[Mod Talk] Horizon Survival Overhaul is pretty cool. Try it if you like Survival, but find it boring.

[Astariol]

So, in light of all the hooplah about paid mods, I thought it'd be cool to start a discussion about one of my favorite and most underrated mods on the Nexus. A mod called "Horizon" which completely overhauls the Survival mechanics and makes Fallout 4 tougher and more rewarding.

Horizon is not unlike the mod Requiem for Oldrim in that it overhauls every aspect of the game to make a more challenging and rewarding experience. And when I say overhaul, I mean it. This thing is pervasive. Every aspect of the game from loot to levelled lists to settlement building is changed. Tired of lugging around close to 300 stimpaks? Gone. Every "Stimpak" spawn in the game is replaced with something called an "Adrenaline Injector" which doesn't heal, but instead boosts your adrenaline level and can be used to revive companions.

Were you disgusted by the "tutorial" quest which gives you a mini-gun and full set of Power Armor before you even get out of the starting area? ♥♥♥♥ that♥♥♥♥♥♥ In Horizon you're lucky if you find two pieces power armor on any given frame, and any you find in the early game is likely rusted and nearly broken.

The changes don't end there. For starters, combat is tuned and polished. For instance, in Vanilla, the "difficulty" curve is all over the place. You'll go through hours and hours of face-rolling the Commonwealth just to be one-shot by a random grenade, or a elite spawn that comes out of nowhere and ruins your day. Not so in Horizon. You will die in Horizon, but usually due to a tactical error.

Maybe you didn't take cover. Maybe you misread the situation and got in over your head. Maybe you had crappy aim. All those things will punish you, but there's none of that random ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥t where you just ♥♥♥♥ing die. It's beautiful. Also, headshots matter. Most high calibers (5.56 or .308) will one-shot headshot a human without a helmet. What follows is a story of my most fun combat so far.

I play this with a mod called "Subway Runner" which links all the subways into one big network, and while clearing the Underground from Concord to Lexington, I stuck to my "Ratslayer", (unique Varmint Rifle with a silencer and night scope - part of the Official Horizon Weapons pack).

So I'm skulking through the tunnels with Preston and Dogmeat, exterminating raiders like solid ♥♥♥♥ing snake right? Until I cross into a neighboring tunnel and spy a pack of ghouls. I'm thinking there's four, maybe. So I drop a frag mine. Shoot one to draw the others, then run for it.

But man, this♥♥♥♥♥♥is like 28 Days later. Ghouls come at me from everywhere. And you can't get hit. Not much at least. There aren't a lot of ways to heal in combat in Horizon. There are "Combat Stimpaks", but using them causes severe dehydration so you're better off just playing smart, and healing with bandages once you're out of combat.

So here I am in the dark with Preston "No aim" and Dogmeat the MVP versus a small legion of the undead. I sprint onto a train, crouch low and take aim. I have a long approach, so it's pretty easy to pick them off as long as I land my shots. Eight rounds left in the magazine. Eight headshots. Eight dead zeds.

The mag runs dry, but there's more still coming. So I pull out Lucille and swing for the fences. About twenty bodies later, my Rad count is so high my character's heart starts to pound. I make for the exit as quickly as I can, the first three doors I check lead to dead ends or rooms with wandering ferals. I pick them off, and finally find a flight of stairs that I assume leads to the surface. I sprint up the stairs, and nearly run headlong into a gunfight.

Three raiders are battling it out against another pack of ferals. Two goons and one guy in full raider Power Armor. The power armor guy makes me nervous, so I switch to a homemade .308 rifle, line up a clear shot in V.A.T.S and burn my crit and send him to the hereafter. The other two get headshots from the Ratslayer.

All the while my geiger counter's ticking away and I realize I have about ten actual health left. I make it out alive into a dust storm so thick I can barely see (I think that's from True Storms), but thankfully it's not a radstorm.

I've got nothing to heal with, and nowhere to run to when I remember Covenant's not far from Lexington. I limp east skirting south around the lake doing my best not to disturb Mirelurks and run like a madman from all and sundry till the dust clears, the sun peeks out from the clouds, and that ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ in front of Covenant asks if I want to take his stupid test.

I'm not sure if Horizon fixes the "RP" side of Fallout, but it definitely fixes everything else. In Vanilla Survival, eating and drinking is a boring chore because it only takes a few hours to have access to so much food and water that the mechanics are trivial.

Weapons and ammo fall from the sky and you discard a dozen "good" guns because they aren't great, and great is what you need to punch through layers and layers of bullet sponge health.

Horizon fixes that. So far I haven't fought anything I can't kill with a high-caliber round to the face. Every weapon is useful. *Every* one. From pipe rifles to switchblades. If you can someone with it in real life, it's viable in Horizon and you'll probably be grateful for it.

The only bad thing about the mod is, the Settlement system is basically overhauled into a tech-tree/management mini-game, and I've had trouble finding documentation. The mod page itself has links to ten or so pages of information about the mod, but I'm still learning about the little things.

This mod does not hold your hand. At all. And, I think a little hand-holding, at least when it comes to transparency of mechanics is useful. Still, it's a hell of a ride, and makes Fallout 4 a game I can enjoy playing as much as I enjoyed New Vegas. Which is pretty huge.

It puts the cRPG back in Fallout.

[Vinnie Mack]

i agree. This is one hell of a mod.

[𝕊𝕋𝕌ℝ𝕄-𝕂𝔸𝕋]

Try Better locational damage and better power armor, by same author, if you want also.

better location damage[www.nexusmods.com]

better Power Armor[www.nexusmods.com]

Head shots are instant kill. Character + npc.

[Consman]

I agree also, Fallout 4 has become one of the best games of all time for me since Horizon. Its now on version 1.6 and the changes are astounding! Anyone who loves Fallout but has had the magic wither away should try Horizon out, it'l rekindle that spark and dump a ton of flamer fuel straight on top! :)

[Thop]

Yeah it's good

[edfred27]

yeah, playing it now, lev 30. If you like the intense barely making it by the skin of your teeth feel, try Frost. It is always intense, and feels like every bullet matters, every bit of food and drink matters. And surviving encounters feels like an achievement.
Frost does away with companions, settlement building, and quests. It's really a situation of, just survive.
There are story lines to follow, but they are sort of window dressing (though the military/XR-24 storyline does have an outcome).

Anyway - my question, since OP mentioned Horizon's lack of documentation, I've been trying to find out how to acquire weapon "augments". They are in the build menus, I think in the tech lab, but I don't see how to meet the requirements.

Anyone know anything? I'm thinking maybe they become craftable after a workshop technology level is achieved, but I don't know.

[edfred27]

oh for better immersion, i suggest "no cash register sounds" and sounds of silence (i think is the name) that removes music or non ambient sounds

[Astariol]

OP Here. Found this sticky in the forum section of the Horizon mod's Nexus page. The link is below. It's still a bit barebones, but at least he covers the essentials. I was able to learn how to build water purifiers and what most of the new buildings are for, etc.

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/17374/?tab=forum&topic_id=6071963