One of the coolest Fallout 4 mods ever made—the one we voted best mod of 2017—is Sim Settlements. It’s a brilliant reimagining of Fallout 4’s settlement building system, allowing NPC settlers to actually construct their own homes and buildings that grow and change over time, without the player having to do all the work themselves.
If you enjoyed Sim Settlements as much as I did, you’ll be excited to hear there’s a sequel on the way. Sim Settlements 2 has been announced, and if the trailer above is any indication, it’s even bigger and more ambitious than the original.
“We’re re-imagining what Fallout 4 would look like if it had a main storyline where settlements have a purpose and importance to the characters involved,” Sim Settlements creator King Gath told me via email. “So rather than being an optional side narrative for Preston, it’s the key driver in our quest line.”
That’s right, Sim Settlements 2 has its own main quest, plus side quests, and as you probably gathered from the trailer, several original and fully voiced characters. Plus, a cute little pug! The story will arrive in episodes, King Gath says, with Act 1 coming soon and the rest to follow next year.
“In addition, we’ll have dozens of recruitable characters that will be lured to your settlements depending on what you build at them,” says King Gath. “So for example, if you build a Brewery, you might attract Scribe Monty Phylon, the Brotherhood’s finest beverage Scribe, or if you make a large farm-focused settlement you might attract Odette who recently left her own farm after suffering a tragedy – things like that. These characters are all fully voiced, and many have quests they’ll send you on.”
As far as the actual new settlement building features and systems in Sim Settlements 2, we don’t know much about them yet, but more details will be revealed soon. The original Sim Settlements mod, King Gath says, will continue to receive bug fixes and support even after Sim Settlements 2 is released.