Fallout 4: New Vegas Creator Explains Why Mods Like This Won’t Ever Come To Consoles
When Todd Howard took to the Microsoft stage at E3 2015, it seemed a bit odd considering how much attention the blockbuster Bethesda press conference was the night before. Howard ran through the same Fallout 4 demo he’d given the night before. However, he delivered a bombshell saying that mod support will be available on Xbox One. Since then many cool mods have come to Xbox such as NCR Ranger armor, additional radio stations, and various quality of life improvements for the game. However not all mods are created equal and one such example is that of Fallout 4: New Vegas.
The developers of Fallout 4: New Vegas, along with other creators of projects of this scale, always get asked whether or not this ambitious mod to bring the entirety of the Mojave Wasteland into Fallout 4 will come to console. Short answer: NO.
Ok, ok the long answer’s a bit more involved than that. First of all, the limit to downloads on console mods tops out at 2 GB. F4NV will be WAY bigger than that so there’s just no way that could happen. A post on the team’s Facebook page not only cited the size of the landmass they’re adding but the creation of additional asset and the reliance on the Fallout 4 Script Extender. The Script Extender expands on the standards of the set game engine. This allows cool mods like new quests and vehicle mods to be possible, but this utility is not able to be used on consoles.
The reason being is that Fallout 4 has memory limitations on consoles, like the limit set on Modding, that the PC does not. F4NV creators say that working around this utility is just too difficult to keep the game stable, especially on limited platforms. “Given the number of new assets we need to bring the Mojave to life in the new engine, this is simply the reality of the mod for us. Even Fallout: New Vegas weighted in at a fairly lightweight (by modern standards,) 9GB, and while much of that content was recycled from Fallout 3, we unfortunately do not have the same luxury as Obsidian did as far as reusable assets for Fallout 4: New Vegas,” they mentioned.
The post continued, “Many of the assets in Fallout 4 are unsuitable for use in F4NV, with the being tied so closely to the look and feel of architecture found on the east coast of the United States. As well, many weapons and environmental objects do not match up with or replace their New Vegas counterparts in Fallout 4, meaning those often need to be replaced or created from scratch. All together, this means that our file size has to get bigger, no way around it.”
An unfortunate fact is that it’s just not doable. These projects were set in motion long before console mod support was even in the question.
As such, they need to only use content already existing in Fallout 4. While this has birthed some fantastic mods for Playstation users that rely only on the base Fallout 4 content, this means that mods such as F4NV — which require new assets to work — simply cannot be released for Playstation 4 users.”
Are you excited for a foray into the Mojave with the bells and whistles of Fallout 4’s Creation Engine? Be sure to follow us on Twitter for more news on the project and check out these other fantastic stories from Don’t Feed The Gamers!
Colin Regan239 Posts
Colin is a freelance writer for DFTG with previous bylines at other media outlets such as Twinfinite.
