Is there a "best" material for second floors?
By
American_Angel,
Posted on: 2009-07-16 20:54 in Base Construction
Counters work best for me, plus 4 color options are available (rustic, white, wooden, gray).
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I normally use safes. That way I never have any problem placing stuff on the "floor" without have to use the bright white floor tile.
Not sure of all the options, alter stones maybe? but those mentioned plus blocks are solid i think. I've tried tables too, with mixed results. But I've seen some done really well using tables. The conference table seems a lil better imho, but there are some gaps you have to deal with.
Desks work well because once you build the floor, you can stack things on them without having to use floor tiles/etc. If you don't mind using the tile atop your new floor to add stuff, the small "redwood" colored bookshelves can be used to make a lovely herringbone pattern floor.
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I use safes when I want a more technological look, if I am going for bedrooms or social part of the base I use the counters. The safes are easier to line up with steps but the counters give a 'warmer' appearance.
I stack my walls up and get the door openings and windows in the floor below, then add my lintels over the openings. I then use the big white floor tile as a base to set the next floor on, place a crap-ton of desks for the floor, and then delete the floor tile.
By using the floor tiles as a base, you can span large areas (using multiple floor tiles stacked around) and it also helps having that little edge when placing desks with tricky cormers
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the small "redwood" colored bookshelves can be used to make a lovely herringbone pattern floor.
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I personally use the Small Bookcase (from the Bookcases palette) in a front-to-front and back-to-back arrangement, which (as advertised) creates a lovely woodgrain pattern which can be seen from above and below. You also don't get any textures tearing this way, like you do with using cabinets, so you won't see any texture flickering as you move the camera around.
That said, it's an expensive proposition to build floors this way. An 8x8x4 ft cube of "upper floor" space will run you 1600 prestige ... which translates out to 25600 prestige to fill an entire 32x32x4 ft "block" of room space up in the air as a contiguous floor. That's 102.4k prestige to build a "complete" upper floor (with no holes in it) for a 2x2 sized room ... so it gets expensive in a hurry.
You can see an example of the results here and here from back when my base had a 2x2 control room with 3 levels of flooring in it and was featured in the City Scoop. Nowadays, I've got a 3x3 control room that's really a Death Trap that's a good deal more expansive than this old thing.
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Herringbone example using those same small bookcases. Makes a nice pattern for floors.
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Herringbone example using those same small bookcases. Makes a nice pattern for floors.
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It does indeed.
It also lags the living hell out of me. 
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Basically there is no best material. You can use anything you like that gives you a flat surface. You only have to decide what best suits your needs. (what do you want the floor to look like)
Since I13 I've used desks, countertops, conference tables, coffee tables, safes, floor tiles, stone blocks, tech boxes, the list goes on.
The small, green tech container (the rectangular one) work well in tech rooms and it has a low profile. Something that bothers me to no end about other usable objects.
I've created a second floor for one of my groups using wood blocks and desks in the medbay. It was a beotch to pull it off, though. But for whatever reason, I'm not able to replicate this process in a 2x2 workshop. The linoleum title refuses to be placed stacked up against the wood blocks. Is there an alternative to this?
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I've created a second floor for one of my groups using wood blocks and desks in the medbay. It was a beotch to pull it off, though. But for whatever reason, I'm not able to replicate this process in a 2x2 workshop. The linoleum title refuses to be placed stacked up against the wood blocks. Is there an alternative to this?
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BTW I should note that I used the linoleum tile as the base for the desks, which made up the real floor.
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I use safes to raise my floors in the 2x2 and 1x2 rooms. It takes patience and sometimes multiple colums of stacked safes. It also helps to rotate the floor tile by right clicking the mouse.
The only issue with using Bookshelves and Safes for making 2nd floors is the number count. You will have to use 2-3 times as many Safes and 8x as many bookshelves to create the floor as your would desks. It will have a huge impact on your total number of items in base.
Unless they fixed the 10,000 item limit on bases.
To my knowledge...
Not Yet
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I normally use safes. That way I never have any problem placing stuff on the "floor" without have to use the bright white floor tile.
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I also prefer safes. Mainy beause the desks require moving to another room to delete them.
But, to the OP, you do not need to create stacks of safes to get them high enough. The large Floor Lamps stack and will allow you to elevate whatever items you plan to use for flooring to the point you wish.
Another benefit of safes: They stack sideways as well as upward. You can place one row of safes and extend it outward easily as a result.
Whatever item you use, be sure it is a stackable item, so you can place addition items on top of it like a real floor.
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The only issue with using Bookshelves and Safes for making 2nd floors is the number count. You will have to use 2-3 times as many Safes and 8x as many bookshelves to create the floor as your would desks. It will have a huge impact on your total number of items in base.
Unless they fixed the 10,000 item limit on bases.
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Builders inc has a motd saying it's fixed. But they suggest a limit of 12k items.
If you look at the plot info in the upgrade plot screen you'll see plots now have a decorative limit of 20k i think that's their idea of a fix :P 
Been toying around with making a room with a second floor and my first idea of using coffee tables is turning out... tiring. I have the height I want and was wondering what others use for the floor of their second floors that isn't see-thru from the bottom. Thanks!