Fallout4 Tips and Tricks

[Skywise001]

I just thought Id try and put together all the various bits of knowledge Ive picked up about playing Fallout 4 and fiddling with mods.

General Fallout
--) Keep a text file and put into it the commands you find that are useful. That will be a lifesaver.
--) In Diamond City you can sneak behind the TV in the Mayor's office and open his safe with him right there withut etting caught. Thieving is 100% with 0 value and weight like Kellog's key. Steal it and you have a nice free friendly bed to sleep in.
--) Diamond City - If you give Paul the drugs and take the caps (and killed the Bartender) Paul and wife will move into the Colonial Taphouse taking ti over as bartender.
--) When leaving Vault 111 loot your Spouse's corpse for a 250 cap ring.
--) If you hate the flashing lights of the vault door stand in the corner by the 10mm bullets. For some reason the flashes dont light up this corner.

Sim Settlements 2
--) You can put down a beacon and power it then leave a settlement avoiding Jake. He will remain there patiently waiting for you return and staying out of your hair.
--) You dont need to have all your mods enabled when starting a new game. Disable mods that wont affect you in Vault 111 and enable them just before you leave the vault.
--) If you put something down and then need to move it but the layers of other objects get in the way then go into the console and type TCL. This removes collision from objects. You can sometimes go into the floor to find the lost item / plot or you can click on the things in the way and just escape out. They go back to where they are but their interact isnt refreshed till TCL ends. So click on the plot and let it go and you cna no longer click on the plot - and it wont get in the way of grabbing that item under it.
--) Put the Welcome Mat at the very edge of your settlement looking away from it. When it needs to load more, they have weaker machines, etc it will let it load before the player looks at it. Found in Resources/Misc.
--) Use Industrial plots that make Junk at first. Then add in more production / conversion when you know what your lacking (It will be wood).
--) If you cant target the plot to move a building turn on extra object targeting in Worshop Plus and you can pick up large chunks of the buildings items if not the entire thing. Delete it, put it out of the way, whatever you like. Move the plot and when its set right click on the plot and use the refresh option. It will delete the stuff that was moved and replace the building parts.

 

[Skywise001]

--) When you get to Concord go into the first house on the left (The Newspaper to be) behind the front door in a baseball bat.
--) When you get to concord go around the edge to the east. The road curves right and heads you to Caleb's house to be. Upstairs is a 100% scoped pipe sniper spawn and some starting armor. Might need to find ammo tho.
--) Always loot weapons. When you do you unload their ammo. Even if you instantly drop them you profit.

Sim Settlements 2
--) Use the console and - gamehour to 11; fw 15e - will change in game time to to 11 AM and set the weather to clear. Useful to get screenshots of town.
--) set timescale to 0.1 - (that's zero point 1) which will effectively freeze time from advancing which is what triggers weather changes. Useful to get screenshots of town.
--) tm - Which will hide the UI. Once you are finished you can open the console again, type tm and hit enter to restore the UI. If your in console when you type this it will bring up an empty pip boy. Just console TM again and ithe UI will come back.

 

[Skywise001]

General Fallout
--) You can modify NPCs stats with a simple command. Setav <stat> # like 'setav strength 9' Just make sure your targeting them in the console.
--) This cheat gives you the tapes and moves you amd Nick to the tunnels - setstage 229fe 190
--) If your cut and paste stops working in console / in your computer you need to exit the game all the way and reload. This affects web browsers, everything, so be alert for it failing to work.
--) The harvester is a ripper wi 100% spawn in Far Harbor and is probably the best defensive melee weapon - staggering foes.
--) A bleeding ripper is better but any weapon with bleed is your best offense - esp shotguns.
--) The cheat console has bags of holding inside it that hold anything you can pickup/drop. Go ahead and loot all the armor and stow it in the armor category.
--) Buy weapons and armor of the type your usiing but with the mods you want. Remove them and stick them into your armor (Like Shadowed, Deep Pocketed, or long range scope)
--) Killall will kill every entity near you. neutral, enemies, and friendly. Including companions but their proected so they get back up. Same with settlers though you can finish them off with a hit when their sat down.
--) KAH or Kill All Hostile kills everything that is red. This does not include currently neutral enemies (hidden ghuls and moire lurks for example). Very useful for when an enemy is hiding away in some glitched place.
--) On survival click on a bed and select rest to make a save then tab as soon s you can to back out and y ou get a save without spending time in bed.

