Starlight Drive-in and settler assignment questions.

[random_frugality]

I've gotten the radio beacon going at the Starlight Drive-in, and I've cleaned up a lot of the debris that was lying around, but I can't plant anything anywhere. I go by the workshop shed, which others on Steam have said is where they'd planted crops, but it won't work for me. I've gone all over the periphery of the drive-in and I can't plant anything. There also appears to be no way to scrap the flat surface of the drive-in to expose the dirt that must be underneath it. The game says that the crops have to be planted on dirt. I was able to put in a water pump, and that needs to be on dirt, but I can't get any crops planted.

The second question involves both Sanctuary and Starlight Drive-In. I can't assign any settlers to do anything. I found that Marcy Long is apparently automatically assigned to do farming in Sanctuary, but I can't get anyone else to do anything. I'm on a PC and so I hold down "V" while looking at a character, and sometimes they'll light up. I then press "Enter (command)." Then I press "Enter (Go)." Nothing happens. I've noticed in YOU-TUBE videos that people can move around while the menu is up. I can't. I can turn 360 degrees, but I can't move. Is that a known bug? I think I'm doing what's needed from what I've seen in the written instructions I've read and in the videos I've seen. Can anyone help me with these problems?

[steventirey]

Did you rebind the movement keys? There is a known issue that rebinding the movement keys will not work once you enter build mode.

If you can put in a water pump that requires dirt, then you should be able to plant crops in that same area. Dirt is dirt - there isn't some kind of special dirt that accepts pumps but not crops. Do you have any mods? Possibly its a mod conflict.

As for the settlers, Prestons gang can be assigned to any jobs. Marcy will default to farming if there are crops planted once you get them to Sanctuary. Sturges and Jun can be assigned any job. Mama Murphy is special. If you don't convince her to stop using drugs and instead build her chair, you can't assign her to do anything. If you do convince her to give up the drugs, you can assign her anywhere. Preston can only be assigned to something once you have unlocked him as a companion (which requires you to become the Minutemen general). Now there is one issue - they will all want to bang on the house if still in Sanctuary occasionally. They still count as doing their assigned job, however.

From what you are saying (pressing Enter to command then Enter again, are you hovering over the job you want them to do? You need to be looking at a planted crop to assign them as a farmer, or a defense post for a guard, and so on.

[Death Approaches]

HUH?! It's mind-blowingly insane to me that you need to watch videos or read posts for this - it's ludicrously simple and very intuitive. I'm trying to not call you dumb, but millions of people do this without any need for the internet to watch how others did it, just saying. Little kids. 70 year olds born before portable calculators existed nevermind computers.

I think you're doing it wrong. Like, only hold the key to enter edit mode, after that, no holding nothing! It's just a shortcut so you don't have to manually walk to the workbench to enter edit mode. But after you're in edit mode, LET GO OF THE KEY.

So to highlight a person? just point at them! Nothing else, no key no clicking!

To make them do somethign? Highlight the settler or NPC by aiming at them, then you can click or press E to select them, then go point at something, a bed, a plant, a guard post, a store, etc. and press E or click again to assign them. It'll pop up that it's been assigned. Done! Move on to the next person.

And - not to be an a**hole or anything, but there's a tonne of dirt places at Starlight to farm, like behind the workbench shack as you mentioned. Could the reason you can't plant anything could be that you don't have any food items to plant in your inventory? Corn will not pop up an outline of a corn stalk to place, if you don't have any corn, just saying. get some plant material first.

Take heart! It's something simple, like not paying attention, not reading the screen bottom to see what you can and can't do, not reading the pop-ups when they explain things like how power objects work, etc. Just keep trying. Don't watch videos, use your brain. I promise it's very easy once it "clicks" and you "get it".

Course there's always the possibility it's some mod you are using that's causing trouble, but you didn't say if you were a mod user...

[Pakratjr]

I can help with the planting thing at least, but its been a bit since I last played so I'm brain farting on the assigning bit. But there is a craftable garden plot that you can use for places without any dirt. Can't remember what category it's under tho lol, but there is one.
My last drive in settlement I had a water pump in the hole in the middle of the parking lot and surrounded it with the craftable garden plots.

[random_frugality]

Originally posted by steventirey:

Did you rebind the movement keys? There is a known issue that rebinding the movement keys will not work once you enter build mode.

