FO4 Console Mods

[RustyXXL]

console is a poor man's computer, and their modding experience will be similar, I wouldn't denigrate them while at the same time I will warn it will be frustrating to deal with them as well, but it's like this with every newcomer to anything - as well as inferior rigs in general, the combo however might test patience a LOT more than one might typically see (just a head's up, no ill intent)

 

No, it won't be similar. Not by a long stretch.

1. I myself have some things planned/in the works, that simply won't be possible on consoles, unless Bethesda expands on the functionality of Papyrus. Basically Beth implemented only those functions that hey needed themself. f4se will most likely lead to a lot more scripting access to a lot of the references, and those mods will not be possible on consoles.

2. I can't test on consoles, because quite simply I don't have any. As such, even if I have a mod that will work on consoles, and I decide to release it, whenever someone with reports or problems comes from a console, my answer will simply be: I can' test on consoles, and I can't even check if there are any relevant differences between the versions. Thus I simply can't support them in any responsible way, shape or form. I don't know how other modders will handle that...

3. The way the references and overriding records work, only the last mod making a change to a record will have its changes applied. The effects of these can appear in all kinds of ways. From stuff simply not appearing ingame, to crashing issues etc, because one mod set a vanila record to deleted, which another mod relies on. This already was a problem in previous games, but could be solved via merged patches, bashed patches etc. The possibilities in that regard on the bethesda.net platform and on the consoles themselves are severely limited. And to be clear, there are already mods out there which change the same leveled lists etc. So that problem is already there. The way that modding is presented on consoles, and the "ease of use" approach, will only make this matter worse, especially for modders having to deal with much more people not informed how modding in beth games works.

4. The interface is simply horrible and having to look for bug reports, request etc, having to upload your mod to multiple sites etc. is annoying. The Bethesda.net interfafe might work for smaller mods, but for bigger projects I find it severely limited, to a point, where I feel that beth expects modders to just throw their mods out there and then just don't care anymore about it. The Interface is simply putting me off and making me feel disrespected by bethesda, and as such I really have a hard time accepting it for more than "fire and forget" type of mods. Several other bigger modders have expressed that same feeling, as such it is to expected, that a lot of these mods either won't make it to bethesda.net, or will lack any kind of support by the modders, which in turn will reflect badly on the quality of mods available for consoles, leading to a much more frustrating experience for any console-users breaking bethesdas "rule of one"

 

in short...before modding on consoles will be just halfway comparable to what it is on PCs we most likely see a Fallout New Vegas 3. Until then it's a nice gimmicky thing, but nowhere near to what it was in Skyrim or what it is already in FO4 on PC, because Bethesda failed to deliver a proper infrastructure like it already exists for PC users.

[VitameatavegamN]

scot, you're right. They are restricting the nexus mods that are allowed to be ported to console. Bethesda.net lists all the approved mods, and the list is much shorter than on the nexus site. For example, I've learned ArmorSmith will NOT be ported, which is sad, because it was one of the ones I was looking forward to the most.

[VitameatavegamN]

DaemonGrin, thank you! I've been using this user name on various sites for YEARS, and you're the first person to ever mention where it came from. Also, I appreciate your advice. It seems that this post stepped on the toes of a lot of sensitive PC enthusiasts, which wasn't my intent. I originally posted a request for help on a separate site for the FO4 game in general, and it was recommended I forward my question here, which is why I came over here in the first place. I've found some mods on Bethesda.net that should be approved for consoles and seem interesting: Any Mod Any Weapon, True Storms, Darker Nights, Value Per Weight Indicator, Vendor Caps, Docile Radstags, Modern Firearms, Tactical Weapons Mods, and Better Automatron Weapons. The problem is, I have no real way of determining if they're the best or most appropriate mods to use, and since console modding for FO4 isn't even available yet, I don't know how it works or if those mods would interfere with each other. I was hoping someone here who is familiar with console mods for other games might be able to shed some light on that.

[VitameatavegamN]

TheBoogerMan, thank you for the detailed recommendations. I'll have to hop over to the Bethesda site to ensure the mods you've recommended will be available on the Xbox as well. I know you're playing PC and probably won't know, but is the mod installation process even remotely similar to PC as it will be to console?

