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About this mod
This guide will provide a complete horror-themed overhaul of Fallout 4 for both new and veteran modders. It uses Whispering Hills and Fallout 4-76 Open World at its core to completely transform the game into a terrifying and unique survival-horror open exploration experience.
- Requirements
-
DLC requirements
DLC name Automatron Wasteland Workshop Far Harbor Contraptions Workshop Vault-Tec Workshop Nuka World - Permissions and credits
-
Credits and distribution permission
- Other user's assets Some assets in this file belong to other authors. You will need to seek permission from these authors before you can use their assets
- Upload permission You are not allowed to upload this file to other sites under any circumstances
- Modification permission You must get permission from me before you are allowed to modify my files to improve it
- Conversion permission You are not allowed to convert this file to work on other games under any circumstances
- Asset use permission You must get permission from me before you are allowed to use any of the assets in this file
- Asset use permission in mods/files that are being sold You are not allowed to use assets from this file in any mods/files that are being sold, for money, on Steam Workshop or other platforms
- Asset use permission in mods/files that earn donation points You are not allowed to earn Donation Points for your mods if they use my assets
- Console modding permission This mod will not be available on Bethesda.net for console users
Author notes
This author has not provided any additional notes regarding file permissions
File credits
Ghost1080p for allowing me to modify their Ghost ENB for this guide.
Donation Points system
This mod is not opted-in to receive Donation Points
- Changelogs
-
-
Version 3.5
- Updated Workshop Framework
- Updated Equipment and Crafting Overhaul
- Updated SKK Feral Nights
- Updated MCM Settings Manager
- Updated BethINI (WJ)
- Updated Ultimate Window Overhaul
- Added Wetness Shader Fix
- Added More Oil Lamps
- Added several weapons to weapons/equipment section that are recommended for use to fit the survival horror vibe
- Removed Wasteland Illumination (replaced by More Oil Lamps)
- Removed Maxwell's World (too much compatibility headache, but amazing mod otherwise!)
- Removed Quick Modification Weapon (replaced with custom weapon selections)
- Added survival horror weapon selections to WJ-exclusive version stash loadout behind the player house
- Updated load order and patches as necessary
- Added a patch for Equipment and Crafting Overhaul for WJ users intended for those who won't be modifying the setup
-
Version 3.4
- Added FallEvil Mega Zombie Pack
- Removed More Feral Ghouls
- Moved Raw Input after Immersive Fallout in load order
- Removed No More Leaping Ghouls
- Updated Boston FPS Fix to PRP Edition
- Removed True Caves (removed from Nexus)
- Updated load order and patches to reflect changes
-
Version 3.3.1
- Overhauled main ENB preset using Ghost ENB as foundation with perms from Ghost1080p
- Updated cinematic ENB preset to go in line with main preset
- Reworked levelled list patching around 4estgimp's new tank tweak fix for FGEP
- Added interior color and lighting correction from Polluted Climate
- All SKK mods now link to nexus versions given that they've now been republished there
- Load order and patches updated to accommodate aforementioned changes
-
Version 3.3
- Added dynamic music overhaul
- Added multi-color flares to nate's footlocker loadout
- Removed deathwings
- Added True Caves
- (Re)added More Feral Ghouls
- Updated custom actor list to replace more vanilla factions
- Reworked levelled list for SKK 4-76 OW replacers
- Revamped WC MCM Settings preset
- Added/reworked patches to accommodate changes
- Updated load order to accommodate changes
- Added LL edit to otherworld so GRIM and Whispering Hills creatures spawn during the Otherworld
-
Version 3.2
- Finally perfected the dynamic spawn system to include ALL GRIM creatures in rotation without any issues. SKK 4-76 OW now focuses on GRIM creature spawns and SKK Replace Any Actor custom list focuses on other creature mods. Updated the GRIM replacer plugin to do this.
- Removed More Feral Ghouls (hidden on nexus)
- Reworked patches based on aforementioned changes
- Updated some MCM settings for the WC MCM Settings preset related to iHUD
-
Version 3.1
- Added SKK actor replacement system with custom list to replace additional vanilla actors with guide creatures and updated holotape section of guide to reflect necessary actions for use
- Added No Radiation (Redone)
- Updated MCM link as temporary bypass
- Updated patches for new mod version updates
- Added Everyone's Best Friend, EBF-UFO4P hotfix, and SCM-EBF patch
- Revised FGEP description to not select SKK Feral Nights patch to allow for more spawn diversity
- Removed Voodoo's super mutant replacer (deprecated by SKK actor replacement system)
- Updated instructions for More Feral Ghouls to reflect significant update
- Updated descriptions and load order to reflect all changes as necessary
-
Version 3.0
- Massive re-release of the guide after a months-long hiatus. Complete rebuild!
-
Version 2.5.3
- Small update to remove Player House Starting Gear and replace with Nate's Old Footlocker custom loadout and add Poet's Optimization Patches Collection
-
Version 2.5.2
- Hotfix for load order and patches to no longer include RE Zombie Dogs and Fainthearth Manor (hidden from Nexus)
-
Version 2.5
- Removed the optional winter section but included Campsite, Hunter of the Commonwealth and More Wildlife elsewhere
- Added The Witch House and The Cemetery mini-quest/worldspace mods
- Updated Merged Fixes instructions to not use Smooth First Person Sprint and replace with Sprint Stuttering Fix
- Removed Private Profile Redirector and Faster Workshop (redundant with Buffout 4)
- Removed Murder Death Scream
- Removed ENB Lights Overhaul
- Removed Digital Nightmare (Whispering Hills music now plays everywhere in the Commonwealth)
- Removed Ka-Bar Becker Bk-9 and Walther P99
- Replaced Horrorghouls Sound Pack with F.E.R.A.L. sound rework
- Replaced AWKCR/AE with ACO, Standalone Workbenches, and Crafting Framework along with description on how to create CF patch
- Added weapon mods in line with theme including 9x39 project, OTS-33 Pernach, Militia Rifle, DefenseGun, Pjar Makeshift Pistol, Only Death Could Part Us, and Cranky
- Added Silent Hill Radio
- Added FallEvil Lickers
- Reworked SKK mod listings into a new subsection due to rehosting on personal site and added SKK Feral Nights
- Removed Better Cooking Stations
- Relinked Swinging Animated Meat Bags to BRB Collective Modding Discord server
- Added Improved Lighting Ballistics and Spitfire
- Replaced HBT and HWL standard with Spitfire versions
- Replaced BRB Merged Audio with several individual audio mods
- Added NPCs Travel
- Updated modlist, patch set, and load order to accommodate aforementioned changes
- Overhauled ENB preset to look more like Silent Hill with less blue and less saturation
- Updated documentation, links, descriptions, and references as necessary
-
Version 2.0
- Whispering Chills has gotten a huge update primarily focused around adding on an optional winter “module”. With these mods the Commonwealth will be transformed into a desolate frozen tundra and filled with even more immersive survival gameplay elements to make the Whispering Chills experience feel more “lived in”. This addon comes in the form of a new section wedged between the Load Order and Starting the Game - Holotape and MCM Configuration - Final Steps sections of the guide. This section comes with its own load order and patch set to accommodate the new batch of mod additions. Along with the winter update, please take note of these other important updates to the guide:
- Reworked the wording and structure of the guide to accommodate for more user freedom when using the guide. I highly recommend and prefer using every single mod in the guide for the best possible experience of course, however based on relative importance and also the requirements of our patch sets I have starred only the mods which are required for use with the guide. If you want to experience Whispering Chills, you must at the very least have all of the starred mods installed in the Installing the Mods section of the guide.
- NEW optional mod inclusion under the Main Files section of WC’s Files tab titled WC SKK 4-76 Custom Actor Replacer. This mod is now listed in the Installing the Mods section just before the patches and should be loaded last in the load order just before the player house starting gear mod listed below if using it or just before the patches if not. This mod (credits to T00Sp00kyFoU) allows for you to choose the CUSTOM option on the first line of the SKK 4-76 Open World holotape at the start of your playthrough. If you choose CUSTOM instead of NOTHING (for replace actors with) then every NPC that would otherwise be removed from the game by running the holotape will instead be replaced by eyeless gnashers from Whispering Hills. Using this mod there will be a LOT more enemies to face in the form of massive hordes of gnashers, but the biggest benefit comes by way of how it livens up interiors as it will spawn several gnashers in interiors that would otherwise be entirely empty
- NEW optional mod inclusion thanks to the work of the great CyberDanz who created a starting gear mod just for Whispering Chills. This mod titled Whispering Chills Player House Starting Gear has been added to the Installing the Mods section of the guide as the very last mod before the patches, just after SKK 4-76 Custom Actor Replacer. Whispering Chills can be a grueling experience; even more so with the winter addon mods. With few to no human NPC’s to loot for supplies and no quests to complete and gain rewards from, basic resources can be difficult to come by. Luckily, your player character (in a role-playing perspective) just happened to be an apocalypse-fearing fanatic even before the bombs dropped and saved up special stashes of everything one would need to survive a nuclear winter. Return to the player house and you will find all the supplies you need to start out in playing with Whispering Chills. There is more than enough supplies there so take what you need and leave what you don’t. Load this last just before the patches and after SKK 4-76 Custom Actor Replacer if using it.
- Updated the ENB preset to match winter mod visuals. I struggled to balance the preset between with and without winter mods because the winter mods change the visuals quite a bit and makes things generally brighter especially at night so I had to adjust the preset to account for that. As a tradeoff this means that nights in the core guide without winter mods are also considerably darker. I like and appreciate how nights look with and without the winter mods using the preset and I like how dark nights are without the winter mods as only the lighting mods and fog patches can lead the way, but for some it may just be too dark to the point of frustration. Based on feedback I may upload separate versions of the preset for with or without winter mods accordingly so that there is better visual consistency in either direction. Let me know if you take issue with the preset update.
- Nerfed those damned Resident Evil (FallEvil) zombie dogs for those using them. You should no longer be killed in one bite or have to empty two clips into a dog during every encounter with them
- Added a new patch set and loadorder.txt file to sort plugins under the Optional Files section of the guide’s Files tab for the winter mods. Note you do not have to use all of the mods in the winter section; only those you wish to use personally as each mod and the entire section is an optional addon
- Replaced/updated the loadorder.txt and patch set for the core guide mods under Main Files
- Updated descriptions and images where necessary
-
Version 1.5.1
- -Hotfix to correct an issue that caused the entrance to Whispering Hills to be blocked
- -Uploaded new patch set and load order to fix aforementioned issue
-
Version 1.5
- -Added quest mods section filled with horror-themed quest mods that complement the theme of the guide. With the development of Whispering Hills over time this bunch of quest mods will more or less replace the missing vanilla questline disabled by SKK 4-76 Open World
- -Entirely removed Ada from the game since she was overpowered as a companion and did not fit the tone of the guide
- -Nerfed lying figure spit damage
- -Added advanced perks
- -Removed Road Flares and replaced it with Multi Color Flares which allows for more flare variety as well as longer length flares (up to 150 seconds!)
- -Updated guide's ENB preset to account for visual changes in latest Whispering Hills update
- -Combined core and optional patch sets into a single patch set where each plugin has a description of which can/can't be disabled allowing for more mods to be optional based on single patches
- -Updated patch set with new and updated patches against mod additions and updates
- -Updated guide wording for clarification on potentially confusing sections
-
Version 1.1
- -Updated wording and instructions to accommodate mod updates
- -Removed Crafting Framework
- -Removed Live Dismemberment
- -Added Riot Shotgun custom animations
- -Added FallEvil Zombie Dogs
- -Added Mutilated Dead Bodies
- -Added Murder Death Scream
- -Updated patches and provided load order to accommodate mod updates/removals/additions
-
Whispering Chills is now an official listing on the Wabbajack UI. If you are in a rush or already know a lot about modding then feel free to try this out as it is an automated means of installing the modlist very quickly with very little effort. If you are interested in this approach check out the Readme for the Wabbajack version. I highly recommend you install the guide manually if you are newer to modding Fallout 4.
Spoiler:
Whispering Chills is a horror experience unlike any other. It is intended to be entirely standalone in that you don't need to enjoy or know how to play Fallout 4 to be able to enjoy it as a horror fan in general. It is about as "lore-unfriendly" as you can get purely using the engine as a vessel to craft an entirely new experience through a unique combination of mods that enhance/rework its core mechanics and add new content that entirely change its core focus. Unlike most other Bethesda games where the horror element feels tacked on at best even using mods, the amazing modding community around this game has afforded us the opportunity to overhaul the Fallout 4 experience into an entirely unique other experience. The core premise revolves around an alternate vision of the Commonwealth where a door to the paranormal dimension has allowed for literal hell on earth to take over and has left very little remains in its wake. Your ultimate goal and place in this hellscape is for you to decide. We've stripped away several trademarks of the base game to distinguish this as a standalone experience based in its own universe. Here are a few highlights of what to expect:
We've tried making the Whispering Chills experience as simple as possible to set up. This includes providing a more in-depth video tutorial which is currently in the works and will be posted here upon completion! Even those new to modding Fallout 4 should be able to set this up by following the provided directions. If you have any questions throughout your journey please don't hesitate to ask on the Fallout 4 Experiences Discord server and we will respond as quickly as possible. All materials (including patches, addons, and even a custom ENB preset) that are necessary in order to craft the intended experience on any PC with the hardware to handle it will be provided to you. Just follow the directions throughout carefully and you will end up with the most stable and FPS-friendly modded Fallout 4 setup you've ever experienced that gives way to an entirely new adventure of which stands apart from any other modded setup you may have already tried.
A great deal of time went into not only curating a list of mods that play well with one another and combine to form a singular, consistent experience but also extending those mods to their full potential and allowing them to interact in unprecedented ways. The core foundation of this setup can be credited to SKK50 and Mangaclub, the creators of SKK 4-76 Open World and Whispering Hills, respectively. Without their contributions to the community, such a comprehensive horror setup like this simply would not be possible. SKK 4-76 Open World is an amazing (and underutilized) mod that shuts down most vanilla quests and removes most vanilla NPC's (all human, ghoul, and synth race NPC's to be exact). When paired with Whispering Hills properly it allows for the horrors of Silent Hill to take over the Commonwealth in an immersive way that does not involve Vertibirds shredding the skies and Preston bothering you about a settlement every 5 minutes.
This unique combination makes for an already enthralling experience in and of itself, however you can't simply remove the core of the game without adding something back in. And so our solution was to take the capabilities of 4-76 Open World a step further and use it to replace removed actors with a custom levelled list of creature options from several mods to be installed in the setup. Using this unprecedented method we were essentially able to construct our own spawn system pulling in any creatures of our choosing from any mods in this setup in an otherwise unattainable way. This also afforded us the ability to integrate creatures from another prominent horror mod, Grim, without having to activate its curse feature and potentially losing the core features and identity Whispering Hills introduces by way of the conflicts between them.
And to round it off we extensively scoured Nexus for and tested several of the very best horror quest/worldspace mods to introduce into the experience in place of the vanilla quests SKK 4-76 Open World would be removing. We also created patches to "protect" the essential NPC's in these quests as the quests would not work or play out as intended without these patches when running SKK 4-76 Open World. All in all, these enhancements and many others we brought forth (patches, ENB preset, faction replacements, etc.) in the process of providing as complete an experience as possible coalesce to form the Whispering Chills experience of which you will be setting up below.
Whispering Chills is all about exploration and choice. Finding the best path to reach the next destination without running as high a risk of death. Whispering Chills now includes several mods that will have you exploring the underbelly of the Commonwealth for new ways to get from point A to point B. Although the confines of a subway tunnel or sewer passageway may feel claustrophobic, it can often serve as a safe reprieve from the overwhelming chaos that ensues above ground (and interiors serve as the only protection from the Otherworld that seeks to claim your life in a shroud of darkness).
It will be important to utilize the many interiors and settlements/safe spaces added by mods in this setup for time to rest and recharge before continuing your journey as well since the Commonwealth will now prove itself a more imposing threat than ever. You now have to contend with not only physical threats but the added mechanics of the game's survival difficulty aided by several mods that enhance the survival element of the gameplay.
I am a huge audiophile and I spend more time focusing on the audio aspect of the modding scene than most; I've come to find. Working alongside the master of F4 audio modding Mortercotic in our server I was able to finalize a soundscape of which is guaranteed to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up at all times. You will be left constantly wondering if something is truly lurking around every corner or if you're just hearing things. Reworked SFX, music, ambient noises, and creature sounds are all featured prominently in this setup alongside a series of patches that work to ensure everything is heard exactly as intended with nothing left behind by way of pesky conflicts. Although Whispering Chills can be an at times visually stunning experience which is often the focus of many modded setups, the audio aspect is equally as important to me. So much so that even some of the music you will be hearing as featured in Whispering Hills will be from yours truly!
Show
Whispering Chills is a horror experience unlike any other. It is intended to be entirely standalone in that you don't need to enjoy or know how to play Fallout 4 to be able to enjoy it as a horror fan in general. It is about as "lore-unfriendly" as you can get purely using the engine as a vessel to craft an entirely new experience through a unique combination of mods that enhance/rework its core mechanics and add new content that entirely change its core focus. Unlike most other Bethesda games where the horror element feels tacked on at best even using mods, the amazing modding community around this game has afforded us the opportunity to overhaul the Fallout 4 experience into an entirely unique other experience. The core premise revolves around an alternate vision of the Commonwealth where a door to the paranormal dimension has allowed for literal hell on earth to take over and has left very little remains in its wake. Your ultimate goal and place in this hellscape is for you to decide. We've stripped away several trademarks of the base game to distinguish this as a standalone experience based in its own universe. Here are a few highlights of what to expect:
We've tried making the Whispering Chills experience as simple as possible to set up. This includes providing a more in-depth video tutorial which is currently in the works and will be posted here upon completion! Even those new to modding Fallout 4 should be able to set this up by following the provided directions. If you have any questions throughout your journey please don't hesitate to ask on the Fallout 4 Experiences Discord server and we will respond as quickly as possible. All materials (including patches, addons, and even a custom ENB preset) that are necessary in order to craft the intended experience on any PC with the hardware to handle it will be provided to you. Just follow the directions throughout carefully and you will end up with the most stable and FPS-friendly modded Fallout 4 setup you've ever experienced that gives way to an entirely new adventure of which stands apart from any other modded setup you may have already tried.
A great deal of time went into not only curating a list of mods that play well with one another and combine to form a singular, consistent experience but also extending those mods to their full potential and allowing them to interact in unprecedented ways. The core foundation of this setup can be credited to SKK50 and Mangaclub, the creators of SKK 4-76 Open World and Whispering Hills, respectively. Without their contributions to the community, such a comprehensive horror setup like this simply would not be possible. SKK 4-76 Open World is an amazing (and underutilized) mod that shuts down most vanilla quests and removes most vanilla NPC's (all human, ghoul, and synth race NPC's to be exact). When paired with Whispering Hills properly it allows for the horrors of Silent Hill to take over the Commonwealth in an immersive way that does not involve Vertibirds shredding the skies and Preston bothering you about a settlement every 5 minutes.
This unique combination makes for an already enthralling experience in and of itself, however you can't simply remove the core of the game without adding something back in. And so our solution was to take the capabilities of 4-76 Open World a step further and use it to replace removed actors with a custom levelled list of creature options from several mods to be installed in the setup. Using this unprecedented method we were essentially able to construct our own spawn system pulling in any creatures of our choosing from any mods in this setup in an otherwise unattainable way. This also afforded us the ability to integrate creatures from another prominent horror mod, Grim, without having to activate its curse feature and potentially losing the core features and identity Whispering Hills introduces by way of the conflicts between them.
And to round it off we extensively scoured Nexus for and tested several of the very best horror quest/worldspace mods to introduce into the experience in place of the vanilla quests SKK 4-76 Open World would be removing. We also created patches to "protect" the essential NPC's in these quests as the quests would not work or play out as intended without these patches when running SKK 4-76 Open World. All in all, these enhancements and many others we brought forth (patches, ENB preset, faction replacements, etc.) in the process of providing as complete an experience as possible coalesce to form the Whispering Chills experience of which you will be setting up below.
Whispering Chills is all about exploration and choice. Finding the best path to reach the next destination without running as high a risk of death. Whispering Chills now includes several mods that will have you exploring the underbelly of the Commonwealth for new ways to get from point A to point B. Although the confines of a subway tunnel or sewer passageway may feel claustrophobic, it can often serve as a safe reprieve from the overwhelming chaos that ensues above ground (and interiors serve as the only protection from the Otherworld that seeks to claim your life in a shroud of darkness).
It will be important to utilize the many interiors and settlements/safe spaces added by mods in this setup for time to rest and recharge before continuing your journey as well since the Commonwealth will now prove itself a more imposing threat than ever. You now have to contend with not only physical threats but the added mechanics of the game's survival difficulty aided by several mods that enhance the survival element of the gameplay.
I am a huge audiophile and I spend more time focusing on the audio aspect of the modding scene than most; I've come to find. Working alongside the master of F4 audio modding Mortercotic in our server I was able to finalize a soundscape of which is guaranteed to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up at all times. You will be left constantly wondering if something is truly lurking around every corner or if you're just hearing things. Reworked SFX, music, ambient noises, and creature sounds are all featured prominently in this setup alongside a series of patches that work to ensure everything is heard exactly as intended with nothing left behind by way of pesky conflicts. Although Whispering Chills can be an at times visually stunning experience which is often the focus of many modded setups, the audio aspect is equally as important to me. So much so that even some of the music you will be hearing as featured in Whispering Hills will be from yours truly!
Spoiler:
My computer specs for reference:
CPU: i7-9700k
GPU: RTX 2070 8GB
Storage: Samsung EVO 1TB SSD
RAM: 16GB DDR4
OS: Windows 10
Resolution: 2560x1440
Using every mod in the guide (not including A Forest) I sit above 60 FPS in every area that I can otherwise in vanilla. Even though Fallout 4 is a 5 year old game, it can still be very intensive on CPU and GPU resources, especially when heavily modded. Take this into account before starting to ensure your system is strong enough to handle everything being thrown at it with this setup. Also take note of the fact that no matter what mods you use, Downtown Boston will always suffer heavy FPS drops due to poor optimization of the base game. This occurs no matter how good your hardware is and how solid your modded setup is. There are some performance options for those with weaker systems that you may want to consider when they are brought up, though the majority of performance gains comes from using a lower graphics presets and less-intense graphic settings during INI configuration. I don't say any of this to discourage you from trying the guide out, but it's good to keep realistic expectations given the limitations of the game itself as well as your own hardware.
This guide uses Mod Organizer 2. Mod Organizer 2 is an amazing mod manager specifically designed for use with Bethesda games, and there is a good reason why it is the main go-to mod manager for every modern Bethesda modding guide. If you aren't familiar with or have never used MO2, let this be your opportunity to start. I can't tell you how many I've come across who installed a modding guide using NMM/Vortex, immediately regretted it, and then started over using MO2 instead, so why not start the right way? There is nothing to lose or be afraid of in trying it as all of the instructions you will need to set up this guide in full using MO2 will be provided with plenty of detail even for those completely new to modding. If you are intimately familiar and comfortable with modding in another mod manager I still HIGHLY RECOMMEND you at least try to do this using MO2, and given MO2's portable virtual directory setup, it will not mess with any other modding setups you have for games using other mod managers as it will be its own independent instance.
If you have any confusion, frustration, or questions along the way, please feel free to leave a comment in the Posts section of this mod page or visit the new Fallout 4 Experiences Discord server for live support. Nexus Mod Manager (the GitHub community fork) is problematic in its placement of modded files directly in the game folder and Vortex can make troubleshooting difficult in its limited functionality, load order rules, and poor handling of loose files. We can only guarantee this setup will work and can offer our full support in using MO2 for this guide. I don't wish to discourage anyone from using this guide, but please consider this message before starting. You can easily switch back to your other favorite mod manager after finishing the guide if you come to find MO2 is not for you.
Lastly, green highlighted text indicates a link so always click on these to be redirected to the link location. The setup steps include several links to images that may help guide and assist you visually along the way.
Show
- You must own a legal copy of the game plus all of the DLC (either GOTY Edition or Season Pass for all DLC). This will not work without it.
- Please read the description of each mod you are downloading to better understand what it does.
- Follow the specific install instructions closely for each mod as it will specify which version of the mod to use as well as which options to choose for the installer if there are any.
- Do not add custom mods to this guide unless you are confident the guide itself is working in full and have a solid background in conflict resolution and patching with xEdit. This guide should be fully playable as is and contain everything you need for a full horror experience. If you have any suggestions or feedback on mods I should consider adding please bring them to my attention in the Posts tab of this page or reach out on the new Fallout 4 Experiences Discord server.
- Forget what you know about modding Fallout 4. This guide uses the BRB guide as its foundation and thereby contains all the mods and optimizations you need for a smooth and stable playthrough. You do not need to install or tweak anything that is not specifically mentioned in this guide (including mods that are supposedly "required" by the mods listed in the guide or performance-saving tips from other guides).
- This guide removes all quests and most named NPC's from the game and replaces them with horror-themed quests and characters more fitting for the modded setup. The intention is for you to wander and explore throughout the commonwealth; searching through areas you otherwise would not have reason to visit when following the traditional questlines of the base game.
- You must remove/uninstall Bethesda's Official HD Texture Pack DLC when using this guide or modding in general if you have it. You should never use the official HD texture pack when modding Fallout 4. Make sure you have it disabled in Steam.
- The Game Pass/Microsoft version of Fallout 4 is not supported due to its limitations in modding capabilites
My computer specs for reference:
CPU: i7-9700k
GPU: RTX 2070 8GB
Storage: Samsung EVO 1TB SSD
RAM: 16GB DDR4
OS: Windows 10
Resolution: 2560x1440
Using every mod in the guide (not including A Forest) I sit above 60 FPS in every area that I can otherwise in vanilla. Even though Fallout 4 is a 5 year old game, it can still be very intensive on CPU and GPU resources, especially when heavily modded. Take this into account before starting to ensure your system is strong enough to handle everything being thrown at it with this setup. Also take note of the fact that no matter what mods you use, Downtown Boston will always suffer heavy FPS drops due to poor optimization of the base game. This occurs no matter how good your hardware is and how solid your modded setup is. There are some performance options for those with weaker systems that you may want to consider when they are brought up, though the majority of performance gains comes from using a lower graphics presets and less-intense graphic settings during INI configuration. I don't say any of this to discourage you from trying the guide out, but it's good to keep realistic expectations given the limitations of the game itself as well as your own hardware.
This guide uses Mod Organizer 2. Mod Organizer 2 is an amazing mod manager specifically designed for use with Bethesda games, and there is a good reason why it is the main go-to mod manager for every modern Bethesda modding guide. If you aren't familiar with or have never used MO2, let this be your opportunity to start. I can't tell you how many I've come across who installed a modding guide using NMM/Vortex, immediately regretted it, and then started over using MO2 instead, so why not start the right way? There is nothing to lose or be afraid of in trying it as all of the instructions you will need to set up this guide in full using MO2 will be provided with plenty of detail even for those completely new to modding. If you are intimately familiar and comfortable with modding in another mod manager I still HIGHLY RECOMMEND you at least try to do this using MO2, and given MO2's portable virtual directory setup, it will not mess with any other modding setups you have for games using other mod managers as it will be its own independent instance.
If you have any confusion, frustration, or questions along the way, please feel free to leave a comment in the Posts section of this mod page or visit the new Fallout 4 Experiences Discord server for live support. Nexus Mod Manager (the GitHub community fork) is problematic in its placement of modded files directly in the game folder and Vortex can make troubleshooting difficult in its limited functionality, load order rules, and poor handling of loose files. We can only guarantee this setup will work and can offer our full support in using MO2 for this guide. I don't wish to discourage anyone from using this guide, but please consider this message before starting. You can easily switch back to your other favorite mod manager after finishing the guide if you come to find MO2 is not for you.
Lastly, green highlighted text indicates a link so always click on these to be redirected to the link location. The setup steps include several links to images that may help guide and assist you visually along the way.
