Generator (Fallout 4)

Generators are settlement objects in Fallout 4 and its add-ons Vault-Tec Workshop and Wasteland Workshop. Generators are used to produce power in a settlement.

Gameplay
Generators are required to produce electricity for settlements. Once a generator has been constructed, it is necessary to connect it with copper wires to a power grid to harness its power. The power can then be used to power other settlement objects such as lights, turrets, water purifiers, and other utilities.

The base game includes four types of generators; three other types are added through add-ons.

Windmill
This generator is silent but is noticeably more expensive in the power-to-cost ratio.

Small, medium and large generators
These generators are the cheapest source of electricity for settlements of small and average size. Of the three, the small generator has the best power-to-cost ratio. The large generator requires nuclear material to build, unlike the other two.

The small and medium generators are the only generators to easily fit inside regular wooden structures.

Fusion reactor
This reactor was introduced by the Wasteland Workshop add-on. It is a near-silent power source. It provides 100 units of power, 10 times as much as the large generator, its closest contender, albeit requiring four ranks in the Science! perk rather than just one rank.

The fusion generator is a fusion powered electric generator that uses a fusion core to produce electricity. Its appearance and animations are almost identical to the fusion generators found throughout the Commonwealth. Despite this, it is not possible to have the generator interact with fusion cores in any way. Nor is a fusion core required in order to craft the fusion generator. Unlike the fusion generators found around the wasteland, fusion generators built by the player do not have a light above the main control panel.

Fusion generators can be shut down and powered back up by pressing upon the fusion core in the main panel.

Vault-Tec reactor
This reactor was introduced by the Vault-Tec Workshop add-on. The reactor is quiet and produces 50% more energy than the fusion generator. It requires more resources and requires much more open space in settlements. The Vault-Tec reactor has the ability to power floors and walls that have a direct connection to it even without cables. The power can be used by attaching an electrical outlet to the connected wall.

Vault-Tec super-reactor
The Vault-Tec super-reactor was introduced by the Vault-Tec Workshop add-on. Another quiet variant, the super reactor produces five times more power than the fusion generator but costs 8.3 times more nuclear material to build. It also takes up a substantially larger floor area than other generators.

Crafting

 * Small generator


 * Medium generator


 * Large generator


 * Windmill generator


 * Fusion generator

This item is limited to Vault 88 until the end of the quest Lady Luck.
 * Vault-Tec reactor

This item is limited to Vault 88 until the end of the quest Lady Luck.
 * Vault-Tec super-reactor

Power grids
Each settlement may have one or more power grids.
 * A power grid is a collection of settlement objects, including one or more generators, and one or more power-consuming settlement objects, connected together by one or more wires.
 * The power available to the power-consuming objects in each grid is the sum of the power of all generators connected to that grid.
 * Connectivity:
 * Objects do not need to be directly connected to each other to form part of the same grid. They may be indirectly connected via any number of intermediate connecting settlement objects (including conduits and pylons, other generators, and other power-consuming objects) or wires.
 * Note that connections do not pass through settlement objects - whether those are generators or power-consuming objects - that are damaged or turned off.
 * Zero-power objects:
 * Certain objects such as lightbulbs do not need to be wired into the power grid, but merely need to be placed in proximity to a power-radiating object in the grid.
 * The zero-power objects also do not reduce the remaining power available to the grid.
 * These objects are identified by having no number next to the lightning bolt when viewed in Build mode.
 * Power-radiating objects:
 * Power-radiating objects include most connectors, switches, and pylons, but not generators.
 * They cannot be identified easily in-game as power-radiating objects, but have the actor value PowerRadiation, with a value that indicates the range of power radiation for that object.
 * Generally most switches have a value of 256, most other connectors have a value of 500, hence a greater range of radiated power.

Locations

 * Small generator at Outpost Zimonja.
 * Small generator at the USS Constitution.
 * Medium generator outside University Point.
 * Medium generator in the western part of Quincy ruins.
 * Vault-Tec reactor in Vault 88.

Bugs

 * Upon returning to a settlement powered by a fusion generator, its power output will be 0. Replacing the wire connected to it in workshop mode can temporarily fix this.
 * Occasionally upon returning to a settlement, the wires that power the generator will not display as being connected to the generator. This can be fixed by opening up the Workshop menu and pick the generator up and then placing it down again.

Behind the scenes
In ArtStation concept art by Josh Jay, the large super-reactor is named "Vault Star super-reactor."