Base Building Video Guide

[Dacy]

This topic gives a list of videos created to help people with everything from basic base questions to more complex editing techniques. Feedback, questions, and requests are all welcome.

 

I am changing the first post to give an index of the videos, so people can find them easily. The original post is below.

 

Here is the link to the channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/DacysBaseBuilding

 

These are short videos, not the highest quality, so as to make it faster to download and stream. Each video tackles a facet of base building briefly. URLs and descriptions are listed here, thumbnails are throughout the topic.

Introduction to Base Editing: Getting Set Up

A brief look at what you need to get your base started, and also, how to set the sky to "open sky".

A Look At Base Editing Commands

Improved to cover slightly more, more  concisely. Looks at setting up the editor to make editing as easy as possible, which keys to use to manipulate objects, and placing your base entry portal in or out of the base, and how to deal with the error when people get stuck in the entry portal when entering base.

Base Lighting Options

It might seem unimportant as a topic you should visit before you start building, but how you choose to light your base has a big impact not only on how it looks, but impacts the decision on whether or not to build outside of the base walls. Know exactly what you're choosing if you choose to build above or below.

Wall and Ceiling Options in Your Base

A look at what your options are for walls, both as part of the base itself, or as in what items make good walls and ceilings, and where to find them. Dacy shares her favorite way to make straight white walls and ceilings.

Make Your Base Work For You

Setting up base functions: Storage, Rez Facilities, Teleporters, Services and Buffs. Dacy shows you what is available and where to find it, and how to set it up. She includes a trick she picked up to make storage units disappear.

Making Base Function Look Fabulous

A short tour of some bases for samples of what Dacy spoke of in "Make Your Base Work For You", in making your functional pieces look good, or seem to be part of your design, or even completely unnoticed.

Help For Editing Problems

The editor has quirks and outright bugs. This segment is a bit longer than others, but deals with negotiating these bugs and quirks. Why is your item jumping around? What do you do when things have shifted around from where you put them? How can  you get rid of flicker? These and other problems are sorted out.

Quick Tips to Fix Editor Errors

For those who don't want to watch the longer and more complete “Help For Editing Problems" and just want to know what they can do to avoid or fix a problem.

Kitchens!

A guide to putting together the appliances you've seen in my kitchen, with some options to what's been shown.

Windows You Can See Through, Plus More

Construction tips for making windows you can see through, and a look at options the base editor offers for ready made windows; which walls are best for the outer walls of a house, and different door options.

Creating Different Levels in Your Base

A look at the different items you will need to create different levels in your base, how many levels you can put into the base within the walls, and different items you can use to achieve different looks.

Base Sky Options

Goes over some of the different base-wide sky options, and how they effect objects you place, plus, the place-able skies found in the "Skies" tab in the Place Item category.

Terraforming

Making higher grass hills, rock formations, and floating islands.

Advanced Base Editing Techniques

A few things I’ve learned that should help you edit some trickier things more easily. 
Roads and Cement Surfaces

The replacement for the one with the wonky video; a look at good materials in the editor you can use for roads and other cement surfaces. 

Building Material for the Outside of Buildings

A look at some materials good for the outside of buildings in actual finished buildings in a base. Both house and city buildings shown.

All New Building Above and Below the Base

With Page 6, everything changed! Updated info on how to get set up to build above or below, followed by information on things you need to know: what are the advantages and disadvantages and trade-offs.

Working With Water

Placing water so it looks good, without flicker or gaps, which water plates need solid surfaces under them to prevent characters from falling through them if they are placed over air, and making pools and rivers and lakes.

Building Complex Items

Shows techniques I use in making complex items, with a demonstration build using the techniques.

COH Basebuilding: Creating Roofs

Creating roofs, different types of roofing materials.

 

TOURS

Base Tour: Power Girls

See a high-end townhouse.

COH Base Tour: The Invincible Ones

Tour of award winning space ship base on Excelsior.

Base Tours: The Pagoda

Base tours of the most awesome bases in Paragon: Today, the Pagoda!

 Base Tour: Rat City

Tour the one, the only...Rat City

Base Tour: Karma

Tour the island everyone talks about...Karma Island!

Base Tour: Sleigh Belles

The holiday base everyone will be talking about!

Base Tour: Paragon Galleria

See a wonderfully realized full scale mall!

Living in Style: Apartment Tours

Two apartments by @BBBadger, beautiful!

The Chapel

Dacy's own build, a perfect place for weddings!

