Stone building

[Lizzard]

Why is the ability to build with stone locked away behind the discovery of iron?

I mean, in order to get iron, you need to get to the Swamp. In order to survive long enough in the Swamp, you need upgraded hear. In order to upgrade the gear, you need an established base. In order to establish the base, you need hours of resource collection.

I'd like to build the start or a base early and then move on to expand it, but without stone blocks, most of what I build I just end up destroying and rebuilding. I don't like having to build an entire wooden base and building for a few hours, only to THEN be able to introduce stone walls and floors after the fact. My OCD switch flips on and drives me crazy at that point over this!

[tyrael]

Originally posted by muchdebate:

Originally posted by tyrael:

you can use wishbone (bonemass drop) for more than just silver node hunting.

Sigh. Maybe I'm just unlucky. Carried that thing around for a lOOOONg time never found it working for anything other than silver

Those oval shaped stone configuration in the meadows, im sure you must've come across those. Like gravestones. Pay attention to the wishbone there.
In the swamp it's a bit more random but works there as well.

[blprice61]

Stone building blocks, for any reason other than aesthetics or building tall towers, are completely irrelevant to base construction and defense.

[muchdebate]

Originally posted by blprice61:

Stone building blocks, for any reason other than aesthetics or building tall towers, are completely irrelevant to base construction and defense.

Apparently we have different opinions. I see more options than towers, aesthetics or defense.

[blprice61]

Originally posted by muchdebate:

Originally posted by blprice61:

Stone building blocks, for any reason other than aesthetics or building tall towers, are completely irrelevant to base construction and defense.

Apparently we have different opinions. I see more options than towers, aesthetics or defense.

Maybe, maybe not, what options are you thinking of?

[muchdebate]

I'm thinking of bridges, of adjuncts to earthenwalls (such as an arch to suspend a brazier from for warming eggs), re-building "found" towers or combining two nearby ones.

I think most of our main base is stone blocks - partly because they don't need repair nearly as often as wood does.

I also prefer to build "out of the side of a mountain" with stone rather than wood - but admittedly that is partly aesthetics. Long story which I'll summarize as "Tommy Bartlett's Hot Tub Getaway".

[Mharr]

On a simple mechanical level stone does also have more hit points and fill a larger volume per block. Infinitely larger really, since most wood is mechanically 2d.

[blprice61]

@muchdebate:
Geesh how did I forget about bridges - I use stone there to add height to earthen pillars along with core poles for those "where'd the ground go?" sections of long bridges.

@Mharr:
Embedding a 45d X wall into a regular stakewall gives a total of 1400 hp for 6 wood and takes no weather damage. Given that a hard defense would normally use moat and/or earthen rampart, if the walls are placed 8 meters away from the inner moat edge (outer rampart edge) the only damage type you need worry about is pierce which the wood pieces are resistant to. Granted you might catch some stray damage from aerial attackers - and no not considering gjalls but even that should be mitigated due to multi-target penalty.

Really though Gjall defense is another topic entirely.

[calabacina]

I agree that it should be able to be unlocked sooner, however, until then, you can raise walls of land which are more difficult to make aesthetic but certainly resistant.

[Oakshield]

Originally posted by tyrael:

Originally posted by Oakshield:

Instead of building my entire base, I'm only building what is needed for the first two biomes.
Being someone who likes to build on an island plateau, I'm usually raising the island to a level I'm able to live at without having to face the water entering my basement in a storm. Usually that's 3-4 clicks up with the hoe; or 6-8 stones.
At that point I start building a house, large enough to hold a bed, a workbench and the first two extensions and several chests, as well as a campfire. A 4x4 block is already enough for that.

Id love to see screenshots of that and im sure those wouldnt hurt the whole topic either.

As requested:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3074715447

In the back the temporary shack I build for me and a friend. 5x5 this time as it's for two persons.

At the bottom (frtl) Kiln, smelter, fermenter. The campfire with cauldron is hidden behind the fermenter.
To the left is the forge (lvl 1 as I don't want to upgrade much when my friend isn't around), covered with 3 26degree roof pieces.
The size of the pit is 8x2m wide, 12x2m long and 5m hight (measured in wood beam / pole).

The campfire in the shack somehow floats in the air after I removed the dirt from underneath.

To the right is my - partially subterranean - boar pen. Prepared for the future and ready to host other animals at some point.

To the left my bee hives and farm. Currently having seed carrots but eventually growing both carrots and seed carrots. And of course, later going to be replaced by other types of food.

