No Man's Sky: How to Build a Base
Base building has made its way to No Man's Sky. Find out how to build your own base, now.
The past few months have been rough for No Man’s Sky. The hateful reviews and backlash that the community has shown since the game’s release in August are still fresh in the minds of gamers everywhere. That, however, doesn’t change the fact that Hello Games has still been working hard at improving the game. One of those big improvements, base building, has finally made its way into the game via the newest patch, the Foundation Update. In this guide we’ll show you how to get started building your own base, and go over all the basics needed to setup a home in the endless universe of No Man’s Sky.
How to Build a Base in No Man’s Sky
To build a base you must first locate an abandoned base on the surface of a planet. This can be accomplished by using your ship’s scanner. You can then fly down to the structure and land next to it. Head inside and you can interact with the abandoned building to claim the planet as your homebase.
Once you have claimed your homebase, there are a couple of things to take note of before you start building your base. First off, if you’re playing in Survival or Normal mode, you’re going to need to gather up the ingredients and resources required for each item that you build. This can range from Iron, to Plutonium, to much harder to find resources. Find out what you need, and then collect it before you start building things up. If you’re playing on Creative mode, it will say you need the resources, but will allow you to build without any issues or ingredients in stock.
Structure Types
Now that you know the very basics of building a base in No Man’s Sky, let’s dive in to how you actually piece together a base. The build system in No Man’s Sky follows a snap-to system, which causes the pieces to snap to each other when near a point that they can be activated on. This means you can easily snap together rooms, corridors, terminals, and so on down the line. The different types of items you can build are broken down into eleven different categories. We’ve listed them all below.
- Structure
- Infrastructure
- Containers
- Decals
- Cuboid Rooms
- Lights
- Farming
- Tech
- Decoration
- Specialist Terminals
- Room Parts
When you’re ready to expand your base, press Up on the D-Pad on the PlayStation 4 to get started and find the pieces that you need to snap together to create the base of your dreams.
Filling in Specialist Terminals
Another new addition to the game are NPC Specialists who can be hired from Space Stations and assigned to Specialist Terminals inside your homebase. These special NPCs can then research new blueprints, construction items, and other assorted options to help make your life easier. If you really want to make your base as exceptionally effective as possible, you’re going to want to hire some of these guys to get the job done.
To find Specialists, head to the nearest Space Station and climb the ramp that leads to the room with the Galactic Trade Terminal. Before you would only find one alien lifeform in this room, but now, thanks to the update, you’ll find an additional three NPCs waiting to join you at your homebase. You can hire the one that you need, then return to your base using the special teleporter on the other side of the Space Station.
Building a base in No Man’s Sky allows players to settle down somewhere and create a homebase that they can work from. It further evolves the survival nature of the game, and gives players more things to work towards. Hello Games has stated that base building is just one of the many ways that they hope to improve the game in the future, and that this update is only a foundation for bigger things to come in the future. If you’re going to make it in No Man’s Sky, you’re going to want to know how to make money in No Man's Sky. Luckily, we’ve already written a guide on that, so be sure to check it out, and head over to our No Man's Sky walkthrough and guide for more top tips.
