Build Tips

To really build great structures, here are some things recommended.

Idea/theme:. Figure out what you want to build before you start. i.e. do you want to build a castle, a town, a library, a tractor? Come up with something original. Currently Lostwave is really looking for people to build a nice town.


 * So, if you were to build a town, choose a style of town and stick with it. Some town styles... Medieval Village with castle, Old West Town, Modern City, or anything in between.


 * Once you have a general idea, pick out your land and protect it. This will stop any and all griefing. Pick out enough land so you don't run out of space, it is better to have too much land than not enough. Plus your town will look much better without a bunch of other crappy builds right next to it, so its better to protect enough land to have a buffer of 20+ blocks all around.


 * Next layout your idea. Start with the first structure and build it. Then move on to the next one. Maybe start laying out some plots for other buildings.


 * And so on.

Building Materials:. You should use the Lostwave Texture Pack as some of the seldom used blocks are repurposed to add building materials. Your building exterior should contain 3-5 different well matched materials. Any more than that should be used as accent pieces, e.g. some vines or railings. But the majority of the building shouldn't have less than 3 or more than 5 different block types. And the blocks should match well.

If you are building more than one building to make up a larger build, these buildings should match each other, and should use mostly the same materials or similar, they should be of the same style. An exception to this is something that is supposed to be mismatched, like our very own /warp store. Those were designed to mimic an old street of row houses that were built at different times and don't necessarily match in materials. But they do match in style.

Shape and foundation: A building's foundation should never be a signle square or rectangle, that is just plain boring. I know that a lot of buildings in real life are square or rectangular, but none of the really good one are. There are a few exceptions to this, and that is something like our /warp store, and again, those are build to copy a building that was originally rectangular, and there is enough detail that it still looks nice. A big giant box will never get you anywhere.

Size: Bigger isn't necessarily better. Build an appropriate size for what you are building.

Land: Good builders should not need to flatten the land before they build and it looks much worse. If you are trying to build the best looking build possible, you should build on top of the land, even if it is hilly. A suggestion is to make your floor at the highest point on the land, and then build a foundation down to the lowest point. This way the land retains its natural look, and your floor is still on one level. Or better yet, build your building with several levels for the ground floor.

Lighting: You should add enough lighting that your build looks great at night. A good way to know if you have enough, is if no monsters spawn inside. All windows should be lit from inside one way or another, then it will be lit up at night and it won't look like a vacant warehouse.

Pixelart: As fun as it is to make pixelart, it doesn't really fit in to any theme and just messes up the landscape. Plus anyone can do it with a little patience, it doesn't really show any skill.

Interior: The buildings should have a real purpose (if they were in real life) and have a valid correct interior. Be original here. Some of our best exterior builders aren't very good at interiors (or are just too lazy to build them), but to really show off your building skills, you should always have an excellent interior. If you do build a hotel (which is not recommended because everyone does it and its not original) each room should be a little different, building the same room 16 times is really one room and does nothing to get you props.