City Exploration Part 4: Alien Architecture
Crash Landing has several different types of buildings scattered throughout the cities. Each has a predefined layout, and chests and spawners will only ever show up in certain spots. There will not always be a chest or spawner at those spots however. In all cases the danger level of a building goes up if there are other buildings very close to each other or at night and can go down if there are no spawners that are active during the day. Spawners in buildings are often hidden under bookshelves and in walls in the middle of rooms. Chests can be hidden under walls and bookcases.
First we will cover the basic buildings.
-The Office Building: Moderate Danger/High Reward Potential. This is a rectangular three story tall building that is very common in cities. There are up to 2 spawners on each floor and I have seen up to 4-5 chests on the top two floors, although 1-3 chests per floor is common. The top floors are also fairly cluttered, which can make it dangerous to engage mobs. This building features OpenBlocks elevators for scavenging.
-The Large Office Building: Very High Danger/High Reward Potential. This is a more circular looking three story building with a domed roof. There are up to 2 spawners on each floor and like the office building I have seen up to 5 chests on the middle floor, but that is not common. The top floor is fairly small and easy to deal with, but the middle and bottom floor have area of low light that mobs can spawn in at any time. The middle level is also very cluttered and hard to navigate. It is strongly advised that this building only be attacked from the top down and extreme care should be taken.
-The Small Apartments: Very High Danger/Low-Moderate Reward Potential. This is a 2 story building attached to a 4 story building both of which are still fairly short. The bottom two floors can have up to 4 spawners and the top to floors can have up to 2 spawners. Each of the 12 rooms in the building can have a chest, although it is highly unlikely that there would be more then 1-2 chests per floor. The confined spaces and large potential number of spawners make this one of the least desirable buildings to go after, though it does contain a good amount of wool blocks and decorative items.
-Large Apartment Building: Moderate Danger/Moderate Reward Potential. This is a very tall set of two towers, one 4 stories tall, the other 6 stories tall. The towers are linked between them and have domed roofs. Each floor of each tower can have up to 2 spawners and 1-3 chests. This building is actually fairly easy to assault, with a fairly open floor plan and a good amount of space between spawners. Very easy to glide into after scouting a safe floor to enter from. Be aware that there is an elevator shaft open between the two towers at each floor. This can be used to your advantage by keeping mobs from the far section from getting to you.
-Fancy Office: Moderate Danger/Moderate Reward Potential. This is a more uncommon building. It is 3 stories tall with each story getting smaller as you go up. It also has dry rubber leaves out front, and a semi-hidden elevator system. The top floor can have up to two spawners and 1-2 chests. The middle floor seems to have spawners and chests in the outer rooms. I have found at most one of each in either room. The ground floor can have up to two spawners and a variable number of chests. The elevators make retreat much easier if needed and the open floor plan favors you and your gun. This building is not found in all cities.
-Library/Subway Station: Moderate Danger/Low Reward Potential for the library, but EXTREME Danger/Moderate to High Reward Potential for the subway. This is two "buildings" in one that, like the fancy office, is not found in all cities. On the surface you have a two story library with a subway station located outside. I have only found 1 spawner and one chest in here so far. It is another building that is fairly easy to clear. The subway is another animal altogether. It is dark, full of spawners and laid out like a giant maze. This is also the only location I've found with Blizz spawners. There are many chests hidden in the maze, but the extreme level of mobs in a very confined space makes tackling this area very difficult. I would advise blocking off the entrance to the subway to keep the mobs in and forgetting it exists. For those brave enough to go for it, good luck!
Aside from the basic buildings there are a few special buildings that contain specific blocks and item loot that is hard to create, or not craftable.
-PneumaticCraft Building: Moderate Danger/High Reward Potential. This is an L-shaped building with a second story on one half and a single smokestack on the other. The top floor can have 1 spawner and a chest and the ground floor will have two spawners, one hidden in a broken down machine. In this building you will find various items from pneumaticcraft that can greatly speed up progression through that mod, though none of these items are uncraftable without raiding this location. It is also possible to find TE energy cells in these buildings. They are not charged, but are an excellent find and well worth collecting.
-Tinkers' Construct Building: Moderate Danger/High Reward Potential with items that can only be found in this building. This is another L-shaped building, this one with two smokestacks one of which is 2x2 blocks thick. Otherwise is identical to the PC building from the outside. This building is the only place to find the parts to build a TiC smeltery. In fact a complete smeltery can be built from the parts scavenged from one of these buildings. Also present are the parts to build a High Oven, and a chest or two that can contain seared and or scorched bricks to further build up your smeltery and/or high end tool parts. Finally, a pair of filing cabinets can be found on the second floor. Four spawners can be found in the building, one in the broken high oven, and one located upstairs. the other two are on the ends of the first floor.
-Big Reactors Building: Very High Danger/High reward potential in the form of hard to craft and uncraftable items. This large, circular building is impossible to miss, though it is fairly rare and does not spawn in all cities. Inside this building you will find leaking pyrotheum, blazes running free, and other random mobs, sometimes including creepers that like to dive into the pyrotheum. Its fun! You will definitely want to start at the top of this building, and a jetpack will be very helpful here. The trick is to locate the blaze spawners through the glass on top, then pick through the walls next to them and take them out from the outside. This is very easy with a jetpack, but can be done by building a staircase down to the level of the spawners and making a ring around the outside of the building to walk around and take them out. After they are gone head back up to the roof and break enough of the darkened glass so that mobs will stop spawning during the day. Then run away and let everything despawn. When you come back things will be much easier. On the second approach you can head in from the ground floor, being watchful for any lingering mobs. Once the pyrotheum is blocked off, or better still entirely gotten rid of, you can collect the valuable reactor parts. The reactor controller and turbine controller in particular are not craftable and must be scavenged. This building can be very hard to find, and it may take exploring several cities to find one.
If there any any buildings I've missed, or if anyone has found higher amounts of spawners or chests in certain buildings let me know and I will update as needed!
Next Part: Advanced Strategies and Tactics!
