Fallout 4 quest mod questions

The Game Room
1

I’m kind of between games right now, and feeling like I want to revisit F04. It’s my favorite Fallout game (unlike many of you, I know, but it was the first Fallout game I played so maybe that’s why I like it best).

But I long ago finished the main quest and almost every single side quest there is. I don’t really want to restart the game though- I’m powerfully leveled up and sometimes I just want to dominate and destroy every bad guy/robot/creature I see. I killed a deathclaw with nothing but a knife once just for funzies. Not to mention, I enjoy the digital trappings of everything I’ve built and collected within my existing game.

So I’m thinking about downloading some quest mods- Fourville, for one, looks interesting. My main question is, can I install quest mods like that one without having to start a new game? I’ve read differing things online. Fourville, I’ve read in particular, is stand-alone enough that it shouldn’t break any existing game dynamics. Any special considerations for PC? Other than the Nuka-World and Far Harbor DLCs, I’ve played the game totally vanilla with no other mods. Any other quest mods out there that are fun to play and can be installed without a game restart?

2

It’s a great game. It came under a lot of fire when it was released, but it is a quality game. I’d rank it lower than Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas, and probably Fallout 2, but better than Fallout 1.

3

First, you are always rolling the dice when you install a mod after the fact on an existing game, though since you have no OTHER mods installed, I’d probably be okay with Fourville (which I’ve done to conclusion two or three times. One thing to consider, is that you can’t progress it until you’re at certain stages in the main story which may or may NOT read properly from your existing save. Also, it does add a bunch of new Bobbleheads out in the world, which you’re probably miss out on if you’ve already explored those locations. May not be a big deal for you, but something to consider.

-goes to check their Vortex list of mods-

Again, there’s NOTHING guaranteed when adding to an old save, but some story mods I’ve enjoyed:

Attack of the Lobotomites (has dependencies, pretty short content, but fun as a FNV callback)

Maxwell’s World (off map questing area, but many find it buggy)

The Fen Sheriff’s Department (double check, I think it’s been subsumed into a new/expanded version - and yeah, it can be buggy, but a cool new faction that ties into some existing pieces of the world in a fun way)

and the Utterly Amazing

The Machine and Her. Introduces a new companion, a wonderfully spread out series of quests with a mysterious unknown faction, and LBGQT+ friendly story, with a large dungeon at the end.

ETA - the people you’re seeking advice from will probably know that FO4 is Fallout 4, but if you want I or another mod can change your title to be more clear!

4

It would be my favourite too, except it keeps crashing on my Xbox One. Of course, that added a level of suspense when I played it on Survival mode (“please, please, please let me find a mattress before the game crashes!”).

5

[Moderating]
I’ve edited the title to make it clear what game you’re talking about.

6

I have over 2000 hours in Fallout 4 and mod it quite a lot.

I find you can always add a new mod to an existing playthrough, and if you get it all setup correctly, you’ll be fine.

BUT… I would first find my save file and back it up (save to a special location) just in case the mods mess up the game. Yes, you may well have a number of previous saves to fall back to, but be sure to use those only after your game has been returned to the same state (same exact modlist) as you had previously for that save. I would still back up my previous save to be extra careful.

It’s more risky to remove mods from a playthrough, as mods will often affect (and create) many new non-vanilla items in the game file. So if you find you don’t like the game after you’ve installed a new mod, and removing it causes the game to become strange or even unplayable, at least you have your previous saves and, if all else fails, the specially backed up savefile available.

By the way, you said you finished the main and side quests “long ago.” Is this earlier than (IIRC) last fall? Because they released a bunch of new, vanilla (non-modded) quests to boost returning players / add new ones when they released the Fallout TV show. These add a substantial amount of new content that, if you’ve not tried it, is worth playing…without modding anything at all.

