Why the settlement doesn't grow in Fallout 4?

In addition to updated graphics, combat and crafting systems Fallout 4 boasts another unique gameplay element: there you can build and develop your own settlements. You will be able to raise from the ashes of the nuclear wastelands new centers of civilization. What they will be, big or small, great or miserable - depends only on you.

But how to make a tiny poverty-stricken farm where a handful of survivors digging in the dirt, trying to grow a poor crop, into a natural fortress, impregnable to any dangers of the Wasteland? In this article we will share with you a couple of quite useful tips about how to succeed in the construction of settlements in Fallout 4 and how to increase the population in the settlement.

So, when you open a workbrench in any of your settlements, pay attention to the top of the screen. There you will see all the resources that settlements require: food, water, power, defense, beds, and happiness. All that we absolutely need to build a large settlement, but let's look at all of it separately.

Food and water

As in real life, your settlers will not be able to do without two essential things for human (or ghoul) life  - food and water. Unfortunately, in the post-nuclear world there are some problems with that. Hard radiation and the collapse of civilized society doesn't contribute to the development of agriculture. And the water plumbing isn't working. How to develop the settlement in such conditions? We have to revive an agriculture all by ourselves.

However, it isn't that difficult with food - all you need to do is to find (steal, take from a corpse, or buy) the plants, plant them on the territory of your settlement and to appoint one of the settlers to watch and care for it. By the way, many players often forget to do this last thing. So don'tforget to appoint one of the settlers to treat the crops.

As for water it's a bit more complicated. But only a bit. You can build water pumps, which are inexpensive (require only a bit of concrete and steel), but give only 3 points of water. Also you can build a water purifiers. It provide a steady flow of large quantities of clean water, but also require electricity, besides, they can only build near water.

Beds

It's about beds or sleeping bags, where your settlers can sleep. That is the limit of the settlement. Yes, the ragged inhabitants of the post-nuclear Wasteland refuse to sleep on the floor. Accept it the way it is.

You can build beds in the Workshop. The main component of their production is cloth. You can get it by scrap a variety of furniture, such as chairs or sofas, carpets and various stuff, like Teddy bears and the like. Save this resource, as it almost always lacks.

The number of beds in the settlement is exactly the maximum possible number of settlers, so always make sure that your settlement has enough beds. The settlement limit may not be exceeded.

Energy

This resource is absolutely essential for any town in the Commonwealth. By using energy you can spend the electrification of your settlement, light up the streets, feed the powerful turrets, computers and terminals, radio towers, and water purifiers. Electricity is extracted from, who would have thought, generators. But you need a lot of resources to construct them, primarily a copper and a crystals. It is totally necessary resources, because without them you will not be able to distribute power from the generator to various objects in your sattlement. You can get them be craping different junk. Crystals can be found in the junk with the photo elements, like cameras. A copper contained in Cooking pots, Fuses, lamps, vacuum tubes and the like.

Defense

The defense level shows how much your settlers ready to repel the attacks on your settlement. If you want to protect your town or farm, you need to have a defense level greater than or equal than the sum of level of water and food. In this case, neither the raiders nor the Gunners, nor the supermutants won't decide to attack your fortress.

The defense level can be improved with turrets and fortifications. Both these methods have their pros and cons. The turret is totally autonomous, but require many different resources to build, and more advanced models of laser and heavy laser turrets require electricity, and Science perk.

Fortifications require practically nothing for construction, but they are completely useless, if you do not assign a settler to them. We suggest to combine both methods.

Happiness

It's what we all look for and never find. But in Fallout 4 the acquisition of this abstract substance passes much easier, than in real life. It isn't enough to have plenty of food and water to make your settlers happy. You will have to decorate the houses, hanging paintings and spreading carpets on the floors. Also, don't forget about the convenient and beautiful furniture, such as chairs and sofas, televisions and radio. All this greatly increases the level of happiness of your settlers and attracting more and more people in your settlement.

The happiness of the settlements is a key to successful settelment development!

Some more tips

Don't know how to attract people to your sattlement? It's simple: build and powered the radio tower. Then the influx of settlers to your sattlement should increase noticeably.

Another important thing, if you do not know how to increase the settlement, is increasing Charisma. High level of this characteristic will reveal you very useful perks that will make your city a center of trade of the whole Commonwealth. The most important benefit for the development of settlements is the perk Local leader. With this perk you will be able to lay supply lines between your settlements that will save you from the tedious running around and carrying junk from one town to another.

Hope this article was useful to you. If you have something to add, feel free to share your views in the comments below.