The CORRECT complete guide for modding FO4

[PrincessAmysDragons]

Please confirm whether or not this is correct with a single YES or NO as a reply unless if making a correction to any of this you are CLEARLY explaining the fix to the edits.
Please DO NOT post any unconfirmed fixes unless you have CONFIRMED them. The point of this is for it to NOT become confusing to anybody...
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START:

Step1:
Whenever modding, you should make a backup of the ORIGINAL DATA folder for the game you are modding. Many mods will be buried deep into the DATA folder and can be hard to remove once installed. If you are having a CTD issue after doing a batch install of mods and need an escape route, with your ORIGINL DATA folder backed up, you can replace the data folder without having to re-install everything. This is your first step when modding Fallout 4.

Step2:
If you've installed your first 10 or so mods in one go and are having a CTD issue, replace the DATA folder with your backup and then install each mod one at a time. Install and test, install and test. This way you can determine which of the 10 or so mods is causing the CTD. This is good for both your modding experience as well as the mod author.

Step3.
If you are using F4SE for mods and are using a manual installation (which I believe is the only method of installation any longer), using either 7zip or WinRAR, extract the F4SE package. Apart from the compressed file itself, once extracted, copy all files directly to the folder that contains Fallout4.exe. If using NMM, instead of 'Launch Fallout 4' drop down and use 'Launch F4SE'. That's it.

 

The CORRECT edits to make as of 12/13/2017 at 11:26 AM for modding (or getting to run correctly) Fallout 4 are:

 

All of the edits are to the ini files found by going to Documents> My Games> Fallout 4

1. Fallout4Prefs.ini
THE ONLY EDITS NEEDED are these, yes?:

for 3440x1440 users, under [Display] (which is the first listed line at the very top of the Fallout4Prefs.ini), find the two lines below and make sure they look like this:

iSize H=1440
iSize W=3440

SEPARATELY from that:
(at the very bottom of the Fallout4Prefs.ini)

 

[Launcher]
uLastAspectRatio=1
[Archive]
bEnableFileSelection=1
sResourceDataDirsFinal=

2. Fallout4Custom.ini: (apparently you can create this if it isn't already there for you. I don't know what causes this to appear without you just creating it yourself.)
SHOULD IN TOTAL look like this, yes?:

[Display]
iLocation X=0
iLocation Y=0
[Archive]
bInvalidateOlderFiles=1
sResourceDataDirsFinal=

3. In Fallout4.ini, under [Archive] the following line(s) should look exactly like this, yes?:
(Please NOTE the addition of: , widescreen.ba2 to the 3rd line down from [Archive])
(and there should be NO other edits to make in Fallout4.ini)

[Archive]
sResourceIndexFileList=Fallout4 - Textures1.ba2, Fallout4 - Textures2.ba2, Fallout4 - Textures3.ba2, Fallout4 - Textures4.ba2, Fallout4 - Textures5.ba2, Fallout4 - Textures6.ba2, Fallout4 - Textures7.ba2, Fallout4 - Textures8.ba2, Fallout4 - Textures9.ba2
sResourceStartUpArchiveList=Fallout4 - Startup.ba2, Fallout4 - Shaders.ba2, Fallout4 - Interface.ba2, widescreen.ba2 (<add this)
SResourceArchiveList=Fallout4 - Voices.ba2, Fallout4 - Meshes.ba2, Fallout4 - MeshesExtra.ba2, Fallout4 - Misc.ba2, Fallout4 - Sounds.ba2, Fallout4 - Materials.ba2
SResourceArchiveList2=Fallout4 - Animations.ba2
sResourceDataDirsFinal= (there should be nothing after the = sign in this line)
SGeometryPackageList=Fallout4 - Geometry.csg
SCellResourceIndexFileList=Fallout4.cdx
SResourceArchiveMemoryCacheList= Fallout4 - Misc.ba2, Fallout4 - Shaders.ba2, Fallout4 - Interface.ba2, Fallout4 - Materials.ba2

 

::END:: (this and everything below this is not included in any edit anywhere)

If any of the above info is outdated or if there is any additional edit that is needed that is not covered in the above, please, EXTREMELY clearly correct the section in a comment.

Useful notes:
For 3440x1440 21:9 users:
The first time you go into Options from the launcher, it will revert the Fallout4Prefs.ini iSize settings. Once you change them back after the first time going into Options they should not change again.

 

UPDATE 02.20.2017

​For 3440x1440 use, the mod Truby9 when installed using the NMM will fix the game's resolution. Alternatively, you can still use Flawless Widescreen, but I have personally had success with Truby9 so I'd recommend giving it a try first.
​Link to Truby9:
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/24630/

Here is the link for Flawless Widescreen:
(Keep the Flawless Wide Screen program opened the entire time that you are playing FO4)
https://www.flawlesswidescreen.org/

Find Fallout4 in the list. Apart from unticking the box for use with 16:9, don't change any of the sliders for FOV or any of the other boxes. As far as I am aware, none of the other information needs to be changed for this to work as intended.

 

Select Yes to the initial box that comes up:

 

 

 

Do NOT change anything in any of this, but select Save Changes at the bottom:

 

 

 

The end result when you're ready to play the game should look like this:

 

 

If your PipBoy is really far back in the game and not at all close to the screen like it should be, try this (console command):
fov 110 80 (enter as the first submission in the console)
refreshini (as the second submission).

 

This should bring the PipBoy back to where it is supposed to be.

 

Troubleshooting and Setup Outcomes:

 

If you are literally following the same steps as me, somewhere in the setup of this I keep either adding or not adding something that causes my game to CTD when I try to either load a game or start a new one, about 7 seconds after I either load the game or start a new one (as soon as the husband starts to wipe off the mirror when starting a new game). So, I am going to go through this completely again and make all of the tweaks but not install any mods yet, and start a new game. If I can make sure the new game is starting correctly, I will very meticulously start to install mods 1 at a time: install one, load the game. No CTD? Quit and install another, repeat.

 

It seems to me that in making these ini tweaks and NOT using the initial wide screen mod from the nexus, the 3440x1440 fix appears to be working as well with absolutely no need for the installation of that mod. (Still includes the use of FWS though).

 

Ok so steps so far:
1. Install FO4.
2. Install NMM.
3. Run FO4 and create 1 save file.
4. Quit game.
5. Do all INI tweaks including creation of Fallout4Custom.ini.
6. Install Flawless Wide Screen.
7. With FWS running, run game and load save file again. Wide screen fix seems to be holding steady with no issues and is working dor 3440x1440.
8. Try and install a single mod to ensure that mods are working: Installing CBBE mod through the NMM installer.
No CTD yet so that's a good sign. Installing CBBE v2.3. I might even keep an installed mod log here to update this with which mods I install incase anyone else may be having trouble with their installation based on everything done for setup so far.

 

The installation of CBBE is active and holding stable. I will install the next mod at the point right after I exit the vault so that I can get a better perspective of whether or not the mods are actually working as intended.

 

04282017 - I removed the mod log as individual issues with mods are a separate issue from what this article's intended purpose is. Feel free to test your own mods after following this and basically if they are working as intended then you've followed this guide correctly.

Edited February 20, 2018 by PrincessAmysDragons

[PrincessAmysDragons]

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