It's All Over But the Scavenging of Typewriters and Glue - The Fallout Thread

Depends on how you play it. The devs have been so excited about the "BECOME A RAIDER!" part that they really dropped the ball on providing options for good guys. You can get a quest at any time to kill all the raiders (which I tried, and became a brutal slog through one area alone, and I dread to think what the rest of the areas would be like). I was disappointed to have no path of dialogue options making it clear that I was there to kill them all, which I was hoping would make them panic. I'm currently trying to hand over control of the different park areas to the least bloodthirsty gang so that the others will rebel and I can put them down, before doing a pogrom on the remaining one. If that works, then I'll be a little happier with it. But the experience as a good guy will still be less fleshed-out than the raiders, which is very disappointing.

But other than that, the map is large, the environments a nice change from the Commonwealth / The Island, there's plenty of new gear and at least a few non-raider side quests.

 

Welp. I did it. The raiders are dead, and Nuka World free. Went in there with full power armor, Scourge (a minigun that deals 50 radiation damage, raised to 100 damage due to perks), Fall of Man (a plasma rifle that deals 50% extra damage to humans) and my trusty companion Ada, and together we wiped the floor with them.

I must admit, despite the whole 'good guy' route feeling very bare-bones, I love how much it feels like a 'mook horror show'. Upon beginning the attack, the DJ for the raiders' radio show almost immediately puts out a warning saying I've turned on them, before announcing that the show is going off the air so he can flee for his life. I soon find myself up against Gage, the new companion from the DLC. I actually put off the massacre so that I could get max affinity with him to get his perk, so it felt very much like I betrayed him. His last words were "Not... like...". In fact, there was a named NPC working for the Operatives who, despite doing despicable drug experiments on innocent people, had a pretty sad "No... no... no..." for theirs. Mind you, practically every other named NPC besides them had it coming, especially upon finding their journals or personal documents.

But in the end, it was worth it. Most of the trader NPCs acknowledge (however briefly) that the raiders are dead, and it was really touching to talk to their leader when handing in the quest. I'm still a bit disappointed by the DLC focusing so much on the raiders instead of the 'good guy' path, but otherwise I actually really enjoyed it. And it's not over, as now that the raiders are dead I've been able to turn the power on, allowing me to finish a fetch quest (which provides a special suit of power armor as a reward) and can begin building at the Red Rocket gas station near Nuka World (the only new settlement in the DLC, in fact). I'm going to try and do some kind of above-ground Vault, since I haven't had an above-ground clean slate to work with since Vault-Tec Workshop came out.

 

Not the DLC, but an update actually added some reskinned vendor stalls, which are far more Vault-appropriate. That solves a good half of the problem, with the only glaring offenders now being crafting benches.

As for Nuka World, there are a fair amount of new settlement objects, themed after either the raider gangs or the park itself. Haven't seen anything absolutely must-have aside from the cola mixing stations (which lets you combine various Nuka Cola products into newer, more powerful ones) and maybe the arcade games. It would have been better if I had any room or capacity to build the latter in Sanctuary.

 

So, I've finished my new Nuka World settlement.

It features;
- Two five-man barracks, using 'overseer' style for added comfort. Each has an attached ensuite.
- Large canteen with food vendor and soda dispenser.
- Clinic with phoropter (i.e. optometrist equipment).
- Security room with equipment stations and guard post.
- Marketplace selling general goods, weapons, armor and clothes.
- Generator room 150-unit generator, doubling as a control room with radio beacon and population management terminal.
- Robot-operated greenhouse, with robot workbench and sleeping bags (because robots need beds for some reason).
- Various rooftop defenses. Been meaning to add a patio table and chairs sometime.

There's also the Red Rocket building itself, which still has some furnishings left. Since building capacity is scarce due to the size of the settlement, I've been slowly removing furniture. There's still a few things there, as well as a scavenging station, two guard posts and the workshop itself.

In addition, there's a building right next to the settlement that constantly respawns enemies and raider attackers. So, every time I go to the settlement there's a two way battle within earshot. In case any enemies get close, I've got heavy laser and missile turrets set up on the adjacent rooftop. Always enough to ward off any survivors.

 

So, I've been doing some renovations at Sanctuary Hills. For a long time, the perimeter walls consisted of junk walls and picket fences, which was as bland as it was immersion-breaking in places. I've replaced it with concrete walls, which not only looks a whole lot better, but is also more capacity-efficient, meaning I'm able to build more stuff there.

