I recently got Fallout 4 and I was wondering if you had to build the settlements for the game to progress or can you just do the main quest and any side quests you want? I'm really not into building settlements. It isn't fun, plus the homes look like rusted junk piles when you're done.

Debra, according to the Steam discussion boards

Have fun

Actually, there are other small one off "settlements" that require minimal establishment for some quests other than the Minutemen.

I originally didn't care for building settlements, then got completely obsessed with building the ultimate. Once they added more goodies to use in the settlements, it improved their aesthetics by quite a bit - You just have to experiment.

It's not everyone's cup of tea though. After playing through most of the quests I started building settlements in God Mode. You have a nearly inexhaustible supply of materials and can go crazy building an ultimate structure to protect your settlers. Bethesda caught on that a lot of folks were doing that and started tweaking the algorithms to overcome super structures (like looters lobbing mini-nukes into over high fences, LOL.) Then I think they gave in and started supplying crazy add-ons in the DLC like elevators, logic switches and so on...

I don't have a shot of the whole structure, but here's a couple shots of what I turned the Red Rocket service station into

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ddcl02yah4xsz3u/ScreenShot35.png?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cyois2i211661zq/ScreenShot43.png?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xgmfgjsmfeylk1y/ScreenShot34.png?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xucuiulq36ojnxf/ScreenShot38.png?dl=0

Thanks, Trail, I knew you'd know

Trail, I think that I have little interest in building, but I'm wondering how long it took to build that one. It looks very nice.

Pokey, I hated the initial mandatory building quests, but eventually got utterly addicted to building my settlements, especially with with the neat stuff you get in the DLC - the elevators and lighting and furniture and so on. I reckon at least 40% of my 800+ hours of gameplay were devoted to building settlements. I rebuilt some, too. Many of them had individual apartments that were fully furnished.

Yeah, okay, that's pretty obsessive. But I truly enjoyed it and some of my towns are gorgeous! I would live in them.

If I knew how to do a screenshot I could show you a couple of mine.

Thanks Pokey Actually, I don't have a clue how long that one took me to build because I did it in several game play-throughs. One of my pet peeves with FO4 is the lack of a protected home base from the get go, I mean other than the place where your "spouse-cicle" resides

I'm also not a fan of the first few levels of the game, they are somewhat of a slog in my opinion.

I really like the location of the Red Rocket, so I decided to build a home base that I could use every time I started a new play-through. I began building as soon as I had access to the location and stopped at level 6 then saved a copy of the game. Instead of starting at the beginning of the game for each playthrough, I just kick in that save and went from there. During several play-throughs I made a bunch of improvements to the place, noting the changes each time. When ever I would fire up a new game using that save, I would immediately make those changes and re-save, so they would be there for future game play.

By building in God Mode you don't level from building stuff - Something I thought was silly anyways. Anyhow, that means I could improve the design with each subsequent play-through based on my past experience, but still be able to archive the save with a level 6 starting character and a bigger, better home base each time.

Thanks everyone for the input. I loved the pictures! Maybe I'll get addicted to building but right now I don't think so. I'm going to wander around a check out the territory. I miss my horse in the Witcher and Skyrim.

Debra, I didn't start building until I was well into the game and was starting to get a trifle bored - I'd say about 200 hours in. Until that point I just slammed down a couple of the pre-made huts and a few beds, a water pump, the minimum of weaponry, and moved on. Also, in the vanilla game there is a maximum building limit for each site, which means you can't really do that much anyway. It wasn't until the DLC arrived and I discovered God Mode that I really got going.

Thanks, Trail and hagatha. I haven't started the game yet, but your comments will be helpful when I do. I'll probably check out the building.

Thank you Hagatha. I'm now roaming this desolate landscape and checking things out. I don't have the DLC because I've not heard many good things about most of them except Far Harbor. What's your opinion on the rest of them? Worth the money or not?

Debra, I just noticed your post. Sorry it took so long!

I LOVED the DLC that included the building stuff, but that was because I was obsessive about it. Far Harbour is definitely worth the money, I think.

I can't remember the name of the DLC that included robots, but I found it short and sweet, with a new building site, new robot crafting opportunities (craft your own robot companion -- sweet!) and a great companion - I kept her for the rest of the game, in fact.

Robot DLC = Automatron

TM

Right - Automatron.

I loved Fallout 4 and all the DLC, and played about 1,000 hours in total. That's as compared to my measly 300 hours in my just-completed game of Skyrim. I loved it, then I was bored (of course, having a massive bug that prevented Dragons from spawning in their lairs didn't help).

I had that same bug crop up way back when they first released Skyrim, but I thought it was taken care of in one of the official patches.

There's a mod, I think it's called "Moar Dragons" (silly name ) that revamps the dragon respawn limitations. It's not a fix, but would at least increase your dragon encounters so you don't lose out on souls. I can't remember if it's on Nexus or Steam or if it's even still active. I'll dig around my mod lists for both and post a link.

Update: OK, it is a Steam workshop mod and he's spelling it correctly now More Dragons

Ah. Maybe I'll get back to it at some point. Not only did the dragons not spawn at their lairs, I was starting to get one dragon for every 10 hours of play, if that.

Thanks Hagatha for your opinion on the DLC. I bought Far Harbor through a holiday sale, but I can't get there yet due to a quest and level requirement. I'm glad you liked the other two, it makes me less leery to purchase them (eventually )