I’d love to explore more of Fallout London’s brilliant world, but it keeps crashing every few minutes

I never even got to meet Big Dave

Image credit: Team FOLON/Rock Paper Shotgun

Update: Ignore the bit where I imply that you can’t access the vanilla settings once the mod is installed. I was just being a (wildly charismatic, dashing) idiot.

In my brief time with massive Fallout 4 mod Fallout London, I’ve read a delightful terminal entry about a scientist who named his favourite radiated shrew “Big Dave,” thwacked several of said Radshrews with a walking stick, gulped down some expired pink wafers, and been informed of train delays due to “leaves on the track.”

“A British transport joke!” I said to myself, marinating in the sufficient amount of crown-mandated mild amusement. “Our organ-floggingly expensive yet vital public services are crap!” I was having a good time. Then the game public transported me straight to my desktop, and continued to do so at regular intervals over the next few hours, ranging from “just as this conversation was getting good” to “just as my save was about to load.” My upper lip almost quivered, I tell you.

I am not alone in this. There’s a patch on the way, and there are already a few supposed fixes. One of which involves downloading yet another mod. The other is a apparently a Nvidia issue with the ‘Weapon Debris’ setting. Unfortunately, to turn that off I have to uninstall FOLON and Fallout 4, then reinstall Fallout 4 to access the vanilla settings menu. I have already done this twice. I initially tried to get the thing working on Steam, then had to go buy it on GOG because the downgrader wasn’t working. Then, I did a fresh install the first time I started experiencing crashes so I could tweak the settings. It did not work.

Simply put, I’m done. To be clear, this isn’t me saying “avoid the mod”, just that I’ve hit my own personal tolerance for pissing around with files. I’ll watch a YouTube video, because I do genuinely want to see more of what FOLON has on offer. So, PSA then: try to get set up with the extra mods and settings you need before you go in, to avoid similar ballaches. That, or wait for the patch.

It’s a real shame, because London seems great so far. Everything from architecture to lighting, to a new dialogue system more reminiscent of New Vegas, is such an incredible step up from vanilla Fallout 4. Feast your mince pies on this station from the opening area:

Image credit: Team FOLON/Rock Paper Shotgun

It reminded me far more of Bioshock’s spooky grandeur than what I was expecting, but it works well. I’m also finding the lack of traditional Fallout iconography to be incredibly refreshing. I don’t think I’m alone in feeling that Vault Boy and Nuka-Cola have long been stripped of any satirical charm they once might have held; mascot-ified to Funko Pop tier, all dead gloss like the eyes of taxidermied critters. But here, even the Pip Boy has been replaced, and these new symbols are enough to run interference on stifling familiarity, revitalising the setting. Also, again: you can restore health by eating pink wafers.

So, do enjoy Fallout London when you get around to it. I’m certain you will, just make sure you’re all set up beforehand. Me? I’m going to have nightmares about a giant file that simply will not unzip.