I need some ideas that you guys, the real professionals, use for your builds. I have a few ideas of my own that I think would help toward building a better Commonwealth that I'll share below. I play on vanilla PS4 so my abilities for modding are limited but I do plan on downloading mods soon. But I'm more looking for advice; what are some of the things you guys usually do that helps make your settlement more immersive? Do you always make one settlement inhabited by the same faction? Do you have a general layout you like to use? Do you always add a backstory to your location? Do you give it a specific function?

First, I'm thinking of building a Child of Atom group at the Kingsport Lighthouse. They're a really cool group/faction that get overlooked I feel. The fact that the settlement was inhabited by the Children of Atom prior to its 'acquisition' and its close proximity to the Craterhouse make it a good choice for a CoA settlement, in my opinion.

In my game I want to make it a Children of Atom/Railroad combination settlement. My thinking is this: These two groups don't have a lot in common but have formed a mutual alliance for protection, just like the Nucleus and Arcadia.

The Railroad-

• Get a boat and wharf/dock, which is used to ferry Synths out of the Commonwealth and up north to Arcadia where they can live in peace

• Are able to perform their secretive operations under the cover of the CoA who will send away noisy outsiders

• Get the ability to use Kingsport Lighthouse as the new Mercer Safehouse (I'll probably need to do the quest and save-scum until it gives me this location I think)

• Have complete privacy to perform their operations and experiments, like improving their techniques in facial reconstruction and making memory wipes non-fatal and safe

And the CoA-

• Get intel on threats, enemies, as well as intel on safe places where they can set up new worship sites

• Supplies from Bunker Hills caravans at affordable prices

• Legitimacy and standing as a new "Town" in the Commonwealth*

• And sometimes a robot like an Assaultron or Protectron since the CoA are sometimes seen using them. In my mind, they will use robots if they can but lack the technological wherewithal to repair or maintain the machines - this is where the Railroad comes in.

*There is a distinct lack of towns in the game so I want to build up my settlements if I can, to sort of take their place. There's only a few towns in the Commonwealth - Bunker Hill, Covenant, Diamond City, and Goodneighbor. And only two of those are actually notable, Covenant and Bunker Hill are sort of glazed over and forgotten. I mean as in, they're not really referenced by NPCs.

The game makes it clear that Bunker Hill is supposed to be a rest-stop caravan trading town. So I'm thinking of building it up where I can and giving it a more cosmopolitan feel. It's already got a fence around it which I like but I'm not sure what I can do to make it more town-like.

The Slog is also founded as something intended to become a new City for Ghouls since they were kicked out of Diamond City. So I want to build a small town and give it a unique feel. I'm not sure at all what to do here. I'm only ok at settlement building so I'm not sure what I can do to make it feel unique and stand-out. Maybe you guys have suggestions? I definitely want the guards to have their own uniforms, like Diamond City and Goodneighbor have. I want to make things like a small church with a wasteland priest but it's hard to think of what a "typical" Commonwealth town might have inside.

I know this is going to require heavy involvement on my part so I think I'm just going to start small and work on Kingsport Lighthouse for now. I want to try to get more experience settlement building since I usually get disappointed that my creations don't look so great and just give up. Constructive criticism for my ideas is always welcome.