Sim Settlements
--) The cheat console also summons settlers. Unlike thecontest assistant you summon them one at a time and its slower and more laggy than the Assistant but you pick them one at a time. I love using it to fill the Slog with ghouls.
--) The donations accept dog armor and Power Armor.
--) Have your older cities transfer settlers to a new one 5-10 is optimal IMO. + the 1-3 you get from the beacon the town takes off.
--) To find an items position target it in console and use these three commands. GetPos X GetPos Y GetPos Z
--) To move an item target it in console and type ModPos X ModPos Y ModPos Z Use these to set an objects position. It's based on absolute coordinates, so doing [SetPos X 1] is likely going to teleport your item somewhere far away, not move it 1 unit.
--) To tweak an items angle use Getangle and Setangle just like Modpos and and setpos above.4

 

[Skywise001]

General

SS2
--) Items overlaping can be exceptionally challenging. You can get around this clashing by using the console (SAVE before trying this) just dont forget to save first. Open the console after you placed the item that is clashing. Like a robot charging pod. Target it in console, type disable (You may want to tap the screenshot so you can get the code later if you accidently lose it), place the 2nd object so it overlaps where the first is like a computer. Type enable and the pod will fade in on top of the console making them look like one item. Or for example place an interior plot after diabling the walls around it then reenabling them again. Also dont forget to save first. I speak from experience.

 

[Skywise001]

General
--) Use player.equipitem 00021b3b to reequip your pip boy if it gets removed.

SS2
--) prid xx020F21 (xx is the place ss2 is in the load order for me it is 0c) .moveto player. Close console and the Stranger will appear

 

[Skywise001]

Fallout
--) If you download a preset it goes here: Fallout 4\Data\F4SE\Plugins\Presets
If the file doesnt exist just make them

Sim Settlements 2
--) If your city plan isnt listed - remember if its an outpost plan it likely wont show up till you drop a warplanner desk.
--) You can update the mods without causing a problem just never turn a mod off once its installed without rolling back to a save before you were running it.
--)

 

[Taylor3006]

The best bit of advice I ever got and will pass along now, is not to enable any mods that affect your vanilla build menu until after you exit Vault 111. Things like Kuro tab, Woodys Wasteland Stuff, Homemaker, etc. Once I leave the vault, I save, enable the mods, go back into game, enable god mode, build a terminal and generator right there at the platform, run Settlement Menu Rescue, and call it good. Ever since I started doing that, I never have a screwed up build menu or missing tabs/items.

 

[Skywise001]

Sim Settlements
--) If your having trouble getting a building positioned right try activating the extra object selection in Workshop Framework. You should be able to pick up the building (shell at least) and put it to one side. Position the plot, then refresh to put the building back.

--) If you have a random settlement export file (found in \Documents\My Games\Fallout4\Logs\Script\User ) just open the file and check out the first long line - it will list the settlement name and the character that did the exporting. Like this [01/04/2024 - 08:44:06AM] |||Starting export of settlement [workshopscript < (000B3506)>];;;Fallout4.esm;;;Boston Airport;;;Skywise

 

[Torberg]

Sim Settlements
--) If your having trouble getting a building positioned right try activating the extra object selection in Workshop Framework. You should be able to pick up the building (shell at least) and put it to one side. Position the plot, then refresh to put the building back.

Wonderful feature, but it's from Place Everywhere, not WSFW.

 

[Skywise001]

Wonderful feature, but it's from Place Everywhere, not WSFW.

Awesome thanks for mentioning it :D

 

[Skywise001]

Sim Settlements
--) Settings for papyrus
[Papyrus]
bEnableLogging=1
bEnableTrace=1
bLoadDebugInformation = 1
bEnableProfiling=1
fUpdateBudgetMS=2.4
fExtraTaskletBudgetMS=2.4
iMinMemoryPageSize=256
iMaxMemoryPageSize=1024
iMaxAllocatedMemoryBytes=307200

 

[BurntHostage]

Sim Settlements
--) Settings for papyrus
[Papyrus]
bEnableLogging=1
bEnableTrace=1
bLoadDebugInformation = 1
bEnableProfiling=1
fUpdateBudgetMS=2.4
fExtraTaskletBudgetMS=2.4
iMinMemoryPageSize=256
iMaxMemoryPageSize=1024
iMaxAllocatedMemoryBytes=307200

funny was just realizing I hadn't updated this on the new(er) PC - this goes in the Fallout4Prefs.ini, right? but which one? got 2 places:

• \Documents\My Games\Fallout4
• \Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Fallout 4\Fallout4

both?


Thanks!

 

[Mystical Panda]

\Documents\My Games\Fallout4

You'll want to update it here. This can be overwritten by the other one if you use the game's official lanucher- keep that in mind.

\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Fallout 4\Fallout4

This, iirc, is the original that's copied to the above folder. I've never done it, but I'd assume if you add changes here then they'll reflect when copied over by the game's launcher. But don't quote me on that- as I've never tested it.

