Fallout VIII: Another Thread Needs Your Help General

[Triaxx]

You will not be able to get Eli's Armors. All her mods are hidden due to Mod Drop stealing mods wholesale.

If you've faced Kellogg, all content is open except working for the villainous scum.

[Brookshw]

You will not be able to get Eli's Armors. All her mods are hidden due to Mod Drop stealing mods wholesale.

Huh? looks to still be available.

[Triaxx]

Ah, either she didn't do it, or unhid them after her point was made then. Fair enough.

I'm not actually bothered by the F4 10mm, but a gun I didn't add that I can't love enough is: Steyr AUG This one in particular I adore even though there's a couple versions. It's got a bunch of sight variations, several scopes, multiple suppressors that all do the same thing, but look unique, comes in 5.56mm and 10mm variations. Has a working weapon mounted Flashlight, as well as an optional laser sight. Very nice.

[Brookshw]

Ah, either she didn't do it, or unhid them after her point was made then. Fair enough.

Looks like she contributed to the anti moddrop mod, at least I think that looks like her...avatar?

Edit: If you like the Steyr AUG you might like the ACR-W17, lots of customizable options similar to the AUG. It's not badly balanced inherently, but has plenty of options for abuse if you're so inclined, which may not actually be imbalanced late game after enemies become absurd bullet sponges.

[Balmas]

So what mods do people suggest?

Okay, so let's go through my handy dandy NMM list...

Mandatory mods:
Fallout 4 Unofficial Patch. Because stable or not, it's still a Bethesda game, and that means that there's bundles of random bugs and glitches all over the shop.
F4SE: The Fallout 4 Script Extender adds a framework for more complex mods.
Armor and Weapon Keywords Community Resource: Lots of mods hang off this framework. Even if you don't have mods that rely on it, it's probably a good idea.
Quality of Life mods:
DEF_UI. Tired of Bethesda's "You have to be able to read the UI from a couch twenty feet away" console-design UI? This mod allows you to resize, move around, or eliminate UI elements as you please. It also has support for stuff like showing what an item contains when you hover over it in the world.
Valdacil's Item Sorting: This mod goes hand-in-hand with DEF_UI. As the name suggests, it's a sorting mod. Each item in the game gets a handy-dandy icon to represent what it is, what kind of ammo it uses, and so forth.
Immersive HUD: Because if you're like me, you like to settle in to enjoy a game without the HUD getting in the way of your immersion. This makes it so that when the HUD isn't in use--IE, you're being shot at and need the info there--the HUD will fade away, and let you explore the Commonwealth in peace.
HUD Framework: Support for more UI elements than exist in the base game. Compatible with DEF_UI.
Armorsmith Extended: This allows you to do much more with your armor, like wearing armor over things other than the few undergarments in vanilla, adding ballistic weave support for more armor, and so on. Needs AKWCR to work.
LombaxGuy's Legendary Modifications: Over the course of your game, you'll find a lot of junk legendaries. Sometimes you'll find a really good effect, but on a weapon you'll never use, like an instigating cane or a Sentinel's piece of raider armor. This mod allows you to strip those effects from useless weapons/armor and transfer them onto things you'll actually use.
[url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/9476]See-through Combat Scopes
Weapon Mods:
Because honestly, Fallout 4's weapons get boring. All of these weapons feature high-quality textures and models, a ton of weapon customization, are relatively well balanced, and most of them are integrated into the game's leveled lists in a way that makes sense.
10mm SMG: Seconding Triaxx's recommendation here. Adds in the 10mm SMG that's been in all the games so far except Fallout 4. Really, it's kind of weird that it wasn't included by default.
10mm Pistol Resize: Because if you look at the size of the model for the 10mm pistol, you'll see that it's about the size of your thigh. It's massive. This makes it more pistol sized.
DKS-501 Sniper Rifle: Adds in the sniper rifle from Fallout's 1, 2, and 3.
R91 Assault Rifle: Adds in the assaultr rifle from Fallout 3. Super sexy weapon, just in terms of its looks.
Skibadaa's Weapon Pack: Adds three types of minigun, a pistol, two assault rifles, a combat shotgun, and a friggin' .50 caliber anti-aircraft cannon into the leveled lists, based either on real-world weapons or on weapons from previous Fallouts.
Wasteland Melody's Chinese Assault Rifle: Adds in the Chinese Assault Rifle from Fallout 3.
Wasteland Melody's Service Rifle: Adds in the service rifle and assault carbine from New Vegas.
Wattz Laser Gun: Adds in a laser rifle modeled after the Wattz 2000 of Fallout 1 and 2, but goes a step beyond. The mods allow it to become a full-auto laser sprayer, a semi-auto carbine, or a full-on energy sniper. High quality work and some custom animations really push it over the top.
Random:
FPS Dynamic Shadows: Shadowboost. Because, again, it's a Bethesda game, and shadow rendering optimization is a pile of garbage.

