1. Fallout 4 Third Person Camera Bug

Fallout 4 Third Person Camera Bug

Fallout 4 is a post-apocalyptic open-world action-adventure game that can be played in first and third person. There are also elements of layered armor, customizable weapons as well as base building. The story sees the player setting out in to a wasteland in order to solve the mystery of their missing son.

Fallout 4: Nuka-World is an expansion pack for the 2015 post-apocalypticaction role-playing video game Fallout 4. It was developed by Bethesda Game Studios, published by Bethesda Softworks, and released on August 30, 2016, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It is set in the eponymous fictional amusement park Nuka-World. As with Fallout 4, Nuka-World can be played in both first-person and third-person perspectives. The player controls the protagonist during their journey through Nuka-World, a former amusement park, now run by groups of raiders. Nuka-World's main gameplay consists of both questing and exploration. Upon completion of quests, the player is rewarded with both the franchise's fictional currency, bottle caps from Nuka-Cola bottles, and experience points.

Development of Nuka-World began after Fallout 4's November 2015 release. The expansion was based partly on player feedback expressing a desire for more content involving Raiders. Rumors of Nuka-World began circulating three months before the official release after a file hinting at a new expansion was found in Fallout 4's source code. Development was confirmed by Matt Grandstaff on the Bethesda Game Studios blog. Fallout 4: Nuka-World received both a positive and mixed response, with reviewers praising the new locations, but rated Nuka-World less favorably to Far Harbor—a previous expansion pack for the game—believing it suffered from having a less apparent story-line.

• 2Synopsis
  • 2.2Plot

Gameplay[edit]

Nuka-World is an expansion pack for the action role-playing game, Fallout 4.^[1][2] The ability to swap between first-person and third-person perspectives is available in both the expansion and the original version.^[3] Nuka-World is the territory of raiders, roving gangs of bandits who terrorize the Commonwealth.^[4] The player can access Nuka-World when they reach level thirty,^[5] and upon arrival are subject to 'The Gauntlet', a booby-trapped maze.^[6] At the end of The Gauntlet, the player must defeat a boss to be crowned the new leader of the raiders.^[7] The player can claim the parts of the park the raiders have not yet annexed by entering the area and defeating the enemies residing there.^[4] The enemies in Nuka-World consist of both new enemies and more powerful versions of existing ones.^[7]

The Pip-Boy – a small computer strapped to the character's wrist which contains maps, statistics, data, and items – plays a role in both Fallout 4 and Nuka-World.^[8] When the player reaches level thirty and is able to explore Nuka-World, the Pip-Boy receives a radio signal alerting the player.^[7]Nuka-World adds minor additions to the game's crafting mechanics, allowing the player to mix varieties of Nuka-Cola to create new flavors; these grant the player additional status buffs, such as temporary boosts to health, increased damage resistance, or improved S.P.E.C.I.A.L attributes.^[9] S.P.E.C.I.A.L. is an acronym denoting the character attributes which the player can distribute through the means of acquired stat points.^[3] The available character attributes consist of: strength, perception, endurance, charisma, intelligence, agility, and luck.^[10] In order to create these items, the player will need to collect raw materials from the game world and find recipe books to unlock new flavors.^[9]

Synopsis[edit]

Setting and characters[edit]

Nuka-World is set in the eponymous Nuka-Cola themed amusement park.^[11][7] Once a popular tourist destination run by the Nuka-Cola Corporation, the park has since been overrun by three gangs of raiders.^[11] Unlike the raiders featured in the base game, the raiders of Nuka-World are much more disciplined and organised, with each gang following a different path.^[12]

There are three main factions of raiders within Nuka-World: the Operators, the Pack, and the Disciples. The Operators are led by Maggy 'Mags' Black, alongside her brother William and their friend Lizzie Wyath; their gang is mostly interested in acquiring as much wealth as possible. The Pack is headed by Mason, the alpha of the gang; they favor a survival of the fittest mentality, and train wild animals for gambling and sport. The Disciples are led by Nisha, with her lieutenants Savoy and Dixie, and are the most bloodthirsty of the three gangs, preferring to inflict as much violence as possible. A minor faction, called the Hubologists, are followers of a UFO religion and live outside the park.

