It depends on how many towns we get and how they are connected, if they work in conjunction with one another and if you have influence on what type of citizens live in your town.. I'd love to build different experimental type towns.. Kind of like running my own vaults.

I was thinking how about build a settlement surround by wall with only one entrance, right behind the entrance is a maze which has a lot of pressure plates on floor and rigged guns on side wall or ceiling

Unless there are actual significant story/gameplay reasons for me to build a settlement, then I will just want a place to store my stuff and sleep. I'd rather be out adventuring than building in Fallout.

When I first heard about the settlement dynamic I was a little skeptical, but after watching a few videos I think it has great potential as a time sink, along with weapon and armour crafting and collecting.

I can see myself getting lost for hours at a time faffing with it all. I also hope we have the option to "lock" items in place for display purposes.

I hope you can get a fairly large area to build on foundation wise. Or even multiple base areas in the same location. I'm thinking multi-towers, tiered connecting walkways, penthouse balconies. A massive sprawling multi-height complex with neon signs, complex defenses and fully walled off from the outside world, complete with traders and guards.

I suspect I'm gonna be disappointed.

Peter has already confirmed its 100% optional, sure attracting traders to a settlement does give you easier access to high grade gear, but nothing you cant find or make with moding yaself.

did someone alreadt mentioned a redlight district

no well i do now

i can already forsee the advlt riented mods for this

I will create "New Mariposa Military Base" it will be the most fortified of my settlements with walls and everything. It will also be the capitol of my empire

I plan on building a slave colony if possible.

Something shaped like a big dong.

With lights, neon lights.

I hope to make something like the fortification found in the book The Passage.

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And a flamethrower at the tip.

"Tip of the iceberg" <- I hope so!

We do have vault-tec:

Having a small settlement deeply burried in a mountain, like a vault. Slaverunners homebase .

Also it would be easier to defend it against raider attacks, due the one, two or three entrances. Those can be easily defended (thinking of a canyon like entrance).

Also a helipad could be added here for the vertibird.

Next idea would be an underwater city. Plainly build into a sea, accessible via a sewer network; an old ship; research rig or something like that.

Needs to be defended from raiders, wild ghouls and mirelurks/lakelurks.

But I don't think the iceberg will be this big .

If remotely possible, I'm going to rebuild Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket Island off the coastal mainland. Take advantage of the natural defenses such a isolated setup provides. And setup the necessary defense perimeter to handle the random raider spawns.

Then I'm free to go adventuring Once I'm satisfied my settlement won't be overrun by enemy NPCs & critters in my absence. But first I'll turn my island settlement into a highly sustainable, thriving fishing and orchard community. And possibly the most reknown mutfruit winery in all the Commonwealth once the food & crafting mods come out.

I think I'll end up making more of a fort or fortified compound type place. and if we can name them on the map, at least one will be called Fort Something.

Heavy fortification is something I am thinking about. It would be cool if I put in the effort to make it secure then it will be very safe from attacks. However I don't expect the game will support that. I get the feeling they don't want us to be able to do that, so that we are forced to deal with the consequences of attacks. I feel like a perimeter wall and entrance like you describe would be considered too easy and therefore we won't be able to build it.

That depends largely on what housing options are available that aren't tied into the town building system. If I can find a cool place to live in a settlement, I'll do that. If I can't then I will construct a main "base" of sorts that I will build my own personal home in. I will then construct some smaller living quarters and establish a relatively safe trader town. My goal afterwards will be to construct a few other settlements and then establish trade, so I can have a steady flow of caps and supplies.

Honestly, I'm not that interested in the base building functionality, which surprises me. Maybe after the newness of the game has worn off a bit, I will be able to settle down and be creative, but I feel like I won't want to take the time to design the perfect home when I could be exploring the wasteland and seeing everything there is to do. In the list of things competing for my attention, designing my own town is low... for now ha ha.

I wonder how moddable this feature will be. I doubt that the base game will let me build a medieval-style castle out of concrete and rebar, but I'm going to do it anyways. All Glory to the Beureaucratic Techperium of Donald!

I think we'll be able to encase our settlements in a good wall. If the raiders blow their way through it or swarm the front entrance and overwhelm you is another question. It could be that the larger your settlement is the more attacks it gets. That would make a good balance, I think.

Being honest, first things first isn't making a settlement for others, as much a home for myself. When I expand then yes I'll start a village under my rule, but first things first is a nice house. I don't think I'll do it straightaway as I'd like to see all possible places first, then choose depending on my tastes. Preferably a structure up high, like we've seen in video footage, and heavily fortified. If we can have robot defenders, even better.

You know, people are mostly thinking of building up, but me? I'm building DOWN!

An underground complex that's near to a central network of tunnels. It'll act like a nexus, a central hub for my travels. That's the first thing that I thought of when remembering FO3's disused Metro tunnels.

Alternatively, a cave network, or if going overground, you'll ideally want a naturally defensible position. Preferably a ridge or covered elevated place with a tower of sorts nearby.

First run through... small defendable place to stash my stuff, and get used to building.

Second play through. who knows. A Fortress.

I think it would be really cool if we could build something similar to these:
http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Calvert%20Mansion
http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Blackhall%20Manor

Your authority is not recognized in Fort Kickass.