Frankly I don't give a damn about Skyrim and I don't think I'm ever replaying it anyway.
I don't care enough about getting their CC content to look for a workaround that circumvents it either. At this point I've got a boatload of mods already and last I checked my set up was rather stable so let's leave it at that.
What I'm going to do is think really hard next time I plan on buying a game made by Bethesda, especially one that is supposed to come with mod support (I don't really care about Bethesda as publishers because let's face it all publishers are evil).
The price increase for F4 Season Pass is something that I didn't appreciate in the least.
Flirty Commonwealth which make NPC compliment your character if you need some ego boost (there are options for every orientations) and it's a pretty low key but nice addition to the game.
PhyOp - Overhauled Optimized Textures is a great mod if you're machine is struggling with the game or if you want to save some space without losing anything. The game doesn't look any worse and it will improve loading times and frame rate so it's a win win kind of deal. There is a list with recommended mods to make the game look better in the comments section and the most important one is Vivid Fallout.
Vivid Fallout - All in One is another mod that makes the game run even better without losing anything in terms of visual quality (in fact you may find that it looks even better than the original).
With the addition of these two mods my game looks good, takes less space on my drive and runs even more smoothly than before!
Yeah, something broke my Fallout 4 save files. Last year, I changed computer and had to wipe my hard drive. When I reinstalled everything and tried to run Fallout 4, all of the settlers in my settlements were gone (except named ones, like NPCs (Cait, Curry, ect) or merchants (Vault-Tec Rep, etc)). And activating beacons doesn't bring any more settlers, no matter how long you wait. I read in forums that others have that problem. It seems it might be a conflict between a recent Bethesda update and some mods. It's not clear. So it probably means I won't be playing. After 250 something hours, I'm not starting my game from scratch! And settlements are one of the most interesting thing in the game...
That's unfortunate... Switching between computers is always tricky when mods are involved. I remember having to start over a run of BG 2 three different times because of my computer giving up the ghost and then because of Vista and compatibility files (among other things, I wanted to go through the entire series with the same character and I never could).
In any case if you ever decide to return to F4, make sure you check PhyOp - Overhauled Optimized Textures and Vivid Fallout, they really make a difference!
I've decided to start over and give Survival Mode a go and here is the perfect mod to take away all the annoyances that survival mode brings: Survival Options. Basically you can disable and enable features as you see fit. Personally I'm using it to save my game whenever I feel like it.
I've downloaded a boatload of mods and some of them look pretty good on paper so I'll have to see how they turn out in game.
I'm playing a female character because the female voice is incredibly better (it was the same when playing Mass Effect) and from a purely powergaming point of view female characters can get more mileage out of the Black Widow perk (since male enemies are more common).
There is a pretty cool mod that adds voice interaction from the player character and it's pretty cool (when playing a female character at least) Player Comments and Head Tracking. From what I've seen it should be compatible with Flirty Commonwealth.
It's a pity I'm no longer playing as a guy because I've found some pretty cool faces made by talented players (which can be exported with Face Ripper) Rowan Atkinson and Nicholas Cage. I think the resemblance is uncanny (I have been using a modified Johnny Depp face in my previous game).
Frost is a really bloody good survival mod and also really bloody hard but in a good way. Takes place sometime after the bombs, in the full middle of nuclear winter.
Yes, and a bloody excellent one at that. It's survival mode on steroids, basically. It requires some planning ahead and picking your spots and at times can be downright punishingly hard but it is really fun. The perk tree has been changed, there's lots of new weapons and items, and there's even new factions -- there's the Maldenman at the start of the game, and there's also U.S Army remnants (which, thankfully, have nothing to do with those magnificent bastards Enclave). Planting some roots somewhere becomes essential, rather than the bog standard settlement bollocks.
One of the YouTubers I follow has made a series out of this mod if you want to have an idea what it feels like. It's a bit of a slow burner, but this only accentuates the overall feel of desolation and hopelessness the mod brings.
My Fallout 4 has decided to start being a bitch and freezing on startup so I haven't been able to play for quite a while, but what I did play of Frost was most excellent.
Carabas Pole Dancer Impersonator
Subject: Re: Fallout 4 Mods Fri Jan 12, 2018 8:46 am
Thanks for the vid (although that guy plays with the HUD on so he's not that hardcore ) I can't say I'm in the mood for a total conversion yet as I haven't done much exploration. Most of my time in the game has been spent faffing about with the Minutemen and settlements, then travelling to Far Harbor only to start over and give the Railroad a try. Now I'm picking up a new start and I want to be done with the main quest so I can focus on the exploration proper (which frankly is the one thing Bethesbug can do properly -provided you suspend your disbelief when noticing the lawn chairs that have been barely affected by two hundred years of exposure to inclement weather and fallout residues).
Plus I've found the perfect base Vault Suit for my girl, I just need to figure out how to set her up with Unique Player so the textures for the body replacer only affect her and not every other female in the Commonwealth.
Then I'll have to look into fitting her with the right amount of gear so that she can look the part of a badass wastelander.
EDIT: I've found this mod that makes the third person pipboy invisible, Unequip Pipboy. I actually did a mod like that for FNV (only mine was a bit crude in comparison) so I appreciate the idea of taking it off especially to prevent clipping in third person.
