# Fallout 4: Now Playing **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** video-games-e-games\ **Created:** [November 9, 2015, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-4-now-playing/737122 "2015-11-09T18:01:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 71
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2017, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-4-now-playing/737122/1401 "2017-07-09T02:34:42Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > The supermutant isn’t even killed. Isn’t even visibly hit by the shots the Wanderer takes at him. > > But no, no, I think I see DiMucci’s point. Supermutants are unfairly demonized by the entire Fallout franchise. They are innocent victims of a horrible disease. They are treated as monsters and shot on sight, when really they should be considered more akin to mentally handicapped children. We even know that it’s possible to cure FEV, but instead of doing so the Wanderer massacres innumerable supermutants for no better reason than to loot some crap .38 ammo from the corpses. > > Truly repugnant. I have such fond memories of helping out in a special ed class and helping the kids out with reading and sorting the limb and organ pile. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2017, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-4-now-playing/737122/1402 "2017-07-09T02:59:24Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > FEVophobe! Wish I could do a Supermutant game on Stellaris. Could be fun. Xenophobic Fanatical Purifiers. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-4-now-playing/737122/1403 "2017-07-11T14:05:51Z")
Is there a conclusion to the companion Strong, and his search for “the Milk of Human Kindness”, or whatever he was looking for? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-4-now-playing/737122/1404 "2017-07-11T14:15:50Z")
Nope. For some reason they didn’t bother giving him a companion quest (unless you include rescuing him from the tower in the first place). ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-4-now-playing/737122/1405 "2017-07-12T00:13:40Z")
OK, I finally started playing this game, and unlike some of the hardcore RPG geeks and fans of the earlier games in the series, who were lamenting earlier in the thread the fact that this game doesn’t give you enough agency and holds your hand too much, I’m finding the opposite, that it doesn’t give you enough information. For example, apparently I have this stupid molerat disease, contracted during the Vault 81 side quest. I didn’t know this until it occured to me that the little pill icon in the corner of my screen had been present for a long, long time, despite my not using chems often. I decided to Google it, which produced results indicating many others have had this same question, and reminding me I could check for any current status effects in the Pip-Boy. Sure enough, I have mole rat disease. I don’t care about the -10 HP; I’m level 60 something at this point so it’s a drop in the bucket. But now I have a green pill icon stuck on my screen forever, unless I start the entire game from the beginning, which there’s no way I have time to do. And how was I supposed to know this could happen? The game doesn’t tell you. Online discussions say that you contract the mole rat disease during that quest if you, your companion, or even the Protectron robot, if you active it, gets hit by a mole rat. I guess that made the little pill icon appear at the time, but I was too busy fighting to notice. If something is going to cause an irrevocable negative effect for the entire rest of the game, it should tell you “you’ve just contracted the mole rat disease!” so you can reload from the last save if you want. And yes, I know it’s not irrevocable because you can use the cure on yourself, letting the kid die, but when I got to that point and saw the dialog choice “keep for myself” or something like that, I didn’t realize that’s the choice I was making. I didn’t know I had the mole rat disease, so I didn’t know why I would even want to keep the vial for myself, so I didn’t think much of it. Plus, I like playing the good guy so I thought saving the kid was what you were “supposed” to do. By the time I realized that green pill icon wasn’t going away and thought to Google it, I had played for hours and hours more and probably didn’t even have any saves left from before I did that Vault 81 quest. I realize some people here would say that them’s the breaks in an RPG and if you care that much you should start the game over and if I don’t like it I should just go play Angry Birds, but when a game is going to do something like that to you, it should tell you. If you think having a message pop up saying “you’ve just been infected with the mole rat disease” is too 4th-wall-breaking, then have the doctor insist on examining the player when he gets back to his office and tell him them. Now, if I miss the “XXX has worn off” message after using a chem, I can never tell whether a chem has worn off without bringing up the Pip-Boy, because that stupid pill icon is there no matter what. Another example is how I robbed from Trashcan Carla. Early on in the game, I encountered this seemingly random woman, and one of the dialog choices when talking to her was something like “demand money,” which I thought looked funny so I picked it. How was I supposed to know that would count as robbery? For all I knew, my character would just say “I demand that you give me money!” or something stupid like that. Again, I went on my merry way, played for hours and hours, overwrote all saves, but eventually noticed that I kept running into this Trashcan Carla person and all she would ever say was “ah, the robber. Look, I paid up, so get lost!” Apparently she’s actually an important vendor who sells pretty useful items, but early on in the game I ruined my ability to trade with her for the entire rest of the game without knowing what I was doing. Again, the game should warn you when you’re about to make choices like that. