[New Player Thoughts] While originally very excited about the automated settlements, I'm becoming more and more inclined to give up on this mod.

[Karvoc]

Even if one existed, that would probably produce unbelievable script lag. So probably best if there's no such command
(Though you could tgm a planner's desk in every settlement and start city plans, or use HQ to start them remotely one at a time, but it wouldn't be a perfect solution either way, as city plans often lack the specific thing you want)

Back in ss1 conq you could start up a game and select which settlements in the game were already city plans. Yes this after a few updates this came with a warning, which settlems not to do this to and are you sure you want to do this etc. If all went well when you left the vault from the start up sequence it would all be running but sometimes IRL 30+ minutes would be needed due to the lagg this would have on the game. But my gosh was it fun, side note this also made the settlements not allied to you, you would have to take them over by force.

With that note, probally not what you are after.
Now there are so many city plans out there for so many of the locations that I am sure you can find something you like.
load it up go to that city throw down a desk assign a settler from it and watch that city load.
Something that I think everyone misses is a city plan is as its core 4 saves of location data for everything built from that tree to the bit of the floor to the decoration, everything.
This can and will push your system if not ready and my city plans will surely do this as the build budget it more of a guideline to me.

 

[Skywise001]

Hello Friends!
I agree that mod is demanding but it's good. As older player (hello my near 42yo) i have found Bethesda games, especially Fallout 4 became my second life .
I only hope that Kinggath will move his mod or maybe create something new for incoming Starfield which im awaiting.

SS2 and it's Chapter 2 are top of the top, my favourite mods, all it's shortcomings like missing settlement hud in Starlight Inn, or others are nothing when compared to the joy of playing the whole mod on most hardcore level.

Im also playing as survivalist, but im using Joe's Needs76 mod, i can recommend it to You as it is much more to Your likings than base survival mode in game.
To start this mod choose any level but not survival in base game (im playing on normal, but its very hard with this mod and Better Locational Damage mod too).
Here is a link : https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/58440
Here a link for BLD: https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/3815
And using these two mods You will have incredible levels of fun in Fallout 4. You can tailor them to Your likings as You wish.

There is a great mod that has an MCM ability built in. Its called Survival Options and it works like a charm.

If all you want is to experience the story without playing the story just turn on god mode. You can build practically all you like with it. It makes things trivial. 'Cause to me it feels like the OP is upset they didnt get a four layer cake when they clearly asked for it not three.

 

[GuardianMF]

This can and will push your system if not ready and my city plans will surely do this as the build budget it more of a guideline to me.

yeah more like 500% is your baseline

 

[Kahnares]

I'm a little late to the party, but I'm gonna add my 2-cents anyway. Settlement building was the one thing I really disliked about Fallout 4. I mean, I'm trying to find my son; I don't have the time or inclination to build you a shanty town. I've given you a plot of land in a reasonably safe place, I deliver resources on a (fairly) regular basis, I bring you guns and armor. How 'bout you folks get off your asses and build stuff.

The default settlement system sucked (in my opinion). I was spending hours scrapping and building instead of exploring. There are some who really love that aspect of the game but for me it was more of a tedious chore and I only did the minimum required to advance the story (eg. take the Castle). Sim Settlement 1 was a gift. It simplified and improved the settlement experience immensely. It actually gave me decents result with minimal effort and I found myself starting to not dislike settlement building as much. Sim Settlements 2 came along and, in my not-so-humble opinion, improved it even more. For those folks who like the hands-on settlement experience, SS2 will let you get your hands as dirty as you want. For others, like me, the automated mode is fantastic: I bring the party favors and the settlers do all the work. Or setup the options for something in-between. The quests extend the playtime well beyond that of the vanilla Fallout 4 experience and I really only have oversee the settlements. I don't have to spend my time spoon feeding every single settler who wants to move in. And that's just the SS2 base mod. Toss in a few (or more) of those awesome community add-on for new plot types and buildings and you have the ability to create some really interesting and unique settlements. Or, like me, grab a handful of city plans and let the settlers do all the work; come back later and see what they've done with the place.

If I have one complaint about SS2, it's probably HQ. I prefer a more automated settlement experience and the current HQ is a little too hands-on for me. I've seen enough shared sentiment on these forums that I have a feeling Kinggath and crew will probably do something about that for Chapter 3. Or not. At least as far as Chapter 2 goes, HQ is really only a small part of it at the end. It comes at a point where I can usually use a break between wrapping up side quests so I don't hate it but I would like to see more options for automating it like the settlements.

I have thousands of hours of playtime invested in Fallout 4; it's by far my favorite game and the one I keep coming back to. It's probably safe to say that most of those hours are thanks to one of the Sim Settlements versions. Personally, I think SS2 is exactly what players like me needed to keep things fresh. Sure, there are few bugs here and there, but overall I think SS2 does the job nicely. It's well done and makes Fallout 4 fun to keep on playing. My thanks to Kinggath and the rest of the SS2 team. Thanks also to the community modders. And also a big thank you to those city plan creators. I couldn't play the way I like to play without you, so keep those plans coming!

We now return you to our regularly scheduled programming...

 

[LeapinL]

yeah more like 500% is your baseline

Yep, Tenpines takes slightly over 500% and it is a small area settlement.

 

[stryker1999]

I'm trying to find my son; I don't have the time or inclination to build you a shanty town.

I know this comes up a lot, but people seem to miss the fact that if you did nothing but work to find your son, you'd be playing one of those 10-15 hour games most of us are tired of.