Nuka-World itself is divided into six smaller parts, each of which can be explored by the player: Nuka-Town, U.S.A., the park's central hub, made up of restaurants, souvenir stores, and sideshows; Kiddie Kingdom, a fantasy setting, featuring a central castle, fairground rides, and a candy theme throughout, has been overrun by ghouls; Dry Rock Gulch, a wild west-themed area, featuring roller coasters and animatronic gunslingers which has been infested with a parasitic larvae known as Bloodworms; Safari Adventure, a wildlife enclosure filled with exotic animals that have since turned wild; the Galactic Zone, a space-themed park populated by customized robots that have malfunctioned and reverted to their military specifications long before; and the Nuka-Cola bottling plant, a model Nuka-Cola factory offering guided tours and samples of Nuka-Cola products that have since leached into the environment and triggered additional mutations in the local fauna. The area surrounding Nuka-World includes: Bradberton, a town built to house park employees, the defunct Nuka-World power plant, Grandchester, a haunted mansion and tourist attraction, and the Nuka-World scrapyard containing a UFO-themed carnival ride which the Hubologists are convinced is a genuine spaceship.

Like the Island in Far Harbor, Nuka-World is outside the Commonwealth. The player can access Nuka-World by riding a monorail called the Nuka-Express.^[13]

Plot[edit]

The Sole Survivor investigates a pre-War amusement park, Nuka-World, when radio advertisements are broadcast into the Commonwealth. Porter Gage, a veteran raider, contacts the Sole Survivor after boarding a monorail and tells them that they are walking into a death trap. Upon arrival, the Sole Survivor must navigate an increasingly-deadly obstacle course called the Gauntlet, which culminates with a fight with Colter, the raider Overboss. Following the death of Colter, Gage reveals the leaders of the three raider gangs conspired to usurp him, using the broadcast and the Gauntlet to find possible replacements. The Sole Survivor is offered to become the Overboss, but must balance the competing needs of each gang of raiders while conquering the outlying areas of the park. Once the entire park is under raider control, the Sole Survivor sets about expanding raider influence in the Commonwealth by conquering settlements, restoring power to Nuka-World to make the park self-sufficient, and thwarting attempts by the Gunners—a band of amoral mercenaries—to seize control of Nuka-World for themselves.

As the Sole Survivor gradually expands their influence, tape recordings and journal entries reveal that despite its popularity, Nuka-World was under threat from serious mismanagement in the weeks and months prior to the Great War. Gradually, John-Caleb Bradberton, the creator of Nuka-Cola and the architect of Nuka-World, is revealed to have redirected resources to fund Project Cobalt, a weapons development project for the United States military. This culminated in the creation of Nuka-Cola Quantum, a variation of Nuka-Cola made with radioactive isotopes. In exchange for his support, the military agreed to include Bradberton in LEAP-X, an attempt to artificially prolong life; however, Braxton, the general in charge of Project Cobalt, saw Bradberton's prediction of an imminent war as a lack of confidence in the military, and thus betrayed him. When the Sole Survivor accesses Bradberton's office, they discover a hidden elevator leading to a private Vault. Inside is Bradberton's still-living head attached to a life support machine; a punishment by Braxton for doubting the military. The player is given the choice of shutting off the power and euthanizing Bradberton at his request or keeping him alive for the sake of Sierra Petrovita, a recurring character from Fallout 3 who idolises Bradberton.

Endings[edit]

Eventually, the gang the Sole Survivor has been most neglecting will turn on them and take over the power plant of Nuka-World. With the remaining two gangs by their side, the Sole Survivor will have to eliminate the rogue gang. Their actions ultimately decide who controls Nuka-World. In an alternate scenario, they are also given the option of ending raider influence by assassinating the leaders of each gang and their lieutenants, thereby returning control of Nuka-World to the traders who originally used it as a hub of commerce.

