Besiege Super Beginner’s Guide to Blocks and Parameters

Get to know Besiege's blocks, controls, and parameter adjustment options to get started on the right foot.

This article is meant to be a primer for brand new Besiege players trying their hands at making something they can be proud of. There isn’t a ton to the game just yet, but there definitely is enough to confuse anyone tinkering with the game with no prior help.

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Besiege is, as you know, a physics-based building game challenging players to destroy while attempting to keep their creations intact. They keyword here is “attempting”, because chances are your machines are going to break apart often.

You need to learn to deal with the game’s finicky physics, which means keeping in mind how parts interact (and how they might collide) as you are building.

Before pressing forward with the basics, let’s cover the super-basics: The controls. You can remind yourself of these in-game via the Control button at the top right of the screen.

There are three keys in particular you should absolutely remember that are going to make your life easier:

  • R – Rotates a block 90 degrees. This must be done before you place a block. Hover over where you want to place the block and press R to see the rotated version before placement.
  • F – Currently flips the following parts, so they rotate in the opposite direction: Motor Wheel, Powered Medium Cog, Steering, Steering Hinge, and the Spinning Block. They must be flipped after placement.
  • X – Deletes the block you are moused over. Much faster than clicking on the delete icon, then clicking the block.
One tip for those of you looking to build something large:

You can click the cube icon at the top right of the screen to remove the default building boundaries. This allows you to build machines of massive sizes.

Blocks and their uses

Let’s go over the blocks you’ll find in-game at the moment and their standard uses. Considering the type of game Besiege is, there are tons of uses for most blocks. Your imagination is the limit! Well, that and the game engine.

You can do much more than what’s mentioned here, but then we’re veering into territory beyond the basics. Let’s not do that, so you’re not overwhelmed.

Part Primary Use
 Small Wooden Block One of the two basic building blocks.
 Wooden Block One of the two basic building blocks.
 Motor Wheel The standard way to propel your machines on land. Often requires Steering or changes to key mapping to use properly.
 Steering Hinge Can be used to steer wheels (or other parts) left or right when attached at a part’s base. Does not steer remotely.
 Brace Connects one part to another to keep both stable. A good addition in most cases if your machine is wobbly.
 Wooden Panel Used for decoration and to block arrows. Does not protect against fire.
 Hinge Much like the Steering Hinge but not powered. Good for joints in instances where you do not need manual control.
Swivel Joint Like the Hinge, but rotates 360 degrees instead of allowing movement between two directions. Often used in joints.
 Half Pipe (Low Friction) Can be used to transport weapons like boulders from one end to another on large machines.
Unpowered Wheel Like the Motor Wheel, but with no control. Not for use as the primary wheels for any moving machine.
 Steering Allows for manual steering or rotation when attached to the machine base and the part you would like to move left or right. Best used with Motor Wheels.
 Decoupler Connects one section of a machine to another. Disconnects when you press its key (J). Useful for multi-segment machines.
Contractible Spring Connects two objects, but not so that they are tight. A common component of catapults, trebuchets, and whatnot.
 Suspension Dampens the effects terrain has on your machine when placed between the machine and the wheels. Think of a car’s suspension.
 Piston Extends when you press its key (H) and contracts when released.
 Spinning Block Spins in a 360-degree rotation on its own. Can be used with wheels if you want an ever-moving machine. Attach to a Metal Blade for easy murder.
 Grabber Just as the description says, it grabs anything it touches. This includes weapons. Blocks can not be grabbed by the Grabber when in build mode.
 Unpowered Medium Cog A cog with no power. Best used with the Powered Medium Cog.
 Powered Medium Cog Used for complex setups and can even be used as wheels.
 Spike Ball Medievil weaponry at its finest. Cannot fit in the Holder.
 Metal Blade Long blade with sharp edges at each side. Attach to a Spinning Block for best results.
 Spike Best attached to the outside of a machine to pick off anything running at it. And I guess to destroy stuff.
 Cannon Allows for a single cannon shot when you hit its key (C). Has a lot of recoil, and can only be fired once. Place somewhere stable.
 Flamethrower It’s a flamethrower. Hit (Y) to make it spurt out a bunch of fire for 15 seconds. Can only be fired once.
 Bomb An explosive bomb. Can be placed directly in the Holder. Best used for catapults and trebuchets.
 Holder A convenient block that can hold both the Bomb and the Flaming Ball safely. Can be used to hold Boulders. Can’t be used to hold Spike Balls.
Flaming Ball Exactly what it sounds like. Will catch any and all wood on fire — including your machine if you’re not careful.
 Boulder Best used with catapults and trebuchets.
Plow Can protect your machine from hostiles or gather them up for murder.
 Circular Saw Spins super fast for that extra oomph. Does not need to be attached to a Spinning Block, but it can be.
 Flying Spiral Your basic flying component. This gives the lift needed to get off the ground.
Aerodynamic Propeller Helps flying machines keep to the skies when combined with a Spinning Block. Can be used in some creative ways.
 Wing The best for gaining and holding air during flight. Can be used to steer when combined with Steering.
 Wing Panel Simply a smaller version of the Wing. Can be connected to blocks or additional Wing Panels via its four corners.
Ballast Used as a counter-weight to control how heavy certain parts of your machines are for easier (and more predictable) control. The weight is adjustable.
 (Square) Metal Plate Used to protect one square of your machine from arrows and fire.
 (Rectangle) Metal Plate Used to protect a 2×1 area of your machine from arrows and fire.
 (Circular) Metal Plate Used to protect a small circular area of your machine from arrows and fire. Best used on wheels or cogs.
Slider Extends and contracts based on the movement of other parts, sort of like a powerless piston.
Wooden Pole A simple building block, much like Wooden Blocks. A bit more attractive than Wooden Blocks.
Balloon Gives lift for flying machines or parts you want to suspend mid-air. Has adjustable buoyancy.