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-4-now-playing/737122/1406 "2017-07-12T01:03:21Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > Sure enough, I have mole rat disease. > > Another example is how I robbed from Trashcan Carla. I agree with you on the mole rat disease, disagree on Trashcan Carla :). TC is not indispensable by the way, just quite handy. It doesn’t prevent you from gaining any special items, you just have access to a general trader who stops at Sanctuary every other day or so from her run between there and Bunker Hill. Since it is only convenience you lose I’m okay with your unthinking and thuggish approach having consequences ( really! how dare you rob and bully an old lady! is that how your parents raised you? 😃 ). The mole rat disease on the other hand IS stupid. All they need is a message popping up that “you have been infected” and it wouldn’t be. ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-4-now-playing/737122/1407 "2017-07-12T04:20:01Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Since it is only convenience you lose I’m okay with your unthinking and thuggish approach having consequences ( really! how dare you rob and bully an old lady! is that how your parents raised you? 😃 ) Yeah, I know, I said I like to play the good guy. My main complaint is that the speech choice was so vague. “Demand money” could mean several different things. If it was going to cause a permanent negative consequence, they at least could have made the speech prompt, you know, “Rob her” to indicate that that is what you would in fact be doing. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-4-now-playing/737122/1408 "2017-07-12T13:52:18Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > Yeah, I know, I said I like to play the good guy. My main complaint is that the speech choice was so vague. “Demand money” could mean several different things. If it was going to cause a permanent negative consequence, they at least could have made the speech prompt, you know, “Rob her” to indicate that that is what you would in fact be doing. This is like when a group of muggers surround you and “ask” “can you lend me $5”. They’re not robbing you, they’re just asking for a handout. “Demand money”, IMNSHO, and “Rob her” are perfect synonyms. ---
**Author:** ![Runestar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/74df32/32.png) [@Runestar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runestar)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2017, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-4-now-playing/737122/1409 "2017-07-14T15:24:44Z")
I’m doing my fourth playthrough, and for the first time I wandered into the Boston Airport before the Brotherhood of Steel arrives. Boy, that place is **crawling** with ghouls! There was a lot of frantic back-pedaling and shotgun blasting. (Insert joke about passengers stranded at airports due to delayed/cancelled flights here). ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-4-now-playing/737122/1410 "2017-08-18T21:48:20Z")
Went back to my fourth playthrough as well, geared toward Brotherhood ending and taking my time. Almost level 40 and have yet to face Kellogg. Checked out the airport, too, and called in artillery from the top of the parking garage. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-4-now-playing/737122/1411 "2017-09-18T22:13:08Z")
Well, that didn’t work. Completed Blind Betrayal and hit Level 79 then couldn’t progress any further because the game kept crashing when trying to save. I had already lost about 24 hours of playtime due to crashes so, rather than load the last good save again, I went back to just before Level 30 and concentrated on the main quest line. Five days lost but seemed to be better than repeating the same content over & over & over in hopes of not crashing. I’m also taking out the Railroad before going to Far Harbor this time so going to Kells won’t make me automatically tell him about Acadia. Pity, though; that character had some great legendary weapons. Troubleshooter’s plasma rifle for rouge robots, a two-shot combat shotgun that did insane damage (took out Kellogg in like three pulls of the trigger), and had just picked up an Assassin’s .50 cal [M2045](https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/17170/?). ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2017, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-4-now-playing/737122/1412 "2017-09-23T18:09:17Z")
Got back to level 46 and here we go with the crashing while trying to save again! That does it, I’ve disabled any mod that looks to mess with the game’s mechanics. Loaded my last exist save; so far, so good. ---
