Suggestions about lair planning

[Pharaxes]

Hello everyone,

I was trying to use one of the few excel files around helping to build lairs.

But one problem they have is: room pieces aren't for example 1x1 for a T2 Library.

A small pic to show some problems:


See the room to the left of the marked one? It's a T2 Library. And I thought where the bend is I could place another one. But no, not possible. So the excel files aren't of any use for me.

Another problem I had on this occasion: I couldn't change the orientation of the bend to point downwards (which would helped me alot!). It just wasn't possible and there is no reason it isn't.

Another thing I ran into... please let us mirror rooms on the one or another axis. When I add a T4 Library and I want one of the exits pointing to the right instead to the left there is no way for me to do that. Obviously the game sometimes mirrors rooms on placement but only when there is no other way the room could be build. But I want to decide that myself too!

Thanks for reading.

[Azath]

The first thing raised would be the "no available attatchment points" thing. Personally, i would love it if it showed that message (edited so the "x has been deleted" part removed) with a little space (maybe 1x1) outside of the property perimeter, and it would show you the footprint of the room, a red otuline obviously, that would show you how you intended to place it. This way, we could be able to know how edit things to fit our wanted structures in. The 1x1 outside of the perimeter needed to show this.

[Pharaxes]

Question:

Why can I place the T2 Library above the threeway but not below? No reason it cannot.

Same:

Why can I place the T6 Library at the shown spot but not at the threeway on the right? No reason it cannot.

Planning makes absolut no fun this way.

[Machaeon]

The main problem I think, is that there is no standard size for rooms, and the way they connect is haphazard at best. Two rooms of the same tier here: say a 4-way corridor and a t1 storage chamber appear to be the same size but in planning the storage takes up more space and often makes other rooms next to it impossible. Even the basic corridors don't take up the same space! I do recall in planning my lair, there were places where a 3-way would fit but not a 4-way, places where only a bend would fit.

In my ideal world, planning a lair would go something like this: every room fits an exact "box" on the grid of your lair (for example: a 4-way/3-way/bend would take up exactly one box) and structures of different uses and tiers would take up more than one box in a certain configuration, with each "box" (NOT room) having 4 set places for connection points on each side so that every room (with one box or many) would connect seamlessly. The set connection points would of course be used or unused depending on the room. Every structure would completely or almost completely fill its "box" and leave little-to-no empty space. (Tier 4 stonecutting and crystalshaping chambers comes to mind with useless space.)

I do realize that we are talking about Istaria, not my ideal world so this is likely not feasable.

Not really making any suggestions just tossing out some of what's been going on in my head.

[Pharaxes]

I'm getting so many problems, I don't understand it *sighs*


This shows a plan for floor 1.
Why can't I place a 4-Way where the 3-Way is now attached to? It keeps telling me "Planned structure (Lair T1 Helian Corridor - 4 Way) has no available expansion openings to attach to. Removing the structure." which is just plain stupid...

And on the top left there's a T4 Library. if I would want to add a T6 Library there, it keeps telling "Skipping locator because planned structure Lair T6 Lunus Chamber - Library would extend through the terrain above." which is stupid as well because T4 has roughly the same size and height. And on Floor 0 on the same place I already have a T6 Library. Why does it fit on floor 0 but not on floor 1?

Oh and I cannot place a Spiral Reverse on bottom right, but can do so on top right.

[Pharaxes]

small addition to my last post:
the 3-way can be rotated in any way. So the exits can be right, up, left; up, left, down; left, down, right and down, right, up.

So the same exits a 4-way would have. Same with the spot on bottom right. Cannot place a 4 way there. I even cannot add a spiral down there. I had to move the spiral to top right. Remember we're on floor 1. There is no chance that anything outside the lair could be a problem because ground level is at floor 0.

[Dracaena]

If that corner on floor 1 that is giving you fits is directly under the lair entrance, that is your problem. Lair entrances for some reason are "deep" enough that only a low ceiling corridor (seems like it is only the straight or bend) will fit there. A spiral, t1 storage, or any other room has too high a ceiling to fit. That is just an awkward spot that is simplest to plan around if a plain corridor isn't useful.

The outline for the t2 library is deceptive. They actually need a 1x2 space, same as the t4 and t6 libraries.

[Northwind]

Actually a T2 library takes a 1x1.5 space.

The most efficient way of exploiting this is to fit them back-to-back as I did with my old lair
See my lvl0 (6x4 lair layout) here.

The terrain above lvl0 gave me a lot of "height" issues and it would not let me put anything except corridors/silos/ t2-t4 libraries with the exception of the upper left corner where i could fit a t6 library

[Dracaena]

Actually a T2 library takes a 1x1.5 space.

The most efficient way of exploiting this is to fit them back-to-back as I did with my old lair
See my lvl0 (6x4 lair layout) here.

The terrain above lvl0 gave me a lot of "height" issues and it would not let me put anything except corridors/silos/ t2-t4 libraries with the exception of the upper left corner where i could fit a t6 library

That is ingenious planning, not an "exploit". I realize the t2 libraries are actually 1.5 blocks but they are the only room that is such and I never thought to put two of them together like you did.

For any other planning purposes you might as well consider them 1x2 like the t4 and t6 libraries, which is why I said so in my previous post. (and I was sleepy and didn't think until later when too late to edit to say technically they are 1.5).