I finally decided to try to spend a bit more time decorating my pad in Red Rocket, but all that work was for naught, because I came back to it a day later and most of the items I'd placed had fallen through the surfaces I had placed them on. Some of them could be retrieved, some could not be. Does anyone know if this bug is specific to certain locations (like, buggy in Red Rocket, but not elsewhere)? Or if there are certain conditions when this tends to happen more often (ie inside an existing structure, vs. inside a shack structure the player has built; or when placing items in workshop mode vs out of workshop mode)? I have stuff on top of tables in a shack I built at the Drive-In, and as far as I can tell none of that stuff has fallen through the surfaces.

Here is what happened, specifically:

• On top of a dresser inside Red Rocket, I placed a hairbrush, a crystal liquor decanter, and a vase. I placed them using workshop mode, because that was the only way I could make them stand up straight. When I came back later, I didn't see any items. I picked up and moved the dresser and found the crystal liquor decanter and the vase on the floor underneath where the dresser used to me. The hairbrush had totally disappeared.

• At the end of the long corridor behind the counter in Red Rocket I meticulously placed 5 bowling pins and a bowling ball (with the intention of eventually collecting a full set for my own private bowling lane, complete with mirrorball). Again I used workshop mode to place them, because that was the only way I could place the pins upright without knocking down others. When I came back, They had all disappeared except one bowling pin and one bowling ball, and those were halfway sunk through the floor (only the very top of the bowling ball, and the top head of the pin were visible, the rest was under the floor. I was able to use workshop mode to pick them back up and set them back on the floor. The other 4 pins are completely gone (perhaps fell through the floor and are lying down, so that there is nothing visible to me to pick up).

• On top of the counter in Red Rocket, I placed a coffee tin, a coffee pot, and two mugs. I think I placed the coffee tin and coffee pot in workshop mode, but used the regular "hold A to grab and place an item" to place the mugs. When I came back, the coffee tin was still there, the coffee pot was laying down on its side, with half of it below the surface of the counter and only the other half visible, and the mugs were completely gone (I assume they fell down below the counter, which cannot be moved so they are irretrievable.

I have no other settlers at that site who could have knocked stuff over or taken things, and there were no attacks while I was gone. Only Dogmeat was there, and he is always in his doghouse in the garage area when I arrive. The only objects (aside from furniture) that were still where I left them with no change were the coffee tin on the counter, and a pillow that I put on a bed.

So unfortunately although I could have spent many more hours sprucing things up, I am now afraid to place anything anywhere except inside a container, for fear of losing it (or having to spend time hunting for it and picking it up/ arranging again). Although not game-breaking, this is a bug that really should be fixed, and would greatly improve my immersion and enjoyment of settlements.

Its a quirk of the engine as to why things "fall through" the surfaces. Has to do with things rendering in the cell and what order they render in as to where they end up each time. Since the cell is rendered each time you enter it, you may not have noticed the slow sink into the surface (or it could just drop on this new engine, not sure) For this reason I have given up on shelf placement of items from back in Fallout 3/Oblivion. I tend to use mods that give display walls like the old Underground Hideout from Fallout 3. Or I just stick things in containers and call it good. Decorating the wasteland is best done with a mod.

Now there was a trick with Skyrim that would get items to fix in place so they would not get reset, but that is a different issue than them falling through the surface, but you can try it. IIRC, you drop the item on the floor, then leave the cell, then come back and place it where you want. There might be some variation on there but you can find the steps in the Skyrim section of the boards.

No matter what, if you care about the item, make sure it goes into a container, and one that NPCs can't access as they are known to take stuff from the accessible containers.

Thanks. So I guess I will just skip decorating (I am on Xbox, so I don't think there are any mods for us yet). Bummer, I was hoping to go all "Sims" on my settlements once I got bored of questing (or finished the main quest). Or I'll just stick to putting up wall decorations. So far I haven't had any issues with those.