[YouRGankeD]

It's funny reading all these salty PC elitists losing the last thing they have over consoles players. Saying "Console is a poor-mans computer" and saying that modding is a grown-up activity, etc... Are you guys slow? I have an Xbox one and love the thing. I don't think you guys realize that no singular GAME MACHINE is objectively better than the other. And before you say "lol console pleb gtfo noob" I'm typing this on a $1300 rig you poor bastards. Come on guys, it's sad, grow up.

 

And for OP I don't have anything constructive to say to you because I'm new to FO modding, however don't let these chumps put you down.. There is no "modding community" like everyone likes to claim. There is however a VERY small group of talented people who make mods, who deserve to be commended. And there's a HUGE group of spuds who just download mods (I fall into this category btw, except that part ->) who have their heads up their asses. Why do you think mods are coming to consoles? It's because the mod creators are doing it for the love of the craft. Why do you think people (that don't make mods) hate the idea of mods coming to the consoles? It's because they need something to feel superior about.

 

Edit: I forgot to mention about the saints who actually help others fix issues with their mods. Which I don't think there is many in this thread.

Edited May 12, 2016 by YouRGankeD

[RustyXXL]

[...]

 

And yet there are still very technical reasons why modding on consoles won't be the same, unless Bethesda vastly invests in their Scripting engine, Conflict resolution and lastly the Beth.net interface. apart from the fact that for many modders supporting muliple distribution platforms is simply annoying. That has nothing to do with elitism, just with bethesdas "rule of one mod" philosophy with which they seem to be developing their internal modding support.

[TheBoogerMan]

You're welcome.

I know you're playing PC and probably won't know, but is the mod installation process even remotely similar to PC as it will be to console?

When using NMM, most of the time you just click "Download with NMM" and the application opens and downloads the mod. You then click on the mod to install it. Then using the plugin list, you activate the mod and adjust your load order (if the mod had a .esm or .esp file; some mods don't - like many texture, mesh or material replacers).

Manual download and installation is certainly out for consoles (I've just gotten to where that's how I handle mods for FO4 - it's not complicated; download a mod, unzip it and copy & paste it into your game's directory).

For the console I imagine it'll be just clicking the download button; I didn't actually download anything when I tried out Bethesda.net, but I didn't see a "Install" button when I was looking at the various mods or the plugin list. So if you download a mod, it'll probably install immediately (unless enormous in size, most mods install in a split second). You'll still have to activate any mods you have with the plugin list for them to work (or at least that's currently how it is in the Beta). So... for someone using a console like yourself, the process will probably be:

 

1. Download & Install

2. Activate mod(s)

3. Adjust load order

4. Backout

5. You'll be notified that "your load order has changed" or something like that - click "yes" and wait a few seconds while the console does it's thing (you'll see a black screen with a loading icon)

6. Launch your game.

 

Note that you only have to go through the above process when adding a new mod, not every time you wanna play.

[Reneer]

It's funny reading all these salty PC elitists losing the last thing they have over consoles players. Saying "Console is a poor-mans computer" and saying that modding is a grown-up activity, etc... Are you guys slow? I have an Xbox one and love the thing. I don't think you guys realize that no singular GAME MACHINE is objectively better than the other. And before you say "lol console pleb gtfo noob" I'm typing this on a $1300 rig you poor bastards. Come on guys, it's sad, grow up.

A PC is objectively better than either the Xbox One or the PS4 in terms of modding, simply because there are tools such as Fallout 4 Script Extender and Mod Organizer / Nexus Mod Manager that will never be ported to the consoles. These tools allow for mod authors to do more things within the game than would otherwise be possible.

[TheBoogerMan]

I've learned ArmorSmith will NOT be ported, which is sad, because it was one of the ones I was looking forward to the most.

That's because Armorsmith Extended requires another mod to function - Armor and Weapon Keywords Community Resource (AWKCR) by Valdacil and Gambit77.

 

I'm almost certain that Bethesda is going to stick to standalone mods due to this kind of complication. So unless you have multiple mod authors "bundling" their mods together (and I wouldn't hold my breath...) there will only be standalone mods for FO4 on console machines.