Development and release[edit]

Nuka-World is the sixth and last expansion pack for Bethesda Game Studios' 2015 video game Fallout 4 and was released on August 30, 2016, following the releases of: Automatron, Wasteland Workshop, Far Harbor, Contraptions Workshop and Vault-Tec Workshop. Nuka-World is included in the season pass.^[11][14] The development for Nuka-World did not begin until after the November 2015 release of Fallout 4. Bethesda's Mark Teare said the expansion was partly the result of feedback from people who wished for more content surrounding Raiders.^[a][16] Rumors surrounding Nuka-World started circulating in May 2016 after Reddit user flashman7870 uncovered a segment of code which referenced a file called 'DLCNukaWorld.esm'.^[b][17][18] Many fans speculated the expansion would incorporate an amusement park.^[19]

Nuka-World's release date of August 30, 2016 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One was announced in a post on the Bethesda Game Studios blog on August 15,^[20] along with the expansion's trailer.^[21] Bethesda started releasing keys for the beta version on August 16^[22] and pre-release gameplay was live streamed through Twitch.tv on August 23,^[23] with the official trailer coming out two days later.^[24] The expansion has a larger file size than Far Harbor, being 3.66 GB as opposed to 2.69 GB. This resulted in people wondering if Nuka-World would contain more gameplay,^[25] although the price implied it would be somewhere between Automatron and Far Harbor.^[26] The North American release of Nuka-World on PlayStation 4 was delayed due to unknown problems.^[27] Unlike the PS4 launch of Far Harbor, no major stability or frame-rate issues were found while playing, except when inside a location called The Galactic Zone. In the article on the website Push Square, it was noted that the cause of the frame-rate issues in The Galactic Zone were unknown and were not consistent.^[28]

Reception[edit]

Nuka-World received both positive and mixed reviews, according to the video game review aggregator site Metacritic. The PC and Xbox One releases received 'generally favorable' reviews while the PS4 release received 'mixed or average' reviews.^[34][36][35] Many critics, including Christopher Livingston (PC Gamer), Davide Ambrosiani (IGN), and Juan Garcia (IGN) liked the new places to explore.^[4][30][37] Reviewers, including Paul Tassi (Forbes) and Nicholas Tan (Game Revolution), compared Nuka-World to Far Harbor, with many thinking this expansion had a less developed story-line, and was thus less story-based.^[6][31]

Reviewers enjoyed exploring the new map and world which Nuka-World added. Christopher Livingston (PC Gamer) thought that 'attacking settlements, especially your own, is good fun, but there's [sic] hours of chores to complete before you can really become a raider.'^[4] Bob Fekete (iDigitalTimes) believed exploring the map of Nuka-World is some of the best gameplay in Fallout 4.^[29] Davide Ambrosiani (IGN) said Fallout 4's last expansion pack added some interesting mechanics and expands the world further.^[30] Juan Garcia (IGN) wrote about how he believed the expansion added a 'great new location' which added a few more hours of gameplay, although it was more limited and repetitive than he wanted.^[37] Andrew Webster (The Verge) enjoyed exploring the map and discovering every detail of Fallout's world. He regarded it as a 'superb piece of worldbuilding.'^[38]

Many critics compared Nuka-World to a previous expansion pack for Fallout 4 named Far Harbor. Dan Stapleton (IGN) said that when compared to Far Harbor, the role-playing elements are far less developed, though he also said Nuka-World has a nice setting filled with surprises and battles.^[7] Nicholas Tan (Game Revolution) also believed it was one of the better expansion packs, albeit not having such an in-depth story-line as Far Harbor.^[31] Paul Tassi (Forbes) preferred Far Harbor due to this expansion being light on story.^[6]

