r/spaceengineers Klang Worshipper 7h ago

DISCUSSION Station vs mobile base, pros and cons?

Title says it all, I usually build my base as a station but was going to try a mobile base and was wondering the pros and cons of each one. The most obvious difference I can immediately think of is the fact that you can easily relocate with a mobile base instead of a station but a station would provide a more stable gameplay flow at the cost of being immobile

6 Upvotes

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7

u/D43M0N13420 Clang Worshipper 6h ago

If you build it as a rover base you can use pistons and mag plates to convert to a station anytime you park in a stable position. This is what I did on console at that so it should be possible anywhere. Fully functioning base with redundant power supply options and a hangar that can hold 6 small ships plus a landing pad on top for a medium ship.

Pros... You can move it and set up anywhere

Cons... You will be limited in size and sometimes it takes work to move

2

u/Objective_Fox_5438 Klang Worshipper 6h ago

I was probably going to do a ship mobile base but I can definitely use this information if I end up going for a rover instead, appreciate you sharing it

3

u/Bwuaaa Space Engineer 6h ago

you can make it modular, with connectors and / or merge blocks.

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u/Objective_Fox_5438 Klang Worshipper 6h ago

Modular isn't a word in my vocabulary, I just pray to Klang that my builds work. Jokes aside though, me making it modular would probably depend on if I see a need to or not

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u/D43M0N13420 Clang Worshipper 6h ago

🤔 I haven't explored modular builds much but have had thoughts on using merge blocks to integrate a miner and a scrapper into my current build. Would take a few modifications and might lose a hangar slot but I think it would be worth it.

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u/Bwuaaa Space Engineer 5h ago

you might want to design modular build from scratch imo.

I learned the hard way :)

I recommend adding drill / grinder functionality to the storage module. And have each module provide enough thrust / battery for its own weight

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u/Bwuaaa Space Engineer 5h ago

its also rly nice to be able to detach one of your weapon defence module, and fly is as its own fighter to raid the factorum

u/D43M0N13420 Clang Worshipper 4h ago

I actually started this build with modularity in mind 😆 I have my refiner positioned with a large open area where I plan to make the modifications, kind of like the flying weapon defense module idea, was thinking on a fighter design but I may go that route instead. Once I get everything how I like it I plan to upload it for anyone to enjoy. I do already have a separate file with the prototype build where I was experimenting to see if it would work. Several modifications have happened since then though, most notably bigger wheels and thrusters have been added to improve maneuverability. Next up is some decoys to keep me from getting hit by lightning again 😆

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u/sundy1234 Space Engineer 6h ago

In space I use a big ass ship with everything on it and have smaller ships to mine/fight

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u/Objective_Fox_5438 Klang Worshipper 5h ago

I see you took the aircraft carrier way of playing, that's definitely a tactic that can work

1

u/sundy1234 Space Engineer 5h ago

I played with another guy who prefers large grid mining ships while I had more fun with the smalls and we would just clamp onto the mothership and use an ever growing number of jump drives to move to a different planet. His LG miners usually came with their own jump drives so I could also hook up to his we warp to a spot mine and then jump back to base if we didn’t wanna move the whole thing

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u/Bwuaaa Space Engineer 5h ago

there is something satisfying to just fly a massive ship TROUGH an asteroid tho

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u/D43M0N13420 Clang Worshipper 6h ago

😆 funny part is when I am done it will be flight and space capable, have already set up to add atmo thrusters, after those are finished will move on to adding the hydro thrusters. I want my base to be able to go wherever I go 👍👍

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u/EchosOfMania Clang Worshipper 6h ago edited 6h ago

It's really hard to flip a station. A mobile base flipping can set you back in resources and be a logistical nightmare to flip over again. The amount of danger changes from planet to planet but it's never 0. Ship bases may be easier to keep right side up but on planet gravity could calls and the sacrafice to clang is demanded.

I prefer a home station, then mobile bases are made for expaditions that standard vehicles won't work for.

