Jump to content

Modular base design


Recommended Posts

Hi,

I saw a video on YouTube where big part of the base has been build in NxN size blocks. 

This could be fun to do...

Let's say we would like to build 10x10 sized modules with isolation at the edge (1st and 10th brick).

Each module would be responsible for a different thing. There would be a toilet module, sleeping module, power module etc.

There could always be a entry and exit pipe in the same place (let's say for cooling) and a vent.

 

Those modules would be easy to replicate in new bases.

You could just stick them one by one.

I will play with this concept in the future.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I actually grid out my base using 10x4 rooms (internal size).  I will combine rooms into larger rooms to wrap around geysers/POI/etc. or to create larger farms.  However, I stick to the overall grid as I play, as my OCD wouldn't let me do otherwise.  lol.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

38 minutes ago, Ecu said:

I actually grid out my base using 10x4 rooms (internal size).  I will combine rooms into larger rooms to wrap around geysers/POI/etc. or to create larger farms.  However, I stick to the overall grid as I play, as my OCD wouldn't let me do otherwise.  lol.

I play in 16x4 grids.
But yeah, same deal.
 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, FantasticMoose said:

I play in 16x4 grids.
But yeah, same deal.
 

I used to do 16x4 as well, actually.  However, I like having a smaller grid footprint as it gives me more flexibility for aligning larger builds.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is an interesting concept. I would just like to clarify how the rooms are arranged. Are you going for a grid pattern? What would be the spacing between different modules? And if that is set as standard can I make rooms that span two modules plus whatever spacing needs to be between them? Trying to force certain things to exist in specific 8x8 cubes (+walls) is all nice and fun but what if you hit an efficiency wall that could easily be overcome by just knocking down a physical wall and spilling over?

Cool idea though, I could never be bothered to enforce external boundaries but most of my stuff is in fact "a room that does this" with just inputs and outputs running into it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's a snapshot of my most recent base in its current state. This is really early, but should get the idea across.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1819855965
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1819849502
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1819856032

You'll notice i've kept spacing for the ladders to allow airflow, and room for the firepoles later, keeping the grid all the way out to the borders of my insulated wall.
It also allows me to easily repurpose the latrines for Morb breeding grounds later with the extra spacing for an airflow tile. Playing on Arboria, so I'm going to need to farm pufts.

Individual blocks will be cut and fitted into rooms as needed.

My great hall setup, storage and farms will break my patterns slightly though, but not a lot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, Darkin Coaled said:

This is an interesting concept. I would just like to clarify how the rooms are arranged. Are you going for a grid pattern? What would be the spacing between different modules? And if that is set as standard can I make rooms that span two modules plus whatever spacing needs to be between them? Trying to force certain things to exist in specific 8x8 cubes (+walls) is all nice and fun but what if you hit an efficiency wall that could easily be overcome by just knocking down a physical wall and spilling over?

Cool idea though, I could never be bothered to enforce external boundaries but most of my stuff is in fact "a room that does this" with just inputs and outputs running into it.

I generally design my rooms as room -> ladder -> firepole -> room.  If I need a larger area, or a geyser/POI/etc. would be in the way, I just assign multiple rooms to wrap around them (plus the ladder/firepole space within the area).  This way, the grid is preserved, but some constructions may occupy multiple grid slots, essentially.

5d40399f1d26b_Screenshot2019-07-2816_16_48.thumb.png.1812101471b1123b21c20ea779fe2934.png

You can see an example of this here.  This showcases a hatch farm design I created when trying to do an all colony achievement run.  The farm is two grids wide (plus ladder/firepole space), and seven grids tall.  Though it need only be four grids tall.  The additional three are for another set of farms as the design is stackable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

40 minutes ago, natanstarke said:

These days im trying to always have ranchs inside the base, also crops. So i use 16x4 for normal rooms and bigger sizes for the ranchs and maybe the great hall but not always sometimes i make more of them.

With my 10x4 rooms, if I connect two rooms horizontally (and the ladder/firepole space between them), it ends up being 24x4 or 96 tiles, which is exactly the maximum size for a ranch.  Alternatively, you can see the vertical ranch shown in the picture, which showcases making tileable vertical farms.  Works pretty well, if you ask me. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, Ecu said:

With my 10x4 rooms, if I connect two rooms horizontally (and the ladder/firepole space between them), it ends up being 24x4 or 96 tiles, which is exactly the maximum size for a ranch.  Alternatively, you can see the vertical ranch shown in the picture, which showcases making tileable vertical farms.  Works pretty well, if you ask me. 

