Treat Settlements as Infrastructure

Among the features the publisher lists for Fallout 4 is the ability to scavenge, craft and customise: build thousands of items including armour, weapons and food, and construct and manage entire settlements across the Commonwealth.

Build the answer to your actual shortage

Armour, weapons and food are the named buildables, which makes each settlement a response to a specific problem. A settlement that produces what you keep running out of is more useful than one that looks impressive but supplies nothing you need.

Management is the part that pays

The store says construct and manage, and the second word is doing the work. Placing a settlement and then ignoring it leaves you with a location rather than a resource, and the Commonwealth is described as having hundreds of locations competing for your attention.

Let each settlement cover its area

With a large open world and many locations, a settlement is also a base for the region around it. Siting one where your routes already run saves the trip back that would otherwise interrupt every expedition.

Factions are a separate ledger

The publisher describes joining factions, forging alliances, or going it alone. Settlement building does not resolve that choice, so keep the two decisions separate: what your network produces, and who you have decided to do it for.

Supplies support the character you built, so start with S.P.E.C.I.A.L. and perks and settle how you fight in V.A.T.S. or real-time.