Valheim: 5 Easy Ways To Improve Your Starter Home

[@jimbodice2672]

I love how the "basic" is more advanced than mine.

[@ArguaratronGorgantuous]

Bro yeah, I saw the basic and was like “damn, thought I had built something pretty cool 🥲”

[@sabrinamsmith]

Glad there are others who felt the same 😂 I was just like ohhh that's the basic version, I thought it was the advanced house 😮

[@dakotabiggs9160]

@@ArguaratronGorgantuous "this is probably what your starter house looks like" me with a whole ass army compound, no windows, no fancy designs, just a big ass base, surrounded by spiked walls and terraformed borders. made me feel some typa way lmao. made me realize i have no clue how to build in this game

[@Sempergrumpy441]

These games make me realize just how uncreative I am lol

[@nickzinner9318]

I still like this "below-basic", because i made it and did it with love, most importantly i got what i intendet to do - a little crapy but relieble home place with it's own cozy vibe. "Just don't expect much" works for me. So call it trash - it's mine treasure anyway.

[@lokidecat]

Original house requirements: 400 wood Finished house: 64,900 wood.. but looks great!

[@taj9961]

nope

[@MissyJace]

64,900? omg how

[@breezysanti]

Why not 69,420?

[@lokidecat]

​ @breezysanti because I'm not 12? :D

[@breezysanti]

@@lokidecat oh wow. You must be so mature and distinguished! :D

[@Marastife]

I swear these survival games are creating architectural engineers. And some hella good designers.

[@dodoz44]

I hit over 1k hours in 7d2d maybe within a year of finding out about the game. Over half of that was spent building purely for the looks, no defenses or anything.

[@a1phamalestud]

@@dodoz44 Fr I’d rather it look good then be useful

[@DurandalOfAegis]

Started as a Minecraft Building channel (got to 35K subs) then became a Level Designer and now a Senior Game Designer working in the industry. You never know!

[@TrainwaySons]

Are ya winning son? Which boss are you on? Son: builds a huge Viking Village with complex houses, bridges fighting against gravity, impressive beautiful Yarl house, large port with drakars

[@lolboy-642]

@@DurandalOfAegis WOW

[@charismatic9467]

This looks amazing, only thing I don't like is you using the interior side of the wall outside and vice versa, otherwise so so beautiful man. Didn't know the building could be so intricate and good looking, thanks so much for this tutorial!

[@SobiTheRobot]

Honestly, the walls being inside out bugs me so much

[@oldbum]

Lol this is the comment I was looking for

[@magiv4205]

I love using the walls this way. I don't do it all the time, most often I alternate the rows. It helps add some detail that I can then further accentuate with beam trimming.

[@channelforcommentingstuff4960]

It's not a rule, historically it was common to alternate the supporting frames, the rule of thumb being preventing them from catching rain

[@straightspine9870]

300 hours in and I'm still looking for ways to spice my builds up. Loved the extra wood for depth! I'm going to dive back in and make my house prettier!

[@nicholasstolarski3801]

Doors have 3 snap points when setting on a floor and have the 3 snap points for putting walls and beams on the sides so you can do depth trick with three perfectly snapped layers you just need to start building from the door. ❤️ (hope I explained the decently)

[@steppahouse]

Do you have an example of this?

[@nicholasstolarski3801]

@steppahouse In a video by TotalXClips he goes into it in a video titled valheim gamplay advanced build tips at about 2:02 minutes in. 😀

[@Quantum-yz9fc]

I really like using half roof overhangs where you offset the roof tiles from the walls by 1 meter. It doesn't feel quite so intense as just placing another roof off the side.

[@Twzzy]

6:01 damn in my nearly 50h in valheim, where I built quite a bigger house than that one in this video, I never had a use case for internal corner pieces and always wondered where to use them. Great to see they actually have a good practical usage

[@discounthero9972]

You can do a lot with them. Put 4 of them together on the ground, and you can see how towers and stuff could be made. It's a great piece.

[@zarakikon6352]

When I built a house on my 2nd server, I used an idea I got from something I saw in 1 of those abandoned villages you can find. 1 building there used those upside-down corner-roof pieces on the "short" side as it were. It turned out quite nice tbh.