Reviewers thought the expansion would be worth the player's investment if they enjoyed Fallout 4. Kirk McKeand (Eurogamer) said there are no real choices to make in Nuka-World, though it still may be worthy of your time.^[5] Kat Bailey (USgamer) liked the expansion, and thought there was a lot to do in it, but not all of it is interesting. All level 4 merchants fallout 4. She said the expansion 'could be worse, but it could also be a whole lot better', but if you enjoyed Fallout 4, then 'there's good reason to pick up Nuka-World.'^[32] Nic Rowen (Destructoid) noted fans of the genre will probably enjoy Nuka-World, but others will be left unsatisfied.^[33] Tassi believed it was worth the $20.^[6] Andrew Webster finished his review by saying Nuka-World was only for dedicated players.^[38]

Notes[edit]

1. ^Raiders are a type of enemy from the base game.^[15]
2. ^The suffix for 'Elder Scrolls Master' files is .esm. These are the main game files.

References[edit]

1. ^Carter, Chris (November 9, 2015). 'Review: Fallout 4'. Destructoid. Archived from the original on June 23, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
2. ^Stapleton, Dan (November 9, 2015). 'Fallout 4 Review - IGN'. IGN. Archived from the original on August 8, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
3. ^ ^abMcElroy, Griffin (July 24, 2015). 'How Fallout 4 handles romance, character progression and more'. Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on July 4, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
4. ^ ^abcdeLivingston, Christopher (August 30, 2016). 'Fallout 4: Nuka-World review'. PC Gamer. Future plc. Archived from the original on August 30, 2016. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
5. ^ ^abMcKeand, Kirk (September 1, 2016). 'Fallout 4's Nuka-World sticks too rigidly to the tracks'. Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on September 2, 2016. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
6. ^ ^abcdTassi, Paul (August 30, 2016). ''Fallout 4' 'Nuka-World' DLC Review: My Empire Of Dirt'. Forbes. Forbes, Inc. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
7. ^ ^abcdefStapleton, Dan (August 30, 2016). 'Fallout 4: Nuka-World DLC Review'. IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on August 31, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
8. ^Ingenito, Vince (June 14, 2015). 'E3 2015: Fallout 4's First Gameplay Details'. IGN. Archived from the original on July 4, 2016. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
9. ^ ^ab'Fallout 4: Nuka-World DLC guide – Star Cores, Hidden Cappy signs, endings and more'. VG247. September 2, 2016. Archived from the original on September 4, 2016. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
10. ^'Fallout 4: How SPECIAL attributes and Perks work'. VG247. October 6, 2015. Archived from the original on July 4, 2016. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
11. ^ ^abcMakuch, Eddie (August 19, 2016). 'Fallout 4: How to Get This Awesome-Looking Nuka-World Physical Map'. GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 14, 2016. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
12. ^Gervais, Noah (September 7, 2016). ''Fallout 4' DLC 'Nuka World' Proves Nothing Matters Anyway'. Rolling Stone. Wenner Media LLC. Archived from the original on September 9, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
13. ^Arif, Shabana (August 22, 2016). 'Fallout 4 Nuka-World makes its debut on Twitch this week'. VG247. Archived from the original on August 23, 2016. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
14. ^Morrison, Angus (July 6, 2016). 'Nuka World will be Fallout 4's final DLC'. PC Gamer. Future plc. Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
15. ^Kersting, Erik (November 18, 2015). 'The Vapid Raiders of 'Fallout 4''. PopMatters. Archived from the original on August 25, 2016. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
16. ^Makuch, Eddie (August 24, 2016). 'See a Lot of Fallout 4 Nuka-World Gameplay'. GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 14, 2016. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
17. ^Henry, Jasmine (May 18, 2016). 'Rumor: Next Fallout 4 DLC is Named 'Nuka World''. Game Rant. Complex Media Inc.Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
18. ^Lanaria, Vincent (May 16, 2016). 'Next 'Fallout 4' DLC Could Be Called 'Nuka World': Post-Apocalyptic Theme Park?'. Tech Times. Archived from the original on August 28, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
19. ^Fekete, Bob (May 16, 2016). ''Fallout 4' DLC: 'Nuka World' Update May Be Coming Next'. IDigitalTimes. Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
