Fallout 4

[Blackhawk]

BH as you know I’m trying to play through FO3 and FNV combined using Tale of Two Wastelands (if I can get it to work).

How much of your above post wrt builds and such, would apply to the previous games?

Some.

Anything referring to building/settlements/etc is meaningless in FO3/NV, as are references to specific named perks. The weapon types are probably a little different (I'd honestly have to check and compare.) Some of the specifics are different. Stats can't be increased the same way (you can't just put level-up points into them.) The basic decisions are similar, though.

Unlike some games (say, Borderlands or Diablo), Fallout doesn't really require a planned build for success, but it still benefits from a degree of planning. Mostly because if you want certain perks, you'll need to plan on them from the beginning. Also, for TTW, be aware that you're mixing the perks and abilities from two games together, so build calculators/guides for either of the games aren't really useful. It's pencil-and-paper, just like them olden days (or something like OneNote.)

Keep in mind that many of the perks are different from the vanilla versions, so check the documentation.

I'd personally read through the documentation from the game and make a few notes. Decide on where you're going to 'live', look at the perks and decide which ones you may want (which will influence how you allocate your SPECIAL points), etc. Again, you're free to wing it, but the chances are good that there will be things you decide you really want to be able to do that you'll find you can't because some stat or another is too low. You should also look through the Nexus pages for the associated mods. You don't need to worry about utilities and graphics tweaks, but you should probably read through things like interface mods, Stewie's tweaks, quest mods, crafting mods, and so on so that you know how things work. Again, notes are your friend.

Here's a shot of my TTW OneNote section:

Spoiler:

Also be aware that TTW assumes that you'll be taking full advantage of the different ammo types. If you fight armored enemies with standard rounds, you're going to find frustrating bullet-sponges, but switch to armor-piercing and they go down much quicker.

[Victoria Raverna]

No problem with the indoor and outdoor transition using TTW plus essential mods from the TTW installation guide page that was linked here.

[Smoove_B]

Will this fix transition loading on a vanilla install? I guess we'll see.

On Monday, May 13 we will be updating Fallout 4 on all platforms.

This update will include new options for graphics and performance settings as well as further fixes and improvements.

Thanks for your continued feedback and support!

[Skinypupy]

I tried FO4 again. Made it further than last time (around 5 hours in) but this game just does not click. At all. I almost aggressively bounce off it, and simply don't find playing it any fun whatsoever. The combat system, the navigation system, the writing, the characters, the story, the overall world, everything about it just rubs me the wrong way...and I can't even really put my finger on why.

There's nothing wrong with a game not clicking (different strokes, and all) but I find it really weird because it's such a similar game to Skyrim and I've put hundreds of hours into that and would consider it one of my favorites. I know that I generally don't enjoy post-apocalyptic games very much to begin with (although I enjoyed the show quite a bit), but there's something about the overall design of FO4 that just does not jive with me at all.

Very odd. Oh well.

[Smoove_B]

I forget, did you play New Vegas? The difference between Fallout 3/4 and Fallout New Vegas is significant enough to give you whiplash - it all comes down to the developers.

[Skinypupy]

I forget, did you play New Vegas? The difference between Fallout 3/4 and Fallout New Vegas is significant enough to give you whiplash - it all comes down to the developers.

Eons ago. I probably need to give it another try at some point.

[Max Peck]

Patch notes: PC 1.10.984

Bug Fixes

• General stability improvements
• Fixed visual issue with certain imagespaces
• Auto HDR is re-enabled (Xbox Series S|X)
• Fixed issue where reserved space was not displayed correctly in load order menu (Xbox Series S|X)
• Fixed issue with character name field when in widescreen mode. (PC)
• Fixed an issue that occasionally caused bundles to not fully download and could cause a crash
• Fixed an issue with material swaps
• Fixed an issue with load order that would break DLC until a restart after downloading mods (PlayStation 5)
• Fixed an issue that would occasionally cause a crash if you returned to the Main Menu with queued mods still downloading (PlayStation 5)
• Fixed an issue that could cause the Creation Club menu to not appear (Microsoft Store)
• Fixed a crash that could occur when connecting to the network after a suspend/resume with the network disabled (Xbox One)

[Smoove_B]

I've been continuing to poke around with the insane loading times for FO4 and I think I stumbled on to a pretty good solution. Yes, there's a file you can install that apparently fixes it completely but the way it works is by limiting frames while you're playing (which I'm fine with) but then then unlocking frames during the loading screens (which can cause your GPU to throttle up as it now has no ceiling). I'm not into that as many of the people using it say your GPU fans will spin up as the frame rate goes "unlimited" during the loading screens, even if it's only for a few seconds.

Above and beyond needing to install managers and loaders (which quite frankly, is absurd to address load times), someone mentioned simply making sure the game runs (1) in windowed mode and (2) full screen. This is something you can set with the configuration tool that pops up when you run the game (the tool that detects and sets your video quality).

