Something about the physically-based shading, the tumbledown game world, and the accommodating lore makes it incredibly easy to build things that feel right. Big corrugated castles for carrots is what I’d gleaned from the tutorial, and there’s enough Minecraft in my house already. I hadn’t planned on building anything in Fallout 4. That’s after I’ve deflected other awkward questions like: “What’s he going to do to him?” (Hitman), “Is he running them over?” (Arkham Knight), and, in the case of Fallout 4, “People died in this game, didn’t they?” And if that Nick Valentine quest breaks again, trust me, they will. I’ll usually be on the computer in that event, and he’ll come in asking if “you can build things” in whatever I’m playing. I thought it’d spark his interest in being an artist when he grew up, but he just ended up hating The Muppets. Ever since I told him that Labyrinth was “ sort of real, in a sense,” he’s fled the room whenever anything like it is on TV. You can thank my five-year-old’s fear of practical special effects for this. He's spent the past week crafting a more artful wasteland using Fallout 4's settlement tools, console commands and mods, and has written this guide to building the best settlement possible.
Duncan Harris is adept at making games pretty at Dead End Thrills.