[@snowsongvideopix8680]

Making the Dormer Windows makes such a positive difference for sure! Smitty, I like how you added window sills too. I can picture in my mind a nice hot pie cooling on a window sill! Very nice!

[@tmwetter7158]

This is awesome! You dont just show how to put things together, but also explain why you do so, which is sooo much more helpfull, as it can be easier applied to our own builds. Thank you so much for making my Valheim experience so much more enjoyable!

[@Perfectionado]

My friends and I completed this back when Yagruth (or whoever) was the final boss and he dropped a placeholder item. We've all withheld from the game until it fully releases for a full experience and I'm telling you I cannot... fucking wait... to play Valheim again. Even just listening to the plains music feels special. It's almost the level of Ancient Stones (Skyrim) special. Building is normally my favourite is base games but Valheim was the first game that gave me real control over the landscape and now I find myself planning the house around the garden/exterior rather than the other way around.

[@dustinpavolini9177]

If you haven't tried 7 Days to Die, you are really missing out. There is a lot of terrain control and physics-based construction that makes building so much more satisfying than something like Minecraft. Add in the base defense elements and it's a real challenge to build something both durable and aesthetically pleasing. I spent upwards of 150 hours rebuilding a ruined cathedral and connecting the flooded basement level to a massive drainage aqueduct which also functioned as an emergency escape route.

[@zachrohlfs]

With a steady pace you are becoming the Bob Ross of Valheim building. Keep it up sir. The building and how you do it is great. Grab a snack, grab a drink, enjoy the building of enjoyment in about 30 minutes. That and hours and hours of behind the scenes magic. 😊

[@rocko34]

Love it! I’m a Valheim noob and I don’t even know how many hours I’ve already pumped into this game. I’ve lost whole days just wandering around, crafting, mining, clearing dungeons. Never loved survival games so why is Valheim so addictive?

[@gavinpowell4607]

I also enjoy building in full armour, really works up a healthy sweat I feel.

[@MinYangLeong]

Great use of ribs to add depth to a structure. I think the main takeaway from this video is to be bold in disabling auto-snaps where creativity is warranted, and it's been beautifully done in this video. Thanks bro for the great tip!

[@andy_mir]

technique-wise I feel like I'm wathing a Grian tutorial on Minecraft builds. you really bring that starter house to life with each step! incredible

[@discounthero9972]

6:37 when you have openings like this, you don't need a chimney anymore. I like to keep my top 2m of the house more "open concept" by using roof crosses and angle beams. They count as roof parts, so no rain damage, and enough of them will maintain shelter while letting smoke out. Plus, you can make cool patterns with it.

[@chromenewt]

The sticky outie bits without roof segments above will need constant repair in rain and this doubles/triples wood required to build BUUUUUUUT I *love* how these principles can be used to take an existing building and tart it up without having to plan on advance which sections to use during building to exploit interesting block sections like other games. I built what I thought was going to look like a fancy medieval building with overhangs etc and it just looked like the architecture equivalent of a body builder that constantly skips leg day. With these principles in this video I can make my base look awesome without having to start again from scratch! Massive thank you for this video! Bookmarking for reference later!

[@kosai1627]

Im not an architect. I have terrible creativity so my buildings all look boring and basic. So this helps me tremendously. Thank you sir

[@cryora]

3 walls and a roof. Done.

[@Thieverpedia]

Today will be my first day of playing Valheim with my friend, so I thought I'd look into how the building works and how to improve it. I can't wait to get into base building. It's my favorite part of open-world games!

[@IndyMotoRider]

Just be aware that flying around is a cheat, not simply a quality of life mod, it's done using devcommands. This is a survival game with building mechanics. I'm just now about to craft the kiln and smelter to make bronze. Crafting with stone isn't even possible for me yet. If you want to play the survival game as intended, don't get lured by the darkside of using devcommands.

[@Healcraft]

if you are playing it to progress, this way of building will make it take 10x longer, since it uses 10x more wood which you have to also chop

[@allaction7816]

And here Im still trynna figure out the rightplacement so that itdoesn't fall. Good job man

[@BoristheBlade]

I like how you recorded the music separately so you could fast forward. Nice touch

[@mateusdias7681]

Hey man, thanks for the lecture! This is exactly what I was looking for, a building tutorial that explains the theory behind the builder's eye and that breaks down the thinking process to actually CREATE something. I have hundreds of hours in the game but I never quite figured out how to become a proper builder, now I can build some comfy and pleasurable bases to be in. Thanks a lot, bro!

