Whats the deal here anyone else getting this? is it a bug?

Whenever i go to a settlement all the settlers apart from ones assigned to guard posts are just grouped up in the same spot doing nothing, they dont even go to bed at night. all the crops are grown and happiness is up but they just stand there like a bunch of lemons

I think, that is working as intended, without actually knowing whether it's intended.

But it does happen to me too and others I think?

maybe 2 or 3 for mine, but not the whole bunch like I rang the bell..

They were partying and having the time of their life, celebrating the simple joys of living and that they've managed to survive this long.

Then some square shows up. Music stops, everyone stops dancing, and they just stare at you.

Well they could also be stuck on each other. Try pushing them around?

I do this when they're all huddled together, punching to knock some sense into them.

This is proof they have no idea we're the boss.

Heh... Today I ordered Piper to get back into her powerarmor, after I had repaired it... She literally ran into it, face to "face" ... then saying: "I don't think I can get there.." or something. Nope, not if you do it like that.

It's happened at a few of my places. Zimonja, Tenpines, Abernathy all have the mass congregation. But then have a few that go for a walkabout.

I moved the FT point at Zimonja too. Guess where the all gather?

Darn that unremovable ladder at Zimonja

I have this problem at Abernathy too in the main building, although i built a few more chairs and sofas so now they at least they all sit down and dont look like a bunch of zombies.

I've observed the same thing. Mine seem to sleep and work as they should but they don't sandbox after work very well. Before I began adding the vendor booth's they all seemed to collect in the same general area and just stand there with their thumb up their wazoo until time for bed. I put various furniture, tables and chairs for them to sit on and they refused to use it.

Now that I'm starting to add in some vendor booth's they seem to collect near them but still don't sandbox like I think they should. I just built a new structure in Sanctuary last night where my vendors are inside of it and plenty of places to sit. I made it 2 story and put 2 of my vendor booths upstairs so I'm hoping some of them will migrate upstairs around the booths up there.

I'm going to do some more testing tonight as I didn't get to fully test this out last night and I'll post my findings.

My suspicion based on my experience with modding Skyrim and the new alias system is that if there is a sandbox package for them to use during their off time it is not being validated. I have noticed that when new settlers show up or you move someone from another settlement they sandbox fine until you give them a job. After you assign them a task like I said above, mine seem to work and sleep just fine, they just don't sandbox.

The comedy with wonky gameplay moments. I had my guard settler struggle to get up the smallest step to his post...I was thinking maybe he's the wrong settler for the job if steps are too tough for him

*lol* Oddly enough, that doesn't just happen in fo4, twice while going home late in the evening 23'ish, near a weekend, I've seen the same young guy just stand there on the road, like he too were scared or too drunk to get up onto the 5 cm. high curb and then sidewalk. Just standing there... staring it down...

Apparently fo4 is realistic enough in some areas

I saw it a few days ago at a small and crowded settlement. on a new play through now and it seems to have become the norm for a lot of settlers. makes them easier to find though and production still goes on so... whatever, let the weirdo staring club have its meetings.

square? without me they'd still be scrounging for caps and food in the wastes.

are you sure he wasn't a corner boy shotting weed?

Taffington Boathouse for me has a bunch of them congregating, Ive not really built a lot of entertainment for them anywhere really. It really struck home when in a random house in Sanctuary I found someone sat in a very small room staring at the wall. Fun times.

Then I suspect he would have been sampling the products, because the only thing around there is pretty much... well ... litteral weeds.

Sorry Dad.

Overall, I have found they behave fairly "normally" (as normal as any pixelated false 3D algorithm-driven representation of a refugee in a retro-futuristic post-apocalyptic wasteland can be expected to act!).