Spoiler:
As with any modding guide, you must first have a clean and fresh install of the game. Uninstall Fallout 4 through Steam if it's already installed (yes even if you already have a modded setup this is the safest approach unless you are already an expert modder following proper modding practices and know how to create your own new MO2 instance for this setup) then proceed to Documents/My Games/Fallout 4 in File Explorer and delete everything inside that folder. Then navigate to wherever you have installed Fallout 4 (steam/steamapps/common/Fallout 4) and delete everything left inside that folder. Now you must install Fallout 4 in a non-Windows Protected folder (NOT within Program Files, Program Files x86, Documents, Desktop, or any other other protected folders on the OS/C Drive). The default install location for Steam games is in a Windows-protected folder Program Files (x86) which we do NOT want as it can cause many issues with permissions and read/write access to your game files. If you already have a Steam Library set outside this default location, you can simply install Fallout 4 there. If you currently only have a Steam Library created with games being installed to the default Windows-protected folder on your C drive, please follow the steps below based on whether or not you have a separate hard drive from your OS drive.
If you have another hard drive in addition to your OS drive:
If you only have one hard drive for your computer (the OS drive) and your Steam games install to the default location in a Windows-protected folder:
-Use this tool to create a new Steam library in a non-protected location on the same drive as your current library. By default, Steam only allows you to have one Steam library instance to install games to on a single drive so this is the only safe way to create a new library outside protected folders for those who only have a single hard drive. After the new Steam library is created, install Fallout 4 from the Library section of Steam where all your games are listed and specify this new library folder as the install location.
In either case, make sure you LAUNCH Fallout 4 through steam when installation is finished to allow the game to set registry keys and create the initial game configuration ini's. You should see a popup notifying you that the launcher is configuring your settings based on a preset that matches your hardware. After clicking OK to the popup, click on Options in the Launcher and select whichever graphics preset best matches your hardware, but NEVER choose the Ultra preset. The Ultra preset adds and configures settings that ruin FPS for little to no noticeable visual improvement in-game. Consider the High preset your highest option! Launch the game via the launcher and exit once you see the main menu.
Lastly, right-click on the listing for Fallout 4 in the Library tab of Steam and select Properties... Under the opening General tab UNCHECK the box next to enabling Steam Overlay in-game. Under the Updates tab set the first drop-down for update method from Automatic Updates to "Only update this game when I launch it" so that any potential game updates don't mess with your modded setup.
Before starting, it is highly recommended you download and install a dedicated program that can read and extract archives. Since all manual Nexus downloads come compressed in a zipped archive, there will be many cases where such a program will be necessary. I highly recommend using 7-Zip if you don't already have a program installed for this.
Show
As with any modding guide, you must first have a clean and fresh install of the game. Uninstall Fallout 4 through Steam if it's already installed (yes even if you already have a modded setup this is the safest approach unless you are already an expert modder following proper modding practices and know how to create your own new MO2 instance for this setup) then proceed to Documents/My Games/Fallout 4 in File Explorer and delete everything inside that folder. Then navigate to wherever you have installed Fallout 4 (steam/steamapps/common/Fallout 4) and delete everything left inside that folder. Now you must install Fallout 4 in a non-Windows Protected folder (NOT within Program Files, Program Files x86, Documents, Desktop, or any other other protected folders on the OS/C Drive). The default install location for Steam games is in a Windows-protected folder Program Files (x86) which we do NOT want as it can cause many issues with permissions and read/write access to your game files. If you already have a Steam Library set outside this default location, you can simply install Fallout 4 there. If you currently only have a Steam Library created with games being installed to the default Windows-protected folder on your C drive, please follow the steps below based on whether or not you have a separate hard drive from your OS drive.
If you have another hard drive in addition to your OS drive:
- Open Steam and click on Steam in the top left corner then click on Settings. Go to the downloads tab listed on the left panel that opens and select the Steam Library Folders option.
- When the popup appears, click on the plus button to the right of any listed drives and then create a NEW FOLDER on any of the other drives (not your native C Drive where steam default installs to) and click select. A new steam library folder will be created on your other drive in this new folder (reference image).
- Navigate to the Library section of Steam where all of your games are listed and click Fallout 4 then choose to Install Fallout 4 as per usual, but when prompted to choose an install location, specify the new SteamLibrary folder you just created on a separate hard drive instead of the default location on your OS drive and proceed to install as per usual.
If you only have one hard drive for your computer (the OS drive) and your Steam games install to the default location in a Windows-protected folder:
-Use this tool to create a new Steam library in a non-protected location on the same drive as your current library. By default, Steam only allows you to have one Steam library instance to install games to on a single drive so this is the only safe way to create a new library outside protected folders for those who only have a single hard drive. After the new Steam library is created, install Fallout 4 from the Library section of Steam where all your games are listed and specify this new library folder as the install location.
In either case, make sure you LAUNCH Fallout 4 through steam when installation is finished to allow the game to set registry keys and create the initial game configuration ini's. You should see a popup notifying you that the launcher is configuring your settings based on a preset that matches your hardware. After clicking OK to the popup, click on Options in the Launcher and select whichever graphics preset best matches your hardware, but NEVER choose the Ultra preset. The Ultra preset adds and configures settings that ruin FPS for little to no noticeable visual improvement in-game. Consider the High preset your highest option! Launch the game via the launcher and exit once you see the main menu.
Lastly, right-click on the listing for Fallout 4 in the Library tab of Steam and select Properties... Under the opening General tab UNCHECK the box next to enabling Steam Overlay in-game. Under the Updates tab set the first drop-down for update method from Automatic Updates to "Only update this game when I launch it" so that any potential game updates don't mess with your modded setup.
Before starting, it is highly recommended you download and install a dedicated program that can read and extract archives. Since all manual Nexus downloads come compressed in a zipped archive, there will be many cases where such a program will be necessary. I highly recommend using 7-Zip if you don't already have a program installed for this.
Spoiler:
Mod Organizer 2 has a slight learning curve when compared to old-school mod managers like Wrye Bash, Nexus Mod Manager, and Fallout Mod Manager. To unlock the full true potential of MO2 usage, it is highly recommended you at least glance over the opening page of the STEP guide for Mod Organizer usage or follow through the legendary Gamer Poet's video series on how to use MO2 if you're more of a visual learner. If you don't feel like digging that deep into MO2, don't worry. I have laid out all the most important things to know about MO2 in the spoiler section below. It is vitally important that you read through the following if you are new to Mod Organizer 2, or if you are proficient in its usage already feel free to jump ahead to the the actual setup steps below. Please still follow the provided instructions for setting up a new portable MO2 instance even if you are a more experienced modder.
In order to "install" or set up MO2, download from MO2's mod page the latest Mod Organizer 2 version main file (yes this is hosted on the Skyrim Special Edition Nexus, but it works and is used on all Bethesda games). Run the downloaded Mod Organizer 2 executable. When it appears, click Next on the first screen and then on the second screen where it tells you to select an install folder, create a new folder on the same drive as where you have Fallout 4 installed and call it Whispering Chills then click the browse button and point it to this newly created folder. MO2 and Fallout 4 must be installed on the same hard drive if possible! Click next all the way until the end and finally click the Install button.
At the end of the installer, the Run Mod Organizer 2 checkbox should be checked automatically. When you click Finish a new setup window for Mod Organizer 2 should appear. Click the create new instance button in the top-left corner of the window. In the creating an instance popup that appears, click next on the first introductory window. On the second window, click create a Portable instance. Do NOT click create a Global instance! When prompted to select a game to manage choose Fallout 4 and make sure the path shown under Fallout 4 is the correct path of where you now have Fallout 4 installed. In the 4th window it will ask you to select a folder where the data should be stored and for this you should leave the path as its default. The path shown should be the path you chose for the new Whispering Chills folder you selected during the first installer (e.g. E:\Whispering Chills). Click Next on this window and then finally click Finish on the final window.
Mod Organizer 2 will now open with your new portable instance. If it does not open on its own, close the instance window and then navigate to the folder where you installed MO2 (e.g. E:\Whispering Chills) and double-click the file ModOrganizer.exe to open your new portable MO2 instance. If a popup then appears claiming your INI files are read-only, choose to Remember My Choice and then clear the read-only flag. If prompted to register or connect to Nexus, select YES! You may be asked to log into and authorize your Nexus account for it to link up with MO2. To open MO2 going forward you can create a taskbar or desktop shortcut icon or simply double-click the ModOrganizer.exe file in the Whispering Chills folder you created to install MO2 within.
In MO2, if you click the wrench/settings icon (reference image for all primary MO2 toolbar icons; click the wrench icon) you can configure settings related to MO2. Important changes and things to verify include how under the Theme tab you can change the style of MO2 from the generic white background to something more fitting to your personal taste, under the Paths tab make sure everything looks correct in terms of pointing to the correct file paths (reference image; Managed Game should be pathed to FO4 install folder and Base Directory should be pathed to the extracted and renamed MO2/Whispering Chills folder), and finally make sure MO2 says you are connected to Nexus under the Nexus tab. This is necessary in order to be able to use the Mod Manager Download button for mod downloads on the Nexus site and have them appear in the Downloads tab within the right pane of MO2, so if it says Disconnected under the Nexus tab click the Connect to Nexus button and then log into Nexus and Authorize the login as requested by any popups that appear.
Show
Mod Organizer 2 has a slight learning curve when compared to old-school mod managers like Wrye Bash, Nexus Mod Manager, and Fallout Mod Manager. To unlock the full true potential of MO2 usage, it is highly recommended you at least glance over the opening page of the STEP guide for Mod Organizer usage or follow through the legendary Gamer Poet's video series on how to use MO2 if you're more of a visual learner. If you don't feel like digging that deep into MO2, don't worry. I have laid out all the most important things to know about MO2 in the spoiler section below. It is vitally important that you read through the following if you are new to Mod Organizer 2, or if you are proficient in its usage already feel free to jump ahead to the the actual setup steps below. Please still follow the provided instructions for setting up a new portable MO2 instance even if you are a more experienced modder.
Spoiler:
-In using a Portable instance of MO2, the mod manager becomes entirely independent and self-contained. All of the modded files related to your game setup are contained locally within the folder that you extract from the downloaded archive and where the Modorganizer.exe is stored. This is considered a virtual directory because unlike mod managers of the past, it does not modify any game files directly within the location that you installed Fallout 4. Installing/uninstalling and disabling/enabling mods can be done with ease without having to worry about MO2 leaving traces of mods in your game folder and potentially corrupting data or entirely ruining your game install. You can now consider your modded setup and the base game itself as two separate things (for the most part) that should have no impact on one another as long as you set up MO2 correctly.
-MO2 has a left pane and right pane that must be separately maintained. After associating Nexus links with MO2 in its settings, any mods you download using the Download with Manager button on the Nexus site will download and be listed under the Downloads tab in the right pane of MO2 (reference image). Just double-click the mod as it's listed under the Downloads tab in the right pane of MO2 to install it. If there is any BAIN or .fomod installer that comes with the mod, it will appear as a popup upon installing just like any other mod manager and then the mod will appear listed in the left pane of MO2 with a blank/unchecked checkbox next to it. Checking or unchecking the checkbox next to a mod in the left pane of MO2 operates just like enabling or disabling mods in NMM or any other mod manager. When the box next to the mod listed in the left pane is unchecked, none of its files will be added to your virtual directory including any loose files or plugins (.esp, .esl, or .esm). After installing a mod, you must check it in the left pane of MO2 to enable it, and then any plugins from the mod, if any, will appear under the Plugins tab within the right pane of MO2 (reference image). Not all mods have plugins to add to the Plugins tab.
-The plugins tab in the right pane of MO2 shows your load order and lists any plugins associated with mods that are enabled/checked in the left pane of MO2. All plugins listed here should be checked as well. Load order is important because it determines in what order the contents of a mod will be prioritized in the game's initialization. Luckily for you with this mod guide, you do not need to worry about the order of plugins under the plugins tab in the right pane as a text file will be provided to you toward the end that automatically sorts the order of your plugins without you having to manually sort any. In any other situation you would have to be mindful of load order yourself and load plugins based on conflicts and the advice given in the descriptions of the respective mods you've chosen to install.
-The Data tab in the right pane of MO2 shows your virtual Data directory. This is essentially a mirror of your Fallout 4/Data folder with all modded files added in. The beauty of MO2 is that if you navigate to the location where you installed Fallout 4 in File Explorer and look inside your Data folder, you should only see vanilla files from the base game and none added by mods you have installed (reference image). As mentioned earlier, MO2 maintains all modded files within this virtual Data directory and seamlessly adds and removes contents from it as mods are added or removed which eliminates the risk of corrupting the base game due to a bad mod install.
-Mods can also be installed manually via archive in MO2. If you manually download a mod from the Nexus site you can add and install it directly in MO2 by clicking on the archive button along the top-left toolbar (reference image). Then you just select the downloaded mod archive from wherever you manually downloaded it to and install like any other mod. The mod will then be listed in the left pane of MO2 and will not appear in your Downloads tab within the right pane.
-Profiles are a key feature of MO2 usage, but not something you have to worry about in using this guide. You can think of MO2 profiles like save profiles or playthroughs in Fallout 4. You want to create and use a new MO2 profile for every unique playthrough of the game. Having separate profiles allows you to check or uncheck certain mods in the left pane of MO2 on one profile without it affecting another profile. Say, for example, you have a set of 10 mods you want to have installed and active on one profile but only 5 of those mods active on another profile/playthrough. You would simply click on the profiles drop-down and switch to the profile that would have fewer mods enabled and uncheck those mods you don't want to use with that profile and that's it! The files and plugins from those mods will not be added/active when using that profile and will have no effect on any other playthroughs/profiles. This effectively removes the need to have to add/remove mods constantly and allows you to be running multiple consecutive playthroughs using variations of similar modded setups. That being said, all profiles share the same Mods folder, so any mods you install in or remove from MO2 will appear in/disappear from ALL profiles. The key is to install all the mods you want to use across all profiles and then check or uncheck to enable/disable the mods you want to have active in the left pane of MO2 for each profile. For the purposes of this guide, profiles are not something you necessarily need to worry about. We will simply use the Default profile provided by MO2 and you will not need to know how to create separate profiles for our purposes. This is something covered in greater detail within the tutorials linked above, and we are always happy to answer questions related to general MO2 usage in the new Fallout 4 Experiences Discord server. I'm only providing context on profiles here because many people often feel unnecessarily overwhelmed by the concept of profiles when it really has no bearing on the workflow of modding in MO2 unless you are a more proficient modder who has reason to make use of profiles.
Show
-In using a Portable instance of MO2, the mod manager becomes entirely independent and self-contained. All of the modded files related to your game setup are contained locally within the folder that you extract from the downloaded archive and where the Modorganizer.exe is stored. This is considered a virtual directory because unlike mod managers of the past, it does not modify any game files directly within the location that you installed Fallout 4. Installing/uninstalling and disabling/enabling mods can be done with ease without having to worry about MO2 leaving traces of mods in your game folder and potentially corrupting data or entirely ruining your game install. You can now consider your modded setup and the base game itself as two separate things (for the most part) that should have no impact on one another as long as you set up MO2 correctly.
-MO2 has a left pane and right pane that must be separately maintained. After associating Nexus links with MO2 in its settings, any mods you download using the Download with Manager button on the Nexus site will download and be listed under the Downloads tab in the right pane of MO2 (reference image). Just double-click the mod as it's listed under the Downloads tab in the right pane of MO2 to install it. If there is any BAIN or .fomod installer that comes with the mod, it will appear as a popup upon installing just like any other mod manager and then the mod will appear listed in the left pane of MO2 with a blank/unchecked checkbox next to it. Checking or unchecking the checkbox next to a mod in the left pane of MO2 operates just like enabling or disabling mods in NMM or any other mod manager. When the box next to the mod listed in the left pane is unchecked, none of its files will be added to your virtual directory including any loose files or plugins (.esp, .esl, or .esm). After installing a mod, you must check it in the left pane of MO2 to enable it, and then any plugins from the mod, if any, will appear under the Plugins tab within the right pane of MO2 (reference image). Not all mods have plugins to add to the Plugins tab.
-The plugins tab in the right pane of MO2 shows your load order and lists any plugins associated with mods that are enabled/checked in the left pane of MO2. All plugins listed here should be checked as well. Load order is important because it determines in what order the contents of a mod will be prioritized in the game's initialization. Luckily for you with this mod guide, you do not need to worry about the order of plugins under the plugins tab in the right pane as a text file will be provided to you toward the end that automatically sorts the order of your plugins without you having to manually sort any. In any other situation you would have to be mindful of load order yourself and load plugins based on conflicts and the advice given in the descriptions of the respective mods you've chosen to install.
-The Data tab in the right pane of MO2 shows your virtual Data directory. This is essentially a mirror of your Fallout 4/Data folder with all modded files added in. The beauty of MO2 is that if you navigate to the location where you installed Fallout 4 in File Explorer and look inside your Data folder, you should only see vanilla files from the base game and none added by mods you have installed (reference image). As mentioned earlier, MO2 maintains all modded files within this virtual Data directory and seamlessly adds and removes contents from it as mods are added or removed which eliminates the risk of corrupting the base game due to a bad mod install.
-Mods can also be installed manually via archive in MO2. If you manually download a mod from the Nexus site you can add and install it directly in MO2 by clicking on the archive button along the top-left toolbar (reference image). Then you just select the downloaded mod archive from wherever you manually downloaded it to and install like any other mod. The mod will then be listed in the left pane of MO2 and will not appear in your Downloads tab within the right pane.
-Profiles are a key feature of MO2 usage, but not something you have to worry about in using this guide. You can think of MO2 profiles like save profiles or playthroughs in Fallout 4. You want to create and use a new MO2 profile for every unique playthrough of the game. Having separate profiles allows you to check or uncheck certain mods in the left pane of MO2 on one profile without it affecting another profile. Say, for example, you have a set of 10 mods you want to have installed and active on one profile but only 5 of those mods active on another profile/playthrough. You would simply click on the profiles drop-down and switch to the profile that would have fewer mods enabled and uncheck those mods you don't want to use with that profile and that's it! The files and plugins from those mods will not be added/active when using that profile and will have no effect on any other playthroughs/profiles. This effectively removes the need to have to add/remove mods constantly and allows you to be running multiple consecutive playthroughs using variations of similar modded setups. That being said, all profiles share the same Mods folder, so any mods you install in or remove from MO2 will appear in/disappear from ALL profiles. The key is to install all the mods you want to use across all profiles and then check or uncheck to enable/disable the mods you want to have active in the left pane of MO2 for each profile. For the purposes of this guide, profiles are not something you necessarily need to worry about. We will simply use the Default profile provided by MO2 and you will not need to know how to create separate profiles for our purposes. This is something covered in greater detail within the tutorials linked above, and we are always happy to answer questions related to general MO2 usage in the new Fallout 4 Experiences Discord server. I'm only providing context on profiles here because many people often feel unnecessarily overwhelmed by the concept of profiles when it really has no bearing on the workflow of modding in MO2 unless you are a more proficient modder who has reason to make use of profiles.
In order to "install" or set up MO2, download from MO2's mod page the latest Mod Organizer 2 version main file (yes this is hosted on the Skyrim Special Edition Nexus, but it works and is used on all Bethesda games). Run the downloaded Mod Organizer 2 executable. When it appears, click Next on the first screen and then on the second screen where it tells you to select an install folder, create a new folder on the same drive as where you have Fallout 4 installed and call it Whispering Chills then click the browse button and point it to this newly created folder. MO2 and Fallout 4 must be installed on the same hard drive if possible! Click next all the way until the end and finally click the Install button.
At the end of the installer, the Run Mod Organizer 2 checkbox should be checked automatically. When you click Finish a new setup window for Mod Organizer 2 should appear. Click the create new instance button in the top-left corner of the window. In the creating an instance popup that appears, click next on the first introductory window. On the second window, click create a Portable instance. Do NOT click create a Global instance! When prompted to select a game to manage choose Fallout 4 and make sure the path shown under Fallout 4 is the correct path of where you now have Fallout 4 installed. In the 4th window it will ask you to select a folder where the data should be stored and for this you should leave the path as its default. The path shown should be the path you chose for the new Whispering Chills folder you selected during the first installer (e.g. E:\Whispering Chills). Click Next on this window and then finally click Finish on the final window.
Mod Organizer 2 will now open with your new portable instance. If it does not open on its own, close the instance window and then navigate to the folder where you installed MO2 (e.g. E:\Whispering Chills) and double-click the file ModOrganizer.exe to open your new portable MO2 instance. If a popup then appears claiming your INI files are read-only, choose to Remember My Choice and then clear the read-only flag. If prompted to register or connect to Nexus, select YES! You may be asked to log into and authorize your Nexus account for it to link up with MO2. To open MO2 going forward you can create a taskbar or desktop shortcut icon or simply double-click the ModOrganizer.exe file in the Whispering Chills folder you created to install MO2 within.
In MO2, if you click the wrench/settings icon (reference image for all primary MO2 toolbar icons; click the wrench icon) you can configure settings related to MO2. Important changes and things to verify include how under the Theme tab you can change the style of MO2 from the generic white background to something more fitting to your personal taste, under the Paths tab make sure everything looks correct in terms of pointing to the correct file paths (reference image; Managed Game should be pathed to FO4 install folder and Base Directory should be pathed to the extracted and renamed MO2/Whispering Chills folder), and finally make sure MO2 says you are connected to Nexus under the Nexus tab. This is necessary in order to be able to use the Mod Manager Download button for mod downloads on the Nexus site and have them appear in the Downloads tab within the right pane of MO2, so if it says Disconnected under the Nexus tab click the Connect to Nexus button and then log into Nexus and Authorize the login as requested by any popups that appear.
Spoiler:
Visual C++ Redistributables - Buffout 4 and MO2 require the latest VC 2019 Redistributables. Download and run the following executables to update this on your computer. Restart your computer after you finish installing these.
x64 - Download and run to install
x86 - Download and run to install
F4SE - Download the archive by following the link then extract its contents using 7-Zip or whatever program you use to extract archives. From within the extracted folder, copy the Data folder, f4se_1_10_163.dll, f4se_steam_loader.dll, and f4se_loader.exe to the folder where you have installed Fallout 4 (which I will now refer to as the Fallout 4 root folder; i.e. Steamapps/Common/Fallout 4). In order for MO2 to recognize F4SE as an executable, you must double-click the f4se_loader.exe file from within your Fallout 4 root folder after it is placed there. Immediately exit the game after doing so then close and reopen MO2 and F4SE should appear as an option in MO2's executables drop-down (reference image). You must run the game using this F4SE executable option within MO2 from now on! No more launching through Steam or from the game directory!
Address Library for F4SE Plugins - Manually download (not using the download with manager option) the main file and extract the F4SE folder from the archive to your Fallout 4/Data folder (the Data folder within the folder where you have Fallout 4 installed; i.e. steamapps/common/Fallout 4/Data).
xSE Plugin Preloader - Manually download the main file and extract both files within the downloaded archive to your Fallout 4 root folder where you have the game installed. After doing so, open the xSE PluginPreloader.xml file you extracted in a text editor such as NotePad/NotePad++ (NOT Wordpad!) and change the load method name on line 14 from OnProcessAttach to OnThreadAttach (click here for a visual reference of what to change; ONLY change this one line!).
Buffout 4 - Manually download both main files (Buffout 4 and TBB Redistributables). Extract the F4SE folder in the main Buffout 4 archive to your game's Data folder (steamapps/common/Fallout 4/Data) and extract the tbbmaloc.dll from the main TBB Redistributables file to the Fallout 4 Root folder (steamapps/common/Fallout 4). This mod implements several fixes, memory optimizations and, most importantly, a crash logger. If your game ever crashes, crash logs can be found in Documents/My Games/Fallout 4/F4SE and will be named something along the lines of crash-2020-12-04-23-32-30.log. Please check out Poet's How to Install Buffout 4 and Resolve Most Common Crash Logs article for more information regarding the purpose of Buffout 4, mods to avoid in general, and common crash causes. Feel free to share any crash logs you receive in our Fallout 4 Experiences Discord server in the #wc-support channel for troubleshooting assistance.
FO4Edit - Download the main file manually and then using 7-Zip, extract the downloaded archive to your Fallout 4 root folder where you have the game installed (steamapps/common/Fallout 4) and rename the extracted folder to FO4Edit.
You need to set up FO4Edit as an executable in your Mod Organizer 2 application. To do this, click on the Gears/Executables icon (reference image for all primary MO2 toolbar icons; click the gears/executables icon). A new window will pop up. Now click on the Plus Sign (Add an Executable) and select Add from File. Another window will pop up. In this window, navigate to Steam Games Library/SteamApps/Common/Fallout 4/FO4Edit folder and double click on the FO4Edit.exe file. Then click on the OK button in the Modify Executables window (reference image).
Now we need to clean the DLC .esm's using FO4Edit's quick auto-clean tool. Make sure MO2 is closed! In Windows Explorer, navigate to the Fallout 4/Data folder (Data folder within the folder you installed the game) and COPY all 6 DLC .esm files to another location as backup (DLCRobot.esm, DLCWorkshop01.esm, DLCCoast.esm, DLCWorkshop02.esm, DLCWorkshop03.esm, and DLCNukaWorld.esm). This is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED just in case you ever want to revert back to vanilla, uncleaned esm's you can just copy these backup esm's back to your Fallout 4/Data folder to have them replace the cleaned ones (e.g. Wabbajack lists require vanilla, uncleaned esm files so you won't be able to install a Wabbajack list with cleaned DLC esm's and would need to replace these with your vanilla backup esm's before installing a Fallout 4 Wabbajack modlist).
In Windows Explorer, navigate to the FO4Edit folder you placed in your Fallout 4 root folder (i.e. steamapps/common/Fallout 4/FO4Edit) and notice the FO4EditQuickAutoClean.exe inside the folder. We are going to use this executable to clean out our Official DLC ESM’s from having duplicated ITM Records and Undelete needed Records. When running this, you can ONLY clean ONE plugin at a time! We will need to run this .exe for each base game plugin.
Now, double click on the FO4EditQuickAutoClean.exe and ONLY tick the box in front of DLCRobot.esm, then select OK (reference image). Wait for it to finish (no more lines should be written to the right pane of FO4Edit and end with a line that reads "Background Loader: Finished" with a time stamp). Exit the Program.
Double click on the FO4EditQuickAutoClean.exe again and select ONLY the next plugin, DLCWorkshop01.esm, then select OK. Wait for it to finish. Exit the Program.
Repeat double clicking on the FO4EditQuickAutoClean.exe, selecting the next plugin, clicking OK, waiting for it to finish, and Exiting the Program until you have completed cleaning the following:
DLCCoast.esm
DLCWorkshop02.esm
DLCWorkshop03.esm
DLCNukaWorld.esm
NVIDIA Profile Inspector - [NVIDIA Users Only to Improve game Performance] – Download the nvidiaProfileInspector.zip from the Latest Release 2.3.0.12 section. Using 7-Zip, extract the nvidiaProfileInspector.zip archive anywhere.
Next, download the FIRST file under the last section of the Files tab for the BRB guide (Miscellaneous Files) - NVIDIA Inspector Profile - FO4. Using 7-Zip, extract the 1. Nvidia Inspector Profile - FO4-23556-1-0-1559298967 archive. Double click on the extracted 1. Nvidia Inspector Profile - FO4-23556-1-0-1559298967 folder and right click on Fallout 4 Nvidia Inspector.nip file and select Copy. Now go back to where you extracted the FO4 Nvidia Profile Inspector archive, double click on FO4 Nvidia Profile Inspector folder to open it, then right click on an unused space and select Paste (Copy and Replace – if asked).
Now that you have the FO4 Nvidia Profile Inspector folder open, double click on the nvidiaProfileInspector.exe file. In the application, on the Profiles Search Bar in the top left corner, type and select Fallout 4. Between the Icons line on the Middle Top click on the icon with a green arrow pointing down, then select the Import Profile(s) option and find the inspector profile you downloaded from the BRB guide page (reference image). Now if in the Green Bar on top of the Nvidia Inspector window you see the f4se_loader.exe (as shown in the image) you can click the big green Apply Changes button in the top right corner and close the program. If it's not there, click on the Middle Top icon with a little green plus and find the f4se_launcher.exe file that should be in your fallout 4 main folder, then click Apply Changes in the top right corner and close the program.
FO4 ENB Libraries - Scroll to the bottom of the page for the latest ENB version v0.468 and click the Download button/black arrow in the bottom left. Extract the download archive and then from within the Wrapper Version folder inside the extracted archive copy the d3d11.dll and d3dcompiler_46e.dll files to your Fallout 4 root folder. These files are necessary to have in your Fallout 4 folder for using any ENB preset so even if you are playing with other ENB presets, these two files must always remain in your Fallout 4 folder for ENB to run.
