Raft is a popular early access Steam game created by Redbeet Interactive. It is currently waiting for the next chapter, and new content is being added all the time. The basic premise is that you are drifting in the ocean on a raft made of flotsam. There are materials surrounding you with which you can build your raft into a life-sustaining paradise, and various small islands which have resources you may need.
The storyline begins when you find your first special location – the Radio Station. This Raft walkthrough will show you how to find the Radio Station and what to do when you get there.
Antenna and Receiver
In order to find the Radio Station you will need to follow a signal triangulated by three antennas and a receiver. These require the following materials:
You’ll find plenty of planks, scrap and plastic around. Hinges and bolts are simple to craft from metal ingots (smelted from metal ores). Circuit boards are crafted from 5x plastic, 2x copper ingots and 1x vine goo. You will also need to find the blueprints for each item. These are relatively common in floating barrels or crates.
You need to position these four items correctly for them to work. The antennas must be placed with each at least two blocks away from the receiver, and at least 3.5 blocks away from each other. They must also be on the same level as each other, and at least one level higher than the foundation of the raft.
Finally, to operate the receiver you will need a battery. To craft these you need copper ingots, plastic and scrap. Place it into the receiver slot by pressing E.
Using the Receiver
Once you have everything coupled up correctly you can switch the receiver on and it will show you any islands within range. Don’t change the selector yet – it should be pre-set to the correct frequency for the first location. If it isn’t, then you can press T to find the frequency you need in your logbook (the tab in the spine labelled Radio Station). As a point of interest, the frequencies vary from game to game, so don’t think you can skip a section by using a frequency somebody else gave you!
You should be able to see some green dots (islands) with numbers next to them. These are the distances. There should also be a blue dot for the first location. It won’t matter how far away you are; this will always show on the screen.
The direction that the receiver faces (the direction you are looking as you look at the receiver display) is always the top on the display. The bottom of the display is behind you. You will most likely find that the first target is upstream of you, so you are going to need to hoist the sail (assuming you’ve made one by now) and alter your heading. You will be able to tell if you have the right direction if the number starts decreasing.
Top tip – switch off the receiver while you’re not looking at it. The battery will quickly run down, and you should only need to check your bearing every now and again.
The Radio Station
Eventually you will reach the Radio Station. There are no creatures on board here waiting to kill you; just Bruce sitting in the water. So you shouldn’t need to do much to prepare except fill up on beets and potatoes before you go, and fill up a water bottle for the trip.
The easiest place to get on to the platform is pictured here. There is an opening which you can dock your raft underneath so you can jump on easily. It is possible to swim to this point and jump up as well.
Have a search around when you get onboard. There are five notes to find, and also a few bits of info painted on the walls. There are also 4 chests with useful materials inside.
Ground Floor
The first note is inside the building B-1 on the left.
To get up to the second floor climb the lockers to get on top of the building B-2. Carry on upwards.
Second Floor
Walk through the building on the left and you will find the second note pinned to a board. There is also a chest if you go around the corner hidden underneath a broken staircase.
To continue upwards climb the stairs and jump through the hole in the roof.
Third Floor
There isn’t much to find here. A little acrobatics is needed though to get further upwards. Walk along the conduit to the roof of the next container, and then continue further along until you can jump on to another broken staircase.
Continue up the stairs, turn to your left, and taking a running jump at the right hand side on to the ducting.
Continuing upwards, climb the boxes on to the next roof, and then a final leap from a pipe to a staircase.
Follow the stairs up and you have made it to the top! In this control room there is a note on the desk and the all-important next stage radio frequency on a post-it note on the whiteboard. There is also a blueprint for a headtorch on the floor, next to a crate with more useful items in.
Underwater
After exploring the above-water compartments, there is a little work to do subsea. You will be able to see the briefcase from the surface where you got on board the Radio Station. Jump into the water to pick it up, but beware of Bruce. Inside this briefcase is the final note to collect.
There are two crates to find inside the upper of the two wet floors, and a variety of smaller objects. On the lower floor there is a bunch of scrap for collection. If you are feeling brave (and perhaps have scuba gear) there are quite a few bits of scrap, clay and sand beneath the Radio Station structure on the seabed.
After this there isn’t anything else to find, so get back to your raft and plug in the frequency for the next objective!
Graffitti
You may have seen the various graffiti notes around the place while you explored. Here are some of them…
