Star Citizen: Base Building Economics and Design Tools

“0:00 Introduction
0:37 Squatting vs Homesteading
0:59 Risks of Squatting
1:45 Only one type per planet?
2:31 What’s actually important about Land Claims
3:24 The real kicker with Squatting
4:30 Why defeating a base doesn’t steal the land cl”

In this video, Danny Raymond discusses the base building system in Star Citizen, focusing on the topics of economics and design tools. He explains the two types of settling - squatting and homesteading. Squatting involves occupying a place without authority, while homesteading starts with a legal claim to land. Squatting is risky and ephemeral, as you have no ownership rights and can lose your buildings if someone else claims the land. Homesteading, on the other hand, provides clear title and ownership rights.

Raymond also discusses the importance of clear title in base building. Clear title ensures that you have exclusive ownership rights to the land and buildings. He explains that squatting settlements are shard-locked, meaning they only exist on the original shard and cannot be transferred to other shards. This makes squatting settlements vulnerable to being claimed or bulldozed by others. He suggests that the availability of homesteading and squatting should not be limited to specific security systems, but rather be available in all systems to respect the land claims purchased by players.

Moving on to economics, Raymond suggests that the base building system should not render the existing Hard Rock mining game loop obsolete. He proposes that the building should be used to extract materials other than those collected by players through mining. He also discusses the debate around whether players should be able to build all ships or just certain components. He argues that allowing players to build all ships would be risky for the game’s funding model, but suggests a middle ground where players can build self-sufficient kit ships using salvaged or purchased components.

Finally, Raymond emphasizes the importance of design tools in base building. He highlights the need for a separate surveyor tool to create layout plans, as real-world architects do not design buildings by walking around the construction site. He suggests that base design should be collaborative, with players exchanging preliminary layouts and receiving feedback from the land owner. He emphasizes the importance of having skilled designers in organizations to create coherent and efficient communities of adjacent homesteads.

Overall, Raymond provides insights into the base building system in Star Citizen, discussing the concepts of squatting and homesteading, the importance of clear title, the economic implications, and the need for effective design tools.

salt-e-mike reacts:

This video discusses the importance of base building mechanics in Star Citizen, including concepts like squatting and homesteading. The YouTuber also talks about the potential risks and challenges associated with ship crafting and suggests the use of design tools and collaboration for efficient base building.

In this video, the speaker discusses the importance of base building mechanics in Star Citizen and introduces Ray’s deep dive into the design and economics of base building. They explore concepts such as squatting and homesteading, potential issues with squatting settlements, the impact of crafting all ships on the funding model, and the need for better design tools in base building.

In this video, the YouTuber discusses the importance of base building mechanics in Star Citizen and introduces the concept of squatting and homesteading. Squatting refers to occupying a place without authority, while homesteading involves legally claiming land and building settlements on it. The YouTuber expresses some uncertainty about the ability to squat in certain systems without a land claim, but believes that in lawful systems like Stanton, a land claim will be required. They also mention the potential risks of squatting, such as losing buildings if the land is claimed by someone else.

The YouTuber then moves on to the topic of economics and ship crafting. They discuss the idea of players being able to craft all ships in the game, but acknowledge the potential risks and challenges associated with this, such as upsetting the game’s funding model and the potential for gold farming. They propose a middle ground where players can craft self-sufficient homestead ships that are not as powerful as pledge ships, but still offer some customization and functionality.

Finally, the YouTuber talks about design tools and the importance of collaboration in base building. They suggest the use of a separate surveyor tool for designing layouts and the ability to send design files back and forth between players for feedback. They emphasize the need for simple and intuitive design tools that allow players to create coherent and efficient bases. The YouTuber ends the video by encouraging viewers to engage in discussions about the game’s development and to focus on making the game fun rather than frustrating.

In this video, the speaker discusses the importance of base building mechanics in Star Citizen and introduces Ray’s deep dive into the design and economics of base building. While the speaker acknowledges that they don’t always agree with everything Ray says, they believe that both of them recognize the significance of these mechanics in grounding players in the game world. The video then delves into the concept of squatting and homesteading, explaining that squatting involves occupying a place without authority while homesteading starts with a legal claim to the land. The speaker expresses uncertainty about whether squatting will be possible in systems like Stanton without a land claim.

The video then explores the potential issues with squatting settlements, such as the risk of losing buildings if someone else claims the land and the challenges of moving bases between different shards. The speaker also discusses the asymmetrical nature of attacks and the importance of clear title in base building. They express the hope that there will be a middle ground, allowing for squatting in middle and high-security systems and homesteading in null-security systems.

Next, the speaker addresses the idea of crafting all ships in the game and the potential impact on the funding model of Star Citizen. They argue that players should not worry about the funding model and that the focus should be on creating better gameplay for the players. The speaker suggests a middle ground where self-sufficient homesteading allows for the creation of smaller, less advanced ships. They also propose a system where players can create external files of their base designs and collaborate with others for feedback and approval.

Finally, the video touches on the importance of design tools in base building. The speaker mentions the use of separate surveyor tools and the need for better design tools for collaborative base building. They suggest a system where approved layouts can be loaded into a builder’s ship to guide them during construction. The video concludes with the speaker emphasizing the need to keep the game fun and not frustrating, while also acknowledging Ray’s passion for deep and complex base building mechanics.