Friday, June 30, 2017

Fallout 4 - "Starting Out: On Settlements, Building, Crafting, Materials And More" - A Beginner's Guide of Tips and Concepts to Settlement Building and Development [UNDER CONSTRUCTION]

Update: Added images for Main Concepts sections (Food, Defense, etc)
Update: Added steps for How To Assign a Settler to a Work Station/Shop/etc
Update: Added how to Give Yourself Any Building Components, or Food, with Commands (Cheats Section)
Update: Added how to Build past the Size Limit in Settlements (Not a Cheat, Doable on Console as well as PC)


[Note.: This post is 'LIVE' and 'UNDER CONSTRUCTION', as I continue to add more data and Tips and Example Screenshots to it... I decided to make it available now however, to assist those playing Fallout 4; especially those just starting out - seeing as there is a Steam Sale on now (go get it! heh). I will be adding more Text and Tips and Screenshots and More and this post cannot be considered 'finalized' until after I add a 'Final Footer Image' to the posting (see some of my other posts for examples of this type of 'end image' I put in my posts). Please excuse changes as they occur and temporary mistakes and spelling errors, which may show up should you return to this article while it is under development. Enjoy, however - I hope you find something helpful to you - and have fun in Fallout 4!]





I have been having a ton of fun playing Fallout 4 lately... and while I am taking forever to finish up a 'First Impressions' of the game [I keep playing and building up my Settlements instead of writing!], I wanted to share some Tips on handling Settlements; some concepts and ideas that might help new users to the game, players that may not have developed their Settlements very much yet, or players that are looking for ways to possibly improve or increase their Settlements and their Production and associated benefits (Bottlecaps income from Stores, Settlers roaming around and finding/providing you with Supplies, Clinics for healing and removing Radiation, and more).

Screenshot showing the Workshop Area of The Sunshine Tidings Cooperative, Decorated (Work In Progress - I was only beginning to Build!).
(High Resolution Texture Pack enabled [not 100% sure, sorry, but I think it was at this time]
The Automatron DLC Robot Workbench can be seen, center background. Minuteman Flag seen, left wall, foreground)
Click to see Full Size

[Settlements and their development and growth is one of my favourite aspects of the game, not only because it supplies you with Junk/Scrap/Materials to build with and Money as well, but also because of the 'life it breathes into the game'... every Settlement becomes 'alive' with people coming and going, working and resting, asking for help or talking amongst themselves around you. After getting a few Settlements set up and running smoothly, they become a place to restock, sell and collect, modify and improve gear, rest and maybe enjoy some scenery, taking a break from the action by building and re-working, improving and creating a place of solitude and pride, in each little 'town' in The Commonwealth...]


Example of the Workshop Mode interface bar, normally seen at the top of the screen in Workshop Mode (Building mode)
Click to see Full Size 


Here then, are some main ideas to start off with or to keep in mind  - hopefully helpful to fellow gamers who are either starting out in Fallout 4 [from the latest Steam Sale], or are looking for ways to improve their currently-undeveloped Settlements (colour-coded somewhat-by-importance to help separate them for easier reference):


1.  In the very beginning, build Food and Water and Beds, as much as you can.  
These three things (Beds, Water, Food) are the main limiting factors to how many people will come to live in a Settlement. 
 [The maximum amount of people that can 'live in your town' is supposed to be your Charisma+10 (so if you have 5 Charisma, that would be 15 people); Provisioners who run Supply Lines (more on them later on down further) don't seem to count towards this calcuated total (by my experience so far). Also, this limitation is stated in many places online - however, I have Settlements that are much higher than this number (over 30!) so I have not finalized the concept of Settlement Limitation Amount, at this time] 
Don't worry about Guard Posts and Turrets, at least, as much as you might think at the start - because although they do help with the overall safety of your Settlement; reducing the amount of Raids that occur, reducing the amount of Damage that will be sustained in the Raids, and setting a higher Security rating (which seems to affect Happiness, but not Immigration rate - more on Happiness later on...) - you can actually put the responsibility on yourself to take care of Raids at first [and get the bonus experience and loot that comes with it!] by Fast Travelling to the Settlements as soon as you see the 'Help Defend' tasks come up - or making 'rounds' between your Settlements as they are starting up, as Raiders sometimes attack while you are there and you can then help clear them out - and get all the Loot they drop, too! 
[The game leads you towards building Turrets at your Settlements near the beginning, too - in the form of a 'tutorial' of sorts, somewhat-early on]



2.  Plant any Food (Corn, Tatos, Mutfruit, Gourds, Watermelon and Razorgrain) you find, at first.
Starting out, you want to maximize your growth, so re-planting food you pick up not only increases how much food a Settlement can produce/feed for the Settlers, it also multiplies how much you can harvest!