High FPS Physics Fix - An essential mod I recommend in any playthrough even if you don't have a high Hz monitor. If you play above 60 FPS this mod is ESSENTIAL as it normalizes animation speed and fixes related bugs. It also reduces loading time (significantly if playing on SSD), which is the main reason why we use it. With the ini optimizations offered below, loading screens should take no more than 5-20 seconds depending on your hardware!
Download and install via MO2 the FIRST main file - High FPS Physics Fix (if you're unsure of how to install a mod in MO2 scroll down to the Mod Configuration Menu (MCM) mod install instructions under the Installing the Mods section below as a point of reference). It is a performance booster and significantly increases loading times on all systems, even if you don't have a high FPS monitor. After installing this mod, double-click the High FPS Physics Fix mod in the left pane, click on the INI Files tab, select the HighFPSPhysicsFix.ini on the left and then on the right side where all lines from the .ini are displayed ensure the following lines are set as specified for the best performance boost (and to uncap FPS):
<line 18> EnableVSync=false
<line 33> DisableVSyncWhileLoading=true
<line 37> DisableBlackLoadingScreens=true - black loading screens will appear frozen with no animated loading icon so don't panic (your game did not crash) as this should significantly decrease loading times
<line 44> DisableAnimationOnLoadingScreens=true - no more animated loading screens for longer loads just static background and text, but this should significantly decrease loading times
(Reference image on what to change and where) - line placement/numbering may change from this exact image between updates but the lines to edit remain the same. Be sure to click the circled save icon as shown to save changes when finished.
At this point you should try running the game using the F4SE executable in MO2 by using the F4SE option from the executable drop-down in MO2 and clicking the Run button (reference image). You should just try launching the game and getting to the main menu for this first test and if you can do that then you are good to go and can proceed onto the next section! If you get an error saying Buffout couldn't load or if you crash on startup, consider the following troubleshooting steps that are commonly missed or done incorrectly:
-Did you install both x86 and x64 versions of Visual Studio 2019 Redistributables as linked above?
-Did you copy tbbmalloc.dll (second main Buffout 4 file) into the root folder of the game?
-Do you have xSE Preloader correctly installed (manually extracted and not as a mod in MO) and did you change it to "onThreadAttach" in the config xml?
-Do you have F4SE properly installed?
-Are you launching the game using F4SE through MO2?
-Did you manually "install" the address library for F4SE plugins mod as mentioned above?
If none of these work download and install the zip file from here and then restart your computer to ensure VC ++ and all its versions are up-to-date: https://github.com/abbodi1406/vcredist/releases
If that doesn't work work please visit the Fallout 4 Experiences Discord server for additional assistance.
Show
Visual C++ Redistributables - Buffout 4 and MO2 require the latest VC 2019 Redistributables. Download and run the following executables to update this on your computer. Restart your computer after you finish installing these.
x64 - Download and run to install
x86 - Download and run to install
F4SE - Download the archive by following the link then extract its contents using 7-Zip or whatever program you use to extract archives. From within the extracted folder, copy the Data folder, f4se_1_10_163.dll, f4se_steam_loader.dll, and f4se_loader.exe to the folder where you have installed Fallout 4 (which I will now refer to as the Fallout 4 root folder; i.e. Steamapps/Common/Fallout 4). In order for MO2 to recognize F4SE as an executable, you must double-click the f4se_loader.exe file from within your Fallout 4 root folder after it is placed there. Immediately exit the game after doing so then close and reopen MO2 and F4SE should appear as an option in MO2's executables drop-down (reference image). You must run the game using this F4SE executable option within MO2 from now on! No more launching through Steam or from the game directory!
Address Library for F4SE Plugins - Manually download (not using the download with manager option) the main file and extract the F4SE folder from the archive to your Fallout 4/Data folder (the Data folder within the folder where you have Fallout 4 installed; i.e. steamapps/common/Fallout 4/Data).
xSE Plugin Preloader - Manually download the main file and extract both files within the downloaded archive to your Fallout 4 root folder where you have the game installed. After doing so, open the xSE PluginPreloader.xml file you extracted in a text editor such as NotePad/NotePad++ (NOT Wordpad!) and change the load method name on line 14 from OnProcessAttach to OnThreadAttach (click here for a visual reference of what to change; ONLY change this one line!).
Buffout 4 - Manually download both main files (Buffout 4 and TBB Redistributables). Extract the F4SE folder in the main Buffout 4 archive to your game's Data folder (steamapps/common/Fallout 4/Data) and extract the tbbmaloc.dll from the main TBB Redistributables file to the Fallout 4 Root folder (steamapps/common/Fallout 4). This mod implements several fixes, memory optimizations and, most importantly, a crash logger. If your game ever crashes, crash logs can be found in Documents/My Games/Fallout 4/F4SE and will be named something along the lines of crash-2020-12-04-23-32-30.log. Please check out Poet's How to Install Buffout 4 and Resolve Most Common Crash Logs article for more information regarding the purpose of Buffout 4, mods to avoid in general, and common crash causes. Feel free to share any crash logs you receive in our Fallout 4 Experiences Discord server in the #wc-support channel for troubleshooting assistance.
FO4Edit - Download the main file manually and then using 7-Zip, extract the downloaded archive to your Fallout 4 root folder where you have the game installed (steamapps/common/Fallout 4) and rename the extracted folder to FO4Edit.
You need to set up FO4Edit as an executable in your Mod Organizer 2 application. To do this, click on the Gears/Executables icon (reference image for all primary MO2 toolbar icons; click the gears/executables icon). A new window will pop up. Now click on the Plus Sign (Add an Executable) and select Add from File. Another window will pop up. In this window, navigate to Steam Games Library/SteamApps/Common/Fallout 4/FO4Edit folder and double click on the FO4Edit.exe file. Then click on the OK button in the Modify Executables window (reference image).
Now we need to clean the DLC .esm's using FO4Edit's quick auto-clean tool. Make sure MO2 is closed! In Windows Explorer, navigate to the Fallout 4/Data folder (Data folder within the folder you installed the game) and COPY all 6 DLC .esm files to another location as backup (DLCRobot.esm, DLCWorkshop01.esm, DLCCoast.esm, DLCWorkshop02.esm, DLCWorkshop03.esm, and DLCNukaWorld.esm). This is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED just in case you ever want to revert back to vanilla, uncleaned esm's you can just copy these backup esm's back to your Fallout 4/Data folder to have them replace the cleaned ones (e.g. Wabbajack lists require vanilla, uncleaned esm files so you won't be able to install a Wabbajack list with cleaned DLC esm's and would need to replace these with your vanilla backup esm's before installing a Fallout 4 Wabbajack modlist).
In Windows Explorer, navigate to the FO4Edit folder you placed in your Fallout 4 root folder (i.e. steamapps/common/Fallout 4/FO4Edit) and notice the FO4EditQuickAutoClean.exe inside the folder. We are going to use this executable to clean out our Official DLC ESM’s from having duplicated ITM Records and Undelete needed Records. When running this, you can ONLY clean ONE plugin at a time! We will need to run this .exe for each base game plugin.
Now, double click on the FO4EditQuickAutoClean.exe and ONLY tick the box in front of DLCRobot.esm, then select OK (reference image). Wait for it to finish (no more lines should be written to the right pane of FO4Edit and end with a line that reads "Background Loader: Finished" with a time stamp). Exit the Program.
Double click on the FO4EditQuickAutoClean.exe again and select ONLY the next plugin, DLCWorkshop01.esm, then select OK. Wait for it to finish. Exit the Program.
Repeat double clicking on the FO4EditQuickAutoClean.exe, selecting the next plugin, clicking OK, waiting for it to finish, and Exiting the Program until you have completed cleaning the following:
DLCCoast.esm
DLCWorkshop02.esm
DLCWorkshop03.esm
DLCNukaWorld.esm
NVIDIA Profile Inspector - [NVIDIA Users Only to Improve game Performance] – Download the nvidiaProfileInspector.zip from the Latest Release 2.3.0.12 section. Using 7-Zip, extract the nvidiaProfileInspector.zip archive anywhere.
Next, download the FIRST file under the last section of the Files tab for the BRB guide (Miscellaneous Files) - NVIDIA Inspector Profile - FO4. Using 7-Zip, extract the 1. Nvidia Inspector Profile - FO4-23556-1-0-1559298967 archive. Double click on the extracted 1. Nvidia Inspector Profile - FO4-23556-1-0-1559298967 folder and right click on Fallout 4 Nvidia Inspector.nip file and select Copy. Now go back to where you extracted the FO4 Nvidia Profile Inspector archive, double click on FO4 Nvidia Profile Inspector folder to open it, then right click on an unused space and select Paste (Copy and Replace – if asked).
Now that you have the FO4 Nvidia Profile Inspector folder open, double click on the nvidiaProfileInspector.exe file. In the application, on the Profiles Search Bar in the top left corner, type and select Fallout 4. Between the Icons line on the Middle Top click on the icon with a green arrow pointing down, then select the Import Profile(s) option and find the inspector profile you downloaded from the BRB guide page (reference image). Now if in the Green Bar on top of the Nvidia Inspector window you see the f4se_loader.exe (as shown in the image) you can click the big green Apply Changes button in the top right corner and close the program. If it's not there, click on the Middle Top icon with a little green plus and find the f4se_launcher.exe file that should be in your fallout 4 main folder, then click Apply Changes in the top right corner and close the program.
FO4 ENB Libraries - Scroll to the bottom of the page for the latest ENB version v0.468 and click the Download button/black arrow in the bottom left. Extract the download archive and then from within the Wrapper Version folder inside the extracted archive copy the d3d11.dll and d3dcompiler_46e.dll files to your Fallout 4 root folder. These files are necessary to have in your Fallout 4 folder for using any ENB preset so even if you are playing with other ENB presets, these two files must always remain in your Fallout 4 folder for ENB to run.
High FPS Physics Fix - An essential mod I recommend in any playthrough even if you don't have a high Hz monitor. If you play above 60 FPS this mod is ESSENTIAL as it normalizes animation speed and fixes related bugs. It also reduces loading time (significantly if playing on SSD), which is the main reason why we use it. With the ini optimizations offered below, loading screens should take no more than 5-20 seconds depending on your hardware!
Download and install via MO2 the FIRST main file - High FPS Physics Fix (if you're unsure of how to install a mod in MO2 scroll down to the Mod Configuration Menu (MCM) mod install instructions under the Installing the Mods section below as a point of reference). It is a performance booster and significantly increases loading times on all systems, even if you don't have a high FPS monitor. After installing this mod, double-click the High FPS Physics Fix mod in the left pane, click on the INI Files tab, select the HighFPSPhysicsFix.ini on the left and then on the right side where all lines from the .ini are displayed ensure the following lines are set as specified for the best performance boost (and to uncap FPS):
<line 18> EnableVSync=false
<line 33> DisableVSyncWhileLoading=true
<line 37> DisableBlackLoadingScreens=true - black loading screens will appear frozen with no animated loading icon so don't panic (your game did not crash) as this should significantly decrease loading times
<line 44> DisableAnimationOnLoadingScreens=true - no more animated loading screens for longer loads just static background and text, but this should significantly decrease loading times
(Reference image on what to change and where) - line placement/numbering may change from this exact image between updates but the lines to edit remain the same. Be sure to click the circled save icon as shown to save changes when finished.
At this point you should try running the game using the F4SE executable in MO2 by using the F4SE option from the executable drop-down in MO2 and clicking the Run button (reference image). You should just try launching the game and getting to the main menu for this first test and if you can do that then you are good to go and can proceed onto the next section! If you get an error saying Buffout couldn't load or if you crash on startup, consider the following troubleshooting steps that are commonly missed or done incorrectly:
-Did you install both x86 and x64 versions of Visual Studio 2019 Redistributables as linked above?
-Did you copy tbbmalloc.dll (second main Buffout 4 file) into the root folder of the game?
-Do you have xSE Preloader correctly installed (manually extracted and not as a mod in MO) and did you change it to "onThreadAttach" in the config xml?
-Do you have F4SE properly installed?
-Are you launching the game using F4SE through MO2?
-Did you manually "install" the address library for F4SE plugins mod as mentioned above?
If none of these work download and install the zip file from here and then restart your computer to ensure VC ++ and all its versions are up-to-date: https://github.com/abbodi1406/vcredist/releases
If that doesn't work work please visit the Fallout 4 Experiences Discord server for additional assistance.
Spoiler:
BethINI - Manually download the main file and extract the BethINI Standalone folder from the downloaded archive to your Fallout 4 root folder where you have the game installed (steamapps/common/Fallout 4). Close MO2 before running BethINI! Double-click to run the BethINI.exe within the BethINI Standalone folder in your Fallout 4 root folder. Upon opening BethINI there will be a popup asking for permission to modify custom files. Click YES! Moving from left to right along the tabs at the top of the BethINI application window I will walk you through all that needs to be set to correctly configure your game's INI files for a stable playthrough.
Starting with the left-most Setup tab, configure settings in each drop-down to match this image exactly (reference image). Ensure that game path is set to the folder where you have installed Fallout 4, Mod Organizer path is set to the Whispering Chills folder location that contains all of the files from your MO2 install, and the INI path is set to your default Mod Organizer profile (Mod Organizer > Default from the drop-down). When you set your INI path to Mod Organizer > Default as shown, MO2 will restart and upon reopening there may be a popup asking for permission to modify custom files. Click YES if so!
Next, move on to the Basic tab and do the following:
-Check the box in front of Recommended Tweaks (this only has to be done once even if it appears as unchecked later)
-Set the Resolution to that of your monitor's (4k is generally not recommended unless you are on VERY high-end hardware!)
-Select a graphics preset based on your hardware that is in line with the preset you usually select when configuring options in the game launcher (NOT the Ultra preset)
-Check the boxes next to Always Active, Borderless and Always On Top
-Uncheck the box next to VSync and set Anisotropic Filtering to None favoring the settings from NVIDIA Profile Inspector instead
-Set Antialiasing to TAA if it isn't already set to that
Under the Gameplay tab do the following:
-Check the box next to Sprint Fix
-Check the box next to Remove Borders
Under the Interface tab do the following:
-Check the box next to Dialogue Subtitles (may be necessary for some unvoiced quests)
-Uncheck the box next to Show Quest Markers (personal preference, but makes exploration feel more natural and stumbling upon quests more surprising)
Under the Detail tab do the following:
-Set Decal Quantity to Medium
-Set Particles to 3000 (for Medium and High presets) or 750 (for Low presets)
-Set Shadow Resolution to 2048 (for Medium and High presets) or 1024 (for Low presets)
-Set Exterior Draw Distance to 8000 (for Medium and High presets) or 3000 (for Low presets)
-Set Ambient Occlusion to None in favor of ENB AO
-Uncheck the boxes next to Bokeh, Depth of Field, and Motion Blur
Under the View Distance tab do the following:
-Set Preset to Low under the right-hand Distant Object Detail section
-Set Decal Fade to Low under the right-hand Distant Object Detail section
These view distance changes are optional but can save 5-15 FPS on average in exteriors by reducing LOD (distant texture) details which aren't noticeable anyways due to Whispering Hills' vision-obscuring fog that masks distant objects.
Under the Visuals tab do the following:
-Set Grass Density to 40
-Set Grass Diversity to 15
Under the Custom tab select each section from the first drop-down as shown and then select each setting from the second drop-down as listed and set its value to what is shown (reference image). You must click the Save button at the bottom of the Custom tab window after you change EACH setting or it will be reverted!:
Display Section:
bFullScreen=1
bMultiThreadedRendering=1
fBlendSplitDirShadow=96
iDirShadowSplits=3
iMaxFocusShadows=3
iMaxFocusShadowsDialogue=3
uiOrthoShadowFilter=2
Imagespace Section:
bDoRadialBlur=0
Interface Section:
iHUDColorB=240
iHUDColorG=250
iHUDColorR=255
Gameplay Section:
iDifficulty=6 (survival difficulty; you will be unable to open Console in-game until a mod is installed below)
General Section:
bForceUpdateDiffuseOnly=0
bBorderRegionsEnabled=0
iNumHWThreads=4
iTextureDegradeDistance0=1600
iTextureDegradeDistance1=3000
iTextureUpgradeDistance0=1200
iTextureUpgradeDistance1=2400
sStartingConsoleCommand=bat WC
Pipboy Section:
bPipboyDisableFX=1
fPipboyEffectColorB=1
fPipboyEffectColorG=1
fPipboyEffectColorR=1
Make sure you clicked the Save button at the bottom of the Custom tab window after changing EACH setting!
When you are finished making the specified changes in each tab of BethINI, go back to the Basic tab and click Save & Exit.
Now you MUST make one final change to your INI files. Open MO2 and click on the puzzle icon (reference image for all primary MO2 toolbar icons; click the puzzle icon) for the INI Editor in MO2. If you need to, always use this INI Editor from within MO2 to change INI settings from now on. You should no longer need to open BethINI again. Under the Fallout4Prefs.ini tab search for the [NVFlex] section header and set the line bNVFlexEnable to 0 if it isn't already. Your game will suffer from constant crashing if you don't disable this setting. Click the Save button when finished editing this INI (reference image).
Lastly, it is recommended in the INI editor that you click on the fallout4custom.ini tab and delete EVERYTHING out of this INI file as the values here may become out of sync with the other two primary INI's and override values in places that we don't want it to do so. Again, click the Save button at the bottom when finished.
WC.txt - In the Custom tab of BethINI, one of the settings you configured was a line called sstartingconsolecommand in the General section which you set to bat WC. In this step we will create a batch text file that will run every time the game starts to automatically configure several settings on startup that will help balance performance. Navigate to your root Fallout 4 folder where you have installed the game then right-click on any open space and create a new Text Document. Open this new text file in any text editor (NotePad or Notepad ++ or any text editor and NOT a word processing software like Wordpad which may cause crashes if used!) and then copy and paste the following lines into the text file:
gr off
cl rim .002
fov 90 90
setgs iTerminalDisplayRate 1200
setgs fWorkshopWireMaxLength 2200
setgs fGunShellLifetime 150
setgs fGunShellCameraDistance 12800
setgs iDebrisMaxCount 375
setgs iHoursToRespawnCell 720
setgs iHoursToRespawnCellCleared 2160
setgs iHoursToClearCorpses 10
setgs iRemoveExcessDeadComplexCount 50
setgs iRemoveExcessDeadCount 50
setgs iRemoveExcessDeadComplexTotalActorCount 65
setgs iRemoveExcessDeadTotalActorCount 50
taa on
taa sharp 0
taa lf 0
taa hf 0.7
taa ps 0
taa po 0.3
fxaa off
When finished, save this file and name it WC.txt. Make sure you name it WC.txt and not WC.txt.txt (a common mistake that can be avoided by making file extensions visible in File Explorer) so that the game can recognize it on startup. The text file must be named exactly as WC.txt to be recognized by the game on startup.
Please visit the BRB Guide page for more context on what each line does as this process and its optimization decisions are derived from his methods.
Show
BethINI - Manually download the main file and extract the BethINI Standalone folder from the downloaded archive to your Fallout 4 root folder where you have the game installed (steamapps/common/Fallout 4). Close MO2 before running BethINI! Double-click to run the BethINI.exe within the BethINI Standalone folder in your Fallout 4 root folder. Upon opening BethINI there will be a popup asking for permission to modify custom files. Click YES! Moving from left to right along the tabs at the top of the BethINI application window I will walk you through all that needs to be set to correctly configure your game's INI files for a stable playthrough.
Starting with the left-most Setup tab, configure settings in each drop-down to match this image exactly (reference image). Ensure that game path is set to the folder where you have installed Fallout 4, Mod Organizer path is set to the Whispering Chills folder location that contains all of the files from your MO2 install, and the INI path is set to your default Mod Organizer profile (Mod Organizer > Default from the drop-down). When you set your INI path to Mod Organizer > Default as shown, MO2 will restart and upon reopening there may be a popup asking for permission to modify custom files. Click YES if so!
Next, move on to the Basic tab and do the following:
-Check the box in front of Recommended Tweaks (this only has to be done once even if it appears as unchecked later)
-Set the Resolution to that of your monitor's (4k is generally not recommended unless you are on VERY high-end hardware!)
-Select a graphics preset based on your hardware that is in line with the preset you usually select when configuring options in the game launcher (NOT the Ultra preset)
-Check the boxes next to Always Active, Borderless and Always On Top
-Uncheck the box next to VSync and set Anisotropic Filtering to None favoring the settings from NVIDIA Profile Inspector instead
-Set Antialiasing to TAA if it isn't already set to that
Under the Gameplay tab do the following:
-Check the box next to Sprint Fix
-Check the box next to Remove Borders
Under the Interface tab do the following:
-Check the box next to Dialogue Subtitles (may be necessary for some unvoiced quests)
-Uncheck the box next to Show Quest Markers (personal preference, but makes exploration feel more natural and stumbling upon quests more surprising)
Under the Detail tab do the following:
-Set Decal Quantity to Medium
-Set Particles to 3000 (for Medium and High presets) or 750 (for Low presets)
-Set Shadow Resolution to 2048 (for Medium and High presets) or 1024 (for Low presets)
-Set Exterior Draw Distance to 8000 (for Medium and High presets) or 3000 (for Low presets)
-Set Ambient Occlusion to None in favor of ENB AO
-Uncheck the boxes next to Bokeh, Depth of Field, and Motion Blur
Under the View Distance tab do the following:
-Set Preset to Low under the right-hand Distant Object Detail section
-Set Decal Fade to Low under the right-hand Distant Object Detail section
These view distance changes are optional but can save 5-15 FPS on average in exteriors by reducing LOD (distant texture) details which aren't noticeable anyways due to Whispering Hills' vision-obscuring fog that masks distant objects.
Under the Visuals tab do the following:
-Set Grass Density to 40
-Set Grass Diversity to 15
Under the Custom tab select each section from the first drop-down as shown and then select each setting from the second drop-down as listed and set its value to what is shown (reference image). You must click the Save button at the bottom of the Custom tab window after you change EACH setting or it will be reverted!:
Display Section:
bFullScreen=1
bMultiThreadedRendering=1
fBlendSplitDirShadow=96
iDirShadowSplits=3
iMaxFocusShadows=3
iMaxFocusShadowsDialogue=3
uiOrthoShadowFilter=2
Imagespace Section:
bDoRadialBlur=0
Interface Section:
iHUDColorB=240
iHUDColorG=250
iHUDColorR=255
Gameplay Section:
iDifficulty=6 (survival difficulty; you will be unable to open Console in-game until a mod is installed below)
General Section:
bForceUpdateDiffuseOnly=0
bBorderRegionsEnabled=0
iNumHWThreads=4
iTextureDegradeDistance0=1600
iTextureDegradeDistance1=3000
iTextureUpgradeDistance0=1200
iTextureUpgradeDistance1=2400
sStartingConsoleCommand=bat WC
Pipboy Section:
bPipboyDisableFX=1
fPipboyEffectColorB=1
fPipboyEffectColorG=1
fPipboyEffectColorR=1
Make sure you clicked the Save button at the bottom of the Custom tab window after changing EACH setting!
When you are finished making the specified changes in each tab of BethINI, go back to the Basic tab and click Save & Exit.
Now you MUST make one final change to your INI files. Open MO2 and click on the puzzle icon (reference image for all primary MO2 toolbar icons; click the puzzle icon) for the INI Editor in MO2. If you need to, always use this INI Editor from within MO2 to change INI settings from now on. You should no longer need to open BethINI again. Under the Fallout4Prefs.ini tab search for the [NVFlex] section header and set the line bNVFlexEnable to 0 if it isn't already. Your game will suffer from constant crashing if you don't disable this setting. Click the Save button when finished editing this INI (reference image).
Lastly, it is recommended in the INI editor that you click on the fallout4custom.ini tab and delete EVERYTHING out of this INI file as the values here may become out of sync with the other two primary INI's and override values in places that we don't want it to do so. Again, click the Save button at the bottom when finished.
WC.txt - In the Custom tab of BethINI, one of the settings you configured was a line called sstartingconsolecommand in the General section which you set to bat WC. In this step we will create a batch text file that will run every time the game starts to automatically configure several settings on startup that will help balance performance. Navigate to your root Fallout 4 folder where you have installed the game then right-click on any open space and create a new Text Document. Open this new text file in any text editor (NotePad or Notepad ++ or any text editor and NOT a word processing software like Wordpad which may cause crashes if used!) and then copy and paste the following lines into the text file:
gr off
cl rim .002
fov 90 90
setgs iTerminalDisplayRate 1200
setgs fWorkshopWireMaxLength 2200
setgs fGunShellLifetime 150
setgs fGunShellCameraDistance 12800
setgs iDebrisMaxCount 375
setgs iHoursToRespawnCell 720
setgs iHoursToRespawnCellCleared 2160
setgs iHoursToClearCorpses 10
setgs iRemoveExcessDeadComplexCount 50
setgs iRemoveExcessDeadCount 50
setgs iRemoveExcessDeadComplexTotalActorCount 65
setgs iRemoveExcessDeadTotalActorCount 50
taa on
taa sharp 0
taa lf 0
taa hf 0.7
taa ps 0
taa po 0.3
fxaa off
When finished, save this file and name it WC.txt. Make sure you name it WC.txt and not WC.txt.txt (a common mistake that can be avoided by making file extensions visible in File Explorer) so that the game can recognize it on startup. The text file must be named exactly as WC.txt to be recognized by the game on startup.
Please visit the BRB Guide page for more context on what each line does as this process and its optimization decisions are derived from his methods.
Spoiler:
Before starting this section, please note that it is entirely OPTIONAL and can be done at any time. Using this method of retexturing the game will not only improve loading times and FPS but also make the game look better overall without having to download and install 100's of individual texture mods. Originally this section involved the very lengthy and manual texture optimization process from the BRB guide, however the amazing work of Luxor8071 (a legend to the F4 modding community) has entirely deprecated the need for this process. That being said, I have included the old BRB texture overhaul method below this for those with older graphics cards. Luxor's work overhauls textures across the entire game and uses the BRB texture process methods to repack the textures so that they can overwrite the vanilla .ba2 texture archives. This innovative approach from the BRB guide is truly the golden standard of retexturing Fallout 4 because it does it in a way that packs the textures from several high-quality texture mods into your game's original .ba2 archives where all base game textures are stored. Using this overhaul will retexture nearly every object in the game with a higher-quality equivalent, and by baking these textures into your .ba2's you will experience little to no performance loss as compared to installing them loose as mods individually. Best of all, you can install all of your own texture mods over these texture packs as you please because they are now treated as the original base game .ba2's and allow for any texture mods you install to overwrite what is present in your base game texture archives without conflicts. When it comes to textures in Fallout 4, Luxor's HD overhaul should be all you need for a solid base.
If you have an older graphics card with less than 6GB VRAM or find that the FPS hit from Luxor's HD overhaul is too heavy for your PC to handle, follow the alternative BRB method below (marked in red) instead and consider using only the Performance and/or Main repacks.
To start, in File Explorer, navigate to your Fallout 4/Data folder within the location where you have Fallout 4 installed and find the following 15 .ba2 texture archives from the base game and COPY them from your Fallout 4/Data folder to any folder on any drive to have as a backup. Backing up the vanilla ba2 archives is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED in case you want to revert back to vanilla texture archives if you find the HD overhaul to be too FPS-intensive or not fitting your visual preferences (reference image).
Please note that the download size of all 15 textures archives from the HD overhaul is 47.5 GB in total, so you will need to download them to a drive that can store that much data. This may seem like a lot, however that's only 30 GB more than the vanilla texture archives and very appropriate when compared to how much space would be taken up by installing/downloading hundreds of separate texture mods instead.
Once you've backed up your 15 original ba2 texture archives, download all 15 main file archives from Luxor's Fallout 4 HD Overhaul. You will notice these files are named exactly the same as the vanilla texture archives you just copied as a backup, and that is because you are going to replace your vanilla archives in Fallout 4/Data with these new 15 archives. After manually downloading all 15 files, extract the ba2 files within each anywhere on your computer and then copy all 15 .ba2 files into your Fallout 4/Data folder (steamapps/common/Fallout 4/Data) and choose yes to all for overwriting if asked.
One vitally important thing to note with using Luxor's HD overhaul is that you must NEVER VERIFY FILE INTEGRITY OF THE GAME FILES THROUGH STEAM. When using MO2, there should NEVER be a case where you need to do this as a means of troubleshooting, and doing so will revert the game's textures back to vanilla meaning you will have to copy the 15 ba2 archives from Luxor's HD overhaul back into your Fallout 4/Data folder to overwrite yet again.
