Dacy

Great question, Rudra! We would, actually, be happy to evaluate your base, but: we would prefer to do this after the competition, so as not to confuse people or judges (okay, they are people too, just judge shaped people) :). In the meantime, if there is something specific you'd like to know regarding your base, or if you'd like to talk to someone about it 1:1 and get some feedback, there are many of us who are happy to do that. The easiest and fastest way to get responses regarding your base would be to join the Builder's Discord (see my sig for a link), but if not, we will look for you after the contest and see about getting you an evaluation if we've not heard from you before then. And if we don't, well, sometimes we get busy and forget, so track us down! 🙂

If you have questions, concerns, notes, or additions to the rubric, please submit them for consideration. While I cannot guarantee that the rubric, which was approved by HC Council members, would change for this competition, our goal is and always has been to have evaluations that are as fair and agreed upon as possible. To that end, we welcome input from the community. Please note, however, that just because you think something is beyond what we should judge (maybe you've never considered that to be a part of a base before, and so think it should not be a part of a general rubric), this rubric is based on experience from what we've seen in bases. Not every base will gain points in every category. I would say that there is NO base that will score well in every category. The rubric is there to cover possibilities that impact the quality of the base, as fairly and objectively as we can. It's useful if you are the competitive sort, because you can look to see what sorts of things you will want to make sure are as good as you can get them before judging starts. It's useful so you know what will be looked at. Good luck and best wishes to all competitors!

I just wanted to give a friendly reminder to people that when they have questions such as the common ones: how do I open the ceiling to the sky, how do I build above the base, how do I move the entrance, how do I raise and lower the floors, why can't I place this item, how do I put things on top of other things...all of these questions and many, many more are answered for you in The Base Building Guide, right here on the forums. You can also join the Base Building Discord (City of Base Builders), where we have FAQ, tips and tricks, known issues, help, and of course, a place to chat and show off your work, plus both places have links to my video series on base building. (see my signature) There are tips and information in print, for those who prefer to read about things. In short, there is a lot of information that will help you avoid problems, get off to a strong start, and avoid the mistakes that so often force new builders to waste a lot of time and effort, only to have to start over. It's put out there in the hopes it will help you when you start building your bases! And I know that if you use it, it's all very very helpful. I hope you will check out all the resources that are there for you! We can help you answer questions most people face, and we can help you with questions that are fairly advanced and unique. But my main point here is, if you read and/or watch what is available, you will learn a lot that will save you time and energy, so you're not stuck trying to figure out a problem or how to do something that's already been addressed by others. Thanks for reading this, and I hope you take advantage of the information available to you!

