how big to build raft

[BenTheVaporeon]

semi new to this game, and i have found that makeing the raft bigger makes it hard to stop the shark from eating the edges, is there a recommended size for single player, or shouls i just keep the sacrificial extra layer of tiles around my raft?

[mota]

Just fortify the outer edge of your raft with foundation armor, and the shark is no longer a problem.

For the size, a 10x10 to 10x15, 2-3 floors high should be enough for a starter raft, if you don't have any "stylish" expectations.
Here's how i do it: Ground floor for the machinery (engines, fuel and water), 2nd floor for workstations, kitchen, animals and plantation, 3rd floor for helm and (decorative) living quarters.

[Alshain]

Try to avoid getting too big. I suggest build up, not out.

[大橘已定]

If you're playing hard mode, you can build a single floor and reinforce it, build it on the second floor, and then expand on the first floor when you have the resources to avoid wasting resources in the early stages of the game

[BenTheVaporeon]

i am at 22 x 22 so far, i have very little metal

[The Minted Lady]

The important thing is to remember that for every 100 foundations, you will need another engine. In my singleplayer game, I have a raft that's just 77 foundations so one engine is all I need.

For metal, just make sure that you are parking your raft on the barren side of small islands. The shark tends to stay near the raft, making it safer for you to dive underwater and dig for metal. Other strategies include using the bait ball, or just killing the shark and making sure to only loot the meat from it (there's 4 pieces per shark) and not the head. Leaving the head makes the shark take 5 minutes to despawn, and another 3 to respawn. Plenty of time for diving in peace.

[BenTheVaporeon]

... app

time to downsize i am near 400

[Cats_In_Love]

Originally posted by BenTheVaporeon:

... app

time to downsize i am near 400

Sounds about right.
396 is the exact amount.

[BenTheVaporeon]

my ship was not square, or even even sized, so it was about 380ish,

shaved it down to 328ish with extra nets and cutting one side to make it have a defined center point, would rather not kill my bow section so now to craft 20 or so nets, counting the holes i will make for engines

[sfebtyler]

10x10 and then build up is my recommendation. reason is that later on you can get engines and it takes 1 engine for every 100 foundations you have. Make it easier on yourself so you dont have to manage and fuel more than 1 engine.

[Illuminia]

I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone mention, but you can build your raft in a way to minimize "Foundations" but use supports to have solid flooring ABOVE those foundations.

Important! - You still want metal to reinforce the outer edges still of course, - if you build walls/flooring on top of a foundation and the shark eats the foundation, everything above could collapse.
It takes more wood to start building this way, but in the end it makes it easier to have a larger raft with less engines/fuel use, and lets your "1st floor" be slightly above most waves.

Basically, you start building a hollow rectangle - 4 wide by 10 long, (if you have enough metal to reinforce that outer edge, otherwise start smaller if needed, or larger if you have more materials) and zero foundations in the "middle" of that rectangle.

Next, build some sort of wall supports (the half-height wall with window is very cheap) to act as "support" on the INSIDE portion of the hollow rectangle, then you can build Floors on top of that.

As you get more materials, you can build another "hollow rectangle" off the side or end of the first one to expand.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2843926062

The main body of my current raft is 21 foundations wide and 18 foundations long, but it's 222 foundations in total. (21x18 would be 378 if solid, but I used the hollow rectangle method above for a lot of my raft foundations).

[Cats_In_Love]

Might note that above a width of about 12 foundations, the craft starts having problems getting through some channels around Temperance.

[BenTheVaporeon]

Originally posted by Illuminia:

I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone mention, but you can build your raft in a way to minimize "Foundations" but use supports to have solid flooring ABOVE those foundations.

Important! - You still want metal to reinforce the outer edges still of course, - if you build walls/flooring on top of a foundation and the shark eats the foundation, everything above could collapse.
It takes more wood to start building this way, but in the end it makes it easier to have a larger raft with less engines/fuel use, and lets your "1st floor" be slightly above most waves.

Basically, you start building a hollow rectangle - 4 wide by 10 long, (if you have enough metal to reinforce that outer edge, otherwise start smaller if needed, or larger if you have more materials) and zero foundations in the "middle" of that rectangle.

Next, build some sort of wall supports (the half-height wall with window is very cheap) to act as "support" on the INSIDE portion of the hollow rectangle, then you can build Floors on top of that.

As you get more materials, you can build another "hollow rectangle" off the side or end of the first one to expand.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2843926062

The main body of my current raft is 21 foundations wide and 18 foundations long, but it's 222 foundations in total. (21x18 would be 378 if solid, but I used the hollow rectangle method above for a lot of my raft foundations).

you could try using more nets over foundations i order to get below the 220 and 200 lines

[Illuminia]

Originally posted by BenTheVaporeon:

Originally posted by Illuminia:

...

you could try using more nets over foundations i order to get below the 220 and 200 lines

True, but I'm using 4 engines anyways just for looks/design. I had always planned for 4 engines from the start.... I did keep it below 200 before I added the 3rd/4th engine. The expanded patio (WIP) in my screenshot was part of what pushed it over the 200 mark.

[Cats_In_Love]

Does the width and length affect how high the water comes up over the foundations in choppy waters?

I would expect that a larger raft would be more stable, ride on top of the waves better. My sense is that it is more like it just rotates about a centroid between some maximum angle and the edges dip further below the water.

[AlyssaThalon]

Haven't seen the most important think to mention when preparing to defend the raft from the shark: The corners have the highest priority for the shark to target as does any part that just out away from the rest of the raft. The more sides of the foundation that are not connected to another foundation, the more likely the shark is to attack that spot.

While armoring the rest of the raft, a three foundation "tail" that is only one foundation wide will almost force the shark to attack there.