If you have an older graphics card with less than 6GB VRAM or find that the FPS hit from Luxor's HD overhaul is too heavy for your PC to handle, follow the BRB method below instead and consider using only the Performance and/or Main repacks:
The Alternative BRB Texture Method
It is highly recommended you try starting your game now by using the F4SE option from the executable drop-down in MO2 and clicking the Run button (reference image). Get through the opening prologue outside of Vault 111 and make sure everything looks and plays as it should and then proceed onto actually starting to install mods in the next section!
Show
Before starting this section, please note that it is entirely OPTIONAL and can be done at any time. Using this method of retexturing the game will not only improve loading times and FPS but also make the game look better overall without having to download and install 100's of individual texture mods. Originally this section involved the very lengthy and manual texture optimization process from the BRB guide, however the amazing work of Luxor8071 (a legend to the F4 modding community) has entirely deprecated the need for this process. That being said, I have included the old BRB texture overhaul method below this for those with older graphics cards. Luxor's work overhauls textures across the entire game and uses the BRB texture process methods to repack the textures so that they can overwrite the vanilla .ba2 texture archives. This innovative approach from the BRB guide is truly the golden standard of retexturing Fallout 4 because it does it in a way that packs the textures from several high-quality texture mods into your game's original .ba2 archives where all base game textures are stored. Using this overhaul will retexture nearly every object in the game with a higher-quality equivalent, and by baking these textures into your .ba2's you will experience little to no performance loss as compared to installing them loose as mods individually. Best of all, you can install all of your own texture mods over these texture packs as you please because they are now treated as the original base game .ba2's and allow for any texture mods you install to overwrite what is present in your base game texture archives without conflicts. When it comes to textures in Fallout 4, Luxor's HD overhaul should be all you need for a solid base.
If you have an older graphics card with less than 6GB VRAM or find that the FPS hit from Luxor's HD overhaul is too heavy for your PC to handle, follow the alternative BRB method below (marked in red) instead and consider using only the Performance and/or Main repacks.
To start, in File Explorer, navigate to your Fallout 4/Data folder within the location where you have Fallout 4 installed and find the following 15 .ba2 texture archives from the base game and COPY them from your Fallout 4/Data folder to any folder on any drive to have as a backup. Backing up the vanilla ba2 archives is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED in case you want to revert back to vanilla texture archives if you find the HD overhaul to be too FPS-intensive or not fitting your visual preferences (reference image).
Spoiler:
-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
-DLCWorkshop01 - Textures.ba2
-DLCWorkshop02 - Textures.ba2
-DLCWorkshop03 - Textures.ba2
-DLCRobot - Textures.ba2
-DLCCoast - Textures.ba2
-DLCNukaWorld - Textures.ba2
Show
-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
-DLCWorkshop01 - Textures.ba2
-DLCWorkshop02 - Textures.ba2
-DLCWorkshop03 - Textures.ba2
-DLCRobot - Textures.ba2
-DLCCoast - Textures.ba2
-DLCNukaWorld - Textures.ba2
Please note that the download size of all 15 textures archives from the HD overhaul is 47.5 GB in total, so you will need to download them to a drive that can store that much data. This may seem like a lot, however that's only 30 GB more than the vanilla texture archives and very appropriate when compared to how much space would be taken up by installing/downloading hundreds of separate texture mods instead.
Once you've backed up your 15 original ba2 texture archives, download all 15 main file archives from Luxor's Fallout 4 HD Overhaul. You will notice these files are named exactly the same as the vanilla texture archives you just copied as a backup, and that is because you are going to replace your vanilla archives in Fallout 4/Data with these new 15 archives. After manually downloading all 15 files, extract the ba2 files within each anywhere on your computer and then copy all 15 .ba2 files into your Fallout 4/Data folder (steamapps/common/Fallout 4/Data) and choose yes to all for overwriting if asked.
One vitally important thing to note with using Luxor's HD overhaul is that you must NEVER VERIFY FILE INTEGRITY OF THE GAME FILES THROUGH STEAM. When using MO2, there should NEVER be a case where you need to do this as a means of troubleshooting, and doing so will revert the game's textures back to vanilla meaning you will have to copy the 15 ba2 archives from Luxor's HD overhaul back into your Fallout 4/Data folder to overwrite yet again.
If you have an older graphics card with less than 6GB VRAM or find that the FPS hit from Luxor's HD overhaul is too heavy for your PC to handle, follow the BRB method below instead and consider using only the Performance and/or Main repacks:
The Alternative BRB Texture Method
Spoiler:
Overall, this process can take anywhere between 90 minutes and 4 hours to complete, primarily based on whether you run this process on a HDD or SSD. If you want to simply continue on with the guide and actually start installing mods then you can proceed to do so without any issues and return to this step at any time! This process requires a great deal of space to run it successfully (up to 120GB), however after finishing you should be able to remove many of the intermediate files to significantly reduce the size of its related files. Once you are finished you will end up a retexture of almost every object in the game in a way that will significantly improve game performance and load times since the textures will be baked into the vanilla archives instead of installed over the top of them. You can then install any texture mods you want afterwards and there will be no conflicts as anything from the BRB texture packs will automatically be overwritten! Once you are ready, CAREFULLY follow through each step below. It is easy to make mistakes if you are not paying attention, however this is not a process you want to make mistakes on as doing so can result in lots of wasted time and frustration for you!
BRB Guide Texture Optimization Packs
Once your 15 original .ba2 texture archives are placed inside the OriginalBA2 folder within Workbase, you must decide which texture packs you want to make use of. Under the Main Files and Optional Files sections of the BRB guide files you will find 3 parts for the main repack, a single part Performance Overhaul, and a 2 part Quality Overhaul. The main repack is generally considered essential for most hardware as it is the core of the retexture process and covers the most objects in-game. Performance and quality packs are OPTIONAL. Whether you use these two is really up to your preference and hardware, however if you are using this as an alternative to Luxor's HD overhaul because you have an older/weaker graphics card, I recommend you use ONLY the performance and/or main packs and NOT the quality pack which is the most FPS-intensive (but also highest quality). I personally use all three for a great quality-performance balance! You can look at the Credits section at the bottom of the BRB guide page to see what all mods are included in each texture pack to help guide your decision. Once a decision has been made, proceed with the steps below. These texture packs are large so do consider spending the small amount of money necessary for Nexus Premium to not spend any longer downloading than is necessary.
Please note that no matter which texture packs you use, they must be downloaded and extracted IN THIS EXACT ORDER AS OUTLINED BELOW (Performance-Main-Quality):
The three important folders within your Workbase folder that I mentioned earlier are OriginalBA2, PatchedFiles, and PatchedBA2. At this time, OriginalBA2 should have your 15 original .ba2 archives copied from your Fallout 4/Data folder. PatchedFiles should contain ONLY a Textures folder which holds the textures from each of the packs you decided to use (extracted and overwritten in the exact specified order of Performance-Main-Quality). PatchedBA2 will have 15 .ba2 archives inside of it when this process is finished which will be named exactly the same as the .ba2 archives you placed in the OriginalBA2 folder but significantly larger in file size (since the textures within the PatchedFiles folder will be packed into them). Ensure the OriginalBA2 and PatchedFiles folders are set up exactly as specified above and then look for the file called installer.bat inside your Workbase folder and double-click to run it.
This may take as little as 90 minutes or as long as 3 hours to run depending on the packs used and whether it is running on a SSD. Step away from the computer and try not to have any intensive processes running in the background as this is a very resource-intensive process itself! Do not worry about any messages within the command prompt window as it is running. Check back after some time has passed, and once you receive a mesagge telling you that the program ran successfully, you can close it! Please direct any questions or issues to the Fallout 4 Experiences Discord server or the Posts tab of this Nexus page if you have any. If you follow these instructions exactly as they are laid out (and have a legal, non-pirated copy of the game), you should not have any issues!
After installer.bat finishes running, close the command prompt window. Navigate to the PatchedBA2 folder within your Workbase folder and there should be 15 .ba2 archives shown that are named the same as the 15 you placed in the OriginalBA2 folder, only these should all be larger in size than the original archives. If everything seems correct, copy these 15 .ba2 archives from PatchedBA2 to your Fallout 4/Data folder and overwrite the original ones there. When prompted to overwrite say Yes to all! (reference image)
You are now done with the texture optimization process. It is recommended you keep your vanilla archives in the OriginalBA2 folder as backups just in case of any issues, and you should alos for convenience keep the patched .ba2 archives in your PatchedBA2 folder so that if you ever decided to start over or reinstall the game, you don't have to do this process again and can simply copy these 15 .ba2 archives from the PatchedBA2 folder back to your Fallout 4/Data folder and overwrite the original .ba2 texture archives there again quick and easy! To save on space, you can delete the Textures folder from within the PatchedFiles folder.
One vitally important thing to note with using BRB texture packs is that you must NEVER VERIFY FILE INTEGRITY OF THE GAME FILES THROUGH STEAM. When using MO2, there should NEVER be a case where you need to do this as a means of troubleshooting, and doing so will revert the game's textures back to vanilla meaning you will have to copy the 15 ba2 archives from the PatchedBA2 folder back into your Fallout 4/Data folder to overwrite yet again.
All credits for this amazing process go to BiRaitBec himself who spent years of his own personal time developing the tool and obtaining permissions from each mod author to include their textures in his packs. A true legend!
Show
Overall, this process can take anywhere between 90 minutes and 4 hours to complete, primarily based on whether you run this process on a HDD or SSD. If you want to simply continue on with the guide and actually start installing mods then you can proceed to do so without any issues and return to this step at any time! This process requires a great deal of space to run it successfully (up to 120GB), however after finishing you should be able to remove many of the intermediate files to significantly reduce the size of its related files. Once you are finished you will end up a retexture of almost every object in the game in a way that will significantly improve game performance and load times since the textures will be baked into the vanilla archives instead of installed over the top of them. You can then install any texture mods you want afterwards and there will be no conflicts as anything from the BRB texture packs will automatically be overwritten! Once you are ready, CAREFULLY follow through each step below. It is easy to make mistakes if you are not paying attention, however this is not a process you want to make mistakes on as doing so can result in lots of wasted time and frustration for you!
BRB Guide Texture Optimization Packs
- Start by manually downloading the FIRST main file from the Files tab of the BRB guide - Workbase. All files to be downloaded for this section will come from the BRB guide Files tab linked above. Extract the folder from the downloaded archive to a hard drive that has a lot of space on it (requires at least 120GB; doesn't need to be extracted on the same hard drive as the one you installed Fallout 4 on) and rename the extracted folder to Workbase. Within the Workbase folder, there are 3 important folders we will be working with, starting now with the OriginalBA2 folder.
- In File Explorer, navigate to your Fallout 4/Data folder within the location where you have Fallout 4 installed and find the following 15 .ba2 texture archives from the base game and COPY them from your Fallout 4/Data folder to the originalBA2 folder inside Workbase (reference image).
Spoiler:
-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
-DLCWorkshop01 - Textures.ba2
-DLCWorkshop02 - Textures.ba2
-DLCWorkshop03 - Textures.ba2
-DLCRobot - Textures.ba2
-DLCCoast - Textures.ba2
-DLCNukaWorld - Textures.ba2
Show
-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
-DLCWorkshop01 - Textures.ba2
-DLCWorkshop02 - Textures.ba2
-DLCWorkshop03 - Textures.ba2
-DLCRobot - Textures.ba2
-DLCCoast - Textures.ba2
-DLCNukaWorld - Textures.ba2
Once your 15 original .ba2 texture archives are placed inside the OriginalBA2 folder within Workbase, you must decide which texture packs you want to make use of. Under the Main Files and Optional Files sections of the BRB guide files you will find 3 parts for the main repack, a single part Performance Overhaul, and a 2 part Quality Overhaul. The main repack is generally considered essential for most hardware as it is the core of the retexture process and covers the most objects in-game. Performance and quality packs are OPTIONAL. Whether you use these two is really up to your preference and hardware, however if you are using this as an alternative to Luxor's HD overhaul because you have an older/weaker graphics card, I recommend you use ONLY the performance and/or main packs and NOT the quality pack which is the most FPS-intensive (but also highest quality). I personally use all three for a great quality-performance balance! You can look at the Credits section at the bottom of the BRB guide page to see what all mods are included in each texture pack to help guide your decision. Once a decision has been made, proceed with the steps below. These texture packs are large so do consider spending the small amount of money necessary for Nexus Premium to not spend any longer downloading than is necessary.
Please note that no matter which texture packs you use, they must be downloaded and extracted IN THIS EXACT ORDER AS OUTLINED BELOW (Performance-Main-Quality):
- If you wish to use the Performance pack, MANUALLY download (using the manual download button) the FIRST file under the Optional Files section from the BRB guide Files tab - Performance Overhaul. Extract the Textures folder from within the downloaded archive to the PatchedFiles folder within your Workbase folder.
- If you wish to use the Main pack, MANUALLY download (using the manual download button) the SECOND file under the Main Files section from the BRB guide Files tab - Main Repack - Part One. Extract the textures folder from within the downloaded archive to the PatchedFiles folder wtihin your Workbase folder. Say Yes to All for any overwrites!
- If you wish to use the Main pack, MANUALLY download (using the manual download button) the THIRD file under the Main Files section from the BRB guide Files tab - Main Repack - Part Two. Extract the textures folder from within the downloaded archive to the PatchedFiles folder wtihin your Workbase folder. Say Yes to All for any overwrites!
- If you wish to use the Main pack, MANUALLY download (using the manual download button) the LAST file under the Main Files section from the BRB guide Files tab - Main Repack - Part Three. Extract the textures folder from within the downloaded archive to the PatchedFiles folder wtihin your Workbase folder. Say Yes to All for any overwrites!
- If you wish to use the Quality pack, it has two parts so start with the first part by MANUALLY downloading (using the manual download button) the SECOND file under the Optional Files section from the BRB guide files tab - Quality Addon - Part One. Extract the Textures folder from within the downloaded archive to the PatchedFiles folder within your Workbase folder. Say Yes to All for any overwrites! Then MANUALLY download the second part which is the THIRD filder under the Optional Files section - Quality Addon - Part Two. Extract the Textures folder from within the downloaded archive to the PatchedFiles folder within your Workbase folder. Say Yes to All for any overwrites!
The three important folders within your Workbase folder that I mentioned earlier are OriginalBA2, PatchedFiles, and PatchedBA2. At this time, OriginalBA2 should have your 15 original .ba2 archives copied from your Fallout 4/Data folder. PatchedFiles should contain ONLY a Textures folder which holds the textures from each of the packs you decided to use (extracted and overwritten in the exact specified order of Performance-Main-Quality). PatchedBA2 will have 15 .ba2 archives inside of it when this process is finished which will be named exactly the same as the .ba2 archives you placed in the OriginalBA2 folder but significantly larger in file size (since the textures within the PatchedFiles folder will be packed into them). Ensure the OriginalBA2 and PatchedFiles folders are set up exactly as specified above and then look for the file called installer.bat inside your Workbase folder and double-click to run it.
This may take as little as 90 minutes or as long as 3 hours to run depending on the packs used and whether it is running on a SSD. Step away from the computer and try not to have any intensive processes running in the background as this is a very resource-intensive process itself! Do not worry about any messages within the command prompt window as it is running. Check back after some time has passed, and once you receive a mesagge telling you that the program ran successfully, you can close it! Please direct any questions or issues to the Fallout 4 Experiences Discord server or the Posts tab of this Nexus page if you have any. If you follow these instructions exactly as they are laid out (and have a legal, non-pirated copy of the game), you should not have any issues!
After installer.bat finishes running, close the command prompt window. Navigate to the PatchedBA2 folder within your Workbase folder and there should be 15 .ba2 archives shown that are named the same as the 15 you placed in the OriginalBA2 folder, only these should all be larger in size than the original archives. If everything seems correct, copy these 15 .ba2 archives from PatchedBA2 to your Fallout 4/Data folder and overwrite the original ones there. When prompted to overwrite say Yes to all! (reference image)
You are now done with the texture optimization process. It is recommended you keep your vanilla archives in the OriginalBA2 folder as backups just in case of any issues, and you should alos for convenience keep the patched .ba2 archives in your PatchedBA2 folder so that if you ever decided to start over or reinstall the game, you don't have to do this process again and can simply copy these 15 .ba2 archives from the PatchedBA2 folder back to your Fallout 4/Data folder and overwrite the original .ba2 texture archives there again quick and easy! To save on space, you can delete the Textures folder from within the PatchedFiles folder.
One vitally important thing to note with using BRB texture packs is that you must NEVER VERIFY FILE INTEGRITY OF THE GAME FILES THROUGH STEAM. When using MO2, there should NEVER be a case where you need to do this as a means of troubleshooting, and doing so will revert the game's textures back to vanilla meaning you will have to copy the 15 ba2 archives from the PatchedBA2 folder back into your Fallout 4/Data folder to overwrite yet again.
All credits for this amazing process go to BiRaitBec himself who spent years of his own personal time developing the tool and obtaining permissions from each mod author to include their textures in his packs. A true legend!
It is highly recommended you try starting your game now by using the F4SE option from the executable drop-down in MO2 and clicking the Run button (reference image). Get through the opening prologue outside of Vault 111 and make sure everything looks and plays as it should and then proceed onto actually starting to install mods in the next section!
Spoiler:
Congrats! You've made it through the most difficult part of the guide! Relatively speaking everything should be smooth sailing from here on out. (Repeating this from the texture optimization section in case you decided to skip it) It is highly recommended you try starting your game now by using the F4SE option from the executable drop-down in MO2 and clicking the Run button (reference image). Get through the opening and outside of Vault 111 and make sure everything looks and plays as it should and then proceed onto actually starting to install mods in this section! The installation of mods will all be happening through MO2 and should be fairly straightforward from here on out! Be sure to carefully read the install instructions for each as there is sometimes more that goes into installing a mod than simply downloading and installing it through MO2.
Important note before starting...Sorting mods in the left pane is just as important as sorting plugins under the Plugins tab in the right pane. Left pane order determines the order of priority between loose files from mods (i.e. files that aren't packed into .ba2 archives or plugins) and right pane Plugins order determines the load order of mods and which changes override from each mod in case of conflicts. If you follow this exact installation order, you should not have to move any mods in the left pane as you go. Nevertheless, a list of how the left pane mod priority order should appear as well as a text file that will automatically sort your plugins in the right pane will be provided toward the end of the guide, so you don't have to worry about manually sorting anything in MO2 until then (and if you follow this guide exactly you shouldn't have to manually sort any mods at all)! You are welcome to try launching and testing the setup as you go, however you may run into issues until the left and right pane is sorted correctly after all the mods are installed.
Credits to CyberDanz (author of the BRB Guide Tribute Edition) for descriptions on some of the mods listed below as this guide originally started as a fork of the BRB guide.
A popup will often appear after installing a mod in MO2. You can just click OK in every case unless a custom installer pops up for which additional instructions will be provided on what to select for the mod. If you are ever prompted with an option between merge, replace, and rename, select RENAME and name it something fitting. For example, the darker ambience plugin for Ultra Interior Lighting may try naming itself as Ultra Interior Lighting also by default. Two mod listings in MO2 cannot be named the same, so simply rename it to something approrpriate like "Ultra Interior Lighting - Darker Ambience Addon" and then click the check next to it to install/enable it. You can see a full listing of all mods installed in the left pane and their exact order and naming as I've named them personally in the Load Order section toward the end of the guide.
* after a mod indicates that mod is REQUIRED. Mods with this * after them are so important to the vision we intended with this setup, so we consider them absolutely essential and non-negotiable in the setup and considered them foundational to the approach we took in patching. Any mod that isn't starred is entirely optional, but highly recommended!
For our purposes, you can ignore plugins/load order in the right pane of MO2 as you will be provided with a text file that sets your load order correctly at the end (and I can't guarantee you'll have any luck testing the game until you are finished with everything because the load order you are provided with at the end will vary quite a bit from the left pane/install order below).
You should install the following mods in the exact order they are presented below and the left pane order of mods in MO2 should match this install order. If you ever get a popup asking about unpacking a mod's BSA, select NO!
Mod Configuration Menu - MCM * REQUIRED - Get ready to install the first mod of the guide in MO2! Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button. Always use this button to download mods through MO2 unless specified otherwise. The mod should now appear in the right pane of MO2 under the Downloads tab. Double-click the mod file downloaded for MCM under the Downloads tab to install it.
A listing for Mod Configuration Menu should now appear in the left pane of MO2 with the checkbox next to it unchecked. Check the box next to Mod Configuration Menu in the left pane to activate it. You must check the box next to every mod you install in the left pane to activate it and add its contents to your virtual data directory! Any mod that is left unchecked will not load when you run the game. After doing so, you will notice there is no plugin added under the Plugins tab in the right pane.
Not all mods you install will have a plugin to add here, however all mods at the very least will have file contents to add to your virtual Data directory under the Data tab in the right pane (reference image). You can double-click any mod in the left pane of MO2 and click on the File Tree tab to examine its contents. You will follow this exact, simple method of download (with manager) and install from the Downloads tab for almost every mod, but some mods require a few extra steps to install completely so please read carefully!
Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch * - A comprehensive bugfix mod for Fallout 4. The goal of the Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch (aka UFO4P) is to eventually fix every bug with Fallout 4 not officially resolved by the developers to the limits of the Creation Kit and community-developed tools, in one easy-to-install package.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Flicker Fixer * - Flicker Fixer fixes most of the exterior flickering aka z-fighting in the game, particularly in the Boston and Cambridge areas.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2. When the installer appears do not change any options just click the Next button at the bottom and then the Finish button.
Workshop Framework - Framework to open the settlement system to editing by the community!
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Raw Input - Disables Mouse Acceleration, Horizontal/Vertical Parity, Scalable ADS Multiplier, and gives Normalized Sensitivity.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2. When the installer appears do not change any options just click the Finish button at the bottom.
Looks Menu Customization Compendium - Special Note: The Looks Menu Requirement (when viewing LMCC requirements) is not a real one! It is abusing the Nexus category just for simple crediting. Do not install Looks Menu thinking it is required, just this mod.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Merged Fixes - Custom (BRB) * - Download the first file under Update Files Merged Mods - Fixes - Fomod under Update Files and install in MO2. When the installer opens choose the Select Mods option (NOT ALL-IN-ONE) and on the next page ONLY check the boxes next to:
When finished checking these options click the Install button at the bottom of the installer window. A listing for Merged Fixes should now appear in the left pane. For naming consistency, you can optionally right-click the Merged Fixes mod in the left pane and click Rename and name it Merged Fixes - Custom or Merged Fixes - WC, otherwise leave it named as it is by default.
Sprint Stuttering Fix * - An engine-level fix for the frequent issue of stuttering and brief hitches when sprinting. Be sure you did NOT select Smooth First Person Sprint from BRB Merged Fixes above.
Download the 1st main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Wetness Shader Fix * - The subtle snowfall effect introduced by Whispering Hills is actually just retextured rain. This results in everything taking on an excessive shine due to constant rainfall. This mod fixes that to make the effect less exaggerated.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Equipment and Crafting Overhaul (ECO) * - An amazing combination of three of the best mods to ever grace the F4 modding community; essentially deprecating the need to ever have to install the old bloatware that is AWKCR and Armorsmith Extended. In sum, it overhauls vanilla armor/clothing to be more modular and expandable, allows for the use of a mobile universal workbench where you can craft just about anything anywhere on the go all with a single convenient workbench instead of several (we will go over how to patch your load order for use with this workbench at the end of the guide), and you will be able to modify several aspects of your weapons on-the-go without the need for any workbench using the quick gun modification system!
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2. Also download the optional file Workbench Patcher but save it for later. We will use this at the end of the guide to place all your mod-added recipes into the mobile workbench.
MCM Settings Manager * - This mod is an absolute godsend for guide authors as it allows us to directly provide you with a MCM preset so you don't have to configure any mod settings to match the intended experience. It's all done for you after applying my preset!
Download and install the main file in MO2. Then download and install the 3rd main file from this guide's Files tab WC MCM Settings and be sure that the listing for WC MCM Settings gets placed AFTER the listing for the MCM Settings Manager main file in the left pane of MO2. We will apply this preset in-game at the very end of the guide (final section).
SKK Fast Start New Game * - You've seen the opening prologue for Fallout 4 PLENTY of times. Let's get past it via this nicely-scripted, conflict-free solution from SKK!
Download and install the main file via MO2.
HUD Framework * - A UI framework that makes it possible for mods to add new UI elements to the HUD in a conflict-free way. Stats, time, widgets... and more!
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Immersive HUD - iHUD * - The aim of iHUD is to provide the immersive feel you get from having no HUD, whilst keeping the usefulness of having one. It takes the permanently visible HUD elements like the compass and crosshair, and hides them when not needed. Hence the motto: HUD when you need it and HIDE when you do not!
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Alex's Male First Person Camera Height Fix - This fixes the eye height when playing as a male character since the game keeps it at the height of the female character.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Extended Dialogue Interface * - Removes the engine's hard-coded 4 dialogue options limit to allow for infinite possibilities which is especially useful for quest mods used by this guide.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
QuickTrade Redux - Adds an option to quickly trade with merchants without going through tedious dialogue.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
FallSouls - Unpaused Game Menus * - An essential mod for the setup that makes it so that the game doesn't actually stop running when you pause or open the pip-boy. The pip-boy is no longer a safe means of catching your breath in the middle of combat, but rather a death sentence for those foolish enough to try opening it in the middle of a fight. Setting hotkeys is very important when using this mod!
Download and install the main file via MO2. Double-click Fallsouls - Unpaused Game Menus in the left pane and navigate to the INI Files tab then set each line equal to 0 in BOTH ini's listed on the left (e.g. bConsole=0, bTerminalMenu=0, etc.). Click the save icon above the right-side INI editor for both when finished making changes then close the window (reference image). We will re-enable these later after configuring holotapes in-game so that you are not being attacked while trying to configure the game.
Improved Maps With Visible Roads - The commonwealth is massive! Given the added emphasis on open exploration in this guide setup, it's nice to have a pip-boy map with some actual fine details to help you navigate!
Download and install the main file via MO2. During the installer just select the Default option and click the Install button at the bottom. Then download and install (in this order, from the Optional Files section of this mod's Files tab) IMVR - Nuka World (Default) and IMVR - Far Harbor (Default) within MO2.
Weapon/Equipment Additions - I'm not one to dictate how you intend to experience this in terms of the equipment you choose to accompany you. Just make sure any weapon/armor mods you install don't require AWKCR (Armor and Weapon Keyword Community Resource; an old and deprecated mod). Also make sure any weapon mods you install fall in this exact place in the left AND right pane (plugins tab) of MO2. Do not leave the weapon plugins at the bottom when you're finished! You can look at my loadorder.txt during the load order section of the guide near the end to see where I placed my weapon plugins for comparison. I'll list below a few of my recommendations here below that fit the survival horror vibe with this setup if you so choose:
Some Assembly Required * - Power armor begone! You are playing a gritty survival horror overhaul so power armor has no place here! Some Assembly Required seeks to remove as many instances of power armor frames and pieces in the game as possible, however some have to be left in place due to scripted dependencies. Nevertheless, I highly encourage you NOT to make use of any power armor you find in the game!
Download and install the FOURTH Main File Some Assembly Required (Merged DLC) file via MO2.
Immersive Fallout - Custom * - A Fallout experience that feels realistic, rewarding, and ultimately much more fun. Step out of the vanilla fantasy and step into some reality.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2. During the installer that appears, select Custom on the first screen and then DLC under Movement, Standard (DLC) under Recoil, DLC under ADS, ONLY Realistic Jumping under Misc., and lastly RAW INPUT under Patches then click the Install button.
A listing for Immersive Fallout should now appear in the left pane. For naming consistency, you can optionally right-click the Immersive Fallout mod in the left pane and click Rename and name it Immersive Fallout - Custom or Immersive Fallout - WC, otherwise leave it named as it is by default.
Balance - As far as damage-balancing mods go, this has been my go-to for some time now. Well-balanced (no pun intended) and doesn't require any patches or added hassle to use. May make some changes you don't like such as lethal headshots on creatures. Use at your own discretion!
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Multi color flares * - Some situations (particularly otherworld events) become so oppressively dark that the pip-boy flashlight alone just won't cut it! Multiple variants of flares and flare gun ammo can now be found on traders and containers as well as craftable in the Chemistry Station at settlements or the Universal Workbench anywhere. I highly recommend you use console in-game to spawn a batch similar to the methods used from the weapon additions section (help flare 4 weap; player.additem XXXXXXX 25 or however many you want to spawn where XXXXXXX is the item id of any WEAP entries listed for throw flare after entering the help command, which you can enter to spawn that entity into your inventory. Multiple colors will appear in response to the help command).