20. ^Grandstaff, Matt (August 15, 2016). 'Fallout 4 – Nuka-World Release Date and Gameplay Trailer'. Bethesda Game Studios. Retrieved August 22, 2016. (Age verification required).
21. ^Prell, Sam (August 15, 2016). 'Fallout 4 Nuka-World trailer has rides, raiders, and a jaunty tune'. GamesRadar. Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
22. ^Makuch, Eddie. 'Fallout 4 Nuka-World Beta Codes Going Out Now'. GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 14, 2016. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
23. ^Makuch, Eddie (August 23, 2016). 'Watch Fallout 4 Nuka-World DLC Reveal Right Here'. GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 14, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
24. ^Frank, Allegra (August 25, 2016). 'Fallout 4's Nuka-World teaser proves that you can't have fun without a little pain'. Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on August 26, 2016. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
25. ^Saed, Sherif (August 15, 2016). 'Fallout 4 Nuka World file size reportedly bigger than Far Harbor'. VG247. Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
26. ^'Fallout 4 Nuka-World DLC out this month, could be bigger than Far Harbor'. Metro. August 15, 2016. Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
27. ^Jones, Gary (August 30, 2016). 'Fallout 4 Nuka World: How to start Nuka World Quests following rocky DLC PS4 launch'. Express.co.uk. Archived from the original on September 3, 2016. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
28. ^Ramsey, Robert (August 31, 2016). 'Hands On: How Does Fallout 4: Nuka World Run on PS4?'. Push Square. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on September 3, 2016. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
29. ^ ^abFekete, Bob (August 29, 2016). ''Fallout 4 Nuka-World' Review: Last DLC Goes Out On A High Note'. iDigitalTimes. Archived from the original on August 30, 2016. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
30. ^ ^abcAmbrosiani, Davide (August 30, 2016). 'Fallout 4: Nuka-World Recensione'. IGN (in Italian). Ziff Davis. p. 2. Archived from the original on September 2, 2016. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
31. ^ ^abcTan, Nicholas (August 29, 2016). 'Fallout 4: Nuka-World Review'. Game Revolution. Archived from the original on September 2, 2016. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
32. ^ ^abBailey, Kat (September 2, 2016). 'Fallout 4: Nuka-World DLC Review: Empty Calories'. USgamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on September 3, 2016. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
33. ^ ^abRowen, Nic (September 4, 2016). 'Review: Fallout 4: Nuka-World'. Destructoid. Archived from the original on September 6, 2016. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
34. ^ ^ab'Fallout 4: Nuka-World for PC Reviews'. Metacritic. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
35. ^ ^ab'Fallout 4: Nuka-World for PlayStation 4 Reviews'. Metacritic. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
36. ^ ^ab'Fallout 4: Nuka-World for Xbox One Reviews'. Metacritic. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
37. ^ ^abGarcia, Juan (August 31, 2016). 'Fallout 4: Nuka World Análisis' (in Spanish). Archived from the original on September 2, 2016. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
38. ^ ^abWebster, Andrew (September 8, 2016). 'Fallout 4's last big expansion is a letdown'. The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on September 9, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2016.

Further reading[edit]

• Nunneley, Stephany (June 15, 2016). Fallout 4: Nuka-World DLC lets players lead “lethal gangs of Raiders” in August. VG247. Retrieved August 22, 2016
• Hernandez, Patricia (June 15, 2016). Fallout 4's Upcoming DLC, Nuka World, Will Let You Become An Evil Raider. Kotaku. Gawker Media. Retrieved August 22, 2016

External links[edit]

• Official website

I’ll be honest, for a while there, I was totally ignorant to the modding community involved in Fallout 4. As someone who played The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and Fallout 3 on PC, I understood exactly what dedicated modders could create. Unfortunately, I wanted the latest and greatest on the PlayStation 4. I thought playing with a controller on a shiny console would somehow make the game more enjoyable to me. Boy, was I wrong. I spent 60+ hours on the PS4 version of Fallout 4, then quickly switched to PC, where I modded my game into oblivion and beyond. I’m talking brand-new weapons, enhanced graphics, customized building models, and immersion mods galore. There was nothing I wouldn’t download at least once. I broke my game, I reinstalled everything, and I visited Nexus Mods again.