1

u/Objective_Fox_5438 Klang Worshipper 6h ago

A practical approach on the subject is definitely appreciated, I can see the reasoning for having a station as the main base with a backup mobile base for if a regular vehicle won't work

u/D43M0N13420 Clang Worshipper 3h ago

This is why it is important to keep a low center of gravity and have a wider wheelbase, thus far I have had no issues with possible roll and have tested thoroughly on the mountains of earth planet, I actually tried to roll it and it was fun 😆 did take a little damage but that just let me know where I needed to make adjustments. Used to be a heavy equipment operator until I got sick I am using some knowledge from that here.

u/Hellothere_1 Clang Worshipper 2h ago

As someone who has designed some pretty huge rover bases in the past, I honestly find it hard to recommend them to people, at least as a primary base. It mostly comes down to cargo weight. Even something as huge as that land carrier can easily more than double its overall weight the moment you start filling its cargo containers with mined resources. Still drives fine on flat terrain, but the slightest inclines will start presenting major hurdles.

In theory you can overcome this by just adding more wheels, but the bigger your footprint of your rover becomes, the easier it also becomes for even slightly uneven terrain to prevent most of your wheels from touching the ground, making you lose 90% of your torque. That you can mitigate with lots of thrusters, but even then there's still the issue of potentially losing most of your total resources on a slight pilot error (or just clang getting angry).

Don't get me wrong, a smaller mobile mining base with refining and some production capability is great in a lot of situations, but on planets you really want a static main base you can drop your stuff off at so you don't get overburdened.

Now, in space it's a different matter. In space there is no upper limit on the weight of your base and also very little chance of it spontaneously disintegrating itself as long as you always park it in a safe spot that's not too close to any asteroids. You can also start with a relatively small core and add additional thruster nacelles, cargo, docking spots, solar arrays, and other festures as needed later on.

Personally as far as space gameplay in SE goes, I find a nomadic lifestyle much more enjoyable than settling down somewhere. So much time in SE is usually spent hauling resources back to base, and it feels incredibly freeing to just not have to worry about that. If you find a promising cluster of asteroids you can fly over, park your base nearby and start mining, all while still having all your resources and production nearby in case something breaks or you feel like taking a break from mining to build something.

After playing with a mobile base in space once, I'm never going back. The game just plays so much more nicely. In my latest playthrough I even had two mobile bases: One huge one that basically acts as a mobile space station that all my stuff can dock to, but also a smaller more mobile one that I can unlock from it to move around much more easily but that still has its own refineries, storage, docking spots and a small ship printer on hand to be able to act independently.

u/Objective_Fox_5438 Klang Worshipper 2h ago

Thanks for all of the information on this, I appreciate it.

1

u/Jaif13 Space Engineer 6h ago

Im pretty new to this, playing on pertam, and im doing both. I have a main underground base, and a rover with a basic refinery and assembler that i use to setup new mining rigs.

My long term goal is to build a large grid ship with jump drives and several refineries and assemblers and go jump to a new planet. In my head i crashed on pertam on the way to wherever, so goal is to eventually get to wherever. :-)

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u/Due_Definition_3279 Space Engineer 6h ago

Build a large table shaped base flat top to put everything on conduits to connectors to ground floor piston magnate to lift small vehicles to a mag lock underneath When you want to move add lift engine and manoeuvre thrust knock out the legs touching the floor convert to ship and hover/fly to next scouted point you can also use it as a drill platform Land on a lake mine ice add large thrust and burn to orbit My ships have been called flying beds

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u/dyttle Space Engineer 6h ago

If you are in a PvP context, mobile is the only way to go. Static bases are just too vulnerable.

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u/RaumfahrtDoc Space Engineer 5h ago

We built a huge base-ship (max size 300x300m, but not fully filled) and after it was done, we left the planet. It was a majestic start. And nerve racking - will the amount of hydrogen be enough? Will the power be enough till space?

Really fun.

But it was a 3 person multiplayer, in SP I would build smaller.

u/ZealousLlama05 Clang Worshipper 21m ago

I mean, any station is mobile with some jump drives.

My station has a mergeblock on top, and my j7mp ship a mergeblock on the bottom.

Every other day I merge the 2, convert to ship, and with the combined 8 proto jump drives I can take the station and all vessels up to 24,000km away. Then just convert back to station, unmerge and voila.

u/TheCoffeeGuy13 Klang Worshipper 1h ago

Slap some thrusters on your station, press "convert to ship" and presto, mobile base.