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The Official “Ask the lead writer of SS2 anything” Thread!

It would be interesting to see in Chapter 3 a settlement the size of Diamond City but similar to the 'citadel' maintained by the Governor in The Walking Dead, a seemingly perfect place (even more than Covenant) but which hides dark secrets.
 
Hey folks,

After talking it over with Sirick, I decided to join in on the fun! As Sirick noted in his rules:
  1. I can only answer questions related to the main quest. Any settlers that join outside the main quest, I can’t answer anything about as I didn’t write those.
That's where I'd like to jump in. Back in 2017 I wrote the dialogue and quests for a bunch of them. They finally came to life with the release of SS2.
This is a tiny contribution compared to Sirick's work, but still, if anyone has questions regarding the listed (below) unique settlers, please feel free to ask!

Sneake
Hauer
Assaultron-0-M-OR
Deaf Nadine
Silas Canary
Hollis Baker
Randy Adams
Frenchy Jr.
Dee Harris
What did Frenchy do to get kicked out of the 3rd rail? :P
What does O-M-OR mean?
Does Deaf Nadine have more quests after you recruit her? Seems like with the superscience around you should be able to cure her deafness.
Is Randy Adams the same Randy as Spectical Island?

Also as much as I hare Sneake I love beating the tar out of him and stealing his clothes :)
 
It would be interesting to see in Chapter 3 a settlement the size of Diamond City but similar to the 'citadel' maintained by the Governor in The Walking Dead, a seemingly perfect place (even more than Covenant) but which hides dark secrets.
i can just see it now a large town made in the glowing sea COA camp "hi welcome to glowing ( sea or crater) town were every faction is welcome to live in peace your free to roam every were just don't trespass into the under side of the town that's were everything is kept to keep the town running (you accidently wonder into the underside of town and find its full of sentient deathclaws and racoons wearing slave collars from nuka world)
 
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i can just see it now a large town made in the glowing sea AOC camp "hi welcome to glowing ( sea or crater) town were every faction is welcome to live in peace your free to roam every were just don't trespass into the under side of the town that's were everything is kept to keep the town running (you accidently wonder into the underside of town and find its full of sentient deathclaws and racoons wearing slave collars from nuka world)
Using a special drink made from the blood of someone they put a crown on? :D
 
What did Frenchy do to get kicked out of the 3rd rail? :P
What does O-M-OR mean?
Does Deaf Nadine have more quests after you recruit her? Seems like with the superscience around you should be able to cure her deafness.
Is Randy Adams the same Randy as Spectical Island?

Also as much as I hare Sneake I love beating the tar out of him and stealing his clothes :)

1) Probably got in a fight with management over being replaced by Magnolia, although he doesn't blame her.
2) It's a lame play on words. Her full name is Assaultron-O-M0R, or assaultron-no-more. Sorry.
3) Unfortunately, she doesn't. I think we were unable to get her VA back for more recording. Not quite sure about this, though. I'd love to write more stuff for Deaf Nadine!
4. He's not, sorry! That guy is confirmed to be pretty thoroughly dead.
5. How can you hate Sneake?!
 
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Any plans for more institute or brotherhood settlers? Deserters, maybe? Maybe diehard supporters? Reformers? The minutemen and railroad got way more love (and they needed it).
Also not sure if this is an appropriate place for this q but, any plans to hide selected settlers from settlements and hq?
 
Will Jake have maybe a little something extra to his lines for those who romance him? For example: Maybe something like "Be careful I don't wanna lose you?"
Based on how the dude was acting when he Guested on the Livestream a while back, I get the impression he's 100% down for recording some thirsty content.
(It might very much not be my thing, but mad props to Tom for how good a VA he is)

Any plans for more institute or brotherhood settlers? Deserters, maybe? Maybe diehard supporters? Reformers? The minutemen and railroad got way more love (and they needed it).
As an Institute Main myself, I am 100% in favor of this.
Although to be fair, if Children Of Atom even counted as a "main faction" in the base game I would be aligned THAT way, and I don't think they get ANY reps in terms of Unique Settlers except for Hubert and he's pretty vague about it.
 
