Underwater bases?

[Steve]

I'd been wondering if it was possible to build an underwater base so ran a couple tests. TL;DR - it doesn't work!

Hopefully this post will save others from going through the process of trying it themselves or inspire them to try out another method.

My first test involved building a small base with walls and ceiling over a pool of water on top of a "plank". I then removed the plank so the base would drop into the water - essentially the same idea as holding a cup upside down and plunging it into a sink full of water. At the bottom of the pool I had already built a square of 1x1 blocks the same size as the base's perimeter so that it landed perfectly onto that instead of sinking all the way to the bottom. This allowed me to swim down and back up into the base. Unfortunately the base was full of water.

My second test was basically the same, instead this time the small base included a floor but no ceiling - like holding of cup right way up and plunging it into water but stopping before it was fully submerged. This also didn't work and I had another very soggy base.

So, either the Devs haven't added the physics for water displacement or the multi-tool isn't all it's cracked up to be and has been doing some pretty shoddy welds :(

[Old-gamer]

Yep, this is a known situation and BCPothouse (one of our resident Physics-scientists) made a video about it over on his YouTube channel. His base floated away and eventually went off planet which was quite entertaining.

What happens if you anchor the underwater base to the floor of the area of water? I would expect that it would stay in that case, but also would expect it to flood. For that issue, I'm wondering if something similar to what is used in space would work. Have an outer door chamber (an air-lock if you will) that you open, close behind you and then open a 2nd door to enter the submerged base.

[Haerken]

My under water base didn't float off. It was anchored into the ground. It just stays full of water, so no point to do it. I had hoped when it was sealed the building machanics would make it waterless.

[Old-gamer]

That makes sense Haerken. Building a base underwater, even if anchored stays flooded as you build it. We would need some way to have it sealed and pressurized I guess to keep the water from invading. It did accomplish an in-door contaminated water supply.

[Sticky Wicket]

Pressurised seals and doors are needed.

[Steve]

Ya, what I was hoping was to negate the need of a pump to drain the water by creating a vacuum of air inside the base as it dropped into the water. Unfortunately the water level seems to stay at a fixed altitude and won't be displaced

[Sticky Wicket]

The floatation blocks may change that according to how they are made in relation to the water.

It might be possible to create a water-tight sealed structure....that could be anchored or joined to a seabed fixture?

[BCP Labs(YT)]

Originally posted by Old-gamer:

Yep, this is a known situation and BCPothouse (one of our resident Physics-scientists) made a video about it over on his YouTube channel. His base floated away and eventually went off planet which was quite entertaining.

Oh you mean my office with a view

[Haerken]

I want at least part of the base under water and water life that goes by the windows actualy. I can hope, but won't count on it. I always wondered why no animals were in the water.

[Steve]

Ya, it does seem odd that the only purpose the water seems to have is aesthetic right now. It might seem even weirder if there was no water at all, but the Devs went out of their way to add it (maybe adding water is really easy?) so they must have something planned for it, right? Right?!?

[Haerken]

It does have one use currently. You collect it to purify and drink, and I think it's part of the greenhouse plant production. The planet has a water table and once something is below that water is added in, if air would be there instead. Bases would have to stop that basic mechanic from happening.

[Steve]

Oh right! You need water to survive!!! Been playing Creative too much lately

[Haerken]

Creative lets you concentrate on building things in a much shorter period of time, so you can see what you can do that you're not suposed to. You have fun and the developers get faster feed back on wonky physics.

[Steve]

Ya, I've been appreciating the freedom Creative gives the player to test things out with more experimental builds. Things like this water displacement test would have taken considerably longer in Survival

[Sticky Wicket]

Originally posted by Haerken:

I want at least part of the base under water and water life that goes by the windows actualy. I can hope, but won't count on it. I always wondered why no animals were in the water.

I hope we get sea creatures; turtles, catfish, eels, dolphins, as well as a some shoals of various fishies, and some huge whales that dwell offshore....

The salamanders occasionally venture into the water, but they don't float. I'm guessing that swimming characteristics for creatures doesn't exist yet.

~

For underwater bases to exist/be built in survival the oxygen tanks would have to last a lot longer than they do.

[Craneballs]

You're giving our water more faith than it deserves in its current state. It's bubble wrapped around the planet at a fixed altitude at this point. It might work if a sealed base is submerged (no doors), but that is kinda useless.

We'll have to wait for the underwater world to develop its biomes and life in them.