The base is on the ground to avoid a mess of coding and a rash of bugs, if the little bit of game developer in me is correct. It might get placed higher later.... Heheheh but I am sure higher is a lower priority.
Wait a minute though... That one stuck rover went through a couple sandstorms and never got buried... it is only 6 inches tall.. How much sand do those sandstorms actually deposit.?
And I think those bases might be raised for an entirely different reason than you think... Real mars is rough, rough like sandpaper They might use those stilt things to level the base and allow the modules to line up on extremely uneven terrain.. Since hyper does not have to worry about that,... He made a nice flat area with his extremely powerful C++ bulldozer (I assume) he can have the buildings sit on the ground.
But anyhow, I think mars with it's exceptionally thin atmosphere does not move as much as things on earth do, it will be enough to cover solar panels a bit, but that is all.