You can harvest any plants by 'picking them' (hitting the Action key while close to them). You can then immediately re-plant the food you just picked, by entering Workshop Mode and going to the Resources>Food section.
A while later, you can start to Cook with your Food - not only do the meals you prepare have special bonuses (they are all different!) but boiling up some VEGETABLE STARCH, made from all materials that you can gather at any Settlement, is a great way to create your own Adhesive building material. Used for almost everything, Adhesive is a very important material to have!



Vegetable Starch, a source of Adhesive, you can create yourself by cooking together Corn (3), Mutfruit (3), Tatos (3) and using Purified Water (1). Purified Water, you can either find as you travel, cook yourself [3 Dirty Water can be boiled up to make 1 Purified Water], or use Water leftover from your Water Sources in your Settlement - as any extra Water that is not used by your Settlers will be 'kept by the Settlers in the Workshop inventory' [in the Workshop Bench]. You need Adhesive for Modifications to Weapons and Armor and even for Building - it is used for almost everything and is therefore very important to keep stocked!





3. Tied for the third most important thing/things to start thinking about, are these two concepts:

  • As you can, increase your Turrets and Guard Posts, to increase the Security of the Settlements, and as stated above, reducing the amount of Raids that occur, reducing the amount of Damage that will be sustained in Raids, and keeping your Settlers 'feeling secure and more relaxed' (Happier), too. 
Although the Security Rating of a Settlement ("Defense") does not effect the speed at which Settlers will immigrate to your little town, the Defense Rating of a Settlement affects the Happiness Rating - which affects how 'Productive' the Settlers are in that Settlement (speed of gathering resources, amount of Caps earned, etc) - more on Happiness later on...
If you have more Guard Posts than you have assigned Guards, they will 'patrol' around the Settlement, going between them, back and forth. If you have the same amount of Guard Posts to Guards, they will each stay at one, standing 'on guard', most of the time.
[I personally like to have a couple extra Guard Posts created in my Settlements just to have the Guards move around more... It creates more movement in the Settlements overall and makes them 'feel more alive' - something I really like in my Settlements!]

  • Build extra Scavenging Stations as your Settlement grows, as your Junk/Materials allow you to, so as the Settlers keep flowing in, you can assign them to the empty Stations - concentrating more on Scavenging over time will get your Settlers working and searching around, bringing you any Junk Items they find, "automatically" for you to then use!
Scavenging Stations are assigned to Settlers, who then start wandering the Settlement randomly, picking up Scrap and Junk items they find and placing them in the Workshop over time - they will even 'break down' the items at the Scavenging Station - and you can watch them do it! 
[If you have the Automatron DLC/Expansion, you will find that robots Assigned to Scavenging Stations will simply stand next to the Station with no animations occurring (sadly)]

'How do you Assign Settlers to Scavenging Stations?'
Further down, there are Steps with Screenshots for each,
in the Section "How To Assign Settlers To Work Stations"


After a while, with more Settlers coming in (sometimes they will migrate to your Settlements quite fast, seeing a solid place to find food, water, beds and have some security/safety), you'll start to see Junk/Scrap/Materials pile up slowly, even Bottlecaps flowing in, sitting there waiting for you in the Workshops of your Settlements. 
 [If you have extra Food/Plants/farming and Guarding that needs to be done, Settlers seem to assign themselves to those first, if you haven't been by to visit in a while to 'tell people what to do' - I have returned to Settlements to find New Immigrants that have started Farming or standing at Guard Posts on their own - but I have yet to see Settlers that Assign themselves to Scavenging Stations]
Don't forget to 'make your rounds' and periodically travel around to check all of the Workshops, grabbing these extra 'Caps and 'Mats, snatching-up the extra Purified Water you'll see in them, to sell for even more Bottlecaps (especially if you are more desperate for money sometime). Purified Water is created by extra Water production of the Settlement; water that the Settlers aren't using from the Sources you have set up. This extra Water gets placed in the Workshop for general use and Supply Line provisioning to other Settlements - but since it sells for a decent price and 'piles up for free', grab it and Sell it, if you really need 'Caps!


