I've played that way since alpha 1 so I didn't have any huge problem. I use towers with iron walkways to the other towers with a sea of spikes down below and my main base will be connected to it with pillars and more iron walkways, like a suspension bridge. The first 7 days I'll only have one tower but I add another each horde night and move my stuff to more secure locations as time goes on and leave that first tower as my forge area.
Bear in mind that the following is only from early game, and after the first couple experimentals I stopped trying to make a melee base for first or second blood moon horde nights.
What I really enjoyed about base building in A16 was knowing that I could build a melee base that was _likely_ to survive; with only maybe a game days worth of resource gathering.
Now I certainly knew how to build one that was easily going to make it. So yes, could be argued that it was 'too easy to be 100% safe'.
The very basic mechanic of the player changing their position resulting in the z's moving also, allowed the player to actively manage some of the danger/damage.
Building a very small 5x5 limited that, though it was still useful.
I've read that faatal is working on the AI, relating to all the z's ganging up on a single spot, and I think that could be a real game changer.
The defense you outline above is one that I prefer not to employ. I like the melee bases & the risk. I enjoy the hairy moments when you're trying to decide if you can attempt to repair a block on the edge of failure, or can you lure them just far enough away.
I posted an early failure and you replied, which I appreciated btw, that I needed wood spikes at least 5 or 6 deep all the way around. I did that on the next build. And it certainly made a big difference. The resource/time cost was huge however, and the result was less xp than a small wandering horde (early game, mainly bow, spikes claimed most kills).
Now I certainly haven't tried all of the ideas I've thought of, and I especially haven't tested building a basement crafting area as I used to. I just really don't want to lose all my stuff, heh, but maybe it's doable by recessing storgae boxes/forges/mixers into the floor.
Where that all left me was that it was a really large commitment of time & resources attempting to build a base early on, unless you were willing to exploit the AI, which I'm loath to do.
Now, in b240, with the changes to Traitor & being able to harvest some Concrete & Cobblestone Rocks, I decided to build a tower base for day 7. 5x5 by 4 high. Between Traitor & harvesting I was able to have 3-high concrete for exterior and cobblestone for inner, 2nd layer. Lots of mining w Stone Axe and 'rushing' the Forge allowed a double ring of Iron Spikes at base. Day 7 horde was pretty trivial due to low GS, due to rough start, hunting & mining. Not much looting.
--Btw later looting of pretty much everything around the western lake in Nav and the pawn shop & bakery east of traitors resulted in an Iron Shovel & a Claw Hammer, no Pickaxe or Fireaxe. And none for sale at 2 Traitors. Only got them at lvl 20 by making them.
So yes it's certainly possible to make early bases in b240. Even non-maze ones. Not sure if a melee base would have worked. It did seem that the z's could be 'led' around a bit by moving around the perimeter on the overhanging wood bars, so maybe?
== I'll be honest and admit to being inclined to min/max. Part of the 'fun' of a game to me is getting good at it, and that's almost certainly going to involve finding, and using the levers it offers up. So, for right now at least, only my curiosity led to me build a day 7 horde base. I used basically all of my resources on a structure that will get used once or twice more. And there was certainly no 'profit' in doing so, game wise. I would have been 'smarter' to have simply avoided the horde night in the numerous ways available atm.
<> I know you & the team are working on a lot of different things, and yet you're still making time for these forums. It is with that very much in mind that I've attempted to respond to your earlier question. I only hope that some of it makes sense, and that it doesn't read as complaining or pig-headed.
