I'm not really a settlement builder, but I do enjoy building in Fallout 4. So, I won't be discussing settlement building, though there are other guides that offer great tips on the subject.

In a word: Practice (and more practice). Honestly, without practice you won't gain the experience to create fantastic builds. There are numerous groups on Facebook that deal specifically with building settlements, bases, player homes, etc... in Fallout 4. Join several that are focused on building. 'Fallout 4 Settlement Building' and 'Fallout 4: Commonwealth Creators' are good examples and include some of the best builders in the Fallout 4 building community.

Study builds from top builders and ask questions about materials, techniques, or mods. Take notes if you need to (always a good idea). Most builders are happy to explain what they did and how they did it, but there really isn't any substitute for practice. With more experience you're better able to understand what they're trying to teach you.

If you don't have it yet, get the mod Place Everywhere (nexus) and learn how to use it. If you feel that mods aren't for you, there are glitches such as the pillar glitch or rug glitch that can be used instead of a 'place' mod and to be fair, I've seen some great builds that were produced without using mods.

Personally though, Place Everywhere offers so much more than just placing items (with precision from .01-100), but can also rotate pieces 360 degrees on all axes (x,y,z), resize parts (1050%), and a whole lot more. Also with mods I feel they can add so much more to your creativity than just the base game and dlc's. War of the Worlds anyone.

The quickest way to find what others have built in fallout 4 is to do an internet search for images of 'Fallout 4 builds' or maybe 'Fallout 4 Artwork'. This will include video's as well. I do this periodically when I'm challenged for ideas, but don't stop at just Fallout 4 ideas, anything can be built and I've filled tons of folders with the different ideas I've researched from post apocalyptic shacks, to castles, to spacecraft.

While looking for new ideas I try visualizing my available workshop pieces that could be used to build parts or portions of these ideas. Keep in mind that if using Place Everywhere, any part can be resized or tilted to resemble whatever you would like it to be. Usually I'll have something, but if not I'll search on Nexus for something appropriate. While we're talking parts, this might be a good time to offer a great building tip to make you a much better builder and unlock your imagination. 'Don't look at your parts for what they are, but what you can imagine them to be'. All parts aren't available in mods, but you can create them with other parts. Use your imagination to create something unique. This applies to buildings, vehicles, aircraft, weapons, furniture, and pretty much anything and everything. Learning to use Place Everywhere can really unleash your creativity.

You can also check the albums folder (under media) in your Facebook building groups for previous builds by other members. You may be surprised at what others have built. Maybe even an Oil Platform built in the Commonwealth bay.

To develop an idea, after each session I'll take a series of screenshots. This also helps to find the best angles and perspectives for the presentation. While not in game I'll go over those screenshots and my question is always 'what can I add to make this build more interesting?'. For me it's a constant process of experimenting with different aspects of the build while trying to maintain the general theme. Above all, I always try to keep it interesting. So that every time someone looks at it, they discover details that had previously gone unnoticed.

As far as making it a fantastic build, it all comes down to the details. After creating the main areas of the build, adding substance to those areas with smaller items such as chairs, tables, desks, and lights will create the atmosphere. Then adding clutter like books, weapons, kitchenware (plates, glasses), posters, rugs, and anything that will add more depth to the area. Also consider the overall ambiance of each area and the entire build.

Creating fantastic builds will take time and as your building experience grows, you'll improve with each new build as will your ideas for other builds. There's a lot to learn about building in fallout 4 and it takes time, patience, and a good eye for detail. Also, don't be afraid to experiment, that's how you learn. Ask questions frequently and practice. And more practice. How about a build I called Divided City. I couldn't find an appropriate place in Fallout 4, so had to create one. Found this idea through post apocalyptic concept art.

As you've probably noticed, many of these builds are quite large. Due to the Fallout game engine there are limits to what can be built. This is technically based on the amount of polygons and triangles that are present in any given cell of the game. What that means is that the more objects you add to any given area, the more objects the game engine needs to render which produces a lag in performance and generally referred to as framerate. The FPS (frames per second) is also effected by any animations(settlers, weather, shadows, trees, grass, etc..). Hardware can help with this to some extent, but you're still faced with the restraints of the game engine and what it can render.

With that said, you can still create some amazing builds in fallout 4. A build doesn't need to be large to be great, but considering the restraints, you'll need to find a balance between structure (floors/walls) and detail (landscaping/lighting/clutter). I've found it's always easy to create this huge structure of a build and when the FPS starts to drop not have enough room to properly add detail to it. That's why finding a balance between structure and detail is the key. An interesting structure is important, but the details are what make it a fantastic build.

Presentation is always an important part in posting a build. I always want to present my creation in it's best light, so this is where having a good eye for detail comes in. Speaking of lighting, SOE (settlement objects expansion pack) Light Sources are great, and after some practice can produce any mood you're looking for. I have them in power/soe/light sources. SOE also has ton's of other parts like the animated fog condensers that are great for creating atmosphere and they come with blue swirling fog. I have them in decorations/soe/miscellaneous.

I also take advantage of console commands for changing the time of day (set gamehour to 18.5)(6:30pm), for best lighting. Or for changing the weather I use Force Weather, (fw 2b52a)(clear weather), or maybe (fw 1ca7e4)(commonwealth rain). There are some great guides here on Steam that include console commands and a complete list of weather ID's. I also find the use of TFC (toggle free cam), TM (toggle menu), and SUCSM (sucsm 20)(speed control for tfc and can be 1-100+)(20 is default), invaluable for getting any angle I want (even upside down or underground) and essential for great video's. How about a Lunar Space Station or Q-Ship from Marvel's Avengers.

There's a lot to learn about building in fallout 4 and my experience has taught me much about building techniques, lighting, mods, materials and what is actually possible to build in fallout 4. This guide really just scratches the surface of the building possibilities, but I hope it's given some perspective and maybe even a few new ideas. There are some constraints associated with the game engine, but I've also found that the constraints that matter, are mostly limited to your imagination (no limit to that). If you'd like to see what I've imagined so far, just take a look at the screenshots in my profile. And don't forget to have fun too, it is a game after all.

On a side note, everything I've built up to this point has been built in game (with mods of course), but not with the Creation Kit (just in case you were wondering).

(and did I mention practice?)