If you’re new to the modding scene in Bethesda games or perhaps just want to enhance Fallout 4 a tad, these 15 mods are so insane that you cannot miss out on them. Honestly, these mods are so great, we didn't even include the Star Wars mod we used in the header image, though you can find that here. Some of the mods mentioned below simply add a unique firearm or tweak the AI a tad. While others completely reimagine significant aspects of the game – making for a more thrilling experience overall. You would do well to spend an afternoon downloading these mods and enhancing the open-world, post-apocalyptic RPG. Of course, we recommend that you download one mod at a time, then test your game experience before continuing. A single mod could break something in-game and, if you just installed twenty, you’d be hard-pressed to find the culprit.

Click the button below to start this article in quick view

15 Armorsmith Extended

If you’re anything like me, you completely ignore the statistics of each piece of armor in the game and instead opt for style over functionality. That’s completely fine! This is an open-world RPG, after all, which means playing how you want. Unfortunately, Bethesda’s selection of armor, clothing, and armor mods is a bit lacking at the moment. The modding community changed all of that, though.

In Armorsmith Extended, a mod by Gambit77, the whole armor and clothing system was revamped completely. You can now wear any piece of regular clothing underneath individual armor pieces, hats and helmets no longer cover the face, allowing for gas masks and bandanas. And finally, there are new craftable items to wear on the regular. Overall, this is a mod your character needs in their virtual life.

14 Homemaker – Expanded Settlements

The settlements and building aspect of Fallout 4 needed some work, sorry to say. While Bethesda certainly nailed the core aspect, they left a lot for the community to desire. In Homemaker – Expanded Settlements, by NovaCoru, your settlement is no longer a static, boring endeavor that most would consider an afterthought to the main portion of the game. Instead, the mod adds in over 1,000 new, balanced objects, including cars, working street lamps, and entire build sets based on the infamous Institute.

If you enjoy expanding settlements, then more power to you. Why not do so with more items and better placement, though? Instead of patchwork homes made of tin metal and termite-riddled boards, you can build a bustling community with walkways, barriers, and brick-style homes. The options are endless!

13 True Storms – Wasteland Edition

For the most part, it’s easy to completely ignore the weather in a video game – especially one as immersive and impressive as Fallout 4. Once someone points out the lack of intense rain, thunder, and gloomy fog, you’ll never look at the game the same way twice. Sure, Bethesda’s RPG has a weather system, but it’s lackluster.

In True Storms – Wasteland Edition, by modder fadingsignal, a slew of new textures and immersive visuals are added into the game, including rain storms, dust storms, sheet lightning, and fork lightning. There are even 20 new thunder sounds. Fadingsignal went into detail with the sounds. Furthermore, you can even tweak the chance of a Feral Ghoul attack during radiation storms, making them even deadlier overall.

12 Better Settlers

Let’s face it, the NPCs in Fallout 4 are dumb. There’s no skirting around the issue. These characters have no qualms about walking up to a Deathclaw and fist-fighting. Furthermore, they tend to stand around or work wherever you assign them. Life in post-apocalyptic Boston is pretty tiresome and downright annoying.

In Better Settlers, by Thom293, over 230 new settlers are added to the settlement pool, for a total of 270+. You can opt for their vanilla equipment and statistics, or utilize completely lore-friendly equipment, mortality rates, and stats. The choice is yours. In any case, your bustling settlement built with Sim Settlements will look infinitely more impressive with unique NPCs wandering the city streets instead of NPC #221 version 2. Oh, and you can even build a raider settlement!

