Mod Debate 1: Snapable Junk Fences vs Simple Intersection

[Aeradom]

Welcome, and thank you for taking the time to look at this topic for what I hope will be a very informative thread (and hopefully series of threads). Up front, I'll let you know that I've not been able to try any of these mods; so I clearly cannot provide an opinion one way or the other. However, it is my hope that through a discussion of the pros and cons of these mods down below, it can be established which is the superior mod. Now let me be clear that when I say "superior", I don't just mean in terms of quality of content, but also stability, frequency of updates, easier to install/uninstall if necessary (i.e. presences of strings), as well future plans (i.e. if one mod author says he will continue to update as opposed to another one who is stepping aside). My hope isn't just that this topic will help me in picking out mods for my new play through (with my new GTX 970 :cool: that hopefully with give me above 30 FPS without turning my game into a Picasso painting), but also that by creating threads like these, it will help others that come onto the forum looking for advice as to which one is better. Once either a consensus has been formed, I'll update the original post highlighting some of the key points on both sides so that should anyone else have this same question down the road, they can quickly get answer. With all that aside, let's get started with our first face off:

 

I don't know about you, but the most annoying thing when I first started playing the game (besides the fact that my game looked and played like crap on my old 6950) was those damn holes in the walls of the settlements. It was so frustrating to try and get them lined up just right only to see gaping holes in the wall. It's might be a little thing to you, but for me it completely blows away any immersion to step back and see all these holes that Raiders, Super mutants and whatever other horrors the wasteland has can just squeeze right on through (or at least shoot all my settlers through). Fortunately, there has come two individuals to offer a solution to this problem:

 

Simple Intersection by Draco856 (http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/2683/?)

Snapable Junk Fences by Darth Wayne (http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/9000/?).

On this one, I have a bit of a head start thanks to Gopher who has covered both mods in his amazing videos and thus a lot of my understanding comes from him (if haven't checked him out, you should and I'll link the aforementioned videos at the bottom) For that reason, at leas ton the surface, this one at least on the surface does seem like a no brainier. Snapable Junk Fences looks to be far simpler and quicker to use, was updated only a few weeks ago (as opposed to Simple Intersection that was last updated Jan 31) and would appear to alter far less things and be confined to Junk Fences (which is really the reason I'm looking at these mods.) However, it's for those reasons that I'm surprised to see Simple Intersection have nearly six times as many endorsements. Thus I'm left wondering if I'm missing something as it would appear the community largely favors Simple Intersection.

 

But like I said, I wouldn't know at the moment, so I'm eager to hear your thoughts.

 

 

My Verdict: Snapable Junk Walls WITH Place Everywhere. To my surprise, you actually can use both. According to DarthWayne, the author of Snapable Junk Walls:

 

 

You can use both. Just make sure the junk fences are below SI in your load order. You also don't have to edit something in xEdit, as the junk fences already have the same changes SI gives them. It also allows you to place them on water and sink them halfway into the ground.

 

To sum it up:

Use the snapping fences if you want to build quick walls without holes (and battlements).

Use the SI or Place Everywhere if you don't want to be limited to the snap nodes. However I am not sure if SI will be enough to make them seamless...

 

A small hint: The tcl command, which disables collision, will also disable snapping. :wink:

 

The reason I chose Place Everywhere instead of Simple Intersection is mainly because I'm also looking to put some things outside of the settlement proper. As Ethreon pointed out:

 

 

You will have to place it down inside the border, then pick it up and move outside wherever you want. Just make sure border timeout is turned off.

 

Thanks for all that have responded! I will lead this topic open, and if new information becomes available that requires me to edit this post, I'll do so.

Edited April 14, 2016 by Aeradom

[Ethreon]

Pro of SI - elements that have it can slightly fit into each other.

Con - it will not work to elements it wasn't applied to, since SI is basically a set of AVIFs that have to be added via a plugin editor (like FO4Edit).

 

Pro of snappable junk fences - they snap.

Con - rather finicky sometimes, and it can stop you from placing them at different positions other than the snapping ones when elements are close to each other.

 

 

Best outcome - Snappable fences + SI properties.

[EmissaryOfWind]

Place Everywhere ftw

[TheOriginalEvilD]

I wouldn't want them snappable because I don't build fences in a square pattern, so unless you can work it out so I can snap them at any angle it would only work for square fences.

[Aeradom]

Pro of SI - elements that have it can slightly fit into each other.

Con - it will not work to elements it wasn't applied to, since SI is basically a set of AVIFs that have to be added via a plugin editor (like FO4Edit).

 

Pro of snappable junk fences - they snap.

Con - rather finicky sometimes, and it can stop you from placing them at different positions other than the snapping ones when elements are close to each other.

 

 

Best outcome - Snappable fences + SI properties.

 

Can you do that? I mean, like load SI after Snapable?

 

Place Everywhere ftw

 

That was another one I considered, and am certainly happy to add it into the original post if others agree that it's superior to the other two. Honestly, the only reason I didn't consider it was that it did more than I was looking for it to do. And seeing as I wanted this to be a more even comparison, and wasn't looking to place tables in walls or buildings on top of buildings, I decided it might be too much for my to install off the bat. The other thing I noticed is that it requires F4SE, and for me, the less I have to install to get what I want, the better as that means less things that can go wrong, you know?

 

I wouldn't want them snappable because I don't build fences in a square pattern, so unless you can work it out so I can snap them at any angle it would only work for square fences.

 

Actually, with Snapable fences, you can in fact built at an angle. In the video, Gopher shows how with using the junk fences with tire, you can actually have your wall curve.

Edited April 14, 2016 by Aeradom

[Ethreon]

Nope. You have to go and manually patch snappable fences. Not sure if the author did it.

[Aeradom]

Nope. You have to go and manually patch snappable fences. Not sure if the author did it.

 

By going into FO4E I assume? If we're talking more than simply a merged patch, that's just not something I'm willing to do. I'm afraid that I'll just end up messing something up and breaking my save, which would make me cry.

[Ethreon]

 

Nope. You have to go and manually patch snappable fences. Not sure if the author did it.

 

By going into FO4E I assume? If we're talking more than simply a merged patch, that's just not something I'm willing to do. I'm afraid that I'll just end up messing something up and breaking my save, which would make me cry.

 

Not worth making a merged patch, and the automatic merging does't apply to constructible objects, you have to do it manually. With the knowledge and certain scripts, it takes around 1 minute.

[Aeradom]

 

Not worth making a merged patch, and the automatic merging does't apply to constructible objects, you have to do it manually. With the knowledge and certain scripts, it takes around 1 minute.

cry.

 

 

 

Problem is, I probably don't have the knowledge. I'm a veteran of using mods with FNV and Skyrim, but I've never actually gotten into the gritty of using tools. And scripts making me nervous because that's the sort of stuff that if mishandled, can ruin a save.

[Ethreon]

 

 

Not worth making a merged patch, and the automatic merging does't apply to constructible objects, you have to do it manually. With the knowledge and certain scripts, it takes around 1 minute.

cry.

 

 

 

Problem is, I probably don't have the knowledge. I'm a veteran of using mods with FNV and Skyrim, but I've never actually gotten into the gritty of using tools. And scripts making me nervous because that's the sort of stuff that if mishandled, can ruin a save.

 

Not that kind of scripts. xEdit scripts are made with same scripting language as the tool itself, and they handle tasks solely inside the tool (eg. changing names, Editor IDs etc.). They're automation tools, and exist as a separate mod that can be downloaded and installed in the script folder of FO4Edit.