Granny Victoria's Tea Room

A beautiful little gem by @Aalya

 

New Series: Base Quick Tips

Base Quick Tips: How to Open The Sky

The often asked,"How do I change the ceiling to sky?"

COH Base Quick Tips: Placing Plot and Rooms

Start with the basics!

COH Base Quick Tips: Moving Entry Portal

Often asked right after they learn how to open the sky...

COH Base Quick Tips: Placing Objects on Top of Other Objects

How to put things on the table instead of them appearing to float over the table...

COH Base Quick Tips: Interior Base Teleporters

The how-to for how to connect the pieces so you can zip about your base in no time!

COH Base: Quick Tips: Positioning Those Pesky NPCs

Can't seem to  target NPCs?  You're not alone...but there's a solution!

COH Base Quick Tips: Using Banners: More Than Just Decoration!

Make colored walls, carpets, and more!

COH Base Quick Tips: Making Spiral Stairs

Creating spiral stairs is easier than you might think!

COH Base Quick Tips: A Quick Look At Editing Commands

A very short overview of what commands you need while editing.

Quick Tips: Raising and Lowering Room Section Walls

How to raise and lower sections of walls inside of rooms, even if they're blocked by objects.

 

New Series: Building Skills (Placed some older videos in this category on my channel, more in depth than my quick tips on a single topic)

COH Building Skills: Lettering

There is a lot more to lettering than just the oversized alphabet in the editor!

Building Skills: Disguising or Hiding Base Services

Get your salvage and other services to look like the rest of your base! 

Building Skills: All New Building Above or Below the Base

Same video as referenced above, but is part of the building skills series. Lays out both the technique for building above or below a base, and the considerations you need to know about before you make a decision on where you want to build.

COH Building Skills: Making Slides

Flat, self-propelled slides, downward slope slides, and...UPWARD slides? See how to do them all!

 

I will add more videos as I make them. URLs will be added here, thumbnails later in the post.

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Original Post:

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I am seeing many people whose learning style is perhaps more visual than learning from print To help those people who learn better by watching someone do it than by reading about it, I made some very short, basic videos. I plan on doing more, but for now, I've covered the very basic getting started information, and a video detailing how to build above or below the base, and also a video demonstration of the basic editing commands. I'm happy to consider requests for demonstrations of how to do something you've heard about, perhaps, but are unsure about how to do it. I plan on keeping each video as short as I can make it and still cover the topic, but each segment will only cover one aspect, in order to keep them short. They are also not the highest quality I could make, intentionally, so that they use less memory and are faster to download.

 

Getting Started: Intro to Base Building

 

 

I am replacing "Basic Editing Commands" here with the more helpful "A Look At Editing Commands", because it's more complete.

Let me know what you think! 🙂 Thanks! And if you have a video of something you think would be helpful for others, please feel free to put it in this topic!

 

-Dacy

Edited March 17 by Dacy

[Dacy]

Today's video installment is on lighting.

 

-Dacy

[Dacy]

Another video! I go over some of the options for creating walls, talk about creating levels in your base, and show you a couple of tips to create white, smooth ceilings, and fix flicker.

 

 

I do appreciate it when people know if these video helped them, or what sorts of things people might want to know more about. Thanks!

 

-Dacy

[ShardWarrior]

Thanks for these!  🙂

[Hedgefund]

If I may make a request..

 

How about a "basics" guide?  By that I mean something to show how to make a base with the following:

 

1) Portals to all zones (Rogue Isles, Paragon and beyond)

2) Crafting stations 

• Invention worktable
• Empowerment stations (both arcane and tech)

3) Storage

• salvage
• enhancements
• inspirations

4) Med Bay + nurse

5) Pillar of Ice and Fire

 

Maybe an intermediate one (or maybe basic+) for these:

1) Trainers

2) merit ATM

3) Quartermaster

4) Facemaker

 

[EmmySky]

Dacy,

 

Phenomenal!  You are a rock star.  Your videos are very helpful and easy to follow so thank you, thank you, thank you!

[Ulysses Dare]

For anyone who's into base building—or thinking about starting—I highly recommend Dacy's video series.

[Dacy]

Hey Folks, I have another couple of videos for you...Hedgefund, you wanted a video showing what sorts of things to put in your base to set up services, so I obliged. Here is Make Your Base Work For You, with the basics:

 

 Then, as a follow up, I show what I'm talking about with ideas, tips, and tricks on how to arrange the functional items in your base in a way that enhances your style:

 

 

I hope these help! 🙂

 

-Dacy

Edited November 13, 2019 by Dacy
replaced the second video, so I changed to link to match.

