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How do you plan out your Settlements?

Rayhne

Rayhne

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im using All Settlements Extended now and I have almost too much room.i was wondering how people plan out their Settlements.
 
I use Vanilla Settlement sizes. After I do a full Scrap Everything of the entire site I go into /tfc and do a fly around and imagine where I want things to go.
 
I clean the settlements with Scrap Everything. Then use JTBryant's 2x2 foundation blocks to create a road along the settlement borders. Then I fill in the area with rows or patterns of 2x2 blocks for plots, and 1x1 blocks for paths.
 
No such thing as too much room in my world... Why not use some of that extra space to create living spaces for the settlers that live there? Maybe a community center, gym or central bathhouse (CWSS). Pool with BYOP.

I use Scrap Everything and occasionally console scrapall. The TFC suggestion is a great one (toggle fly cam). For me the challenge is usually how to place the plots so they follow the land organically. This includes the roads and other settlement utility stuff. Terraforming tools are great but only take things so far before they start making the place look artificial. I recommend not terraforming your settlements into complete board-like flatness, leave the thorn in the rose and have surprises around every corner, not just more of the same.

Curved snapable road pieces would really be something if any modders are hanging around and want to take a shot at building that mesh :)

The biggest thing to keep in mind when planning it out is "What does this settlement do? Is it a faction garrison? A farm? A great place to raise a family? Is the entire place a red-light district or consecrated to the Church of Atom Reborn? Is it a regional trade center? How does it connect to the larger world and what services does it provide?

If you theme your settlement from the outset, it gives you a starting framework to build from. Farms don't need a lot of power so having a big generator house is out. Garrisons need a power armor garage and lots of turrets. Traders need places for their animals to rest, food and lodging and places to trade without fear of raiders.

If you let the form follow the function this way, you should have quite a bit of fun dreaming up how to lay things out to make it do what you want.
 
Right now I'm working on Sanctuary and Red Rocket. I tend to be haphazard about it. (A part of me is regretting using ASE but for the smaller Settlements you really need it) I like to put like plots with lime plots and for residentional I lie to have strip of land between them. (Which is why I'd like small plots for decorations ... flower plots, patio plots, etc) I'd really love some cobblestone Foundations for walkways. That would be cool.
 
Cobblestone walkways are part of HZS Easy HomeBuilder and Working Double beds (http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/17521/?)

There may be some in Homebuilder as well.

Bridge squares are high poly though so unless you have a massive computer, you may be better served throwing in a much lower polygon puzzle piece
 
The downside of the way I do it is that I end up with little pockets of foundations that I can't really consolidate together but then again I do like keeping the different types of plots in different areas.

I use the Seasons mod so I try to keep pockets of trees and shrubs scattered around the settlements.
 
After clearing anything I do not want in the settlement I lay foundations keeping a block clearance between plots where space allows and half a block where space is tight or when I want to break up the uniformity.

I try not to build in the city block style I like a bit more character so quite a lot of manual placement of foundations.

I tier the heights according to natural landscape normally a max 30% drop and full stair the drop . I try bot to be to uniform with layout and stagger the plots a little.

I keep the farming and industrial away from residential and try to do commercial on a roadway or as close to one if possible.

I do not lay a plot until all foundations are laid and I drop the 4 blocks the plot is going on by 1% to stop the overlay flicker you get from meshes colliding.
 
At the moment, I tend to be very haphazard with the whole affair. I don't use scrapping mods or property extensions.... yet. Next playthrough I think. One thing I do like about doing it that way is that everything is very random. But the thing I don't really care for are the old wrecked structures taking up valuable space. And the idea of having to use rather uniform plots & sizes is a bit too restrictive for my tastes. Just an observation, not a criticism.
 
I used to be rather haphazard but now I bring up the workshop, then use the console command tfc to toggle the free camera then zoom out so I can see the whole border of the settlement and then use tm to hide the menus and take a screenshot. From there I try to plan out what I want to do. I use Scrap Everything though to clean things up as much as possible and am in this playthrough trying out the mod Ground to level out certain areas.
 
