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Further Support for Non-Quest Based Settlement Building

OnoKei

New Member
Messages
5
TL;DR: An option (possibly on startup, prior to all the scriptwork initializing?) to deactivate all "main quest" (i.e. Jake's) progression in favor of SS1-esque building without gated content. I recognize there are some ways to do this currently, but they feel more like workarounds ("cheats" which leave loopholes and console commands to advance quests, rather than disable them). I recognize the hard work and talent that has gone into these, but they simply aren't appealing to me for a variety of reasons and detract from what I thought was the point of the mod.

While I recognize the immense undertaking it must have been to create all of the quests and non-settlement elements, it feels like a drastic shift in focus and, to me, more of a barrier to the cool stuff. This has been mentioned before, but I'd rather not necropost on something from close to a year ago. There are a number of reasons I'd prefer to just not have to deal with any of it and build up my settlements as previously in SS1. SS2 feels much more like a quest mod than a settlement mod, particularly with how the quests and content are paced/gated. Additionally, while in a vacuum, the quests seem well designed, I've had multiple points where they simply don't work logically. Spoilers ahead for those that care: during Casting a Line, I stepped down from Sanctuary to Concord (which took less than 5 minutes). In that time, Raiders have captured half my settlers, AND managed to get twice as far as me going at running speed down the hills. On top of that, due to misunderstanding how the systems worked, I had approximately 12 heavy turrets lining Sanctuary for a full defense meter (which wouldn't have been necessary had the martial plots not been gated). Immediately after in Scavver's Delight, I was told to travel to Olivia to grab the Comm Hub. I had cleared Olivia relatively recently, so it was a surprise all Raiders respawned. Even more surprising was the fact that despite having the key to the locked door already, I had to clear it again while Jake "hacked" the computer. The initial quest in Concord had a contingent for the player killing the Raiders ahead of time, so it's surprising this one didn't. There are other reasons I would rather not deal with the quests in order to build cool and immersive stuff in my settlements (pacing issues, lore/logic issues, and the above inconsistencies), but I don't want this to come off as bashing the mod. It's good, and the scope is impressive. I just wish there was a proper option to make it a purely settlement-focused mod again, rather than a quest mod with some settlement elements sprinkled in.
 
I'm sorry the SS2 mod (you didn't create) doesn't live up to your expectations.

In order to make their amazing mod work the SS2 team had to work within the limits of the game systems available. There are some times, especially at the beginning and during your first playthrough of SS2, where if you do exploring outside the SS2 quest line there will be some "immersion breaking." Imo, considering what the SS2 team had to deal with they did a stellar job.

From here you have 3 options.
1) use the cheat options SS2 provides
2) go back to using SS1 if that is more your play style
3) mod it yourself in order to make the game play how YOU want it to
- All the tools are available for free (links are available on the wiki)
- You can make the game exactly how you like it
- It doesn't force your style of gameplay unnecessarily on others
 
I wouldn't say it didn't live up to my expectations, just that my expectations didn't line up with the design behind the mod. There's nothing wrong with that, the creators have their ideas and I have my conceptions from prior mods + pre-release info. I also do recognize that the team did do a good job with working around and expanding the limits of Fallout 4's systems. There are areas where it falters somewhat, but that's not the point. The point is I'm not "trying to force my gameplay" onto to others, I'm suggesting to expand on the options already given (which are present, but as stated, limited). One of the nice things about SS1 and SS2 are the modular options, to play however you prefer (long build times, resource management levels, cheat options...), and that's what I'm suggesting to expand. I honestly don't know nearly enough about the back-end to know how difficult/easy it would be to implement these things. Just putting it out there that there's a personal interest, and that way if there are others that share that interest, they can also let it be known. That's the 4th possibility: the devs see suggestions and go "Huh, didn't think of that/didn't know that would be popular/oh yeah, that was overlooked" and want to incorporate it directly.
 
I wouldn't say it didn't live up to my expectations, just that my expectations didn't line up with the design behind the mod. There's nothing wrong with that, the creators have their ideas and I have my conceptions from prior mods + pre-release info. I also do recognize that the team did do a good job with working around and expanding the limits of Fallout 4's systems. There are areas where it falters somewhat, but that's not the point. The point is I'm not "trying to force my gameplay" onto to others, I'm suggesting to expand on the options already given (which are present, but as stated, limited). One of the nice things about SS1 and SS2 are the modular options, to play however you prefer (long build times, resource management levels, cheat options...), and that's what I'm suggesting to expand. I honestly don't know nearly enough about the back-end to know how difficult/easy it would be to implement these things. Just putting it out there that there's a personal interest, and that way if there are others that share that interest, they can also let it be known. That's the 4th possibility: the devs see suggestions and go "Huh, didn't think of that/didn't know that would be popular/oh yeah, that was overlooked" and want to incorporate it directly.
Someone just thinks that all suggestions to improve the mod should be created by whoever suggests it
 
It probably wouldn't be too hard to make but it would require some scripting skills. Basically you would have to intercept the SS2 main quest so it doesn't start the "jake" quest when the player puts down a beacon. It would also have to run the functions to unlock all plot types and all building plans. Problem solved.
 
