**** Official Fallout 4 Thread ****

[Angilion]

I want to mod everything, but don't have the patience to optimize and debug. That the thing. STEP had upwards of 200 mods. To grab 200 random mods and make them all work flawlessly isn't easy.

If you want to mod, what do you want to mod and in what way? Isn't the point of modding to change things the way you want them changed rather than having them the way someone else wants them? I could make you a list of 200 mods that work flawlessly together...and all that would be changed in your game is the clothing and weapons. Or maybe just the clothing. There are a lot of clothing mods. Which might be what you want from mods. I don't know.

Grabbing 200 random mods and making them all work flawlessly isn't easy, but grabbing 200 chosen mods and making them all work flawlessly is easy. You just don't install mods that are incompatible with each other. You also don't need to debug mods unless they're broken (which is rare) and optimising mods is about the same thing again - modding for what you want rather than what someone else wants, e.g. choosing whether or not you want ragged and dirty versions of a new item of clothing as well as clean versions. Many mods don't even have options, so there's nothing to optimise.

Like CAT-THE-FIFTH, I have no issues except in my settlements. I've expanded their height, removed the build item limit and used a lot of modded items that are heavy on processor and memory use. I have an i7-4790K, but when you get into really elaborate settlements there's no such thing as a good enough CPU. I don't get crashes, but I do get ludicrous framerate drops to slideshow levels. I'd probably get crashes with bigger settlements and/or more settlers (I've stuck with the vanilla limit for settlers, so it's 22 per settlement). I've even built stuff outside of settlements without issues, although the relevant mod (Place Everywhere, a spectacularly useful mod for settlement building) isn't really meant for that and it's not tested.

 

[MooMoo444]

Not really anything specific - just I'm a fan of anything that has been improved, generally encompasses most mods. Additional items, graphical improvements, UI enhancements, anything really. If it makes the game better, I'd download it.

Anyway, I'm not asking you to provide a mod list or anything, I was just curious if a STEP like pack existed, but it seems not.

 

[FTM]

I broke mine somehow so had to uninstall it and all my mods

handily it coincided with a new hard drive and steam migration.


got it all re-installed and now building up mods again...some old that I couldnt do without, some I didnt really use so dont need to be put back, and some new ones I always intended to use, but never got round to...and now they are massivley improved

true storms combined with darker nights and radiant clouds and fogs really ups the atmosphere

simple things like a weapon replacer for the awful standard auto rifle..really just makes things look a lot better

 

[Angilion]

Not really anything specific - just I'm a fan of anything that has been improved, generally encompasses most mods. Additional items, graphical improvements, UI enhancements, anything really. If it makes the game better, I'd download it.

Anyway, I'm not asking you to provide a mod list or anything, I was just curious if a STEP like pack existed, but it seems not.

OK, the next key question is whether or not you want to get into settlement building and if so whether or not you want to do it yourself, manage it yourself by defining zones for your settlers to build stuff in (e.g. "build accomodation here and here, build shops here and here") or whether you want it completely automated with your settlers scavving for resources to build entirely by themselves. That completely changes what mods would suit you best.

In general for modding, I recommend Nexus Mod Manager and the Nexus mod site in general. The site makes it easy to see if any mod clashes with any other mod, if any mod requires any other mod and to search for mods. The manager makes it easy to install and update mods. I also recommend LOOT, a seperate program which automatically sorts the load order for your mods. It's not always perfect, but even with 146 mods it has always been perfect for me. Install them in any order, run LOOT, job done.

For UI enhancements, I have two mods I rate as so good that they should have been part of the game from the start:

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/1235 Full Dialogue Interface. Displays dialogue in full. No more Yes/No/Question/Sarcasm nonsense. You can see what your character will actually say for each option.

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/3191 Screen Flicker Killer and no blur effect. Fixes the Pip-boy screen so it doesn't flicker, blur and jaggle with scan lines. Much better to use and realistic - it's an important item for your character, so of course they'd fix it as soon as possible.

