Go see the competitors. Seriously.

[Techwright]

Just putting my two cents out there.  Okay, I realize this remark is not in the base construction forum, but that is for a reason.  Some folk do not darken its door, and that is a mistake in this case.   I'm putting this in General because it is usually the most viewed forum.  Hopefully more will respond as a result.

 

There's a current base building competition, you've likely noticed the launcher's announcement, and entries are already pouring in.  Go see it.  Seriously.  There are some really remarkable creations in it.  Sure, it runs the gamut from barely beginning novice to powerhouse expert, but the number of amazing creations is worth a visit, especially considering how old the base-building system is. 

 

Don't skip out on the other servers.  If you're not going to transfer a character to those servers, just whip up a new character, a starter copy of your favorite character, perhaps, and transfer some INF via email.  Start the character in Atlas Park, stop by the S.T.A.R.T. vendor for an hour or two of a jetpack rental, and head to the Atlas base portal. (You'll likely need a jetpack for some of the creations.)  EDIT: Adding @Forager's comment from the thread: a newly-minted Peacebringer starts with flight, so you could skip the jetpack costs if creating one.

 

Don't skip out on the "novice" category.  A few of these are incredibly impressive and "novice", in these cases, simply means they've never entered (or perhaps placed) in a competition before.    No, I'll not tell you specifically which ones.  Consider it an Easter egg hunt, and give all competitors a sporting chance.

 

Lastly, I recommend giving positive feedback.  Drop them a message telling them what parts you liked and that you appreciated their efforts.  I've already done it for several competitors and it thrilled several that someone took the time to respect their efforts.   Even a kind question (Where does that path lead to, exactly?  I'm not sure what I'm supposed to see here? Can you clarify?)  can be positive feedback for their improvement by helping them see their creation through another's eyes.

 

You might just be inspired to try your own hand at it.  Like I'm attempting.  (We'll see if it gets done in time.)

 

List of competitors is found here, and is growing, probably through May 4:

 

 

Edited 23 hours ago by Techwright
added content

[Snarky]

I just entered yesterday.  My base for an old SG I have had a long time.  Personal base.  Limbo-10586 on Excelsior.  It is an exercise in both minimalism and extremism.  It is... Limbo.  (and the corner I stash my crap in)

[Ghost]

1 hour ago, Snarky said:

I just entered yesterday.  My base for an old SG I have had a long time.  Personal base.  Limbo-10586 on Excelsior.  It is an exercise in both minimalism and extremism.  It is... Limbo.  (and the corner I stash my crap in)

I gotta check this one out.

I made a “hell” base for my MM a few years back.  Wondering how it compares to what you created

[Scarlet Shocker]

we know a song about that, don't we, boys and girls?

 

 

[Techwright]

Just visited several more bases that were added after I posted the OP.  More of them had me picking my jaw off the floor, especially now that I've begun to understand what's involved in the creation process.   I'll not influence competition viewpoints by say how many or which ones.  You'll just have to visit.  😊  I will say that one of this lot had me breaking my personal record for reference pictures and note taking by more than 1/3 of the previous record.  A few more like that and I'll need a new USB drive to hold all my reference materials.

[Forager]

About touring bases on other servers:

 

Peacebringers start with flight.

 

[lemming]

I started looking thru bases yesterday.   A lot of wow factor going on and ideas for improving my own.

[Excraft]

This should go into the Bases sub-forum. 

[Forager]

 

3 hours ago, Excraft said:

This should go into the Bases sub-forum. 

You should read the post.

[Snarky]

32 minutes ago, Forager said:

 

You should read the post.

Read a post?   Posts hold up fences.  Not too much to read there.  Unless you mean a signpost.  Did anyone see a signpost?

[Techwright]

Just finished another round of base visits across the servers and man-oh-man, we're still getting winners, er, incredibly good bases! (Changed that so as not to bias the judges, lol.)

 

Considering the circumstances of one base which I just visited, this is probably a good time to mention to the uninitiated that you may want to utilize two tools when visiting bases:

 

1.  Turning on/off the user interface (UI) - some bases, you just want to drink in the view, and the UI can tend to clutter it.  To create a toggle for this (see CAUTION before beginning), on a per-character basis:

• go to the character's Menu, 
• then Option, 
• select Keymapping tab, 
• then scroll all the way to the bottom grouping called "Other".  
• The first line under "Other" called "Disable UI" is what you want.  Most likely it is not defined yet.  Click once on "Disable UI" to activate the line for receiving input.  
• Now click on a button that you want to use to toggle the UI on and off.  The game will assign that button.  
• Click on "Close" to close the window when done.  

Now you can turn on/off your UI to clearly see bases, or anything else for that matter. 

CAUTION: make certain that the button you choose is not already doing duty for another task.  Scroll through the Keymapping tab to see if the button of your choice is already assigned.

 

2. Visual Scale - a useful tool to command your computer to better render items with effects and at distance.  For example, in the base I'm attempting to construct, there's a long room, and I cannot see the smaller items I've set at the far end of the room without upping the visual scale.  This will reset with each exit of a base, so you'll have to type it in again each time.  There are different levels (I hear various levels as the upward limit) but most builders who recommend a change suggest a setting of "5". You'll see a comment from them in their forum posting, or perhaps a sign just inside the base.  The command is:

/visscale   (and then the number)

So for the most-commonly asked change, the command you type into the chat line would be:  /visscale 5 

 

 

Edited 20 hours ago by Techwright

[Excraft]

14 hours ago, Forager said:

You should read the post.

 

Thanks, I did read it.  It's about encouraging people to take a tour of bases entered into the most recent contest.  To me, that kind of discussion belongs in the bases sub-forum.... where there is already threads about entries, asking questions and such.   That's what the bases sub-forum is for, just like we have sub-forums for bugs, suggestions and ideas, comic and hero culture etc. to help organize topics.

 

I'm not suggesting people shouldn't visit bases or enjoy bases or admire and appreciate the hard work people put into them.  Far from it.

Edited 20 hours ago by Excraft