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Important Note: Do not deploy too many flares at once close to each other as this will cause severe FPS drops; an unfortunate side effect of flare mods due to the particle and lighting effects.
Everyone's Best Friend - You're going to need all the help you can get out there, and although Dogmeat likes to think he can take on a horde of monsters all on his own, the odds sadly aren't in his favor. This mod allows you to recruit an extra companion in addition to Dogmeat instead of one or the other.
Download and install the main file in MO2.
Everyone's Best Friend UFO4P Compatibility Fix - A hotfix for compatibility between EBF and Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch.
Download and install the main file in MO2.
Survival Configuration Menu * - Survival YOUR WAY! Configure nearly every aspect of survival difficulty to your liking. Many settings are preset using my MCM settings manager preset, but feel free to adjust from there based on your preferences.
Download and install the main file in MO2. Then download and install the 3rd optional file Patch - Everyone's Best Friend. These files must be listed in the left and right pane in the exact order as you have just installed them: EBF-->EBF-UFO4P Hotfix-->SCM-->EBF-SCM Patch.
Campsite - The title poses it as "simple wasteland camping" however the process of actually using this mod's features is somewhat convoluted (but certainly worthwhile once you get the hang of it). Please read through the HOW TO section of the description for this mod to understand how to effectively use it in-game.
Download and install the main file in MO2.
Hunter of the Commonwealth - Believe it or not survival in a harsh environment (particularly in the year 2287) often involves harvesting supplies and organs from other living beings, be they animals or humans. This mod allows for you to do just that in a very immersive way.
Download and install the main file in MO2.
No VATS Overhaul * - Let's face it...VATS is a gameplay mechanic we all cheat and use as a crutch to sway the outcome of a combat encounter in our favor. It has no place in a realistic survival horror playthrough and as such makes combat encounters more challenging; encouraging you to instead consider stealth or avoid fights altogether early-game.
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Commonwealth Wilderness Overhaul - Adds some unexpected zest and variety to the Commonwealth via a number of hand-placed instances that seek to diversify your experience.
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Commonwealth Critters - Who doesn't love to run around and see a few regular critters as a reminder that the Commonwealth wasn't always a literal hell on earth?
Download and install the 2nd main file CommonwealthCritters - Both DLC via MO2.
FallEvil Complete Edition * - An all-in-one repack of some of the best creature mods to ever grace the Nexus consisting of designs based on prominent creatures from the Resident Evil series. Experience a perfect merging of two of the best horror video game properties to ever exist with both Resident Evil and Silent Hill in a single game! This is an essential mod to install because it is core to the custom spawn system used with SKK 4-76 Open World for this setup.
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Feral Ghoul Expansion Pack (FGEP) * - A mod that seemingly came out of nowhere and burst into the scene with great excitement by way of introducing exceptional variety to the otherwise mundane round of vanilla feral ghoul offerings. It takes heavy inspiration from the Left 4 Dead series in its creature design and is the icing on the cake when it comes to introducing that extra bite of terror into your Whispering Chills experience. This is an essential mod to install because it is core to the custom spawn system used with SKK 4-76 Open World for this setup.
Download and install the main file in MO2. During the installer, select the first Hard Inject (REC) option under injection methods.
Do not select any other options. Then download and install the Update File - FGEP Tank Tweak Fix - Uploaded by 4estGimp. Place it after the FGEP main file in the left pane.
Rad Spiders - As if all the aforementioned creature additions aren't horrifying enough let's throw some spiders in too. Sure! Why not?
Download and install the main file via MO2.
SKK 4-76 Open World *** - An absolutely essential core mod for this setup which is non-negotiable! Used to clear out most vanilla NPC's and quests and replace them with terrifying monsters.
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Download and install the main file via MO2.
SKK Replace Any Actor With Any Actor * - Used to replace most of the remaining vanilla factions with terrifying creatures from the guide's installed mods.
Download and install ONLY the MAIN file named SKKActorReplaceRespawnManager_002. You don't need the other 2 files!
After installing this main file for SKK actor replacement in MO2, download and install the 2nd main file from this guide's Files tab SKK Actor Replacement Custom List in MO2. Make sure you place the actor replacement custom list AFTER the main file in the left pane of MO2. This is the custom list replace any actor pulls from to replace vanilla NPC's with so you need it!
FallEvil - Mega Zombie Pack - An amazing retexture and overhaul of behavior for any vanilla feral ghouls remaining in the game to make them fall more in line with the experience and setting.
Download and install the main file in MO2. During the installer on the first page select Behaviour ESP. On the second page don't select anything. On the last page select Far Harbor Integration and then finish the installer.
No Radiation (Redone) - In the "lore" of this setup that I envision, the world is overtaken not by nuclear fallout and radiation but rather a paranormal event that has consumed every corner of the Commonwealth. We've taken measures to try and remove most systems and mechanics from the vanilla game to make this a true overhaul. This mod helps us reach one step further toward that goal.
Download and install the main file in MO2.
Commonwealth Cuts - Collection of conversions from Skyrim's KS Hairdos and ApachiiSkyHair.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
The Eyes of Beauty - Replaces the default textures with high resolution ones for both male and female. The textures are 512x512 in resolution, meaning that it's twice the resolution of Fallout 4 Vanilla's.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2. When the installer appears do not change any options (leave all options at their defaults) and just click the Next button at the bottom of the window until Install appears and finally click Install.
Eye Normal Map Fix - Enhances normal maps for the eyes.
Download and install the main file in MO2.
Grab the Damn Mag - This mod fixes a lot of the massive clipping issues (for weapons that have that M4/M16 - AK/FAL layout) happening with the animations, mainly with the mods that have that animation with the mag going in sideways.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Quest Mod and Location Additions - This section contains multiple horror-themed quest mods that can be installed to provide new areas and quests to explore that fall in line with the themes of the guide as well as additional areas to explore or otherwise seek refuge in. These are entirely optional, however they do provide a lot more eerie and terrifying opportunities across the Commonwealth to give more incentive to exploration. Please visit the new Fallout 4 Experiences Discord if you have any horror-themed quest mod suggestions not on the list below that you feel would fit the guide.
Burst Impact Blast FX - Adds real visual fidelity and expression to most particle and impact effects so you really feel the weight of combat.
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Immersive Candles - Gives an expressive vibe to all areas lit by candle-light by animating and lighting all candles across the Commonwealth.
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Mutilated Dead Bodies - Adds a new questline, special weapon, and lots of gory, brutal bodily displays to special areas across the commonwealth. Not for the faint of heart!
Download and install the main file in MO2.
Glowing Animals Emit Light - Any glowing creatures will now emit a ring of light onto the environment around them. Great for immersion!
Download and install the 1st main file Glowing Animals Emit Light - ALL DLC in MO2.
Dark Sci-Fi Vault Retexture - A terrific retexture of vaults that makes them appear more cold and claustrophobic.
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Gritty Subway Stations - Retextures subway stations to match the tone of the guide setup. It's the little things that make all the difference!
Download and install EITHER main file (not both) choosing between 2K and 4K depending on the desired quality-performance balance. I personally use 4K with virtually no performance impact.
Creepy Mannequins - Retextures mannequins to have a more terrifying and sinister look. When paired with Whispering Hills let's just say it's a killer combo. As if mannequins weren't creepy enough already!
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Lighting Series All-in-One - Let there be light! The first in a series of mods used by the guide that seek to restore lighting to various objects and buildings including Red Rocket, Starlight Diner, and bus stops.
Download and install the second main file - -Lighting- Series - AIO - MAIN with IllBill ALL DLC via MO2.
Radioactive Signs Lighting - Store sign decals and billboards across the Commonwealth will help light the way. Trust me...With this guide setup you will want all the light sources you can get!
Download and install the main file via MO2.
More Oil Lamps * - An absolute centerpiece to the ambience and immersion of this setup. At night, you will see your way by only lamplight.
Download and install the 1st main file in MO2.
Ultimate Window Overhaul - With this mod windows will finally look less like flat 2D textures and more defined, even utilizing specific means of screen space and cubemap reflections to dynamically reflect light. A minor addition...But an awesome one especially at night when your flashlight and its reflection off of windows is all you can see clearly.
Download and install ONLY THE 3RD OPTIONAL FILE named d. (2K Perf. - BSA) Fallout 4 Ultimate Window Overhaul via MO2. You do not need the main file. During the installer select the 3rd option Cubemap Fake Reflections Only on the second screen.
FO4 Sun * - Replaces...The abomination Bethesda placed in the sky with an actual celestial sphere capable of emitting light which we call the Sun. An essential mod when all you can see in the sky other than fog is the sun.
Download and install the main file via MO2.
True Blood - Is it too much to ask for blood that actually looks like real blood? In the case of this mod, no it is not.
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Flickering Blood and Flickering Puddles - The Solution * - Fixes the notorious issue with blood puddles flickering due to their specular map.
Download and install the 2nd main file Less Intense Speculars - TrueBlood via MO2.
No More Fake Puddles * - Once upon a time Bethesda decided it would be a good idea to plop cheap-looking puddles every 5 feet along roadways to cover texture seams and as an added joke decide to make it so that they flicker uncontrollably as you walk by them. Now it's on the rest of civilized humanity (or rather the author of this mod) to fix that terrible mistake. Puddles begone!
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Less Annoying Water Rain Ripples * - Download and install the main file via MO2. For the installer that appears, Transparency Level is up to your preference. I do level 3 personally. This mod is necessary in order to remove obnoxious rippling water effects in large bodies of water when it's only snowing (water applies the same ripple effect for rain and snow in-game).
Pip-Boy Flashlight * - No more radial pip-boy light with limited range. Light the way ahead with casted shadows to provide an eerie sense of tunnel vision allowing you only to see what is immediately in front of you (works great in the Otherworld!)
Download and install the SECOND main file - Pip-Boy Flashlight v6 BETA 3.02 via MO2.
Misty Pines Overhaul - If you want even MORE fog on top of Whispering Hills fog this will do the trick. We will not be using the full mod. Similar to GRIM below, I will provide a replacer plugin that strips this mod down to JUST the fog patches it provides. This mod and the replacer plugin can be used in any setup for immersive rolling fog patches!
Download and install the main file in MO2. Double-click the listing for Misty Pines Overhaul in the left-pane of MO2 then navigate to the Filetree tab at the top of the window that opens. In the Filetree tab, hold the Ctrl key and click to highlight Misty Pines Overhaul - Main.ba2, Misty Pines Overhaul - Textures.ba2, and Misty Pines Overhaul.INI then right-click any of the 3 and select Hide to hide all 3 files from use (see reference image).
Then install the 1st optional file from this guide's file tab Misty Pines Replacer Plugin in MO2 and make sure you place the Misty Pines Replacer Plugin listing AFTER the main Misty Pines Overhaul listing in the left pane of MO2 so that my replacer plugin overwrites the main plugin as intended.
Ultra Interior Lighting - This is a comprehensive lighting mod that brings you many more shadow lights and a general improvement to overall lighting, ambience and fog to the interiors of the Commonwealth, Far Harbor and Nuka World. When used with the darker ambience plugin it makes interiors properly creepy and eerie where you can only see clearly around light sources.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2. Then download and install in MO2 the Optional File - Darker Ambience Plugin.
Tweaked Interior Color and Lighting * - This is an optional file from the Polluted Climate mod page that adjusts the image space for interiors to look far more dark and desaturated. The ENB preset for the guide was built around its lighting so it is a requirement if you plan to use the guide's ENB preset.
Download and install ONLY the 2nd main file Tweaked Interior Color and Light. You do not need the first main file which is a weather mod and should not be used with this setup!
Reverb and Ambience Overhaul * - Total overhaul of all reverb and ambient sounds in all environments. Essential for audiophile immersion!
Download and install the 2nd main file Reverb and Ambiance Overhaul - ALL DLC via MO2.
LOST Audio Tweaks * - A sound mod pack combining several of the best audio mods on Nexus with several custom tweaks and configurations to provide a holistic and comprehensive audio experience.
Download and install the 1st main file Lost Audio Tweaks via MO2.
_Sound Zero_ - Interior gun shot reverb so loud it'll make your ears crack!
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Ambient Wasteland - A port of the iconic F3/FNV mod which adds several wildlife-based ambient sounds across the commonwealth to provide an extra edge of eeriness to the soundscape.
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Barefoot Footstep Extended - No shoes, no problem! Listen to those bare feet slap the ground in high fidelity audio quality.
Download and install the 1st main file Barefoot Footstep Extended - ESP and then the 4th main file Sound Package - Original Version and place it immediately after the main ESP file in the left pane of MO2. You need to make sure you download and install both files or your bare footsteps will be silent!
Project Reality Footsteps - For the average joe who tends to wear shoes while roaming the commonwealth. Expands the audio library to 16 sounds to cycle through from based on gear worn and terrain!
Download and install the 1st main file Project Reality Footsteps FO4 1.7 BA2 via MO2.
Commonwealth Explosions Overhaul - LOUD EXPLOSIONS!
Download and install the first then second main file (in order, CEO - Commonwealth Explosion Overhaul then CEO - Special Explosives) via MO2.
Commonwealth Gunfire Overhaul - New crisp, hand-crafted, high-quality sounds for all vanilla weapons on the player and NPC's.
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Diamond City Ambience - Adds an array of ambient sounds while in Diamond City to enhance immersion.
Download and install the 2nd main ESP file via MO2.
F.E.R.A.L -Feral Ghouls Sounds Rework * - Any encounter with a ghoul will now make your skin crawl as the impeccable sound design of this mod rings forth into your ears as they leap toward you.
Download and install the main file in MO2.
Hunt Showdown Atmospherics - Adds additional ambient sound effects from the popular PVP bounty hunter game Hunt Showdown.
Download and install the main file in MO2.
Inner City Ambience * - Yet another Zorkaz enhancement to bolster audio immersion while exploring cities.
Download and install the 2nd main file Inner City Ambience ESP via MO2.
Sinister Ambient Sound * - People tend to underestimate the level of anxiety and tension that simple audio tweaks and additions can provide to a modded setup. This mod will leave you constantly on the edge of your seat wondering whether you are about to be attacked or simply just hearing things in the distance.
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Monsterum - Deathclaw Sounds Rework - Overhauls all deathclaw sounds to be more spine-tingling in nature and also affects all creatures which inhabit the deathclaw template (which is a lot more than you would think in this setup).
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Existence 2.0 - Dark industrial ambient music with an awesome radio DJ to boot! A Fallout modding staple for the past 11 years (ever since its initial release with Fallout 3).
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Lost Audio Tweaks patches * - Necessary patches for compatibility between Lost Audio Tweaks and other audio mods in the list above.
Download and install the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 6th files under the Optional Files section (AT - Ambient Wasteland and RAO, AT - DC Ambience and RAO, AT - Sinister Ambience and RAO Patch and AT - Inner City Ambience and RAO Patch) and the 4th file under the Miscellaneous Files section (AT - Existence RAO Patch) in MO2 (5 patches in total).
GRIM ** - The author L00ping has given me creative freedom to integrate Grim into the Whispering Chills experience as we see fit so thanks to him for making this amazing mod! Whispering Hills (below) is still actively being updated and developed which is largely why we use it as the core foundation and are merely using GRIM as icing on the cake, but GRIM has several great qualities Whispering Hills never will. For now, we are simply integrating the creatures from Grim into the experience here, and by use of a replacer plugin that strips Grim down to its bare essentials to minimize conflicts we are able to bring those creatures in while ensuring the intended core experience remains. So again, don't worry if you don't want to use Grim in full as we will merely be using it for adding creatures from it into the mix. This is an essential mod to install because it is core to the custom spawn system used with SKK 4-76 Open World for this setup.
Download and install the main file via MO2. There are a couple things we need to do to prepare this mod for our setup here:
-First, it is recommended to move the listing for Grim in the left pane all the way up near the top and place it just below Flicker Fixer.
-Next, double-click the listing for GRIM in the left pane of MO2 and click the Filetree tab at the top of the window that appears. In this window, hold the Ctrl key then click and highlight on GRIM.ini and GRIM-FH.esp and then right-click on either and select Hide (see reference image). We will not need either of these files and can safely hide them from use.
-Lastly, download the 1st main file GRIM Replacer Plugin from this guide's Files tab and install it in MO2. Make sure the listing for the GRIM Replacer Plugin is placed AFTER the listing for GRIM in the left pane of MO2 so that our replacer plugin actually replaces the main GRIM plugin. This provides a conflict-free version of the plugin that contains only what is necessary for creature spawns from GRIM.
Whispering Hills ** - The second absolutely essential and core mod of this guide setup that forms the foundation of my vision in creating this guide. Everything in this guide was built from the ground up to enhance and accommodate the horror elements it offers that are great on their own but even better when paired with similarly spooky horror-themed mods. Please visit the mod page for more details regarding all that it changes and adds to the game. This is an absolutely required mod which is non-negotiable.
Download and install the main file via MO2. During the installer that appears, ensure both DLC patches for Nuka World and Far Harbor are CHECKED. Don't check anything under alternative addons.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Whispering Hills has an .ini file with a sstartingconsolecommand line that will override the settings of your WC.txt from the guide setup steps unless you hide it. Double-click the Whispering Hills mod in the left pane of MO2 and click the Filetree tab. Just like you did above with GRIM's INI file you must hide Whispering Hills' INI file. Right-click Whispering Hills.ini in the Filetree tab and HIDE IT. If you don't do this step you will get terrible performance and unintended visual bugs among other things. You will have to redo this step if you ever update or re-install Whispering Hills for any reason!
Choose only one flora option from below to download and install in MO2.
A Forest * (recommended flora option) - Simply one of the best flora mods to ever exist which enshrouds the rural areas of the Commonwealth with thick, luscious trees, grass, and other foliage. This mod singlehandedly amps up the horror levels to 11. When exploring rural areas this mod makes it even more difficult to see what all is hiding in the fog and shadows. Hell, you might even mistake Sirenhead for a tree like I often do. I can't guarantee full compatibility of other flora mods with every mod in this setup (particularly quest mods) as I only patched/tested A Forest against the setup here.
Download and install normally in MO2. Please note that the FPS hit in areas with dense tree coverage can be rather heavy, however to me it is well worth it for those who have FPS to spare as it greatly enhances the horror factor overall and higher-end systems will still be able to maintain above 60 FPS almost everywhere. I recommend at least trying this out and if you find your average FPS to be too low, remove this mod and try an alternative flora option below. Either way, you don't necessarily need a flora mod at all if you don't want one as the bare, vanilla trees are creepy enough on their own and the dense fog prevents you from seeing ugly, distant, and bare landscapes and LOD that is normally visible in vanilla.
OR
The Aspen Commonwealth + True Grass (better performance flora option) - A solid grass and tree combo that covers the commonwealth with dense grass and aspen trees which does a good job emulating the look of A Forest but is much more performance-friendly. Download and install both via MO2. The guide provides a modlist and load order based on using A Forest, so if you decide to use this instead you will have manually sort The Aspen Commonwealth and True Grass in the left and right panes of MO2 into the exact position that A Forest otherwise would be (after Whispering Hills) after finishing the load order section of the guide.
OR
Boston Natural Surroundings (suitable alternative flora option) - Another popular flora option that may suit the tastes of those who don't care for the other two flora options above. The guide provides a modlist and load order based on using A Forest, so if you decide to use this instead you will have to manually sort Boston Natural Surroundings in the left and right panes of MO2 into the exact position that A Forest would otherwise be (after Whispering Hills) after finishing the load order section of the guide.
Important Note: Many other flora overhaul mods exist, however A Forest is the intended one for the guide and the other two are ones tested and known to work with the guide as well as fitting the aesthetic. Other flora mods may break precombines thereby destroying your performance or may present unforeseeable issues in terms of mod conflicts with other aspects of this guide. I highly recommend you stick to the provided options for flora.
Silent Protagonist * - Roleplay your way! No more idiotic mutterings or random exclamations of your son's name.
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Silent Protagonist Patches * - Download and install via MO2 the first main file - Silent Protagonist Patch Compilation - FOMOD Installer and select the following in the installer if you have installed the corresponding mods:
-Kelly Macabre - BA2 Archive (page 3)
-Fainthearth Manor - BA2 Archive (page 4)
-Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch - BA2 Archive (page 7)
Make sure you choose the BA2 archive option for each and not loose files.
If you did not install any quest mods only choose the Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch - BA2 Archive on page 7.
Dynamic Music Overhaul - Prevents the endless loop of combat music by having combat no longer trigger combat music and give away ambushes before they occur (and sadly Whispering Hills only has a couple combat tracks so it quickly becomes tedious).
Download and install the main file in MO2. During the installer, select the top/first option Ambience.
Boston FPS Fix * - Significantly improves FPS in downtown Boston and the surrounding areas to the extent that it is able. Downtown Boston will still suffer FPS drops due to poor base game optimization, but this mod does what it can to free up some FPS in the worst areas. Currently used in lieu of PRP until later stable versions and more compatibility patches are produced.
Download and install via MO2 the FIRST main file - Boston FPS Fix - AIO. Then download and install via MO2 the FOURTH optional file PaladinBaileyRedRocket.
Boston FPS Fix - PRP Edition * - ESP replacer for Boston FPS Fix that carries over fixes from the great Previsibines Repair Pack mod (something I'm choosing not to include here for the time being due to the amount of conflict resolution required and this modlist not really requiring that wide of coverage).
Download and install the main file in MO2. Make sure this PRP Edition listing is placed after the Boston FPS Fix main mod in the left pane so that it overwrites the main mod's ESP plugin.
SKK 4-76 Custom Actor Replacer ** - This is a custom actor replacer for use with SKK 4-76 Open World. When you run the SKK 4-76 OW holotape as part of the final starting the game section of the guide below, you will choose CUSTOM on the top line, and instead of simply removing all notable NPC's from the game this will instead replace them all with a custom rotation of creatures from FallEvil, Whispering Hills, Grim and FGEP. Thanks to DaNotoriousQba for coming up with this amazing, unprecedented solution which allows us to add in Grim creatures without ever activating the curse!
Manually download the 4th main file under the Files tab of this mod page as it's linked above - WC SKK 4-76 Custom Actor Replacer and install it manually in MO2. To manually install a mod archive click on the CD icon in the top-left corner of MO2 and select the downloaded archive (reference image). Then you can check it in the left pane and move it as you please.
Nate's Old Footlocker - A mod that places a cache of supplies buried along the fence in the back yard of the player home. We will be using the patch below to turn this into a comprehensive starting gear cache. Install the 1st main file from here! It must be the first main file or the patch below will not work.
Nate's Footlocker Custom Loadout Patch - Install the 2nd optional file Nate's Footlocker Custom Loadout from the guide's Files page and be sure to load this after Nate's Old Footlocker and when you find the container buried in the backyard it should contain everything you need to get started including ammo and weapons of each vanilla type, medical supplies, and shipments of junk for crafting. It also includes a holy weapon and silver bullets that are especially effective against GRIM creatures (so this patch does require GRIM).
Optimization Patches Collection * - An amazing compilation of patched replacer plugins for over 30 mods which fixes many issues present in popular mods. From this setup, only the Vault 1080, Subway Runner, and Mutilated Dead Bodies patches are needed.
Download and install the main file in MO2. The installer should automatically detect that you have Vault 1080, Subway Runner, and Mutilated Dead Bodies installed (if you installed those) so you can proceed through to the end of the installer without having to select any options (but do verify it has each of these mods checked while going through the installer).
Whispering Chills Patches * - A series of patches that correct all overriding changes between mods to make them work together without conflicts or crash states. These patches are ESSENTIAL for use in order to ensure a smooth, stable, and expected Whispering Chills experience. Download and manually install in MO2 the 7th main file under the Files tab for this guide's mod page - Whispering Chills Patches. Check the box next to this mod listing in the left pane and you should see several plugins appear at the bottom of the Plugins tab in the right pane.
You must disable certain patches if you aren’t using the mod they are for. For example, if you aren’t using any quest mods, or are only using certain listed quest mods (not all) then you must disable the patches for those mods which you do not have installed by unchecking the box next to each one in the right pane.
If you installed every mod in the guide you can leave everything as is and don’t have to disable any patches. If a patch is missing its corresponding master file (the mod it’s dependent on) then a warning symbol will appear next to the plugin listing in the right pane. If you hover over the warning icon it will show you which master plugin is missing (see reference image). This means you either forgot to install the mod that patch depends on or the patch is for a mod you intentionally chose not to install, and therefore you should uncheck that patch in the right pane. Each patch is descriptively named as to which mods it patches, and at this point you should review each patch to ensure none have a warning symbol next to them and either go back and ensure you have installed the mod it requires or uncheck that patch in the right pane if you aren't going to use the mod(s) it patches. Double-check to ensure you installed the exact version of each mod specified in the install instructions for each mod you installed. Even one incorrect installation can lead to crashes or other issues.
Some patches are highly subjective but do things that fall in line with our vision of how the guide should play, and you can optionally disable these if you do not like what they offer. This includes most notably the longer nights, brighter PB light, and more fogs patches which do exactly as they are named.
ECO Workbench Patcher - Remember that Workbench Patcher optional file from the Equipment and Crafting Overhaul Files page at the start of this install section from when you started setting this up weeks ago? Well in case you lost track of it or didn't download it then, go and download the Workbench Patcher optional file from this link and follow the steps below! This step is done so that the mobile workbench added by Equipment and Crafting Overhaul has recipes for all items added by mods so you can craft any items directly from it anywhere without having to use multiple workbenches or reach a settlement. If you don't do this step, you will not be able to craft things like holotapes and mod-added weapons or armors at the mobile workbench!
Extract the contents from the downloaded Workbench Patcher archive and copy its contents into the FO4Edit folder inside the folder where the game is installed (reference image; this folder should already exist from setting up FO4Edit in the Essential Tools and Utilities section; e.g. steamapps\common\Fallout 4\FO4Edit).
Now, in MO2, set up the workbench patcher batch file as an executable in your Mod Organizer 2 application. We'll accomplish this the same way we added FO4Edit as an executable to MO2 in the Essential Tools and Utilities section. To do this, click on the Gears/Executables icon (reference image for all primary MO2 toolbar icons; click the gears/executables icon). A new window will pop up. Now click on the Plus Sign (Add an Executable) and select Add from File. Another window will pop up. In this window, navigate to Steam Games Library/SteamApps/Common/Fallout 4/FO4Edit folder and double click on the ECO_WorkbenchPatcher.bat file. Then click on
the OK button in the Modify Executables window (reference image).
ECO_WorkbenchPatcher will now appear as an executable option in the top-right corner of MO2 next to the run button if you click the drop-down. Select ECO_WorkbenchPatcher as your executable and click the Run button to start it (see reference image)! A command prompt window will appear asking if you'd like to run the patcher. Simply enter the letter Y and press enter.
When FO4Edit opens allow it to load all plugins by simply clicking ok on the module selection popup that appears. Once all plugins are finished loading a popup will appear asking to select options for ECO Workbench Patcher. Leave everything checked and click the New Patch button (see reference image).
In the next plugin selection window you must uncheck the plugin for Kelly Macabre! If you don't do this, you won't be able to complete the quest unless you have the universal workbench on you. If you have the universal workbench on you, drop it down and go to Utility Station --> Explosives --> Timed Explosive and craft it with the supplies collected as part of the quest. If you DON'T have the universal workbench and you forgot to uncheck Kelly Macabre when running this workbench patcher, you will need to spawn the Universal Workbench into your inventory using console commands (help universal 4 misc and player.additem XXXXXXX based on the MISC item ID it returns, it will be added to the MISC tab of your inventory).
After unchecking Kelly Macabre, click OK and name the patch something appropriate like "ECO Workbench Patch" and click ok. Then click ok again and the script will start running! It should be done in under a minute. Once a popup appears indicating the script has finished running you can click ok once more and close this FO4Edit window entirely.
Now back in MO2, your newly created plugin will appear at the bottom of your load order in the Plugins tab in the right pane. Be sure to check it on, and you'll be good to go (see reference image)! You can leave this patch plugin last in your load order.
Refer to this article or stop by the Fallout 4 Experiences Discord server if you need any assistance on this!
NOTE: If you ever remove or add any mods with plugins, you need to recreate this patch by rerunning the script in FO4Edit using the steps above again. If any plugins are missing as compared to when you created it, a red triangle will appear indicating a missing master so the patch will not run and you won't see any items in the Universal Workbench when you launch the game (see reference image). If you add any armor or weapon mods without creating a new patch with the ECO Workbench Patcher those items will not appear in the Universal Workbench. This is why it's best to do this after you've finalized your modlist and load order.
