Is there a point to building a base?

[A'den]

During tutorial, i had to place a base computer. But that element of the game feels kinda weird - building a base in a game focused on galaxy exploration?

[kv4qs]

There are many ways to answer your question, e.g. exploring to find the perfect planet for your base.

For some, base building is the whole point of the game. For others, it's just one of many elements offered in the game.

I'm pretty sure some of the technology quests require a base, so there is that.

[japp_02]

The answer is surprisingly: NO. You can play the game and skip the base-building stuff, alas you need to do basic base-building in the Awakening tutorial in order to get important blueprints later. Also to get the exocrafts you must do the base quests, but this doesn't require you to build more than just a couple of round buildings to install the specialists.

Making big bases is eyecandy but there is no point to it for playing the game. And currently I skip most of it because of bugs.

[A'den]

But is I visit different planets, star systems ect - why would i bother going back?

[ZomBeGone]

Totally up to you. You can always teleport back for free, if you wanted.

I build a tiny shack, just to unlock a particular blueprint, then move the science specialist onto my freighter later (he gives nanite clusters for a while)

Other than that, I live out of my freighter.

If I found a planet with something interesting, I might put in a base computer, teleport ring, and exocraft station, example a planet with lots of ancient bones. If i needed a bunch of cash real quick, i could teleport there. Mid and late game.. not so much.

[conejeitor]

Originally posted by A'den:

But is I visit different planets, star systems ect - why would i bother going back?

You don´t fully need it, but: You´ll need hyperdrives to explore some systems, for that you´ll need elements and blueprints, for that is easier to have a vehicle, for that you need a base. Also, some planets are fairly unique, and you might want to come back.

[Aachen]

I don’t engage much with base-construction, so I spend little time on it. Do what you enjoy.

[MechWarden]

There is a point to making a base, and that's to establish a location (or locations) of operations. You could build most of the facilities on your freighter, but not all of them. Also, unless you have a freighter you are 100% sure you will stick with, you will at some point want to transfer stuff from it to your new freighter, and doing that is an utter pain if you've built a lot, which makes planet bases a tad better in that regard.

Teleporting back and forth is so absurdly easy that going backwards, while you are kind of supposed to be going forwards in exploring, is trivial with the Teleporter system. Once you've found a location of interest, either a space station or a spot for a base (and built a Teleporter), the time to travel to them takes however long it takes your PC to load them. All those locations are free to travel to and might as well be next door to eachother at that point.

Having a good, usable, base helps with managing things, since it gives you a space you made and can feel comfortable in. Heading back to a spot that gives you access to practically all your inventory spaces makes it ideal for sorting out what you gathered. HG just assumes you will have one planet side base so much, that several main quest missions require you to be based on a planet. Some of those main quest missions are also a tutorial and progression system for the base system, so it makes sense that it requires one.

Other than a base being required for some things, it is nice to have something customizable and functional to work with, given how fairly static your other possessions are. You can't add on, visually, an attachment to your suit, ships, or Multi-Tool, but you can with a base, and have it as functional or as decorative as you like. You can build a base in a neat location anywhere you please, and make it just be a simple Teleporter shed, to a simple refinery base, to a farm, or a (somewhat) sprawling complex or epic tower.

[Johnny in the Clouds]

YES. There are several reasons for building a base that are helpful to your exploration.
There may be some spoilers ahead, just to warn you.

• To collect rare reources you can plant native plants on the planet surface or grow non-native resources inside.
  
• Native planetary plants can be planted outside for free without maintenance.
  
• All the resources you collect from your base can be reclaimed if needed.
  
• Some resources like Star Silk needed for several furniture items are not always available from Space Stations. It is a trade commodity. Building stuff can be a way of indirectly storing any resources you might need to complete NPC missions. So stock up on resources when convenient, turn them into built items.
  
• A base on a freighter is a good way to store gold or silver, disguised as base parts for example. Lighting deconstructs to some sodium etc.
  
• A freighter base can be preferable to a planet base and moves with you. Though it can be limiting in unexpected ways.
  
• Rare items or found glitches (like strange flora) can be stored on your base instead of kept in valuable suit or ship storage slots.
  
• Quicksilver items can be stored or displayed in a large room.
  
• You don't have to have a base on land, you can build in a cave or even under water.
  
• You can teleport across thousands of light years to one of your listed planet bases.
  
• Building storage crates will provide resources at intervals, like anti-matter or exosuit batteries to collect every time you visit etc.
  
• A Trade Terminal at your base provides needed items to survive and replenish multi-tools. The items to buy vary from system to system.
  
• You can build first aid, Health Packs and Exosuit Hazard repair units. More than one to use and will always be available to you. Especially useful in Permadeath mode.
  