And unlike those who hop on the Meme Train, I don't hate the story. As a bleeding heart conservative, I love clearing out settlements in the hands of bad guys with extreme prejudice, and handing over shanty towns to deserving settlers who don't wind up dead on the road. To be sure, SS2 gives me the freedom to enable settlers to do all / most of the work, and it's own story is pretty cool. I also love exploring this world. I trot everywhere and rarely fast travel, though I have loads of free time to devote to such a playstyle. The 'Wealth really is an amazing place.
HQ though... ZOMG, first level of Hell. Hate the damn thing and cheat through it as fast as I can. Which isn't fast enough.

I haven't busted the 10K mark like some, but my playtime is several thousand hours. SS2 is a sweet icing, but the game is the cake that makes it my favorite of all my massive library, and inevitably lures me back.

 

[BubbleoniaRising]

I like the "Sim Cities" element of Sim Settlements, but I started out on the middle setting because the most hardcore/survival version seemed a bit daunting. Either way, the SS2 system helps me feel grounded in the story. The idea that I, as a recent vault escapee wouldn't take a few weeks or months to get my bearings and build up a power base before going after my son seems silly. Of course I would. Either he is already dead or I am going to need all the help I can get, right? I can't singlehandedly overthrow the established order of a wasteland I know nothing about. If anything, diversions like working toward a strong network of settlers and settlements to back my chosen faction makes a lot more sense than one guy trying to brute force my way into a place I know nothing about, with no support from anyone.

 

[Breytac]

All I wanted was a lore friendly and not over complicated mod that makes the settlements better, automated, and feel alive. Being a benefactor and helping them see grow.
All these HQ and overcomplicated systems are just driving my brain crazy. I've read the entire guide but you'd almost have to study before you play this mod.
I also dislike how unfriendly this mod is to survival players. I have to go to deep territory far away from the first settlements to talk to Jake and complete a ton of quests before I can even get to the automatization part - City plans. It all feels like just a drag. I also really don't get why the caravan plot things replaced the original supply lines.

I think the mod's idea was good but deviated too much to overcomplicate things, you have to install so many addons and do other things, tweak settings yourself etc. it's just not fun anymore, I'm here to enjoy a better settlement system and enjoy the game, not to break my head. /rant

The one thing I can agree with is HQ, and only because the systems aren't well-explained, It's also time and resource intensive (in-game resources that is) and you do need quite a few settlements to support it. Settlements are basically set and forget (unless you want to go back and upgrade plots between basic/advanced/hi tech, but that's optional). Also, you don't have to use city plans, you can build settlements yourself. Personally, I find that more fun.

 

[tempestbob]

It was actually really cool in a "semi-randomises the game world" kind of way; with a couple city plans installed, you'd never know what each settlement would actually look like in terms of appearance or functionality until you got there. You could even use it in a save where you weren't doing any more with settlement building itself than necessary, just treat them like little villages you travel through. But yeah, incredibly system-intensive and prone to failure in numerous ways.

Even with the wait time and bugs, it was still fantastic. Just something kind of unprecedented. Felt like we were charting new worlds

 

[tempestbob]

The one thing I can agree with is HQ, and only because the systems aren't well-explained

Except they are. If anything, they're overexplained. The entire process of the "How to HQ" goes over it in detail. You literally just have to pay a tiny amount of attention to what it's telling you. And there's even a wiki.
I just can't understand how anyone can think "nobody told me nothin'!" when it's so painfully obvious that yes, in fact, they did.

 

[yaugie]

Except they are. If anything, they're overexplained. The entire process of the "How to HQ" goes over it in detail. You literally just have to pay a tiny amount of attention to what it's telling you. And there's even a wiki.
I just can't understand how anyone can think "nobody told me nothin'!" when it's so painfully obvious that yes, in fact, they did.

Part of it is a side effect of an issue that I know has been discussed on the actual team, hell I brought it up to kg myself a couple times.
That issue being, too many 'dialog boxes' in too short a time makes people tune them out and stop reading them altogether - and the 'amount of time' isn't fixed, it depends on the individual.
However, there's not really any other way TO "tutorialise" something like HQ and still maintain cohesion of the Fourth Wall - by which I mean, nobody 'in universe' ever acknowledges "Build Mode" or your HUD elements or the like, they only describe it from their perspective. (see Mansfield just pointing at that random Settler and telling them they're a janitor now, compared to how you the Player have to go into Build Mode and select the right thing from the menus, for an example) We don't all have a soulless girl with blood-red eyes whispering numbers into our minds, after all

I can't see any other way to really do it though...

And yeah, another detail that gets overlooked is that technically nothing's stopping you dropping City Plans into settlements before even MEETING Jake, let alone getting up to the quest that "officially" introduces the mechanic.

As someone that still can't stop thinking in terms of being Tech Support despite my best efforts, I half keep a mental tally of the more common issues (so I know what to answer with), and that feeling of being 'lost' is right up there on the list. I mean, just today I had to tell someone that there is already a "skip quest" functionality built into the mod...

 

[Antoine Soverie]

Except they are. If anything, they're overexplained. The entire process of the "How to HQ" goes over it in detail. You literally just have to pay a tiny amount of attention to what it's telling you. And there's even a wiki.
I just can't understand how anyone can think "nobody told me nothin'!" when it's so painfully obvious that yes, in fact, they did.

Definitely not overexplained. Like Yaugie said, it's a lot of vague info thrown at you really quick. I think it's all stored in "tutorial messages" now but even with that, players not used to scanning every single settler, hunting the wiki for someone with decent stats and maximizing their efficiency will have a hard time. Even after the Ron tells you there are benefits with recruiting "gifted" settlers, and you probably want that, you still might want to give guard duty to the NPC with 1 Agility and a funny hat. Many just drop city plans and leave the settlers to it, or pick a building just cause it looks cool. And when the game wants "just 15 settlers" and living quarters to accomodate them, many will recruit randos that will give them nothing, then get all confused because where even are this many living quarters and where do they get the stuff to make them. But it's all been said dozens of times.