get, but you can also remodel or make a new base, all it takes is gathering some more resources! Don't feel stressed over it, just enjoy the ride

[dragonbornzyra]

Two most important things are a Hatch and a Solar Panel for early game. So that's what? Three titanium, three quartz, and a piece of copper. This gives you access to your base (hatch) and powers your base (solar panel)

Now, you can make a base out of various things, an I Compartment, a T compartment, an X Glass compartment, ect ect. And looots of stuff to put in there. But I'm being serious. Make sure you can get into a base you make and power it and that's your oxygen safe zone underwater.

Build a chair and sit down and read your PDA and have a good time!

[zueldebizz]

Originally posted by prime11:

1 multi purpose room fill with storage boxes. You will need lots of storage.
1 multi purpose room for a bed, your personal bedroom
plants both inside and outside
Moon pool, scanner room, mod station, battery charger, powercell charger. Only need 1 each.
A few solar panels, until you get the bio reactor. Keep the solar panels even after you get bio reactor, its good backup if you ever forget to refill it lol
There's no harm if you stay in the shallows till end game. So invest all the time you want into it :)

I'll follow this guys ideas ":))

[dreamrider]

Actually, unless you "Q" the Solar Panels before you build the Bioreactor, the Solar Panels will be the primary power source, and the Bioreactor will be the back up.

Because they are first built, the Solar Panels will be drawn on first...which is how you want it, since the Solar Panels are essentially unlimited, no-maintenance power as long as the base is shallow enough.

If you do install a Bioreactor, you will want an ACU dedicated to raising fuel fish. You will have to service the fuel hopper much less frequently than with any plant fuel.
Oculi are far and away (+50% over next best) the best bio fuel source in the game.

[Volrishan]

for a first starter base i tend to build an x-compartment with the hatch in the top middle, 4 glass windows and use 4 solar panels for power. inside is a fabricator, health kit dispenser, radio, battery charger, and storage.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1322188653

[admiral1018]

First off, you should know that you never need to build a base at all to complete the game. A base is something that should make your life easier and should be added fun as you explore the world.

With that said, the advantages of a base are:
- Added space for storage of resources
- Additional abilities to provide for food/thirst more easily
- Flexibility with docking vehicles and crafting upgrades
- Modules to help with other survival benefits like battery charging and equipment upgrades

There are no rules for how to build a base, and some players have amazing fit most of the above into very small spaces. But focus on making sure you take advantage of the categories listed above, and build in a place you enjoy. Make your base can look as basic or as elaborate as you want. That's part of the joy in playing this game.

[dragonbornzyra]

Some observatory fun

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2914021331
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2914021613
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2914021882

[Langkard]

As soon as I have a habitat builder tool, I make a little temporary base near the lifepod using just one X-shaped compartment, hatch, solar panel, and then some wall lockers to store stuff I pick up.

Once I get the Seamoth, I move to my 1st permanent base, usually in the shallows near lifepod 17, since it's fairly central and close to every biome type. I start with another temporary like before, expanded as need for more storage. Then I start working on getting higher end minerals like lithium and getting the plans for the bigger habitat pieces.

My permanent base is then built around 2 moon pools, with multi-purpose rooms (and now large rooms) and everything else. A separate little side base nearby has water filtration machines using a separate set of power generation so they don't drain all of my main base power.

[Insanitor]

First Base: Storage -> Bedroom
Main Base: Storage -> Bedroom with a massive window -> Greenhouse + Outdoor Garden -> 5 floor aquarium, infront of the Bedroom Window -> Generator -> A scanner on each side of the buttom floor of the Aquarium to make it look like a huge D*** -> Moonpool