I might think of more, but I've been composing this post for the past hour, so you'll have to wait for my brain to recharge.

[Triaxx]

Understanding that it is big, I find I really like the 10mm pistol in it's default size. Yes, it's big, but whether it's in your hands or being held in your power armored fist, it still looks like it belongs. Though I will admit that it feels like it should be shooting 12.7mm rounds.

[Anteros]

I appreciate all the suggestions guys. I'll be picking and choosing through them for a while.

Anyone recommend a color mod? I get tired of everything being shades of gray and brown.

[Triaxx]

I like Fallout 4 dark and dreary, so I have no recommendation.

New Vegas' Flamer is kind of hilariously overpowered. I mean, I knew it was super effective against Cazadore's, but it's also a perfect weapon for Vault 22.

[Anteros]

What about a mod that makes caravaners and other important NPCs run from conflicts instead of charging into certain doom as they attack entire outposts of Gunners and Super Mutants?

I've never used the Flamer in any Fallout game. I tend to avoid heavy weapons like the plague because I'm already always overburdened. Especially in 4 where you're always carrying a ton of junk to scrap later. Combine that with the low range and I just never saw a reason to even try it.


Unrelated, but I absolutely hate bullet sponge enemies. I cannot fathom why Bethesda thinks it's good game design for an enemy to require 43 sniper bullets to the head in order to die. Granted I'm in areas where the enemies have 20+ levels on me, but it's still immersion breaking.

I just ran across the little Raider city of destroyed boats and I actually really liked it. I could see a place like that actually existing, and the backstory for the Raiders there makes sense. I wish FO4 was more areas like this that feel like real places and less random encounters with mutants or raiders who have no reason to be where they are.

[Brookshw]

Unrelated, but I absolutely hate bullet sponge enemies. I cannot fathom why Bethesda thinks it's good game design for an enemy to require 43 sniper bullets to the head in order to die. Granted I'm in areas where the enemies have 20+ levels on me, but it's still immersion breaking.

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/2393

I just ran across the little Raider city of destroyed boats and I actually really liked it. I could see a place like that actually existing, and the backstory for the Raiders there makes sense. I wish FO4 was more areas like this that feel like real places and less random encounters with mutants or raiders who have no reason to be where they are.

Mixed bag, there are a number of areas that make sense, others it's just stuff to shoot at. Keep exploring, you'll find a ton of sensible stories (albeit a lot of it is background story you need to seek out or infer from the environment). We had a bit of running discussion on that topic a few pages back.

@Balmas, actually, going back to that discussion and your desire to know where guns are being manufactured from. Recently I was reminded that the Forged over in Saugus Ironworks are manufacturing guns, and that they're over at...forget the locations name, Dunwich Quarry(?), mining the materials to make the weapons, in the giant place that's great for smelting the raw materials to make the weapons. So if you're still seeking an in game explanation for "where do weapons come from" then we have that at least. (we need a children's version of "where do weapons come from", something to the effect 'when a mommy or daddy really wants to kill something, or just make some money, they.....').

[Triaxx]

Caravaneer's are essential, so I wouldn't worry about them. As for the others, Fallout 4's made liberal use of the Essential tag. Though go into the Automatron DLC and make those robots your Caravaneers and you'll never worry about them again.

I have learned to build characters to allow me free choice of weapon. Though the Flamer is the second lightest of the 'Heavy' weapons as New Vegas counts them. (The Incinerator is 3 pounds lighter.) It's pretty situational though, and so if you don't know you're going to want it, it's not worth carrying it. In 4 I've had Salvage Beacons from the moment I saw them on the Nexus, so being overloaded is no more an issue than walking slowly to
the nearest container.

[Anteros]

Caravaneer's are essential, so I wouldn't worry about them. As for the others, Fallout 4's made liberal use of the Essential tag. Though go into the Automatron DLC and make those robots your Caravaneers and you'll never worry about them again.