[Dacy]

So, I’m thinking of doing the topic of workarounds for base editor idiosyncrasies, such as how important camera view is to placement, why objects may suddenly jump as you’re moving them, how to quickly get the position you want when the editor doesn’t want to place the item the way you wish, and more. Would you rather see one small video for each problem, or a video that covers all in the same topic?

 

-Dacy

[EmmySky]

23 minutes ago, Dacy said:

So, I’m thinking of doing the topic of workarounds for base editor idiosyncrasies, such as how important camera view is to placement, why objects may suddenly jump as you’re moving them, how to quickly get the position you want when the editor doesn’t want to place the item the way you wish, and more. Would you rather see one small video for each problem, or a video that covers all in the same topic?

 

-Dacy

I think one video is fine.  Most of those problems are quick fixes so having a dozen 30 second videos would be awkward.  Thanks again for all the hard work you put into these!  

 

Ps....on the last video above where you tour other bases the sound seems out of sync with the video...ending quite a bit before the visual.  It may have just been my phone messing up but ya might want to check it out.

[Dacy]

Hmm, could be the very user unfriendly YouTube editor. That was the only video I edited, so you didn’t have to sit thru the loading screens, and, in the last base, me getting from one room to another. I’ll take a look, thanks!

 

-Dacy

[Dacy]

 Actually, Emmy, in YouTube, that video has no views. What happened was, I’ve uploaded three different versions, trying to get the dang editor to work right.  There was one version that I told it to delete, and it kept it up, public; that one had two views. That was full of mistakes, Which was why I was editing it, but it didn’t seem to have compiled back together after I edited it correctly, so I tried to delete it. That maybe the version you got.  But, I did succeed in deleting that one finally, and I have the corrected version up now. You might try downloading it again and watching it and seeing if the sound is better now! 😊  thank you for the input! 

 

-Dacy

[Acroyear]

These were very helpful. Thanks for taking the time and effort to create these for the community!

[Dacy]

@Acroyear, I really appreciate it when people tell me that this helped or they appreciate it! It keeps me going! 🙂 Thanks.

 

My latest video is an attempt to deal with some of the quirks and bugs we've seen in the editor. Editing is much easier when you understand the editor! Bugs, workarounds, tips, it's longer than the others, but it's got a lot of information!

 

 

Thanks, everyone!

 

-Dacy

[Dacy]

Hi! Would folks be interested in seeing how I put my kitchen items together? Or anything else? Like the stairs to next floor transition, windows you can see out of in a house, terraforming, etc?

 

-Dacy

[EmmySky]

Stairs to next floor and windows to see out of!  All the windows I found in the editor dont seem to offer that.

[Acroyear]

On 9/21/2019 at 6:04 PM, Dacy said:

Hi! Would folks be interested in seeing how I put my kitchen items together? Or anything else? Like the stairs to next floor transition, windows you can see out of in a house, terraforming, etc?

 

-Dacy

Yes, I am very interested in how you constructed your kitchen, as I will be recreating the one for our base from back during Live, and I'd like some new ideas. Also, everything else you listed. :) 

[Dacy]

Two more vids, one is a quicker, shorter, less informative version of "Getting to Know the Base Editor", focusing just on the bugs/problems with the editor and any solutions I've found for them:

 

 

One is a look at how my kitchen appliances are made, and overall how I put together my kitchens.

 

Video on making see through windows coming soon.

 

-Dacy

[Votiga]

Hello there base builders!

 

If this is the place to put Base Building Guide videos, I have one I produced earlier this summer.

 

It's a bit longer than Dacy's videos and there is some overlap of information, but I had hoped this one video would be a good introduction to someone who's never messed around with Supergroups or Bases.

 

The video starts out with me gushing about this game (which is a little embarrassing in hindsight 😛 ) and goes through the process of making your first base, from registering your Supergroup (Blue Side) to making a simple functional base.

 

There are time stamps in the video description if you want to jump to a specific point.

 

 

I'm happy that so many people are interested in Base Building and it's secrets. I have learned so much from others and it's my desire that all this information can be shared and improve everyone's fun!

Edited September 24, 2019 by Votiga
Can't get the video to embed. Ahh figured it out

[Dacy]

Thanks, @Votiga! You included some information that I did not, such as filling out the sg form, and placing several rooms in a base, vs. placing the one big one, and also the fact that you can come back at any time and change the size of you base plot. Good work!

