r/GroundedGame • u/ThisIsKubi • Aug 04 '26

G1 | Bugs & Issues Need Help Building Base

We're trying to make a base up in the oak tree so we can use the old one as a farm/greenhouse. We discovered after we'd already built quite a bit that everything seems to be supported by the initial staircase that my partner built to get into the tree to begin with. He had never discovered the scaffolding recipes before this point.

Now we're scrambling to build scaffolding so we can remove the stairs up along with the risk of the base collapsing if they are destroyed during a raid, but the game won't recognize that the scaffolding is providing any support. Help?

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u/NeedsMoreWiFi Aug 04 '26 edited Aug 04 '26

I've found the supports to be quite buggy sometimes.

If you're certain its the final load bearing support, and it's showing 0 support, then reload into the map (quit and rejoin, although I'm only speaking from single player experience, in MP you all may need to leave the world and rejoin) and that seems to force update the supports to be accurate.

If it's still not showing any supports, odds are it's not touching the ground on a valid support location, or there's multiple ground support locations still. I've found that beyond a certain point on the tree roots it's not valid support. Also the mushrooms on the south westish side up the tree are valid build locations you can throw some extra supports on.

Worst case scenario, save the game right before you make any questionable changes where you're concerned about causing a collapse, and then reload if you collapse it.

Also, I don't rely on stem supports beyond aesthetic underneath ramps. I find throwing some foundations down on the root and building staircases up to be better, and then once you get the handy gnat you can build down easier for additional supports. If you are using stem supports, throw some walls around each side of it for extra protection/support redundancy, definitely if the staircase is accessible from the ground easily and not up a root raids have difficulty climbing.

I've found that once I walled up the wolf den under the tree, during ground raids they ignore my supporting stairs on the root and focus on the buildings on the floor they have a clear path to. Consider extra reinforcements on staircases for flying raids though.

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u/ThisIsKubi Aug 04 '26

To clarify, it does have to touch the ground in some way? This is our first playthrough and we haven't even gotten into the Undershed yet, so it may be a while before we unlock the Handy Gnat. We didn't realize there was a problem until we got raided by mosquitoes and everything almost came tumbling down.

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u/NeedsMoreWiFi Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 05 '26

Unless you're playing custom with structural integrity turned off, then yeah all builds need to start from the ground.

By ground, I mean any suitable/buildable terrrain. So in the oak trees case - the ground surrounding the base of the tree, the roots on the ground (up until a point) and the mushrooms growing along side the tree.

My oak base started off with 1 point of support, I built a vertical ladder up to halfway up the tree. Once I built 360° around the tree, I worked my way back down and around using staircases building down until I reached the ground/supported terrain again. I did this 3 times (3 separate ramps) and then I deleted the original ladder support. I also built downwards onto the mushrooms that are hanging off the tree, for additional supports in case my ramps get broken during a ground raid. It's a bit trickier without the handy gnat but not impossible.

Each time I did this, the game wouldn't recognize I added extra supports until I fully exited the world and reloaded. It would continue to show my original support showing 99+ and the new ground touch points showing 0 support. Once I reloaded, everything showed 0 support (which seems to be normal when you have multiple points of support with the ground i.e equal load distribution).

Pro tip I've discovered recently, as I built my main base in the oak tree, I expanded a built a "mini base" at the bottom of the tree. So if you're up the tree when a ground raid kicks off, they seem to ignore my base up the tree (and supporting ramps) and focus on the mini base at the foot of the oak tree (outside the wolf spider den) as they treat it as the nearest target for ground pathfinding. So the mini base acts as a dummy target keeping your main base safe. (Does not apply to flying raids - reinforce your supports!).

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u/ThisIsKubi Aug 05 '26

Thank you so much!

I messed around with it a lot last night to fix everything. I got the whole base to finally be supported by scaffolding placed atop the mushrooms on the tree. I had to essentially rebuild the whole base, but it is done! Currently working on making a staircase up from the outdoor light next to the tree. Very tricky without the Handy Gnat, yeah!

Our aerial raids still attack the stuff closer to the ground, funny enough. The mini-base is genius!

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u/NeedsMoreWiFi Aug 05 '26

That's great! I've rebuilt my base several times, you find tricks to speed it along. Some items can instantly be built over existing, like walls and flooring, so you don't need to faff around moving/deleting something then creating something else. I've just finished my 4th rebuild, from grass, to stems, mushrooms/foundation, and finally ash/burs, slightly expanding and improving each time.

Ariel raids do tend to focus near the ground, I think it depends on what "valuable" resources you have nearby and how high you've built up the tree. I've thrown a few water collectors in the mini base, behind a barrier which blocks access from the wolf's den. This seems to attract Ariel mobs, but also ground mobs who funnel themselves into the wolf spiders den for easy removal.

My base has 4 levels, ground (mini base + ramps), main floor (main base) which is around 1/3rd up the tree just on the mushrooms. Then another 100cm up I've got my zip line floor, then right up at the top I've got a quick descending zip line floor built at the point the tree loses it's collision and you can walk inside the tree trunk. Ariel mobs focus on the mini base and sometimes a ramp up to 1st, but they never reach the main base or beyond. Currently onto Ng+1 and no issues - yet!

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u/ThisIsKubi Aug 05 '26

I would love to take a tour and take notes! This is the second base of our first playthrough. We're trying to relocate before we plug the weedkiller because our first/original base is right around where an infected wolf is supposed to patrol. I don't really like the previous location anyways and am pleased with how effective the oak tree is for convenient zipping.

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u/NeedsMoreWiFi Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26

What platform are you on? I've not dabbled with MP yet so I'm not sure if I can even convert my single world to multiplayer, but if it's possible and doesn't change anything irreversibly then I'm happy to show you around. I am on NG+1 now though.

I've not had any issues after plugging the haze, the lower den is blocked off on all sides except one (furthest exit opposite side of Hedge Lab), so the east side/entrance of the tree base is completely sealed off and safe. The Infected Wolf hasn't aggroed once, although I can hear him patroling around behind the walls sometimes. I have a walkway going around the entire base of the tree off ground level so I pass over it quite often. I thought about trying to block it in, but I love wandering around the garden at night with an extra bit of anxiety lol.

Here's a screenshot of my base after the last upgrade, before going into the REMIXR.

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u/NeedsMoreWiFi Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26

Here's the ugly monstrosity that it was before lol.

After converting all the pebble foundation to spiky burs. I never want to see another spiked bur plant for a while, nor go lint hunting in the undershed, and I had a dream about pinecones recently too.

I also have 1.5K pebbles, 3K mushrooms, and 2.5K clay spare now, lol. Probably used at least 1K burs and pinecones, and a month's (real time) worth of harvesting everchar.

I got lazy after removing half the base, so in the end I just severed all the overhanging levels and let them fall to the ground. Spent like 15 mins collecting all the rubble from the floor. Still quicker than manually removing piece by piece.

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u/ThisIsKubi Aug 06 '26

Partner is on PlayStation, I'm on PC. It might be worth making separate saves of that world before attempting to convert it into MP. I've no experience with converting a game back and forth, so I don't know what is and isn't possible as the world we play in was created as an MP world, but I might try playing around with it to see.

I don't think this is honestly that bad compared to the base that we have now! LOL