4.  As you find more Settlements, start up Supply Lines between them all...
Supply Lines are ways to 'share' the resources of the Workshops between Settlements. You assign a Settler to create a Supply Line between two Settlements, and they then become a "Provisioner", leading a Caravan between the two Settlements, taking supplies between them so that you can effectively 'use the Junk/Scrap/Materials/Components of both of them', no matter which one you are in!
Supply Lines are started by entering Workshop Mode, then going up to a Settler (one that is Unassigned with no 'job to do', or one that you want to make run a Supply Line instead of the job they are currently assigned to) and choosing Supply Line from the bottom menu bar.
That townsperson will then become a Provisioner, leading a caravan and a wacky Brahmin through the wilds of The Commonwealth... between the Settlement that they originated in and the one that you assigned them to make a Supply Line to.
Between these two Settlements then, you can utilize any* Junk/Scrap/Components between them, in their Workshops.
*Note that it appears you cannot share any Weapons or Apparel that you put in [I have not tested Miscellaneous items yet]; you can only share Junk [as of the time of this posting, this may change in a future Update/Patch in the game, of course].
Requirement: Supply Lines require the Local Leader Perk to be able to 'organize the people', which requires a Charisma of 6 - but it has no Level requirement, so you can get it at the start of the game if your Character has a Charisma of 6.  
If your Character does not have a Charisma of 6, you can also put Perk Points into Charisma as you Level - you get one Perk Point every time you gain a Level - thereby slowly increasing your Charisma to 6, eventually. You can also put on Gear and Clothes that 'accentuate your Charisma rating' [eg. Apparel that says "CHR 1"], to get your Charisma up to 6 'instantly'!
While this won't Unlock the ability to choose Charisma Perks (the 'Skills' or 'Talents' in Fallout 4), it will still affect other people/NPCs in the game, for example, it will help with getting better Prices/Sales at Vendors and Merchants throughout The Commonwealth.
[With places like Tenpines Bluff, a Settlement you find somewhat-early on, that has barely any resources at all and barely anything to Scrap for Building Materials - the game seems to even be encouraging you to think about Supply Lines (eg. creating one from Sanctuary Hills to Tenpines Bluff)... at least, this is my interpretation..]


Pick Up Everything! Loot Every Body And Clear Out Every Location You Find!



Workshops will create Scrap building materials (Components) for you 'automatically' from any Junk Items you store in them - just 'keep building' and if you have the Junk that can be broken down into the Components you need, it will do it for you!



What I mean by the above Tip is, if you put in a bunch of Forks and Knives you have found (for example), and you want to build something in your Settlement that requires Steel to build with, just go ahead and start Building - your Workshop will 'smelt/breakdown the Junk items (in this example, the Forks and Knives) into Steel' automatically, so you are essentially 'using the junk to build with' - you do not need to "drop the items on the ground and then go into Workshop Mode and Scrap the items one by one" to get the Materials from your Junk items to Build; just select your part to Build and it will let you build it - if there is enough "components from junk parts" to do so!

[I'm not sure if this changed from an early Patch or something, but I see a bunch of people asking in forums, even recently, if there is an easier way to get Scrap (building materials) from Junk items besides manually 'Scrapping them one-by-one on the ground in Workshop Mode' - there should have been a better Tutorial for this, in a way, in the game itself; but I hope this information above clears it up and helps people out]



Remember: 
Junk Items = Scrap Components = 
Building Materials!


Pick Up Everything! Loot Every Body And Clear Out Every Location You Find!


  • Repeated, Scavenging Station concept from above, as a Reminder:

    Build extra Scavenging Stations as your Settlement grows, as your Junk/Materials allow you to, so as the Settlers keep flowing in, you can assign them to the empty Stations - concentrating more on Scavenging over time will get your Settlers working and searching around, bringing you any Junk Items they find, 'automatically' for you!
Scavenging Stations are assigned to Settlers, who then start wandering the Settlement randomly, picking up Scrap and Junk items they find and placing them in the Workshop over time.
 [If you have extra Food/Plants/farming and Guarding that needs to be done, Settlers seem to assign themselves to those first, if you haven't been by to visit in a while to 'tell people what to do' - I have returned to Settlements to find New Immigrants that have started Farming or standing at Guard Posts on their own - but I have yet to see Settlers that Assign themselves to Scavenging Stations]
[If you have the Automatron DLC/Expansion, you will find that robots assigned to Scavenging Stations will simply stand next to the Station with no animations occurring (sadly)]




