Menu
What's new
By:
Filters
the Sim Settlements forums!

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Profitable settlements

A

androot

Member
Messages
59
Hi all

I would like to start a discussion about the mechanics of a susccesful settlement. Let me explain something first. Since I’ve played the main story 3 times I’m not doing it now but focusing on SS, while doing some side quests. I can say therefore I’m playing SS instead of fallout. Am I wrong doing it? Maybe...

In order to to be as realistic and challenging as possible I turned all the needs on. I dont see any other way from immersive point of view.

I’m trying different configurations in my settlements. What I mean by that is every town has a different ratio of all the available plots and what I found out is that building residential plots is pretty pointless. I know that how? Well, the only settlement that makes any profit is Sanctuary where all the beds are placed in the existing buildings. Every other place keeps creating deficit. I don’t want to raise taxes as I suspect it slows down the progress of highly taxed plots (correct me if I’m wrong).

I may be overestimating the SS and its value and yes I know that the fundamental reason for it is to make your playthorugh of F4 easier but this mod surely looks quite sofisticated to me and it could be considered a seperate experience/game in my humble opinion.

Are any of you guys is playing the way I am? I’m very interested in other problems/solutions. Lets chat!
 
I’m still on my first playthrough, not playing as you are. Mostly I like to explore the world. The sea has a few interesting places out there, I found what looks like a floating “home” at one point.

Testing with my Castle city plan and talking with people:

* residential plots generate caps/taxes

* the number of settlers your city attracts may depend on the number of beds and residential plots

* from what I have heard, residential plots may attract “special” settlers with stories and mini-quests of their own

* generators and turrets cost caps, possibly causing your deficit if you have too many for the cities

YMMV.
 
androot said:
Hi all

In order to to be as realistic and challenging as possible I turned all the needs on.
Click to expand...

As Whisper stated generators and turrets cost caps. One cap per generated power and turret defense. Makes starting a settlement a little more challenging. (only way I'll start anymore)
Up to you, but I always make homes for the settlers, it does generate caps,a small amount, but at least some.

I don't know which SS mods your using but with some of the add-ons you'll have more plot choices, you may want to look into them. Right now I'm doing a SS playthrough and there are add-ons with just about ant plot type you could want, also ones to help reduce maintenance costs. (more so for PC than xbox)

Me personally I started all my settlements with a windmill or 2 for power and martial plots for defense.
The first plot I always lay down is agriculture, so from day one I always end up with a profitable settlement. Of course the profits aren't worth mentioning until the settlement is more or less established, but it is profitable.

Hope that helps some.
 
androot said:
Hi all

...

In order to to be as realistic and challenging as possible I turned all the needs on. I dont see any other way from immersive point of view.

I’m trying different configurations in my settlements. What I mean by that is every town has a different ratio of all the available plots and what I found out is that building residential plots is pretty pointless. I know that how? Well, the only settlement that makes any profit is Sanctuary where all the beds are placed in the existing buildings. Every other place keeps creating deficit. I don’t want to raise taxes as I suspect it slows down the progress of highly taxed plots (correct me if I’m wrong)...
Click to expand...

I try to balance playing Settlement Manager with other vanilla quests/exploring. But there are many days I find myself making a loop running between settlements and micro managing.

It's not so much that Residential plots are pointless: it's that managing them and when to let them upgrade is game unto itself. Left to their own devices they upgrade pretty fast. They can out pace a settlement's available resources quickly. And then you find yourself in a situation where you have to start adding costly non SS resources like turrets and generators.

When I use Residentials, I never allow them to upgrade at all until all my martial, industrial (especially power plant plots) and ag plots are fully upgraded. Then I green light Residentials. Luxury is a reward for hard work not a requirement!

Water producing plots are something I like to keep a close watch on, too. Nothing worse than a water plot upgrading before your martial plots have progressed enough to cover them. Boom your defense is suddenly out of whack and then you either have to spend caps on turrets or find some other quick means of defense to bring everything back to even.
 
Whisper said:
I’m still on my first playthrough, not playing as you are. Mostly I like to explore the world. The sea has a few interesting places out there, I found what looks like a floating “home” at one point.

Testing with my Castle city plan and talking with people:

* residential plots generate caps/taxes

* the number of settlers your city attracts may depend on the number of beds and residential plots

* from what I have heard, residential plots may attract “special” settlers with stories and mini-quests of their own

* generators and turrets cost caps, possibly causing your deficit if you have too many for the cities

YMMV.
Click to expand...

