Just in case anyone is still looking at my Fallout 4 things, I thought I should provide an update. Recently, I’ve been working on two new Conquest outposts. I like to build near water for some reason. Maybe it’s because I would be attracted to ponds, lakes, and sea-fronting views if I were a miserable settler.

The first place is Caldeira (again, I don’t get to pick the names — the Conquest mod has a limited list). It’s located down the shore from Nordhagen Beach. In an earlier post, I showed a couple of preliminary efforts here, so now I’m returning to it. By the way, forgive the fuzziness of some of the pictures. This is a result of 1980 resolution on a 27-inch monitor, I think.

Here’s an aerial shot to convey the size.

Eesa beeg.

A side shot:

I like the market on the water and the funky metal guard tower.

Here’s one of my guards, making sure that the Prydwen doesn’t go anywhere.

You can’t have too many ham radios.

I’m especially fond of my water-processing building. I mean, there’s lots of water, so why not process it?

I like big mysterious machines painted in utility-yellow.

Next up is Dunn Outpost, which is located across the street from the General Atomics Galleria. Situated on a pond, this location was challenging because not one scrap of ground is flat.

Settlers like to go across the street to visit the robots.

A side shot featuring the hilly terrain and the pond:

Eesa big, too.

This place has hilly, rocky terrain — tough to build on:

The hills are alive.

Lots of support structures are needed:

One of the engineering marvels of the post-war world.

Did I mention that everything is on rocky, hilly terrain?

Nothing can stop progress.

A shot featuring a rooftop bar, a guard tower, and the pond:

That flag actually waves.

One of my dorm rooms (still working on the wiring):

I like the rug.

Another dorm with a laundry:

Those washing machines and dryers actually work. . . . not really.

There you go. Maybe I’ll have more unless I come to my senses and start a new game.

During a break from my Conquest settlement scouting, I decided that Spectacle Island needed the following structures: (1) a shrine to me, (2), a square dancing barn, and (3) a zoo. The first two aren’t especially interesting. The zoo, as far as I’m aware, is unique. Maybe someone else has managed to put a passel of mean-spirited creatures in one building, but they’ve been deadly quiet about it. Here, then, is a tour:

Visitors arrive at the entrance, which advertises the feature attraction.

The zoo was indirectly inspired by Necro, so I wanted to credit him.

Because I’m not a savage, I included an information booth/gift shop.

The robot doesn’t say much and works cheap.

Some incidental specimens, including an angler and a stingwing

These attractions don’t offer much, but I couldn’t leave them out.

Some of the residents are even less exotic:

A mirelurk and the ubiquitous, beloved bloatfly

The more dangerous critters, like fog crawlers and deathclaws, are kept near the back of the zoo:

Special precautions are taken with the more irritable fauna.

Nearer the entrance, I have some molerats and a radscorpion (for the kiddies):

This was as close to a petting attraction as I could manage.

Eventually, visitors see the main attraction, a mirelurk queen.

The sign is used because I couldn’t find one that said “Please keep hands out of the glass.”

Finally, in addition to the gift shop, I included more refinement in the form of a restaurant:

Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a protectron to cook?

And that’s all. I hope to find a new Conquest location soon.

The Boston Airport build was challenging because it wasn’t really an unauthorized settlement. As I mentioned, Bethesda seems to have given it a workshop mainly so you could build an endgame contraption. It took quite a lot of work to shape it into anything resembling a BOS outpost. As I was doing it, I came across something that answered my question, “Is there a mod that lets you build anywhere you want?” Indeed there is. It’s an ambitious project called Conquest, which initially seems to have been designed as a camping aid for Survival players. The author expanded it into a device for placing a workshop and build area pretty much wherever you like. It has a few problems, but the benefits outweigh them.

So far, I’ve made three Conquest “outposts.” Because the build areas are so big, I’ve been able to create town-size areas in weird locations.

My first project was Lyon Outpost (the mod pre-names the settlements, so I couldn’t call it “Muppetville” or whatever). It’s located on an existing dam near an existing neighborhood called Forest Marsh. The dam idea intrigued me.

Lyon is built on a dam northwest of Oberland Station.

Here’s an early shot of me standing in front of Lyon’s gate. Much has been added since.

Me, looking and feeling my best.

Night shot of the rear side of Lyon:

One of my objectives was to blend the settlement into the already existing Forest Marsh neighborhood.

Another place I’m working on is called Ferani Outpost. This one is just south of Drumlin Diner. A challenge here was building around trees and figuring out where I could and could not obstruct the road.

Ferani is a large settlement not far from Concord. I added the pile of tires on the right (thanks to the USO mod). Any other tires you see were there already.

Ferani again:

Notice the road passing through the settlement. This is a very busy caravan and provisioner route. The traffic goes on day and night.

Finally, here is the “water-front” side of Ferani. It’s build on a sort of lake.

I’m planning to make this more of a recreational area.

My most recent project is Caldeira Outpost, which is a close neighbor of Nordhagen Beach. Here is what it looked like before I started:

Prebuild shot of Caldeira. What a mess.

And this is an early build shot of the same location. The stairs leading up to the greenhouse were a nightmare to build. The market in foreground is built over the water (I love building things at water-facing locations.)

Early days yet, but you can see that this will be another big settlement.

That’s all for now. I’m rather excited that the Conquest build areas are so large. Some are the size of Sanctuary or close to it. Translation: I’m no longer making settlements; I’m building towns. Soon they’ll have law and order, schools, and churches. We might even get a railroad.