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Will Jake have maybe a little something extra to his lines for those who romance him? For example: Maybe something like "Be careful I don't wanna lose you?"
he does say that when activating one of the towers, not really in a romantic way (but who knows..)
I don't think they get ANY reps in terms of Unique Settlers except for Hubert
At least Far Harbor has them covered. And there's Archon? kinda? More is always nice. With custom houses in the middle of a small irradiated pond!
 
I spent quite a few hours getting the Institute Ending so I could hear the entire... infamous dialogue with Jake. Now I'm wondering, does he only comment on the Institute Ending, or is there (or will there be) unique dialogue for all faction endings?
Also... is it locked behind that certain player's choice? ...also WHY? To be flirty or because of Shaun's title as "Father"?? Both???
 
So, my actual question for this visit: I've made something of a sub-game out of finding all the "Perk Checks" in the dialog. I've found quite a lot, but I've still never found a few: those being all the 'weapon skills' (Gunslinger, Rifleman, etc), and I've also never found one for "Ricochet" (the Luck 10 perk). Can I get a clue?
I had to be selective with the Perk lines mostly due to lack of Player lines that could work, and also because I wanted a number of Perks to do more than offer just another conversation option...
like when you take Wise's weapon
(hopefully something that will be patched in at some point).

The following Perks and SPECIAL stats are currently used, or may be used in the future:
Strength, Iron Fist, Armorer, Strong Back, Steady Aim, Basher, Perception, Pickpocket, Awareness, Locksmith, Demolition Expert, Night Person, Endurance, Toughness, Lifegiver, Aquaboy / Aquagirl, Cannibal, Ghoulish, Charisma, Cap Collector, Lady Killer/Black Widow, Animal Friend, Local Leader, Party Animal, Inspirational, Intimidation, Intelligence, Low Intelligence, Medic, Gun Nut, Hacker, Science!, Robotics Expert, Nuclear Physicist, Agility, Sneak, Action Boy/Girl, Ninja, Quick Hands, Blitz, Luck, Scrounger, Mysterious Stranger, Idiot Savant, Grim Reaper's Sprint, Four Leaf Clover

I spent quite a few hours getting the Institute Ending so I could hear the entire... infamous dialogue with Jake. Now I'm wondering, does he only comment on the Institute Ending, or is there (or will there be) unique dialogue for all faction endings?
The ending talk variants are...
you either you sided with the Institute, or you blew them up.

Esse é o prenúncio de uma missão no Capítulo 3?
Yes. : )

Is there a specific time before/after which you need to get the Institute Ending to get this dialogue?
Nope, should be just after. Unless another quest is running that has higher priority.

Hello Sirick! Any chance we can have a discussion with Aiden and Theresa about their time at the minutemen and why they left/why they never joined back up? As the current General of the minutemen it’d be nice to have that connection with them!
Yes. Perhaps not those exact topics, but they'll have little chats and the Minutemen will come up.

Will Jake have maybe a little something extra to his lines for those who romance him? For example: Maybe something like "Be careful I don't wanna lose you?"
Yes. You'll get some alternate lines, and now and again some bonus ones. Bewause he wuvs wuu!

Any plans for more institute or brotherhood settlers? Deserters, maybe? Maybe diehard supporters? Reformers? The minutemen and railroad got way more love (and they needed it).
Also not sure if this is an appropriate place for this q but, any plans to hide selected settlers from settlements and hq?
Yes and no. You'll see... (Hint: Complete the vannila game before Chapter 3)

Also... is it locked behind that certain player's choice? ...also WHY? To be flirty or because of Shaun's title as "Father"?? Both???
Should always ask what to call you, only change will be based upon your character gender.
 
I had to be selective with the Perk lines mostly due to lack of Player lines that could work, and also because I wanted a number of Perks to do more than offer just another conversation option...
I 100% get that, it's not like you can just randomly throw in a bonus dialog line for something as specific as "bullets sometimes bounce off me" for no reason, especially when compared to some of the other perks that have very obvious implied applications to dialog - by which I mean, of course Local Leader was going to come up a lot.
Haven't seen the one for Basher yet, but that's usually a "take that as filler later on when I am waiting for more levelups to get the stuff I actually want" perk for me. Although I was considering doing that absurd build where you use the "Shredder" mod for the Minigun as your only weapon...
 
