How to activate mods for 1.5 Survival/Steam beta.

[Fatalmasterpiece]

These instructions are intended to work with the survival beta which is now integrated with the Steam beta of Fallout 4 v1.5

(Please note that this method does not support "Mod Manager 2" and is incompatible)

Fallout 4 reads a file called "plugins.txt" for it's list of plug in mods to load. A Mod Manager like Nexus Mod Manager edits plugins.txt for you rather than you having to manually do this. In the latest versions of the game, Bethesda has changed the formatting for plugins.txt and NMM has not yet updated to properly handle this.
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*update*

 

4/21/2016 - Launching Fallout4.exe or Fallout4launcher.exe no longer clears your plugins.txt of non-Bethesda plugins so setting plugins.txt to "read only" is no longer necessary. Note that NMM will still change this parameter so it will be necessary to change this after opening NMM.

 

4/23/2016 - NMM V 0.61.17 has been updated for the new changes to plugins.txt and FO5 V 1.5 so using this workaround is no longer required.

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Typically, Mod Managers like NMM automate this process by editing your plugins.txt for you and setting it to read only when launching from the manager. They also manage downloaded files etc. Until NMM is updated, it will be necessary to complete this extra step to get mods working.

• Install your mods as normal with Nexus Mod Manager
• Close your Nexus Mod Manager.
• Find "C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Fallout4\plugins.txt", right click > properties > uncheck "read only" (C:\ may be replaced by a different drive number on your computer) (See update ^)4) Open "plugins.txt"
• Add an asterisk before all non-Bethesda plugins. Your plugins.txt list should look something like:
  

  Fallout4.esm
  DLCRobots.esm
  *Console-enable.esp
  *Coolmod.esp

  (you may place any other plugins here with an * before it)
• Save "plugins.txt"
• Launch FO4 WITH THE VANILLA GAME LAUNCHER NOT NMM. (Fallout4.exe, Fallout4launcher.exe, Steam)

You must then repeat this process every time you make any changes to your mod list or open Nexus Mod Manager. Yes, every time. It's annoying but until they updated NMM this is how you must do it.

This method is intended to be used for plugin (.esp/.esm) mods and is not intended to work with scripted interface mods like Fallout UI. File replacer mods like texture replacers should work as normal with no work around needed.

Thanks to Tuskin38 for pointing out the change to plugins.txt :smile:

[Razorhoof78]

I used this method and only some of my mods were acitvated. Some texture mods (LED Black Pop-Boy, 4k stars and others), CBBE and probably a few others won't load. The game wouldn't load at all with Fallout4Custom.ini in my "my games" folder. Am I missing something?

 

 

 

EDIT: Fixed. Just in case anyone else is having the same problem, I fixed it by deleting the "Interface" folder in Fallout4/Data.

Edited April 19, 2016 by Razorhoof78

[st2050]

This is just a iteration of method #3, which was described in the SMVMM topic. Moreover, SMWMM offers two automated solutions to modify plugins.txt - a bat-file and my utility https://itmages.ru/image/view/4144774/582c63fb.

I propose to respect the first author and mention him at least. Please look at the date of publication: SMVMM by ngneko - http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/11479/?

Edited April 20, 2016 by st2050

[Andarus2]

Is there any way to get the UI Mods working? I really can't take the Vanilla-UI.

[Fatalmasterpiece]

This is just a iteration of method #3, which was described in the SMVMM topic. Moreover, SMWMM offers two automated solutions to modify plugins.txt - a bat-file and my utility https://itmages.ru/image/view/4144774/582c63fb.

I propose to respect the first author and mention him at least. Please look at the date of publication: SMVMM by ngneko - http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/11479/?

You're right, I take no credit for figuring out this method. I'm just posting this information so that's it's available on the forums with easy to follow instructions so that other users can point to here when explaining how to make this work. It's not meant to be competitive of who figure out what first.

 

In other words, I didn't invent the wheel, I'm just offering instructions on how to make a wheel for those who want to.

 

Btw the I haven't tried your utility but it looks useful. Thanks.

 

 

Is there any way to get the UI Mods working? I really can't take the Vanilla-UI.

Not that I know of. Personally I do not generally use UI mods because, being closely tied to the game version, they are the most likely mods to cause compatibility problems any time the devs change something. FO4 has had a hot version release schedule lately. All I can say is good luck keeping up with it.

 

[kworal]

does the beta that came out today(4/20) still affect modding?

[Aeradom]

This post should really be stickied as a lot of people are going to be coming with this question.

[st2050]

This post should really be stickied as a lot of people are going to be coming with this question.

 

Why this post? It is not original. Source of the information has not been published as well.

By publishing copy-paste the author does not deserve fame.

[Aeradom]

 

This post should really be stickied as a lot of people are going to be coming with this question.

 

Why this post? It is not original. Source of the information has not been published as well.

By publishing copy-paste the author does not deserve fame.

 

 

I don't care so much about the fame, but on people who do not know such information having access to it. The last thing I want to have happened is for this to get buried, and then people coming to Mod Troubleshooting flooding the section when there is one solution for all (for this particular issue I mean). At this point, I've put this page on my bookmark bar because I want to quickly access it if I look to change my mods.

Edited April 21, 2016 by Aeradom

[Fatalmasterpiece]

 

This post should really be stickied as a lot of people are going to be coming with this question.

 

Why this post? It is not original. Source of the information has not been published as well.

By publishing copy-paste the author does not deserve fame.

 

I'm not seeking fame, I'm just trying to help people with their mods and by placing this in the troubleshooting section people looking for help will be able to find it. That is why this is in the Troubleshooting section and not an uploaded "mod" with endorsements. This isn't a contest, I haven't included a link to ngneko's page because they include two other methods which cause bugs and glitches in the game. I believe it is not a good idea to list those methods at all.