I've played a little Survival Mode and even with mods it's just a nuisance. I didn't invest in Strength so carrying weight is just abysmal which means crafting is going to be impossible (or impossibly annoying with return trips and countless inventory swaps with my follower) in fact so far the only thing I like is the increased damage modifier which ironically reminds me of playing Homefront Revolution (in this game it doesn't take many shots to take down a foe or get dropped) especially since I've been playing without a crosshair.
I may just start over in Normal Mode and be done with all that hassle.
By the way BZ have you tried Sim Settlements? If you manage to get your game working again it may something you would be interested in.
Also just to point out the existence of this mod: Silent UI.
Blood Red Eagle Son of Loki
Subject: Re: Fallout 4 Mods Sat Jan 13, 2018 3:46 am
I've heard of Sim Settlements but the Robot Defense mod allows me to build Synth settlers and robots built with the Automatron workshop can be assigned to do the same stuff a settler can. Plus, the robots and synths don't piss, moan, whine and give stupid bloody radiant quests.
Fallout 4 causes my system to lock up on startup. I removed Frost but the issue is reoccuring. Not sure why and don't really care either, I am playing Fallout instead. Much better.
Carabas Pole Dancer Impersonator
Subject: Re: Fallout 4 Mods Mon May 28, 2018 7:27 am
Just to add one visual mod to the list: Clarity A Visual Overhaul. As far as I can tell it's really performance friendly and it makes quite a difference. It's not so blurry anymore.
After my save file was screwed up by broken mods, I decided to chug my 250 hours playthrough and start another. I bought the season pass (about half price) and I installed 36 mods. I got several mods you guys recommended. Thanks! Man, does the vanilla game lack on a lot of fronts. I also finally found a stable settler renaming mod. There's also the Sim Settlement mod I've been dying to try out (for all the settlements you never go to).
I had trouble running the game at first. I have an AMD card, which apparently doesn't play well with Fallout (last I played was with my previous computer with a different card). The game kept crashing at a specific point in the prologue. After two days of trial and error, it seems the game will only work with the 16.9 AMD driver. Any other version doesn't work with the game.
I've been playing for a few days, and I'm still at Sanctuary. In my previous game, I had built my main fortress in Starlight Drive inn for the space, but I decided, this time around, to make it a go at Sanctuary Hills (mainly for roleplay reasons). I'm now level 9 and I need to be level 14 to be able to build stores, so there's no point in further work on my settlement until then. I feel like a kid who's mom forced him to go play outside.
Yeah, I've seen this mod, but I've read that NPC conversation mods can conflict one with the other. I have the flirty commonwealth installed. Do you have both? Do they coexist?
Haven't yet tried out Sim Settlement yet, but the premise is quite cool. You built zones where settles will randomly build stuff on (kind of like Sim City, hence the name). You have agricultural (farming), residential (housing), commercial (stores), industrial (factories), martial (defense) and leisure (entertainement) zonage. And there are different stages of growth and upgrades, so each time you visit your settlement, it will look different and feel more alive. Great for all those settlements you never step foot in.
Player Comments is actually compatible. The Flirty mod is funny when you play a female character (I tried making one that looked like Eva Green).
Kana Catnip Purveyor
Subject: Re: Fallout 4 Mods Sun Jul 15, 2018 1:26 am
I recently started up a new character in Fallout 4, because I still haven't played Far Harbor. I'm finding this mod, Get Out Of My Face, really invaluable. Not only does it help clear followers out of doorways, but it's also just fun shoving your settlers around and being a jerk.
Carabas Pole Dancer Impersonator
Subject: Re: Fallout 4 Mods Sun Jul 15, 2018 8:43 am
Oh I like being a jerk in videogames! Thank you Kana.
3Cacti, also make sure to disable godrays in the console/graphics config menu. This is nVidia tech that does not play well with AMD cards. GR tanks framerate on my 7750HD big time.
I've also started using a pretty cool mod that turns the pipboy light into a headlight, pipboy light change to headlamp, it may not sound like much but it does change the gameplay quite a bit and makes running around at night or in interiors much less unpalatable and much less green (if you like the old fashioned pipboy green display).
Subject: Re: Fallout 4 Mods Sat Feb 02, 2019 6:18 pm
Main Menu Fallout brings the original Fallout intro to Fallout 4. Absolutely fantastic if you love the original Fallout and want to feel that old Fallout vibe while starting Bethesda's shooter/synth simulator.
No Bethesda Logo In Main Menu prevents you from being remembered about a company that has been forcing its Creation Club nonsense on users and that has been breaking mod compatibility on a whim long after any meaningful updates were over. Don't let me started on the fact that we can no longer enable esp through the game launcher.
Classic-Overseer-Monofonto Font Replacer changes the font of the game. Your experience may vary but the classic font is smaller and makes for a much tidier UI. Of course the font itself may not be as easy to read especially if you didn't spend countless hours playing the original Fallout games back in the late 90s and early 00s.
Extended Dialogue Interface makes for a much less misleading experience when it comes to picking dialogue options. Plus using a smaller font makes it look even better.
If you're replaying the game and looking for collectibles then The Collector's Guides is what you need. It's really simple to track down the location of magazines and stuff without needing to have a look online or feeling bad about having missed one because you were too busy at the time.
Atomic Radio and Tales from the Commonwealth is actually three mods, a radio mod, an settler mod and an NPC quests mod. High quality and plenty of content so why not give it a shot.