Anyway, it's not as fast as you'd expect on an SSD (i.e. near instant), but it's much, much faster than before I changed that setting. I'll keep playing to see if it's now tolerable (and doesn't require me to ALT-TAB into Windows), but my initial test results felt positive...

[Max Peck]

I always use a full screen borderless window. That might be why I've never noticed an issue with overly long load times.

[Blackhawk]

I've been continuing to poke around with the insane loading times for FO4 and I think I stumbled on to a pretty good solution. Yes, there's a file you can install that apparently fixes it completely but the way it works is by limiting frames while you're playing (which I'm fine with) but then then unlocking frames during the loading screens (which can cause your GPU to throttle up as it now has no ceiling). I'm not into that as many of the people using it say your GPU fans will spin up as the frame rate goes "unlimited" during the loading screens, even if it's only for a few seconds.

Above and beyond needing to install managers and loaders (which quite frankly, is absurd to address load times), someone mentioned simply making sure the game runs (1) in windowed mode and (2) full screen. This is something you can set with the configuration tool that pops up when you run the game (the tool that detects and sets your video quality).

Anyway, it's not as fast as you'd expect on an SSD (i.e. near instant), but it's much, much faster than before I changed that setting. I'll keep playing to see if it's now tolerable (and doesn't require me to ALT-TAB into Windows), but my initial test results felt positive...

That makes sense, given the way that Bethesda ties all of their calculations to your framerate. That's why high framerate (above 60) in-game is problematic - suddenly you're moving at twice the normal rate, or physics are three times as strong, and bumping into a shopping cart sends it across the map. Or you may just not be able to move at all, as it somehow can't calculate the inputs (this one can happen in small cells where the framerate is really, really high.) But that framerate in the menus would just allow the engine to process the loading more quickly.

Do you keep a lot of items laying around on the ground? That can cause extreme loading times.

[TheMix]

Do you keep a lot of items laying around on the ground? That can cause extreme loading times.

Yeah. I recall "declutter" mods being pretty important.

[Blackhawk]

Do you keep a lot of items laying around on the ground? That can cause extreme loading times.

Yeah. I recall "declutter" mods being pretty important.

Just not the 'scrap anything' mods. Never the scrap anything mods. They can cause massive slowdowns.

[TheMix]

Do you keep a lot of items laying around on the ground? That can cause extreme loading times.

Yeah. I recall "declutter" mods being pretty important.

Just not the 'scrap anything' mods. Never the scrap anything mods. They can cause massive slowdowns.

I was referring more to the mods that remove extra rocks and stuff. Not specifically with player items left laying around. I realized afterwards that I probably should have made that clear.

[Smoove_B]

Do you keep a lot of items laying around on the ground? That can cause extreme loading times.

Fresh install, new game, trying to enter cellar through Bilco doors in starting town = 3 minute load time.

Absolutely absurd.

[TheMix]

I was expecting "30 seconds"... That is ridiculous!

[Smoove_B]

It seems to range up and down, maybe depending on first visit or (possibly) faster going into a smaller location vs re-emerging out into the Wastelands. So the actual load time could be like 1-3 minutes and if you hit the Windows key, and then go back in, it instantly loads.

What's frustrating is when it's "stuck", you can hear all the background stuff going on in whatever area you're headed into (like the ambient noises) but the screen just stays black and the loading icon churns.

I get that FO4 is beyond long in the tooth in terms of technology, but knowing they somehow fixed this for Starfield (i.e. Space Fallout), I don't understand how they couldn't retroactively fix it with all these "next gen" updates - unless it really is just part of the fundamental architecture and can't be quickly/easily fixed without significant modifications to the engine (i.e. Starfield).

Either way, it's really unfortunate.

[Blackhawk]

Do you keep a lot of items laying around on the ground? That can cause extreme loading times.

Yeah. I recall "declutter" mods being pretty important.

Just not the 'scrap anything' mods. Never the scrap anything mods. They can cause massive slowdowns.

I was referring more to the mods that remove extra rocks and stuff. Not specifically with player items left laying around. I realized afterwards that I probably should have made that clear.

I knew that - I was qualifying it a bit in case someone else should decide to check out those mods and misinterpret it.

For the curious, the 'scrap anything' mods effectively disable precombines. You can't scrap a certain item because it's actually part of every other item in the area - essentially, the engine combines a bunch of meshes (3d models) into one (precombines), which saves a ton of processing power and gives a good bit of performance. Imagine a row of buildings in the city. Instead of having five different buildings, they combine them into one long building that just happens to look like five. The scrap anything mods separate them again in order to make them individually scrappable, which causes the performance loss when applied to something like Sanctuary, where it's creating hundreds (or more) new objects.

[Blackhawk]

I was expecting "30 seconds"... That is ridiculous!

And I was expecting it to be coming from interiors into the worldspace, or going into large indoor areas where there's a lot to be loaded. The Sanctuary cellar, though? Geeze. That place is tiny! Are you running the 4GB patch?