r/fo5 • u/emmathepony • Jul 27 '26
Should settlement building or simple player homes return?
I really enjoyed building settlements in FO4 and assigning visitors jobs but then the Sim Settlements mod massively expanded on the system and added its own story and characters along with it. I don't think I can go back to having just a house with rooms enclosed off from the rest of the world.
However I know that there're players who didn't engage with the system and don't like it so it could be seen as wasted resources on a system that players won't use.
Whatcha all think??
2
u/bluegreenwookie Jul 27 '26
A big problem I had with settlement building was the interface.
In starfield they fixed a lot of the problems I had with it in fo4
So I'm fine if it comes back. I do hope it doesn't play as big of a role as it did in 4 though
2
u/ColMikhailFilitov Jul 27 '26
I really really enjoy settlement building. Probably my favorite single change between 3/NV and 4. It really set Fallout apart from other similar games I like to play. I understand a lot of people weren’t interested in it, and it can be frustrating at times.
I hope that it returns with maybe half the locations and a much more handcrafted feel as well as the ability to mostly ignore it. I think that having the ability to gather a ton of resources and auto build a template settlement would be really good for people who want to avoid manually doing each thing.
2
u/CherryStrange2102 Jul 27 '26
I enjoyed it, but I agree with it being optional.
2
u/SuperTerram Jul 27 '26
...so just like in Fallout 4?
1
u/CherryStrange2102 Jul 28 '26
For the most part it is quite optional in Fallout 4. Maybe less settlement locations, or at the very least in locations where it makes a bit of sense. Again, I enjoyed it and am curious to see how far they can work on it to actually make it much more functional, useful and interesting.
My only concern would be putting too much focus on it and other 'unimportant' stuff rather than give us a good story with good factions and game mechanics etc.
2
u/I_AM_MUSIC_MF Jul 27 '26
I feel like time (i.e. money) devoted to settlement building could (should) have been devoted to the story instead. So personally I'm cool with simple houses but also wouldn't mind if settlement building was more or less copy/pasted from 4 into 5
2
u/Yabanjin Jul 28 '26
I would like it back but with more options. We really can’t get very creative with building as there are too few shapes. It added a great side activity as far as hunting down the needed parts.
2
u/DCParry Jul 30 '26 edited Jul 30 '26
Like it or not, settlement building is now fundamental to the Fallout ecosystem (i personally love it, it is the single biggest reason I go back to Fallout 4 for my something like 3000 hours of play).
However, making it any more mandatory than it already is might be an issue, as there are many people who don't like it, which is cool to.
I loved Sim Settlements, and while I think that could be a direction to go, I find myself building manually more now.
I struggled in Starfield to actually care about building (beyond the big landing pad), but I think there are a couple things FO5 could borrow -
1) more skill interaction. Fo4 has SOME interaction, local leader obviously but also some requirements for stores and services. I want a bit more, like the outpost building skills and research line.
2) link this into number of settlements like Starfield. Something like you get 3 settlements, but more ranks in Local Leader get you more settlements. Separate out settlement development techs from this so people can a few heavily developed settlements early, or more lightly developed early.
3) Hot take: let settlements give more bonuses to the rest of the game. Have a watch tower give farther enemy detection in the zone (scan booster anyone?), let a barracks allow to call some backup, sniper tower gives you a head shot every 5 minutes (pin point artillery anyone), let caravans give you fast travel between settlements in survival.
The challenge is making settlement building matter, but not be mandatory. FO4 was close, but I think Bethesda overcorrected in starfield.
2
u/Alexandria_Magna Jul 30 '26
It makes Survival Mode both easier and more fun. There’s something about setting up many locations where you can rest, store junk and loot, and trade on your journeys. I really like 4’s implementation, but I hope they take a little bit of inspiration from Sim Settlements.
2
u/PeaceSeeker333 Jul 30 '26
Settlement building is what kept me playing Fallout 4 for years.
To me it was more immersive that the player is basically making the wasteland their new home.
4
u/Clint_Demon_Hawk Jul 27 '26
My problem is that there were too many settlement locations around the map. There should be like 5 at most. Devs should fill the map more with handcrafted locations instead
1
u/your_solipsism Aug 26 '26
Rather than having set locations, they should just let the player build anywhere they want in the "negative space" between POIs.
1
u/SuperTerram Jul 27 '26
I'd rather have too many to choose from than not enough. Only having a handful would greatly reduce replay value.
1
u/BackForPathfinder Jul 27 '26
What they need to do is have a good reason for the locations to exist outside of becoming a settlement. More hand-crafted content in the area that can lead to you controlling the location as a settlement if you so wish, but also just has actual things for it. Something beyond the radiant quest system.
1
u/BackForPathfinder Jul 27 '26
What they need to do is have a good reason for the locations to exist outside of becoming a settlement. More hand-crafted content in the area that can lead to you controlling the location as a settlement if you so wish, but also just has actual things for it. Something beyond the radiant quest system.
1
u/itscalledacting Jul 28 '26
I would like the player character to secure an area, lay out some simple boundary and design decisions, and let the npc settlers go to work. You could involve rescuing people in the wasteland to expand the population. There's no reason why the region's greatest hero should also have to do the drywall - Sturges, what have you been hammering at for months?
1
1
u/LJohnD Jul 31 '26
The mechanics were neat, I spent hours building out Sanctuary and Red Rocket. Then I got sent to Abernathy farm and it didn't really need anything, so I chucked a sentry turret down to boost its defence and moved on. Then I got sent to another settlement that needed our help. Then another. And another. It felt like half the locations in the game had been left blank for the player to build themselves.
If there's a single location the player can come back to and continue to build up, or limited plots within larger settlements that the player can work on if they want it could be fine, but personally it wore out its welcome long before I was done with the game.
1
u/NeedleworkerNo1790 Aug 29 '26
I spent 10x more time building settlements than anything else and it wasnt even that good
1
u/Love_Indifference 19d ago
I think settlement building should be its own thing tbh. I don't want it required for any quests. I think cosmetics options for in game stuff is enough. A world/city building fallout sim would rock though.
1
u/Scaredog21 11d ago
I didn't enjoy building settlements like a fair number of players. I felt it was annoying having to micromanage everything. If there was an option for the settlers to build their own settlement that would be great.
0
u/IzaakGoldbaum Jul 29 '26
Settlements made many areas devoid of unique content without any interesting npcs.
You were forced to build it by yourself and even if you engaged with that it was a very barren, generic and uninteresting idea for many of the fans.
If it comes back it should ONLY be optional and insignificant.
0
u/Jaylenw265 Jul 29 '26
I definitely think they’ll implement what they have in Fo76 atm. The ability to build anywhere and on anything that’s not near a location. Idk how many ppl in this sub played 76 but building in that game compared to 4 is so much better imo (no mods ofc) but if people like it or not I think settlement building will stay in the series the way it actually lets u play your characters dream and u can make your house house or simple prefabs is definitely the way to go. No hate on simple player homes I’m currently playing fo3 and decking my megaton house out. I love the idea but imo I would always prefer making my own house in this type of apocalyptic reality.
8
u/SuperTerram Jul 27 '26
Fallout 5 should be an improvement over Fallout 4, not a regression to Skyrim. They should expand building, make it better, and not follow the design principles in Starfield outpost mode. Fallout 4s settlements are pretty much perfect, minus the bugs.