Block upgrade (shapes vs materials)

[Dark_Shadow_231]

Anyone think there should be a way to use a crafted block as an upgrade, rather than only the raw materials.

If I get tier completion reward and take 500 concrete blocks, I cannot upgrade my existing base with these. I have to demolish and replace block by block.

Also, should there be some way to upgrade but skip a step (upgrade wood to concrete).

Always thought this should be simple to control from a radial menu, what are you trying to upgrade to, limit from there.

 

[Riamus]

I don't really think the blocks need to be an upgrade route, though I am not against it.  It is true that you may have no need for those if you already built a base and don't plan to build anything else or expand it.  But I look at it as just a matter of making a decision to either go the upgrade route and get experience or wait until you have the better blocks and save resources.  I also like building stuff, so I can find other uses for those blocks.

Skipping steps when upgrading though isn't something I'd like to see.  At least, not unless you still use all the same resources as if you had upgraded each stage.  Otherwise you are mostly going to make wood and cobblestone pointless for bases and just skip directly to concrete or even steel.  I don't think we should make lower level resources unnecessary.  Just dropping some frame shapes that are very cheap to make and then spending only 10 concrete each or only 10 forged steel each isn't good.  It is far too cheap, imo.  At least the blocks you get are not common, though they do come in a pretty large quantity.

 

[Dark_Shadow_231]

I don't really think the blocks need to be an upgrade route, though I am not against it.  It is true that you may have no need for those if you already built a base and don't plan to build anything else or expand it.  But I look at it as just a matter of making a decision to either go the upgrade route and get experience or wait until you have the better blocks and save resources.  I also like building stuff, so I can find other uses for those blocks.

Skipping steps when upgrading though isn't something I'd like to see.  At least, not unless you still use all the same resources as if you had upgraded each stage.  Otherwise you are mostly going to make wood and cobblestone pointless for bases and just skip directly to concrete or even steel.  I don't think we should make lower level resources unnecessary.  Just dropping some frame shapes that are very cheap to make and then spending only 10 concrete each or only 10 forged steel each isn't good.  It is far too cheap, imo.  At least the blocks you get are not common, though they do come in a pretty large quantity.

I don't get anything of what you're saying. No upgrade route means blocks cannot be upgraded at all? Don't think that's a good idea.

I like building stuff but don't want to rebuild my base each time I move up to a new material.

How is it going to make wood and cobblestone pointless? You think the use of cobblestone is to be able to upgrade wood to concrete? That doesn't make sense at all.

"Just dropping some frame shapes that are very cheap to make and then spending only 10 concrete each or only 10 forged steel each isn't good.  It is far too cheap, imo."

But you can craft the blocks you can place down for that exact price. If you think blocks need to cost more, fine, but that's a red herring. The question is, should trting to replace wood with concrete require cobblestone or using a sledgehammer to remove each block. And should it be possible to use a concrete block to upgrade something, rather than having to use the 10 concrete mix.

 

[Riamus]

I don't get anything of what you're saying. No upgrade route means blocks cannot be upgraded at all? Don't think that's a good idea.

I like building stuff but don't want to rebuild my base each time I move up to a new material.

How is it going to make wood and cobblestone pointless? You think the use of cobblestone is to be able to upgrade wood to concrete? That doesn't make sense at all.

"Just dropping some frame shapes that are very cheap to make and then spending only 10 concrete each or only 10 forged steel each isn't good.  It is far too cheap, imo."

But you can craft the blocks you can place down for that exact price. If you think blocks need to cost more, fine, but that's a red herring. The question is, should trting to replace wood with concrete require cobblestone or using a sledgehammer to remove each block. And should it be possible to use a concrete block to upgrade something, rather than having to use the 10 concrete mix.

I didn't say no upgrade route. I said no upgrade route using blocks.  You would upgrade using resources, as we do now.  I don't see any needed to allow using blocks to upgrade.  They are too easy to get from quests and air drops as you level up.  Just my opinion on it, though.  It would not bother me if it was an option. I just don't see any reason to change how that works.

You never have to rebuild your base. You just grab a hammer or nail gun and upgrade.  Pretty easy with a nail gun, imo.  You always have the option of creating a new base with blocks if you choose or waiting until you have the higher tier blocks before building, or you can just upgrade as you go.

