So, less hand holding, and more thinking, while being eas ier on combat. You also get some cool starting equipment, and on top of all that, you start out doing a dungeon that is in no way a training dungeon, but is also one that is appropriate for a first-level adventurer. You don't have to do the five fetch quests required to start the mod's quest line. If you have Legacy of the Dragonborn and Alternate Start: Live Another Life installed, you can choose to already be the Guild Master of the Explorer's Guild. Worth noting that Skyrim's biggest overhaul mod, Legacy of the Dragonborn, hooks into its biggest alternate start mod and fully supports you not being the Dragonborn if you choose to never pursue that, so maybe when Sim Settlements 2's story is done, something similar will be done. It's fine the first few times through the game, but like the cart and dragon attack part of Skyrim, it's kind of a waste of time when you just want to jump into the game.

I don't like the 111 crawl at all, since it's very obviously a training dungeon, and it's a big waste of time. I don't know if they're considering that at all. I don't speak for the team at all, but once all the story chapters are finished, alternative takes where Jake and others play along with you not being Shaun's parent might be possible. In fact, it's somewhat in favor of it as it focuses on you rebuilding the Commonwealth. That being said, a lot of us do use alternate start mods and divorce ourselves from the role Bethesda set out for us, and Sim Settlements 2 as a project is not directly opposed to that. It can't possibly account for all the story mods that change the core story of Fallout 4. Sim Settlements 2's story is based on the Sole Survivor being the parent of Shaun.

Skyrim alternative start mod