I am not a builder. That specific mechanic that is so prevalent in sandbox games is not something I take time out to focus on. This tends to be a detriment when I play these types of games with others who are builders. They want to spend time making things look pretty where I just want to run off and engage with the rest of the game. But when I’m on my own, I do as I please.

I have played Trove 6 years now and my cornerstone (personal housing space) looks like this:

My house in Chimeraland is looking much the same. Now you will notice it has walls and even a second story! This is partly out of necessity, I built my house on a slope so there is only so much space I can expand to on one level. Putting in some stairs unlocked way more space to expand on the second level. The walls on the first floor are there because it looked weird without them. On the plus side I can run up the walls to the second level and crawl through the windows on either side of the house. Accessibility to my crafting stations is a must.

I like Chimeraland’s building system better than the voxel based building system of other sandboxes. Each piece needs to touch another piece and they snap together like Lego. It’s the same kind of system No Man’s Sky uses as well for base building. Using walls, floors, and roofs instead of cubes/blocks makes it easier to male things look nice without much effort. 

While my house, aka the crafting station conglomerate, isn’t very homey my Foaming Waters, my chosen starting area, has started to feel like home. Here and the surrounding areas are where I have been spending the majority of my time in Chimeraland.

This location has provided everything I’ve needed so far in the early stages of the game. To the east is a pleasant valley in between two mountain peaks. Here ore spawns are plentiful and there are even a couple totems not too far from my house.

To the south is a small forest where I do my logging. It is down the slope from the house but it doesn’t take too long to get there. This seems to be where the majority of my neighbors have decided to build their homes. There’s also a lake further south to fish when I’m so inclined.

To the west are more mountains with more ore, fossils, and a variety of gathering nodes. There’s also one lone house I can see from my second story way off to the west. Otherwise, I seem to be the only one to build up here thus far.

I suspect anywhere you land is going to be a good starting area. Some maybe more than others but given the choice to land anywhere in the world there has to be some harvest-able nodes to get started. I’m guessing this is why nodes aren’t locked behind life skill levels but instead give an increased chance to drop higher level materials.

I have roamed a bit outside the Foaming Waters. I recently trekked all west to Serpent Beach where I found a teleport there. I’ve also gone 15 miles north to a humanoid village located in the Isle of Mist for one of the tutorials. I didn’t stay too long and haven’t been back since.

I’ve been focusing mostly on leveling up my housing to unlock more crafting and utility stations. Currently I’m at housing level 8 and this is where I’ve hit a wall with the resources available in my area of choice. To get to level housing level 9 I’ll need crystals which have to be mined from the bottom of the sea which means I’ll at least need to get back to Serpent’s Beach. Luckily it’s only a teleport away. It also means I’ll need an underwater mount of some sort.

That’s what I’ll be aiming for next!