How To Assign Settlers To Work Stations (To Get Them To Perform Jobs In Your Settlement, Such As Running Shops/Stores Or Gathering Items For You To Use)




Below, are the five simple steps to Assigning a Settler to any Work Station, getting them to utilize it and start contributing to the income of Supplies/Income of the Settlement. In this example, we are going to Assign a Settler to a Scavenging Station:


1. When you first build/place a Station or Store/Shop or other useable buildings in your Settlement, it will show up as "Unassigned", in the Workshop Mode interface. All buildings that are Assignable in a Settlement will show a 'person icon', in Red, to show that the building has a Requirement that needs to be fulfilled, for it to begin functioning.


2. Find a Settler that you want to Assign to the Station. This can be a Settler that is already "Assigned" to something (so you can change their Job they are Performing in your Settlement), or a Settler who is "Unassigned" (doing nothing specific). Highlight the Settler by looking directly at them, then press the ACTION button to begin to 'COMMAND them to do something'...



Settlers who are Unassigned still gather Junk Items they find while walking around and put them in the Workshop Inventory for use by everyone. However, this happens slower than if they were Assigned to a Scavenging Station (which gives them 'access to tools'). "Unassigned Settlers" contribute to 'making people feel uneasy' in the Settlement - which negatively affects the overall Happiness of that Settlement (resulting in lowered Production for that Settlement). Assign all Settlers to Tasks, or Relocate them to another Settlement ("Move" them), if there are no Jobs/Tasks for them to do.


3. Go back to the Station/Shop/Building that you want to Assign the Settler to, and highlight it by looking directly at it. Then click the ACTION button to ASSIGN the Settler you just started COMMANDing, to 'utilize this Station' (in this example, the Scavenging Station, shown below).


4. After clicking ASSIGN on a Station/Shop/Building, the 'person icon' should change from Red to Green, to show that a person is now assigned to the Station/Shop/Building (for example, the 'Requirement for the Station to function' is fulfilled). You should also see a message in the upper-left saying, "This resource is now assigned." - that's it! In this example, you have now Assigned a Settler to the Scavenging Station.


5. If you go back to the Settler, you can check to make sure they are properly Assigned, by looking at them directly in Workshop Mode. They should now show the Task they are Assigned to (in this example, the Settler now shows a "Scavenging Station Icon" (a Buzzard, 'the scavenger bird')).


Perform the above steps whenever you want to Assign a Settler to any Work Station, Guard Post, Shop or Store - the steps are the same, no matter what you need to have Assigned.




Pick Up Everything! Loot Every Body And Clear Out Every Location You Find!


Example of a Crafting Station, which allows you to create or modify items in the game. This is a Weapons Workbench (from Sanctuary), used to Modify found Weapons, adding higher capacity, faster firing rates, more powerful scopes, and more.
(Click to see Full Size)


Starting out with Weapons (Similar Concept to Armor, Below)

In the beginning, other than the best Weapons you can save for yourself to use (or share with your Companion), SCRAP the rest for Materials...

Don't worry about building up a 'Collection to Sell' [at the start], you will run into so many enemies that you will have lots of spare Weapons to Sell for Caps later on. Scrapping for Materials not only lets you have Mats to Modify other Weapons you find and improve them as you Unlock Perks with your Points (using the Blacksmith skill) - it will also let you find other parts/materials as you 'break down' the Weapons you find into typical weapon-type-materials like Steel, Wood, Plastic and Screws - sadly, you cannot break down Weapons to gain the ever-important Adhesive, it seems [it is 'already used', I guess!].


Example of a Crafting Station, that allows you to create or modify items in the game. This is an Armor Workbench (from Sanctuary, seen in the rain), used to Modify found Armor, adding bonuses like more defense (adding more material to armor), or putting pockets in it (to allow you carry more weight), and more.
(Click to see Full Size)



Starting out with Armor (Similar Concept to Weapons, Above)

In the beginning, other than the best Armor you can save for yourself to use, (or share with your Companion), SCRAP the rest for Materials...