 

[Skywise001]

Fallout/Vortex
--) You can find your load order by typing this as the target %appdata%\Vortex\fallout4\profiles\ and navigating to the file.
--) You can add caps to your inventory with a console command - player.additem 0000000f 1000
--) To open the character editor use this console command (Make sure your looking at your character) - SLM 14
--) To remove an item from your inventory you can use (This can mess up quests) - player.removeitem [item code] [amount] -Additionally the Cheat Console has an option to strip the player of every item except the cheat terminal holotape.
--) To take a look through water with perfect clarity use - togglewatersystem ( TWS ) it will revert as you move around when the water reloads.
--) To find out what stage you are in a quest use - getstage [quest id]
--) To list all your currect quest targets - sqt
--) To find out what the quest thinks you should be doing use - showqueststages [quest id]
--) To disable the ability of NPCs to attack use - tcai
--) To reset an NPC to how the spawned (this can break their AI) use - recycleactor
--) To restore an NPC to life (might break AI) use - resurrect
--) To try and fix an NPC with broken AI use - ResetAI


Sim Settlements
--) If you have a unique item the map is removing you can usually get it to not be deleted by picking it up in build mode then using the console to trigger the map change. For example the Orange car in Sanctuary cant be built without a console command ( player.placeatme [item id] [amount] [quality] ) but if you pick it up the changing city level wont remove it and you can use it to decorate the new city level.

--) A useful command to get the item ID of the item you are currently holding use - GetPlayerGrabbedRef

--) When you takeover/convert to outpost a settlement give it a minute to run all the scripts before trying to slap down a city plan. Otherwise you get the 'No plans' result from the city desk.

--) A useful but dangerous command is Scrapall it will try and scrap /everything/ in /all/ loaded cells. This can cause a crash and will occasionally do things like delete the workbench so save first. But it can be useful in the contest. - Scrapall

 

[LeapinL]

Ever get annoyed having all those companions running around your settlements trying to get you to listen to their sad tales or get you to take them along?
I found out by accident that when you dismiss your companion if you cancel instead of confirming, they will be sent back to their original location. I used to send them all to one location so I could find them if needed or avoid them and now I don't need to.

 

[Torberg]

Ever get annoyed having all those companions running around your settlements trying to get you to listen to their sad tales or get you to take them along?
I found out by accident that when you dismiss your companion if you cancel instead of confirming, they will be sent back to their original location. I used to send them all to one location so I could find them if needed or avoid them and now I don't need to.

Sadly it only works if you've never sent them to a settlement before. Once you have, the next time you dismiss them cancelling the choice will send them to whichever settlement in which they were last resident. You'll need a mod (or console commands, I guess) to then send them back to their original home.

 

[Skywise001]

Sadly it only works if you've never sent them to a settlement before. Once you have, the next time you dismiss them cancelling the choice will send them to whichever settlement in which they were last resident. You'll need a mod (or console commands, I guess) to then send them back to their original home.

Still its a great tip - especially when you suddenly get a companion out of nowhere in some mods :P

 

[LeapinL]

Sadly it only works if you've never sent them to a settlement before. Once you have, the next time you dismiss them cancelling the choice will send them to whichever settlement in which they were last resident. You'll need a mod (or console commands, I guess) to then send them back to their original home.

Yep, I always send them home. Even if they would be helpful at HQ. It's just too annoying to have them all following you around talking constantly.

 

[Skywise001]

Fallout
--) When uninstalling Vortex make sure you visit %appdata%\Vortex\fallout4\profiles\ remove just the vortex file. It will prevent it trying to set itself back up again just like you uninstalled it.
--) Using Better console you can click on items in game and get their ID - you can then use it with the placeatme command to make it appear elsewhere.
--) Using the console command coc qasmoke you can get into the developer test room. Its filled with all sorts of things to play around with. Just be wary of picking up quest items and special things like bobbleheads unless you really mean to.
--) If your curious about console commands info can be found here https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Fallout_4_console_commands
--) The Fast Start - Skip Sanctuary Prologue mod takes you from character creation to waking up in the pod. This makes it play well with SS2 and you can start up a new game fast.

Sim Settlements 2
--) Using the Workshop framework and workshop plus you can turn on extra item selection and pick up components of plots. Like the building. Then use the duplicate feature in plus to have a copy of the building you can use.
--) The wasteland Reconstruction Kit has some connectors that are self powered.
--) When your designing a Settlement or Plot make some things follow a story. Ex in Sanctuary there is a car by the entry that gets tucked to one side at 0, moves to by the road on some wheels (like folks were trying to fix it) At 1. Ends up upside down in the front yard at 2. Finally ending up in the carport neatly parked in 3. These sorts of things add a lot of visual flair and fun to a project.
--) The WSRK has hillsides you can use instead of building up a place with rocks.
--) Alex's Settlement Power Pylon makes everything in your settlement thats powered share a pool of electricity. You can drop it, attack it to a generator, and the things you drop wherever you drop them in the settlement will be powered. Its a excellent way to power things while trying out plots. Just never pick it up once placed.