![Building Tips And Tricks [From a new player] for Starbound](https://steamsolo.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/building-tips-and-tricks-from-a-new-player-starbound.jpg)
Overview
Building tips from me, Soldat! See a style or two, places to build, and more!
Helpful Contributors!
Thanks to Lileats227 (Frozen_Pancakes) for making the Building Designs section, and helping me name the 3 pests that are in the bottom of this guide.
Achievements
Alright, before we get straight to the point, lets just get one thing out of the way for those who want to 100% the game.
Achievements!
Yes, there are achievements for building. There are only two, however they are fairly easy to get.
- Cramped Colony – “This isn’t a healthy way for anyone to live.” Build 5 homes in a very small space. NOTE: The homes are required to be owned.
- From The Ashes – “Well done Protector!” Build a large colony. NOTE: You need to make 10 homes. It is mandatory that they be owned.
Now that we got that over with…
Building Locations!
Location, location, location. The location of a build can be the difference between someone saying “This is comparable to dog feces” to “Is this what it’s like to be in a palace?” Or they might just say “Looks cool.”
The following two sections will show you good places to build your huts, towns, or cities. Thankfully, there are plenty of planets that will (hopefully) complement your builds!
Building Locations – Caves
In the case that you have spent too much time playing songs with your ocarina (Relatable!) that it has become night time, it will become significantly more dangerous to stay outside. As S.A.I.L. says, risk of harm will be rose.
Have no fear, however, as you can build a hole in the ground a nice, comfortable home inside of a cave!
Once you have found a spacious cave, begin to use blocks (In my case, wood) in order to make paths, homes, and possibly even secret areas!
Here are the steps;
1. As said earlier, find a nice and large cave.
2. Trace an area with wood, along with removing/adding some blocks in order to make platforms, floors, houses, etc.
3. Add furniture and finishing touches.
You know, I am just waiting for someone to make a “instructions unclear” joke.
Building Locations – SPACE!
SPAAAAACE!
Cool thing that really dragged me into Starbound were the fact you can make your own space stations. All you need is a Station Transponder, obtainable from someone you can find on a station. You have to do a mission for them in which you get tools to make it, but once you do, you can make a space hotel. The costs are as follows;
- 50 Titanium
- 50 Gold
- 50 Silver
- 1000 Pixels
Inside your station, you can edit gravity, add rooms, and with a couple commands, can even modify the rooms!
Steps to deploy your station;
- First, confirm you are inside your ship.
- Second, use the Station Transponder.
- A gui should pop up. Give it a bit as it connects to the pre built drone in your ship. (Convinient.)
- It should change to a screen which is a view of the solar system you are currently in. Red areas are places you can’t deploy your station. Move your mouse to a blank area within the star’s range, and click once you are satisfied.
- Afterwards, once it says the Station Deployment Drone is finished with its objective, you are free to head to your station and begin building!
In order to modify your newly created base, you are given 3 slots to expand from, signaled by a couple green dots. Press E on them, and you should be able to expand your station.
Earlier, I said that you can remove blocks, so it could make your base look nicer. In order to do that, you have to go into admin mode. All players have access to it, unless the server has specific rules not to permit players to have admin. (I may make a guide on how to do that.) Once you are in admin by typing /admin into chat, use the /debug menu. Find DungeonID in the gui that pops up. (You may have to be standing in a doorway) Afterwards, type /Settileprotection [DungeonID] false. You should now be able to destroy the background and blocks. After you are done, use the same command except replace false with true.
NOTE: You can do this on naturally generated sattelites, however if you destroy background behind you, you’ll be in 0G.
Building Locations – Asteroid Fields!
Asteroid Fields occur often in solar systems. They act like normal space encounters, except they have extremely low threat levels. To at least be able to survive, you need a Breathing EPP. The asteroids contain ores such as Copper, Silver, and Gold. There are is more copper than silver, more silver than gold. However, you can still get 1000+ silver fairly easily.
Their threat level is Tier 1, the only thing there being Skimbuses, enemies that can be killed easily by the broken Protectorate sword. They are not truly a threat unless you are ejected out into space from your mech and are stuck.
An idle Skimbus.
No gravity? No problem! You can still make some pretty cool things there.
Building Locations – Moons
Ah, the moon. The thing that creates waves and also hosts an ALASKAN BULL WORM!
Jokes aside, the moon is a good place to make a lunar colony, just as long as you have a breathing EPP with you. However, you should note some moons have occasional meteor showers. Either build underground* or dont go near those planets.
Moons have 3 types of weather; Clear, Glowing Rain, and Meteor Shower. Inside they contain a valuable resource to have on your endeavors; Erchius. Liquid Erchius Fuel can be gathered and taken to your ship to be used as a fuel source to power your FTL Drive. Now, there is one threat that can one shot you if you are not careful.
This thing is the reason I don’t go on moons. This creature will become faster and faster as you collect Erchius Fuel, from not moving at all, and slowly gaining more and more interest until its going at light speed to murder you. However, if you want to kill it, you can get a Mech from the Mech Workshop in the Outpost, below the 2 Stop Teleshop, near the bar. It will respawn shortly after, sadly.