• An armourer will offer weapons.
  
• All NPC specialists give missions later in the game that provide nanites or units or simply gifts. Some of the specialists give extremely high value rare items like fossils or slavaged tech etc.
  
• Necessary Blueprints can be salvaged during the early game.
  
• Starting and completing the base building quests will give you the ability to build the exocars. They are essential for using their scanners to find things you need. Without the exocar scanners you only have the option to use a signal booster to find stuff and that requires resources to be spent.
  
• If you do not have all your storage slots unlocked a base will help indirectly store excess resources as 'built' items.
  
• The ten storage containers give you access to transfer back and forth resources when in range from your freighter to your exocars or exosuits. They can be present either on your freighter or planet.
  
• A base on a freighter with a Trade Terminal and Storage with refiners can be a good way to disperse a lot of loot brought back from returning Frigate missions.
  
• Building starship landing platforms will see a flow of ships and NPCs you can trade with. There is the possibility of an exotic ship landing.
  
• Spending time building a base on an extreme planet is an easy way of completing the extreme survival milestone. (you can be inside while the clock ticks)
  
• You need refiners to compress resources or provide gases or manufacture otherwise difficult to find resources. Refiners can convert one type of gas to another while you are not present.
  
• A basic simple base is all that is needed to survive on a planet if you find you keep returning to a location. Also underwater bases provide safety if doing deep dives.
  
• You can use a base to mark a location in addition to the five signal beacons or communication stations.
  
• Building exocar stations at the base helps to find them easily.
  
• Do not build huge farms, just the items that do no exist on the current planet. Or at least just build a farm to make one high value item can be combined with high value loot from frigate missions or NPC missions.
  
• Claim a base to build a race track.
  
• Multi-play or solo race tracks can be fun to race against the clock or be used to trace a route to valuable resources that grow in the open, useful buildings like Depots or tour interesting locations.
  
• Build a base near a depot that over a long period of time will stock with resources. Visit one base after another using the teleport to collect stuff.
  
• Freighter rooms are a good way of using resources up stored as base parts. Deconstruct to get back the materials when needed. Similarly planet bases.
  
• Build bases co-operatively.

There are probably other useful things a base can help with but it is good to build at least one when you enter a new galaxy. They are a way of providing a steady easy stream of resouces for repair or making units to purchase high value ships, freighters or frigates.

Lastly and this is up to the individual, using Creative Mode bases can be fun to build and an intriguing puzzle to put together. Some can be quite a work of art to visit and even battle your friends over or watch them race from a place of safety.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1663000968

Alternatively using mods on PC there are ways to use many more parts to be truly creative but some mods require the visitor to also have the same mod active to view things as intended. Modding can be complex, but the unmodded game provides more than enough variety to make some captivating memories.

[Asmosis]

I'm not sure if it's covered already, but you can warp to any of your bases from any space station, no need to travel back. Bases are mostly for Aesthetic reasons.

As for the topic itself, you can very much ignore bases entirely and play in "classic" mode where it's just you and your ship, if you want. Ship slots don't even matter with the amount of suit inventory space you have now.

[Thunder Tits]

To sort of summarize what has been mentioned so far, it is dependent on the reasons for base building, but there are benefits to it. For aesthetic reasons, you can design something you wish. For making progress in the game, it gives plenty of blueprints that are useful later in game that makes things more convenient, or allow access to previously inaccessible options. I mainly have bases as a POI for a certain planet that is very useful for progressing, but it's entirely up to you as to whether you want to build one or not.

[Aachen]

BP analyzer is portable tech, and doesn’t require a base to function, though, innit?

[Asmosis]

Yeah you can pack it up and take it with you.

[Lord Dickinson McCheddar]

It's useful to have your freighter as a base, a main base and at least a few other secondary bases.

You can survive without anything but your freighter though you might struggle for things like carbon. That's why it's useful to have one main base. On the ground you can manufacture unlimited carbon. Nearly everything else you can buy. Funnily enough you can also manufacture unlimited dyhydrogen.

If you have your main base and your freighter base all your other bases need be little more than a base computer and gateway as they'll presumably be to get to systems without stations or to get quickly to resources that are usually hard to buy.

[Asmosis]

You know the players backpack holds more now than the original base + freighter base combined.

Back in my day (*cough*1.0*cough*) when we needed an element to build something, we scanned down a planet and went and mined it.

Not having 1000 units of every element and 10 of every plant growing in a base somewhere definitely improves the exploration side of the game for yourself.

[Johnny in the Clouds]

Originally posted by Asmosis:

Back in my day *cough*1.0*cough*

Hee hee, *cough!