Less important, but things I found made the game nicer to play:

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/1064 VATS Tweaks. I use it only to disable killcam and critical hit cam, but it has other functionality if you want it.

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/17632 Disable Headbob. Stops your viewpoint bobbing up and down as you move. In vanilla, it's bad enough to give some people motion sickness.

Almost all of the mods I have installed are for settlement building, so whether or not that's useful to you depends on what you want to do (or not do) with settlement building.

Additional items...are you after clothing, weapons, armour or secondary things like food? I have a few mods installed for each and one came out yesterday that adds something that was unrealistically missing from the commonwealth - bread.

I like this one:

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/4865 Custom Combat Armor. It allows you to convert between standard, sturdy and heavy combat armour and to customise the appearance of each part by adding paint, decals and/or material effects (e.g. very shiny pieces, like they were chrome plated). However, the current version requires another mod:

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/6091 Armor and Weapons Keywords Community Resource. It's probably a good idea to install this if you are planning on installing some armour and/or weapons mods. Some such mods require this mod, some will use it if it's available. Essentially, it's a framework for menus and keywords for armour and weapons so that different modders can more easily ensure that their mods don't clash and so that similar items from different modders appear in the same menu in crafting. I don't use it, but I probably would if my modding wasn't so heavily focused on settlement building.

If it's clothing you're after and you don't want eleventy thousand mods of hardly any clothing for women with very large breasts, this one is my favourite:

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/28629 Retro Fashion Overhaul. A bunch of stylish clothing based on real world 1930s clothing.

I also like this one, which contains lots of clothing despite the name:

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/22431 Eli's Armour Compendium. It adds a new location - a clothing shop. As well as buying clothing, you can buy the patterns for making the clothing yourself. Lots of clothing. Not just the usual stuff either - you can make hats, scarves, bags, all sorts of things.

That's something for you to be going on with.

 

[40Four]

If you want to mod, what do you want to mod and in what way? Isn't the point of modding to change things the way you want them changed rather than having them the way someone else wants them? I could make you a list of 200 mods that work flawlessly together...and all that would be changed in your game is the clothing and weapons. Or maybe just the clothing. There are a lot of clothing mods. Which might be what you want from mods. I don't know.

Grabbing 200 random mods and making them all work flawlessly isn't easy, but grabbing 200 chosen mods and making them all work flawlessly is easy. You just don't install mods that are incompatible with each other. You also don't need to debug mods unless they're broken (which is rare) and optimising mods is about the same thing again - modding for what you want rather than what someone else wants, e.g. choosing whether or not you want ragged and dirty versions of a new item of clothing as well as clean versions. Many mods don't even have options, so there's nothing to optimise.

Like CAT-THE-FIFTH, I have no issues except in my settlements. I've expanded their height, removed the build item limit and used a lot of modded items that are heavy on processor and memory use. I have an i7-4790K, but when you get into really elaborate settlements there's no such thing as a good enough CPU. I don't get crashes, but I do get ludicrous framerate drops to slideshow levels. I'd probably get crashes with bigger settlements and/or more settlers (I've stuck with the vanilla limit for settlers, so it's 22 per settlement). I've even built stuff outside of settlements without issues, although the relevant mod (Place Everywhere, a spectacularly useful mod for settlement building) isn't really meant for that and it's not tested.

The reason for huge FPS drops is almost always due to conflicts from worldspace edits and other changes. To properly mod games like Fallout 4 extensively requires huge amounts of time, CK patches and painstaking conflict resolution with xedit.

Not really anything specific - just I'm a fan of anything that has been improved, generally encompasses most mods. Additional items, graphical improvements, UI enhancements, anything really. If it makes the game better, I'd download it.

Anyway, I'm not asking you to provide a mod list or anything, I was just curious if a STEP like pack existed, but it seems not.

There is no up to date STEP pack for Fallout but check out the forums as they have a vast amount of resources and many knowledgeable staff and members that will help you out. It is a good community and one of the only ones that hasn't degraded into the petty bickering that you get with most forums these days.

