Fixing Fallout 4 on Steam requires a delicate scaffolding of repository downloads and offline management. On GOG you just click two menu options.
Fallout 4’s next-gen update has been an unmitigated disaster on PC: in exchange for practically no improvements, many non-Creation Club (read: paid) mods for the game have been rendered unusable until the community at large or individual mod authors come up with a fix. If you already have the game on GOG, though, you’re in luck: rolling back to the last patch is a cinch.
On Steam, it’s also technically possible… but kind of a nightmare.
Nexus user Destructionares (with help from Framed SC) has a guide to rolling back the patch on Steam pinned in the comments of the Fallout 4 Script Extender, and I really don’t know how else to describe the process but “ugly.” It requires:
Learning the Steam consoleDownloading 22 gigabytes of repositories from SteamDBDeleting a selection of new files added by the updateRunning Steam in offline mode to play Fallout 4 and remembering to delay the update whenever you go online.
I’m sorry, but this is just no way to live. On GOG, through the service’s Galaxy launcher, it’s extremely easy:
Go to the game’s settings menu up top, near the play buttonClick: Manage Installation – Configure – InstallationUncheck “Automatically Update to Latest Version” and select your desired rollback patch from the list below.
Now, we come to a matter of pride: Fallout 4 is on sale on GOG for $10 until May 1, and it should be a simple matter to transfer saves from the Steam version of the game—the two even share the same Documents / My Games / Fallout4 / Saves folder. To my eye, throwing a tenner at the GOG version is the simplest, most sure way of getting back in the (modded) game if you’re a Steam owner of Fallout 4.
It feels incredibly bad though, effectively rewarding Bethesda with a sale for breaking its own game. There is also the question of the future—it’s only been a day since the patch’s release after all. Bethesda has so far remained silent on the update’s reception, but an official fix or rollback may not be out of the question. There is also the issue of what the modding scene will do moving forward: There’s precedent with The Witcher 3 of modders maintaining two versions of their projects for the pre- and post-next gen patch versions of the game, but that’s not something I’d count on.
Events in the coming days or weeks could easily render a second purchase of Fallout 4 a waste of money, but there’s just no ideal option for jumping back into a modded save right now. I’m lucky: I’ve felt the pull of Bethesda’s 2015 entry, but what I’ve really been hankering for is a replay of Fallout 1, and I’m content to see how things pan out with the next gen patch in the long run.
If you’ve got Uranium Fever though, the 10 buck GOG version really is just sitting there like a suckling pig with an apple in its mouth. However, if you stand on principle and go the route of Steam depots and some kind of rickety offline mode scaffolding around your game, know that you have my utmost respect.
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