The following Perks and SPECIAL stats are currently used, or may be used in the future:
Strength, Iron Fist, Armorer, Strong Back, Steady Aim, Basher, Perception, Pickpocket, Awareness, Locksmith, Demolition Expert, Night Person, Endurance, Toughness, Lifegiver, Aquaboy / Aquagirl, Cannibal, Ghoulish, Charisma, Cap Collector, Lady Killer/Black Widow, Animal Friend, Local Leader, Party Animal, Inspirational, Intimidation, Intelligence, Low Intelligence, Medic, Gun Nut, Hacker, Science!, Robotics Expert, Nuclear Physicist, Agility, Sneak, Action Boy/Girl, Ninja, Quick Hands, Blitz, Luck, Scrounger, Mysterious Stranger, Idiot Savant, Grim Reaper's Sprint, Four Leaf Clover

The ending talk variants are...

Im so buying every perk you listed :D
Ive picked up every weapon skill this last playthrough just in case it helped somehow :P

So you have to chose to power the Institute reactor or not basically?
 
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it's not like you can just randomly throw in a bonus dialog line for something as specific as "bullets sometimes bounce off me" for no reason,
a valid sarcastic response to a question like "just how lucky are you?", I now want that exact line in there. Wonder if there's anything close in protagonist's lines.
So you have to chose to power the Institute reactor or not basically?
well the vanilla game basically has 2 endings so :/
with more mod space I'd definitely pick Subversion again. Imagine if that and SS2 worked together, being a functioning director of the institute with a RR alliance and BoS in my pocket AND the leader of whatever our HQ faction is and its new army.
 
Hey, Sirick and Ninja! Just curious about the actors' involvement in writing, if any. Did they have much or any room to improv their lines? Did you re-write anything after an actor had been cast to better suit their voice? Similarly, did any of them have any ideas that you decided to write in? And, lastly, (I know this isn't strictly a writing quesiton but maybe you know) were the character designs locked before the actors came onboard, or did any of them change to fit the actors?

Just really curious about how fluid the writing and design is when working with actors, both for the core characters and the unique settlers. Thanks!
 
Hey, Sirick and Ninja! Just curious about the actors' involvement in writing, if any. Did they have much or any room to improv their lines? Did you re-write anything after an actor had been cast to better suit their voice? Similarly, did any of them have any ideas that you decided to write in? And, lastly, (I know this isn't strictly a writing quesiton but maybe you know) were the character designs locked before the actors came onboard, or did any of them change to fit the actors?

Just really curious about how fluid the writing and design is when working with actors, both for the core characters and the unique settlers. Thanks!
Those are some really interesting questions. I'll leave most of them to Sirick, as I'm he's had a lot more interaction with the voice actors (because I've had none!).
I will say that after hearing Sneake's voice, I keep that voice in mind when I'm writing any new lines. That VA does such an amazing job and anything I'm putting down I say it in the 'Sneake voice' in my head to make sure it sounds proper. It might be no surprise that Sneake is my favourite character to write.

As for the character designs: I think for most of the unique settlers their designs were being created around the same time we were doing the writing in 2017/2018. I'm fairly sure the voice actors did their recording much later. Things might be different for the main characters; I'm looking forward to Sirick's answers to your questions!
 
Im curious if we can know whats up with the Hub/Olivia Station/The note in the station? Was it a plot thread that got dropped? For the first time I got the dialog from Jake in VT HQ about how we wont ever know and I admit it fired my curiosity. :)
 
Im curious if we can know whats up with the Hub/Olivia Station/The note in the station? Was it a plot thread that got dropped? For the first time I got the dialog from Jake in VT HQ about how we wont ever know and I admit it fired my curiosity. :)
i personably think it was just random lil bit of info to keep us interested in the story
 
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