[@SalladLimeParsnip]

Wow its like the Bob Ross of Valheim. Love to just watch it and chill (and get inspiration)-

[@junechevalier]

Nice touch with the dormer window there. I made an attic and somehow I felt like somethings missing, now I know what is!

[@nealgebhard5798]

Hey Smitty! Awesome idea with this video, so many new players are still figuring out the basics of this amazing building system and this should really help them! One thing to maybe mention is that, without mods, those exposed pieces on the bottom of the roof will rot to 50% and might not look as clean over time. Since a lot of new players are on Xbox, I'm not sure what mod options exist/will exist. Just a thought to help newer folks out!

[@smittysurvival]

Excellent point, and good call out! Definitely have to experiment to see what you do and don’t like since all of this is completely optional.

[@tanelviil9149]

Valheim is a game for AUTISTIC people who like to play building all day. The game it self i actually really bad and underdeveloped. ( yes i know it early access, but when people can make MODS that make the game better than what excuse the devs have??? ) Many mods have been made that make the game way better than its original state. But it amazes me how people defend the bad game play the tedious and pointless farming the game has. But it becomes clear, most fans are AUTISTIC. *They cant think outside of the box.* They dont understand that a the game developer can add some form of UPGRADES to the progression in the game. *UPGRADES that make the tedious parts in the game less tedious.* Example i fine that when you hit Bronze age you have to farm copper ore manually and it takes a long time if you want to get all the ore ( because digging it all out and then digging under it so it finally collapsed, takes a long time, but you get all the copper ore that way ) No problem if you have to do it 5 or 10 times if you hit bronze age I also have no problem that you are forced to use a boat if you want to travel. I also have no issue that with PORTALS you can't teleport ore. *But those LIMITATION should be at the beginning in the game. Later in game you should have the option to UPGRADE to eliminate some of this limitations.* The game should have NATURAL UPGRADES after certain technology advancement or after killing a boss that you can build UPGRADES that help you farm copper ore faster, that lets you discover the map so that you don't have to go in every single location with your boat... ( maybe sending some mythical viking crows that will reveal some parts of the map or something like that ) .. and then a UPGRADE that will UPGRADE the PORTALS so you can finally transport ORE. Stuff like that should be in the game so i player feels a sense of progression and that the things you first were forced to do and took long time, now can be speeded up. _________________________________________________ It amazes me how the big fans of the game can't even imagine that this could be a thing in the game OWN DESIGN. No Mods but build in options. Instead people say if you want to transport ore with portals use a MOD or use COMMANDs to get ore directly. *Why are the big fans of the game so unimaginative* and they are fine with the poor and bad design of the original game???? Reason????? Because most people can't think out side the box and with this game we have just AUTISTIC people who like to build all day but also a combination with low IQ. Autisim + low IQ ... and its sad. ________________________________________________ Valheim could be a so much better game if the fan base would be smart enough to demand it.

[@SmickyD]

@@tanelviil9149 the fact that you spent that much time just to shame people on the spectrum is truly disturbing..... i voted trump btw. you are very arrogant to think the game isnt what it should be. its a niche game by intention. its a passion project by the devs. its not a game made to be played by every dipshit that downloads it. its a creative outlet probably played by a lot of people on the spectrum. youre the kind of guy that rage comments on youtube because minecraft got too hard. go back to freddy fish.

[@SmickyD]

@@tanelviil9149 "im mad at autistic people because i have the attention span of a new born goldfish" -some random timmy

[@EllaMBV]

@@tanelviil9149 jesus

[@henrymonroy9533]

Great job "upgrading" a starter house. Was imagining your work going up in flames when you were holding your torch so close to the house. XD

[@r.j.2202]

exactly what I was looking for for my hammer mode world. I could point out exactly what was bothering me with most of my meadows/black forest style buildings, namely flatness and this shoebox look. But I didn't really know how to achieve a more three dimensional look. It's interesting to see how much you can actually do with simple beams.

[@shadowpheonix787]

I like to plan out the building from the beginning with log polls, then fill in foundation, outer walls, inner walls, doors and windows, then roof. The log polls give great depth, and texture.

