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11 Overview
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33 The building and construction system in Solarpunk allows players to construct homes, workshops, storage facilities, and other structures on the floating islands. Building uses a foundation-based approach where players place foundations first, then add walls, doors, roofs, and stairs to create multi-floor structures.
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55 The Build-Hammer
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88 Construction is performed with the Build-Hammer, a tool crafted from Stone and Stick. Equipping the Build-Hammer opens the building interface, which displays available building pieces, material options, and a placement preview.
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1010 Placement System
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1212 When placing building pieces, a color-coded indicator shows whether the position is valid:
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1414 Blue: Valid placement. The piece can be built here.Orange: Invalid placement. The piece overlaps with existing structures, terrain, or lacks a proper connection point.
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1616 Pieces snap to connection points on existing structures, making it straightforward to align walls, floors, and roofs correctly.
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1818 When placing a piece, on-screen prompts show the controls for rotating it and adjusting its height, so structures can be lined up precisely before they are committed. These build prompts were expanded in a post-launch update; see Updates and Patches.
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2020 Material Categories
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2323 Solarpunk offers three categories of building materials. Wood was available from the start, while Glass and Brick were unlocked as Kickstarter stretch goals.
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2525 MaterialSourceNotesWoodHarvested from trees and processedAvailable from the beginning of the game; used in the demoGlassCrafted from Sand (Kickstarter stretch goal)Allows transparent walls and windows for greenhouses and decorative buildsBrickCrafted from Clay and Stone (Kickstarter stretch goal)Provides a more durable, industrial aesthetic
2626 Building Process
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2828 The standard building workflow follows these steps:
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3030 Foundation: Place a foundation piece on valid ground. This is the base that all other pieces attach to.Walls: Attach wall pieces to the edges of the foundation. Wall variants include solid walls and walls with door spaces.Door frame: Place a door frame in a wall opening to create an entryway.Roof: Add roof pieces on top of the walls to enclose the structure.Stairs: For multi-floor homes, place stairs to connect the ground floor to upper levels. Additional foundations can be placed above existing structures to create new floors.
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3232 Demolition
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3535 To remove building pieces, equip an axe and right-click on a wall or structure component. Demolition returns only part of the resources used to build that piece. This means rebuilding or relocating structures has a material cost, so planning the layout before building is worthwhile.
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3737 Signage and Labeling
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3939 Signage and labeling systems are confirmed for the game. Players can place signs on or near structures to mark rooms, storage areas, or automation zones. This is particularly useful in multiplayer sessions where multiple players share a base and need to identify which areas serve which purpose.
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4141 Rotating and Raising Objects
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4343 Adjusting a piece before you place it is one of the least obvious controls in the game, because both actions need a key to be held rather than tapped.
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45-InputChange HeightRotateKeyboardHold T and move the mouse.Hold R and move the mouse.ControllerHold Up on the D-pad and use the right thumbstick.Hold Right on the D-pad and use the right thumbstick.
45+InputChange HeightRotateKeyboardHold T rather than tapping it.Hold R rather than tapping it.ControllerHold Up on the D-pad and use the right thumbstick.Hold Right on the D-pad and use the right thumbstick.
4646 Pressing the key once does nothing visible, which is why the control is easy to miss entirely. The developers have acknowledged that this is not clear enough at present and said they intend to improve the interface so the hold behaviour is easier to discover.
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4848 Roof pieces are the usual sticking point for new builders. They are fiddly until you understand how the pieces connect to one another, and the recommended approach is patience rather than a different technique.
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5050 Building Tips
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5252 Plan your base layout before placing foundations to avoid wasting materials on demolitionBuild greenhouses with glass walls to protect crops from storm damageUse stairs to build upward when island surface area is limitedPlace energy infrastructure (solar panels, batteries) on rooftops to save ground spaceKeep the Build-Hammer accessible; you will use it frequently as your base grows