Me and Tom are excited about Fallout 76, even if we have loads of damn questions about the first multiplayer Fallout (how can I play this by myself exactly? Does a bigger world really make for a better one? And so on). In the meantime, though, the Fallout mod scene is thriving, and there are plenty of substantial-looking projects in various states of progress that don't involve interactions with other humans.
We've covered all of these mods before as news, but I thought it might be nice to collect all of them in one place, as you ponder your big next Fallout singleplayer experience. You'll also find links to previous stories where you can read more about each project, as well as links to the creators' own sites where you can check out granular updates on the mods discussed.
You might also want to read about Northern Springs, a mod released in beta last week that adds a sizeable new area to Fallout 4.
Fallout: New California
In development for five years, this New Vegas mod arrives in October, and it's an ambitious-sounding creation. New California will feature 16,000 lines of voiced dialogue (which seems of a pretty high quality based on the above teaser) and 12 endings, inspired by the more open-ended Black Isle Fallout games, to which New Vegas was their most obvious successor. The team is working on adding side quests before launch, too, but even without those, a big chunk of new Fallout story suits us just fine.
Read more about New California here.
Fallout Miami
Official site
Hot damn that is a cool teaser. Clearly you've already got lovely snapshots of beaches in Fallout Miami, but the world will apparently also feature casinos, retirement homes and a golf course that's become an irradiated jungle. The creators of this Fallout 4 mod have also conceived of three entirely new factions to occupy the world, each of which have their own background lore already. Expect new weapons alongside this change of setting, too. I'm mostly just excited about the idea of exploring a seaside holiday destination through the prism of new Fallout.
Read more about Fallout Miami here.
Fallout: Cascadia
Official site
Hot damn, what is it about empty images of Fallout landscapes and old-ass music? Cascadia's trailer is impressive and kind of moving. This Fallout 4 mod is set in Seattle, a setting that's been reclaimed somewhat by nature—a deliberate touch to reflect it being set several decades after Fallout 4. "We wanted to create a world where nature shows subtle signs of having returned to a more natural order," said Dr Weird, the project's director of implementation, in a conversation with Kotaku. It promises to 'revisit old gameplay systems from previous instalments of the Fallout franchise such as skills, the dialogue system and much more'.
Read more about Fallout: Cascadia here.
Fallout: Atlanta
Atlanta, best known to me as a city that sank in an episode of Futurama, the place where The Walking Dead is filmed and as a gigantic airport where I got lost twice, is the subject of this New Vegas mod. Once again it's an entirely new landmass for the game with its own story. It's currently in alpha, having been in the works since 2016. It promises new interiors, a new casino, new quests and most importantly, "a new vibe that will be different to new Vegas or any other fallout game".
Read more about Fallout: Atlanta here.
Fallout 4: New Vegas
Official site
The pitch here is nice and straightforward: recreating Fallout: New Vegas in Fallout 4's Creation Engine. As you can see from the environmental comparison above, it's a flattering transition for Obsidian's game, which is often called the best 3D Fallout. I'm not prepared to commit to an opinion on that here, but know that I love them all. Don't expect the team to add anything new to the game. "If it's in the base game, we'll be striving to add it to the mod," says their FAQ page. "If it isn't, probably not."
Read more about Fallout 4: New Vegas here.
Fallout: The Frontier
We've been covering this New Vegas mod since all the way back in 2016. While its creators call it more of an expansion in the vein of those released for New Vegas like Old World Blues, or a 'super DLC', it's already 19GB and growing. It's set in a large, snowy version of Portland, and will feature new assets for buildings, armour and weapons, as well as frost effects. You'll also encounter familiar factions like the NCR, Legion and the Scavengers, with the Enclave also making an appearance. As of now, it's around 80% complete, and the teaser above was released about a month ago.