Your Settlement

Your settlement is formally recognized by the game once you build some walls in a map tile, 3 should be enough.

Location:
It's your choice as to where to establish your semi-permanent base. But there's several factors to consider:

- Are you a hoarder? Due to the high number of items you will accumulate over the game years, its' a good choice to settle on an island surrounded by rapids or unfrozen sea. The limit of about 1600 items can be reached and once you do, the item disappearance map can appear. Such a location make it so it's unlikely animals or people spawned by game engine on your settlement. Though on the freak chance that they do, your only way forward is to kill them soonest, as they cant escape. Highest safety is the second bonus.

- Do you want to trade regularly with villages? Locations near Driik lands are a favourite because of the high number of shops in their villages.

- Do you want to go to villages regularly? Daily? Weekly? Dont set it too near because there's some annoying factors involving a village 5-map tiles away from your settlement. Set it at least 10 tiles away.

- Do you want to build it completely by yourself? A river bank map tile is recommended because you can transport on water large quantity of tree trunks and slender trunks from several maps easily. A landlock tile is not possible for that but a lake bank is half-satisfactory.

- Do you want to build it halfway and quick? A cave is recommended. Cave floors can be paved with Floor and Ceiling (5) immediately. Due to a bug, you can build Doors over the High Cliff, the cavewall. Cave is on the middle of right edge, so if you enter from the right side, you arrive at the cave mouth. Note that Door could be use to make dry meat. You cant zoom out on cave floor but you can on doors or floor-ceiling tiles (or cellars)

- Do you want a minimal number of chopping and just building? A slaver camp site is recommended, and if it's on the river bank it will be better. You can deconstruct every structures on that site which will make it lose the unique icon of slaver camp ( in version 3.13) then rebuild it where you want. One factor to consider is that camps and villages have the non-spoil "refridge" ability on foods.

Necessary facilities
Due to the infamous limit on number of item per map, it's not recommended to combine your settlement with your farming fields.

Your hoards
Where you store the loots gathering over the course of your game. Just a few tile to sort them out by categories: weapons, tools, clothes, armors, hides, and maybe valuables

Your food stores
Where you store foods for the coming months. One cellar is a must, three is recommended. Four is best. Store foods making in each seasons. Recommend to keep them 2 tiles away from fireplace so you dont accidentally send foods into fire or set fire to your food stores. Oh yes, cellars can burn. And consider conquer at least one red camp or a village to have them as your major foodstore. Village and camps has "non-spoiling" foods in there.

Your food processing facility
Fireplaces stand the central of this facility. You stash several containers of waters, pots, and ingredients around it.

Firewood piles are recommended to be 2 tiles way from fireplace. Just so you dont accidentally set them on fire and burn down the house.

Drymeats need an outside wall to make, but a door will do. A note that is 19 piece of meat cuts cost one Cord. BUT 19 whole Salmon, each weigh 4-6 lbs, still cost only one cord. Considering change to Net and fishing salmon.

Smoke meat need a closed heated room which your main house might not suffice due to some tricky code. Considering build a small house to smoke foods. A cabin of 2x2 floor will do.

Your hideworking facility
With version 3.13 you need a water hole for some steps in the process of tanning hide/leather. That's why a lake bank / river bank site is recommended for your settlement's location. If you must choose a landlocked site, considering modding in a building component "Well", "Gushing Well" and the likes to make sure you got one water hole. Otherwise, prepare to make trips to get water, and hoard the tubs.

A flat surface also needed for the final step. either make a table/chair/bed, or just drag a big tree trunk there. At low level of skill, you might want a fine club to help with beating the skins. Fine club can be made more easily and quickly than raising hideworking skill. At high level, even a simple rock can do.

Tanning require tanning materials. While animal carcasses yield some fats, it's recommended that you PEEL some barks off the alder or rowan trees and leave them at this site.

Your fence
While the threat of stealing and/or hostile attacking during sleeps is miniscule, the annoying factor of having noisy visitors interrupt your beauty rest is considerable. It's recommended that you fence your settlement with one BIG fence to prevent unwanted visitors. [IMG]http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm108/laclongquan_photo/fencedsettlement.png[/IMG]

However, if you have enough energy, I recommended a big fence-and-traps of some kind to ensure you dont set traps in your own settlement: Build the fence on the inner borders of 8 surrounding maps, and trap along or outside of that fence.