7

I successfully installed Fourville and got started. Didn’t seem to bork anything in my existing game, except a message when I started that said something like “Achievements are disabled; do you want to continue?” Not sure what that was about, but I did want to continue. Already got more side quests than I know what to do with, woohoo! Feels like old times. After spending a fair amount of time getting to know my way around the town, I did the first bounty hunter quest, which was a fun little shootout with a few supermutants and at least a dozen raiders.

Thanks! Yeah, I picked up the game again after finishing S.1 of the TV show, and found the new quest content and quite a few older side quests I had missed the first time around. But lately I was pretty much down to synth rescue quests from Doc Carrington, which never seem to run out, or just wandering the wasteland looking for trouble, until I downloaded Fourville.

8

Installing any mod stops your ability to gather achievements, such as the ones that show on Steam or other platforms. Some people don’t realize that, and are shooting for 100% completion, so they give you a little reminder. Something most mods -don’t- to be clear.

9

Ah thanks, good to know that that’s something that happens, and not a problem with the installation that could have been a harbinger of other issues down the line.

10

There are mods to turn achievement counting back on, which is IMO fair, if the only thing you’re adding are appearance mods such as better clothes / armor / houses.

11

There’s a cool mod I used last time I played FO4 which overhauls the settlement system and makes it so that overtime your citizens at various sites build full on cities. You can craft stuff yourself or swap in custom maps for the cities, but each one has a default layout they’ll use if you aren’t messing with it.

12

SimSettlements, right?

Their creator, kinggath, is becoming legendary in mod circles. Also did a major revamp mod for Starfield, adding entire new factions.

13

Yeah, that’s right! My computer crashed a while after I got it set up and running and I never went back, but I may need to give it another go.

I didn’t realize he made Watchtower! That’s awesome!

14

It’s not that Fallout 4 is a bad game. Here is the problem with it.

Fallout 1 was an RPG.
Fallout 2 was an RPG.
Fallout 3 was an RPG.
Fallout New Vegas was an RPG.
Fallout 4 is a shooter.

One of these things is not like the others. :slight_smile:

For an RPG, there’s usually a lot of depth to both the world and to the story. There’s a lot of meat in the conversations. A shooter, by contrast, is focused more on shooting, so conversations don’t have much meat. The point is to get through the conversations quickly so that you can get to shooting. That’s why Fallout 4 conversations almost universally have the format of 1. Yes. 2. No, but worded somehow in a way that it has the exact same result as yes. 3. Sarcastic yes. 4. Something different that also means yes. The sarcasm option is entertaining, but from a role playing point of view it’s meaningless. None of your choices matter, because that’s not where the focus of the game is. The focus of the game is on combat.

In FO4, you really only make one choice, and that is which faction you want to win. You make more choices that matter during the introduction quest of New Vegas than you make during the entirety of FO4.

If you’re experience with Fallout is from earlier games, then FO4 is a huge disappointment because it lacks the depth and story of a “proper” Fallout game.

On the other hand, if your experience is only with FO4, the older games are going to have extremely clunky and miserable combat systems, and there is going to be all of this crappy dialog that you have to wade through before you can get back to the fun shooting bit.

People who come from an RPG background tend to think that New Vegas is the best of the lot, and in fact it tends to rate very high among all RPGs in general.

If you come from a casual shooter background, you’re going to prefer FO4.

It depends on the mod. Read the mod description. It will often say if a new start is required.

In general, mods like Fourville that add new locations and add quests in those locations don’t tend to disturb other areas and quests much, and tend to be pretty safe to install without requiring a new start. You can run into issues trying to remove the mod later, but as long as you leave it installed you probably won’t have issues. It’s a good idea to go through the comments section for each mod though.

Watch the level requirements as well. Some mods may not require a fresh start but they do expect player characters within a certain level range. A high level player might just stomp through the thing and find it boring.

15

Funny, that’s how I feel about Fallout New Vegas! (Oh look, I have generic Legion troops running next to me on Hoover Dam instead of generic Republic troops.) At least Fallout 4 has way more side quests to fool around with.

16

You can get a mod that fixes that.