11 Improved Map w/Visible Roads

The Improved Map w/Visible Roads mod, by mm137, is purely aesthetic, albeit necessary for those tired of the wonky in-game map the game launched with. Consider this a quality of life update for the Sole Survivor. While the improved map does feature an initial weird purple-pink hue, which can be off-putting (albeit changed to your liking), its functionality is what’s important here.

Considered one of the best Fallout 4 mods by PC Gamer, Rock Paper Shotgun, and VG247, Improved Map features distinct waterlines, enhanced roads and train tracks, corrected map marker placement, numbered grid lines, and even regions. Each feature can be tweaked, including brightness and entirely optional features. While you may not see an issue with the current map, switch over to this one, and you’ll immediately notice the difference. Going back is hard!

10 Lowered Weapons

Okay, you don’t need this mod to improve the gameplay whatsoever, but it’s still interesting to have. Consider this one of those “quality of life” immersion-type mods that simply add on to the game in a small way.

Lowered Weapons, by lesma666, simply helps the player put their gun down occasionally. After all, it must be tiring holding an assault rifle at full attention for extended periods. Personally, I hate how the player character points their gun forward at all times. It breaks the immersion of the game, which is astounding to begin with. With Lowered Weapons, you’ll notice a new animation while in the first-person perspective. Now, with the mod installed, your character will rest their weapon, pointing the barrel towards the ground, when not in use. It’s more immersive and enjoyable this way.

9 More Where That Came From

If you’re a veteran of the Fallout franchise, then you already know the in-game music is simply fantastic. Because of this post-apocalyptic video game series, there are more classic music fans in the world than ever before. Like anything good, we always want more, though!

More Where That Came From, by OldManMose76, features 111 lore-friendly, thematically correct songs to Diamond City Radio. DCR is the only worthwhile radio station to listen to in the Commonwealth, so it’s nice to have some more variety available. Of course, the mod also removes DJ Travis’ introductions and segues. Otherwise, Travis would say one song is coming on, then play something entirely different. It would be immersion-breaking. You’ll have to play for quite a long time before listening to all 111 new songs, though, so prepare yourself for a long weekend!

8 Everyone’s Best Friend

Do you remember Dogmeat? He was everyone’s favorite canine companion – albeit for a short while. Upon acquiring your unique pal in the early game, it’s common to ditch him and opt for someone stronger and more efficient. Leaving Dogmeat behind always tugs at the heart-strings, though, doesn’t it?

In Everyone’s Best Friend, from Valdacil, you can now bring Dogmeat on your adventures in addition to a human (or otherwise) companion. Initially, you could only have one or the other, despite Dogmeat not being treated as a full companion. There is evidence of this within the game files. For example, Dogmeat doesn’t disable the Lone Wanderer perk. That’s not an issue any longer, though. So, go ahead and bring Hancock and Dogmeat to clean out the Parkview Apartments. Having an actual RPG party for once is nice!

7 Seasons Project

Yeah, this is the apocalypse, we know! What ever happened to the seasons, though? Humanity has survived 200 years since the bombs first dropped. You would think a bit of snow, spring showers, or falling leaves would be a possibility. In Bethesda’s world, however, that’s unlikely. They prefer dark and drab.

The players, however, don’t. In Seasons Project, by GameDuchess, adds in Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer to the game. Each particular season has its own unique textures and vibe. During winter, you’ll obviously notice a bit of snow covering the ground. During summer, however, the world is less green and includes fewer flowers. It’s the perfect crop harvesting season. If you’re anything like me, the colorful aesthetic of spring pairs nicely with raider blood splashed across the ground.

6 Conquest

If you haven’t noticed, improving the settlement-building features of Fallout 4 is something of a theme with the modding community. Bethesda did well, but there is always room for improvement. In this case, it’s the ability to build a new settlement anywhere in the game world.

