Building a base

[Studozer]

Hello everyone,

I'm new to this mod and I've only played it a few weeks.

Some days ago I got the idea to build my own base. I've watched a couple of videos on youtube to get things started, but there are a few questions that still need answers.

1. I can't get my head around the physics aspect of building objects. I was trying to build two ramps out of wooden floors on each side of my base. When placing the first ramp gravity took the floor and placed it as it should be, but on the second ramp the floor just hangs vertically from the floor piece it snaped to. I've tried to remove the flood and replace it, both in snap mode and in free mode but nothing works. Am I missing something?

2. Build mode 3, what exactly does it do? I figured out that if I switch between Build mode 3: 0 and 1, the wooden walls turns so I can choose which side to upgrade. This mode however has 0 to 3 (I think) options, what does option 2 and 3 do?

3. Whenever I place a floor or a wall in either snap mode or free mode, I cannot move the object if I placed it incorrectly. I can only wait until the object has been built and then remove it to get half the materials back. This is odd because when I placed the first ramp in question 1, I got the option to move the floor before it was built, but this only happened one time. Was I dreaming or is there an option to move an object before it's built?

Thank you for all the help you can give me and I'm sorry if this has been asked before.

/Studozer

[KPABATOK]

Currently, in general, physics work only for storage devices, traps and frequency jammers, as you can build them and while timer is ticking, move away and place somewhere else. With base building parts physics only appear under certain conditions, for instance, you try to place a floor in the air without support - it will drop down but you will be able to move it as the timer is ticking and pick it up. Other example is more random from my experience, physics will appear even if building part has the necessary support underneath, but again, not always. But from my perspective it is always good thing to build everything in ghost mode, as physics tend to make objects snap unevenly or sometimes even jump in the air and kill you.

Build modes, from my tests, does not work as intended. There are only 2, not 4 options. 0-1 and 2-3. I tested them with wooden stair snaping and got only two ways to snap - original and move them 90 degrees in one direction. But it is never all 4 ways (4x90 degrees equals 360). So ignore these options for now until they are fixed or removed. They have been there for a long time.

And yes, if you place a building part using ghost method, you won't be able to move them. Only remove later after they snap and timer is off. This is sort of to prevent people from killing themselves with building parts due to arma 3 physics.

That being said, everything is work in progress. What ghost mode allows you is to see how the building part will look like before you press number 1 again and it also allows you to move it and place somewhere else without snapping in free mode (number 2 on keyboard). So you have plenty of time to decide you like what you gonna be building or not so that you won't need to move items later in physics mode and possibly kill yourself this way. Do not forget to use HOME/END buttons to move items away and towards you to get better view on where they will be placed/snapped.

[Studozer]

7 minutes ago, KPABATOK said:

Currently, in general, physics work only for storage devices, traps and frequency jammers, as you can build them and while timer is ticking, move away and place somewhere else. With base building parts physics only appear under certain conditions, for instance, you try to place a floor in the air without support - it will drop down but you will be able to move it as the timer is ticking and pick it up. Other example is more random from my experience, physics will appear even if building part has the necessary support underneath, but again, not always. But from my perspective it is always good thing to build everything in ghost mode, as physics tend to make objects snap unevenly or sometimes even jump in the air and kill you.

Build modes, from my tests, does not work as intended. There are only 2, not 4 options. 0-1 and 2-3. I tested them with wooden stair snaping and got only two ways to snap - original and move them 90 degrees in one direction. But it is never all 4 ways (4x90 degrees equals 360). So ignore these options for now until they are fixed or removed. They have been there for a long time.

And yes, if you place a building part using ghost method, you won't be able to move them. Only remove later after they snap and timer is off. This is sort of to prevent people from killing themselves with building parts due to arma 3 physics.

That being said, everything is work in progress. What ghost mode allows you is to see how the building part will look like before you press number 1 again and it also allows you to move it and place somewhere else without snapping in free mode (number 2 on keyboard). So you have plenty of time to decide you like what you gonna be building or not so that you won't need to move items later in physics mode and possibly kill yourself this way. Do not forget to use HOME/END buttons to move items away and towards you to get better view on where they will be placed/snapped.

