Mods for a returning player?

[Noah]

Hey, I'm thinking about giving F4 another try after not touching it for years and since I recently got a new PC, what mods can I install it to just make a better "vanilla" version of the game?

Visuals, QOL changes, bug fixes etc. Not looking for anything that will change the core game experience.

[C. Reid [6th GA]]

Make that 2 :)

[BrackObama2]

Make that 3. Haven't been playing for years and I have no idea what good mods came out in that time.

[uk49]

depends really, you guys got a beefy rig?
i'm gonna try keep it short - there are almost always like 5 different alternatives for each mod, these are just the most popular/downloaded
feel free to search up 'fallout 4 2020 mod list' or something similar, there are brilliant reddit lists, etc...
I will only list a couple mods, please search mod lists as said before, there are tons that will suit your needs/intrests

- RANDOM MODS

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/4598?tab=files - unofficial patch

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/6091/?tab=files - AWCKR (look into armorsmith and weaponsmith, download all supported weapons/armors for almost infinte new gear

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/7657/ - NAC - an all in one weather and visual mod, great for mid/low tier pcs

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/15466 - Vivid weathers - all in one weather mod

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/1478 - Homemaker - settlement items

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/18946 - Start me up - this does change the feel of the game I guess, however it is worth an install when testing mods/ for fun.

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/318 - Texture pack - you will need to search for other packs to completly retexture everything in the game, but trust me it is worth it. Playing the game retextured alone is a huge improvement.

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/1235/ - Dialogue interface - bye bye crappy three arrow thing

An ENB, whatever suits you, depends what feel you are going for. Again, look at youtube videos to get a real feel

- MODLISTS (check out the Oxhorn one for the closest to vanilla)

These mods alone will give the game a new feel, however installing more mods is an almost must. Check nexus and sort by most downloaded, you will tend to find the good ones at the top.

This is old, but still has most good mods - https://www.reddit.com/r/FalloutMods/comments/70ss4m/fo4_is_there_a_list_somewhere_of_all_the/

This is the most updated one that I could find - https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/23556

This is great for graphics, also has a metric ton of videos to showcase the list - https://eso-ui.com/fallout4/

A smaller list, however on QOL mods - https://www.reddit.com/r/fo4/comments/6iynaq/quality_of_life_mods/

Mods essential for settlement building - https://www.reddit.com/r/FalloutMods/comments/4uj3vh/fo4_the_50_settlement_and_settler_mods_i_use/

THIS is probably the best start, it's a list from a youtuber called Oxhorn, who makes a ton of lore videos for Fallout. He tries to keep to vanilla as much as possible, so his modlist is perfect to make the 'perfect' game being vanilla as possible. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hZQmkvlpBe7VfVpP0hID0VoQO_5kRwvn8tieF304llc/edit

You don't have to follow these guides strictly, just get a feel for every mod and pick your favs :)

[uk49]

Just realised how messy that was, I may write a proper 'starter' list in a couple of days, but please excuse the mess for now (the mod lists are a-lot more clearer) Another tip, look on YouTube. There are plenty of active creators, that have amazing showcases which can give you a good idea what each mod 'feels' like.

[=EGC= kansasterry]

If you are into building settlements you might want the mod

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/11639

It is described as "Bethesda's building kits with snap points. "

[C. Reid [6th GA]]

Thanks folks!

[(N☆G) Jackal ★JJ★]

Well ive recently got back into it and have already linked my entire texture recommendation to a few friends.

If you 3 have really good rigs I wouldnt mind explaining what needs to be done, what order they need to be installed, and give lots of recommendations for lore friendly mods along with QoL mods.

I say this because what I did was install numerous texture mods and had to use BAE to change the ba2 files in some of them to get loose texture files.... and then installed them in a way so that you just overwrite things from the other mods.

A good example being is a lot of texture packs will for example do numerous textures on certain things but no mood does X or Y better... for example the Nuka Cola machine.... ojo's textures are amazing for the cooler and other machines but it is nothing compared to NMCs Nuka Machine..... so yea a lot of over riding involved.... but the end product looks amazing.

Also things like cracked pipboy screens that i have a screenshot of that if i wasnt on my phone id link... anyway if you need texture mods feel free to send me a friend request so i can explain it step by step thoroughly

[BrackObama2]

That's my biggest problem. my PC runs like 80 y/o man that smoked since he turned 12. I'm planning on buying new CPU, additional rams, etc.. It won't happen soon tho, so modding FO4 too much, or with too "masive" mods turns it into slideshow. Vanilla game runs on ~30-60FPS depending on what's going on, but I'm just too bored of vanilla FO4 by now.