Does the Vault Tec Population Management system actually work?

[sigmapsidelta]

It seems that every time I assign a settler from one job to another, without using the Vault Tec device, all of them except the provisioners get unassigned and have to be assigned again. The damned device is virtually useless for this as it refuses to do as it is told. You tell it to assign a settler to any job, then check the 'vocational overview' and it has done nothing.

It takes five or more attempts to get a settler assigned to anything using the Vault Tec device, and that's if it decides to actually do it at all. It is now quite a commonplace sight to see me in Sanctuary blasting the crap out of it with my Spray and Pray, it p*sses me off that much.

Is there a particular way to use it? I'm pretty sure I've tried all possible means, but I may be missing something. If I'm not it is the result of some pretty amateurish coding on the part of the devs. If it doesn't work, why put it in there?

I also seem to get settlers who think they have more than one job. I've caught a bar man several times touring about with a drawn weapon pretending to be a guard. So I manually assigned him to guard duty, kitted him out with the appropriate armour and recovered the tuxedo he was wearing as a bar man (which caused mass-unemployment). Next time I see him he is back behind the bar again. I gave up and assigned him to the junk shop - now he stands behind the clothing counter selling junk.

The secret may be to never manually assign, to only use the device (which doesn't bloody work). But what about assigning provisioners, barber chairs, soda fountains, and the eye-care device? Those can not be done using the Vault Tec terminal.
.

[Duuvian]

I just went through and claimed all the settlements and I found putting one down early in a visible place makes it easy to mass assign all your settlers to scavenging. I check that when I run past a settlement in Survival and sometimes it lets me assign 4 or 5 settlers to scavenge without taking the time to point them to each spot.

What annoys me is that I can't make new settlers who show up not default to farming because I don't want to count how many corns and tatos I put down. I prefer it to be around 25 food production usually so the settlers don't complain about food even though I have them linked to Sanctuary. I was going to make some settlements farms and some scavenging settlements, but it seems like they at least have dialogue about shortage if their settlement isn't producing it's own food and water supply. it's not a big deal though really.

[wtiger27]

I have never used the terminal to assign my settlers. Have always manually did it. After over 1400 hrs playing, not had any major issues.

The actions of the settlers can be contrary to your assignment on occasion. But as long as it shows the shop or task has been assigned to the settler, that is all I care about.

Kind of like how I dealt with my workers when I was a supervisor before I retired. I did not care how many breaks they took, if they where doing a good job.

[The Inept European]

It's very buggy and doesn't deal with a lot of situations well.

One tip I would say is to exit and re-enter the terminal after every update and every change. This resets the scripts and makes the results more consistent.

The other tip is don't use it in the Bethmuda Triangle or anywhere else that settlements are close together and their cells overlap.

[sigmapsidelta]

Originally posted by The Ex-ept European:

It's very buggy and doesn't deal with a lot of situations well.

One tip I would say is to exit and re-enter the terminal after every update and every change. This resets the scripts and makes the results more consistent.

The other tip is don't use it in the Bethmuda Triangle or anywhere else that settlements are close together and their cells overlap.

So it could be Red Rocket that is causing the VTPMT in Sanctuary to infuriate me?

Not sure where the 'Bethmuda' triangle is. Which settlements are the points of the triangle?

I'll give the 'exit after every action' technique a try. It is one I didn't test.
.

[The Inept European]

Bethmuda Triangle is a recent coinage, though I like it. More usually called the Triangle of Death - Sanctuary Hills, Red Rocket, Abernathy Farm.

This is a core game engine bug that is seen in erroneous Pip Boy stats for workshops. It happens when a cell is loaded that contains only part of a settlement, or when multiple settlements are loaded at the same time.

[The Inept European]

A sort of opposite-but-similar effect is seen at Boston Airport / Boston Airport Ruins / The Prydwen, which are shown on the map as different settlements, but which are really the same settlement, but can at times show different workshop stats.

[The Inept European]

Originally posted by sigmapsidelta:

I'll give the 'exit after every action' technique a try. It is one I didn't test.

I was a loyal user of the VTPMS but eventually I gave up on it and just use a bell to summon all the settlers and others, and assign their jobs manually. You can also upgrade their equipment at the same time.

[sigmapsidelta]

You sort of just explained what is happening when I look at the map and Sanctuary is showing as having 59 settlers and happiness is sinking. It must be showing part of the Abernathy population as well.

I only recently got settlers at the Red Rocket, and there are only nine now. I used it to reach 100% happiness -one settler sent from elsewhere and given masses of happiness-making devices, but only minimal food and water. I gave the place vast protection with a defence score of well over 400, but that didn't seem to figure into the 100% thing as the 'guides' advise minimal there, too.
.