Great, thank you for the answer. This cleared a few things.

Yes, I've built my base in ghost mode so I can see how the result will be before I press 1, but after I press 1 and timer starts to tick, I cannot move the object. I have to let the timer finish and then remove the object. Is there no way I can move it before the timer ends after pressing 1?

Also, if I am to place, let's say, wooden stairs, I open my inventory and choose the stairs then press build, the ghost stairs appear. If I want to place something else instead, can I undo the wooden stair at this point or do I have to place the the stairs down before I can do anything else?

Thanks again for your help KPABATOK.

[KPABATOK]

"but after I press 1 and timer starts to tick, I cannot move the object."

that's correct, it is because the building part is transparent (aka ghost mode). And no, there is no way you can move it before timer ends.

That's the only possible option for building now and there is no choice. Before, all building was physical (and it was huge pain in the ass) and patch 0.3.0.1 introduced ghost building and made snapping building parts much more accurate and in addition prevented players from killing themselves when they snapped parts incorrectly or when Arma 3 gods decided this stuff gonna jump in the air and land on your head. It still happens sometimes, but it's very very rare now. So we have to live not being able to move base parts and like the old saying "measure twice, cut only once". But in my native language this saying is even more extreme, measure 9 times, cut on the 10th ;) That's what I try to do when building a base.

"Also, if I am to place, let's say, wooden stairs, I open my inventory and choose the stairs then press build, the ghost stairs appear. If I want to place something else instead, can I undo the wooden stair at this point or do I have to place the the stairs down before I can do anything else? "

You can move around with that building part as long as you have energy. And only when you press "1" again on your keyboard, the building part will be placed wherever it stopped. So if you are on the ground, opened inventory, chose stairs and pressed "build" and then decided you want to place these stairs on second floor instead, just go up to second floor and place there. As long as building part is in ghost mode, it is attached to your character and you can move around in 75 meter radius (frequency jammer limit by default).

Earlier it was possible to cancel building when you pressed ESC key or pressed "open inventory" again. It is now bugged a little and does not work. It says building canceled but the building part is still attached to you. The only way to sort of "detach" it from your character is to re-log. You should see that canceled building material back in your inventory.

On top of that, as long as you have not upgraded the stairs (takes additional 4 lumber packs), after removal you get all 4 lumber packs back, so you can build the stairs again and remove and build again and remove and you will always get 4 lumber packs back. Same with workbench itself too.

P.S. The best advice I can give you is to not upgrade anything until you are happy with design. Especially not upgrade with cinder wall/gates, as removing cinder wall costs you losing 3 buckets of mortar that was required you to build it. So build using wood, it is cheap, just takes some time to cut trees but much easier than looting trashpiles and containers looking for cinder and mortar. But eventually you would want to upgrade your walls to cinder, since it is strongest. Wood is pretty easy to destroy with couple of satchels.

[Studozer]

Thank you for all the answer. I had one more question regarding building in groups, but we sorted it out yesterday by re-loging a few times :)

Much appreciated!

[FiddyB]

if you want physics, place the wall, floor etc in the air, about 1 metre, it will drop as a physical object that you can then "move" while the timer is still on.

 

[Studozer]

On 2015-12-10 at 3:11 PM, FiddyB said:

if you want physics, place the wall, floor etc in the air, about 1 metre, it will drop as a physical object that you can then "move" while the timer is still on.

 

Yes, I figured this out some time ago, thanks. As long as you don't place it too near a foundation (or something to snap on to) physics will make it drop to the floor.

[reverendumhd]

Does anyone know how to snap? I've been trying to snap some concrete foundation on my server but I cannot get it to do so

[TheStainlessSteelRat]

Foundations snap one  foundation width apart as opposed to being adjacent like most other parts. This way two foundations snapped actually allow you to lay three floor pieces.

[reverendumhd]

1 hour ago, TheStainlessSteelRat said:

Foundations snap one  foundation width apart as opposed to being adjacent like most other parts. This way two foundations snapped actually allow you to lay three floor pieces.

Thanks; I totally forgot about that. :)