I'm running the game on the newest patch on steam version PC on the survival difficulty and i've recently noticed that even due to all my tabs in settlement in Sanctuary Hills being green and growing i've been slowly loosing happiness(the [censored] red arrow appeared pointing down next to it). I have everything in fairly good amount. 13 settlers, over 20 food and 30 water, more than enough beds, and about 27 security. I've managed to get up to 85 happiness and then it suddenly got the red arrow pointing down next to it and i seem to be loosing happiness for some unknown reason. Does anybody know why? Is this a bug? I can submit a screenshot if neccesary.

I think security is too low. Follow the food+water=security rule, see if that brings it up.

I haven't noticed a negative impact since the patch in my game... I will keep my eyes peeled, though, now that you mention it.

Do you have a bar? well all shops really, but they love the bar, and the clinic apparently

Wow, quick replies. You guys are awesome! Ok...

No i don't have the bar yet or the clinic for that matter. But thank you for the help with the ratio of security i think that MIGHT be the problem? I'm still unsure.

I'd post a screenshot but the forum is just not letting me.

Here's what i have in my Sanctuary Hills :

People 13

Food 28

Water 26

Power 15

Defense 22

Beds 18

Happiness 81(with the dreaded down arrow)

Size somewhere around half? 50%

I haven't really placed anything but my bigass house with some decorations and lots of different food that everybody is assigned to and like water purifiers. I have a couple people assigned to defenses too.

just an fyi, so as to help you thru your difficulties. "looser"?? as opposed to "tighter"? if you are "slowly loosing" are you turning a screw really, really, slowly? not sure what carpentry has to do with fo4. i think, and this is just a guess on my part, that you meant "lose"?? as in "i've been slowly LOSING happiness" hope that helps, yup, english can be a biotch.

now, as for you LOSING happiness, have you assigned all settlers to a project? if not, do so. i get up into the 90's with my happiness, still trying for benevolent leader though.

Happiness naturally hovers at a certain range.

The conditions for beds limit happiness at a max, a bed outside can never allow a settler over 60 happiness, limiting the average, a settler with no bed can only get to 30, a starving settler will drop to 0.

getting over 80 happiness takes serious effort, getting to 100 is outright crazy, and doing so has minimal benefits.

To maintain happiness of 100 for minimal cost requires half of your settlers work at level 3 food stands. That is the minimum, lowest cost, least resource intensive method, and it makes no sense whatsoever.

the next option is to have 3 of every 4 working at a level 3 clinic, followed by 5 of 6 at level 3 clothing stores, or level 2 food stores. after that it is simply not possible for one settlement to reach 100 happiness without supply lines, and even then is ridiculous.

i think this is the definitive guide for how happiness works so far

https://www.reddit.com/r/fo4/comments/43rcts/the_math_behind_your_settlers_happiness/

I gave up on Sanctuary. getting high 90's in Starlight atm.

Settlements with less settlers, *all* settlers to crops and shops (mostly tier III restaurants and hospitals). No companions, factions members or robots. A hired dog or two will do good as well. More settlers you have, more shops have to be spammed.

Cheers,

-Klevs

Chances are, you are seeing a difference in the way happiness is calculated. Because the formula has been changed, I have no idea how it works now. In a few weeks, the dataminers and testers will have mostly figured it out, but until then, any suggestions by myself or anyone else are going to be guesswork.

Unless you continue to experience a downward trend noticeably past 80, I wouldn't get concerned. Most likely it's just a graduated adjustment to whatever your current stabilized happiness is.

But, just in case, here is what I can think of to check.

- Check your pipboy while you are away from the settlement. Make sure all the numbers are correct. If some of them seem to be off, then you are most likely experiencing the fast travel bug that incorrectly lists values for assets and comes with negative happiness. I know reports that it continues to happen since the patch have come in, so I believe it remains a possible explanation. While you are in Sanctuary, the numbers are likely to be correct, so you won't know if that's the problem if you're actually at the settlement.