**Author:** ![jackstarr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47c2d/32.png) [@jackstarr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackstarr)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2017, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-4-now-playing/737122/1413 "2017-09-24T00:04:24Z")
I feel your pain. Bear in mind that mod data gets baked into save games, and removing mods when save data references those mods could lead to unexpected errors later, even if things seem to be working at first. Best practice if you’re disabling mods is to revert to a save game from before you installed those mods in the first place, otherwise you could be letting yourself in for more trouble later. Cite: [https://afkmods.iguanadons.net/index.php?/topic/3676-skyrim-information-baked-into-saves/](https://afkmods.iguanadons.net/index.php?/topic/3676-skyrim-information-baked-into-saves/) - it’s for Skyrim (written by the author of the unofficial patch) but still applicable for Fallout 4. Plus my own 6+ years making mods for Bethesda games & helping users troubleshoot. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2017, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-4-now-playing/737122/1414 "2017-09-24T00:46:46Z")
> [@jackstarr](#): > > I feel your pain. > > Bear in mind that mod data gets baked into save games, and removing mods when save data references those mods could lead to unexpected errors later, even if things seem to be working at first. Best practice if you’re disabling mods is to revert to a save game from before you installed those mods in the first place, otherwise you could be letting yourself in for more trouble later. Only way for me to do that on this character likely means starting from entering the wasteland for the first time. I’ll take my chances. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2017, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-4-now-playing/737122/1415 "2017-09-24T02:32:57Z")
NB: I’ve not disabled all mods. The ones that simply add weapons or buildable settlement items are still in play. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-4-now-playing/737122/1416 "2017-09-28T13:25:31Z")
A youtube game streamer did a mod high-light video on a mod called “modern firearms”. This mod is found (on the Steam/PC version) in your Fallout 4 main menu, under “mods”. (Not under Creation Club.) Selecting this mod will start a 500mb download. I started a new character with only that mod enabled, and it’s pretty cool to find realistic looking modern weapons to use. I haven’t seen any energy weapons in this mod pack, and I don’t think there will be any. (Although I am only level 11 at the moment.) The new weapons are handled slightly differently as far as crafting is concerned. The mod puts a vending machine in your settlement-workshop system, and you use pre-war money to buy weapon attachments and what not. If I am using it correctly, “Gunsmith level 2” will be required to buy the attachments from the vending machine. Then you go over to the regular weapons bench and swap pieces around. I found two AK type rifles with different modules on them, and was able to swap a couple modules off one rifle, and put it on the other. (Scope and suppressor.) The guns appear to have good damage values, and seem to carry a high bottlecap price tags when bought or sold at the various traders (like “trash can Carla”) in game. As I level up, Raiders are starting to spawn equipped with these new weapons. I saw my first “modern weapon” being offered for sale by Trudy (Drumlin Diner) at level five. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-4-now-playing/737122/1417 "2017-09-28T14:03:25Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > OK, I finally started playing this game, and unlike some of the hardcore RPG geeks and fans of the earlier games in the series, who were lamenting earlier in the thread the fact that this game doesn’t give you enough agency and holds your hand too much, I’m finding the opposite, that it doesn’t give you enough information. For example, apparently I have this stupid molerat disease, contracted during the Vault 81 side quest. I didn’t know this until it occured to me that the little pill icon in the corner of my screen had been present for a long, long time, despite my not using chems often. So _that’s_ what that pill means. Annoying. Another annoyance: Progressing too far in the BOS quest line means you can no longer accept quests from PAM, even though the Railroad hasn’t become hostile yet. So every time you go to the Railroad base, Drummer Boy tells you PAM wants to see you, but when you try to speak to her she says “intruder countermeasures active” and won’t talk. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-4-now-playing/737122/1418 "2017-09-28T14:51:33Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Another annoyance: > \ On this point, there is a eleven minute youtube video titled “Best Good Ending Possible: Peace between Railroad, Brotherhood and Minutemen” by the _Triple S League_. [link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUFEeYdQnVc) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-4-now-playing/737122/1419 "2017-09-28T14:55:04Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > On this point, there is a eleven minute youtube video titled “Best Good Ending Possible: Peace between Railroad, Brotherhood and Minutemen” by the _Triple S League_. > > [link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUFEeYdQnVc) Hmmm. Looks like you have to avoid doing almost any Railroad or BOS quests. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-4-now-playing/737122/1420 "2017-09-28T15:35:34Z")
One of my characters did the three faction ending by pretty much [following this](https://steamcommunity.com/app/377160/discussions/0/492379159714925974/). I had already done a bunch of Randolph Safehouse missions before finding that but it didn’t matter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-4-now-playing/737122.md?page=70) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-4-now-playing/737122.md?page=72)