 

[FTM]

the nexus makes it easy enough as well

just look at the categories then filter for most downloaded or endorsed....they will give you the essential stuff

the quality of some of the weapons and armour puts the standard stuff to shame

 

[Columbo]

Don't forget to run LOOT once your mods are all installed.

 

[Pighardia]

Really liking Sim Settlements. Great addition to the game, especially with the new Rise of the Commonwealth expansion.

I Put Preston in charge of Sanctuary, went off and did some quests, and when I got back he had built an entire city!

 

[FlakGunna]

Just reinstalled this after getting my 4670k and it's running as smooth as butter. No more FPS drops in towns etc. Awesome!
I am at the Institute but everyone is attacking me when I get in there, any idea why?

 

[IronWarrior]

Just reinstalled this after getting my 4670k and it's running as smooth as butter. No more FPS drops in towns etc. Awesome!
I am at the Institute but everyone is attacking me when I get in there, any idea why?

If they attacking you, clearly you did something along the quest line to turn the Institute faction hostile against you.

You could had also stolen something and got caught doing so.

 

[FlakGunna]

If they attacking you, clearly you did something along the quest line to turn the Institute faction hostile against you.

You could had also stolen something and got caught doing so.

Oh lordy, I can't remember as it's a save file from about 6 months ago lol. Anyway I can fix this? I don't want to start all over again!

 

[IronWarrior]

Oh lordy, I can't remember as it's a save file from about 6 months ago lol. Anyway I can fix this? I don't want to start all over again!

If you are on PC, there are console commands that allow you to do anything, can even reset quests to begin again. (Never tired, be careful, that could screw things up big time etc) but it can work.

Check your quest list, that should be a big clue to what path you are doing. I'm assuming you on the BOS or Minuteman quest line to kill the Institute.

 

[FlakGunna]

If you are on PC, there are console commands that allow you to do anything, can even reset quests to begin again. (Never tired, be careful, that could screw things up big time etc) but it can work.

Check your quest list, that should be a big clue to what path you are doing. I'm assuming you on the BOS or Minuteman quest line to kill the Institute.

Oh yes! I forgot about console commands, I used them before to level up my character and get materials

 

[IronWarrior]

and get materials

Same, I like Fallout 4, but I hate being limited by ammo or materials. I just want to play.

 

[Angilion]

Same, I like Fallout 4, but I hate being limited by ammo or materials. I just want to play.

Whereas I regard acquiring ammunition and materials as part of playing and my fun would be ruined by cheating them into existence. Each to their own, at least with a single-player game.

 

[bainbridge]

Well I just can't mod this game at all

Installed the Nexus modmanager, downloaded F4SE and amended the Fallout4Prefs.ini and Fallout4Custom.ini files but everytime I run the game from Nexus modmanager I get a popup saying:

"You are using a newer version of Fallout than this version of F4se supports. If this version just came out please be patient while we update our code. In the meantime please check http://f4se.silverlock.org for updates.
Runtime: 1.10.64
F4SE: 0.6.0".

After this the game fails to load

I've double checked the files, everything appears to be in order, the plugins have a little star next to them in the appdata folder and thew game runs when started normally but it runs vanilla.

Any ideas?

 

[Angilion]

That's odd because the current version of F4SE is 0.6.5. Did you download F4SE directly from silverlock? Did you do this:

Copy f4se_1_10_64.dll, f4se_loader.exe, and f4se_steam_loader.dll to your Fallout installation folder. This is usually C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Fallout 4\, but if you have installed to a custom Steam library then you will need to find this folder yourself. Copy the Data folder over as well.

 

[bainbridge]

That's odd because the current version of F4SE is 0.6.5. Did you download F4SE directly from silverlock? Did you do this:

Thanks!

All working now, there were 2 things I needed to do:

I'd downloaded the latest version 0.6.5 but the installer was for 0.6.0! Removed The old installer, downloaded the new one and ran it.

I was adjusting the ini file in my steam folder rather than the ini file in mygames folder!

Did both the above and now working

All I have to do now is get some good mods on the go, I've got 200 hours on this game and built absolutely nothing, I just wander around exploring, fighting and avoiding quests where I can.