The mobile workbench must be picked up and placed in your inventory to be used in your playthrough. It will appear just outside the vault after you exit directly behind you between two large blue crates.
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Congrats! You've made it through the most difficult part of the guide! Relatively speaking everything should be smooth sailing from here on out. (Repeating this from the texture optimization section in case you decided to skip it) It is highly recommended you try starting your game now by using the F4SE option from the executable drop-down in MO2 and clicking the Run button (reference image). Get through the opening and outside of Vault 111 and make sure everything looks and plays as it should and then proceed onto actually starting to install mods in this section! The installation of mods will all be happening through MO2 and should be fairly straightforward from here on out! Be sure to carefully read the install instructions for each as there is sometimes more that goes into installing a mod than simply downloading and installing it through MO2.
Important note before starting...Sorting mods in the left pane is just as important as sorting plugins under the Plugins tab in the right pane. Left pane order determines the order of priority between loose files from mods (i.e. files that aren't packed into .ba2 archives or plugins) and right pane Plugins order determines the load order of mods and which changes override from each mod in case of conflicts. If you follow this exact installation order, you should not have to move any mods in the left pane as you go. Nevertheless, a list of how the left pane mod priority order should appear as well as a text file that will automatically sort your plugins in the right pane will be provided toward the end of the guide, so you don't have to worry about manually sorting anything in MO2 until then (and if you follow this guide exactly you shouldn't have to manually sort any mods at all)! You are welcome to try launching and testing the setup as you go, however you may run into issues until the left and right pane is sorted correctly after all the mods are installed.
Credits to CyberDanz (author of the BRB Guide Tribute Edition) for descriptions on some of the mods listed below as this guide originally started as a fork of the BRB guide.
A popup will often appear after installing a mod in MO2. You can just click OK in every case unless a custom installer pops up for which additional instructions will be provided on what to select for the mod. If you are ever prompted with an option between merge, replace, and rename, select RENAME and name it something fitting. For example, the darker ambience plugin for Ultra Interior Lighting may try naming itself as Ultra Interior Lighting also by default. Two mod listings in MO2 cannot be named the same, so simply rename it to something approrpriate like "Ultra Interior Lighting - Darker Ambience Addon" and then click the check next to it to install/enable it. You can see a full listing of all mods installed in the left pane and their exact order and naming as I've named them personally in the Load Order section toward the end of the guide.
* after a mod indicates that mod is REQUIRED. Mods with this * after them are so important to the vision we intended with this setup, so we consider them absolutely essential and non-negotiable in the setup and considered them foundational to the approach we took in patching. Any mod that isn't starred is entirely optional, but highly recommended!
For our purposes, you can ignore plugins/load order in the right pane of MO2 as you will be provided with a text file that sets your load order correctly at the end (and I can't guarantee you'll have any luck testing the game until you are finished with everything because the load order you are provided with at the end will vary quite a bit from the left pane/install order below).
You should install the following mods in the exact order they are presented below and the left pane order of mods in MO2 should match this install order. If you ever get a popup asking about unpacking a mod's BSA, select NO!
Mod Configuration Menu - MCM * REQUIRED - Get ready to install the first mod of the guide in MO2! Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button. Always use this button to download mods through MO2 unless specified otherwise. The mod should now appear in the right pane of MO2 under the Downloads tab. Double-click the mod file downloaded for MCM under the Downloads tab to install it.
A listing for Mod Configuration Menu should now appear in the left pane of MO2 with the checkbox next to it unchecked. Check the box next to Mod Configuration Menu in the left pane to activate it. You must check the box next to every mod you install in the left pane to activate it and add its contents to your virtual data directory! Any mod that is left unchecked will not load when you run the game. After doing so, you will notice there is no plugin added under the Plugins tab in the right pane.
Not all mods you install will have a plugin to add here, however all mods at the very least will have file contents to add to your virtual Data directory under the Data tab in the right pane (reference image). You can double-click any mod in the left pane of MO2 and click on the File Tree tab to examine its contents. You will follow this exact, simple method of download (with manager) and install from the Downloads tab for almost every mod, but some mods require a few extra steps to install completely so please read carefully!
Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch * - A comprehensive bugfix mod for Fallout 4. The goal of the Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch (aka UFO4P) is to eventually fix every bug with Fallout 4 not officially resolved by the developers to the limits of the Creation Kit and community-developed tools, in one easy-to-install package.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Flicker Fixer * - Flicker Fixer fixes most of the exterior flickering aka z-fighting in the game, particularly in the Boston and Cambridge areas.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2. When the installer appears do not change any options just click the Next button at the bottom and then the Finish button.
Workshop Framework - Framework to open the settlement system to editing by the community!
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Raw Input - Disables Mouse Acceleration, Horizontal/Vertical Parity, Scalable ADS Multiplier, and gives Normalized Sensitivity.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2. When the installer appears do not change any options just click the Finish button at the bottom.
Looks Menu Customization Compendium - Special Note: The Looks Menu Requirement (when viewing LMCC requirements) is not a real one! It is abusing the Nexus category just for simple crediting. Do not install Looks Menu thinking it is required, just this mod.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Merged Fixes - Custom (BRB) * - Download the first file under Update Files Merged Mods - Fixes - Fomod under Update Files and install in MO2. When the installer opens choose the Select Mods option (NOT ALL-IN-ONE) and on the next page ONLY check the boxes next to:
- Water LOD fix
- Fixed alpha maps
- 3rd person beard fix
- MystiriousDawn's HD Lensflare
- Console Enabler for Survival
When finished checking these options click the Install button at the bottom of the installer window. A listing for Merged Fixes should now appear in the left pane. For naming consistency, you can optionally right-click the Merged Fixes mod in the left pane and click Rename and name it Merged Fixes - Custom or Merged Fixes - WC, otherwise leave it named as it is by default.
Sprint Stuttering Fix * - An engine-level fix for the frequent issue of stuttering and brief hitches when sprinting. Be sure you did NOT select Smooth First Person Sprint from BRB Merged Fixes above.
Download the 1st main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Wetness Shader Fix * - The subtle snowfall effect introduced by Whispering Hills is actually just retextured rain. This results in everything taking on an excessive shine due to constant rainfall. This mod fixes that to make the effect less exaggerated.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Equipment and Crafting Overhaul (ECO) * - An amazing combination of three of the best mods to ever grace the F4 modding community; essentially deprecating the need to ever have to install the old bloatware that is AWKCR and Armorsmith Extended. In sum, it overhauls vanilla armor/clothing to be more modular and expandable, allows for the use of a mobile universal workbench where you can craft just about anything anywhere on the go all with a single convenient workbench instead of several (we will go over how to patch your load order for use with this workbench at the end of the guide), and you will be able to modify several aspects of your weapons on-the-go without the need for any workbench using the quick gun modification system!
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2. Also download the optional file Workbench Patcher but save it for later. We will use this at the end of the guide to place all your mod-added recipes into the mobile workbench.
MCM Settings Manager * - This mod is an absolute godsend for guide authors as it allows us to directly provide you with a MCM preset so you don't have to configure any mod settings to match the intended experience. It's all done for you after applying my preset!
Download and install the main file in MO2. Then download and install the 3rd main file from this guide's Files tab WC MCM Settings and be sure that the listing for WC MCM Settings gets placed AFTER the listing for the MCM Settings Manager main file in the left pane of MO2. We will apply this preset in-game at the very end of the guide (final section).
SKK Fast Start New Game * - You've seen the opening prologue for Fallout 4 PLENTY of times. Let's get past it via this nicely-scripted, conflict-free solution from SKK!
Download and install the main file via MO2.
HUD Framework * - A UI framework that makes it possible for mods to add new UI elements to the HUD in a conflict-free way. Stats, time, widgets... and more!
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Immersive HUD - iHUD * - The aim of iHUD is to provide the immersive feel you get from having no HUD, whilst keeping the usefulness of having one. It takes the permanently visible HUD elements like the compass and crosshair, and hides them when not needed. Hence the motto: HUD when you need it and HIDE when you do not!
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Alex's Male First Person Camera Height Fix - This fixes the eye height when playing as a male character since the game keeps it at the height of the female character.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Extended Dialogue Interface * - Removes the engine's hard-coded 4 dialogue options limit to allow for infinite possibilities which is especially useful for quest mods used by this guide.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
QuickTrade Redux - Adds an option to quickly trade with merchants without going through tedious dialogue.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
FallSouls - Unpaused Game Menus * - An essential mod for the setup that makes it so that the game doesn't actually stop running when you pause or open the pip-boy. The pip-boy is no longer a safe means of catching your breath in the middle of combat, but rather a death sentence for those foolish enough to try opening it in the middle of a fight. Setting hotkeys is very important when using this mod!
Download and install the main file via MO2. Double-click Fallsouls - Unpaused Game Menus in the left pane and navigate to the INI Files tab then set each line equal to 0 in BOTH ini's listed on the left (e.g. bConsole=0, bTerminalMenu=0, etc.). Click the save icon above the right-side INI editor for both when finished making changes then close the window (reference image). We will re-enable these later after configuring holotapes in-game so that you are not being attacked while trying to configure the game.
Improved Maps With Visible Roads - The commonwealth is massive! Given the added emphasis on open exploration in this guide setup, it's nice to have a pip-boy map with some actual fine details to help you navigate!
Download and install the main file via MO2. During the installer just select the Default option and click the Install button at the bottom. Then download and install (in this order, from the Optional Files section of this mod's Files tab) IMVR - Nuka World (Default) and IMVR - Far Harbor (Default) within MO2.
Weapon/Equipment Additions - I'm not one to dictate how you intend to experience this in terms of the equipment you choose to accompany you. Just make sure any weapon/armor mods you install don't require AWKCR (Armor and Weapon Keyword Community Resource; an old and deprecated mod). Also make sure any weapon mods you install fall in this exact place in the left AND right pane (plugins tab) of MO2. Do not leave the weapon plugins at the bottom when you're finished! You can look at my loadorder.txt during the load order section of the guide near the end to see where I placed my weapon plugins for comparison. I'll list below a few of my recommendations here below that fit the survival horror vibe with this setup if you so choose:
Spoiler:
Backpacks of the Commonwealth
Eli's Armor Compendium - 2nd main file
Private Military Company - install the main file and then the 3.0.2 hotfix under update files after. Rename the hotfix file if prompted to do so
West-Tek Tactical Optics
BF4 44M Animations - Reanimation of the 44 Magnum to more fit the gameplay style
44M Retexture - More modern, fitting look for the 44 Magnum to make it your weapon of choice
Widow Shotgun - Any monster hunter's best friend
Ithaca Model 37 Pump Shotgun
Crossbow
M2 Flamethrower Redux - Burn em all!
Fire Axe
Murdering Chainsaw
OTs-33 Pernach Pistol
Stevens M-520 Shotgun
Beretta M9-FS Pistol
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Backpacks of the Commonwealth
Eli's Armor Compendium - 2nd main file
Private Military Company - install the main file and then the 3.0.2 hotfix under update files after. Rename the hotfix file if prompted to do so
West-Tek Tactical Optics
BF4 44M Animations - Reanimation of the 44 Magnum to more fit the gameplay style
44M Retexture - More modern, fitting look for the 44 Magnum to make it your weapon of choice
Widow Shotgun - Any monster hunter's best friend
Ithaca Model 37 Pump Shotgun
Crossbow
M2 Flamethrower Redux - Burn em all!
Fire Axe
Murdering Chainsaw
OTs-33 Pernach Pistol
Stevens M-520 Shotgun
Beretta M9-FS Pistol
Some Assembly Required * - Power armor begone! You are playing a gritty survival horror overhaul so power armor has no place here! Some Assembly Required seeks to remove as many instances of power armor frames and pieces in the game as possible, however some have to be left in place due to scripted dependencies. Nevertheless, I highly encourage you NOT to make use of any power armor you find in the game!
Download and install the FOURTH Main File Some Assembly Required (Merged DLC) file via MO2.
Immersive Fallout - Custom * - A Fallout experience that feels realistic, rewarding, and ultimately much more fun. Step out of the vanilla fantasy and step into some reality.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2. During the installer that appears, select Custom on the first screen and then DLC under Movement, Standard (DLC) under Recoil, DLC under ADS, ONLY Realistic Jumping under Misc., and lastly RAW INPUT under Patches then click the Install button.
A listing for Immersive Fallout should now appear in the left pane. For naming consistency, you can optionally right-click the Immersive Fallout mod in the left pane and click Rename and name it Immersive Fallout - Custom or Immersive Fallout - WC, otherwise leave it named as it is by default.
Balance - As far as damage-balancing mods go, this has been my go-to for some time now. Well-balanced (no pun intended) and doesn't require any patches or added hassle to use. May make some changes you don't like such as lethal headshots on creatures. Use at your own discretion!
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Multi color flares * - Some situations (particularly otherworld events) become so oppressively dark that the pip-boy flashlight alone just won't cut it! Multiple variants of flares and flare gun ammo can now be found on traders and containers as well as craftable in the Chemistry Station at settlements or the Universal Workbench anywhere. I highly recommend you use console in-game to spawn a batch similar to the methods used from the weapon additions section (help flare 4 weap; player.additem XXXXXXX 25 or however many you want to spawn where XXXXXXX is the item id of any WEAP entries listed for throw flare after entering the help command, which you can enter to spawn that entity into your inventory. Multiple colors will appear in response to the help command).
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Important Note: Do not deploy too many flares at once close to each other as this will cause severe FPS drops; an unfortunate side effect of flare mods due to the particle and lighting effects.
Everyone's Best Friend - You're going to need all the help you can get out there, and although Dogmeat likes to think he can take on a horde of monsters all on his own, the odds sadly aren't in his favor. This mod allows you to recruit an extra companion in addition to Dogmeat instead of one or the other.
Download and install the main file in MO2.
Everyone's Best Friend UFO4P Compatibility Fix - A hotfix for compatibility between EBF and Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch.
Download and install the main file in MO2.
Survival Configuration Menu * - Survival YOUR WAY! Configure nearly every aspect of survival difficulty to your liking. Many settings are preset using my MCM settings manager preset, but feel free to adjust from there based on your preferences.
Download and install the main file in MO2. Then download and install the 3rd optional file Patch - Everyone's Best Friend. These files must be listed in the left and right pane in the exact order as you have just installed them: EBF-->EBF-UFO4P Hotfix-->SCM-->EBF-SCM Patch.
Campsite - The title poses it as "simple wasteland camping" however the process of actually using this mod's features is somewhat convoluted (but certainly worthwhile once you get the hang of it). Please read through the HOW TO section of the description for this mod to understand how to effectively use it in-game.
Download and install the main file in MO2.
Hunter of the Commonwealth - Believe it or not survival in a harsh environment (particularly in the year 2287) often involves harvesting supplies and organs from other living beings, be they animals or humans. This mod allows for you to do just that in a very immersive way.
Download and install the main file in MO2.
No VATS Overhaul * - Let's face it...VATS is a gameplay mechanic we all cheat and use as a crutch to sway the outcome of a combat encounter in our favor. It has no place in a realistic survival horror playthrough and as such makes combat encounters more challenging; encouraging you to instead consider stealth or avoid fights altogether early-game.
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Commonwealth Wilderness Overhaul - Adds some unexpected zest and variety to the Commonwealth via a number of hand-placed instances that seek to diversify your experience.
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Commonwealth Critters - Who doesn't love to run around and see a few regular critters as a reminder that the Commonwealth wasn't always a literal hell on earth?
Download and install the 2nd main file CommonwealthCritters - Both DLC via MO2.
FallEvil Complete Edition * - An all-in-one repack of some of the best creature mods to ever grace the Nexus consisting of designs based on prominent creatures from the Resident Evil series. Experience a perfect merging of two of the best horror video game properties to ever exist with both Resident Evil and Silent Hill in a single game! This is an essential mod to install because it is core to the custom spawn system used with SKK 4-76 Open World for this setup.
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Feral Ghoul Expansion Pack (FGEP) * - A mod that seemingly came out of nowhere and burst into the scene with great excitement by way of introducing exceptional variety to the otherwise mundane round of vanilla feral ghoul offerings. It takes heavy inspiration from the Left 4 Dead series in its creature design and is the icing on the cake when it comes to introducing that extra bite of terror into your Whispering Chills experience. This is an essential mod to install because it is core to the custom spawn system used with SKK 4-76 Open World for this setup.
Download and install the main file in MO2. During the installer, select the first Hard Inject (REC) option under injection methods.
Do not select any other options. Then download and install the Update File - FGEP Tank Tweak Fix - Uploaded by 4estGimp. Place it after the FGEP main file in the left pane.
Rad Spiders - As if all the aforementioned creature additions aren't horrifying enough let's throw some spiders in too. Sure! Why not?
Download and install the main file via MO2.
SKK 4-76 Open World *** - An absolutely essential core mod for this setup which is non-negotiable! Used to clear out most vanilla NPC's and quests and replace them with terrifying monsters.
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Download and install the main file via MO2.
SKK Replace Any Actor With Any Actor * - Used to replace most of the remaining vanilla factions with terrifying creatures from the guide's installed mods.
Download and install ONLY the MAIN file named SKKActorReplaceRespawnManager_002. You don't need the other 2 files!
After installing this main file for SKK actor replacement in MO2, download and install the 2nd main file from this guide's Files tab SKK Actor Replacement Custom List in MO2. Make sure you place the actor replacement custom list AFTER the main file in the left pane of MO2. This is the custom list replace any actor pulls from to replace vanilla NPC's with so you need it!
FallEvil - Mega Zombie Pack - An amazing retexture and overhaul of behavior for any vanilla feral ghouls remaining in the game to make them fall more in line with the experience and setting.
Download and install the main file in MO2. During the installer on the first page select Behaviour ESP. On the second page don't select anything. On the last page select Far Harbor Integration and then finish the installer.
No Radiation (Redone) - In the "lore" of this setup that I envision, the world is overtaken not by nuclear fallout and radiation but rather a paranormal event that has consumed every corner of the Commonwealth. We've taken measures to try and remove most systems and mechanics from the vanilla game to make this a true overhaul. This mod helps us reach one step further toward that goal.
Download and install the main file in MO2.
Commonwealth Cuts - Collection of conversions from Skyrim's KS Hairdos and ApachiiSkyHair.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
The Eyes of Beauty - Replaces the default textures with high resolution ones for both male and female. The textures are 512x512 in resolution, meaning that it's twice the resolution of Fallout 4 Vanilla's.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2. When the installer appears do not change any options (leave all options at their defaults) and just click the Next button at the bottom of the window until Install appears and finally click Install.
Eye Normal Map Fix - Enhances normal maps for the eyes.
Download and install the main file in MO2.
Grab the Damn Mag - This mod fixes a lot of the massive clipping issues (for weapons that have that M4/M16 - AK/FAL layout) happening with the animations, mainly with the mods that have that animation with the mag going in sideways.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Quest Mod and Location Additions - This section contains multiple horror-themed quest mods that can be installed to provide new areas and quests to explore that fall in line with the themes of the guide as well as additional areas to explore or otherwise seek refuge in. These are entirely optional, however they do provide a lot more eerie and terrifying opportunities across the Commonwealth to give more incentive to exploration. Please visit the new Fallout 4 Experiences Discord if you have any horror-themed quest mod suggestions not on the list below that you feel would fit the guide.
Spoiler:
The Sewers - Adds an interconnected network of sewer systems beneath the Commonwealth with 20 unique entry and exit points placed across the map. New enemies, loot, and crafting stations complemented with an overall eerie atmosphere.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Claustrophobia - A short but uniquely terrifying haunted house-like experience emulating the feeling of Silent Hills P.T. Easily one of the if not the most unsettling and uncomfortable (for claustrophobics) quest mod for Fallout 4.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the downloads tab in MO2.
Kelly Macabre - A prequel to the Kelly Manor Horror quest mod which introduces you to the haunting, demented spirit behind the tragedy of the Kelly Manor: Madison. Please note that once you pass level 20 Madison will approach you with an interesting offer seemingly out of nowhere. I recommend you avoid her like the plague unless you want to go down the rabbit hole with her.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the downloads tab in MO2.
The Kelly Manor Horror - A terrifying quest mod that adds a new building to the Commonwealth wherein you will experience your deepest nightmares all while being unable to use weapons of any kind. Your only defense is to run and hide!
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the downloads tab in MO2.
Children of Ug-Qualtoth - From the mod description which summarizes this perfectly (to say anything more would spoil this one-of-a-kind experience): A lore-friendly suspenseful lovecraftian quest mod with a sprawling dungeon, unique enemies, custom composed music and new weapons. Follow the trail of the Dunwich company and discover a disturbing past long forgotten.
Download the 2nd main file Children of Ug-Qualtoth - BA2 using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the downloads tab in MO2. You must use the second main file to ensure compatibility with guide mods.
Vault 1080 - Adds a new vault to explore just outside Sanctuary filled with a deep, dark secret tied to its ghoulified inhabitants. Originally designed by NVIDIA devs to show off their cutting-edge volumetric lighting system, but it has stood the test of time to remain as an equally beautiful and terrifying experience.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Witch House - A unique settlement in a secluded environment where you can hide away from the horrors of the commonwealth.
Download the 2nd main file Witch House ESP using the Mod Manager Download button and install it in MO2.
The Cemetery - Plainfield Cemetery - A mysterious new worldspace with brief questing and settlement options.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Fainthearth Manor - Find the manor. Stay silent. And don't let her get you!
Download the 2nd main file Fainthearth Manor ESP using the Mod Manager Download button and install it in MO2. I'm not sure what the purpose of the first main file is but you can safely ignore it as I'm sure it was a mistake upload.
Blair Residence - Spooky. Scary. Ghosts. You know the drill. This experience wouldn't be possible without the countless contributions of the great Zorkaz! And all his mods add something worthwhile to any playthrough. It was hard to cherry-pick the very best out of his nearly 300 mods to include here.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
The Mannequin Cult - We will be installing a retexture for mannequins that will put you on edge whenever you come across them. Why not extend that aspect to its full potential with this lovely little dungeon full of mannequin worshippers?
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Boxcar Cottage Player Home - In a harsh and unforgiving land of horrors, Red Rocket TV refuges (several of which are included here) are a much-needed reprieve from otherwise unrelenting terror.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Chestnut Lodge - It's a lodge. A nice lodge.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Inside Jobs - You can never have too many places to hide away from the fog. These just happen to be exceptionally well-crafted and comforting hiding places/additional interiors to explore.
Download and install the main file first. Then download and install the 4th optional file Inside Jobs - UFO4P Patch ESP after the main file.
Outcasts' Hideout - Just another place to hang out and stuff.
Download and install the main file in MO2.
Stumble Upon Interiors - 11 new immersive interiors to seek refuge in and explore. Can you catch...err...I mean find them all?
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Subway Runner - Let's head underground! There's no way it could be as terrible as everything above ground, right? Well, I guess that's for you to figure out...An immersive, expansive, and oppressive new network of subway tunnels awaits exploration and introduces new ways to reach points all across the Commonwealth.
Download and install the 1st main file for dynamic lighting.
Subways of the Commonwealth - Some of the last remaining survivors of this paranormal apocalypse hang out in a series of subway stations which can be used to trade, rest, and travel between stations in an immersive way.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
The Goodneighbor Condo Player Home - The monsters didn't leave much intact when it comes to Goodneighbor, but this condo remains mostly untouched and a perfect place to hang out when rummaging deep in the midsts of Downtown Boston.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
The Red Wave - (Hopefully) none of these terrifying abominations can swim. So let's use that to our advantage to make our way throughout the Commonwealth by sea! Sadly an immersive fast travel canoe from Silent Hill 2 is not a mod that currently exists, so this is the next best thing.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Show
The Sewers - Adds an interconnected network of sewer systems beneath the Commonwealth with 20 unique entry and exit points placed across the map. New enemies, loot, and crafting stations complemented with an overall eerie atmosphere.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Claustrophobia - A short but uniquely terrifying haunted house-like experience emulating the feeling of Silent Hills P.T. Easily one of the if not the most unsettling and uncomfortable (for claustrophobics) quest mod for Fallout 4.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the downloads tab in MO2.
Kelly Macabre - A prequel to the Kelly Manor Horror quest mod which introduces you to the haunting, demented spirit behind the tragedy of the Kelly Manor: Madison. Please note that once you pass level 20 Madison will approach you with an interesting offer seemingly out of nowhere. I recommend you avoid her like the plague unless you want to go down the rabbit hole with her.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the downloads tab in MO2.
The Kelly Manor Horror - A terrifying quest mod that adds a new building to the Commonwealth wherein you will experience your deepest nightmares all while being unable to use weapons of any kind. Your only defense is to run and hide!
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the downloads tab in MO2.
Children of Ug-Qualtoth - From the mod description which summarizes this perfectly (to say anything more would spoil this one-of-a-kind experience): A lore-friendly suspenseful lovecraftian quest mod with a sprawling dungeon, unique enemies, custom composed music and new weapons. Follow the trail of the Dunwich company and discover a disturbing past long forgotten.
Download the 2nd main file Children of Ug-Qualtoth - BA2 using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the downloads tab in MO2. You must use the second main file to ensure compatibility with guide mods.
Vault 1080 - Adds a new vault to explore just outside Sanctuary filled with a deep, dark secret tied to its ghoulified inhabitants. Originally designed by NVIDIA devs to show off their cutting-edge volumetric lighting system, but it has stood the test of time to remain as an equally beautiful and terrifying experience.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Witch House - A unique settlement in a secluded environment where you can hide away from the horrors of the commonwealth.
Download the 2nd main file Witch House ESP using the Mod Manager Download button and install it in MO2.
The Cemetery - Plainfield Cemetery - A mysterious new worldspace with brief questing and settlement options.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Fainthearth Manor - Find the manor. Stay silent. And don't let her get you!
Download the 2nd main file Fainthearth Manor ESP using the Mod Manager Download button and install it in MO2. I'm not sure what the purpose of the first main file is but you can safely ignore it as I'm sure it was a mistake upload.
Blair Residence - Spooky. Scary. Ghosts. You know the drill. This experience wouldn't be possible without the countless contributions of the great Zorkaz! And all his mods add something worthwhile to any playthrough. It was hard to cherry-pick the very best out of his nearly 300 mods to include here.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
The Mannequin Cult - We will be installing a retexture for mannequins that will put you on edge whenever you come across them. Why not extend that aspect to its full potential with this lovely little dungeon full of mannequin worshippers?
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Boxcar Cottage Player Home - In a harsh and unforgiving land of horrors, Red Rocket TV refuges (several of which are included here) are a much-needed reprieve from otherwise unrelenting terror.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Chestnut Lodge - It's a lodge. A nice lodge.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Inside Jobs - You can never have too many places to hide away from the fog. These just happen to be exceptionally well-crafted and comforting hiding places/additional interiors to explore.
Download and install the main file first. Then download and install the 4th optional file Inside Jobs - UFO4P Patch ESP after the main file.
Outcasts' Hideout - Just another place to hang out and stuff.
Download and install the main file in MO2.
Stumble Upon Interiors - 11 new immersive interiors to seek refuge in and explore. Can you catch...err...I mean find them all?
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Subway Runner - Let's head underground! There's no way it could be as terrible as everything above ground, right? Well, I guess that's for you to figure out...An immersive, expansive, and oppressive new network of subway tunnels awaits exploration and introduces new ways to reach points all across the Commonwealth.
Download and install the 1st main file for dynamic lighting.
Subways of the Commonwealth - Some of the last remaining survivors of this paranormal apocalypse hang out in a series of subway stations which can be used to trade, rest, and travel between stations in an immersive way.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
The Goodneighbor Condo Player Home - The monsters didn't leave much intact when it comes to Goodneighbor, but this condo remains mostly untouched and a perfect place to hang out when rummaging deep in the midsts of Downtown Boston.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
The Red Wave - (Hopefully) none of these terrifying abominations can swim. So let's use that to our advantage to make our way throughout the Commonwealth by sea! Sadly an immersive fast travel canoe from Silent Hill 2 is not a mod that currently exists, so this is the next best thing.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2.
Burst Impact Blast FX - Adds real visual fidelity and expression to most particle and impact effects so you really feel the weight of combat.
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Immersive Candles - Gives an expressive vibe to all areas lit by candle-light by animating and lighting all candles across the Commonwealth.