[@chadnorris8257]

It's always good to add a bit of flair to a home, instead of just making a box with a roof. One time I built a porch out the front of my home, that overlooked a meadow. just relaxing there while I think about my plans is more enjoyable than just standing idly indoors.

[@GamingwithKristi]

Smitty, this may be my favorite tutorial you've ever done! Such useful tips and you explained your thought process so well and showed everything very clearly. Thanks so much! Great work! 💜

[@smittysurvival]

Thanks Kristi! So cool to hear when even a Valheim Vet can take something way from a video! 🙌🏻 appreciate the support!

[@tutucanbeats]

The one you started with is already way ahead of our current home, nice tips!

[@xlerb2286]

I don't do much in the way of fancy builds myself but I do appreciate it and seeing what's possible in the game. All good techniques here. Next playthrough I may even try getting fancier, who knows.

[@franciscogamba3207]

Amazing. Giving life a house working only with the basics.

[@Dade-xo9xt]

I really like the idea of placing the walls inside out. Gives more depth to the outer exterior with the beams at the rear of the wall-pieces showing, as opposed to a plain flat exterior with no beams.

[@kevinmackey5199]

honestly I hate it (enough to make a comment) and the more "depth" they add the worse I think it looks, BUT that's my opinion so i wont use it on my structures :P

[@UMCorian]

Most of us start off with something simple, like this: shows a simple but nice home. /me looks at my starter home - basically a slumped lean-to with uneven walls that's already green and half falling apart due to water damage.

[@tika2407]

Thank you for this! I just built this following your tutorial and even added a front porch! 💟

[@jake_from_statefarm7209]

I only have a couple hours in the game from playing with my brother a couple years ago, but this looks like so much fun that it makes me want to pick it up again. I wish my PC could handle it 😂 thanks for the tutorial!

[@Captain_Chloroform]

I'm a professional Valheim builder who also happens to be an astronaut/scientist cowboy, fluent in 146 languages. So with that being said: These are awesome ideas! I love that although I've spent hundred of hours in Valheim, I can watch these videos and still learn better building designs, unique placements and overall seeing how everyone else likes to put their homes together. Amazing community and awesome players overall. Thank you for putting the time in for this video. Edit: (Typo) I meant 246 languages.

[@nelsonday1144]

Custom plate is the most helpful part of this vid 🙏

[@Tarik360]

My starter is a jettyied tower/house monstrosity. All because the host said I was putting stakes in the middle of a road so I built up instead. Now it will look cooler, many thanks.

[@Mr_BB_Man]

i’m a brand new player and this was super helpful!!! def gonna be making use of the awnings and window sills. thanks for the tips!!

[@PhinzoSherpa]

hello. i am first. i like build.

[@smittysurvival]

First comment gets the crown! 👑🙇🏻‍♂️

[@jamateur]

Hi first

[@scarypineapple8608]

I like turtles

[@thevoiceofreason937]

"Face palm"

[@landsman420]

my ma and da were build.

[@SunriseMidnight]

Gosh i wish my friend would watch some of these lmfao the man builds shanty towns and settles with "good enough", breaks my heart when I see what he settles with 😂

[@jjkthebest]

What I find immensely useful for adding layers is to use doors for their additional snapping points. Using shift to free aim it is certainly useful, but a lot of the time it creates tiny imperfections. Not too big a deal, but they can add up to become very noticeable. This can be avoided by using the door's additional snapping points.

[@jrsimeon02]

Looks much better, there's no doubt about that, but in survival mode, that's a lot of cleanup when a troll with a large trunk walks out of the forest.

[@asyfer729]

Watching how you do this broaden my un-creative narrow mind abit haha.. Beautifully done sir.

[@troy4155]

every time he says "depth" you drink

[@zarakikon6352]

Nice 1 😊👍. Great video on how to "liven up" a place. The place I build with my friend is more of a home base than a cool place to live in as it were. So I'm strongly considering rebuilding somewhere else. Although I haven't worked out the details yet 😅.

[@hopsar8799]

Ok, good video and helpful. Take a shot every time you hear the word "depth".

[@riverderci169]

These improvement videos and how to videos are my favorite of yours!