Yes I remembered the residential tax however my empirical data says that its still unprofitable enough. As far as the additional turrets are concerned I dont think 2 basic turrets have such an impact.
 
bullyrook said:
I try to balance playing Settlement Manager with other vanilla quests/exploring. But there are many days I find myself making a loop running between settlements and micro managing.

It's not so much that Residential plots are pointless: it's that managing them and when to let them upgrade is game unto itself. Left to their own devices they upgrade pretty fast. They can out pace a settlement's available resources quickly. And then you find yourself in a situation where you have to start adding costly non SS resources like turrets and generators.

When I use Residentials, I never allow them to upgrade at all until all my martial, industrial (especially power plant plots) and ag plots are fully upgraded. Then I green light Residentials. Luxury is a reward for hard work not a requirement!

Water producing plots are something I like to keep a close watch on, too. Nothing worse than a water plot upgrading before your martial plots have progressed enough to cover them. Boom your defense is suddenly out of whack and then you either have to spend caps on turrets or find some other quick means of defense to bring everything back to even.
Click to expand...


Very interesting point you raised about upgrading th eplots. I hardly put any thought to it however I'm not saying I havent thought about that particular option. I'm still learing the ropes and managing settlements from the development point of view might be the key to success.
One thing I have to point out is that the quicker the plots upgrade the quicker they start producing higher income. Am I wrong?

But yes I fully agree with the luxury thing. Its post apocaliptic world for gods sake. Work for it people!

Thank you guys for joining the conversation
 
I will double-check tonight. From memory though:

3x interior commercial plots
13x settlers with interior residential plots
1x exterior martial plot

Makes a settlement with comfortable +ve caps flow that also supports 10 basic machine gun turrets.

I will need to check the level of all plots for more info.
 
androot said:
Yes I remembered the residential tax however my empirical data says that its still unprofitable enough. As far as the additional turrets are concerned I dont think 2 basic turrets have such an impact.
Click to expand...

What's the breakdown on this settlement? Plots/levels? How many turrets? Deficit? Do you mind sharing?
 
Having slept on it, it struck me that ultimately any and every settlement is profitable as long as you only use martial plots for defense and wind turbines/power plant plots for power. Nothing besides too many turrets and generators can put you in the red. This is a law of nature in SS.

@androot Your comment above about "just 2 basic turrets" has me wondering...

I'd recommend doing an accounting of your fuel and ammo costs. Subtract out both the cost of turrets/spotlights you've placed and the cost of any generators. Those two numbers should add up to your total fuel and ammo costs. If they don't, something else is incorrectly reporting a maintenance cost.
 
I said that I'd look at one of my cities - unfortunately the numbers seem off. Can't help at the moment. :(
 
Whisper said:
I will double-check tonight. From memory though:

3x interior commercial plots
13x settlers with interior residential plots
1x exterior martial plot

Makes a settlement with comfortable +ve caps flow that also supports 10 basic machine gun turrets.

I will need to check the level of all plots for more info.
Click to expand...
Interesting... What about the tax level? I raised some of the taxes and all seems to be heading in a right direction.
 
bullyrook said:
Having slept on it, it struck me that ultimately any and every settlement is profitable as long as you only use martial plots for defense and wind turbines/power plant plots for power. Nothing besides too many turrets and generators can put you in the red. This is a law of nature in SS.

@androot Your comment above about "just 2 basic turrets" has me wondering...

I'd recommend doing an accounting of your fuel and ammo costs. Subtract out both the cost of turrets/spotlights you've placed and the cost of any generators. Those two numbers should add up to your total fuel and ammo costs. If they don't, something else is incorrectly reporting a maintenance cost.
Click to expand...
Same conclusions am I having.
There is one thing I have to admit I didn't realize. The vanilla generators cost money. I'll start scrapping them once the power plots are capable enough.
 
androot said:
Same conclusions am I having.
There is one thing I have to admit I didn't realize. The vanilla generators cost money. I'll start scrapping them once the power plots are capable enough.
Click to expand...
Look at the SS: Junk Town addon - the Diamond Power plot (external, oversized). ;)
 
JTBryants Utilities has a Battery Bank that provides 10 power, and can upgrade into 1 of three advanced forms: Windmill; Methane Power Plant; or Solar Power Plant. I usually plop one of these down after I have a farm or two going, a water source, and at least 1 martial for defense. The Battery Bank powers my initial defenses, and when it upgrades I can power more plots. It is a must in my LO.
 
bullyrook said:
What's the breakdown on this settlement? Plots/levels? How many turrets? Deficit? Do you mind sharing?
Click to expand...
So I checked typical settlement. What we have is as follows:
martial - 2x2 and 1x1,
resid - 9 + beds
comm - 2,
rec - 1,
agri - 2,
ind - 2,
3 second tier turrets
and of course (unfortunately) fusion generator. Yes I know now... its bad
Let me mention that its slowly recovering after rasing most taxes to double. I kept one at standard.
 
