Best Base Layout For Each Act

June 30, 2025

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Act 1: Building Your Foundations

Act 2: More Base Building, More Exploration

Base building in The Alters isn’t just about survival. It’s about being efficient, getting to know which modules to build right away, and being prepared for the unique challenges that each Act will throw at you.

The Alters Best Things To Research First

Never a dull day for Jan Scientist in the Research Lab.

Whether you’re dealing with the initial scarcity of resources in Act 1 or the more complex requirements of the late game, the way you lay out your base can make the difference between being able to react immediately in different situations and barely scraping by.

I’ll break down the best base configuration for each Act and how you can be productive to get some social time with your other Alters. Follow along with the guide below to ensure you’re getting the most out of your time on this harsh and unforgiving planet.

Base Building 101

In The Alters, your base is essentially a massive wheel standing upright on the planet’s surface. It’s literally a giant tire that’s been turned into a space colony. In the middle are the Modules, which are rectangular structures that look like shipping containers.

This is what makes up your base. Don’t ask me how the engineering works. This is a game where you can duplicate yourself, so let’s roll with the architecture.

Now, before I show you the specific layouts for each Act, it’s important to understand the core mechanic involved in building your base in The Alters and why designing a base that fulfills your purpose matters. Every decision about your module placement will affect how you and your Alters move around your base.

For example, it might be better to place the Communications Center alongside the Command Center since most of the quests will require you to build different modules as you receive instructions from Ally Corp., and you can only build them by accessing the Command Center.

On the surface, it might seem that these little adjustments are just subtle elements in the game, but I’d argue that this is very important, since it can directly affect your foot traffic on a day-to-day basis, especially when your time is better spent doing some exploration and not getting so tired that you can’t influence the moods of your Alters.

Act 1: Building Your Foundations

Building Priorities

Research Lab, Workshop, Dormitory and Infirmary
Replace Small Storage with Medium Storage modules (if you need to)
Build modules for Alters’ particular assignments, such as the Greenhouse or Refinery
Build a Social Room

This is your starting base in the Alters. It’s got your cabin, Quantum Computer, Command Center, Communication Room, Machinery and 4 Small Storage modules. That’s the bare minimum, which won’t get you anything going yet.

It’s only once you’ve created an Alter and decided that the only way to survive is to slowly create more and more of yourself to become your crewmates when things will start going positively. In Act 1, your primary concerns are simply surviving and getting used to the planet that you’re stranded on.

That means going out to establish mining outposts to get basic resources such as metals and organics while slowly getting your food production and radiation filters properly stocked and ready for each day.

For the base layout, remember that every single module can be moved except for that big box with that giant window in the lower left portion of your base.

Believe me, that one immovable structure in your base will affect your base building, and because it occupies 4×2 cells, it’s going to be a challenge to properly place modules and get everything beside each other that you actually use or need for your daily tasks. To solve that, what I did was simply place an elevator beside it and make it the center of the base.

Since you’re going to do a lot of indoor and outdoor tasks during this chapter, the best design is to keep every module that requires your attention close to each other. During my playthrough, I discovered that I saved a lot of time because I kept everything that’s important within the first 3 levels of the base.

This means that each day that I wake up in Act 1, I’ll simply go up a level and craft what I need in the workshop, go up another level to make some meals (if I have to), then go down to the airlock and outside to do some exploring. Keep the module that you’re going to run manually closer to you and within your foot traffic.

Whozits and whatzits galore.

Act 2: More Base Building, More Exploration

Building Priorities

Expand Base to Tier III with research
Build Rapidium Arks
Build Radiation Repulsors (optional)
Build a Gym or Contemplation Room (optional)
Build Park With Bench (optional)

During Act 2, you’re going to be saddled with a lot of building requests, so you’re going to have to stockpile a lot of resources. This means that you need to build more storage modules while you assign the more mundane indoor tasks such as research, crafting, and food production to your Alters as you go out into the world to explore the vast desert.

The best layout for this Act is to keep your storage units on top and place the Quantum Computer below them alongside the Rapidium Arks. You’ll be able to create 2 or 3 Rapidium Arks during this chapter, so you’ll need to expand your base to Tier III in the Research Lab to get the space that you will need.

Act 2 is also where more Magnetic Storms will occur more frequently, but don’t worry, since one of the best modules that you can research and build is the Radiation Repulsor. It’s a very useful module which decreases the drain rate of your radiation filters. Having one or two of these is very handy since the effect stacks, so you can save more on resources. Plus, you’ll have the added bonus of brushing off Magnetic Storms as if they were nothing but a breeze.

Once you’ve finished everything that you can do with Act 2, it’s time for the final Act.

Gather the most amount of metals, minerals, and organics that you can gather in Act 2 before moving on. You’re in for a tough road ahead.

Act 3: End Game

Building Priorities

Expand base to Tier IV to accommodate more Rapidium Arks
Replace Medium Storage with Large Storage modules
Replace Dormitories with Personal Cabins (optional)

In Act 3, you’ll be left with a smaller crew of Alters because of the Alter rebellion, which will happen at the end of Act 2. You’re going to struggle at first, especially if you don’t have a good amount of resources stored. The good news is that you can research and build Automatic Outposts which can gather resources for you without any need for manual gathering or Alter assignments.

Once you’ve established outposts for metals, minerals, rapidium, and organics, your everyday challenge in this final Act is keeping what’s left of your crew in a good mood. The best way to do that is to build modules that can passively raise the spirits of your Alters.

Mood-Boosting Options:

Social Room
Gym
Contemplation Room
Personal Cabins
Park With Bench

Personal cabins are the best passive mood-boosting module in the game since your Alter uses them every day. The gym and contemplation room are fine, but I found great success with the Park With Bench. Particularly, the Scientist and the Worker seem to use it a lot, but the Technician will like this best. You can unlock this module by finding the Holo Chip in Act 2, and it becomes a side quest for the Technician.

For a more personal and “active” way of influencing your Alters’ moods, make it a habit to spend a portion of your day to challenge one sad Alter to a Beer Pong match and, if more than one Alter is feeling down, you can invite the entire crew to watch a movie in the Social Room. The movie takes 3 hours of your time but is always worth it.

If you choose to agree to Lucas’ request for more Rapidium Arks, you’ll have to expand your base to Tier IV, and it might be a good idea to ditch the Medium Storage to spend a Planetary Sample to research and build the Large Storage module, since it provides more storage room, and gives you the space to build more Rapidium Arks.

After that, everything that you do will follow the main story. So, I guess the final advice that I can give you in terms of base design is to keep in mind what you will do after you wake up each day. Create a routine and stick with it. The perfect base is the one that works for your playstyle, but more important than anything else is to enjoy the story and the game!