Fallout 4's long promised next gen (really current gen) update is finally here after a two-year wait since its initial announcement, but it's not a winner on PC. We anticipated there would be the usual issues with mod compatibility (see the Fallout London devs delaying their highly anticipated project), but PC players aren't getting much benefit from the ~14.4 gig patch.
Here's a breakdown of the problems I've had myself or noticed others complaining about:
- Issues loading modded saves and using non-Creation Club mods at all, including the essential Fallout 4 Script Extender.
- The "next gen" patch does not introduce any graphical improvements.
- The new ultrawide support has a poorly stretched user interface that will require a user made patch—basically the same solution ultrawide gamers were using before the update.
- Fallout 4's iteration of the Creation engine still doesn't support frame rates over 60fps.
- The "Weapon Debris" graphics setting still causes the game to crash on RTX cards, an issue that has been present since RTX cards were introduced.
With all of that in mind, was it worth borking mod support and modded saves for this update? Looking at the patch notes, none of the minor bug fixes or added Creation Club content seem to justify the extent of the disruption from this update.
Modders had to similarly scramble to accommodate Skyrim's special edition and The Witcher 3's next gen update, but those patches had more to offer that justified their respective hassles, and The Witcher 3 still lets you download and play the pre-4.0 version of the game to this day. Fallout 4's next gen patch seems to be largely console-focused, introducing better support and options for PS5 and Xbox Series consoles, but I don't see why PC players should have to suffer for that.
I do have to give Bethesda credit for the unambiguously good things here: the collection of bug fixes in the next gen patch does include the resolution of a long-running glitch in the settlement system that modders even had a hard time addressing: "Resolved issue that could cause corruption within the Settlement system resulting in wrong resource counts and/or destroyed settlements." Moving forward, at least there'll be a 1% reduction in Preston Garvey bugging you whenever you come home.
The next gen update also includes some new free quests and gear from Bethesda's premium paid mod Creation Club, with the biggest addition being an Enclave-themed quest and some associated weapons and armor. It reminds me of the Witcher show-themed gear sets that were added in The Witcher 3's own fraught next gen update.
We can likely expect modders to fix their individual projects in the coming days and weeks, but if, like me, you've ever found yourself enamored of an abandonware mod, it might be worth it to delay auto updates on Steam and run Fallout 4 through an alternative launcher like F4SE—absent official tweaks from Bethesda, you may also want to keep an eye out in case a user-made rollback patch shows up on the Nexus.
