Intriguing idea. So a “Base” has to be a specific marked area the game will recognize.
I pose this question to the devs. Would a different approach make the Base idea more or less complicated:
Building without a specific location being required and allow NPCs to perform functions around totems or key objects. The player can add as much or as little to that spot as they like without hindrance of specific requirements, beyond those anchor object.
Examples:
I choose any location I want to settle. I then add an “anchor object” such as a Lab Table. Now any NPC with science level intelligence or skills can acknowledge this object and work in a radius of it.
I tell an NPC “Guard this area”. That tile he/she is on is now an invisible Anchor Object and they will either patrol or use that area to return to after battling enemies.
So instead of programming every nuance that a base would have. The more open approach seems easier. New NPCs and objects anywhere the player assigns. As opposed to specific plots.
Am I wrong?