I have learned to build characters to allow me free choice of weapon. Though the Flamer is the second lightest of the 'Heavy' weapons as New Vegas counts them. (The Incinerator is 3 pounds lighter.) It's pretty situational though, and so if you don't know you're going to want it, it's not worth carrying it. In 4 I've had Salvage Beacons from the moment I saw them on the Nexus, so being overloaded is no more an issue than walking slowly to
the nearest container.

I was talking about the random ones who walk around the wasteland selling things. I haven't messed with any of the settlements enough to have my own caravaners. I really have no interest in playing Fallout: Sim City. Which is a shame, since it's apparently half the game.

[Triaxx]

Don't think of it as that. Think of it more as a build your own base with customizable staff.

Me, I'm not very creative with building that kind of thing. So instead I build one or two up as Fortresses of Solitude, places where I can safely retreat, and rearm. The fact that adhesive can be grown means I always want to have some settlements and have them connected. Then I can make stuff anywhere. Of course I also have Manufacturing Extended, which adds recyclers to disassemble junk automatically, as well as improving the Wasteland Workshop automation devices. (Drop straight back into the workshop.)

[Balmas]

Might I point you towards Sim Settlements? It just got an expansion pack that allows your settlers to build the towns themselves. Once you're allied to a settlement, you just appoint a local leader, and they set about building it themselves. You can contribute scrap to help, but they're self-sufficient.

You know, the way it should have been in the base game.

[factotum]

You know, the way it should have been in the base game.

So, the solution to settlements being an awful waste of time and fun is to...get them to run themselves? Wouldn't it have been easier to just *not include* them in the first place and use the time saved to add some meaningful content? That's how it should have been in the base game!

[Anteros]

That's how it should have been in the base game!

This seems to be a common complaint.

Might I point you towards Sim Settlements? It just got an expansion pack that allows your settlers to build the towns themselves. Once you're allied to a settlement, you just appoint a local leader, and they set about building it themselves. You can contribute scrap to help, but they're self-sufficient.

You know, the way it should have been in the base game.

This is probably what I need. It makes no sense that they're going to sit around for months with no food, water, or places to sleep just because I didn't build it for them and they're too stupid to do it themselves. I didn't even progress the minutemen plot far enough to become General at first, so it's especially egregious that they wait around on me. I'm not even in charge!

No wonder everything is still bombed out after hundreds of years in the Fallout universe. It's almost entirely populated by idiots who are too lazy to even find food, much less build something.

Other things: I definitely rushed the main quest too early. Killed Swan at level 7, and did a lot of the Brotherhood quests at level 10ish. Going back through the earlier areas now and I feel like an unkillable monster.

Why is Preston's voice actor so bad? Is he secretly a synth? If he is, he's a bad one. Because most of his lines sound like they're being read by a robot.

Why does it seem like most companions can't hit the broad side of a barn, but Danse is actually (somewhat) useful? Don't they use the same AI? I suppose it must just be weapon choice.

Constantly repairing power armor is annoying. It's not difficult, it's just tedious. I might go back to not using it, except I like the UI a lot better inside the armor than the normal UI.

Speaking of tedious, who thought the current survival mode was a good idea? No fast travel, and lower carry weights? There's no difficulty increases at all, just a bunch of tedious busywork and hours of walking through areas you've already cleared any time you want to go somewhere.

[factotum]

The thing about survival mode where you have to sleep in a proper bed to save the game is a good idea, I think--it forces you to travel to a safe location before saving your position, which seems like a good difficulty increase that works well. I think restricting fast travel is done for the same reason, to prevent you just fast travelling to your home base, sleeping, and then fast travelling back to where you were in order to start doing whatever you were doing.

[Triaxx]

If you have Danse, and you've completed Kellogg, join the Brotherhood and do the first mission. That gets access to Vertibirds, which let you fly round the map with moderate ease. And to compliment that you'll want: Vertibird Jump

Look, settlements, for all the mindless rage and hate they get, are the least part of the game. You need one, which will be provided by the faction of choice, in order to reach the end game. They're handy, with their inter connected workshop storages being accessible from all work stations in the area, so you don't have to walk around carrying 800 pounds of gear just to swap the barrels on your gun.

[Anteros]

The thing about survival mode where you have to sleep in a proper bed to save the game is a good idea, I think--it forces you to travel to a safe location before saving your position, which seems like a good difficulty increase that works well. I think restricting fast travel is done for the same reason, to prevent you just fast travelling to your home base, sleeping, and then fast travelling back to where you were in order to start doing whatever you were doing.

