If you're still on the fence with Fallout 4's crafting system then don't worry - its completely optional according to Bethesda's Pete Hines; a layer of the game you can completely skip if weapon building and post-apocalyptic urban management isn't your thing.

"It’s a completely optional, freeform thing that you can do, if that’s what you want to do," Pete explains. "If you don’t care about that and you just want to play quests and play side quests, and finish the main quest and that sort of thing then you can just ignore all of this [crafting]. Or do as much or as little as you want.

One thing you do get if you build a town is that merchants might arrive and set up shops. "There is a benefit to it," says Pete, "but again it doesn’t prevent you from playing through the game". So you could spend your time intricately constructing and tuning your own laser muskets, or you can just buy the bits. "If you don’t want to build any parts for your weapon, you can just use stuff you get off other people or buy stuff from merchants that you find and play through the game".

The overall idea is that crafting isn't necessary to enjoy the game - you don't need it - but it should add enough that you'll want to use it. "You can [play] it and never even notice that feature is there if you want to," says Pete, "but once you figure it out, it’s like, ‘okay, this is pretty cool. Now I want to do more’".

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