First of all, I used a dog cage to get Dogmeat a playmate. Once they arrived, I built a little doggy area in one of the backyards. It has two dog houses, two dog bowls, a water pump, a cooler containing dog food and even a shade cloth over the top. Dogmeat and company didn't immediately move in, much to my disappointment, but they since have. Must have needed to leave the settlement to reset their behaviour, or something.

I also decided to fix up the 'house of tomorrow' (i.e. the Sole Survivor's pre-war home), since I haven't touched it at all. Disappointingly, the floor is actually uneven in there, and in some areas covered with immovable leaves. While I was able to get by the former by using wooden platforms here and there, it's still a shame that the floor is covered in leaves here and there. Still, I'm hoping to use the Orphans of the Commonwealth mod to get some extra children into the settlement, so I can use the place as an orphanage. That seems appropriate, considering what happened with Shaun.

Also, for those who don't know, there's a recovering alcoholic beggar in Diamond City called Sheffield. If you give him a Nuka-Cola, he'll become available as a settler. I did this a while ago, and recently realized he was still wearing tattered rags (literally) and was armed with a security baton he must have picked up from an enemy. So, I gave him a set of farmhand clothes, a .44 pistol with ammo and a few extra bottles of Nuka-Cola. Suddenly, he looks like less of a beggar and more like a formidable settler. It's little things like that which remind me why I love this game.

 

Just going to park this here.

 

The thing is, the more stuff you have in a settlement, the more resource-intensive it is for your PC / console. Mine already has to work pretty hard when I'm in Sanctuary Hills, so I don't think I need to try and abuse the system.

Ah, Hardware Town. I fell for the same trap. Wouldn't surprise me if most players get played like a fiddle first time around.

Leg day armor modding perks, bro. Stick the ultra-light modification on it, and it'll be lighter than ever. When I started using the Marine armor, which is the heaviest in the game, the ultra-light modifications made it lighter than the combat armor it replaced. I carry around an entire second set of leather armor that also uses the same modification, and my carry weight isn't badly affected.

On a general note, I've installed Orphans of the Commonwealth, and despite a few issues starting out it's starting to work well. There are a couple of orphans in Bunker Hill who do nothing but sit around a chalk drawing, so I built a shack around them complete with a container with toys, a cooler with food, a radio, a fire barrel and some mats where they sit. But better yet was my first child settler, who I finally managed to move to Sanctuary Hills after the better part of a week trying. Not only is she helping out with farming, but she's apparently a synth since she's carrying a component.

She must get along well with Synth Shaun.

 

So, I finally got around to installing the Conquest mod, which lets you establish campsites and found (up to 10) new settlements. Against all my expectations, it works. It is a little rough around the edges, as one would expect, but I'm still impressed. I've managed to found a settlement inside Virgil's Cave, turning it into a genuine safehouse in the Glowing Sea. Besides the all-important decontamination arch for free radiation removal, I've even added a water pump and planted a couple of crops for aesthetic reasons. It never made sense why Virgil would remain in the Glowing Sea after being cured of his super mutant-ness. Before, he was immune to radiation, but now he'd never make it back to the Commonwealth without protective gear and an escort. It's not even clear how he got food and water, or how long he could survive there based solely on what he brought with him. Now, even if he is still living out his life as a hermit, he at least has access to clean water and a healthy diet of robot-grown carrots and corn.

I did tinker around with campsite building, and found it to quite possibly exceed expectations. In addition to the obvious fixtures (campfire, bed, tent, etc.) you get a few extras (2-unit power generator, construction lights, cooking pot, foldable chair, etc.) to give it some level of depth. Still, I think I'll be spending more time with the settlements than the campsites. I've got a few places I'd like to try building, including northwest of Vault 111, the eastern border and a bit of coastal swamp in the southwest corner.

On an unrelated note, my orphanage in Sanctuary Hills has expanded to three children, who are all helping out with the farming. It's a skill that'll serve them for life in the Commonwealth.

All three of the orphans are girls, which makes me wonder how Synth Shaun is coping without male friends his own age. I suppose with Nick, Preston, Sturges, Jun, Sheffield, the Vault-Tec rep and Dogmeat around, he'll not want for male role models. Jun especially might view him as a surrogate son; not only did he lose his own, but Shaun (who loves tinkering) spends a lot of time sitting by the scavenging station, which is what I assigned Jun to. It makes for some pretty heartwarming headcanon.

 

Again, Conquest, maybe? Nuka World has a grand total of one settlement, and Conquest could provide at least a couple of extras. Depends on whether or not settlement-building is your thang. Or, indeed, if you can find a decent spot without respawning enemies.

It's a shame, really. Far Harbor felt packed with unmarked locations and other points of interest, while Nuka World is remarkably empty in comparison.