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I love Sim Settlements, but...

rizzla

Active Member
Messages
118
Here's something I just have to get off my chest. Sim Settlements, and ROTC especially, are brilliant, I spent way more time with Fallout 4 since SS came out than before. What kinggath came up with is simply amazing and everybody else who contributed with building plans and new plot types etc deserve endless praise.

But... and this but is not a criticism of Sim Settlements, more a criticism of Bethesda's idea to include settlement building at all as well as other design decisions for Fallout 4. It's not the apocalyptic wasteland I prefer. See, if you ask me what my favourite Fallout version is, I'm one of the few people who'll go with Fallout 3. Yes, sure, New Vegas has better characters and dialogues and quests, but it's too “full”, it's... post-post-apocalyptic, humanity has conquered the wasteland again. I can't take five steps without running into the next settlement, everything's been rebuilt, everybody has electricity again, everybody is trading with each other, things are going pretty well, apart from factions fighting each other.

While Fallout 3 was nice and empty. You can walk around for half an hour without bumping into anybody, except for scary mutated monsters. And just experience the landscape, the crumbling remains of civilisation. It always seemd like a brave – but for me, right – decision by Bethesda to keep Fallout 3 so empty. Having played Oblivion forever, with its 223 quests, and then getting dropped into Fallout 3, which has only about 40 quests, felt just right to me, as did the green filter. Most of the settlements scattered across the landscape are small, poor and depressing and look like they might not be around much longer. It's Cormack McCarthy's superbleak novel The Road turned into a videogame, it gave me the chills.

Fast forward to Fallout 4 and the atmosphere is totally different, apart from the Glowing Sea with its half-buried buildings and few signs of human life. But the rest is lively and cheerful in comparison to Fallout 3. Humanity is doing pretty well, the main threat isn't from radiation or deathclaws, but from the Institute replacing people with robots, a story which wouldn't need to be set in the post-apocalypse.

And Sim Settlements and especially Rise of the Commonwealth only makes matters worse. All across the map healthy, well-defended communities where life ain't half-bad. More food and water than anybody needs, clothes, weapons, armour, medicine, alcohol, entertainment, everything's freely available. Even visitors drop by, walking around outside apparently isn't very dangerous. Not a scary and depressing wasteland anymore, which is what I long for.
 
I'm one of the few people who'll go with Fallout 3.

X50 After all these years you finally made me realize why NV didn't do it for me like 3 did... the environment.

All the endless hours exploring the subway system and every time you heard a ghoul cry, you jumped off your seat.

Dialog options that had consequences and the reputation system.

Weapon condition that would turn your bling death giver into a toy.

THREE DOG!

The only thing that really drove me nuts in 3 was all the texture flickering.

Great, now I'm gonna have to start another playthrough....
 
Here's something I just have to get off my chest. Sim Settlements, and ROTC especially, are brilliant, I spent way more time with Fallout 4 since SS came out than before. What kinggath came up with is simply amazing and everybody else who contributed with building plans and new plot types etc deserve endless praise.

But... and this but is not a criticism of Sim Settlements, more a criticism of Bethesda's idea to include settlement building at all as well as other design decisions for Fallout 4. It's not the apocalyptic wasteland I prefer. See, if you ask me what my favourite Fallout version is, I'm one of the few people who'll go with Fallout 3. Yes, sure, New Vegas has better characters and dialogues and quests, but it's too “full”, it's... post-post-apocalyptic, humanity has conquered the wasteland again. I can't take five steps without running into the next settlement, everything's been rebuilt, everybody has electricity again, everybody is trading with each other, things are going pretty well, apart from factions fighting each other.

While Fallout 3 was nice and empty. You can walk around for half an hour without bumping into anybody, except for scary mutated monsters. And just experience the landscape, the crumbling remains of civilisation. It always seemd like a brave – but for me, right – decision by Bethesda to keep Fallout 3 so empty. Having played Oblivion forever, with its 223 quests, and then getting dropped into Fallout 3, which has only about 40 quests, felt just right to me, as did the green filter. Most of the settlements scattered across the landscape are small, poor and depressing and look like they might not be around much longer. It's Cormack McCarthy's superbleak novel The Road turned into a videogame, it gave me the chills.

Fast forward to Fallout 4 and the atmosphere is totally different, apart from the Glowing Sea with its half-buried buildings and few signs of human life. But the rest is lively and cheerful in comparison to Fallout 3. Humanity is doing pretty well, the main threat isn't from radiation or deathclaws, but from the Institute replacing people with robots, a story which wouldn't need to be set in the post-apocalypse.

And Sim Settlements and especially Rise of the Commonwealth only makes matters worse. All across the map healthy, well-defended communities where life ain't half-bad. More food and water than anybody needs, clothes, weapons, armour, medicine, alcohol, entertainment, everything's freely available. Even visitors drop by, walking around outside apparently isn't very dangerous. Not a scary and depressing wasteland anymore, which is what I long for.

I do agree that Sim Settlements is Brilliant!

I do love we all can have a friendly conversation for what are our personal favorite games / attributes of Bethesda games.

But……

I can’t agree that SS / ROTC makes matters worse. At least not for the gaming community. We will never improve what we want from Bethesda by ensuing a mod such as this has made an individual preference or Bethesda game worse. This is a contradiction.

For many, as you stated this one mod has breathed life into a game adding hundreds if not thousands of hours of additional enjoyment into this Bethesda game.

I think, maybe I understand you but……

I do think a better discussion maybe (short of making one’s own mod or game) is then soliciting what do these players and fans enjoy /suggest as an alternative that could help you scratch that itch.

Some suggestions right off the top of my head:

A game releases today on steam called Atom RPG – looks promising

The metro series

Wasteland 2***

Borderlands

Fallout 76

Modded FO3 or FNV, RedRocketTV has some very good content for how to do this.

Several nexus mods come to mind for FO4….

I like the rebuilding that SS brings to Fallout 4. I also like Skyrim, FNV and Fallout 1,2, and 3. Some of these are time of life dependent. I don’t think Fallout Tactics would be as fun or provide the same experience today as when I originally played it.

But… I do think some separation between what I have been given / gifted (shared by modders), (paid for) developers and game companies and (what I want), “is a good thing.”

Mods! Such as Sim Settlements are an epic transformation in my gaming “quality of life” as they help me bridge that gap between my imagination and what is available.

Thus, I cannot classify the modding community in any other light; other than a good one. In fact, what modders provide me far exceeds my own imagination, creativity and technical know-how. They complete something that game developers and companies just can’t. A much more personalized experience for the player.

For that, they have earned my deepest gratitude and respect. They in a very personal way allow me to explore my own and their own inter-recesses of imagination and creativity. I at least in no way think they make anything worse.

For me, they take the wonder I find in gaming, stories and my own imagination to all new levels.

I am just grateful and happy they share.

They, “make it better”
 
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If anything, Fallout 4 is still too empty for my taste.

All the perfectly good, unoccupied, boarded-up buildings drive me crazy.

The idea that the numbers of raiders vs civilians would be in any way sustainable for 200 years drives me crazy.

The idea that these tiny populations could maintain an economy that could support idle-rich upper stands snobs drives me crazy.

The idea that 200-year-old ammunition would be hidden in every single nook and cranny, AND still be even remotely safe to use, drives me crazy.

There are so many things in this gameworld that make zero sense.

Don't get me started.

But the game is fun, dangit.

And building settlements is REALLY fun, dangit.

And mods, *especially* the Sim Settlement family of mods, are what has kept it fun.
 
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