Base priorities
The first few times I built a base, I would optimize it before even thinking of creature comforts. This time around, I thought of what a bunch of weirdos running around a blasted hellscape would do when they finally found a place to call home. So this time, they planted some fields, made a field kitchen (cuz food is always what motivates me to make a base, after my squad gets too big to survive just from foraging). and threw down some sleeping bags. After spending months living off the land, I figured the next thing they would do would want to drink. So, before anything else, they built a latrine, a bar and real sleeping quarters. Realitisically, I feel like before anyone swung a hammer to make sheets of chain mail, they would want a goddamned break from the dust and to whet their parched throats (and self medicate after all the trauma). And maybe take a dump with some privacy.