I like vertical ranchs sometimes but normally outside the base, inside i prefer long corridors.

I guess the vertical ranchs are the best for slicksters arent they? This may be even more used now with the co2 era.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, natanstarke said:

I like vertical ranchs sometimes but normally outside the base, inside i prefer long corridors.

I guess the vertical ranchs are the best for slicksters arent they? This may be even more used now with the co2 era.

I would assume you would want vertical ranches for slicksters, yeah.  I haven't ranched them yet myself.  I would probably do vertical ranches for pufts as well.  The example I gave in my previous post though was the long corridor you mentioned.  So my grid style works nicely for both styles of ranches.  Creating 16x4 rooms ends up being only 64 tiles, which means you cannot get the maximum critters per stables.  If you connect two rooms, you are at 128 tiles, which is too large for a stables. 

Just a FYI.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I always do my main base as the sides about 23 wide each for 2 single bedroom with a bathroom in the middle, even for levels that aren't bedrooms, and about 17 inm the middle for things like the cafeteria.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Ecu said:

I would assume you would want vertical ranches for slicksters, yeah.  I haven't ranched them yet myself.  I would probably do vertical ranches for pufts as well.  The example I gave in my previous post though was the long corridor you mentioned.  So my grid style works nicely for both styles of ranches.  Creating 16x4 rooms ends up being only 64 tiles, which means you cannot get the maximum critters per stables.  If you connect two rooms, you are at 128 tiles, which is too large for a stables. 

Just a FYI.

Thats true but i just make another wall " and break the simetry". Your bottom doors in the ranchs they let only coal, eggs and extra critters drop or it drops everything? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, natanstarke said:

Thats true but i just make another wall " and break the simetry". Your bottom doors in the ranchs they let only coal, eggs and extra critters drop or it drops everything? 

Critters themselves can stand on doors, so it only drops items/eggs.  When eggs drop from the upper ranch, the falling egg counts as an egg for the bottom ranch instead and triggers that ranch to drop.  This makes the whole farm stackable and cascading.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The doors are a great idea! I usually use a sweeper to transport the eggs to an incubator room. Sweepers drop them in unpowered incubators. Probably more power intense, but it works!

 

Vertical stables for slicksters and horizontal stables for hatches works well. The unused space in the hatch stables can be used for gas or liquid storage without losing the buff as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, axxionx12 said:

The doors are a great idea! I usually use a sweeper to transport the eggs to an incubator room. Sweepers drop them in unpowered incubators. Probably more power intense, but it works!

 

Vertical stables for slicksters and horizontal stables for hatches works well. The unused space in the hatch stables can be used for gas or liquid storage without losing the buff as well.

Primary reason to use vertical stables for hatches is to keep grooming time down, as hatches need less time to get to the station.  You could certainly use sweepers to handle the eggs instead.  Main benefit to my design is that it can be done with less research and resource cost.  It does mean the spare space in the vertical farm cannot be used though (as eggs need to be able to fall).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

6 minutes ago, Ecu said:

Primary reason to use vertical stables for hatches is to keep grooming time down, as hatches need less time to get to the station.  You could certainly use sweepers to handle the eggs instead.  Main benefit to my design is that it can be done with less research and resource cost.  It does mean the spare space in the vertical farm cannot be used though (as eggs need to be able to fall).

Yep, reducing time to groom is important. My setup limits the hatches to about 5 tiles worth of walking area before a door and tile keeps them from going any farther. The space behind the door is usually utilized as other kinds of storage like liquid or gas. The whole setup is 25x4 (including the door and tiles to block the hatches) and can stack on top of each other... One day I'll put blueprints together...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, FantasticMoose said:

I play in 16x4 grids.
But yeah, same deal.
 

 

3 hours ago, Ecu said:

I used to do 16x4 as well, actually.  However, I like having a smaller grid footprint as it gives me more flexibility for aligning larger builds.

Same

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I always like the idea of modular designs, but when I try them out in practice it gets boring quickly. 