Otherwhere said:
It is a must in my LO.
Click to expand...

Gospel truth! Don't forget the
Oil power
plant.
androot said:
So I checked typical settlement. What we have is as follows:
martial - 2x2 and 1x1,
resid - 9 + beds
comm - 2,
rec - 1,
agri - 2,
ind - 2,
3 second tier turrets
and of course (unfortunately) fusion generator. Yes I know now... its bad
Let me mention that its slowly recovering after rasing most taxes to double. I kept one at standard.
Click to expand...

There's the culprit. They say you got to spend money to make money, but that fusion generator costs 100 caps per day! ;) I've got 16 plots fully upgraded at Starlite, this playthru, and total tax revenue is 79 caps/day.

Switching from that generator to any power plant plot will not only net you 100 caps per day, but a power plot also generates its own tax revenue. Let the game pay you for power!

Switching to a power plant also adds an Industrial plot to your settlement. You need 4 Industrials if you want those Martial plots to fully upgrade.

Also, I think this answers your concerns about residential plots and profitability in the first post above: if you are using only vanilla gas/fusion generators for power, upgraded residential plots will never be profitable. Level 3 Residential need 2 power (costs 2 caps) but only generate 1.5 caps. This assumes normal tax rate and that I'm correctly reading the info here: https://simsettlements.com/web/wiki/index.php?title=Breakdown

By my ballpark guesstimate, given your plot count above, your settlement is only using around half the power that generator is pumping out. Which means a lot of caps are presently going to waste. I say this not as a critique, but to point out that this is one of the things I really like about the maintenance system and SS. It seems like every surplus has a cost. There's no free ride, but just less costly or more costly paths. You've got to manage surplus just as much as need.
 
bullyrook said:
Gospel truth! Don't forget the
Oil power
plant.


There's the culprit. They say you got to spend money to make money, but that fusion generator costs 100 caps per day! ;) I've got 16 plots fully upgraded at Starlite, this playthru, and total tax revenue is 79 caps/day.

Switching from that generator to any power plant plot will not only net you 100 caps per day, but a power plot also generates its own tax revenue. Let the game pay you for power!

Switching to a power plant also adds an Industrial plot to your settlement. You need 4 Industrials if you want those Martial plots to fully upgrade.

Also, I think this answers your concerns about residential plots and profitability in the first post above: if you are using only vanilla gas/fusion generators for power, upgraded residential plots will never be profitable. Level 3 Residential need 2 power (costs 2 caps) but only generate 1.5 caps. This assumes normal tax rate and that I'm correctly reading the info here: https://simsettlements.com/web/wiki/index.php?title=Breakdown

By my ballpark guesstimate, given your plot count above, your settlement is only using around half the power that generator is pumping out. Which means a lot of caps are presently going to waste. I say this not as a critique, but to point out that this is one of the things I really like about the maintenance system and SS. It seems like every surplus has a cost. There's no free ride, but just less costly or more costly paths. You've got to manage surplus just as much as need.
Click to expand...

Great post, must say.
I did test the fusion generator impact and once removed the star went almost to the end of the bar. There is one thing I noticed at the time - one power plot is not enough for a medium settlement. Therefore I need at least 2.
Btw I had no idea the martial plots needed 4 ind to fully upgrade, thank you.

By oil power plant do you mean the oil boat? If so I'm using it not only for the power but for the looks also.
 
androot said:
Great post, must say.
I did test the fusion generator impact and once removed the star went almost to the end of the bar. There is one thing I noticed at the time - one power plot is not enough for a medium settlement. Therefore I need at least 2.
Btw I had no idea the martial plots needed 4 ind to fully upgrade, thank you.

By oil power plant do you mean the oil boat? If so I'm using it not only for the power but for the looks also.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I really love talking about this stuff and my kid gets tired of listening to me drone on. :party:

I'm glad you got everything sorted and can now start putting those caps in your pocket.

In JtB's Utilities, an oil power plant upgrade is unlocked by having an IR oil rig in your settlement. I think it pumps out as much power as the fusion generator, but costs something like 30 happiness.

I'm hoping to give that oil boat a try myself. Got to find a spot. Where'd you put yours? Kingsport? Spectacle Island?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top