Don't worry about building up a 'Collection to Sell' [at the start], you will run into so many enemies that you will have lots of spare Armor to Sell for Caps later on. Scrapping for Materials not only lets you have Mats to Modify other Armor you find and improve them as you Unlock Perks with your Points (using the Armorer skill) - it will also let you find other parts/materials, as you 'break down' the Armor you find into typical armor-type-materials like Rubber, Cloth, Leather and Steel - sadly, you cannot break down Weapons to gain the ever-important Adhesive, it seems [it is 'already used', I guess!].

Short Story/Example About Armor: Because I could Modify and Customize Raider Arm armor near the beginning, I gave up the higher-protection "DC Guard Left/Right Arm" armor pieces that I picked off of a poor dead DC Guard, [because it does not seem to Modify-able in the game and] because I 'knew how to Modify' the Raider Armor to be POCKETED for higher Inventory/Carry space [you need to 'learn how', by putting Perk Points ('skill points earned every Level') into Armorer, a Strength 3 skill]. I put the DC Guard Armor in a Dresser at the beginning for the time being, using the 'Pocketed Raider Arms' I could Modify, then - a higher Carry Weight Limit is a valuable commodity - especially at the beginning!



Pick Up Everything! Loot Every Body And Clear Out Every Location You Find!





Did someone say CHEATS?




Sick of trudging around The Commonwealth like a Brahmin with two heads cut off, looking for junk to break down into materials to 'just build' with? Tired of picking up every piece of Junk you find, trekking in and out of town constantly and thinking "I just want to build up my base..." or "can't there be an easy way of getting junk" or "there's gotta be a faster way to get junk"..?


Then wonder/wander no more - there is a way to instantly get all the materials you want!

In Fallout 4 [and most Bethesda games], you can type the item you want and how many you want, of any item in the game, into the Command Console. However, you need to know the item's Unique Identification Number, first (known as the "Base ID" of the item, in Bethesda games). 
One way to find the Base ID of any item or object in Fallout 4, is to open the Console (by hitting the Tilde key, "~", usually found next to the Number 1, in the line of numbers across the top of QWERTY keyboards), and clicking on the item or object in the game. It will then show the BaseID of the object at the top/center of the Command Console area.
For an example; if you wanted to find out the Base ID of that Deathclaw running at you (and since we are in the 'Cheat Section' of this article, say... you want to kill it instantly), then you would find out the ID for it by opening the Console ("~") and clicking once on the Deathclaw (it should be 'frozen' by opening the Console), which would show the BaseID of it just below, at the top of the Console area. Now, for this example of 'killing it instantly'; you just have to type in "kill", then a space, then type in the BaseID you see on the screen, and hit Enter. BOOM. That Deathclaw that was running at you (and you were unprepared for, full of inventory and unable to run, no doubt)? It's dead. "First Crack At The Gear!" 
[Note1: If you try 'clicking on the enemy, then typing KILL, then just hitting ENTER' right away; it may not work as desired. You may end up killing yourself... Although those steps do work, they do not seem to work 100% of the time [in my testing], therefore, the Suggestion of doing the steps from just a bit above ("clicking to get the ID, but typing in KILL and the ID number"), is recommended - to save from accidentally killing yourself and having to LOAD...]
[Note2: The BaseID seems to change [in my testing], as in, when a Deathclaw (from our example above) 'spawns' (comes out of the ground), it will have one ID (and it seems to be 'unkillable' for a short time), and then when it starts to come at you and attack, it will change to another ID - which can then be used in the Command Console to 'kill' it. Also, Base Identifiers may be 'Procedurally Generated', which is, automatically and repeatedly created and changed, as a game goes on. Although this does not seem to happen for items like Food and Materials, it does seem to happen with Enemies and Gear (Weapons/Armor) - so be sure to take the steps above when trying to manipulate objects around you (eg. 'kill'-ing an enemy), finding the BaseID each time, to be sure that there will not be a mistake or missed opportunity, to utilize the BaseID in the Console.]


Want nearly-infinite food?
Want nearly-infinite materials to build with?
Want to 'just build and not worry about going around collecting Junk (to build with)'? 

Then wonder/wander no more - here is a way to instantly get all the building materials you want!