In Conquest, by Chesko, you may now create a small campsite to cook, sleep, and refresh yourself while on an adventure. Furthermore, by constructing a new workbench, you can turn your small campsite into a bustling settlement, complete with the benefits and work included. As of right now, the mod allows for ten additional settlements to be built within the game world. Still, that’s ten more settlements to expand, trade with, and gather resources at. The mod doesn’t break immersion either, as it uses in-game assets and you may only build in areas with enough room.

5 Any Mod Any Weapon

Do you want to turn your pipe pistol into a blunderbuss? How about a railway rifle with a triple barrel and a scope attachment? Fallout 4 already has an extensive weapon modding system – far better than what we witnessed in Fallout: New Vegas. However, it has limitations. Limitations we simply cannot work with under these conditions.

Any Mod Any Weapon, by LucasGod, effectively opens the weapon modding system completely. You can now equip any weapon modification to any weapon in the game. Go wild! Some of the creations people have made are downright wacky, but still pretty dang cool to witness in action. It’s nothing to suppress a .44 revolver, equip an extended barrel, and turn said revolver into a rifle. While it may not be fully immersive to the game world, it’s still fun and that’s the point of the game!

4 Fusion City Rising – Quest Mod

There are a few standout quests in Fallout 4 that every player remembers. Then there are those we would rather forget. Everyone can agree, however, that we need more quests to fill out the game world. That is the precise goal of Fusion City Rising, by Recluse and Thuggysmurf.

Fusion City Rising is a unique quest mod that features 10 to 20 hours of additional content. There are new quests, new locations, new factions, and even new companions to recruit. Fusion City, itself, is a massive underground complex that is bigger than Diamond City, complete with a mall, subway system, hotel, player home, bank, shooting range, and every type of vendor imaginable. It’s massive, pure and simple. When you’re not fighting the new enemy factors or completing side-quests, you’ll want to simply explore the huge game world added to the wasteland.

3 We Are The Minutemen

Players understood the narrative of the Minutemen, sure, but they didn’t quite grasp the concept in-game. It’s clear that Bethesda wanted this unique, player-run faction to be the most efficient alternative to rebuilding the Commonwealth. By acquiring more settlements, you thus gain new sources of revenue and resources. Unfortunately, the faction suffered from lackluster implementation.

We Are The Minutemen, by TheFirstEnd, is designed to expand upon the faction, making them more attractive, immersive, and useful to the game world. You’ll notice Minutemen reinforcements, Veteran Minutemen equipped with Gauss weaponry, new armors, and an overall stronger faction worthy of defending the common settler. In the vanilla game, the Brotherhood of Steel and Institute were more attractive choices to side with. With We Are the Minutemen, the militia is worthy of your time and attention.

2 RU556 – Assault Rifle

The community, for the most part, absolutely adored the pipe weapons that took center-stage in Fallout 4. They were immersive, somewhat realistic, and exciting to mod in the late-game. Unfortunately, they kind of dominated the wasteland. Almost every raider in the game armed themselves with some type of pipe weapon. It grew tiresome. We want some variety, Bethesda!

Thus, the RU556, by modders FX0x01, Ha_ru, Navaro, Lee Swagger, and others, was introduced. The assault rifle features new, high-quality textures, custom animations and sounds, extensive customization options, and is in leveled lists. Leveled lists? What does that mean? You may ask. Basically, until you hit level 25, the RU556 won’t spawn in the game. It’s a high-powered assault rifle, after all.

1 Sim Settlements

While I personally enjoy building a post-apocalyptic settlement, the feature introduced in Fallout 4 was a bit tedious, to say the least. You're tasked with rescuing settlements, seeing to their every need, and then growing from one shack to two. If there were no existing structures in the immediate area, you oversaw the construction from scratch. Snooze!

In Sim Settlements, from modder kinggath, you simply set down designated plots of land, including residential, agricultural, and retail. Your residents could then be assigned their very own plot, where they would construct their very own domiciles. There is enough variety in the buildings to offer a real sense of a settlement. Of course, you’re still in charge of basic needs, including water, food, and defense. In any case, instead of the NPC being lazy, you get to be lazy!