Edit 2: Added the view inside the shack:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3074728208

Campfire with 2 cooking stations in the center. Chests for resources, trophies, food items and our spare gear to the right.
And our beds to the back.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3074728503

Opposite view with the workbench, chopping block and tanning rack in the right corner.
To save room, I have put the chopping block at a 1x1m floor piece.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3068069404

The 3 pier dock I created. Still using wood as base material, although the supports are Core Wood.

Edit: Side view of the dock entrance from my "keep" area to the dock itself:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3068068996

I will update with more screenshots once we've progressed to the Swamp biome.

Thorin :)

[>< V ><]

Originally posted by muchdebate:

Originally posted by blprice61:

Stone building blocks, for any reason other than aesthetics or building tall towers, are completely irrelevant to base construction and defense.

Apparently we have different opinions. I see more options than towers, aesthetics or defense.

I would agree.

Stone is irrelevant when it comes to defenses.

The best defense in the game are spawn blocking structures and then a wood fence at the perimeter to stop wanders is all you need for a 100% indestructible base.

On a more technical level, the stone blocks are high enough to initiate an attack from enemies and they strike the block causing damage. Whereas a simple wood beam is too low to initiate an attack from enemies and so they never attack it and just get confused on why they can't step over a wood beam.

When it comes to defense, wood > stone, simply because of the low profile that the AI can't initiate an attack on or step over.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2786862626

[lorifel]

Originally posted by >< V ><:

Originally posted by muchdebate:

Apparently we have different opinions. I see more options than towers, aesthetics or defense.

I would agree.

Stone is irrelevant when it comes to defenses.

The best defense in the game are spawn blocking structures and then a wood fence at the perimeter to stop wanders is all you need for a 100% indestructible base.

On a more technical level, the stone blocks are high enough to initiate an attack from enemies and they strike the block causing damage. Whereas a simple wood beam is too low to initiate an attack from enemies and so they never attack it and just get confused on why they can't step over a wood beam.

When it comes to defense, wood > stone, simply because of the low profile that the AI can't initiate an attack on or step over.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2786862626

Could as well disable events in console.

[Fury Fairy]

Originally posted by Lizzard:

In order to upgrade the gear, you need an established base.

All you need to push you through barbaric wooden times towards holy stone age is 3x5 wooden shack, it can be put together literally within 10 mins or less - including storage, fire, and workbench. There's no sane reason to build anything else until stonecutter, so why bother - especially if your OCD prevents you from sleeping at night?

[Lizzard]

Originally posted by Fury Fairy:

Originally posted by Lizzard:

In order to upgrade the gear, you need an established base.

All you need to push you through barbaric wooden times towards holy stone age is 3x5 wooden shack, it can be put together literally within 10 mins or less - including storage, fire, and workbench. There's no sane reason to build anything else until stonecutter, so why bother - especially if your OCD prevents you from sleeping at night?

And to find that iron, you... do what? Die repeatedly in the swamp, or get crushed by trolls? I end up building forges, smelters and kilns, which requires killing skeletons, etc. it's just an endless chain.

[>< V ><]

Originally posted by lorifel:

Originally posted by >< V ><:

I would agree.

Stone is irrelevant when it comes to defenses.

The best defense in the game are spawn blocking structures and then a wood fence at the perimeter to stop wanders is all you need for a 100% indestructible base.

On a more technical level, the stone blocks are high enough to initiate an attack from enemies and they strike the block causing damage. Whereas a simple wood beam is too low to initiate an attack from enemies and so they never attack it and just get confused on why they can't step over a wood beam.

When it comes to defense, wood > stone, simply because of the low profile that the AI can't initiate an attack on or step over.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2786862626

Could as well disable events in console.

I have the enemies stuck on a small wood beam, completely exposed to easy killing and I should turn this off?

Ummmm, OK, I guess.

[blprice61]

I may have to retract my opinion that stone constructs are not necessary for a defensive structure. I was watching Firespark81's latest "defense against all raids" insanity and remembered doing experiments last year with various single earthen pillar based structures. Had the thought.. what if I used stone on top of the pillar?

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3076116827

Didn't use any iron beams or reinforcements, nor black marble, just plain wood and stone. This was the largest useable footprint I could come up with. Single story 3 meter high exterior wallsl, 26 degree roofing - didn't fill it all in, just enough to make sure it was workable. I think that is big enough to qualify as a base, especially since you can get smelter, blast furnace, kiln, oven, hearth all up there. Windmill would be nice but almost certain that would require iron beams and reinforcements.

For the record, that's 73 tiles of floor space at 12 meters above the ground at pillar base. Would like to see other's experiments with this kind of build.

PS: That Firespark81 youtube video is actually 10 months old, just new to me lol.