Author Topic: Base Building Tips & Tricks  (Read 21609 times)

mdlittle

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Base Building Tips & Tricks
« on: July 28, 2018, 11:05:01 PM »
Greetings PC Alumni...,

 - I suppose this is as good a spot as any to reserve a spot to discuss all the fascinating ins and outs provided to us by CW & Crew regarding the most recent Issue - Base Building. Ironically, I'm not a premier base builder, but was always interested in the feature as Supergroup Bases were as much a staple of comic venue as the Danger Room was to the X-Men. Moreover, with the diversity that the base building engine had to offer...a person could build a studio apartment all the way to massive enclosed complex. So let's talk about all the wonderous things we've learned and employed over the years to get truly inspiring and creatively designed spaces.

 - For starters, I'd like to discuss 'water effects'. This can be accomplished by placing an Arcane Defense Slow Field on the ground, then raise it's height by holding the shift key while clicking to hold the Slow Field and moving your mouse forward until the desired height is reached, then release the mouse button to place it. An important thing to note - you can only create 'pools' in rooms that allow for Defense placement. This trick can be used to create shallow pools to winding streams to SG sized swimming pools! Alright, who's next?
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Nyghtshade

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Re: Base Building Tips & Tricks
« Reply #1 on: July 28, 2018, 11:18:52 PM »
You can create interior walls by sliding bookcases together, front to back, and for the next higher rows, slide more bookcases in to the first ones, click on them while holding down the SHIFT KEY, and slide them upwards, even if this leaves them suspended in mid-air.  the SHIFT KEY is our friend, for stacking things on top of other things!  :)

Twi

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Re: Base Building Tips & Tricks
« Reply #2 on: July 28, 2018, 11:45:44 PM »
You can create interior walls by sliding bookcases together, front to back, and for the next higher rows, slide more bookcases in to the first ones, click on them while holding down the SHIFT KEY, and slide them upwards, even if this leaves them suspended in mid-air.  the SHIFT KEY is our friend, for stacking things on top of other things!  :)

If you create interior walls doing this, you'll find that you won't be able to use wall details on them. The fix for this?

Use Shoji Wall Lanterns, and build a chain of them over to your "interior wall", then build more of them inside that wall to get a good range of motion to put your comic book art or whatever else you want onto those bookshelves.

Alternatively, you can use the "cubicle" item and arrange the wall of that into the position you want, then place the detail.
« Last Edit: July 29, 2018, 04:04:08 AM by Twi »
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Tahquitz

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Re: Base Building Tips & Tricks
« Reply #3 on: July 29, 2018, 12:35:36 AM »
The Shift-Key method helps with 3D construction using desks or cabinets as a foundation. 

What I do: place Floor Tile in the area I want to build in.  Put the base layer of cabinets down, then raise the floor tiles with SHIFT+Drag until the tile is over the first layer.  Continue in this manner much like you would with Legos to assemble a structure. 

For example with Cabinets, I use Rustic Cabinets with the last clear part of the cabinet bounding box overlapping into the prior one I put down to make a solid floor.  After 4-5 cabinets high of column work, I can make a ceiling with the same cabinet to make a sub-floor.  In this manner, it's easy to make 3 floors in a room with both floor and ceiling sections filled in, or up to 6-8 in a fully open room with nothing filled in. 

The cabinets are the hardest, most tedious part.  But other considerations come into play, such as lighting.  Cabinet Ceilings are not actual ceilings, so lighting will be a challenge to place.  You need to cheat with wall lighting at places where you can get away with it.  Then there's navigation: ideally a ramp or staircase will need to exist to reach a higher floor without travel powers on.  (There's no right answer for stairs: not every staircase is linear, and making a round one out of square stairs and 'floor' blocks can be a challenge.)

But with that, layered construction is much easier than relying on magic desks, lamps or safes.
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Pengy

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Re: Base Building Tips & Tricks
« Reply #4 on: July 31, 2018, 11:48:22 PM »
?Supergroup Glass Logo 2 embedded 3 or 4 steps into the floor makes a door about the same size as a mission entrance.
Rotate it by holding down the Alt key and the left mouse button and moving the mouse to make it look like an open door.
Supergroup Glass Logo 1 embedded 1 or 2 steps into the floor makes a serviceable office or tech lab window.
In either case the large Floor Lamp embedded one step into the floor can be used to make a frame.

The top of the Generator Energy Curtain can be a small platform, for a tech elevator or something.

Kheprera

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Re: Base Building Tips & Tricks
« Reply #5 on: August 03, 2018, 05:26:33 PM »
The antique microscope (the brass one) makes very nice door pulls. I also used it to make a large-cup old style coffee maker.

Large crystal balls make excellent feet on desks. Just raise the desk up one notch, slide a crystal ball under each corner, and stack a desk or two on top of the first for instant dresser.

