What am I doing wrong? (LS)

http://www.vandalin.net/wanderrest.pdf

This is a pdf of my latest Lair design. I re-worked it in an attempt to make it less likely to need major changes further down the road if things are added...last design had a lot of "one-ways".

For some reason though, the Lair designer in game will not allow me to put the T2 Lair where I want it. It tells me that "Planned structure (Lair T2 Helian Chamber - Lair) has no available expansion openings to attach to. Removing the structure." But if you look at the design it should fit and be attached properly.

Please help! I'm going nuts here (as anyone who was on a little bit ago could attest to).

Thanks!

*edit* For clarification: Problem is on Floor 1.

A T2 hall takes 2 levels. If you already built out the level below where it would be placed you would get an error.

It's not a Hall that I'm building. It's a Lair. 1 Level.

I had problems putting rooms directly under the entrance. Halls worked pretty well rooms had troubles.

So it's more of a "glitch" then something I'm doing wrong? Man I don't want to go back to the drawing board again. :(

The entrance sticks down below the "floor" of the 0th level, ever so slightly. That collides with the top of the chamber you're trying to place below it. Chambers with a high ceiling will have trouble, those with a low one will not.

Maybe that will get 'fixed' one day.

In the mean time, I think the only things that fit reliably directly under the 24m x 24m blocks marked out as 'entrance' are single-floor corridors. Sometimes you can shoehorn something else under there too, depending on where the entrance is situated and the height of the chamber.


Good luck with the planning!

Oh, a tip: don't commit your lair all at once. As you construct it, you'll decide to change some stuff later. Removing 4-9 floors of unconstructed chambers is a pain in the tail.

You'll probably only have collision issues on floors 0 and 1, so get those comitted so you know it'll work, the rest... well deal with that later!

yup - don't plan it out allk at once- you can have ideas down somewhere -0 but don't commit.

I commit one level at a time, or maybe one 1/2 levels with up/down situated for other levels that are in good spots for the openings...cuz you WILL chnge your mind - esp. depending on rate of craft levels - hehehe - I find myself trying to place whatever it is I"m working on at the time instead of blocking myself out by putting down tiered items I can't build on till later.

No worries about building all the stuff there, that's why I left so much blank. I'm just concerned with the top 3 levels where the lairshaping machines would be. I just hit lvl 21 LS so I'm not worried about running into a room that I can't craft just yet.

Thanks for the tips everyone, I'm going to give another idea a try and if that doesn't work then maybe another level with storage...if it will take it.

Had the same problem with my lair, the entrance takes up 2 levels in some lairs and you have to build "around" it.

I think it is a good idea to plan the whole lair out in one go. That way you at least know how everything will fit together. If you change your mind on one thing, due to entrance layout for structures, you end up re-doing half the lair anyways to get everything to fit for optimal space. That's quite a bit of work to re-do, even if it's a simple switch around.

My advice would actually be to not attempt to use 100% of the space on every level. You wind up with a messy confusing maze usually. I just strung my rooms together mostly, with a few smalll things to the edges.

I made a loft for level 0. basically the very first corridor is a down slope. then an elbow into the center of the first level down. place a room there with several exits. On one of them that was next to edge of lair but room for 1 unit, place a spiral going back up to level 0. then I planned some t1 silos and a vault and made good use of the space, without having a silo farm to wade thru every time I come in.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Guaran

My advice would actually be to not attempt to use 100% of the space on every level.

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It could still be a maze no matter what you do, unless you intentionally make it so there's just one long path through your lair. In which case you'll be wasting horrible amounts of space and it'll take a lot of time to get through.

I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I've never had a ton of trouble finding my way through a lair after I spend maybe 5 minutes looking around. Only takes one look if I go there often enough. And I'm absolutely appalled when people willingly leave spaces open in their lair. But hey, that's just me. I'm also strongly against corridors and spirals, but hey. :rolleyes:

The area directly below the entrance (red box) is only available to build tunnels under on level 1 (where the entrance is on level 0).

As far as planning goes..

It's a learning process. Your best bet is to find someone in the game that really knows LS well and ask them questions while you plan.

Someone that knows the ins and outs of how to bend the rules of making a lair.

You'll find there's quite a bit more you can do than the cookie-cutter lair planning strategy everyone wants to emulate.

Plus it's about your own style and taste.

I've seen a lair open directly (after a staircase at the entrance) into a t5 hall.. it was pretty impressive, albeit a waste of space. But the creator wasn't apparently looking to make an efficient lair. I've seen others (and most of them I might add) that apparently petered out after anywhere from 1 to 5 t1 hallway structures... and they're usually the 120x120's.. isn't that just annoying? haha.

Another suggestion:
I do this.. I use helian structures for my hallways so everything is uniformly a certain color. My staircases I make lunus so they're markedly a different color that you can see from a distance (since we don't have signs that say "this way up or down" or even color choices.. this was the only thing I could come up with).

You can also make your lair uniformly structured (I.E. always having your stairs at the end of a hall or right next to each other) which can save time for people trying to get used to moving around your lair.

Personally I gave up on that when I realized the only reason someone would be in my lair would be to either 1. check out the design, or 2. access my storage for something (presuming they were authorized access). So the lair I am currently working on opens into a t2 lair which connects to two t2 halls on the first floor (since you can't link a hall to the entranceway for some reason) with a vault under the lair so I can access my vault and get whatever I need out of the lair by going no further than 5 steps in (also biped friendly). My silo floor starts the level under my halls and my machine floor is directly under that (all machines on the same floor). Pretty simple format.