Bases are entirely up to you. Its not terribly difficult to set up anywhere, and most stuff can be brought to you. So I prefer to select geographically appealing locations andthen pre-built structures as a secondary concern. I like chokepoints, highways, by rivers, out of the way locations, it all depends on the kind of chracter I have envisioned and what the purpose of the base is.
Some bases are for stockpiling goods. They should be small and out of the way; hard to find.
Some bases are for living and hiding from the world. These too should be out of the way, but much more elaborate.
Some bases are for creating a new settlement. These are farms and small towns and along roads in key locations.
Some bases are to contain threats/travelers. These are glorified toll booths and should boost impressive defenses and multiple vehicles.
etc.
Im fairly anal about where I set up shop. Im the kind of player who will restart dwarf fortress world generator for 3 hours because I dont like the look of th world and certain features are missing.
In this game, I avoid sewage treatment plants, rubble, and other ‘nasty’ places. Radiation is a nono, etc.
A far better option for the new player and the short term is to build a base from a vehicle. Mobile homes are great. Wth the right skills you can keep yourself loaded with fuel and build a welding rig that will allow unlimited repairs. Cargo holds can hold half the space of a naked tile, and they get carried around with you.
The trouble with mobile bases is its slower going at first, a lot of traveling, and requires practice. And the space is always never enough for everything. Gotta prioritize, which requires meta knowledge of the game and experience.
I recommend my guide for a basic look at early game and getting started down the vehicular pathway. Mobile bases are always in the right location, have abundant fuel, and can be rearranged/repaired at need.
And afa volume and items.
Gotta prioritize. Gotta recognize what is and isnt useful in the short term and maybe make a map.mental note of objects of interest for later. Gallon jugs are great, but in the middle of a raid at night in the city I cant really afford to stock up on them when I need batteries to run my soldering iron.
Prioritize things that will help you survive over the short term over what will help you out maybe once you get settled in. Then its a matter of recognizing what is and isnt rare and making sure you frequently scan for these items. Zombie drops are great ways to get items you otherwise wouldnt get, but a lot of it is redundant. Why do you need 8 ratty pairs of socks? you dont, so chop them up on the spot andtake the rags or ignore them.
Fortifying a base is actually pretty unneccessary. I wouldnt say its useless in all situations, but an out of the way location will see very little traffic that wants to kill you. Further more spiked pits, walls, and doors will eliminate most non-zombie wildlife that wants to attack you. They just cant get in. Breaking LOS and sight on zombies is an important way of avoiding hassle with sparse zombies, and keeping noise to a general minimium is a good practice that you eventually end up doing just out of habit.
Ive put traps along chain fences and kited wildlife and zombies into them from the other side.
Ive set up pitfalls to break a valid path to windows so they wouldnt be broken by most normal zombies, who would die in the traps.
Ive used indoor plants to block LOS and set up a nifty window for reading in the city when I made bases.
Ive used a library as a base, relocating all the bookshelves to fortify myself
Ive made extensive pallisade gates/walls and trapped them with non-explosives.
Ive done none of the above and just settled along a river and kept myself inside when possible to avoid detection from the stray zombies who wandered by. Who I would kill when I did leave the house.