These days I build my bases with a nice girthy airshaft running straight up the middle - space pole space ladder space mesh heavy-wire - and divvy up the vertical space into blocks of 4-tile floors with a 2-tile interstitial space between each two rooms.  4-2-4-4-2-4-4-etc.  The interstitial spaces give me wiggle room to put transformers; storage containers; for a 16x6ish stable; for a hydrogen-filled pantry in my great hall; or to elevate or dip the floor a bit to better preserve natural tiles for wild planting.  Then I build outward as suits the terrain and my purposes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use Xx4, with two or three wide gaps between. My current base is 10x4, with a two wide gap. Originally one is ladder, then the  other is dug out except for floor level (or rather: now that dupes can run on ladders the floor level is another ladder.). Later on in high traffic areas it's replaced with a ladder + firepole, and eventually a plastic ladder + firepole.

(Note: I'm counting interior dimensions. So the repeating unit is 14x5. Ladder, firepole, wall, floor x10, wall. And going up, floor, spacex4, next floor/this ceiling.)

Some things are multiple units wide, and sometimes things aren't quite grid-aligned, in which case I just ensure that the perimeter works. I'll squish down to 2 or 3 high ceilings, and/or move a vertical, if necessary.

I've been considering doing a 4x4 with a 1 wide gap, alternating. Or maybe 9x4 with a 2-wide gap. I've come to the conclusion that 10x4 is an awkward middle. Nothing really fits well (aside from gas tanks).

I generally later on run high-wattage power up/down, and low-voltage left/right.

9 hours ago, Lurve said:

4-2-4-4-2-4-4-etc

Interesting, but all that dead space costs a fair bit of dupe time, and means that the "lazy" solution ends up with a lot of excess heat generated near the base.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I pretty much only use 4 height grids for the rooms that have bonuses associated. So, bedroom, bathroom/washroom, great hall, rec room. In practice that's a pretty compact design that very easily fits in 2-3 vertical layers and 3 horizontal sections. I used to adhere to 16 wide for max room size, but now instead of using a full size bedroom and sticking 6-8 dupes in there I build out 4 separate bedrooms for 2-4 dupes each with attached bathrooms, so you don't need so much space.  

Everything around that breaks the symmetry though. The only hard rule is the vertical shafts cannot be interrupted. I'll usually have mealwood plants early, so I'll build 2 rows of 2 height corridors underneath the great hall, which works out to a 5 high interior. Often I'll use that layer for my fresh water underneath one of the bedroom/bathrooms, so 5 height isn't a huge issue on that layer. 

I'm still in the habit of building the insulated tiles way out at the edge of the starter biome where the temperature shifts so I can hoard all that 23C goodness inside, even if the space is way more than I need and it means I'm getting long commute warnings for the rest of the game since I put all my machinery outside the walls. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/30/2019 at 5:30 AM, FantasticMoose said:

Here's a snapshot of my most recent base in its current state. This is really early, but should get the idea across.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1819855965
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1819849502
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1819856032

You'll notice i've kept spacing for the ladders to allow airflow, and room for the firepoles later, keeping the grid all the way out to the borders of my insulated wall.
It also allows me to easily repurpose the latrines for Morb breeding grounds later with the extra spacing for an airflow tile. Playing on Arboria, so I'm going to need to farm pufts.

Individual blocks will be cut and fitted into rooms as needed.

My great hall setup, storage and farms will break my patterns slightly though, but not a lot.

Wait, so you guys don't NORMALLY keep all of your rooms as rectangular and symmetrical as possible?

20190802220745_1.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I basically do this anyway.  All of my floors are 18x4 with doors on either end.  I've recently started making them 20x4 with a door one space in so that the room remains the max 16x4 area but I have a ledge outside for plants or statues or something. 

The only thing that doesn't fit perfectly into my modular design would be my great hall, but that's only because I make is the max 120 tiles instead of 64 so it takes up 2 floors instead of one.  If I just made two great halls at 64 tiles then it would be perfect.

Additionally, my kitchen tends to take up extra space outside the 64 tiles, but that's only because I try to automate as much of it as possible.  If I didn't try to maximize how quickly new food was swept up and have the ingredients in chlorine delivery automatically, I could easily fit it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Please be aware that the content of this thread may be outdated and no longer applicable.

×
  • Create New...