My thoughts after completing chapter 2

[fathamburger]

Havent completed Ch. 2 yet but so far I am loving everything. SS2 in general should be considered the canon level continuation to FO4 post Institute imo. Not yet up to the HQ. At this point I'm wondering why this isn't categorized on Nexus under Quests and Adventures. People looking for more content/lore to play would miss this entirely and it's probably the best one. This has been the most pleasant surprise for me. Definitely seem to be more than a few of us mostly playing as a quest mod and only doing the settlements stuff to progress story.

I'm ahead of schedule on playing Ch. 2 now due to me deprioritizing Thuggyverse after seeing comments on the writing and how it modifies key locations (which I do want to play with but only after everything else), America Rising being remade as a sequel / NG+ mod and a few others on my list bugging out and/or not living up to expectations.

 

[Antoine Soverie]

At this point I'm wondering why this isn't categorized on Nexus under Quests and Adventures.

True, it's got its own category though so that's big.
I've been looking for something actually incompatible with it (that I'd also want to play) and can't. Everything "just works". The new big mods are a bit scary and it seems most of them are incomplete and I haven't used them yet so there's that. Still want to play Thuggy's stuff, I love his settler dialogue mod (and his nexus replies).

 

[fathamburger]

True, it's got its own category though so that's big.

It REALLY needs both I really hate the idea of someone missing out on SS2's awesomeness as a quest mod just because they either lack the time or luck to find out about SS2 from just being randomly mod curious.

I've been looking for something actually incompatible with it (that I'd also want to play) and can't. Everything "just works". The new big mods are a bit scary and it seems most of them are incomplete and I haven't used them yet so there's that. Still want to play Thuggy's stuff, I love his settler dialogue mod (and his nexus replies).

What made my decision for me was seeing most of Valkyrie's storyline unrelated to reforming the endings/doing anything with the Institute which is ultimately what I wanted to use it for + the bonus of having additional content to do. Only the final quest does that apparently, the rest of it is independent which finally answered the question of which to use or use first i.e. Valkyrie or Subversion and I ultimately went with Subversion. SS2 was planned to be the last of my "mod order" but ended up being pushed mid way up after I had a better understanding of what they all did and where they sat. Now I'm thinking I might even make sure I hold off on Thuggyverse instead until Ch. 3 is done in case that breaks Ch. 3 in some way. Thuggyverse mods and Welcome to Goodneighbor have now been pushed down to the bottom for this reason.

 

[fathamburger]

After beating things, I can't be even more hyped for Ch. 3 story wise.

The HQ system is a magnum opus IF both the tutorials weren't so inadequate and the assignment and scrap reporting systems weren't so broken without being designed with the script engine being very slow and overburdened in mind. A lot of things can be done to improve things which I outlined here .

Without these issues I think most people would have figured out the HQ system and enjoyed it the way it was intended to be experienced vs calling for it to be removed or automated away entirely and it's a shame that HQ became a reason for many to quit or disable SS2 vs being Ch. 2's crowning achievement. Too much of the game's story would be missed if the HQ was skippable with a click.

Even if it means delaying Ch. 3, I think Ch. 2 should be fixed and reworked entirely so that Ch.3's HQ system is a much smoother or at least more communicative user experience vs Ch. 2. It just can't and shouldn't be continued to be built on a creaky foundation that has disenfranchised so many.

 

[Patrican]

i will NEVER understand how someone could walk away from a mod as literally game-changing as SS2 because it has one corner end system they don't like, or are too intimidated to even engage with it on the systems terms to decide if they like it in the first place.

Because the majority of players that install SS2 are attracted to it due it's ability to "manage" the settlements; you create a City Management Desk, choose a city plan and can effectively walk away and let it "happen".
The questline and characters are a nice addition but the "draw" is settlement automation; HQ goes directly against this facet of the mod.

 

[Skywise001]

Because the majority of players that install SS2 are attracted to it due it's ability to "manage" the settlements; you create a City Management Desk, choose a city plan and can effectively walk away and let it "happen".
The questline and characters are a nice addition but the "draw" is settlement automation; HQ goes directly against this facet of the mod.

Come Chapter 3 I am sure Kinggath will optimize the HQ further. Its not finished yet.

 

[Antoine Soverie]

Being able to let them do it all is a draw but I would argue that it makes you want to build stuff yourself. As in, place the plots yourself, then pick the plans yourself. The first part is in line with the quests (they can't build anything until the asams are placed), the second kinda isn't but kinda is? if we're talking let's say municipal plots, you might want to decide if it's water or power or something else (and not tax collection if a settler is a beaurecrat I guess). The concept of caravans might be foreign to them, but we know they're necessary and needed ASAP. Proper supervision as Jake calls it. If it's a shop you just wanna use yourself or see how it looks that might be a thing worth oppressing settler freedoms over. And picking houses and demolishing the ones they built is kinda tyrannical but... Let's say it's for the greater good and/or it was an unsupervised installation and a cat ate their land owner papers. A synth cat so it's the institute's fault.

 

[Captain LaserBeam]

Because the majority of players that install SS2 are attracted to it due it's ability to "manage" the settlements; you create a City Management Desk, choose a city plan and can effectively walk away and let it "happen".
The questline and characters are a nice addition but the "draw" is settlement automation; HQ goes directly against this facet of the mod.

Being able to let them do it all is a draw but I would argue that it makes you want to build stuff yourself. As in, place the plots yourself, then pick the plans yourself. The first part is in line with the quests (they can't build anything until the asams are placed), the second kinda isn't but kinda is? if we're talking let's say municipal plots, you might want to decide if it's water or power or something else (and not tax collection if a settler is a beaurecrat I guess). The concept of caravans might be foreign to them, but we know they're necessary and needed ASAP. Proper supervision as Jake calls it. If it's a shop you just wanna use yourself or see how it looks that might be a thing worth oppressing settler freedoms over. And picking houses and demolishing the ones they built is kinda tyrannical but... Let's say it's for the greater good and/or it was an unsupervised installation and a cat ate their land owner papers. A synth cat so it's the institute's fault.

If there's one thing I've learned on these forums it's that, if anything, there probably isn't a singular playstyle that the majority of SS2 players can even agree on. This mod is, well, very modular. Some people play it on fully automated mode with no costs. Some people play it on city simulator mode which introduces some costs and other gameplay elements. Some people play it on hardcore. Even more people I would say play somewhere in between those various three options (myself included). Even aside from that, some people use all city plans, some people use some city plans and hand-build the rest, some people use no city plans and hand build all settlements. Some people wish there was a mechanics-only version of this mod with no characters and no story. Some people wish there was a story-only mode with no mechanics. People come to this mod for all sorts of reasons seeking all sorts of experiences and (for the most part) SS2 gives them a lot of choices to customize their experience. Regrettably, HQ does not offer as many customization options and player choice but it does have options like override the timers, etc. that make things go much more quickly and bugs are continually being fixed. It's come a very long way since it was initially released and will likely continue to do so.