Sorry if this has been covered, but in the videos when they talk about settlements they show one that is a neat tree house looking one! is that just in game or is that something players can build? Also will NPCs/Companions actually use stairs and ladders to get up and down? In Skyrim mine would never go upstairs til I downloaded a mod.

It's something players can build. We don't know if companions will react properly to stairs as of yet.

Hopefully they've improved it. I think the issue was mainly limited to custom homes though, for which http://forum.step-project.com/topic/5850-multiple-floors-sandboxing-by-dovahklon/ helped alleviate.

yay, thanks. I am horrible at first person combat games.. but getting this game for the settlement stuff!

I know the game can be played in third person, but then you can't use some of the aiming systems V.A.T.S I think it's called? where you target a body part to hit.

You can still use the v.a.t.s system even if you play in third person. I think you'll do fine, there's quite a bit of weapons, tactics, armor, etc to play with... so I'm sure you'll find something to suit your style of play.