17

Minor quibble - I would agree with 1, 2, and NV being consequence of choices driven, solid RPGs. I think 3 (the beginning of the Bethesda iteration) being closer to 4 with far more emphasis on combat, but there’s still a solid RPG base involved, and because (honestly) the combat in 3 is so terrible in many ways, that it gets more of a pass. And there are still plenty of story, non-combat resolutions possible, and sneaky ways to resolve issues.

I am one of those who finds FNV to be the best of all, with engaging combat, a return to a much wider array of weapon and play styles, but much more freedom in how you can choose to resolve or even ignore situations without going to combat.

I have a love/hate relationship with 4 though. Playing the vanilla story (as the OP mentions) I was largely bored. I mean, yeah, everything looked better, but as I said in my Steam review, if you try to take the story seriously, you just DIE. There’s no easy way (without major metagaming) to fast track your search for your macguffin :wink: without getting obliterated by the combat along the way. So you really can’t roleplay at all, the way you could in prior iterations. I do love the great modding community that gives you infinitely more options, and probably play with 40-50 mods, without which I’d have far fewer hours in the game. And having played F76 for a few months, my disinterest in vanilla is much mitigated, in the sense that “Well, it’s not GREAT, but it’s better than F76!”.

Per the OP, the ROFLSTOMP is actually part that they enjoy, so it’s a good concern for others, but probably a pro, not a con for them.

Yeah, but those are the two most vanilla options, which is why I generally select one of the other two, depending on how I’m RP’ing the character.

I know that, and @Limmin mentioned the same upthread, but I was trying to answer the OP’s specific question about what the message meant. I actually have a 100% clear on FNV, but largely don’t care about that with most games. And too many mods DO have unbalancing effects, unless you’re just playing with cosmetic mods, so I’m too honest with myself to re-enable mods and not feel like I’m somehow cheating.

Just for the record, because I do agree with the OP and @engineer_comp_geek that where you entered the series affects your appreciating with it, my play order was 3, then 3 again with all the DLC, FNV, 4 with all DLC, 4 with many mods, 76, then 1 and 2. If I ranked my enjoyment of them (mostly the story, not the art) I’d start with FNV, F1, and then F3/4 in a dead heat, followed by 2, and then 76 waaaaay in the back. But they ALL (yes, even 76) have moments of brilliant, emotionally evocative storytelling.

18

So that you can get slightly different generic troops running next to you on Hoover Dam?

There are things I quite like about Fallout New Vegas, but the amount of variety in the ending is not one of its strong points, IMO.

19

Spoilers for an ancient game!

So I can use my army of metallic minions to kick out everyone for good (high karma) or ill (bad karma)? I’m not picking one side of different generic troops to run things, I’m saying that none of three major factions have the interests of the people in mind (to various levels from more-or-less benign neglect to out and out genocidal maniacs!) but I can try to do better on my own.

Don’t get me wrong, I fully acknowledge that all endings for such games are largely slightly different toppings on the otherwise-same sundae, but it’s still a step up from F3’s “Do you die or do you sacrifice someone else?” “choice” [ incidentally, this makes NO effing sense, since several of your possible companions are complete immune to radiation ]. Or F4’s picking of whom to rule with BoS, the Institute, or (if you screw up everything else) the Minutemen (The Railroad ending is more about destroying everyone who might stop their agenda, they aren’t positioned to be rulers though). And also bitching about FO4, there is nearly NO difference in the ending slides - while in previous iterations, it shows how your work with even small communities and individuals changed their lives, a nice touch even if minimal, and sorely missing in FO4.

I will give FO4 one kudo though. It does a much better job than most games in making ALL the factions morally gray. I just typed out 3/4’s of a long analysis of this, but it’s better to not spell it out for anyone who hasn’t done all the options.

20

I guess I don’t find that hugely different from the FO4 Institute ending where you send out a radio message claiming to rule the wasteland (with an army of metallic minions) either for the good of the people or with an iron fist.