TBF I only played it for a few hours & didn't get into it , I might give it another shot with the upgrade though aslong as base building isn't something that I have to do lol
There's a youtube tutorial on how to streamline it and cheat your way through to get fast XP through duplication of items.
I just created a very basic shack with power connectors and a bunch of beds for the NPCs and called it a day.