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The Official “Ask the lead writer of SS2 anything” Thread!
- Thread starter Sirick
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The sunken ship - any chance there will be follow up on what happened when the crew that abandoned ship and went north?
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You mentioned in your stream Mansfield says no to drugs, What is everyone's opinion of reactional drugs? Chem of choice? Drink of choice?
And since I wasn't in the stream to ask what is Berman's ideal date? (,,>﹏<,,)
And since I wasn't in the stream to ask what is Berman's ideal date? (,,>﹏<,,)
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That is part of The NightingGales which is Cynical's domain https://simsettlements.com/site/ind...writer-for-the-nightingales-nltc.24141/page-5
RandomWanderer
Member
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I just started SS2. Actually managed to fit all 3 chapters on the old xbox.
I just want to say that the writing in SS2 is incredible. The side characters feel very real, and everyone seems to be propelled by believable motives.
It's gripping stuff.
And Jake is a fantastic character. Watching him cobstantly try to de-esculate violence with the gunners, while still bloody from being kidnapped and beaten by gunners, while wielding a minigun that's bigger than he is. He hits the right note between empathetic and badass.
Well done.
<3
I just want to say that the writing in SS2 is incredible. The side characters feel very real, and everyone seems to be propelled by believable motives.
It's gripping stuff.
And Jake is a fantastic character. Watching him cobstantly try to de-esculate violence with the gunners, while still bloody from being kidnapped and beaten by gunners, while wielding a minigun that's bigger than he is. He hits the right note between empathetic and badass.
Well done.
<3
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Yup, that's a question for Cynical, if you wanted to ask in her thread (that KezzDaddy kindly linked)!
Everyone's chem of choice? Let's see...
Jake: Caffeine (combat AND recreational), Whisky (when he's feeling down) and Mentats now and again (for work).
Lupe: Is sweet and innocent, chems seem too scary and grown-up!
Aiden: Med-X (for combat), any type of strong alcohol (recreational)
Theresa: Fury (for combat), and good old cigarettes (recreational)
Mansfield: Chems are for riff-raff!
Salvador: There is no balance in the use of external substances. He does not partake.
Berman: Buffout?! Too weak! He's got a guy who mixes him up something stronger.
Wise: Calmex (for combat and medical)
And an ideal date for Berman?!..
Likely his date watching him pummel someone (boxing ring or just out in the streets), then a big meal followed by big drinking!
Thank you very much! I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it!
I also hope you enjoy the Nightingales, written by Cynical Bounce,
The CPD, written by NDCowdy,
And the many settler character, who were written by many different writers!
(Edit because I noticed a dumb typo!!)
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CanCanRenee94
Member
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Well being that Kezz asked about Berman's ideal date I can't resist it now and need to know what Wises ideal date is. I must know for the sake of science. UwU
RandomWanderer
Member
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I loved the CPD. I've seen Nightingales around but not found a quest yet. So much to do!
keypuncher
Member
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Aiden is an ass. Berman is a sadist.
I will never find out what else he was intended to do in the mod because I always execute him at the earliest possible moment that is possible. In fact, the first time I played the mod, I followed him outside Diamond City and shot him in the head with a scoped rifle the moment I could safely do so without being observed. ...and discovered he was essential.
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@Sirick and @CynicalBounce
This one is for both of you, since I know Cass is your character, Cynical!
Can we get a rundown of how the HQ Heads feel about the four vanilla factions? (Love the dialogue they have about it!)
This one is for both of you, since I know Cass is your character, Cynical!
Can we get a rundown of how the HQ Heads feel about the four vanilla factions? (Love the dialogue they have about it!)
RandomWanderer
Member
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Me too! I tried to shoot the gunners at The Ron's place.
I also killed Berman the moment i was allowed to. Well, first I asked Jake what he thought, since he was the guy who got his face broken by him. He said it was up to me, but after that I had no option to kill the guy! I wasn't going to let that guy live! So I reloaded and shot him without any conversation.
I love Aiden. He's the most realistic person there. And he's right about everything. I love the dynamic between Aiden and Jake.
Same reason I loved Raphael. I agree with everything he says too.
keypuncher
Member
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I like Aiden too. He's still an ass.
As to Berman, too many witnesses to kill him outside of The Ron's place. The Gunners are thorough enough to find out who killed him if there are witnesses.
I followed them outside Diamond City and waited until there were no witnesses. Alas, I was defeated by plot armor.
My rationale is that Berman is a sadist, heavily armed, and if you talk to him, you find out he betrayed his previous employer before the Gunners and turned on his comrades. So even if you were inclined for some reason to NOT kill him, he'll go around killing more innocent people (because he enjoys that), and he can't be trusted.