 

Making friends with the Key Mapper and Parameter Tuning tool

The Key Mapper and Parameter Tuning tool is a handy helper for both new and experienced Besiege players. If you’re new to the game, you may be so pensive and confused about the game’s keys and wealth of blocks, you may not even touch it. But you definitely should.

This tool has two functions in one:

  1. It allows you to change key mappings for individual parts (if they have keys to use them).
  2. It allows you to change the speed at which some blocks move, as well as how heavy Ballasts are.

If you’re looking to make a complicated machine, making friends with the Key Mapper and Parameter Tuning tool is a must. If you’re looking to just have fun with the game, it’s also a must. It’s just indispensable.

To use the tool, click the wrench icon seen in the image above and click on the block you want to adjust. From here, you can either use the slider to adjust speed or change that block’s key bindings (if applicable).

Now, here’s something fun:

Let’s say you have four Cannons and you want to be able to fire each one individually. You can click on each one with the tool and change the key used to fire a single Cannon.

You could set each one to something as simple as a number — so let’s say you set each one to keys 1 through 4 on the keyboard. So 1 for the first Cannon, 2 for the second, and so on.

These types of tricks are something you should try to get used to, as it adds a lot of flexibility to building. If you’d like to give this a shot on something simple, the very first machine in my simple steering machine guide provides a very easy entry into playing with the Key Mapping and Parameter Tuning tool.

Key and parameter cheat sheet

Below is a relatively “cheat sheet” showing what blocks can be adjusted using the tool. Some only allow you to change their function keys, while others allow you to only change their speed or can have both adjusted.

The default function keys are mentioned in parenthesis next to their function. These can be adjusted using the Key Mapper and Parameter Tuning tool.

  • Note 1: The Holder block mentions being able to explode, which one can assume would be to detach. This does not work at the moment.
  • Note 2: The Ballast block, which functions as a weight, has an adjustable mass range of 0.20 to 2.00. The higher the number, the heavier it is.
  • Note 3: The Balloon block, which can lift blocks and structures into the air, has an adjustable buoyancy range of 0.20 to 1.50. The higher the number, the more/higher they will float.
Part Adjustable Keys Speed
 Motor Wheel Forwards (Up), Reverse (Down) 0.00 ~ 2.00
 Steering Hinge Left (Left), Right (Right) 0.00 ~ 2.00
 Steering  Left (Left), Right (Right) 0.00 ~ 2.00
 Decoupler Disconnect (J) N/A
 Contractable Spring  Contract (L) 0.30 ~ 4.00
 Suspension N/A 0.50 ~ 3.00
 Piston  Extend (H)  0.10 ~ 2.00
 Spinning Block  N/A 0.00 ~ 2.00
 Grabber Detach (V) N/A
 Powered Cog Forwards (Up), Reverse (Down)  0.00 ~ 2.00
 Circular Saw  N/A 0.80 ~ 1.60
Cannon Shoot (C) N/A
Flamethrower Ignite (Y) N/A
 Flying Spiral Spin (O)  0.00 ~ 1.25

There is much more to say about this game, but this covers the most basic things you need to know to get started. Along with all of the above, here are four snippets of advice:

  • Always pay attention to what’s in the vicinity of a moving part. Example: Try not to build turning wheels right next to your machine’s body, otherwise the wheels will collide with other blocks and destroy your machine.
  • Weight does play a big part in the movement of most machines, especially in terms of stability. If one side of a land machine is raising off the ground during movement, consider either building more on that side or simply putting a Ballast there. Ballasts have adjustable weight.
  • Most machines are not going to be fully stable. You can make adjustments and get them closer to your ideal, but don’t stress if your creations are more wobbly than you might like.
  • The Brace is great for keeping your machines from breaking apart during movement.

If you’d like to learn some simple builds to get the basics down, I’ve written guides for building four simple steering machines, two simple catapults (with two bsg files), and one relatively easy to use flying machine (with two bsg files).


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Ashley Shankle
Ashley's been with GameSkinny since the start, and is a certified loot goblin. Has a crippling Darktide problem, 500 hours on only Ogryn (hidden level over 300). Currently playing Darktide, GTFO, RoRR, Palworld, and Immortal Life.