1 - Use the Advanced Beacon by pra, works as a normal recruitment beacon but does not trigger Jake.

2 - Grab the SS2 holotape in the window at Jakes workshop in Concord.

3 - Run the cheats to unlock all plots types as you wish, and when you wish.

4 - If you want to be the MM general, unlock and start to build at least 5 MM settlements before talking to Preston Dingleberry to turn in "The First Step".
This usually makes the " Taking Independence" to come as the next auto-quest from him. Use any of the "No Radiant quests mods" to stop him from assigning a "Taking Point" quest after the Castle quest is complete (they require the use of a vanilla beacon)

You have no SS2 quests... no Jake, no Lily, no Old Paul, no bottomless pit dog, ect
And mostly full access to plots. (Just not sure about side-quest related plots, like the housing plot from X-planet.)

 
The point is I'm not "trying to force my gameplay" onto to others
but they simply aren't appealing to me for a variety of reasons and detract from what I thought was the point of the mod.
Yes you are, per your own admission. You aren't happy with the options the creators have and want them to change it for you.

In you first post you stated you didn't want to necropost and bring up a topic almost a year old. The SS2 team was already aware of this and has decided not to make any changes in the last year already. Its almost as if they saw the suggestion and decided not to implement it. As to your 4th option, the design team already has a number of ways to customize the play style, just not the ones you want.

Someone just thinks that all suggestions to improve the mod should be created by whoever suggests it
While not entirely true there is absolutely zero reason, outside of technical limitations, where if a user cares enough about the suggestions that they can't do the work and make a mod themselves. Its not fair to expect the volunteer team making SS2 to cater to every suggestion.
 
While not entirely true there is absolutely zero reason, outside of technical limitations, where if a user cares enough about the suggestions that they can't do the work and make a mod themselves. Its not fair to expect the volunteer team making SS2 to cater to every suggestion.
Also at the end of the day, these types of suggestions are kind of unlikely to actually go anywhere, so the most helpful answer might really be to point the person wanting the change to the resources needed to make it happen themselves. At least then there's a decent chance they'll get what they wanted.
 
I actually like these kinds of suggestions. I'm not a creator type and lack a good imagination. So I have received inspiration and ideas by reading the posts of this forum. Now if I could just finish some and upload them............. I mean, if I didn't have so much on my plate, I could make this in less than half a day.
 
Yes you are, per your own admission. You aren't happy with the options the creators have and want them to change it for you.
Expanding options doesn't force gameplay onto people (since, by nature, they're options). Changing defaults (and how the existing options work) does (which I would actually be against given the amount of work that went into these quests and the original design pacing). Regardless, that's not the point of this discussion and I'll avoid derailing the topic further.

I appreciate the suggestions for making my own edits, sadly I currently don't have the time to learn how to or actually make them given I presume it would involve scripting/quest changes (which I have zero knowledge/experience with). I would love to give it a shot in the future though. I also had no idea that these sorts of suggestions don't amount to much since I'm relatively new to the SS2 mod in general, and never got actively involved with the SS1 modding/editing scene, so thanks for the heads up.

You have no SS2 quests... no Jake, no Lily, no Old Paul, no bottomless pit dog, ect
And mostly full access to plots. (Just not sure about side-quest related plots, like the housing plot from X-planet.)
Cheers, this would actually pretty much cover it! I'd never even heard of the Advanced Recruitment Beacon, and my main concern was since the vanilla recruitment beacon was what triggered the quest I would still get it regardless of using cheat options. I'll give it a go :).
 
I actually like these kinds of suggestions. I'm not a creator type and lack a good imagination. So I have received inspiration and ideas by reading the posts of this forum. Now if I could just finish some and upload them............. I mean, if I didn't have so much on my plate, I could make this in less than half a day.
Don't blame me for not finishing your other projects. I kidnapped you for a reason you know!
 
I think "too many irons in the fire" is appropriate here...
 
An option (possibly on startup, prior to all the scriptwork initializing?) to deactivate all "main quest" (i.e. Jake's) progression in favor of SS1-esque building without gated content.
After much procrastination, I have slapped something together.
This will prevent the SS2 main quest from starting until you load the holotape this mod supplies (or craft it at the city planner's desk) and manually start it.

This will not work on any saves where a settlement recruitment beacon has already been placed and Laying Foundations has started. (It should work just fine if you have not placed a beacon)

Note: I have not done any testing for this mod. Its released "as is - no warranty" ;)

If something doesn't work, hit me up here or on my Nexus page. (better to DM me here)
 
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