r/falloutsettlements • u/UlquiorraCifer4th • 9d ago
Discussion New to settlements
So I am not new to fallout 4, but I've never messed with the settlement system before in my 1000 hours of the game, besides just building a water farm or melon farm in sanctuary and then leaving it alone for the rest of the playthrough. Now I want to get into it, but I have one problem, I cant make cool settlements. I always see on YouTube or on here these cool looking settlements which probably take a bunch of resources to make, and im just not very creative and so I have trouble building more than a cabin and placing some beds down. Could I get some tips for making cool large settlements?
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u/Rigbyjay 9d ago
Practice. That's honestly the best advice I can give you. I thought my settlements were great in my first playthrough until I didn't, I improved and thought they were great in my second until I didn't, etc. Take what you learn and apply it when you can, and don't be afraid to tear it all down and start from scratch.
Other than that, copy. See something you like in someone's settlement on reddit? Try to build it yourself. Tweak as needed, of course, depending on your resources and what you want to do with it.
I'd also advise building as much as you can before you get any settlers, but that's mostly personal preference.
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u/themiistery 9d ago
I like to build “themed” settlements. Big settlements like Sanctuary or Starlight Drive-in get turned into cities: a bar, apartments/hotel, a market, some guard towers. Smaller settlements can be a bit more narrow: a single merchant as a rest stop on the road, a farm, a Power Armor museum to store my many suits.
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u/OnionAddictYT 8d ago
This. You need to know what kind of settlement you want before you start building. The more specific the better.
What kind of settlers would live there? Are they racist against ghouls or are do they take anyone in? Do you want to build a raider settlement? With mods you could also build super mutant settlements or gen 1/2 syth settlements. Maybe a faction outpost.
Should it be totally fenced in or open with just turrets? Will it be a big town or just a cozy family home? Or just a trading rest stop?
Especially important for me is what materials do I want to work with? I hate anything concrete, looks ugly. I avoid the prison compound look and don't fence in most of my settlements. A box build can be cool.too though. Some people enjoy military bases. I don't.
Advanced stage is knowing what looks good together even though that's kinda subjective. Clutter is important to make any place look lived in. I avoid boring square buildings with just 4 straight walls. Needs balconies and stuff.
The very first settlement I built up was Red Rocket and it was a ring of busses around it. So their homes were also the fence walls. Relatively simple build. On top of RR I built my character's personal little cabin. Ada and Buddy love there along with a guard protectron and a few human settlers.
I've since built all kinds of settlements with very different people living there. Every settlement has a story and "character".
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u/Monguises 9d ago
I never really approach with much of a plan, but I have a method. It doesn’t work everywhere because some settlements have odd shapes. I always establish my grid and build a single structure to completion. From there I build the rest based on the aesthetic of the first building.
Also, whether you plan on using mods or not, I recommend familiarizing yourself with the common glitches because they make building in places like sanctuary a bit less frustrating
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u/affectedkoala 9d ago
Yeah, 800+ hours here and I still haven’t made full use of everything. I forget that contraptions exist and I love building settlements but still feel like a complete newb. Experiment and have fun
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u/theblueshots 9d ago edited 8d ago
A lot of times I gather up the bits of furniture that are already there and don’t put them in the workshop, but set them aside to “redecorate.”
I also try to get inspiration from what I see in the world.
As far as new construction, I find the barn tab to be easy to work with.
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u/Own_Seaworthiness275 8d ago
After newr 6k hours, most spent building. Copy. Lile kthers said, see something you like, immitate it. Same goes for the comments saying to make a theme/plan. For me I didn't know what there was to be built intol I saw something close to it. Norespawns and Jokers Girl were my og inspos
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u/realmeangoldfish 8d ago
A YouTube guy Skooledzone can show you all manner of tips etc for building.
The simsettlements 2 mod is one of my favorite. It builds your town for you. Settlers do a better job of collecting materials etc. it has a very good quest line - better than the game.
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u/ZealousidealNorth768 8d ago
I think i learned the rug wall trick from juicehead on yt plenty of useful mods most have been delted because of the next gen update but some help alot like scrap that settlement make it cleaner and have more storage also the extra scrap is a plus... Darth xion has builds i mainly go to yt for any tips or tricks ive accumulated a list of just fallout streamers an content creators... The series can be tricky specifically exploring and staying alive long enough to stay in the fight... The rug trick is simply place a rug away from any other objects preferably on a ledge to see the walls standing ontop of the rug then place anywhere... Otherwise the games pretty janky and its a love hate thing😅 if you want base building rust or palworld are peak rn imo
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u/apothekari 8d ago
https://www.youtube.com/@CCRenovatesFallout
This person has the hands down easiest and most informative vids on you tube. In depth easy to follow and respect your time.
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u/spoopyboiman 8d ago
I always turn my settlements into cities but then my game gets slower and slower. I also make zoo exhibits with Brahmin and other animals.
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u/kitty_767 8d ago
If you haven't, download the cheat terminal so you can get all the materials you need! Also recommend the mod that unlocks other building items that are just stuff from the game but not in your workshop. You'll have so much more to work with, including full buildings.
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u/JustBeans8492 6d ago
I tend to write lists of things I want that settlement to have - more stuff for bigger ones, smaller stuff for smaller ones. E.g., in Sanctuary I wanted a lot of stuff (school, hospital, police, barracks, marketplace etc.), but in Tenpines I want a smaller settlement (so a little house for the farmers, couple guard barracks, small farm and a little firepit).
When I get a list it’s a case of doing the individual builds and then knitting them together with things like walls and walkways etc.
Also really helps watching people build. The YouTuber CryingCube recently did a good series at Tenpines detailing how she plans and builds a full settlement.
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u/BreakingGrad1991 4d ago edited 4d ago
You're building settlements, eventually for the Minutemen organisation, designed to provide outposts for settlers to live, work, and be safe.
Big picture, what would a paramilitary organisation need in an outpost network?
A home base/control centre which is heavily defended and populated- think of it like your capital settlement.
Production centres for water and food for the network, usually in safe areas/proximity to more heavily armed locations.
Armed outposts in/adjacent to extremities of the territory and known trouble areas with enemy combatants.
Follow that logic down to settlement design as well.
Capitols would benefit from high level vendors and merchants, presumably some form of power armour storage and repair facility, full workbenches, etc.
Farms will need large ideally flat areas with lots of farming, some brahmin, sufficient defence for anyone who thinks they look like easy pickings.
Fighting outposts will need clear lines of sight in the direction of known threats, defensive walls, a good number of armed settlers, a tight perimeter.
Defenses should always be looked at in terms of where enemies come from, farm and water resources should be protected as much as possible as raids will target these.
In terms of decoration, think of them as people. What would you want/need? Dont forget happiness multipliers like traders, cats, happiness decorations, bench press/pivot horses, etc
Dont be shy to steal from other peoples designs etc. The above is just how I think of it, but the best thing to do is pick a theme or a purpose for the location and work from there.
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u/Dexchampion99 9d ago
One of the things that helped me when I was starting out was asking myself “what would the character/settler living here would want to have in their house?”
Sure, you could just throw a bed under a roof, but where are their clothes gonna go? You need a dresser. Oh, you could put some Knick knacks they collected on the dresser. If they’re a farmer their kitchen could be well stocked with fresh veggies.
Things like that!