Game design didn't have to mimic reality at all times. This isn't a simulation.  There is no reason why they can't require you to upgrade from wood to cobblestone to concrete to steel as they do now.  If you allow directly upgrading from wood to steel, then you eliminate any need to gather materials for the cobblestone and concrete intermediate upgrades, thereby having them pointless.  It is the same as the change they are making to get players to actually go through all tiers of weapons and tools and armor instead of instantly jumping to tier 3 from tier 1.  They want progression and not skipping stages.  This is a good thing.

Using blocks to upgrade with instead of resources is not about the cost of making blocks... You gain nothing by doing it that way.  It is about wanting to use quest rewards and air drops (easy to get) instead of gathering resources (time consuming... somewhat - cobblestone is extremely easy to make with little time or effort unless you need a ton of it).  Skipping stages of construction is also about wanting to avoid gathering resources and just skipping most of the work.  Gathering resources is part of the game and there isn't any reason to remove the need to do so.

And what does a sledgehammer have to do with any of this?  There is no reason to destroy blocks when you need to upgrade unless you don't like where the block is located, which has nothing to do with these suggestions.

Steel is really the only upgrade that takes real effort.  If you collect all the palettes of cobblestone and concrete (and stone if you want) as you quest right from the start of the game, you should have plenty when you are ready to build and upgrade your base unless you build very large bases.

 

[RhinoW]

I didn't say no upgrade route. I said no upgrade route using blocks.  You would upgrade using resources, as we do now.  I don't see any needed to allow using blocks to upgrade.  They are too easy to get from quests and air drops as you level up.  Just my opinion on it, though.  It would not bother me if it was an option. I just don't see any reason to change how that works.

You never have to rebuild your base. You just grab a hammer or nail gun and upgrade.  Pretty easy with a nail gun, imo.  You always have the option of creating a new base with blocks if you choose or waiting until you have the higher tier blocks before building, or you can just upgrade as you go.

Game design didn't have to mimic reality at all times. This isn't a simulation.  There is no reason why they can't require you to upgrade from wood to cobblestone to concrete to steel as they do now.  If you allow directly upgrading from wood to steel, then you eliminate any need to gather materials for the cobblestone and concrete intermediate upgrades, thereby having them pointless.  It is the same as the change they are making to get players to actually go through all tiers of weapons and tools and armor instead of instantly jumping to tier 3 from tier 1.  They want progression and not skipping stages.  This is a good thing.

Using blocks to upgrade with instead of resources is not about the cost of making blocks... You gain nothing by doing it that way.  It is about wanting to use quest rewards and air drops (easy to get) instead of gathering resources (time consuming... somewhat - cobblestone is extremely easy to make with little time or effort unless you need a ton of it).  Skipping stages of construction is also about wanting to avoid gathering resources and just skipping most of the work.  Gathering resources is part of the game and there isn't any reason to remove the need to do so.

And what does a sledgehammer have to do with any of this?  There is no reason to destroy blocks when you need to upgrade unless you don't like where the block is located, which has nothing to do with these suggestions.

Steel is really the only upgrade that takes real effort.  If you collect all the palettes of cobblestone and concrete (and stone if you want) as you quest right from the start of the game, you should have plenty when you are ready to build and upgrade your base unless you build very large bases.

I think you're missing his entire point. He's talking about being able to use his reward on his already built base. If his base is already built with cobblestone, he should be able to upgrade the cobblestone blocks with his concrete blocks instead of having to make concrete mix. Forcing him to only be able to use concrete mix to upgrade blocks, makes the 500 concrete block quest reward useless (yes, it is useless if he already has his base layout the way he wants).

Basically:

1 wood block = 10 wood

1 cobblestone block = 10 cobblestone rocks

1 concrete block = 10 concrete mix

1 steel block = 10 steel 

And you should be allowed to use one or the other to upgrade your base.

You're also forgetting that crafting the blocks takes very long the higher their tier is, so even though it is the same amount of resources, it is by far wayyy slower than just upgrading your blocks with a nailgun, so there's the drawback.