The Players' Guide to the Cities/User Interface/Help Window/Bases

The following appears in the Bases tab of the Help Window

Who Can Edit?

You need to own City of Villains to use the Base Editing Features

Your base can be edited by any member of your supergroup who has been given permission. The supergroup leader can set Base Editing privileges by going to Supergroup/Options/Permissions. The leader can choose the rank(s) allowed to edit the base. The highest rank is always allowed to edit the base. Only one person can edit at a time.

When you are in the Entrance Room of your base, a pop-up window listing three choices appears: Upgrade Plot, Add Personal Item and Edit Base.

Upgrade Plot

Your plot is the grid that you place all your rooms on. You start with a small plot. To get a larger plot, use Upgrade Plot. Pick the grid you want your current base has to fit entirely within the grid plot you are changing to. You can upgrade (or downgrade) your plot at any time.

Each plot size has a maximum number of each item type that can be placed in it. This is listed in the window on the right. Be sure to choose a plot that will let you place the things you want and take care not too spend too much. You will need Prestige to place rooms, outfit your base, and launch raids.

Add Personal Item

This button is grayed out until you build an item in the workshop. You build items with your salvage. Items you build, you get to place even if you don't have Edit Base privileges.

Edit Base

This puts you into Base Editor mode. You can move around your base normally. If you double-click on a square in any room, you are instantly moved there. Use the right mouse button to view from above or below (to place items on the ceiling). Page Down will snap the camera close to you making it easier to see details in a room.

The window at the bottom of the screen has buttons for what you can do: Create Room, Pick Style, Place Item, and Current Room. Next to these buttons are tabs for different categories. Selecting a tab displays all pieces in that category. To place rooms and items, select the piece and move the mouse to where you want to place it. When it is in a valid location the highlight box changes to blue. Clicking will place it there.

The window on the left gives information about the room you are currently in. The Stats tab lists the types and numbers of items that room can accept. Remember your plot type also has limits on item placement that may be different from individual rooms. The window on the right gives details about the current selection.

Energy and Control

Energy and Control points are needed for base items to operate. Energy is generated by generators and the like; control comes from computers and arcane devices. The amounts of energy and control created and used by your base are shown at the bottom of the screen. Even if you do not produce enough energy or control, you can still place items; however, they will be turned off and will not provide any benefits. Turned off items are grayed out to alert you.

Creating Rooms

Rooms have specific functions that determine what kinds of objects you can place in them. The tabs list the different categories of rooms - energy, control, defense, etc. Within each category are rooms that vary by number of items allowed, types of items and size. The left window provides exact details of each as you select it.

When you place a room, it must connect the Front Entrance either directly or through other rooms. A connecting hallway is automatically added between it and all adjacent rooms. If a room cannot be placed, first make sure it is one square away from all other rooms (rooms cannot touch each other). If a hallway will not appear where you think it should, check to see if there are items on the wall of the linking room since these will block connection.

The Light Tab in Room window allows you to change the color and intensity of the general lighting in the room. There are three lights - high, middle, and low - and you can set each one separately. The display in the right window allows you to change the height of the floor and ceiling in the selected square. You can apply your choice to the entire room or base. You can also change the space to a solid pillar. Note, however, that the editor will not let you place a block if it prevents access to another room or to most functional items.

If you delete a room its Prestige cost (and of all items in it) is returned to your Treasury; however, any salvage that was used to make items is lost forever. You cannot delete a room if that would leave others isolated from the Front Entrance.

Pick Style

Here you can be artistic, changing the look of room. The Styles tab gives the whole room to a pre-set look. The remaining tabs allow you to change specific sections of the walls, ceiling, and floor.

Place Item

This is the where you place useful and decorative items in your base. Each room type has a different selection of items that can be placed in it. Items are divided into three general groups:

Main: These items provide the base functionality for your base. They include generators, ley taps, mainframes, teleporters, resurrection circles, and more.

Aux: Aux items improve main items they are attached to; a circuit breaker adds to the energy produced by a generator, for example. Aux items attach to specific main items. What attaches to what is shown in the Aux tab of the main item. The Aux item attaches to the nearest legal target in the same room. The two (main and aux) will highlight to show the link. Each main item can only have a limited number of aux items attached and this number may be less than the number of aux items allowed in the room.

Decorative: Decorative items do not count toward item limits and are included to let you create your base concept.

You can use the right mouse button to rotate a selected item. You can also click and drag the item to a new location after it has been placed. If you delete an item, you recover the total Prestige cost but will lose any salvage used to build it.

Items cannot completely block doorways or access to key equipment. If an item does not place in a location that appears legal it is usually because a minimum distance is required between objects, especially where they would block a hallway.

Current Room

This displays all items in the selected room.

Building Items

Your base starts with only simple versions of most items. To have better, you must gather recipes and salvage. Some recipes are automatically available to you. Others can be unlocked by earning Supergroup Badges and completing specific missions. You collect salvage by defeating mobs while in Supergroup mode.

All building is done in workshops using worktables. There are three levels of worktables for both Tech and Arcane. Selecting a worktable will display a list of what you can build there.

Building an item is a two-step process. In the first step you use multiple pieces of salvage to build components. Each table can build two types of components such as Tech Material or Arcane Glyph. The second step is to use these components to build the actual item. Every recipe lists the types and numbers of components you need to build it. When you choose to build a component or item, the necessary pieces are automatically removed from your salvage inventory.

Items you build cannot be transferred from one base to another. You must place them in the base where they were built