Being Yordie Sands

[Level 116, Very Hard] It’s been two years since I first built the settlement at Starlight Drive-in. I’d built on the site in previous games (five) I played at different levels of difficulty.

In my first game (started at Very Easy; hey, I’ve never claimed to be a gamer!) I tried to build a barrier around the radioactive mud pond, not realizing that I could simply delete the radioactive materials. It drove me nuts because my settlers spawned right next to the pond and I was totally frustrated with it. By the second game (Easy) I set one of those giant water purifiers in the middle of the pond, and I continued this during game three (2018, Normal difficulty).

I’ve seen a lot of gamers use the drive-in’s mud pond as a water source. So did I.

Finally in game #4 (Hard), I had an idea that I could build a great little center for commerce, using a second level for sheltering the settlers. It was pretty cool but didn’t really look that great (see photo below; note that I’m using mods for the spring colors).

This was my 4th game of Fallout 4 and this build represents some of my best building, but not my best.

In early 2019, I began game #5 (Very Hard difficulty) and I’d been thinking about making a center piece out of that ugly little mud puddle. I spent days building the settlement before I even began recruiting settlers. SPOILER: Whenever possible, build the settlement before you recruit settlers because once settlers arrive they find ways to get in your way whenever you are trying to do any type of building. (Funny, sorta.) Anyway, I feel pretty good about this settlement, but even now I have ideas for making it even better, should I ever start this game again.

This is Starlight Drive-in main compound with concrete walls.

So, what’s inside that building and has that ugly little mud pond revealed a one of the prettiest little places in Fallout 4? Well, I’ll show you several pics of the interior, but that ugly little mud hole doesn’t really have a lot of pretty to reveal. My guess is that there’s some mod out there somewhere that makes it more appealing, but there are no where near as many mods for Xbox/Playstation as there are for the PC.

This is the recently expanded medical clinic overlooking the pond.

I consider the bar and grill to be the center piece of every settlement.

I thought Starlight was a good place for The Scribe to setup his armor store.

Note that all of the stores open onto the little pond; humble, muddy, and all.

There’s also a Slocum’s Joe, Clothing store and General store.

Starlight Drive-in is one of the large settlements in the game and I always build it out to the limits of the enemy spawning zones. This has been one of the safest settlements I have and there are half a dozen provisioners coming and going all the time. Even though I like the progress I’ve made with this settlement, I think I’ll give it one more try in the future.

OTOH, I’ve been playing this iteration of the game for nearly two years (I took off for over a year to play Fallout 76 though) and am not really thinking about starting over any time soon. Also, I tend to believe that Bethesda Games will come out with some thing new in the Fallout series this year. Plus, I plan to return to Fallout 76 next month or so.

Up next: I’m thinking of featuring The Castle. I’m not a big fan of the fortress because so much of it is prebuilt, but I’ve done some things that I want to show off. One thing I love about The Castle is that I have ten real Minutemen stationed their, when you include Ronnie, Preston and the radio guy. They are my best soldiers and have the best clothing, armor, and weapons. Note: The Castle is very secure now that the Institute is caput, and I haven’t triggered a war with the Brotherhood.

Currently Level 108[112] I completed most of Far Harbor DLC and have begun Nuka World DLC. I’m actually surprised at how much I’m enjoying Nuka World; guess my morals, ethics and sense of decency have fallen to a new low. *smiles*

I worked quickly on turning The Slog into a proper settlement. I’m now up to 27 settlers and have Paladin Danse and Curie stationed there. Also, the ever charming super mutant, Strong, has found a home there as a happy provisioner. Anyway, both Danse and Curie will be moving on to Old Longfellow’s place in Far Harbor soon, and I’ll begin adding new settlers after that. Below are some photos that capture the essence of the settlement I built there. So far, it is very secure.

This is the fully walled in area where Slog farming is centered.

This is my usual front entrance configuration, which has proven to be secure.

This is a peek into the main compound area; not as lavish as other large settlements but seems to fit well.

This is The Slog’s medical center and that’s Curie at the surgery chair.

This completes my work on The Slog, at least for now. Next up, I’ll return to Starlight Drive-in and display what I’ve been able to do using the muddy pond as a focal point. Hey, “[the pond] ain’t much but it’s somethin’.”