I have noticed playing Fallout 4 on my Xbox 1, that there is a mod slot on the startup screen. I don’t know anything about mods, but it seems like it could be fun.
My Question is as follows:
Is it cheating?
Is it fun?
Is it worth the effort of downloading the mods and how should I go about that?
Will it break my console?
Is it cheating/fun/worth the effort? Depends on the mod.
How to download mods? First you need a Bethesda.net account, then log into said account by selecting MODS from the main menu. Downloading is as simple as mashing a couple of buttons.
Will it break your console? Likely not but this version disables achievements if any mods are enabled. Unless you have a mod to keep it from doing that.
(1) There really is no “cheating” in a single player game and it depends very much on the mods you select. You may view a mod giving you five stars in every skill to be cheating but you probably wouldn’t consider a mod that changes your Pip-Boy to black to be cheating. Only you can decide where the line is for your own enjoyment. Note that you won’t get achievements/trophies when you have a mod to prevent people from getting them while bulletproof or insta-killing enemies and stuff.
(2) It can be. Again, a mod that makes you invincible may not be fun after ten minutes but a mod that adds quests, gives a bunch of new settlement building options or simply gives you more colors of Vault Suits or hair styles to pick from can be fun.
(3) It’s practically effortless although I have a PC so don’t know the ins and outs of console modding. My son has an Xbox One and uses mods though so it’s likely not too complex (or else he’d have complained while I was watching him play).
(4) No. Worst case scenario, you don’t like the game with the mod and just disable it. The mods only affect the game itself and only while “on”.
That seems pretty easy. I have pretty much beat the game, thought playing with some mods could be fun.
“Cheating” is not a really coherent concept in single player games - some people will say that you’re just wimping out if you play on anything but the hardest settings in ironman (no save-reload) mode, some people only want to play tourist and will crank the difficulty down or off if they can. (Mass Effect III included a mode that shut off the action gameplay for people who just wanted to see the RPG part). Is a mod that makes it easier to see your pip-boy screen ‘cheating’ - what about a mod on the old Alpha Centauri game that changed the colors so that red-green colorblind people could even play? Is a mod that turns down Ironman mode a bit cheating, or is it just adding a difficulty level that’s harder than the one you play on anyway? Just pick mods that fit what’s comfortable to you, and don’t complain about the game being too easy if you do use mods that give you better equipment.
It depends on what you like. I hated managing inventory and shuffling stuff back and forth to a companion, so I added one that massively increases carry weight which made the game much more fun for me. I also got annoyed that there’s .45 ammo but no 1911 pattern guns, so I got a mod that adds one that’s balanced with the other pistols and now Nick can run around with a proper 50’s detective piece. There’s some mods that add more areas to explore, or additional quests.
It’s not any huge effort to do, it’s all handled through the interface. PCs can have mods that aren’t through the official channels, but xbone doesn’t have that option.
It won’t break your console. It’s vaguely possible that it will break your install of the game, but that just means you need to uninstall-reinstall fallout, not that your xbone is a brick.
At least for Fallout 4, they unfortunately consider it cheating as using mods disables achievements and such. And it is permanently broken for that “fork” of saves. At least this is true for PC, but there is a mod that allows them again. This is true even for non-game breaking mods like simple reskins. Fallout 3, New Vegas, and the Elder Scrolls games did no such thing, and I am not a fan of policing my playing. I guess because they’re bringing mods to console for the first time it’s something they felt a need to change.
In single player, you can mod as much or as little as you like. I’m sure it counts as cheating, but who cares, you aren’t doing it out of malice so feel free if it increases your enjoyment.
It’s rare that uninstalling a mod will completely hose your game, though who knows with Xbox. However, uninstalling mods runs a very high likelihood of corrupting any game saves made with the mod installed.
I’m surprised that even an Xbox player has never heard of mods – they’re a longtime staple of the PC community.