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Mutilated Dead Bodies - Adds a new questline, special weapon, and lots of gory, brutal bodily displays to special areas across the commonwealth. Not for the faint of heart!
Download and install the main file in MO2.
Glowing Animals Emit Light - Any glowing creatures will now emit a ring of light onto the environment around them. Great for immersion!
Download and install the 1st main file Glowing Animals Emit Light - ALL DLC in MO2.
Dark Sci-Fi Vault Retexture - A terrific retexture of vaults that makes them appear more cold and claustrophobic.
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Gritty Subway Stations - Retextures subway stations to match the tone of the guide setup. It's the little things that make all the difference!
Download and install EITHER main file (not both) choosing between 2K and 4K depending on the desired quality-performance balance. I personally use 4K with virtually no performance impact.
Creepy Mannequins - Retextures mannequins to have a more terrifying and sinister look. When paired with Whispering Hills let's just say it's a killer combo. As if mannequins weren't creepy enough already!
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Lighting Series All-in-One - Let there be light! The first in a series of mods used by the guide that seek to restore lighting to various objects and buildings including Red Rocket, Starlight Diner, and bus stops.
Download and install the second main file - -Lighting- Series - AIO - MAIN with IllBill ALL DLC via MO2.
Radioactive Signs Lighting - Store sign decals and billboards across the Commonwealth will help light the way. Trust me...With this guide setup you will want all the light sources you can get!
Download and install the main file via MO2.
More Oil Lamps * - An absolute centerpiece to the ambience and immersion of this setup. At night, you will see your way by only lamplight.
Download and install the 1st main file in MO2.
Ultimate Window Overhaul - With this mod windows will finally look less like flat 2D textures and more defined, even utilizing specific means of screen space and cubemap reflections to dynamically reflect light. A minor addition...But an awesome one especially at night when your flashlight and its reflection off of windows is all you can see clearly.
Download and install ONLY THE 3RD OPTIONAL FILE named d. (2K Perf. - BSA) Fallout 4 Ultimate Window Overhaul via MO2. You do not need the main file. During the installer select the 3rd option Cubemap Fake Reflections Only on the second screen.
FO4 Sun * - Replaces...The abomination Bethesda placed in the sky with an actual celestial sphere capable of emitting light which we call the Sun. An essential mod when all you can see in the sky other than fog is the sun.
Download and install the main file via MO2.
True Blood - Is it too much to ask for blood that actually looks like real blood? In the case of this mod, no it is not.
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Flickering Blood and Flickering Puddles - The Solution * - Fixes the notorious issue with blood puddles flickering due to their specular map.
Download and install the 2nd main file Less Intense Speculars - TrueBlood via MO2.
No More Fake Puddles * - Once upon a time Bethesda decided it would be a good idea to plop cheap-looking puddles every 5 feet along roadways to cover texture seams and as an added joke decide to make it so that they flicker uncontrollably as you walk by them. Now it's on the rest of civilized humanity (or rather the author of this mod) to fix that terrible mistake. Puddles begone!
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Less Annoying Water Rain Ripples * - Download and install the main file via MO2. For the installer that appears, Transparency Level is up to your preference. I do level 3 personally. This mod is necessary in order to remove obnoxious rippling water effects in large bodies of water when it's only snowing (water applies the same ripple effect for rain and snow in-game).
Pip-Boy Flashlight * - No more radial pip-boy light with limited range. Light the way ahead with casted shadows to provide an eerie sense of tunnel vision allowing you only to see what is immediately in front of you (works great in the Otherworld!)
Download and install the SECOND main file - Pip-Boy Flashlight v6 BETA 3.02 via MO2.
Misty Pines Overhaul - If you want even MORE fog on top of Whispering Hills fog this will do the trick. We will not be using the full mod. Similar to GRIM below, I will provide a replacer plugin that strips this mod down to JUST the fog patches it provides. This mod and the replacer plugin can be used in any setup for immersive rolling fog patches!
Download and install the main file in MO2. Double-click the listing for Misty Pines Overhaul in the left-pane of MO2 then navigate to the Filetree tab at the top of the window that opens. In the Filetree tab, hold the Ctrl key and click to highlight Misty Pines Overhaul - Main.ba2, Misty Pines Overhaul - Textures.ba2, and Misty Pines Overhaul.INI then right-click any of the 3 and select Hide to hide all 3 files from use (see reference image).
Then install the 1st optional file from this guide's file tab Misty Pines Replacer Plugin in MO2 and make sure you place the Misty Pines Replacer Plugin listing AFTER the main Misty Pines Overhaul listing in the left pane of MO2 so that my replacer plugin overwrites the main plugin as intended.
Ultra Interior Lighting - This is a comprehensive lighting mod that brings you many more shadow lights and a general improvement to overall lighting, ambience and fog to the interiors of the Commonwealth, Far Harbor and Nuka World. When used with the darker ambience plugin it makes interiors properly creepy and eerie where you can only see clearly around light sources.
Download the main file using the Mod Manager Download button and install it from the Downloads tab in MO2. Then download and install in MO2 the Optional File - Darker Ambience Plugin.
Tweaked Interior Color and Lighting * - This is an optional file from the Polluted Climate mod page that adjusts the image space for interiors to look far more dark and desaturated. The ENB preset for the guide was built around its lighting so it is a requirement if you plan to use the guide's ENB preset.
Download and install ONLY the 2nd main file Tweaked Interior Color and Light. You do not need the first main file which is a weather mod and should not be used with this setup!
Reverb and Ambience Overhaul * - Total overhaul of all reverb and ambient sounds in all environments. Essential for audiophile immersion!
Download and install the 2nd main file Reverb and Ambiance Overhaul - ALL DLC via MO2.
LOST Audio Tweaks * - A sound mod pack combining several of the best audio mods on Nexus with several custom tweaks and configurations to provide a holistic and comprehensive audio experience.
Download and install the 1st main file Lost Audio Tweaks via MO2.
_Sound Zero_ - Interior gun shot reverb so loud it'll make your ears crack!
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Ambient Wasteland - A port of the iconic F3/FNV mod which adds several wildlife-based ambient sounds across the commonwealth to provide an extra edge of eeriness to the soundscape.
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Barefoot Footstep Extended - No shoes, no problem! Listen to those bare feet slap the ground in high fidelity audio quality.
Download and install the 1st main file Barefoot Footstep Extended - ESP and then the 4th main file Sound Package - Original Version and place it immediately after the main ESP file in the left pane of MO2. You need to make sure you download and install both files or your bare footsteps will be silent!
Project Reality Footsteps - For the average joe who tends to wear shoes while roaming the commonwealth. Expands the audio library to 16 sounds to cycle through from based on gear worn and terrain!
Download and install the 1st main file Project Reality Footsteps FO4 1.7 BA2 via MO2.
Commonwealth Explosions Overhaul - LOUD EXPLOSIONS!
Download and install the first then second main file (in order, CEO - Commonwealth Explosion Overhaul then CEO - Special Explosives) via MO2.
Commonwealth Gunfire Overhaul - New crisp, hand-crafted, high-quality sounds for all vanilla weapons on the player and NPC's.
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Diamond City Ambience - Adds an array of ambient sounds while in Diamond City to enhance immersion.
Download and install the 2nd main ESP file via MO2.
F.E.R.A.L -Feral Ghouls Sounds Rework * - Any encounter with a ghoul will now make your skin crawl as the impeccable sound design of this mod rings forth into your ears as they leap toward you.
Download and install the main file in MO2.
Hunt Showdown Atmospherics - Adds additional ambient sound effects from the popular PVP bounty hunter game Hunt Showdown.
Download and install the main file in MO2.
Inner City Ambience * - Yet another Zorkaz enhancement to bolster audio immersion while exploring cities.
Download and install the 2nd main file Inner City Ambience ESP via MO2.
Sinister Ambient Sound * - People tend to underestimate the level of anxiety and tension that simple audio tweaks and additions can provide to a modded setup. This mod will leave you constantly on the edge of your seat wondering whether you are about to be attacked or simply just hearing things in the distance.
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Monsterum - Deathclaw Sounds Rework - Overhauls all deathclaw sounds to be more spine-tingling in nature and also affects all creatures which inhabit the deathclaw template (which is a lot more than you would think in this setup).
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Existence 2.0 - Dark industrial ambient music with an awesome radio DJ to boot! A Fallout modding staple for the past 11 years (ever since its initial release with Fallout 3).
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Lost Audio Tweaks patches * - Necessary patches for compatibility between Lost Audio Tweaks and other audio mods in the list above.
Download and install the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 6th files under the Optional Files section (AT - Ambient Wasteland and RAO, AT - DC Ambience and RAO, AT - Sinister Ambience and RAO Patch and AT - Inner City Ambience and RAO Patch) and the 4th file under the Miscellaneous Files section (AT - Existence RAO Patch) in MO2 (5 patches in total).
GRIM ** - The author L00ping has given me creative freedom to integrate Grim into the Whispering Chills experience as we see fit so thanks to him for making this amazing mod! Whispering Hills (below) is still actively being updated and developed which is largely why we use it as the core foundation and are merely using GRIM as icing on the cake, but GRIM has several great qualities Whispering Hills never will. For now, we are simply integrating the creatures from Grim into the experience here, and by use of a replacer plugin that strips Grim down to its bare essentials to minimize conflicts we are able to bring those creatures in while ensuring the intended core experience remains. So again, don't worry if you don't want to use Grim in full as we will merely be using it for adding creatures from it into the mix. This is an essential mod to install because it is core to the custom spawn system used with SKK 4-76 Open World for this setup.
Download and install the main file via MO2. There are a couple things we need to do to prepare this mod for our setup here:
-First, it is recommended to move the listing for Grim in the left pane all the way up near the top and place it just below Flicker Fixer.
-Next, double-click the listing for GRIM in the left pane of MO2 and click the Filetree tab at the top of the window that appears. In this window, hold the Ctrl key then click and highlight on GRIM.ini and GRIM-FH.esp and then right-click on either and select Hide (see reference image). We will not need either of these files and can safely hide them from use.
-Lastly, download the 1st main file GRIM Replacer Plugin from this guide's Files tab and install it in MO2. Make sure the listing for the GRIM Replacer Plugin is placed AFTER the listing for GRIM in the left pane of MO2 so that our replacer plugin actually replaces the main GRIM plugin. This provides a conflict-free version of the plugin that contains only what is necessary for creature spawns from GRIM.
Whispering Hills ** - The second absolutely essential and core mod of this guide setup that forms the foundation of my vision in creating this guide. Everything in this guide was built from the ground up to enhance and accommodate the horror elements it offers that are great on their own but even better when paired with similarly spooky horror-themed mods. Please visit the mod page for more details regarding all that it changes and adds to the game. This is an absolutely required mod which is non-negotiable.
Download and install the main file via MO2. During the installer that appears, ensure both DLC patches for Nuka World and Far Harbor are CHECKED. Don't check anything under alternative addons.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Whispering Hills has an .ini file with a sstartingconsolecommand line that will override the settings of your WC.txt from the guide setup steps unless you hide it. Double-click the Whispering Hills mod in the left pane of MO2 and click the Filetree tab. Just like you did above with GRIM's INI file you must hide Whispering Hills' INI file. Right-click Whispering Hills.ini in the Filetree tab and HIDE IT. If you don't do this step you will get terrible performance and unintended visual bugs among other things. You will have to redo this step if you ever update or re-install Whispering Hills for any reason!
Choose only one flora option from below to download and install in MO2.
A Forest * (recommended flora option) - Simply one of the best flora mods to ever exist which enshrouds the rural areas of the Commonwealth with thick, luscious trees, grass, and other foliage. This mod singlehandedly amps up the horror levels to 11. When exploring rural areas this mod makes it even more difficult to see what all is hiding in the fog and shadows. Hell, you might even mistake Sirenhead for a tree like I often do. I can't guarantee full compatibility of other flora mods with every mod in this setup (particularly quest mods) as I only patched/tested A Forest against the setup here.
Download and install normally in MO2. Please note that the FPS hit in areas with dense tree coverage can be rather heavy, however to me it is well worth it for those who have FPS to spare as it greatly enhances the horror factor overall and higher-end systems will still be able to maintain above 60 FPS almost everywhere. I recommend at least trying this out and if you find your average FPS to be too low, remove this mod and try an alternative flora option below. Either way, you don't necessarily need a flora mod at all if you don't want one as the bare, vanilla trees are creepy enough on their own and the dense fog prevents you from seeing ugly, distant, and bare landscapes and LOD that is normally visible in vanilla.
OR
The Aspen Commonwealth + True Grass (better performance flora option) - A solid grass and tree combo that covers the commonwealth with dense grass and aspen trees which does a good job emulating the look of A Forest but is much more performance-friendly. Download and install both via MO2. The guide provides a modlist and load order based on using A Forest, so if you decide to use this instead you will have manually sort The Aspen Commonwealth and True Grass in the left and right panes of MO2 into the exact position that A Forest otherwise would be (after Whispering Hills) after finishing the load order section of the guide.
OR
Boston Natural Surroundings (suitable alternative flora option) - Another popular flora option that may suit the tastes of those who don't care for the other two flora options above. The guide provides a modlist and load order based on using A Forest, so if you decide to use this instead you will have to manually sort Boston Natural Surroundings in the left and right panes of MO2 into the exact position that A Forest would otherwise be (after Whispering Hills) after finishing the load order section of the guide.
Important Note: Many other flora overhaul mods exist, however A Forest is the intended one for the guide and the other two are ones tested and known to work with the guide as well as fitting the aesthetic. Other flora mods may break precombines thereby destroying your performance or may present unforeseeable issues in terms of mod conflicts with other aspects of this guide. I highly recommend you stick to the provided options for flora.
Silent Protagonist * - Roleplay your way! No more idiotic mutterings or random exclamations of your son's name.
Download and install the main file via MO2.
Silent Protagonist Patches * - Download and install via MO2 the first main file - Silent Protagonist Patch Compilation - FOMOD Installer and select the following in the installer if you have installed the corresponding mods:
-Kelly Macabre - BA2 Archive (page 3)
-Fainthearth Manor - BA2 Archive (page 4)
-Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch - BA2 Archive (page 7)
Make sure you choose the BA2 archive option for each and not loose files.
If you did not install any quest mods only choose the Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch - BA2 Archive on page 7.
Dynamic Music Overhaul - Prevents the endless loop of combat music by having combat no longer trigger combat music and give away ambushes before they occur (and sadly Whispering Hills only has a couple combat tracks so it quickly becomes tedious).
Download and install the main file in MO2. During the installer, select the top/first option Ambience.
Boston FPS Fix * - Significantly improves FPS in downtown Boston and the surrounding areas to the extent that it is able. Downtown Boston will still suffer FPS drops due to poor base game optimization, but this mod does what it can to free up some FPS in the worst areas. Currently used in lieu of PRP until later stable versions and more compatibility patches are produced.
Download and install via MO2 the FIRST main file - Boston FPS Fix - AIO. Then download and install via MO2 the FOURTH optional file PaladinBaileyRedRocket.
Boston FPS Fix - PRP Edition * - ESP replacer for Boston FPS Fix that carries over fixes from the great Previsibines Repair Pack mod (something I'm choosing not to include here for the time being due to the amount of conflict resolution required and this modlist not really requiring that wide of coverage).
Download and install the main file in MO2. Make sure this PRP Edition listing is placed after the Boston FPS Fix main mod in the left pane so that it overwrites the main mod's ESP plugin.
SKK 4-76 Custom Actor Replacer ** - This is a custom actor replacer for use with SKK 4-76 Open World. When you run the SKK 4-76 OW holotape as part of the final starting the game section of the guide below, you will choose CUSTOM on the top line, and instead of simply removing all notable NPC's from the game this will instead replace them all with a custom rotation of creatures from FallEvil, Whispering Hills, Grim and FGEP. Thanks to DaNotoriousQba for coming up with this amazing, unprecedented solution which allows us to add in Grim creatures without ever activating the curse!
Manually download the 4th main file under the Files tab of this mod page as it's linked above - WC SKK 4-76 Custom Actor Replacer and install it manually in MO2. To manually install a mod archive click on the CD icon in the top-left corner of MO2 and select the downloaded archive (reference image). Then you can check it in the left pane and move it as you please.
Nate's Old Footlocker - A mod that places a cache of supplies buried along the fence in the back yard of the player home. We will be using the patch below to turn this into a comprehensive starting gear cache. Install the 1st main file from here! It must be the first main file or the patch below will not work.
Nate's Footlocker Custom Loadout Patch - Install the 2nd optional file Nate's Footlocker Custom Loadout from the guide's Files page and be sure to load this after Nate's Old Footlocker and when you find the container buried in the backyard it should contain everything you need to get started including ammo and weapons of each vanilla type, medical supplies, and shipments of junk for crafting. It also includes a holy weapon and silver bullets that are especially effective against GRIM creatures (so this patch does require GRIM).
Optimization Patches Collection * - An amazing compilation of patched replacer plugins for over 30 mods which fixes many issues present in popular mods. From this setup, only the Vault 1080, Subway Runner, and Mutilated Dead Bodies patches are needed.
Download and install the main file in MO2. The installer should automatically detect that you have Vault 1080, Subway Runner, and Mutilated Dead Bodies installed (if you installed those) so you can proceed through to the end of the installer without having to select any options (but do verify it has each of these mods checked while going through the installer).
Whispering Chills Patches * - A series of patches that correct all overriding changes between mods to make them work together without conflicts or crash states. These patches are ESSENTIAL for use in order to ensure a smooth, stable, and expected Whispering Chills experience. Download and manually install in MO2 the 7th main file under the Files tab for this guide's mod page - Whispering Chills Patches. Check the box next to this mod listing in the left pane and you should see several plugins appear at the bottom of the Plugins tab in the right pane.
You must disable certain patches if you aren’t using the mod they are for. For example, if you aren’t using any quest mods, or are only using certain listed quest mods (not all) then you must disable the patches for those mods which you do not have installed by unchecking the box next to each one in the right pane.
If you installed every mod in the guide you can leave everything as is and don’t have to disable any patches. If a patch is missing its corresponding master file (the mod it’s dependent on) then a warning symbol will appear next to the plugin listing in the right pane. If you hover over the warning icon it will show you which master plugin is missing (see reference image). This means you either forgot to install the mod that patch depends on or the patch is for a mod you intentionally chose not to install, and therefore you should uncheck that patch in the right pane. Each patch is descriptively named as to which mods it patches, and at this point you should review each patch to ensure none have a warning symbol next to them and either go back and ensure you have installed the mod it requires or uncheck that patch in the right pane if you aren't going to use the mod(s) it patches. Double-check to ensure you installed the exact version of each mod specified in the install instructions for each mod you installed. Even one incorrect installation can lead to crashes or other issues.
Some patches are highly subjective but do things that fall in line with our vision of how the guide should play, and you can optionally disable these if you do not like what they offer. This includes most notably the longer nights, brighter PB light, and more fogs patches which do exactly as they are named.
ECO Workbench Patcher - Remember that Workbench Patcher optional file from the Equipment and Crafting Overhaul Files page at the start of this install section from when you started setting this up weeks ago? Well in case you lost track of it or didn't download it then, go and download the Workbench Patcher optional file from this link and follow the steps below! This step is done so that the mobile workbench added by Equipment and Crafting Overhaul has recipes for all items added by mods so you can craft any items directly from it anywhere without having to use multiple workbenches or reach a settlement. If you don't do this step, you will not be able to craft things like holotapes and mod-added weapons or armors at the mobile workbench!
Extract the contents from the downloaded Workbench Patcher archive and copy its contents into the FO4Edit folder inside the folder where the game is installed (reference image; this folder should already exist from setting up FO4Edit in the Essential Tools and Utilities section; e.g. steamapps\common\Fallout 4\FO4Edit).
Now, in MO2, set up the workbench patcher batch file as an executable in your Mod Organizer 2 application. We'll accomplish this the same way we added FO4Edit as an executable to MO2 in the Essential Tools and Utilities section. To do this, click on the Gears/Executables icon (reference image for all primary MO2 toolbar icons; click the gears/executables icon). A new window will pop up. Now click on the Plus Sign (Add an Executable) and select Add from File. Another window will pop up. In this window, navigate to Steam Games Library/SteamApps/Common/Fallout 4/FO4Edit folder and double click on the ECO_WorkbenchPatcher.bat file. Then click on
the OK button in the Modify Executables window (reference image).
ECO_WorkbenchPatcher will now appear as an executable option in the top-right corner of MO2 next to the run button if you click the drop-down. Select ECO_WorkbenchPatcher as your executable and click the Run button to start it (see reference image)! A command prompt window will appear asking if you'd like to run the patcher. Simply enter the letter Y and press enter.
When FO4Edit opens allow it to load all plugins by simply clicking ok on the module selection popup that appears. Once all plugins are finished loading a popup will appear asking to select options for ECO Workbench Patcher. Leave everything checked and click the New Patch button (see reference image).
In the next plugin selection window you must uncheck the plugin for Kelly Macabre! If you don't do this, you won't be able to complete the quest unless you have the universal workbench on you. If you have the universal workbench on you, drop it down and go to Utility Station --> Explosives --> Timed Explosive and craft it with the supplies collected as part of the quest. If you DON'T have the universal workbench and you forgot to uncheck Kelly Macabre when running this workbench patcher, you will need to spawn the Universal Workbench into your inventory using console commands (help universal 4 misc and player.additem XXXXXXX based on the MISC item ID it returns, it will be added to the MISC tab of your inventory).
After unchecking Kelly Macabre, click OK and name the patch something appropriate like "ECO Workbench Patch" and click ok. Then click ok again and the script will start running! It should be done in under a minute. Once a popup appears indicating the script has finished running you can click ok once more and close this FO4Edit window entirely.
Now back in MO2, your newly created plugin will appear at the bottom of your load order in the Plugins tab in the right pane. Be sure to check it on, and you'll be good to go (see reference image)! You can leave this patch plugin last in your load order.
Refer to this article or stop by the Fallout 4 Experiences Discord server if you need any assistance on this!
NOTE: If you ever remove or add any mods with plugins, you need to recreate this patch by rerunning the script in FO4Edit using the steps above again. If any plugins are missing as compared to when you created it, a red triangle will appear indicating a missing master so the patch will not run and you won't see any items in the Universal Workbench when you launch the game (see reference image). If you add any armor or weapon mods without creating a new patch with the ECO Workbench Patcher those items will not appear in the Universal Workbench. This is why it's best to do this after you've finalized your modlist and load order.
The mobile workbench must be picked up and placed in your inventory to be used in your playthrough. It will appear just outside the vault after you exit directly behind you between two large blue crates.
Spoiler:
Whispering Chills ENB Preset - Manually download the 5th main file OR the 3rd optional file from the Files tab of this mod page Whispering Chills ENB Preset or Whispering Chills Alternate Cinematic ENB Preset. The 5th main file Whispering Chills ENB preset is the main customary preset intended for the setup, however I have since developed an alternate option that provides a more uniquely cinematic look. It includes more camera effects like vignetting, letterboxing, and grain as well as a more desaturated color palette and darker lighting. Overall I feel it provides a more unsettling, immersive lo-fi almost VHS-like vibe, but I will leave either option to you. Obviously do not use both.
You should already have the necessary d3d11.dll and d3dcompiler_46e.dll files from enbdev.com in your root folder from the guide setup steps for ENB Libraries. Extract all files from either downloaded Whispering Chills ENB Preset archive into your game's Fallout 4 root folder and that's it! Overwrite any files if asked. If anything isn't to your liking visually, please check out my How to Configure ENB Presets Tutorial to learn how to configure any preset to your preferences.
Important Note: This preset will lock your FPS to 60 max by default. This is intended as the game runs into issues running above 60 FPS even with High FPS Physics Fix. If you want to disable this, open the enblocal.ini in your game's root folder that you extracted from this ENB preset and change the line EnableFPSLimit= under the [Limiter] section from true to false.
If you are using the alternate cinematic ENB preset and want to disable any of the camera effects (vignette, grain, or letterbox/black bars at top and bottom), press the END key on your keyboard to open the ENB GUI, then click the plus icon to expand the ENBEFFECTPOSTPASS.FX menu in the right pane and click the check mark to uncheck the option next to Enable Grain, Enable Vignette or Enable Letterbox Bars (reference image; apologies for low quality photo as it's from the New Cinematic Wasteland preset page just to use as an example because my screenshot wasn't capturing the ENB GUI).
In order for this preset to look as intended for you and for the game to look as visually striking as possible, I highly recommend your calibrate your monitor both through the NVIDIA/AMD Control Panel (right-click Desktop and the option should appear, then for NVIDIA in the left side panel click Adjust desktop color settings under the Display header, and I'm not familiar with how to do this for AMD) and through Windows display calibration (reference image; search for Calibrate Display Color in your Windows search bar or Windows settings panel).
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Whispering Chills ENB Preset - Manually download the 5th main file OR the 3rd optional file from the Files tab of this mod page Whispering Chills ENB Preset or Whispering Chills Alternate Cinematic ENB Preset. The 5th main file Whispering Chills ENB preset is the main customary preset intended for the setup, however I have since developed an alternate option that provides a more uniquely cinematic look. It includes more camera effects like vignetting, letterboxing, and grain as well as a more desaturated color palette and darker lighting. Overall I feel it provides a more unsettling, immersive lo-fi almost VHS-like vibe, but I will leave either option to you. Obviously do not use both.
You should already have the necessary d3d11.dll and d3dcompiler_46e.dll files from enbdev.com in your root folder from the guide setup steps for ENB Libraries. Extract all files from either downloaded Whispering Chills ENB Preset archive into your game's Fallout 4 root folder and that's it! Overwrite any files if asked. If anything isn't to your liking visually, please check out my How to Configure ENB Presets Tutorial to learn how to configure any preset to your preferences.
Important Note: This preset will lock your FPS to 60 max by default. This is intended as the game runs into issues running above 60 FPS even with High FPS Physics Fix. If you want to disable this, open the enblocal.ini in your game's root folder that you extracted from this ENB preset and change the line EnableFPSLimit= under the [Limiter] section from true to false.
If you are using the alternate cinematic ENB preset and want to disable any of the camera effects (vignette, grain, or letterbox/black bars at top and bottom), press the END key on your keyboard to open the ENB GUI, then click the plus icon to expand the ENBEFFECTPOSTPASS.FX menu in the right pane and click the check mark to uncheck the option next to Enable Grain, Enable Vignette or Enable Letterbox Bars (reference image; apologies for low quality photo as it's from the New Cinematic Wasteland preset page just to use as an example because my screenshot wasn't capturing the ENB GUI).
In order for this preset to look as intended for you and for the game to look as visually striking as possible, I highly recommend your calibrate your monitor both through the NVIDIA/AMD Control Panel (right-click Desktop and the option should appear, then for NVIDIA in the left side panel click Adjust desktop color settings under the Display header, and I'm not familiar with how to do this for AMD) and through Windows display calibration (reference image; search for Calibrate Display Color in your Windows search bar or Windows settings panel).
Spoiler:
By installing each mod in the exact order specified, your left pane should be listed in the following order (with some variation depending on optionals and weapon mods). Don't forget to check every mod listed in the left pane to enable them!! Move mods in the left pane to match this if they aren't already in order (this order will vary from the right pane plugins tab after you apply my loadorder.txt):
Loadorder.txt - For your actual plugin load order under the Plugins tab in the right pane of MO2, manually download the 6th main file listed under the Files tab of this mod page Whispering Chills Load Order and extract the loadorder.txt file within the downloaded archive to Whispering Chills (your MO2 folder)/profiles/Default and replace the existing loadorder.txt file. Open the loadorder.txt file directly in a text editor to see the intended order and compare against your plugins in the right pane of MO2.
Compare the order of plugins in loadorder.txt to the order of plugins under the Plugins tab in the right pane of MO2 to see if anything is different and then adjust your right pane to match it by dragging plugins up and down if necessary. It should be an exact match with nothing out of order but any unrecognized plugins will be sorted out of place to the bottom meaning you may have downloaded the wrong version of a mod or something along those lines so it's good to double-check!
You don't have to use all of the mods in the guide to replace your loadorder.txt with this one. It will simply sort all of the plugins you do have installed and ignore any that you don't. Any additional mods you install outside of the guide will get sorted to the bottom of your load order after applying my load order text file. Sort any weapon mods further up in the load order between Improved Maps with Visible Roads and Some Assembly Required.
