ARK: Building Guide
Cool Building Tips and Videos to check out!
ARK Building Walkthrough
Finding A Suitable Location For Your Base
A good location for a first base would be an area fairly close to water, but not close enough to be threatened by the aquatic life. You'll probably want to make sure you aren't too close to more aggressive dinos, make sure you are not on any aggressive dino spawns. The next big consideration is flat land. Building on a slope won't be easy and you'll need additional Engrams for things like supports.
Your First House
Depending on where you are standing, the segments can suddenly shift position. So make sure they are where you want them and that the green outline is stable and not jumping around. Keep some extra raw materials handy just in case you need to make a few extra segments to replace anything that ends up badly placed.
The foundation will be the first part that you must install. You'll want a flat area so that you don't run into problems requiring additional Engrams, such as posts to support the structure, at least for your first base. A 3 by 3 or a 4x4 set of foundations is more than enough room for a starter thatch home. Simple Thatch walls and at least one Doorway and Door should be made. The Cheapest roofs are just flat ceiling tiles. But you do have trouble with stooping inside then. Roofs can be made with the sloped pieces. But you will need two Right and two left sloped walls to enclose the end walls of the build.
Limitations of a Single-Foundation Sized House
The advantage to a single-foundation house is that it is easy to build resource-wise, and will fit into a small place. It also provides some protection and will let you have, for example, at most, two storage boxes or one sleeping bag. Possibly a bed. And it is a safer place to logout than in the bushes (usually!).
But the disadvantages are many. For one, it's a pain to place anything inside, because its too small. And if it's only one wall segment high, you can't place a large storage unit inside, because these are at least one and a half wall segments tall.
Defensive Walls & Dino Gates
It is often easiest to start by placing the Dino gateway and gate. Make sure the outline is facing the direction you want before placing it. That is an expensive part to demolish. I have found that standing where you want the inside to be, and looking out, is the best way to get the gate placed correctly. Using a Behemoth gate instead of the Dino Gate: Because of the way the snap points work, you really need to place fence foundations first - before you place the Behemoth Gateway. This is the only way you can be sure that it will line up with your walls. Otherwise you can end up making quite a mess trying to close off your walls completely.
Once you have the gateway in place, the gate itself will just snap right into the gateway. That part, at least, doesn't usually cause a problem. These gates are supposed to be usable while mounted. In practice, however, I often find that I must dismount to close the gate after exiting. Opening the gate to come in or go out is usually not a problem.
Another thing to keep in mind is that you may want to install the actual gates into the gateways as your last step. Should you run into problems building the walls, and then need to move that gate, it's expensive enough without having to demolish both parts. I've taken the habit of putting the gates into the gateways only once everything else is done.
Next you'll want to install the fence foundations, and then the walls. Because of the rather unstable placing mechanism at this time, I recommend that you only place one foundation segment at a time. Be very careful to make sure they all line up. I've had them 'snap' into place but in reality they were just a bit off being lined up and that caused a big section of my wall to be out just a little.
Upgrading Your Base
Woot you have enough wood or stone to choke a paracer! Now you can finally upgrade that ragged old thatch hut into a nice wooden cabin! Or that fabulous Stone castle that you saw in that one video!
The process for upgrading a base is pretty much the same as building it in the first place. For example, you can place a new wall exactly where the old wall was, and when you click to place it, the old wall will be demolished as the new wall is placed. You are, of course, refunded your materials for the old wall, though as with all demolishing, you don't get everything back. This should not harm anything you have built or placed inside a structure, unless you run into a glitch.
When upgrading your base the best place to start is with the foundation. In most cases you'll find that you don't need to demolish anything that you have built on the floor. I have run into a few bugs where I did have to do so, but I am sure that those are glitches.
Depending on how your base is built you may find that you have to do some of the upgrading from inside, though for smaller buildings the foundation is easier to replace from the outside as you can clearly see it. If you run into a glitch and you are forced to demolish an object built on the floor, make sure you have storage nearby for the materials refunded by demolishing them. Also keep in mind that when you demolish an object and its inventory is dropped to the ground it will de-spawn very quickly. Picking up the items and dropping them can be a way to buy yourself time. It is also a handy method by which you can move large numbers of items over to nearby storage containers.
Special Building Circumstances!
Building Videos to Check out!
Ark: How To Build A Starter Base Uploaded: May 21, 2021
Best Ark Base Build 2020 Part 1 Uploaded: May 13, 2020
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