Regarding his being essential after that conversation at HQ, I had that problem too - what I discovered is that the locked door that is the quest target before you take the elevator has to be clicked on before you have that conversation. If you don't click on it, Berman stays essential.
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Oddly(?), I feel the need to defend Berman and Wise (Probably because I really appreciated the payoffs in Chapter 3). Possible spoilers ahead if you haven't completed Chapter 2 & 3.
I believe Berman's sadism is written to be our lightning rod, taunt and excuse into utterly destroying and showing no remorse for the gunners (Aiden also goads us in this direction). I was ready to end Berman in the basement, like I assume most people were, but hearing his story of being a survivor, for me, put better context to his cruelty. Raiders, I would argue, are the ultimate sadists (Although, I agree with Karvoc's sentiment of them being used to a fraction of their potential). Earnest question: Is Berman's sadism as bad as Raiders? For me, the basement discussion shows that Berman is not a chaotic raider, but someone who needs a justification (no matter how small) to act the way he does. "He betrayed his previous employer" sounds bad without the critical context of Berman 'betraying' them because his life was endangered. If true, this means Berman did not betray his employer, but was in fact betrayed by his employer. This muddies the 'should we trust' Berman equation. As a player, how many times has our justification in performing ultra violence been a 'betrayal' of someone else? How low does that bar of 'betrayal' need to be before we are just like Aiden, Berman or a Raider? Berman reminds me of how players justify their sadism in video games: a "Destroy anyone who gets in my way" or 'justified' violence once someone wrongs them in some manner (Eye for a Life sadism?).
Regardless of the shades of sadism; I was VERY concerned that sparing Berman would result in others being harmed. I blame the writing of Wise and Algernon that gave me hope, that whatever route Berman took, I would enjoy the outcome. I was not disappointed.
Buried Question: Will there be follow-up quests/epilogues for the 'benevolent' endings? LaMont feels like a bigger risk than Berman, but I loved the scale weigh in of "Life vs Vengeance". Ramifications for the 'No Atomic Rain' would also be nice, like the rebuilding of the gunners under Wise/Algernon and/or even LaMont/Berman? Maybe that will be related to my unburied question!
Unburied Question: Apologies if it has been asked before, but will Algernon return? (Or did I miss something as I rushed the story?) I felt he was the missing piece in pushing for a taking prisoners stance for enemy combatants in Chapter 3 (I may have not used an explosive shotgun in assaults if he was around...).
I believe Berman's sadism is written to be our lightning rod, taunt and excuse into utterly destroying and showing no remorse for the gunners (Aiden also goads us in this direction). I was ready to end Berman in the basement, like I assume most people were, but hearing his story of being a survivor, for me, put better context to his cruelty. Raiders, I would argue, are the ultimate sadists (Although, I agree with Karvoc's sentiment of them being used to a fraction of their potential). Earnest question: Is Berman's sadism as bad as Raiders? For me, the basement discussion shows that Berman is not a chaotic raider, but someone who needs a justification (no matter how small) to act the way he does. "He betrayed his previous employer" sounds bad without the critical context of Berman 'betraying' them because his life was endangered. If true, this means Berman did not betray his employer, but was in fact betrayed by his employer. This muddies the 'should we trust' Berman equation. As a player, how many times has our justification in performing ultra violence been a 'betrayal' of someone else? How low does that bar of 'betrayal' need to be before we are just like Aiden, Berman or a Raider? Berman reminds me of how players justify their sadism in video games: a "Destroy anyone who gets in my way" or 'justified' violence once someone wrongs them in some manner (Eye for a Life sadism?).
Regardless of the shades of sadism; I was VERY concerned that sparing Berman would result in others being harmed. I blame the writing of Wise and Algernon that gave me hope, that whatever route Berman took, I would enjoy the outcome. I was not disappointed.
Buried Question: Will there be follow-up quests/epilogues for the 'benevolent' endings? LaMont feels like a bigger risk than Berman, but I loved the scale weigh in of "Life vs Vengeance". Ramifications for the 'No Atomic Rain' would also be nice, like the rebuilding of the gunners under Wise/Algernon and/or even LaMont/Berman? Maybe that will be related to my unburied question!
Unburied Question: Apologies if it has been asked before, but will Algernon return? (Or did I miss something as I rushed the story?) I felt he was the missing piece in pushing for a taking prisoners stance for enemy combatants in Chapter 3 (I may have not used an explosive shotgun in assaults if he was around...).
keypuncher
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I was already there before I met Berman. Gunners are better than raiders only in that they are better armed, occasionally not hostile, and are not cannibals. We see evidence of their taking mercenary contracts, but their actions IG outside those contracts and a few named NPCs in special situations are conquering and enslavement of settlements, rape and other thuggery, and otherwise indiscriminate slaughter of anyone who comes in weapons range, unless they are scripted to recognize they're going to be slaughtered if they fight, or they are scripted to be allowed to be tricked.