That could be achieved by just making you pass some time. "You aren't tired enough to sleep yet!" or something similar. The fast travel restriction is just too silly for me to enjoy the mode. It was fine at first when everywhere I was exploring was new anyway, but now that I've explored a bit and I need to frequently backtrack it's awful.

I know there are mods to remove just that one restriction, but honestly the rest of the mode isn't enjoyable enough to bother. You're constantly eating and drinking anyway to restore health, and I can emulate the save function by just not saving constantly. The only thing I think I'll miss is having less random legendaries.

I can't get sim settlements to work. I've got the original mod installed, as well as rise of the commonwealth, but where the youtube video says I should be able to build a city crafting console from the workshop there's simply nothing there. I've messed with it for about 2 hours with no luck, so I'm giving up for now.

[factotum]

Look, settlements, for all the mindless rage and hate they get, are the least part of the game. You need one, which will be provided by the faction of choice, in order to reach the end game.

The problem is that development resources are finite, so the time they spent developing settlements is time that couldn't be spent improving other aspects of the game. Yes, you don't really need to pay attention to them to progress, but you're still left wondering what got cut to make way for them.

[Caelestion]

This is Bethesda we're talking about - a mile wide and an inch deep.

[Brookshw]

.

I can't get sim settlements to work. I've got the original mod installed, as well as rise of the commonwealth, but where the youtube video says I should be able to build a city crafting console from the workshop there's simply nothing there. I've messed with it for about 2 hours with no luck, so I'm giving up for now.

You need to get the holotape first, there are several in the game with the earliest being in the museum of concord (top floor, farthest back room on the left as if you were looking at if from where you walked in). Once you get the tape you're off and running.

There's a mod for companion power armor so you don't need to worry about fixing it all the time.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Random thought:

Female FO4 character with a mod to let both Danse and McCready be companions at the same time, all of them wearing power armor. Then have a certain song playing in the background as they stomp through the snow Glowing Sea.

[Triaxx]

Honestly, while I understand the 'what could have been' sentiment, on the other side of the coin, I can't think of what could have taken it's place. I have a thought or two, but they cater specifically to the things I want to see, and they're things I know Bethesda is not good at.

What is however, turned out to be a, for me, enjoyable distraction from the tedium of shoot, kill, loot, repeat. And of course the endless, mindless complaining that occurs whenever the internet gets hold of anything.

[GloatingSwine]

So, the solution to settlements being an awful waste of time and fun is to...get them to run themselves? Wouldn't it have been easier to just *not include* them in the first place and use the time saved to add some meaningful content? That's how it should have been in the base game!

If settlements were autonomous but responded and developed in response to player action, why that would almost be like an expression of the consequence driven narrative of a Fallout game.

No, gotta chase that Minecraft money.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

If settlements were autonomous but responded and developed in response to player action, why that would almost be like an expression of the consequence driven narrative of a Fallout game.

No, gotta chase that Minecraft money.

Actually, settlements are developed in response to player action. There's a pretty popular mod in F:NV which lets you build settlements, which have various resources based on location, and certain building/stuff require certain resources. For example, building a settlement up by Silver Mine as you make your way to Jacobstown can net you the Silver resource, which is needed for a few things. The gold mine outside of Searchlight similarly brings in Gold, you can put one by the Outpost that can bring in a ton of metal scrap. And you get your very own brahmin to act as a pack animal and follow you around.

[Caelestion]

No, gotta chase that Minecraft money.

It's almost as if you're saying that some people like things that you don't.

[Triaxx]

I always mean to get into Wasteland Settler, and keep getting distracted.

[Anteros]

So I gave Piper the cryo gun and a suit of power armor and suddenly she is the destroyer of worlds. It's actually very surprising how good that gun is. It's a good thing that ammo for it is so hard to come by or it would be incredibly broken.

[Spore]

I am always fascinated by the BoS and the Institute but just as I saw the title of this thread right here, I wonder if anyone (role)plays as 'The General' in here on their main save. Settlements are the (forced) center piece of Fallout 4 so why avoid it, or just use it in Sanctuary? If you can't beat them, join them.

What are your mods for enjoyable settlement building and defense/play? Which minutemen improvement mods are compatible? Is there a way to make T-45 worthwhile? Or do you prefer a mod to apply MM colors to X-01?

What does your general character look like?