Though, you dont have to have any Erchius at all nor dig some up. It won’t spawn, as long as you have no Erchius in your inventory. The moment you take any, SAIL says;
Originally posted by SAIL:I am detecting entities attracted by the moon’s erchius deposits. Their interest in you will grow as you collect more fuel. I would define these entities as ‘intractably deadly’. I salute your fearlessness.
Building Locations – Barren Planets
Also known by me as a “lonely, desolate wasteland with no life in sight at all inside.”
These places are VERY nice for building, as;
- There are no pests in sight.
- There is no stupid erchius worm thing.
- There is a large expanse to build in.
- There are no caves to accidentally build into, although you might want that.
- Barren planets are relatively small, so you can easily make a railway around it.
You can also make a network of barren planet bases via the 2 Stop Teleshop’s teleporters. One planet could be entirely farmland (Simply either use a terraformer* or just add a large area of dirt.) and another a planetary city or even a planetary store! Think about it… a mall that covers an entire planet!
*I used a forest terraformer on a barren planet with a colony on it. Plants basically raided my base, as in plants started to grow there. And no way am I putting my little colony next to a raffelisia. Those things stink. Litterally. Some say those things smell like rotting corpses.
Building Designs – Basic House
So after you’ve found a pleasant location for your humble abode you are ready to build. Beginning the process of building can be exciting! But before you set off to make that ten star mansion of your dreams, you need to learn the basics. To help you learn how to start those creative juices, I’ve created a basic house, made of the finest early game materials.
Disclaimer: You do not have to make the house exactly the same, this just inspiration
Materials: You will need a lot of wood, plant fibre, and stone.
Design: To have a nice and slightly realistic design, brick floors were commonly used as a base to make houses solid. Also using support beams adds a sense of realism to the house (Both vertical and roof supports). Lastly adding windows can bring life to the house, even if you dont have glass, fence or wood latices can work. Also don’t forget the furniture!
(Section made by contributor Lileats277)
Building Designs – Refurbished Ruins
Ever been exploring among the stars and finding ruined towers, houses, and wells? Well if you have then you’ve probably dreamed of repairing the sad saps. Well if you decided to refurbish some ruins… well your in for a treat. While it’s not hard (I did it in like 20 min without cheats), a beginner builder may have some troubles.
Disclaimer: You do not have to copy the design exactly, this is just made as inspiration.
Materials: Recipes (To get the recipes for the different bricks, just break one and you’ll learn to craft it), cobblestone, plant fibre, wood (Maybe).
Design: Now we want to ruins to have that aged look, but still look inhabited. To do this we need a balence of vines/leaves and bricks, as well as rubble. Usually 20% rubble/leaves, and 80% bricks will look nice. As for lights, lanterns look really good for a camp look. Iron or wood furniture looks nice, wood provides a more cozy look while iron looks more… it just looks different. Also dont forget to add windows! Whether or not you have anything in the window is up to you, empty windows look more ruined.
(Section made by contributor Lileats277)
Building Designs – Laboratory
You’ve discovered crazy things around the universe, and you want to get to know them better. What you need is your own lab. While the lab may not function a lot, it is a great addition to your home planet.
Disclaimer: You do not have to copy the design exactly, this is just made as inspiration.
Materials: Pixels (for pixel printer), scans (for pixel printer), iron, tungsten, glass, blueprints. (Note: You can also find the furniture in apex labs)
Design: Usually a general rule for building, have a block for the floor, filling (space under floor/in walls), wall, and ceiling (sometimes the floor block is used for the roof). Using metal supports and railings as floor/wall can provide a secure lab look. Glass rooves can add more natural light, as well as windows.
(Section made by Lileats277)
Building Designs – Mining Colony
Ah… moons. The perfect place for your dream mining operation. Though there is no vanilla way of having an automatic mine, these colonies can look amazing! Just don’t mess with the bull worm…
Disclaimer: You do not have to copy the design exactly, this is just made as inspiration.
Materials: Blueprints, tungsten, iron, glass.
Design: Building underground is a must on moons, and works perfectly for a mining colony, as the meteors will destroy EVERYTHING. Thick outer walls provide a look that the facility is trying to handle the pressure of the moondust around it. Girders and conveyor belts can look miney…?
(Section made by contributor Lileats277)
Bonus Tips – Counters for Pests!
Just finished the home of your dreams? Finally relaxing on that mushroom sofa? NOPE! Darn monsters keep knocking at your door, killing your precious animals and tenants. Well it’s time to stop them with these tips.
Disclaimer: All monsters were harmed in the making of this section.
One of the harder but stronger methods of security is turrets. Turrets can be hooked up to consoles, or set on their own, and will make friends with destroy enemies.
It can be made with:
1 Proximity scanner
1 Silicon board
1 AA battery
2 Copper wire
5 Durasteel
At the wiring station.
Once placed you cannot get it back, so be smart!
The hot stuff can eliminate everything that doesn’t fly (Darn you, Monopus) 
That’s one big pit, and one small fish…
Though I usually only trust myself with weapons, having a guard around can be useful. A guard will kill all nearby threats, and protect those in danger. To get one you just need a house with a weapon chest, and a colony deed. Certain furniture can get you certain guards as well.
