Better Than Wolves Forum

Besides steel beacons, what have you done to help assist finding your way after a HC spawn? On a private server with a few friends, I've been working on a system of roads and portals. This picture is from the beginning of the week, we just got to steel tech a few days ago. The server started at the beginning of summer for frame of reference.

That is a very nice map.

I would like to negate hc spawn, but because I'm playing single player, my best bet is to just suck it up and build outposts when hc spawn is being a sphincter that day.

I would love to have some of them roads, but in practice, I'll probably just build monuments and have packed earth paths between outposts.

Very nice layout :)

Yes I did roads with outposts on a long duration server with friends. It is very aesthetically pleasing but time consuming.

On single player you get to remembering the major terrain features that lead you back again long term.

Lastly I frequently start a new BTW since the HC additions and devised a method to quickly get a foothold; right after my first renewable food and compass I box the whole HCS area with a path high off the ground.

Using the path I add outposts and additional sky markings when I HCS, dropping the recovery time. Downside it is hideous just for play testing/proofing.

Taleric wrote:
I box the whole HCS area with a path high off the ground.

Could you elaborate on this? How do you "box the whole HCS area" and how long does that take?

From a compass reading of estimated 0.0 I travel out in one direction to what should be the HCS perimeter. Several blocks off the ground I then continue the path around.

Having this in place I am sure to find my way if I HCS not knowing where I am if I can survive in one direction. Overtime outposts and additional paths are added but I am guaranteed not to wander too far at this point and each life contributes to minimizing recovery time.

This method I would call a later mid strategy as you need the blocks built-up, starting after crucible is best.

The whole thought is a visible quick system to save HCS time prior to SFS beacon. You still get plenty of HCS on the road to crucible. As said it is just kind of ugly if you live by the boarder.

Build time I would estimate at 3 hours already having the blocks from mining ect.

As you're at steel tech; make use of that stronghold.
-Its a free ride to spawn.

EtherealWrath wrote:As you're at steel tech; make use of that stronghold.
-Its a free ride to spawn.

The stronghold is only about 100 blocks south of spawn, too close to be of much use at all :P I would definitely agree that in SP it's not worth it to sink so much time into HC spawning as opposed to other things. With other people though I was able to focus on this while they worked heavily on tech and such. It worked out nicely.

Taleric wrote: Build time I would estimate at 3 hours already having the blocks from mining ect.

I thought about doing this once, but assumed it would be way too big a project.

HCS radius = 2 km, so one side of the box should be 4 km. The enter perimeter should be 16km, so you need 16,000 blocks to make a 1-wide ring.

16000 blocks = 250 stacks = over 4 double chests.

Am I missing anything that would make this more easier?

Well you wouldn't actually need a solid ring. Placing blocks every ten blocks would be more than sufficient. Even 20 blocks should be impossible to miss. A more difficult problem is actually figuring out where the perimeter is. All in all I say monuments are cheaper, easier, and more reliable.

Yeah, I'd personally much rather invest my time in roads and land marks directing me to them than a perimeter like that given the roads will also provide you with a speed boost on your return journey further decreasing your recovery time.

And this is for single player as well, which is pretty much all I play these days anyways. I find roads over varied terrain along with the tunnels and bridges that come along with them to be fun building projects that serve a real purpose rather than just creating a big eye-sore surrounding your entire spawn area.

I just make my main base at 0,0, then when I have to HCS, I make a monument leading in the compass heading I read and then remember my way back,

I would like to finish a massive road system that I've been planning for several worlds, but it seems that the universe just hates it when I play BTW for too long...