[@andrewmgoss]

Great tips. Looking forward to incorporating them into my house

[@-MrAdventurePants]

I got this game last Friday and was struggling with the building I love the tutorial thanks a lot

[@hiroibwah]

This game is so relaxing. I just love collecting resources and building after a long day at work.

[@bamagrad99]

I sank about 700 hours into Valheim and about 675 of that was just building stuff. Great game!

[@abaronofchivalry5176]

For the roof trim, I ALWAYS use that because it's great for scaffolding and decoration combined. Especially on those 45 roofs!

[@Kashmere34]

Ayyye I know you from your Grounded builds, happy you're doing some starter stuff for us new Valheim console players

[@smittysurvival]

Oh wow! Blast from the past! Love to hear some Grounded players trying out Valheim! Both EXCELLENT games 👌🏻

[@claytonhard]

For roof overhangs I usually offset the roof tile by half. Meaning you have half of the roof hanging off the wall.

[@jrj5893]

Very thought-provoking! I'm definitely going to try some of these techniques. Is there a chance that you'd be willing to do a video showing the integration of the standard, starter wood and the core wood? I'm at that stage in my game where I'm building in the Black Forest, and trying to use both together in a cohesive manner. I'm mostly aiming to use the core wood decoratively, like for accents or framing, but with it being rounded I feel like it's a challenge to work with the flatness of the standard wood.

[@smittysurvival]

Thanks! Glad it got you thinking! Great suggestion on doing stuff at different stages of the game. Bronze Age (Black Forest) is one of my favorite stages to build in so I’l definitely consider a video of some kind.

[@christopherquarberg5394]

Rather than add more wood to the outside, if my finished product is gonna be a big wooden house that's very breakable and flammable, I actually cover both sides of the wall with the copper plating for a design/armor bonus. I've tested this by launching fireballs inside with the ember staff and my wooden house took no damage

[@zlosov5817]

I was kinda hoping to learn the way to place all that vegetation you showed in the preview, but this will do too i suppose.

[@SmickyD]

the dormer windows work well as an exhaust for any smoke from fires as well in case you want to make an attic without a smoke problem.

[@NeillSmith]

So the most intesting step here to me is the vegitation. How did you get natural bushes and vines?

[@playger4983]

same question

[@aoneko6813]

This is great, same concepts that we use in terraria and minecraft building. Thank you for teaching me this.

[@kat1114]

Going to use these ideas for a better looking build, thanks!

[@garyfinchum3252]

While roof overhangs are the convention in southern areas, in the north where you have snow on the roof it is not a good idea. The home is heated and thus warmer than the outside air. Snow on the roof melts from this warmth and runs down the roof where, if there is no overhang, it drops to the ground where the roof ends. If on the other hand you have an overhang, the water from the thawed snow freezes again on the overhang where the underside of the roof is cold because there is no warm home under it and starts to back up onto the roof causing significant damage and leakage on the inside of the home. Not my theory, but 30 years building homes in my lifetime.

[@ArjKm]

please make this into a series. Like next one for lighting, and then another for workbench/crafting space/ utility, then another one on how to use stone and wood together, and then another one on landscaping etc xD . Thank you !

[@battlehaggis4421]

Just discovered this vid.. thank u. I could do with breathing some new life into my first playthrough builds. You've gave me some nice ideas 🙂

[@eg8568]

The Guild Wars 1 and Valheim music seem to blend together in my head

[@jacepro2827]

looks good. although I wouldn't recommend spending too much resources if you're just building a starter home. functionalities comes first and then, you can improvise and improve your home as you grow. also making too much building pieces affects your fps too that's why I recommend building it near open areas near the coast and don't terraform too much.

[@xdzyviperzz2331]

i love the building system of valheim. you can really be creative

[@Followtheham]

Thank you fore this!! Made my village feel more alive with some architechture for once lol

[@Onyvox]

I really do love how the more complex buildings look when using smaller pieces. The only bummer for me is the fact that the performance can tank severely with the amount of those :/

[@MsBellaGames]

Love the video and the tips for improving build appearances. I sent this to a friend who plays Valheim with me and, while he's a pretty good builder, I think we'll both learn a few tricks. I know I will! Appreciate the work you put into this!