Okay! Thanks, that was indeed the problem. Well, most of the problem. I've got Sturgis assigned to defense. I'm still having to struggle with getting Jun Long to deal with the water, but I'll get it at some point. He makes it more difficult by moving around a lot. And then after I press "Enter" to command him the game shows "go" related to the "Enter" key, as opposed to "assign," which I've gotten for the other assignments.

Originally posted by steventirey:

If you can put in a water pump that requires dirt, then you should be able to plant crops in that same area. Dirt is dirt - there isn't some kind of special dirt that accepts pumps but not crops. Do you have any mods? Possibly its a mod conflict.

Yeah, that's what I've been thinking all along. I'm not running any mods at all.

Originally posted by steventirey:

As for the settlers, Prestons gang can be assigned to any jobs. Marcy will default to farming if there are crops planted once you get them to Sanctuary. Sturges and Jun can be assigned any job. Mama Murphy is special. If you don't convince her to stop using drugs and instead build her chair, you can't assign her to do anything. If you do convince her to give up the drugs, you can assign her anywhere. Preston can only be assigned to something once you have unlocked him as a companion (which requires you to become the Minutemen general). Now there is one issue - they will all want to bang on the house if still in Sanctuary occasionally. They still count as doing their assigned job, however.

Yeah, Jun is hard to get working. I want him to deal with water, but maybe I should try putting him on something else.

Originally posted by steventirey:

From what you are saying (pressing Enter to command then Enter again, are you hovering over the job you want them to do? You need to be looking at a planted crop to assign them as a farmer, or a defense post for a guard, and so on.

Yes, I'm hovering, now that I'm using the WSAD keys to move during this particular operation. I switch back to the arrow keys when I'm not trying to do workbench stuff. I've gotten Sturgis to deal with defense. I don't know why I have such a time getting Jun Long to be in charge of the water. Mama Murphy is sitting in the ceiling of the building in back of the workbench. When I talk to her feet she just asks for more drugs.

Thanks for your help.

[random_frugality]

Originally posted by Pakratjr:

I can help with the planting thing at least, but its been a bit since I last played so I'm brain farting on the assigning bit. But there is a craftable garden plot that you can use for places without any dirt. Can't remember what category it's under tho lol, but there is one.
My last drive in settlement I had a water pump in the hole in the middle of the parking lot and surrounded it with the craftable garden plots.

Okay, thanks. I'll look for that option. Maybe the crowd at the drive-in won't starve after all.

[DouglasGrave]

Originally posted by random_frugality:

Yeah, Jun is hard to get working. I want him to deal with water, but maybe I should try putting him on something else.

Pumps and water purifiers will typically produce water on their own, with no need to assign anyone to them (but purifiers and the more advanced pumps need to be powered).

You should be able to see an object's requirements for settlers and/or power in its information panel, with the symbol of a person indicating a settler is needed and a symbol of a lightning bolt indicating that power is needed (with a number indicating the amount of power). If an object doesn't have those marks, it generally doesn't need them in order to work.

Happiness is also indicated there (with a smiley-face symbol), but in that case it shows that the object adds to happiness for the settlement rather than the object needing happiness.

EDIT: Typo.

[random_frugality]

Originally posted by DouglasGrave:

Originally posted by random_frugality:

Yeah, Jun is hard to get working. I want him to deal with water, but maybe I should try putting him on something else.

Pumps and water purifiers will typically produce water on their own, with not need to assign anyone to them (but purifiers and the more advanced pumps need to be powered). ....

AHA! Thank you for that information. Looks like I've spent some hours irl trying to do something that it's impossible to do. I wish that a manual, or something like one, had come with the game. It's so complicated and full of details that it's pretty easy to waste game time in non-productive activities. But as I learn I get more and more interested in the game.

[Docsprock]

Just immediately on the East side of the movie screen is plantable ground. Also, as was mentioned above, use grow plots to plant crops anywhere.

[Zotliatlicor]

AS soon as you learn to move around in workshop mode, you can move and have a plantable item at the ready. You might be surprised sometimes of what counts as 'dirt'. A crack in a floor or pavement can sometimes count as 'dirt' even if it is only one pixel and hard to nail.

But at Starlight, you should see with open eyes what are plantable areas.