Use lighted and unlighted large florescent lights to make tech-style stairs. One lighted in front, an unlighted behind for a full step. You will need to put something on the sides to hide the connector points. I use cabinets.

I made a security x-ray scanner formy entry security checkpoint. I'll post pictures later to show it. I need to remember how I did it.  ;)

Achilles6

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Re: Base Building Tips & Tricks
« Reply #6 on: August 04, 2018, 01:38:50 AM »
what's the trick to building a multiple level entrance so when you come into the base, you are on the upper level of the entrance? Is there a specific item you need to use as a floor for this?

Nyghtshade

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Re: Base Building Tips & Tricks
« Reply #7 on: August 04, 2018, 03:32:46 AM »
Anyone have ideas on how to simulate the tap handles from the Bars in Pocket D?

Kheprera

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Re: Base Building Tips & Tricks
« Reply #8 on: August 04, 2018, 12:50:18 PM »
what's the trick to building a multiple level entrance so when you come into the base, you are on the upper level of the entrance? Is there a specific item you need to use as a floor for this?

I used desks to make my 2nd floor and raised the entrance portal.

MyriVerse

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Re: Base Building Tips & Tricks
« Reply #9 on: August 04, 2018, 01:31:35 PM »
what's the trick to building a multiple level entrance so when you come into the base, you are on the upper level of the entrance? Is there a specific item you need to use as a floor for this?
Desks are best or the various Stone Blocks in arcane set ups.

Lots of things work as far as top surfaces go, but many things don't have bottoms. So, you end up being able to see through floors from the lower levels. You can't see through the bottoms of Desks and Stone Blocks.
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Kheprera

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Re: Base Building Tips & Tricks
« Reply #10 on: August 04, 2018, 02:47:08 PM »
Here's my entrance portal, on the second floor.




Security Scanner which is below the entrance portal.




Lighted stairs using the large florescent lights.




And another security scan area. Now that I have worked this out, I'm looking to make one for my entrance as well.

« Last Edit: August 04, 2018, 02:55:49 PM by Kheprera »

Achilles6

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Re: Base Building Tips & Tricks
« Reply #11 on: August 04, 2018, 06:03:28 PM »
So how do you get the portal to the second level? I guess that is where i am having the problem. After building the second level, the portal is still on the bottom. I'm sure I'm gonna feel really dumb once I get the answer. But...oh well.... :o

Kheprera

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Re: Base Building Tips & Tricks
« Reply #12 on: August 04, 2018, 06:12:39 PM »
Click on the portal. Hold down the shift key. It moves like other objects and you can move it up and down.

Kheprera

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Re: Base Building Tips & Tricks
« Reply #13 on: August 04, 2018, 06:13:09 PM »
I'm on right now if you need help.

maleficent

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Re: Base Building Tips & Tricks
« Reply #14 on: August 07, 2018, 02:53:51 AM »
There used to be a tutorial way back in the day about how to mod the texture files / piggs so that the paintings and murals had a custom design for SG announcements and such. Each SG Member had to update the files occasionally because it only modded client side, but I thought since the bases are essentially all client side now it might be fun to try. Of course, I can't find the tutorial now. Also, if there is any advice for modding the Decorative Glass to get rid of the white circle. I'd be fine for it to be blank, but if anyone has figured out how to assign SG colors again for the banners, I would be very appreciative.

MyriVerse

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Re: Base Building Tips & Tricks
« Reply #15 on: August 07, 2018, 12:13:17 PM »
The SG stuff only works if you have old demos and convert them.
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Nyghtshade

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Re: Base Building Tips & Tricks
« Reply #16 on: August 10, 2018, 04:30:51 PM »
I can't believe I just discovered this last night, after years of base building.  When you click "Edit Base", you are automatically ZOOMED out to see the whole base layout, and then I always had to scroll-Scroll-SCROLL the mouse wheel like crazy to zoom back in.

Last night, I accidentally hit CNTL + Z, and voila, zoomed right back in on its own. 

How did I not know this was a thing??   :)

MyriVerse

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Re: Base Building Tips & Tricks
« Reply #17 on: August 10, 2018, 06:23:30 PM »
Didn't know that either. I usually just click on Place Items and it zooms back in.

Edit: Hmm... CTRL-Z does nothing for me.
« Last Edit: August 11, 2018, 03:49:44 PM by MyriVerse »
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Kheprera

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Re: Base Building Tips & Tricks
« Reply #18 on: August 11, 2018, 03:02:24 AM »
Used to be in the live game that you could zoom out and double-click on a room and instantly move there. Made switching rooms a lot easier than flying through the whole base.

I'm starting to remember more and more now.

Twi

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Re: Base Building Tips & Tricks
« Reply #19 on: August 13, 2018, 11:48:38 PM »
Anyone have ideas on how to simulate the tap handles from the Bars in Pocket D?

OOoof. I remember this being done in one of my old bases with microscopes and something else, but I can't seem to replicate it.
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