The building hammer is a literal game-changer in Raft. This one item can expand the player's raft, build new stories and interiors, and even add a roof in a variety of styles. Not bad for a game where the player starts out on a tiny raft only four squares big.
However, all of these construction options are tucked into a radial menu that can be overwhelming to first-time players, and it's not completely clear how each structure works. That's why this guide will fully explain what the Raft build hammer can do, what it can't do, and what players need to watch for when renovating their floating home.
The Build Menu
When players hold the build hammer, the default structure it creates is a basic foundation that costs two planks and two plastics. Foundation structures are what players start on, and they're the part of the raft that stays on the water surface. However, players can see a menu full of options by holding down the right mouse button and hovering over one of the icons on the right. They can then get even more options by choosing one of the icons that shoot out to the side.
- Along with basic foundations, players can build solid foundations that cost three planks and three plastics. These foundations look nicer, but the shark chews though them at about the same speed. In addition, most of the following structures have their own "solid" variation that costs more and looks better.
- Triangular foundation pieces give players the ability to round off corners or build diagonal lines on their raft.
- Raised floors create platforms about half the height of a full story.
- Floors can sit either half a story or a full story above the foundation, and players keep going to build towers as high as they like. However, floors must be adjacent to walls or pillars placed on the lower story.
- Foundation armor can be added to any foundation square and prevents the shark from damaging it. Players only need to add this armor to the edges of the raft.
- Roofs come in a variety of shapes and materials, but must be directly connected to walls or floor squares.
- Pillars can only sit on the corners between squares, and they can be a half story or a full story tall. They can support a floor tile on all four corners above them, and players can place another pillar on top to extend its height.
- Horizontal pillars work similarly, and because they also support floor squares it's possible to destroy vertical pillars and create a floating floor with horizontal pillars.
- Walls are effectively two pillars with a barrier between them. Players can mount certain objects on walls, such as beds and storage chests. Walls also come in full-story and half-story sizes.
- Windows are walls with openings. This means less space to attach objects to, but more visibility. Doors also work like walls as far as raft design goes.
- Diagonal and pyramid walls let players build on vertical diagonals, and they're most helpful when building roofs.
- Fences are half-story walls that players can't build on. However, they make excellent safety rails and pens for tamed animals. Fences can also have gates.
- Stairs are the easiest way to climb up to higher stories, and they come in full-story and half-story heights. Players can also create ladders, which take up less space but are harder to climb down.
Repair Work
Along with building new structures, the build hammer can help players by repairing existing foundations. When the shark attacks, it constantly lowers the health of a foundation square until it drops to zero. At that point, the square disappears and players will have to rebuild it. However, players can instead repair the tile with the build hammer. By pressing the middle mouse button, players will spend one plank and restore 50 percent of the foundation's health. This is cheaper than replacing a full foundation square since it doesn't cost any plastic.
Removing and Renovating
Players who want to renovate their rafts can do so using the last option in the build menu. The default option of this section is "Repair," but players can also select "Replace with wood," "Replace with thatch," and "Replace with solid wood." With one of these options active, players can look at structures and get the option to replace them. Doing so will cost the same as a new structure, but they'll get half the material cost back (rounded up) of the replaced structure.
Unfortunately, this replacement option doesn't let players change the structure type. This means they can't use it to add windows, replace two pillars with a wall, and so on. To do that, players will need to use an axe.
The axe tool allows players to demolish one structure at a time, and when they do so they'll get the same material refund the replacement tool provides. However, players need to be extremely careful. If another structure or object depends on the piece being demolished, it will also stop existing and players won't get any of its cost or contents back. This means the results of a mistake can range from an annoying roof collapse to a disastrous destruction of storage chests full of food or engines. As such, players should always manually save before they start any tricky renovations.
Raft is available now on PC.