Game Check In

[ScifiRai]

I'm starting to want to play Fallout again, but I have to ask so I know whether or not I'm wasting my time, are mods stable in Fallout 4 again? Specifically the non-AE version. I never bought into that crap. After all of the recent mod breaking updates, I have no idea if or when FO4 will be back in a stable modding area.

[subaverage]

Hmh, are mods stable in the non-ae/ non next-gen version? For game version .163 (latest old-gen) yes. But reinstalling from Steam means to get AE and then you would need to decide whether to mod the most recent version or downgrade. Reactivating an still existing install of the latest pre next-gen version (.163) means in case of Steam to protect it from updating before you play. Later decide to update or not.

[ScifiRai]

23 minutes ago, subaverage said:

Hmh, are mods stable in the non-ae/ non next-gen version? For game version .163 (latest old-gen) yes. But reinstalling from Steam means to get AE and then you would need to decide whether to mod the most recent version or downgrade. Reactivating an still existing install of the latest pre next-gen version (.163) means in case of Steam to protect it from updating before you play. Later decide to update or not.

The copy I have is the original FO4 that first launched. I don't own the AE version and I don't think I upgraded at any point. I think I'll have to reinstall to see.

[subaverage]

In case it's Steam you install some content from dvd and the rest comes from Steam. That means you get the anniversary edition. The game version ends to .191 and you could begin new. F4SE and most version dependent mods are meanwhile updated. Of course you could think about downgrade. The most reliable version is 1.10.163.0 (pre next-gen). Using this means to downgrade and protect it from further updates if on Steam. Installing FO 4 new I would perhaps stay on AE and see what goes.

[Count Chocula]

Take @subaverage's advice, OP, and all will be well.

Edited April 4 by Count Chocula

[ScifiRai]

On 4/2/2026 at 12:15 PM, subaverage said:

In case it's Steam you install some content from dvd and the rest comes from Steam. That means you get the anniversary edition. The game version ends to .191 and you could begin new. F4SE and most version dependent mods are meanwhile updated. Of course you could think about downgrade. The most reliable version is 1.10.163.0 (pre next-gen). Using this means to downgrade and protect it from further updates if on Steam. Installing FO 4 new I would perhaps stay on AE and see what goes.

After a lot of mind numbing searching and clarification, I've found out that my FO4 is the base game which is now NG if I understand right. Version 1.11.191.0. I just have to avoid AE mods and I should be fine, right?

[ScifiRai]

10 hours ago, ScifiRai said:

After a lot of mind numbing searching and clarification, I've found out that my FO4 is the base game which is now NG if I understand right. Version 1.11.191.0. I just have to avoid AE mods and I should be fine, right?

 

On 4/2/2026 at 12:15 PM, subaverage said:

In case it's Steam you install some content from dvd and the rest comes from Steam. That means you get the anniversary edition. The game version ends to .191 and you could begin new. F4SE and most version dependent mods are meanwhile updated. Of course you could think about downgrade. The most reliable version is 1.10.163.0 (pre next-gen). Using this means to downgrade and protect it from further updates if on Steam. Installing FO 4 new I would perhaps stay on AE and see what goes.

I've downgraded to 1.10.984.0. Just have to figure out the issue with the LL_fourPlay_1_11_137, 159,169, and 191.dll issue.

[subaverage]

When you make a fresh download from Steam you automatically get Fallout 4 Anniversary Edition, because Steam only offers the latest patch level when you simply download and install the game. The latest AE version ends on 191.0. In case you would get the game from GOG you would get the so called pre next-gen or old-gen version. It ends on 163.0 and is the version that was untouched for years before Bethesda had the "fantastic" idea to publish a so called next-gen update when the first season of the tv show was released. This version ends on 984.0 and is in between old-gen and ae. In my eyes it's the version you should not use, because many modders meanwhile don't support it anymore. So you have two versions left. Anniversary Edition and old-gen. Why is this important? It's mainly because of the Fallout 4 Script Extender (F4SE) and all F4SE dependent mods as these have to match your game version. When AE came out it lasted a while, but now F4SE and most dependent mods are updated. In my opinion you would either stay on latest AE (191) and see whether the mods you want are compatible (what would be my suggestion) or downgrade to pre next-gen (163) as this is the version for which you still get the most mods. When you downgrade the game you need to protect it from being updated again. In case you decide for AE you should also protect your game from updates, because any further update will most likely break F4SE and the dependent mods again. When your game is protected you could wait until everything you need is updated.

Edited April 6 by subaverage

[ScifiRai]

On 4/6/2026 at 1:20 PM, subaverage said:

When you make a fresh download from Steam you automatically get Fallout 4 Anniversary Edition, because Steam only offers the latest patch level when you simply download and install the game. The latest AE version ends on 191.0. In case you would get the game from GOG you would get the so called pre next-gen or old-gen version. It ends on 163.0 and is the version that was untouched for years before Bethesda had the "fantastic" idea to publish a so called next-gen update when the first season of the tv show was released. This version ends on 984.0 and is in between old-gen and ae. In my eyes it's the version you should not use, because many modders meanwhile don't support it anymore. So you have two versions left. Anniversary Edition and old-gen. Why is this important? It's mainly because of the Fallout 4 Script Extender (F4SE) and all F4SE dependent mods as these have to match your game version. When AE came out it lasted a while, but now F4SE and most dependent mods are updated. In my opinion you would either stay on latest AE (191) and see whether the mods you want are compatible (what would be my suggestion) or downgrade to pre next-gen (163) as this is the version for which you still get the most mods. When you downgrade the game you need to protect it from being updated again. In case you decide for AE you should also protect your game from updates, because any further update will most likely break F4SE and the dependent mods again. When your game is protected you could wait until everything you need is updated.

I ended up downgrading further to 1.10.163.0. I'll be keeping FO4 on that version from now on to keep it stable for mods.