So I guess I'm after some mods to make the game look prettier, enable me to access all areas and give me more weapons.

Any suggestions on the above or anything that might be of benefit?

 

[Angilion]

The situation with ini files in FO4 through Steam is, to put it very politely, suboptimal. You have to alter the game's ini file. No, not that ini file. The other one with the same name in a different folder. And the other one too.

I can't help you with mods to make the game look prettier because the only visual mods I have are to alter the appearance of some items in settlement building and only a handful of those. I've installed a mod to change the texture of the concrete pieces you can build, for example. If you're making concrete from ingredients, why would it come out with moss growing on it? So my concrete pieces are clean but discoloured and uneven in colour, which looks better to me for concrete made in imperfect conditions from imperfect ingredients by people with imperfect knowledge.

I can't help you with a mod to enable you to access all areas because I accessed all areas by playing.

Weapons...I do have one additional weapon installed. Bullpup Bozar. I think it's overpowered by default because of one thing - it has almost no recoil on full auto. It doesn't do overpowered damage and it doesn't have overpowered rate of fire and it doesn't have overpowered legendary effects (there are two legendary versions - one with standard levels of explosive damage and one with standard levels of bleeding damage) but the lack of recoil essentially gives you a full auto sniper rifle and that's silly. I installed it for a change and because I'd only been using 308 ammunition for almost all of the game (Overseer's Guardian and some time at a weapon's workbench to change the ammunition used) so I had silly amounts of other ammunition even after giving every settler dozens of rounds. I've kept it because I'm already so ridiculously overpowered (level 196) that a bit more makes no difference. I wouldn't recommend it for normal play (not in full auto, anyway), but it would suit a lazy style of gaming.

It sounds like you might also enjoy mods that add more locations, since exploring is your main thing.

Some add locations to vanilla areas by making unused doors in inaccessable buildings open into the new locations, so you have to explore to find the new locations (or look for spoilers) and then you can explore the new locations. Lexington Interiors is very good, but the new locations are crawling with levelled feral ghouls. Expect numerous charred feral ghouls and glowing ones. Expect charred feral ghouls labelled as legendary because they're so powerful, even though they won't drop legendary items. Armour up, take full auto close quarters weapons with as much damage as you can give them and take so much ammunition and so many stimpaks that you should need a lorry to carry it all.

There are quite a few mods like that. Beantown Interiors is another well known example, though that's less extreme in its enemies.

For a laugh, 50 Ways To Die at Dr Nick's is good. Almost everything is an instadeath trap. There are probably more than 50 ways to die. It's a superbly made mod in every respect. Construction, decoration (there are many decoration items made just for the mod), even music and voice acting. It's very quest-orientated, though, and it provides numerous very overpowered items and it breaks the lore very badly. Good for a laugh and then uninstall it, I think.

Tales of the Commonwealth might be your sort of thing. It adds locations to vanilla areas around the commonwealth, one or two new locations and some new NPCs to various places. It also has very little information on it apart from the first location (which opens a quest), so it requires and rewards exploration. Even if you find the location that gives you the information needed to build an email terminal and do so and read the emails giving you clues about various new locations...that's only an unspecified fraction of the new locations and NPCs. It's also bundled on Nexus with a really good radio station if you want to install that too. It's all very lore-friendly, to the extent that you probably won't be able to tell that any location or NPC from it isn't part of the vanilla game unless it's been added to a location you've already been to.

Then there are mods that add whole new areas. Fusion City Rising is probably the best know and it's both huge and extremely well made, but it's completely lore-breaking. There's a sequel as well, but the name of it eludes me. There are a bunch of extra locations/areas mods that I've marked as something to look at sometime, but I've always been more interested in settlement building and I haven't played at all for a month.

Maybe browsing through the categories on Nexus for new locations, altered vanilla locations, new worlds and quests and adventures would turn up some mods that appeal to you.

 

[bainbridge]

Super, so when a mod breaks the lore do you mean it doesn't tie in with the f4 storyline?

Thanks for the suggestions illhave a good look at each one.