I haven't looked yet, but honestly, as to winning contests, besides the huge and amazing talents that are in this community that are hard to beat, there are really very few contests. So, there are very few chances to win. I know fantastic top tier builders that have not won, either, and it certainly is not because their bases are lacking. It was that someone else's in whatever competition was just the tiniest bit better in some way on the scoring of the many many considerations that can be evaluated. My name is well known in the building community, and yet, if I were to enter a contest, I'm really sure that most of my bases would not win any category I might enter them in. Not up against the ones I know they'd be up against. And that's okay. That does not make my bases less, that just means that I know they're not going to rate above certain other bases that are exceptional. EB mentioned seeing flicker. Flicker, or what some call glitches, are a huge eyesore to most, and even worse, direct and distract attention away from what you accomplished. I've known people to leave bases just because they could not tolerate the flicker, and it's easy to correct. I can show you how. I plan to do a video on it soon. The winners of the contests tend to be builders who push the limits of base building and dedicate a lot of time to building and learning about what they can do. Stay tuned, EB and I are working on ways to give more people a chance. However, contests are always about sorting through contestants and finding the "best" of what was entered, and the people who wind up with the "best" entries (as determined subjectively by people with their own opinions) are typically those who are always learning and trying to improve. Only you can answer that about yourself, but that is pretty much what it takes. Do you want to improve, and what are you doing to achieve that? Again, I have not seen your base, and this is not just for you, but for anyone who wants to rise to the top: some things to consider. What do we look at, when judging bases? (we've now got rubrics that help guide us in what to look at, look for, and in how much consideration to give what, so it helps objectify things a little, on a very subjective topic!) Technical skills- are things placed close to the way they come out of the editor, or angled, sunk, and positioned carefully? Do objects look like they are laying on things, or are they floating above or partially buried? Are spaces planned, and efficiently and naturally filled, or are they barren and too large? Did the builder start filling the area with stuff just because they clearly thought it looked cool, or does it fit with the theme and have a purpose? Do things look cohesive and make sense? Are there created items, and are they well done? Did the builder build things according to what they wanted to create, or did they let the editor's selection dictate size and what was built? Artistic skills- How's the lighting? Does it help to create the focus, mood, and even the flow of the base? Is there a color scheme? Are contrasts and lighting used to highlight areas of interest? Are created items clear in what they are meant to be? Is space used well, and is the composition pleasing? Does the base draw you in and make you a part of this world? Is it a believable place, with immersive details? Functionality- How's the flow? Intuitive, or confusing? If services are offered, are they straight out of the editor, or did you incorporate them into the theme of your base? Or did you make your theme adjust to what the editor offers? How accessible are those services? Are they where you'd expect to find them if you did not know the layout of this base? Are doorways easy to find? Pathways and other locations marked in some way, or intuitive? If things are not marked, they'd better be intuitive. Most of these considerations are not things entry level builders ever think of. (Some of these thoughts came from the rubric that EB and I and others have created, and some came from some thoughts shared by Gizmouse/aka @Cosmic Cat recently) I certainly did not consider any of this when I was first building (or even much later). I think an exceptional base boils down to, "did the builder create something from what the editor offered, or did they make the editor do what they had in their mind's eye?" There is a huge difference in what each of those bases will look like. The editor wants only certain things to be floors, and certain things to be walls. Rooms are a certain size, like the size of a floor tile, or a couple of them. Walls are a certain height. Rooms are a certain variety: gyms, bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom, living room, office, maybe you have a grocery store, a donut shop, a pizza place.... And so that's what you get. And then you get the bases that aren't straight out of the editor. Rooms that are the size of what you need, instead of the size of the pieces the editor offers. Walls made from various materials because you prefer how those materials make the room feel. Bases that do not feel like bases when you step into them: you are transported into another world, with its own life, immersion, and detail. There is nothing wrong with a base straight out of the editor, mind, especially if that was what you wanted! However, bases built according to what the editor offers tend to look a lot like other bases built according to what the editor offers. But if you're talking about wanting to win contests...look to do more. 🙂 So that's my say on what it takes to compete in base building. That, and, winning those contests is hard! But that doesn't mean we don't try, because at the least, we get to show off what we've done. 🙂 And I value all the effort and work, no matter if you win or not, because I know how much most people have put into their bases. And I think the people who tour the bases also love seeing the amazing work that people put in, and that's not just for the ones that win.

That is interesting, I had never tried that. Thanks for the info!

Nice, Lemming!! Thanks. I was fumbling 🙂 Too many long days of late...

The teleporter beacon names can be arranged to a certain extent. However, only within categories that are not immediately obvious. The beacons are coded by date of creation, and these dates are in groups. The original zones are in one group, which includes the original hazard zones; but zones created later will be arranged after and appear after zones that were created first. So, your first list, which happens to include all original zones and THEN a later zone, all appear in the order you happened to have put them in. Had you tried to put Pocket D at the top, it would not have stayed there, as it was created later. So, again, you can arrange the order of how zones appear as long as you keep the ones you are arranging all from the same time of creation. I can't make it much more clear with just words, you may have to experiment to get a good sense of which zones were created first, second, and so forth, or just look it up. 🙂