@Rayhne Place Everywhere, set movement distance to .1 and then drop it down via the 2 key on the keypad.
 
personaly, i try to go with the stuf thats alredy there when i start the settlement... so i use a lot of jib's tree houses in tenpines, for example. I stoped using scrap mods after I realised the only things I ever used them for were bushes and a single wall at abernathy. Disable & markfordelete work just as well for that.
 
I generally pick a theme for the site. I then scrap every single bush, and all the trash I can. I find that I tend to clump buildings together, although I did go for a large planned settlement at Abernathy. I will console in exactly enough settlers for my site, so about 10 for an outpost, 20 for a settlement, 40 for a town. Robots run all supply lines, and occasionally farming or defense duties as dictated by the theme. Unfortunately I have had to resort to the "store weapons for more buildspace glitch" to decorate, and that means some settlements are really beginning to lag.
 
Mine are complete chaos. I plop stuff down where its convenient. Its lazy and ugly but it sorta works. Monkeys and dogs everywhere. the early settlements ( NW corner) are all hodge podge. Preston drove me crazy sending me to settlements when i was not ready to deal with them so i ended up importing about 10 settlements in with Transfer Settlements mod so they wouldn't get murdered. I send all my kids to Covenant, and Robots to Greygarden for the time being (they will live in the mechanist's lair eventually.) Starlight is the first settlement i am trying to take time on, but i really really suck at this.
 
How about settler numbers? I assume we are still stuck with charisma plus 10.
 
Rayhne said:
How about settler numbers? I assume we are still stuck with charisma plus 10.
Click to expand...

Mytigio's Add-On, Industrial City, Scav Team Dispatcher Plot: https://www.simsettlements.com/site/index.php?threads/detailed-building-overview.623/

Quote from Mytigio's description:

"Alternate Recruitment:

Alternate Recruitment is a new method of recruiting settlers. Instead of recruiting a number of settlers equal to the players Charisma score + 10, instead the Alternate Recruitment beacon will attract settlers so long as there is a Sim Settlements residential plot and Sim Settlements job plot available for that settler to work (the plots need to be zoned, but can be at level 0). To reward high Charisma players (and since it is your voice on the radio), Charisma is instead factored into the likelihood of attracting a settler (adding 2.5% to the chance per point of Charisma).

Limiting settlers in this way is useful for two reasons: 1) you can put a cap on the number of settlers by simply not zoning more plots, thus keeping small settlements like Hangman’s Alley from being overrun with settlers and 2) a low charisma character can build very large settlements so long as they have zoned out jobs and homes for those new residents.

Additionally, the Alternate Recruitment system can be optionally set to allow you to exceed the normal limit of attracting 1 brahmin per settlement, instead allowing you to attract 1 brahment per 10 settlers (1 for settlements between 1-10 settlers, 2 for settlements between 11 and 20 settlers, etc).

Options for the Alternate Recruitment system can be found in the RobCo AFMS 2.4 holotape (available on the Robotics Workshop plot, in the terminal of the new Salvage Sorting Center or crafted at a Chem station)"
 
The nicest thing about Mytigio's plots are that you can simply build the one industrial, assign a settler, then build your settlement out normally without worrying about recruitment. The dispatcher handles recruitment up to the number of residential and job plots you have and then turns off the beacon until you add more plots. It's great if you build out a preplanned settlement, then wander off for an adventure because you never have to worry about your settlement overflowing on settlers and tanking happiness.
 
tankthing said:
The nicest thing about Mytigio's plots are that you can simply build the one industrial, assign a settler, then build your settlement out normally without worrying about recruitment. The dispatcher handles recruitment up to the number of residential and job plots you have and then turns off the beacon until you add more plots. It's great if you build out a preplanned settlement, then wander off for an adventure because you never have to worry about your settlement overflowing on settlers and tanking happiness.
Click to expand...
It's great for a pure Sim Settlements settlement. I never have pure settlements, because I *really* want multiple occupancy dwellings.
 
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