Build-a-Base

Build-a-Base is a system in Crayta designed to help builders, kit creators and coders work together by providing a common set of standards for kit construction, and simplifying the process from all fronts.

🏫 Builders

Builders are wonderful creators who aspire to create beautiful structures for their own games or for others’ games.

Build-a-Base helps builders by providing set of kits with common, consistently named pieces to design beautiful structures in the architectural style of their choice. Just install a Built-Kit for the style you’re looking for and start building. As a builder once you’ve mastered one kit, you’ve mastered them all! Check out the “Getting Started” section below if you’re ready to start your first build!

As an added bonus (when the rules of building are followed) Build-a-Base code packages will be able to interact with your builds in exciting ways (i.e. making pieces destructible, swapping out pieces, etc) without any additional work.

🌆 Kit Creators

Kit Creators are builders with a desire for more! Kit creators want more options, more designs, and like to be able to transport the player to a truly unique world. A kit creator is likely not to settle for a pre-made kit to build their masterpieces.

Build-a-Base helps kit creators create a truly unique experience, by providing A LOT of premade pieces which are all consistently named and pre-aligned to work together in a cohesive way. Kit creators only need to customize the appearance of the pre-existing pieces in order to create a visually stunning kit that:

• Has pieces named in a way that builders already understand.
• Is already pre-aligned for builders (and designed to reduce z-fighting)
• Already works with existing Build-a-Base code packages

But the fun doesn’t stop there, Build-a-Base allows kit creators to extend their kits to include any number of piece variants to allow builders even more options.

Taking things a step further… Not only can you add variants of pre-existing pieces, you can define completely new pieces with full code interoperability by adding those piece definitions to your Kit Template.

Q: So you’re saying that when I make a build kit with Build-a-Base, code packages can interact with my pieces without knowing ahead of time what those pieces will be??? A: Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying…

For more info on what the Kit Template is and how it’s used. See how Build-a-Base helps “Coders” (below).

💻 Coders

Coders are the curious who want to push the envelope and see what can be done with a modular building system. Coders are likely not satisfied with aesthetics alone and want to see constructions actually do something.

Build-a-Base helps coders by providing a list of each piece in a build kit, along with metadata for each piece like:

• The type of piece it is
• The dimensions of the piece
• How the piece is aligned
• The variant id of the piece
• Whether the piece is an interior or exterior piece
• Whether the piece is a corner piece (and whether it’s concave or convex)

Equipped with this data, coders can traverse a building in the world tree and gather information on each piece that was used to build it. From there coders can do things like swap pieces with pieces from other kits, add decorations to pieces, remove pieces, add properties (like health) to pieces, add triggers to pieces… the possibilities are truly endless! And these Build-a-Base code packages will work with any structure built with any build kit!