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By installing each mod in the exact order specified, your left pane should be listed in the following order (with some variation depending on optionals and weapon mods). Don't forget to check every mod listed in the left pane to enable them!! Move mods in the left pane to match this if they aren't already in order (this order will vary from the right pane plugins tab after you apply my loadorder.txt):
Spoiler:
#Mod_Name
"DLC: Wasteland Workshop"
"DLC: Vault-Tec Workshop"
"DLC: Nuka-World"
"DLC: Far Harbor"
"DLC: Contraptions Workshop"
"DLC: Automatron"
"High FPS Physics Fix"
"Unlimited Survival Mode - F4SE"
"Mod Configuration Menu"
"Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch"
"Flicker Fixer ESL v5.7"
"GRIM - The Curse"
"01. GRIM Replacer Plugin"
"Workshop Framework"
"RAW INPUT - The Ultimate Mouse Sensitivity Fix"
"Looks Menu Customization Compendium"
"Merged Fixes - Custom"
"Sprint Stuttering Fix"
"Wetness Shader Fix|
"Equipment and Crafting Overhaul (ECO)"
"MCM Settings Manager"
"03. WC MCM Settings - 320"
"SKK Fast Start new game"
"HUDFramework"
"Immersive HUD - iHUD"
"Alex's Male First Person Camera Height Fix"
"Extended Dialogue Interface"
"QuickTrade Redux"
"Fallsouls - Unpaused Game Menus"
"Improved Map with Visible Roads"
"IMVM - Far Harbor (Darker)"
"IMVM - Nuka World (Darker)"
"Backpacks of the Commonwealth - 1.5"
"Eli's Armour Compendium"
"Private Military Company - PMC"
"Nexus PMC 3.0.2 Hotfix"
"West Tek Tactical Optics - Night Vision Thermal Vision Goggles and More"
<Your weapon mods go here in left and right pane>
"Some Assembly Required (Merged DLC)"
"Immersive Fallout"
"_Balance_"
"Multi color flares"
"Everyone's Best Friend"
"EBF UFO4P compatibility fix"
"Survival Configuration Menu"
"Patch - Everyone's Best Friend - SCM"
"Campsite - Simple Wasteland Camping (and HD Sleeping Bags)"
"Hunter of the Commonwealth"
"No VATS Overhaul"
"Commonwealth Wilderness Overhaul"
"CommonwealthCritters - Both DLC"
"FallEvil - Complete Edition"
"FGEP - Feral Ghouls Expansion Pack"
"FGEP - Tank Tweak Fix Uploaded by 4estGimp"
"Rad Spiders - Giant Spiders of the Commonwealth"
"SKK476OpenWorld_038"
"SKKRESystemManager_011"
"Feral Nights by SKK"
"Replace Any Actor with Any Actor by SKK"
"02. SKK Actor Replacement Custom List"
"More Feral Ghouls. A Zombie Mod"
"No More Leaping Ghouls"
"No Radiation (Redone)"
"Commonwealth Cuts - KS Hairdos - ApachiiSkyHair"
"The Eyes of Beauty Fallout Kaleidoscope Edition - All-in-One"
"Eye Normal Map Fix Fallout 4 Edition"
"Grab the Damn Mag"
"The Sewers"
"Claustrophobia"
"Kelly Macabre"
"The Kelly Manor Horror - Quest"
"Children of Ug-Qualtoth"
"Vault 1080"
"Witch House"
"The Cemetery - Plainfield Cemetery"
"Fainthearth Manor - A horror mod"
"The Curse of Blair Residence - A Tiny Horror House"
"The Mannequin Cult"
"The Boxcar Cottage Player Home"
"Chestnut Lodge - Player Home"
"Inside Jobs - Commonwealth Interiors Add-On"
"Inside Jobs - UFO4P Patch ESP"
"The Outcasts' Hideout Player Home"
"Stumble Upon Interiors"
"Subway Runner"
"Subways of the Commonwealth (SotC) - Standalone"
"The Goodneighbor Condo Player Home"
"The Red Wave V2 (Far Harbor Update) - Personal Traveling Boat"
"Burst Impact Blast FX 9.5"
"Immersive Candles"
"Mutilated Dead Bodies"
"Glowing Animals Emit Light"
"Dark Sci Fi Vault Retexture"
"Gritty Subway Stations - 2K"
"Creepy Mannequins"
"Lighting Series - All In One"
"Radioactive Signs - Lighting - All In One"
"More Oil Lamps ENG"
"Fatih's Fallout 4 Ultimate Window Overhaul"
"FO4 SUN"
"True Blood"
"Less Intense Speculars - TrueBlood"
"No More Fake Puddles"
"Less Annoying Water Rain Ripples"
"Pip-Boy Flashlight (Pipboy - Power Armor - Lamp Overhaul)"
"Misty Pines Overhaul"
"01. Misty Pines Replacer Plugin"
"Ultra Interior Lighting"
"Darker Ambience Plugin"
"Tweaked Interior Color and Lighting - Polluted Climates"
"Reverb and Ambiance Overhaul - ALL DLC"
"LOST Audio Tweaks"
"_Sound Zero_"
"Ambient Wasteland - Fallout 4 Edition"
"Barefoot Footstep Extended"
"Sound Package - original version"
"Project Reality Footsteps FO4"
"Commonwealth Explosion Overhaul"
"CEO - special explosions"
"Commonwealth Gunfire Overhaul - realistic weapon sounds"
"Diamond City Ambience"
"F.E.R.A.L -Feral Ghouls Sounds Rework-"
"Hunt Showdown Atmospheric Ambience"
"Inner City Ambience - An Urban Soundscape"
"Sinister Ambient Sound"
"Monsterum -DeathClaw Sounds Rework-"
"Existence 2.0"
"AT - Ambient Wasteland and RAO Patch"
"AT - DC Ambience and RAO Patch"
"AT - Inner City Ambience and RAO Patch"
"AT - Sinister Ambience and RAO Patch"
"AT - Existence RAO Patch"
"Whispering Hills P.T"
"A Forest"
"Silent Protagonist"
"Silent Protagonist Patch Compilation"
"Dynamic Music Overhaul"
"Boston FPS Fix - AIO"
"PaladinBaileyRedRocket"
"Boston FPS Fix - HOTFIX for UF4P 2.1.1a"
"04. WC SKK 4-76 Custom Actor Replacer"
"Nate's Old Footlocker"
"02. Nate's Footlocker Custom Loadout"
"Optimization Patches Collection"
"07. Whispering Chills Patches"
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#Mod_Name
"DLC: Wasteland Workshop"
"DLC: Vault-Tec Workshop"
"DLC: Nuka-World"
"DLC: Far Harbor"
"DLC: Contraptions Workshop"
"DLC: Automatron"
"High FPS Physics Fix"
"Unlimited Survival Mode - F4SE"
"Mod Configuration Menu"
"Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch"
"Flicker Fixer ESL v5.7"
"GRIM - The Curse"
"01. GRIM Replacer Plugin"
"Workshop Framework"
"RAW INPUT - The Ultimate Mouse Sensitivity Fix"
"Looks Menu Customization Compendium"
"Merged Fixes - Custom"
"Sprint Stuttering Fix"
"Wetness Shader Fix|
"Equipment and Crafting Overhaul (ECO)"
"MCM Settings Manager"
"03. WC MCM Settings - 320"
"SKK Fast Start new game"
"HUDFramework"
"Immersive HUD - iHUD"
"Alex's Male First Person Camera Height Fix"
"Extended Dialogue Interface"
"QuickTrade Redux"
"Fallsouls - Unpaused Game Menus"
"Improved Map with Visible Roads"
"IMVM - Far Harbor (Darker)"
"IMVM - Nuka World (Darker)"
"Backpacks of the Commonwealth - 1.5"
"Eli's Armour Compendium"
"Private Military Company - PMC"
"Nexus PMC 3.0.2 Hotfix"
"West Tek Tactical Optics - Night Vision Thermal Vision Goggles and More"
<Your weapon mods go here in left and right pane>
"Some Assembly Required (Merged DLC)"
"Immersive Fallout"
"_Balance_"
"Multi color flares"
"Everyone's Best Friend"
"EBF UFO4P compatibility fix"
"Survival Configuration Menu"
"Patch - Everyone's Best Friend - SCM"
"Campsite - Simple Wasteland Camping (and HD Sleeping Bags)"
"Hunter of the Commonwealth"
"No VATS Overhaul"
"Commonwealth Wilderness Overhaul"
"CommonwealthCritters - Both DLC"
"FallEvil - Complete Edition"
"FGEP - Feral Ghouls Expansion Pack"
"FGEP - Tank Tweak Fix Uploaded by 4estGimp"
"Rad Spiders - Giant Spiders of the Commonwealth"
"SKK476OpenWorld_038"
"SKKRESystemManager_011"
"Feral Nights by SKK"
"Replace Any Actor with Any Actor by SKK"
"02. SKK Actor Replacement Custom List"
"More Feral Ghouls. A Zombie Mod"
"No More Leaping Ghouls"
"No Radiation (Redone)"
"Commonwealth Cuts - KS Hairdos - ApachiiSkyHair"
"The Eyes of Beauty Fallout Kaleidoscope Edition - All-in-One"
"Eye Normal Map Fix Fallout 4 Edition"
"Grab the Damn Mag"
"The Sewers"
"Claustrophobia"
"Kelly Macabre"
"The Kelly Manor Horror - Quest"
"Children of Ug-Qualtoth"
"Vault 1080"
"Witch House"
"The Cemetery - Plainfield Cemetery"
"Fainthearth Manor - A horror mod"
"The Curse of Blair Residence - A Tiny Horror House"
"The Mannequin Cult"
"The Boxcar Cottage Player Home"
"Chestnut Lodge - Player Home"
"Inside Jobs - Commonwealth Interiors Add-On"
"Inside Jobs - UFO4P Patch ESP"
"The Outcasts' Hideout Player Home"
"Stumble Upon Interiors"
"Subway Runner"
"Subways of the Commonwealth (SotC) - Standalone"
"The Goodneighbor Condo Player Home"
"The Red Wave V2 (Far Harbor Update) - Personal Traveling Boat"
"Burst Impact Blast FX 9.5"
"Immersive Candles"
"Mutilated Dead Bodies"
"Glowing Animals Emit Light"
"Dark Sci Fi Vault Retexture"
"Gritty Subway Stations - 2K"
"Creepy Mannequins"
"Lighting Series - All In One"
"Radioactive Signs - Lighting - All In One"
"More Oil Lamps ENG"
"Fatih's Fallout 4 Ultimate Window Overhaul"
"FO4 SUN"
"True Blood"
"Less Intense Speculars - TrueBlood"
"No More Fake Puddles"
"Less Annoying Water Rain Ripples"
"Pip-Boy Flashlight (Pipboy - Power Armor - Lamp Overhaul)"
"Misty Pines Overhaul"
"01. Misty Pines Replacer Plugin"
"Ultra Interior Lighting"
"Darker Ambience Plugin"
"Tweaked Interior Color and Lighting - Polluted Climates"
"Reverb and Ambiance Overhaul - ALL DLC"
"LOST Audio Tweaks"
"_Sound Zero_"
"Ambient Wasteland - Fallout 4 Edition"
"Barefoot Footstep Extended"
"Sound Package - original version"
"Project Reality Footsteps FO4"
"Commonwealth Explosion Overhaul"
"CEO - special explosions"
"Commonwealth Gunfire Overhaul - realistic weapon sounds"
"Diamond City Ambience"
"F.E.R.A.L -Feral Ghouls Sounds Rework-"
"Hunt Showdown Atmospheric Ambience"
"Inner City Ambience - An Urban Soundscape"
"Sinister Ambient Sound"
"Monsterum -DeathClaw Sounds Rework-"
"Existence 2.0"
"AT - Ambient Wasteland and RAO Patch"
"AT - DC Ambience and RAO Patch"
"AT - Inner City Ambience and RAO Patch"
"AT - Sinister Ambience and RAO Patch"
"AT - Existence RAO Patch"
"Whispering Hills P.T"
"A Forest"
"Silent Protagonist"
"Silent Protagonist Patch Compilation"
"Dynamic Music Overhaul"
"Boston FPS Fix - AIO"
"PaladinBaileyRedRocket"
"Boston FPS Fix - HOTFIX for UF4P 2.1.1a"
"04. WC SKK 4-76 Custom Actor Replacer"
"Nate's Old Footlocker"
"02. Nate's Footlocker Custom Loadout"
"Optimization Patches Collection"
"07. Whispering Chills Patches"
Loadorder.txt - For your actual plugin load order under the Plugins tab in the right pane of MO2, manually download the 6th main file listed under the Files tab of this mod page Whispering Chills Load Order and extract the loadorder.txt file within the downloaded archive to Whispering Chills (your MO2 folder)/profiles/Default and replace the existing loadorder.txt file. Open the loadorder.txt file directly in a text editor to see the intended order and compare against your plugins in the right pane of MO2.
Compare the order of plugins in loadorder.txt to the order of plugins under the Plugins tab in the right pane of MO2 to see if anything is different and then adjust your right pane to match it by dragging plugins up and down if necessary. It should be an exact match with nothing out of order but any unrecognized plugins will be sorted out of place to the bottom meaning you may have downloaded the wrong version of a mod or something along those lines so it's good to double-check!
You don't have to use all of the mods in the guide to replace your loadorder.txt with this one. It will simply sort all of the plugins you do have installed and ignore any that you don't. Any additional mods you install outside of the guide will get sorted to the bottom of your load order after applying my load order text file. Sort any weapon mods further up in the load order between Improved Maps with Visible Roads and Some Assembly Required.
Spoiler:
Holotapes
MCM
Final Important Notes
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Holotapes
Spoiler:
It's finally time to run the game, make sure everything is working, and configure some settings! Select F4SE from the executable drop-down in MO2 and click the Run button (reference image). You must always launch the game this way! After exiting the vault, DO NOT MOVE! Configure the following holotape settings as shown below by opening each holotape listed from the Misc tab of your pip-boy. SKK Feral Nights and Random Encounter manager should be enabled and configured as shown before Fallout 4-76 Open World. It is recommended you open this page and read through this on a separate device so you can configure settings while the game is open on your computer. Do not move from where you exited the vault until you have done everything as outlined below including Holotape/MCM configuration and restarting the game!!:
SKK Feral Nights Holotape
You must first enable this mod by opening the holotape for it under the Misc tab. Each option is up to your preference, however I recommend disabling the spawn in interiors option as it gets to be too overwhelming in my opinion. When you are done setting options you must click Submit Changes at the bottom to fully activate the mod.
SKK Random Encounter Manager Holotape
Enable this mod by activating it from its holotape under the Misc tab. You must set the line that reads Spawn Only Ferals from OFF to ON otherwise this mod will spawn in humans and other entities we don't want (see reference image). Every other option is up to your preference. You can leave everything at default if you want, but it is recommended you set Spawn Cooldown to more than 1 hour or lower the Spawn Chance percentage value unless you want very frequent random encounters.
SKK Actor Replace & Respawn Manager Holotape
Enable this mod by activating it from its holotape under the Misc tab in the Pipboy. Now very carefully follow the steps below to correctly configure the mod to replace vanilla actors with custom actors from mods installed in the guide.
1. Activate the mod with the option that appears when you open the holotape. Then set everything in the initial menu as shown in this image and click submit changes at the bottom.
2. Click the actor keywords menu listed at the bottom after submitting changes and set it exactly as shown in this image (the only change you need to make is to click on the last line in this menu for custom keyword files so it shows it as SELECTED) and then submit changes
3. Lastly go to the replacement actors menu and scroll to the bottom to change the custom actor file line to ENABLED as shown in this image and then submit changes You can now close the holotape.
Fallout 4-76 Open World Holotape
Tweak all settings in this holotape exactly as shown in this image Setting everything exactly as shown here is vitally important. You will have to click on the top replace humans with option several times to reach the CUSTOM option. All other options in the holotape not shown in this image are entirely up to your preferences. When finished click ENABLE Fallout 4-76 Open World [GO] at the bottom. After you click Enable Fallout 4-76 Open World in the holotape, you will see a text popup that says "Fallout 4-76 is Preparing the Open World" in the top left corner. This will continue to appear every few seconds until it is finished (typically takes 2-3 minutes). Do not move while you are waiting and instead proceed to configure the settings below while you wait. When it finishes you will see a new text popup appear that says Fallout 4-76 Open World is Ready (reference image). Do not leave the area around the vault until you finish setting everything as specified below and have seen this popup appear for 4-76 Open World's completion.
Whispering Hills Holotape
Whispering Hills has a holotape where you can configure settings related to the Otherworld. You can either craft it at a chemistry station or the Universal Workbench or open console (~ tilde key) and type help whispering 4 note and then player.additem <item ID> (using the 8 digit ID returned from the help command) to spawn it via console and have it appear in the Misc tab of your pip-boy (see reference image). The otherworld is when the Hell Dimension temporarily opens and waves of creatures will attack you in complete darkness. The only way to escape is to hide inside and sleep until it (hopefully) goes away or kill each wave of the attacking horde. You can increase/decrease the frequency of this event as well as the number of spawned NPC's per wave if you feel the default settings are too intense or not intense enough. I would recommend you not mess with anything under the tabs not related to the Otherworld as this may affect visuals in ways that were not intended or optimized for the provided ENB/visual setup.
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It's finally time to run the game, make sure everything is working, and configure some settings! Select F4SE from the executable drop-down in MO2 and click the Run button (reference image). You must always launch the game this way! After exiting the vault, DO NOT MOVE! Configure the following holotape settings as shown below by opening each holotape listed from the Misc tab of your pip-boy. SKK Feral Nights and Random Encounter manager should be enabled and configured as shown before Fallout 4-76 Open World. It is recommended you open this page and read through this on a separate device so you can configure settings while the game is open on your computer. Do not move from where you exited the vault until you have done everything as outlined below including Holotape/MCM configuration and restarting the game!!:
SKK Feral Nights Holotape
You must first enable this mod by opening the holotape for it under the Misc tab. Each option is up to your preference, however I recommend disabling the spawn in interiors option as it gets to be too overwhelming in my opinion. When you are done setting options you must click Submit Changes at the bottom to fully activate the mod.
SKK Random Encounter Manager Holotape
Enable this mod by activating it from its holotape under the Misc tab. You must set the line that reads Spawn Only Ferals from OFF to ON otherwise this mod will spawn in humans and other entities we don't want (see reference image). Every other option is up to your preference. You can leave everything at default if you want, but it is recommended you set Spawn Cooldown to more than 1 hour or lower the Spawn Chance percentage value unless you want very frequent random encounters.
SKK Actor Replace & Respawn Manager Holotape
Enable this mod by activating it from its holotape under the Misc tab in the Pipboy. Now very carefully follow the steps below to correctly configure the mod to replace vanilla actors with custom actors from mods installed in the guide.
1. Activate the mod with the option that appears when you open the holotape. Then set everything in the initial menu as shown in this image and click submit changes at the bottom.
2. Click the actor keywords menu listed at the bottom after submitting changes and set it exactly as shown in this image (the only change you need to make is to click on the last line in this menu for custom keyword files so it shows it as SELECTED) and then submit changes
3. Lastly go to the replacement actors menu and scroll to the bottom to change the custom actor file line to ENABLED as shown in this image and then submit changes You can now close the holotape.
Fallout 4-76 Open World Holotape
Tweak all settings in this holotape exactly as shown in this image Setting everything exactly as shown here is vitally important. You will have to click on the top replace humans with option several times to reach the CUSTOM option. All other options in the holotape not shown in this image are entirely up to your preferences. When finished click ENABLE Fallout 4-76 Open World [GO] at the bottom. After you click Enable Fallout 4-76 Open World in the holotape, you will see a text popup that says "Fallout 4-76 is Preparing the Open World" in the top left corner. This will continue to appear every few seconds until it is finished (typically takes 2-3 minutes). Do not move while you are waiting and instead proceed to configure the settings below while you wait. When it finishes you will see a new text popup appear that says Fallout 4-76 Open World is Ready (reference image). Do not leave the area around the vault until you finish setting everything as specified below and have seen this popup appear for 4-76 Open World's completion.
Whispering Hills Holotape
Whispering Hills has a holotape where you can configure settings related to the Otherworld. You can either craft it at a chemistry station or the Universal Workbench or open console (~ tilde key) and type help whispering 4 note and then player.additem <item ID> (using the 8 digit ID returned from the help command) to spawn it via console and have it appear in the Misc tab of your pip-boy (see reference image). The otherworld is when the Hell Dimension temporarily opens and waves of creatures will attack you in complete darkness. The only way to escape is to hide inside and sleep until it (hopefully) goes away or kill each wave of the attacking horde. You can increase/decrease the frequency of this event as well as the number of spawned NPC's per wave if you feel the default settings are too intense or not intense enough. I would recommend you not mess with anything under the tabs not related to the Otherworld as this may affect visuals in ways that were not intended or optimized for the provided ENB/visual setup.
MCM
Spoiler:
While you wait for Fallout 4-76 Open World to finish running, open the Mod Configuration Menu (MCM) by pausing and clicking the Mod Config option at the top. We will now apply the MCM settings preset you installed toward the beginning of the mod installation section as part of the MCM Settings Manager install. Be sure you have configured your holotapes and set up everything else you need to be ready to play because after you apply this preset FallSouls will go into effect and the game will no longer pause via the pause menu or pip-boy as it does traditionally. Certain things like opening console (~) and message boxes will still pause the game but most traditional means of pausing will no longer work.
After opening the MCM, open the top MCM Settings Manager listing and you will see a listing in the right pane under the Presets section titled WC MCM Settings with an option next to it to apply which you should click now (see reference image). Click yes on the prompt to apply the preset then reload the MCM when prompted on the left and now everything will go into effect! You can change any MCM settings per mod to your liking but everything has already been set to provide the ideal, intended experience. The one thing you need to verify is that under the listing for Survival Configuration Menu in the Savegame section make sure you set a Hardsave hotkey toward the top of this menu! There is otherwise no way to save the game in survival difficulty. Additionally, you can install the mod Unlimited Survival Mode at any time and place it anywhere in the left pane (it's just a F4SE plugin so placement doesn't matter and it won't conflict with anything) if this or any hard-coded aspect of survival difficulty feels too prohibitive. Unlimited Survival Mode has its own listing in the MCM that you can also configure to your liking.
If you don't see the Fallout 4-76 Open World is Ready message popup after exiting the MCM, look out for a text popup that instead says "Fallout 4-76 is Preparing the Open World" in the top left corner. If this does not appear after around 30 seconds of waiting, you can safely assume that Fallout 4-76 finished running and you simply didn't see the message because you were in the MCM.
After you see the message that Fallout 4-76 Open World is ready, you must save using the save hotkey you set under the MCM settings for Survival Configuration Menu, then fully exit the game, relaunch, and reload that save before starting to play. This is to get everything set in working order and properly initialized before you really start to play.
Show
While you wait for Fallout 4-76 Open World to finish running, open the Mod Configuration Menu (MCM) by pausing and clicking the Mod Config option at the top. We will now apply the MCM settings preset you installed toward the beginning of the mod installation section as part of the MCM Settings Manager install. Be sure you have configured your holotapes and set up everything else you need to be ready to play because after you apply this preset FallSouls will go into effect and the game will no longer pause via the pause menu or pip-boy as it does traditionally. Certain things like opening console (~) and message boxes will still pause the game but most traditional means of pausing will no longer work.
After opening the MCM, open the top MCM Settings Manager listing and you will see a listing in the right pane under the Presets section titled WC MCM Settings with an option next to it to apply which you should click now (see reference image). Click yes on the prompt to apply the preset then reload the MCM when prompted on the left and now everything will go into effect! You can change any MCM settings per mod to your liking but everything has already been set to provide the ideal, intended experience. The one thing you need to verify is that under the listing for Survival Configuration Menu in the Savegame section make sure you set a Hardsave hotkey toward the top of this menu! There is otherwise no way to save the game in survival difficulty. Additionally, you can install the mod Unlimited Survival Mode at any time and place it anywhere in the left pane (it's just a F4SE plugin so placement doesn't matter and it won't conflict with anything) if this or any hard-coded aspect of survival difficulty feels too prohibitive. Unlimited Survival Mode has its own listing in the MCM that you can also configure to your liking.
If you don't see the Fallout 4-76 Open World is Ready message popup after exiting the MCM, look out for a text popup that instead says "Fallout 4-76 is Preparing the Open World" in the top left corner. If this does not appear after around 30 seconds of waiting, you can safely assume that Fallout 4-76 finished running and you simply didn't see the message because you were in the MCM.
After you see the message that Fallout 4-76 Open World is ready, you must save using the save hotkey you set under the MCM settings for Survival Configuration Menu, then fully exit the game, relaunch, and reload that save before starting to play. This is to get everything set in working order and properly initialized before you really start to play.
Final Important Notes
Spoiler:
-You can take the tram to Nuka World as per usual, however the only way to reach Far Harbor is by Fast Travel through the pip-boy map. Therefore it is vitally important that you turn No Fast Travel OFF under the Toggleable Options section of Survival Options in the MCM (as was instructed during the MCM configuration section of the guide above).
-Avoid Concord at all costs! Preston can't save you there and you certainly won't be saving him.
-Find shelter at night and get some rest. Exploring at night is a death sentence only made more certain if you happen to receive an otherworld event while exploring outdoors at night.
-Whispering Chills is a very difficult setup. You will have to avoid many combat encounters and sneak your away around early on. If the early game grind feels too difficult due to lack of humans to loot and lack of quest-based XP boosts, there are a couple helpful commands you can enter into the console (~) in-game to assist you. Player.setlevel x where x is the level you wish to be set to can be used to raise your level along with gaining all the corresponding perk points. CGF "Game.AddPerkPoints" x (include the quotes) where x is the number of perk points you wish to add can be used to simply add perk points to use in the level up menu without actually levelling up your character. You can also install the Cheat Terminal mod and place it anywhere in your load order to make for a far less difficult experience where you have the ability to adjust any aspect of the game or spawn in items freely. Bear in mind the higher you set your level, the more difficult things will become as higher level enemies will spawn.
-FallSouls may break certain quests from tracking in the Data tab of the Pip-Boy. This, however, works in my favored preference as I encourage open exploration and coming across objectives naturally.
Show
-You can take the tram to Nuka World as per usual, however the only way to reach Far Harbor is by Fast Travel through the pip-boy map. Therefore it is vitally important that you turn No Fast Travel OFF under the Toggleable Options section of Survival Options in the MCM (as was instructed during the MCM configuration section of the guide above).
-Avoid Concord at all costs! Preston can't save you there and you certainly won't be saving him.
-Find shelter at night and get some rest. Exploring at night is a death sentence only made more certain if you happen to receive an otherworld event while exploring outdoors at night.
-Whispering Chills is a very difficult setup. You will have to avoid many combat encounters and sneak your away around early on. If the early game grind feels too difficult due to lack of humans to loot and lack of quest-based XP boosts, there are a couple helpful commands you can enter into the console (~) in-game to assist you. Player.setlevel x where x is the level you wish to be set to can be used to raise your level along with gaining all the corresponding perk points. CGF "Game.AddPerkPoints" x (include the quotes) where x is the number of perk points you wish to add can be used to simply add perk points to use in the level up menu without actually levelling up your character. You can also install the Cheat Terminal mod and place it anywhere in your load order to make for a far less difficult experience where you have the ability to adjust any aspect of the game or spawn in items freely. Bear in mind the higher you set your level, the more difficult things will become as higher level enemies will spawn.
-FallSouls may break certain quests from tracking in the Data tab of the Pip-Boy. This, however, works in my favored preference as I encourage open exploration and coming across objectives naturally.
My Other Mods
Distortion - Combat music replacer focused on droning ambience and an unsettling cacophony of ambient texture pads signifying a sense of deteriorating mental state.
ScreamingLake Soundscapes - More interesting, thematic audio cues for UI elements and events like levelling up, discovering a new location, and all other contextual audio cues. Also cleans up the audio system for more consistency in any setup!
Lost World - A replacer for all ambient music in-game that more fits the desolate, harrowing environment of post-apocalyptic Boston with glimmers of hope and refuge putting off heavy STALKER vibes.
Feel free to follow me on Bandcamp where I make all of music content that I've produced to date available for streaming/download for FREE!
Questions/Comments/Concerns?
Post in the Posts tab of this mod page or please visit us in the new Fallout 4 Experiences Discord and let us know how you're enjoying your Whispering Chills playthrough! Discord is much easier for communication purposes for me.
Thanks to everyone who has helped support this guide to date. Special credits to DaNotoriousQba for making so much with this guide possible!