[WARNING/Suggestion: Although getting all of the items you could ever want, whenever you want, to 'Just Build' - effectively turning the game into "Fallout 4: The Sims Apocalypse" where you just Build and Decorate and work on keeping your Settlers at bases Happy (not that that's a bad thing) - it can potentially contribute to making the game 'less exciting', as it takes away much of the need to go anywhere or do anything (other than keep your Settlers' Happiness maintained). This isn't a bad thing necessarily (I have one Character I created just to play around and learn the Build Mechanics with and have fun just building and decorating..). I only mention this because I would like to Suggest to create a separate Character to do this with, or remember that when the game 'gets kind of boring', to create a Character where you 'don't cheat at all', to create suspense/tension within the game. No matter how you prefer to play though, I hope you enjoy Fallout 4 as much as I have - and still do... Have fun!]


I have some Batch Files for Fallout 4 below, which will allow you to 'type in to the Console what you want' [Materials to build with, or Food (so you won't have to worry about Farming or feeding your Settlers)] and you will instantly have a ton of those items on your character.

With the Items in them listed in Alphabetical Order, I have one file that is for getting Materials (Scrap/Junk to Build with), one file that is for getting Food (to Eat/Cook with) and one that is for getting huge amounts of both in one shot...

To use these Batch Files in Fallout 4, simply download the Text file(s) and place them into the Fallout 4 game directory/folder, where the game data/files are.
[Don't worry, they are just Text Files, but I give directions on how to make your own further down, if you 'don't like to download things unknown very much'.]


To quickly find the Fallout 4 game files location [in Steam, on PC]:
Go to the Library section in Steam and Right-Click on the "Fallout 4" listing, choosing 'Properties'.

In the Properties window that comes up, click on the 'Local Files' tab.
It shows you what Drive the game is on; but to quickly get to the game files themselves, click on the 'Browse Local Files' button, which will open a new File Explorer window (Windows).

This location is where you want to Save the Text Files to (the 'Batch Files for Fallout 4'), usually it will have a Path like "SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Fallout 4" on whatever Drive/Partition you installed the game to.
In that folder, Download/Save (or 'Paste', if you 'Copied' the files from another location) the .TXT files, to be able to call them up from the Command Console in-game. 
Example of how the 'Batch Files' (Text Files) look, after being placed in the Fallout 4 Game Folder
(Click to see Full Size)


Here are the steps to use the .TXT-format 'Batch Files' once they are in the game directory (shown for the file for getting Food, the file for getting Building Materials, and then the file for getting Huge Amounts Of Everything To 'Just Build' if you want...):

1A. To use the file that gives you 1000 of all types of Food (so you don't have to worry about Farming or Feeding your Settlers for a long time); type in
 bat allbasefood
 in the Command Console and hit Enter. That's it!  
1B. You can now close the Console and you'll find you have 1000 of every type of Food in the game, on your person.
1C. Go to a Workshop to Store the Food there (otherwise you will be 'overburdened' with all of that Food in your pockets) - you will find the Food items under the AID section in your Pip-Boy, as shown below:


2A. To use the file that gives you 1000 of all types of Materials to build with (all of the Crafting Components, so you don't have to worry about going out and looking for and collecting Junk items to Scrap for a long time and can 'Just Build', if you want to play that way for a while); type in
bat allbasematerials
 in the Command Console and hit Enter. That's it! 
2B. You can now close the Console and you'll find you have 1000 of every type of Building and Crafting Material in the game, on your person.
2C. Go to a Workshop to Store the Materials in the Workshop Inventory (otherwise you will be 'overburdened' with all of those Crafting Components in your pockets) - you can just hit the STORE ALL JUNK button, to do it in one step.


For the last one, which gives 9001 of every single type of Food AND Crafting Component in the game [maybe I should have named it "IJUSTWANTTOBUILD.txt"], use the steps below:

3A. To use the file that gives you 9001 Of All Types Of Everything To 'Just Build' With (all of the Crafting Components in the game, so you don't have to worry about going out and looking for and collecting Food OR Junk items to Scrap, for a long time and can 'Just Build'); type in
 bat allyourbase9k
in the Command Console and hit Enter. That's it! 
3B. You can now close the Console and you'll find you have 9001 of every type of Building and Crafting Material in the game, on your person.
3C. Go to a Workshop to Store the Junk Items (Materials) and the Food (from the AID section in the Pip-Boy), in the Workshop Inventory (otherwise you will be 'overburdened' with all of those Every Frelling Thing In The Game For Settlement Building in your pockets).  