And I am lured back here, could be because the topic is active again, could be because I heard my name, and I actually have a few minutes of time where I can sit and write (rare these last few weeks!). I like what Raikao said about simply a list of "not trash". Trouble is, what are the determining factors for that, and who decides? Some (myself included) would prefer basic grammar and spelling be adhered to. Does that mean it needs to be perfect? No, but grammar and spelling aid in making writing more understandable, and even if that does not guarantee clarity, it does help. Some authors (including book authors) need an editor to make their words make the most sense and convey the story clearly, and we have no such level of publication here. It's all self published. Truthfully, I've seen stories that were interesting and deserved to be told but were very difficult to comprehend due to problems the writer had with, well, writing. Unfortunately, not every creatively sound idea gets conveyed in a way that others can really enjoy. There's probably a market for those that are GOOD at working out the AE editor and making it do what they want it to do, and those that are good at writing down the interactive dialogue side of things, to use their knowledge to help those that have the ideas, but no skill in figuring out how to translate that into an AE arc, like those of us who are skilled with the base editor use our knowledge to translate another's idea into reality, and for much the same reason. Either people have not figured out how to use the editor to the degree that is required to do what they want to do, or they have a limitation that is keeping their vision from being realized in the way they desire. I think there are two limiting factors in producing good stories here: one is, people who want to play them have more or less given up wading through the farms and dreck to try to find stories worth playing, and this probably discourages people from creating them, as has been discussed at length here. The other is, like the base editor, the AE editor can be tricky to figure out completely. Balancing custom creatures can be difficult, and once you get the story published...you probably can't get many people to play it. All of that is plain discouraging to people, I think. But back to the idea of a list. The idea behind this is simple and clear and seems self-evident, really. However, I know from painful experience, this is unfortunately not something that would be simple to do, and will probably blow up in the face of anyone who tries it. That's because no one wants to hear that their story doesn't rate being on the list. Pointing fingers, cries of favoritism or elitism, or whatever "ism" you think is against you waits for anyone with the guts to start such a list. Not that such a list wouldn't be a great thing to have, and there is always the possibility that people whose stories aren't included due to quality issues will, instead of making a fuss, take a look at how they could improve their work. Experience tells me that there won't be a lot of those, but there will be some. Perhaps that is where an out of game directory could be of some use. Only people interested in having their stories be available to the public can submit, but instead of automatic entry, the story is played and evaluated. No huge lofty "oh this is a story worthy of a Dev's Choice" or other award, but merely, does it tell a story, does it make sense, and perhaps, check the author's categorizations to be sure they are accurate, and have evaluator's ratings attached anonymously, as long as there was a group of evaluators without a personal agenda with the author. However, this would demand a great deal of time from those willing to play the stories and decide if the story could be in the directory. I am not advocating this, it's just a thought; do with it as you will. But it would have the effect of separating the stories from the farms, and making sure that only the stories that make sense and are complete and are intended for general play (not someone's personal RP project) are listed.

That is so cute, Vectress!!! Enchanting 🙂

Base shift has been conquered. 😄 Thanks again, devs! YES to more lighting. I want invisible lighting, such as you find in the base, tintable and such, that you can place above or below the base. I agree with the ugly salvage, as do most people; here are ways to hide or disguise all services so that you don't see any of them, but can still access them (note that inspiration containers were additionally changed after this was made so that now you can simply turn them upside down and sink them to access them from below; turn on hidden markers (in editor options on bar) to see the blue touch zones).

There is a search function in the editor itself, but it is very limited. When you say, that's assuming that a slash command doesn't already exist, what slash command would you mean here? I wasn't clear on what you meant exactly, sorry.

Thank you! It would not necessarily have to change the UI, just be something that could be called up in game to, for example, search for things that can be used as doors. Or things that are tintable. Once you find the item, maybe it can take you to that item in the editor. I’d love rearranging the editor, sure, but realize that’s a lot.

How are mods created? How extensively can they change things? I would love to get the base editor to be better organized and searchable by such things as type of material, size, properties such as whether or not it can be tinted, gives light, has collision, etc. We started working on an online reference tool, but first of all, that's more difficult to use than a mod would be, and secondly, as we have found with another project, various people will object to various sources of programs, such as Google, Windows, and Apple; they all have their haters who will not use those products. Last question has to be, is there anyone who writes mods who could and would help on such a project (if it's even possible, I'm asking from absolute ignorance here). Thank you!

Aww, well, you can still see the base, it's open til the base reset on Tuesday. No monsters (tho if you tell me when you're going to show up, one or two might decide to also show up). 🙂

That is sweet, Troo, thank you so much! Glad you had so much fun, Black Spectre!