 

Next video in my series is up: Building Windows You Can See Through, plus more!

 

-Dacy

[Tahliah]

Thank you so much, Dacy!  And also Votiga!  These videos are incredibly helpful, and now I am inspired to get more serious about my base. 

 

The tips and tricks in the videos I've watched so far (I haven't watched them all YET) are invaluable.  It took me almost two hours to build a simple bridge over a river, so I wish I'd had these.  At least now I have a more clear idea about how to do "simple" stuff like that.  And I know how to fix the still "off" bits of my bridge, too, since I was working with the wrong grid size (among other dumb things I was trying). 

 

Again, thank you so much!  I want to say, too, that I appreciate your style of presenting things, Dacy.  It's accessible even to those of us who are not at all techy but really want to build bases we love. 

[Votiga]

12 hours ago, Dacy said:

Thanks, @Votiga! You included some information that I did not, such as filling out the sg form, and placing several rooms in a base, vs. placing the one big one, and also the fact that you can come back at any time and change the size of you base plot. Good work!

Thank you @Dacy! I am very impressed with the one big plot move. I never thought of doing the base that way, but it makes sense once you start building your own walls and such. I suppose one advantage to using multiple rooms is that you can have different wallpapers in all of them.

 

I can't wait to see your next one!

Edited September 25, 2019 by Votiga

[Dacy]

Thanks for the kind words, @Tahliah, I'm so glad the vids were helpful! Isn't it a great feeling when you realize there's an easier way to do something? Of course, that's tempered by all the frustration you built up trying to accomplish something that was being difficult! I've had more than my share of "doh!" moments, trying to do something the hard way, myself, so I know what you mean.

 

Thanks, @Votiga, yes, if you want to use the base decorating abilities, the only real way is by making rooms, or at least, raising walls in the one big room, which you can do, too.  The nice thing about doing it that way is, you don't have those blank spaces where corners of rooms meet, where you can't place a doorway, but the base walls are so very thick, they are a bit cumbersome, and you can't raise part of a wall, it has to be all the way to the top of the room. However, I remember a base from Live that used those open spaces and created stairs going down under the base, to levels they'd build below the base. Most of the base was built above, so it was a neat trick, one it took me a long time to figure out. There is no way to create an open space like that otherwise, that allows someone to go down below the plot, within the walls of the base. But that is a very limited application, and this was before you could use a really huge room. The huge room avoids the problems of having gaps you can't build in, because you can't build in between rooms if there's no doorway, as I pointed out in the video. And  you can place the big room, but still only build a little house or structure, and have the rest be atmosphere or even just blank, if it's above or below a base. But, again, it all depends on your plan. I've built a spaceship around a fairly small room, and used larger pieces to cover the walls, so that I could still use the base lighting inside, but not have to try and hide from a base that was still in the picture, looming above or below. From the outside, it looked like a space ship. Inside were three levels, for the most part, and on top of the base, I put a lounge/restaurant/bar with a view of the stars, and the space port/dock, which was how you could get out to see the outside of the ship, if you wished. It got out of hand in terms of memory use, with all the fx I used, so I'm going to remake it using some of the newer pieces, at some point. Hopefully I can make it with less of a memory bog, or else, just skip all the storage and function and have it only for looks. But I dislike doing that, a base should be functional as well as cool, imo.

 

To get the narrowed effect in the front, the entry room is in the middle at the front of the plot. I chose the smallest plot I could that was rectangular, tho you could choose a bigger plot and create whatever pattern of rooms you wanted to build around, I suppose....my goal was to not let it get too big so I kept the room as small as I could, and according to item count, I was doing fine, but the fx still bogged down the memory use.

 

So, well anyway. That's an example of a small base plot, where I built in and on the base itself, but extended large items out so they covered the outside of the base.  More pictures can be seen in a topic here, 

Spaceships, Space Stations, Moonbases?

so I won't clutter up this topic with more shots. 🙂

 

-Dacy

 

[Dacy]

I've heard a few people complain about the base entry problem where you get stuck in the entry portal, and /stuck doesn't help, so I remade my Base Commands video to include that, along with what I hope are more complete and concise demonstrations of base editing controls.

 

 

A look at building stairs and multiple levels coming soon!

 

-Dacy

[Sakai]

I had no idea a lot of that was possible. Now I do tyvm. 

 

Clear, concise and makes me eager to watch more. Except right now I am playing with fog and fire and that seems like more fun. 

 

Happy hunting.