[@ForganMreeman-0]

Interesting, my viking style house looks too flat, this gives me an idea, nice video

[@jeffreyarena6199]

Instead of trying to line up the wood beams exactly perfect along the roof line, like when you were only trying to have 1/2 of the 1’m beam sticking out, you can change the snap point of the piece to have only 1/2 of it sticking out. The rest blends perfectly in with the existing beam. Idk if that makes any sense, but try messing with the snap points. On Xbox you click the right analog stick, not sure what the keybind is on PC.

[@zorion5934]

I think just going with the more shallow roof after the 45 pieces look great. give it a bit of flair..... WOOOOO!

[@sibenphaan]

my starter home looks nothing like the starter home in this vid. it looks more like macaroni art made by a 4 year old. I learned a lot from this video~

[@gaildot3482]

Gosh I'd love a guide on doing something like this for stone structures.

[@marabarnes6073]

You should try raising the roof another meter and putting the bottom roof trim facing down instead of out flat. Like Victorian roof trim.

[@Ry-pn2hy]

This video had a lot of depth! Thanks for the tips.

[@sam-fl5sw]

Watching this felt amazing

[@jeffreyyeater2189]

New to both Valheim, and your channel, I love how you bring your own creativity into each build, as well as making it simple and feasible for us new players! Thanks for all the great tips, definitely getting a sub from me!

[@SilverThreads]

His beginner house is way fancier than mine. I've never even put a window in my house before xD

[@meganblankenship2409]

Loved the video Smitty. Do you think you might try doing a terraforming/outdoor decor video, or a video on how to make multiple buildings look cohesive like in a village setting? I would love to see what your tips would be with that. When I try making a village nothing really seems to flow...😅

[@smittysurvival]

Thanks Megan! Very interesting idea! Perhaps I’ll do that on my next village project. I never considered some of the difficulties that people might experience when taking on something like that so I can certainly provide my thoughts!

[@the_furry_inside_your_walls639]

A tip I could give to you for making villages is to start off by making the foundations of your buildings and creating dirt paths as a form of planning. Also, try sketching your idea out on paper or in a drawing program, and use references. It always helps to have a visual to go off of. This could be said for making stuff in general.

[@meganblankenship2409]

@@the_furry_inside_your_walls639 the foundation thing with paths is a great idea thank you. Dealing with the terrain while making a village can also be difficult, but sometimes I just need to bite the bullet and give it a try. Thank you for the advice. 😊

[@x0pium]

would love to see some interior design ideas too in a video :o amazing ideas! thanks again smitty :)

[@rainbowlemon]

Very cool ideas, though I rarely bother just because of how frustrating it usually is trying to get onto your roof without slipping off

[@Coolblaster6]

Pisses me off so much, my biggest gripe

[@arrrnora]

My heart stopped when you said "My name is smitty" I genuinely thought it was Smii7y

[@brentmorris736]

Very nice thankx, I gotta try those dormer windows now.

[@Satsujiki]

Great video! Depth/Decorations/Landscaping. This brings so much life to a home!

[@games_n_that]

Absolutely love this game and loving your building content!

[@DJGaming-XSX]

I really really really hate how valheim doesn't have flat roof pieces, but thank u so much for the tips

[@Kuhmuhnistische_Partei]

I just wish Valheim had Wattle-and-Daub walls. I mean, it would only be a white to grey somewhat textured wall I could place between my timber framings. I don't even understand why so many games don't provide that easy little, good looking thing. Like why isn't it something you can build in Minecraft or Going Medieval and all those games?

[@lalalops833]

thats some really clean video editing, and the tips are really good too

[@Opferlamm113]

Hej Smitty, amazing tutorial on how to make prettier builds!

[@smittysurvival]

Thank you! Sometimes the most subtle things can make a big difference! Appreciate the support! 🙌🏻

[@Galba89]

For roof i prefer to fiddle them half overhang, meaning the roofpiece rests its middle on the wall - side and front. But most importantly; do not oversaturate. two layers with one decoration is enought most of the times.

[@catepressimone3139]

You are always full of great ideas. Thanks Smitty

[@OgreDLink]

Uh your "starter" house is better then any I've made yet but also just looking at it I instantly understood how some of the building stuff works. I am not utilizing beams properly for one thing lol

[@흉악한개장수]

집이 너무 아름답습니다. 재능이 뛰어난 건축가.

[@drohas8185]

This is amazing. HGTV Valheim. Thanks!