I just finished redoing Oberland Station today. I've got this gravity defying two story cube that completely wraps around the upper floor of the railroad tower. The floor is about level with the eaves of the roof, two staircases to get up into it. I'd say it is somewhere between 9 and 12 squares (the larger ones) on each side. One 'row' of ceilings around the outer edge is one story and that is where their 'apartments' are located. the central roof is two stories so the whole inside is quite open and airy and I used those wall pieces that are just a lattice work with lots of holes for the whole upper wall, so it is as if it has a kind of 19th century factory with lots of big windows around the ceiling. Got it wired up my benches set up and everyone assigned (all top tier shops, one of each, and maybe one or two doing farming, only 11 settlers at this point). In the course of tearing down and rearranging everything, they had all gone to bed and by the next morning I had it all set up. Everyone got up, sandboxed their morning coffee and donut, eventually went to their shops, etc. I guess the farmers must be out there farming not sure. A couple of my shop keepers are unresponsive: I click E on them and they just repeat one of their canned lines and no option to barter or trade. But I suspect by stopping and restarting, maybe leave the place and come back that may fix. I did a lot of assignment shuffling so they might still be a bit confused. I think these two ladies that are responseive might be the original two that are there when you arrive so that might be it as well; maybe some of the "originals" don't function well in shop keeper roles?

So as you can see, working pretty much normal except some fairly minor glitches. A couple things I've noticed: pathfinding is pretty bad once you start building complex structures with stair cases and stuff. I originally had the two stair cases off set and their was a smaller "lower level" (basically a second story that is right above the workbench). I have the bell in the middle of the third story (the big open area with high ceilings). With the stairs offset (you had to go up one turn, go around a corner and then turn again to go up the 2nd staircase) a lot of them would make it into the second level and stop. They were standing there under where the bell was so I guess their pathfinding didn't realize they were not at the same level as the bell. Now that I've got rid of that small 2nd story antechamber, and just put the two staircases in a straight line no problems. I think the main thing is to give them nice simple paths, and wide paths to move through or they can get stuck.

Occasionally I do see some issue like you are talking about, but it seems to either go away, or get 'fixed' by something (such as giving them a restaurant). Try building a bar/restaurant. giving them plenty of room to move around it (or at least in front of it) and put some chairs for them (small tables are a nice touch too). I have found that, once they have a bar or restaurant and chairs to sit, they will sandbox morning and evening as if they are having breakfast and then supper.

Another thing I've noticed is that, not all "types" of NPCs seem to be able to function fully in any role. I've got some followers who are doing Provisioner role (Strong e.g.,) as well as many of the Mr. Handy robots from Grey Garden, and that seems to work fine. Cait can do farming, or "guard" (as can Preston and probably all followers. But when I've tried to assign Cait to be a bartender it didn't seem to work. Same for the Long's: assigned them to shopkeepers and they just never bothered to work their stall. Sturges works fine as a scavenger though, so maybe they would all work in that role.

Hopefully they do expand on settlements a lot in a DLC cause there are a lot of less than ideal features to it right now: ack of naming, some roles seem to "get stuck" (for example, once a Provisioner, always a Provisioner it seems) and various other small stuff.

Pix, dude.

I'm pretty sure that the clustering occurs because there is a distinct lack of idle time animations in the program. In Sanctuary I set up a half-dozen Trader booths between my ore-war house and the Crafting Center across the street. Every day after 8 p.m. (when the booths close) I see over a dozen settlers gather in the street in front of the booths and simply stand there. I'm thinking I should set up some patio tables and chairs just so they don't have to stand there until 2 a.m. when they finally all wander off to bed.

In short, the settlers were programmed to have a life. They do NOT spend 24/7 at their job. Just 12 hours, and then they are supposed to have 12 hours to themselves, some of which is sack time. In between, they need to be doing something. If there are chairs nearby, they sit. If there is a Cooking Station, they cook. If the workbench is free, one of them will tinker. The problem is that when there is a large population, the list of available animations gets used up and the remainder of settlers end up standing around.

Argh . . . I'm a computer science major but one thing I find incredibly fiddly is screen capping or worse video capping. Not to mention, I don't want Steam to install that dratted Beta Patch . . . I'll see what I can with a handful of pics, just for you.

ADDIT: what is a good free place to upload pics these days?

No, they see you coming back into town and its. "Damn, he's back, make it look like your doing something." Then Preston comes over, "General, there's a settlement that needs your help."

5 minutes after you leave, they're standing around laughing.