- You may have recently experienced an attack that you failed to defend. Some people have reported a temporary negative penalty to happiness from a recent attack. I haven't seen that myself (although I have seen a secondary symptom of happiness going down as a consequence of assets lost in the attack.)

- A recent change to your settlement's population or assignments may have resulted in a happiness recalculation without you realizing it.

- Settlers can occasionally become "unassigned" from a task. This usually happens if they are a new settler who has been assigned to something for the first time. Unassigned settlers can impose a happiness penalty, so you may find someone not performing tasks, and discover that they don't have one assigned.

Wow okay. Yes it is lose instead of loose, it was my typo and i apologise.

I didn't really know that Bethesda failed to implement any kind of real tutorial to the game to tell you more about how happiness in settlements really work or it just seems there's a big lack of it in the game. I honestly feel we should know why settlements are becoming unhappy or at least given hints how to improve it or make it better by settlers or companions. I am stuck on around 80 happiness in Sanctuary Hills and it doesn't seem to go up or down for any reason. I will try making some shops in the future and clinics to see if that does anything. But i really feel like it should say what we need to do in order to improve, naturally.

No one else had any problems understanding what you wrote. Typos are an occasional inevitability on the internet. Most people aren't bothered enough by them to even notice.

FYI, make all beds under a roof and scrap any beds that are outside in any Settlement.

If possible, I make a new Wood Shack to replace the default "Home", and assign the new Beds to the Original Settlers.

Most of My Settlements will all reach 80 Happiness by always assigning Beds to Settlers and having Food and Water production at the Settlements equal the Population. I always have at least a one Turret difference between Food and Water Production compared to Defense for any Settlement.

Provisioners can affect a Settlement Happiness, but really only harm Anyone trying to get to 100 Happiness in a Settlement, a Dog purchased from Gene can offset the Provisioner Happiness loss.

By bed, I am referring to a Bed on a Frame and not a Sleeping Bag or Mattress sitting on a floor. Sleeping Bags and Mattresses on a Floor do limit Happiness.

How to even tell if the bed is "under a roof". I'm seriously curious because so many roofs in Sanctuary Hills have holes in them, even the ones i made! So how would that even be considered a roof i have yet to decypher i mean..it's like Rashida Jones's filter for freckles on top of that roof it would leak like a [censored]. I have no beds outside the settlement but that whole concept just worries me. All in all i think i just need to get my charisma to 6 and level up that leader perk to really get it to 100 it seems. It's so sad the game doesn't give you any hints on the matter. I would even understand if they used curbed math but to not say anything about just seems lazy and raw like DayZ still being in alpha.

The Houses in Sanctuary are considered covered, as are Roofs on built structures.

Tenpines Bluff has three Mattresses, and the one in a ruin is not covered. The two Mattresses that are under a roof can not be scrapped and replaced by a bed.

With regards to tutorials.

Yes they are minimal.

Personally i find that it's half the fun for me. Making mistakes, working out puzzling situations.

If you look in the Workshop menu at the description of some of the buildable stores it tells you that some of them increase happiness.

Also with your food at 28, something is wrong (not a biggie) as optimally food should be in increments of 6.

5 settlers tending 6 units each makes 30

You have 13 settlers, presumably 5 on crops and 8 more.

What are the other 8 doing?

Are some of them named settlers?

your defence is too low, the defence stat in workshop mode should be red (or under workshop tabs in pipboy should have an exclamation mark next to it)

to get it in green (or whatever colour you may have changed your display to) you need to have defence greater than food+water production

this will cost you happiness

"sheltered bed" in this game just means under a roof regardless of how full of holes and how much it leaks lol

also even though all your settlers may well be assigned a bed if for some reason they cannot get to it (pathing is quite bad in this game) then that will be costing you happiness

also although you have a max happiness for whatever is going on there at the moment it is not a static number its more a range

so if your max happiness is 85 for example it will not stay on 85, it will go up to 86 then go down to 84 then go back up to 86 then down again to 84 and so on and so on

basically no matter what you do you should actually see a red arrow next to happiness from time to time