...and as we learn more about them, we learn that their thuggery is a feature of their recruiting and training people for their employment by their primary employer, not just of the local leadership. As such, killing the extremist group that caused the formation of the CPD, killing Berman, killing all the Gunners at HQ, and even killing Wes will not change that.
Aiden is correct in his belief that letting Gunners escape just means the survivors regrouping to attack us again later. We already knew there were many more Gunners, even outside the commonwealth from Wise, and the logical thing for any survivors to do would be to link up with them. The first time around I followed Aiden's advice rather than Jake's on the HQ assault for precisely that reason. While Algernon's previous intervention allowed the recovery of Jake, he demonstrated subsequently that while he was respected, he had no remaining influence with the Gunners. Only the (metagaming on my part) calculation that it was unlikely that the writers had taken the effect of complete elimination of the HQ garrison into account for subsequent encounters made me choose the "softer" option for the assault in later playthroughs so as to not lose Algernon.
When outnumbered and outgunned, a hero would fight to the bitter end in the hope of the tide turning. An ordinary person might surrender. Berman chose to murder one of his comrades in arms and turn coat to demonstrate his usefulness. Given that history I'm honestly surprised the Gunners let him live given he clearly can't be trusted to not betray them too.
His employer at the time was Diamond City. Since the Gunners did not conquer it, the loss of the position Berman was defending was not critical to the defense. The city was likely under assault at multiple points, reinforcements would have been sent when it was possible.
The writing for Algernon certainly gives a reason to spare him. The writing for Wise makes it reasonable to take a chance on sparing him. The writing for Berman does not. While the writing for the mod in general always has the more interesting outcome being maximum mercy, there's a limit to what I can convince myself is reasonable for story purposes. Letting Berman live exceeds it. To be fair, once I found out enough about him, I also tried to make Father Edmund take a dirt nap.
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If you have enough pickpocket you used to be able to strip burman and wise but I think they tried to force you to not do that <.<
RandomWanderer
Member
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My question; Was there cut content between "Led By Example" and "Belated Returns."?
I just finished Led by example. This chapter was excellent. Following Jake after he went missing, and seeing how much effort he had gone to, to set up a safe exchange for Laura, then meeting LaMont (who is such a scary person! Watching Jake hand himself over was awful. It's a really great setup in this chapter. The stakes felt so high that I was actually really scared!
I kinda wish it hadnt been so quick and easy to get him back, the very next mission, with no cost or consequence at all. It would have been better if we had fought through all those gunners to find Jake's cage empty. To be too late. LaMont had already taken him. That would have held that amazing tension much longer. And would have made defeating the gunners even more urgent, to get our friend back before too much harm is done to him (assuming he keeps his mouth shut like he said).
Anyway, it felt too fast and too easy, and made his sacrifice forgettable. So i wondered if there was something missing in there.
Getting Jake back after the final battle (or during it, so he can find a big ass minigun and join in) would have been more rewarding.
Anyway, I'm having a wonderful time.
I'm racing through chapter 3 now. Because news of the fallout series has made me worried that they will shadow drop the fallout 4 update and break Sim Settlements!
And I want to play this thing at least twice :D
I just finished Led by example. This chapter was excellent. Following Jake after he went missing, and seeing how much effort he had gone to, to set up a safe exchange for Laura, then meeting LaMont (who is such a scary person! Watching Jake hand himself over was awful. It's a really great setup in this chapter. The stakes felt so high that I was actually really scared!
I kinda wish it hadnt been so quick and easy to get him back, the very next mission, with no cost or consequence at all. It would have been better if we had fought through all those gunners to find Jake's cage empty. To be too late. LaMont had already taken him. That would have held that amazing tension much longer. And would have made defeating the gunners even more urgent, to get our friend back before too much harm is done to him (assuming he keeps his mouth shut like he said).
Anyway, it felt too fast and too easy, and made his sacrifice forgettable. So i wondered if there was something missing in there.
Getting Jake back after the final battle (or during it, so he can find a big ass minigun and join in) would have been more rewarding.
Anyway, I'm having a wonderful time.
I'm racing through chapter 3 now. Because news of the fallout series has made me worried that they will shadow drop the fallout 4 update and break Sim Settlements!
And I want to play this thing at least twice :D
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Tortolian
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Just as a reminder, exe updates generally only affect F4SE mods. Its incredibly rare for an update to affect a non F4SE mod.
And while I love some of discussions that have happened here, lets not loose sight of the purpose of this thread, to "Ask the lead writer of SS2 anything!"
And while I love some of discussions that have happened here, lets not loose sight of the purpose of this thread, to "Ask the lead writer of SS2 anything!"
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