I like the settlement part of the game, I've spend a good amount of time making two big intricate settlements and I'm working on another. I don't see the point however, sure it is entertaining but the size of the place doesn't effect happiness. It would be nice if there were a reason to make something cool. Is there a way to share via Xbox? And what do you think of it?

If you build them a certain way you have raw food production, water, and scrap from which you can make different types of chems, cooked food and upgrades to your weapons and armor.

Edit: Almost forgot - Trade for cap income!

I think you answered your own question.

Don't own an xbox, but a quick google search: http://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one/games/capture-screenshots

And what do I think of them? I've spent hours building settlements even with the limited tools we have. See http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1573188-starlight-drive-in-sign/?hl=%2Bstarlight#entry24729238 for what happens when I started playing with lights.

Ive level 4 shops and get about 200 caps every few days. Is that right?

how do you have lev 4 shops

You build them.

You have to build a Level 3 shop and staff it with a special merchant. Only certain NPCs count. Most are found in random encounters and can be sent to your settlement.

As to the OP:

Because it is super satisfying to build a super structure, know it is yours, and admire it from a distance, knowing the awe and fear it strikes into the hearts of raiders?

Whats the point of level 4 shops?

You get more money from them, and they have better inventory selections.

All my shops are level 4 all i get is 200 caps every 2 days

What's your population at?

I have 4 level 3s and 1 level 1 at Sanctuary with 21 people, I get 550 caps every 48 hrs

You can't build level 4 shops, only up to level 3.

You can only increase a shop's level from 3 to 4 by assigning one of the 8 level 4 merchants to run it, and currently, only 3 of those are working properly when recruited.

Yes you can. Ive all my shops at level 4.

They only turn a level 3 into a 4.

Ive 22 people

I build big because it's nice to come to an area and see a massive building which I know is a safe haven. Especially looks good at night when the entire area is lit up because I put lights on the outside.

How did you get the super bugged traders to join your settlement?

There's a lot of things settlements can do for you if you get the design right. I'm only running one really large settlement plus two with full security and maybe half a dozen with some interesting features. Other than that, all the others I keep pretty basic other than making sure the approaches have minimal cover and plenty of crossfire.

One good settlement tied into the provisioning network linking all the other settlements can make an enormous difference to gameplay. With enough farmers, it can host non-producing personnel such as traders and manned security. Pick the right crops and you can mod your gear and your companion's and settler's gear more often. Water is another resource that is worth having a pentiful supply of too. You can also set up a home base where you keep your gear and where you can arrange the containers so they work for you (which makes inventory a breeze if you make sure the container arrangement is right for you). Add to this the arrangement of crafting stations to fit your storage regime and this makes crafting fit seemlessly into what you do - especially if you've set things up so that your farm produce can kick in when certain rare scavenged materials run out.

You can also set up a settlement to act as a honeytrap for hostiles. This sort of raid-baiting is a particularly effective way to build a steady stream of raw material intake (steel, glass, copper, fiber-optics, wood, etc.) with more flow than anything you could pull out of traders for any amount of caps. Only, when you're getting these raw materials from scrapping weapons and armour generously donated by a steady stream of attackers, it works out to be free of cost. The key to making this work is, instead of setting up turrets or defense positions at your intended honeytrap settlement, you quietly arm your settlers with souped up hard-hitting weapons and a little ammo. The hostiles see the settlement as vulnerable (i.e. Defense < X ) and have no idea what you have your settlers packing for them - and it's just "hook, line and sinker" all the way!