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The mobile base serves as your home inThe Alters, and you’ll find yourself constantly upgrading it throughout the story. Not only do you need to add new rooms, but you also may need to rearrange the base’s layout to make everything fit. On top of all that, you need to keep track of the overall mass of the whole thing; if the base is too heavy, you won’t be able to move out when the time comes to start the engines at the end of an Act.
Read on to learn everything you need to know about building and maintaining the mobile base in The Alters.
Room Module Basics
Rooms are placed on agrid of rectangular tiles, but due to the circular shape of the base the overall layout isn’t itself rectangular. Each level has a different width, which can pose some challenges when it comes to making everything fit within the base’s frame.
Upgrading the Quantum Computerallows you toresearch and build Base Expansions, which increase the amount of building space that you have to work with.
Connecting Rooms
All rooms, regardless of their size,connect to other rooms horizontally at the bottom right and left corners. This means that tall rooms like storage units and Rapidium Arks need room for their higher ceilings. All rooms must be connected to the Airlock via Elevators, Corridors, or other rooms; if a room isn’t connected, it willappear staticky on the construction screen, and you won’t be able to close out editing the base until unconnected rooms are fixed or removed.
Adding And Removing Rooms
All changes to the base are done from theleft-hand console in the Command Center.Here, you canbuild new rooms, move existing rooms, or remove them entirely.Removing a roomrefunds the resources that you spent to build it, as long as you have room in storage to take them. If the room is damaged, you’ll only get a partial refund.
Since you’re limited by the base’s grid in how much you’re able to move around, and you can only take so many resources back based on your storage capacity, it’svery hard to tear the base down and rebuild. It’s more likely that you’ll have to make small changes bit by bit.
The engine, slightly down and to the left from the center of the base,cannot be moved, removed, or interacted with in any way, and it has no doors. It acts as a blocker for the purposes of construction, so you don’t have any choice but to build around it.
Total Mass
Each roomadds to the base’s total mass.At the end of Acts 1 and 2, you’ll need toactivate the enginesto move the base, which costs an amount of Organicsequal to the base’s mass.The heavier the base has grown, the more fuel you need.
It is possible to make the base heavier than your fuel tank’s overall capacity; if you do that, you’ll need toremove some rooms or upgrade the base to the next tierto increase the tank size.
All Room Modules In The Alters
Here are all of the rooms in The Alters, along with their important stats.
Critical Modules
These modules are all either placed at the start of the game or built as part of the tutorial; either way, they are permanent additions to the base and form your central infrastructure. While they can’t be deleted, they can be moved around as needed.
4x1
4
Allows characters to enter and leave the Base;cannot be removed.
Allows you to end the day by interacting with the bed;cannot be removed.
Allows you to change the layout of the base;cannot be removed.
5x1
Allows characters to prepare and eat meals;cannot be removed.
Allows manual or automatic replacement of depleted Radiation Filters, and manages repair orders within the base;cannot be removed.
4x2
8
Allows you to create new Alters and unlock new tiers of the tech tree;cannot be removed.
Alters awaken here 8 hours after being created from the Quantum Computer.Cannot be removed.
Storage & Utility Modules
These modules are used to keep the base running and store resources. You can’t interact with them in any way, but they’re important nonetheless.
2x1
2
Connects to another Elevator above or below;the only way to travel between floors.
2x3
16
Slows the rate at which Radiation Filters are used up. Multiple Repulsors stack, and enough of them can make Filters last infinitely long.
2x2
28
8x1
65
8x2
140
32
Permanently stores Rapidium for transport to Earth,affecting the ending and Lucas' opinion of you.Cannot be removed once built. Limit one per Base Expansion (five maximum).
Work Modules
These workplaces can have Alters assigned to them, where they will produce the goods needed for you to survive and complete your mission. you may also work most of them manually.
Work here togrow Raw Foodthat can be cooked in the Kitchen. TheBotanistis the best for this job.
Work here toturn ALX and Enriched Metalsinto usable resurces. TheRefineris the best for this job.
Only the Scientist can be assigned here; doing soresearches new technologies.
Work here tocraft items in the production queue.TheWorkeris the best for this job.
These modulesmaintain the mental and physical health of the Alters.
6x1
20
Up to 2 Alters can rest here toslowly improve their mood.The rate of improvement is increased if theGuard or Shrinkis assigned to oversee them.
Provides beds for up to 4 Alters.Any Alters without a bed to sleep in suffer Morale loss and higher injury risk.
Alters can work out here when they’re off shift to gradually improve their mood.
Up to 2 Alters (or Jan Prime) can rest here to speed up recovery from injuries or radiation burn. The rate of recovery is even fasterif the Doctor is assigned to treat patients.
Alters can take a break here when they’re off shift to gradually improve their mood.You need the holoprojector hidden in Act 2before you can build this room.
3x1
10
Provides a bed for a single Alter, who gets a mood boost after sleeping here.
14
Alters can hang out here when they’re off shift to gradually improve their mood; you can alsoplay beer pong or watch moviesto provide larger mood boosts.
Damaged And Malfunctioning Rooms
Every room willwear down over time, periodically requiring repairs. The rate of decay ismuch faster if there is no Radiation Filter in place.Additionally, rooms canbecome damaged suddenly during Magnetic Storms.
Damaged rooms can eitherstop functioning altogether,or willinflict a negative effect until fixed.For example, Alters can still sleep in a malfunctioning Dormitory, but they may become sick from the smoking AC unit. If too many rooms are malfunctioning at once,you’ll receive a warning that the base is in bad shape;if any further rooms start to malfunction, you risk the base being destroyed altogether.
Repair Kitsare the only way to fix a damaged room, and the job can be done manually or assigned to an Alter.The Technicianis the most skilled repairman, performing this task fifty percent faster.