Here is where to Download the Text Files to place into the Fallout 4 directory/folder (the 'Batch Files' to use), from the GoogleDrive for The Blog:

allbasefood.txt file
allbasematerials.txt file
allyourbase9k.txt file



If you don't like to normally Download things 'from unknown places/people' [aren't we just 'Friends That Haven't Met Yet, though, my dear reader?], here is what the Google Drive link looks like when you click on it:


Still, feel free to Scan the files with your installed Anti-Virus Program(s), or online through something like Virustotal.com (this is actually a good idea to do with anything Downloaded..).

If you you rather create your own Text Files, to place into your Fallout 4 directory/folder, to run as 'Batch Files', to give yourself an amount of these items, instead of fully Downloading the Text Files offered above - then here are the steps to create your own files:







Is There A Way To Build More, Past The Limit?




Sadly, there is a limit to how much you can Build in a Settlement - indicated by the SIZE bar in the Upper-Right corner of the screen in Workshop Mode. While this limitation is there to stop us from building so much that it makes the game go down to 1fps in that area, the SIZE limit is pretty conservative [in my opinion] and I found out that there is an easy way to 'Build More' - getting past that Build Size Limitation....

When you see the message, "Nothing More Can Be Built.", you can just press your lips together and blow, making that weird trumpet sound, after reading the steps below. No Limitations for you! Just follow these steps and you can continue to Build in that Settlement:

(Note that this is not a Cheat, it does not affect Achievements and it is doable on Console as well as PC)

  • Get some Weapons together on your Character (specifically Guns, as this specific technique does not appear to work with Melee or Thrown in my testing). Apparel and Junk does not work for this either.
  • Bring up the Pip-Boy and Drop the Guns on the ground
  • Close the Pip-Boy and enter Workshop Mode (by Activating the Workshop Bench or holding 'V' (on PC) to open Workshop Mode)
  • Look down at the Guns on the ground and STORE them in the Workshop Inventory (careful not to SCRAP them, that is not what we are doing here at the moment!)
  • You should now see your SIZE bar going in reverse and it will even change from Red to Yellow to Green. BOOM. More Room To Bloom. 

That's it! You can now build more in that Settlement. Enjoy! If you want to retrieve your Weapons, you can just go into the Workshop Inventory ("Transfer") and get them back - which means you can repeat these steps over and over, as needed! (Don't forget to Share your Screenshots on Steam or elsewhere - other people want to see what you can do - and it gives them new ideas, too)


Although it is possible to get past the Build Limit by simply dropping 'any item' and Scrapping it, this is still not what I was trying to do, with the Steps above. My intention was to STORE the Guns, so that they can still be utilized later - selling them for Bottlecaps, or 'Breaking Them Down' and taking their Modifications off to use on other Weapons, or just using them as Weapons in the game on the Character (or given to Settlers to help them fight off Raids/Attackers) -  that is why the Steps above utilize my STORE method. Storing the Guns allows you to continue to use them (as opposed to Scrapping them into Components to Build/Craft with).















[......I am going to add to this post, as I remember things that I already have forgotten and can't seem to bring back up at the moment to throw in here; but I still hope someone finds these concepts and Tips helpful, for either starting out in the game or improving your Settlements (there are more advanced concepts to come..... Have fun with Fallout 4!]


Monday, June 26, 2017

Quick Tip: Fallout 4 - Playing Making You Dizzy? Try adjusting the Field Of View [Tutorial with Explanation]

[Currently, this post is in Text-Only Mode, to speed up the ability to publish it. 
I may return to add some Screenshots and a Video/GIF 'tutorial' for it, sharing it on Twitter after that...Soon™]


I'm having a lot of fun playing Fallout 4 lately - but like many other people (if perusing game forums [forii?] is any indication), this game is one of a handful of games that can produce "Motion Sickness" for me - resulting in dizzyness or a sense of vertigo (a sense that 'the room is moving'). Although since playing Fallout 3 and Oblivion, I have gotten into the habit of changing the FOV (Field Of View) in Bethesda games when I play them, it's not just theirs that cause this issue for me, as it also occurs in many Shooters and Racing games, from Unreal Tournament to Flatout and other games.

Before I ramble on about the mechanics of it in Fallout and get into why this happens to some people in some games (it doesn't happen to everyone and not in all games), I'll give the Quick Tip of the steps on how to change the Field Of View, in Fallout 4:

  • With the game running, hit Tilde ("~", the key usually to the left of the number "1" on QWERTY keyboards), which brings up the Command Console.
  • Type "fov 90 90" (without the quotation marks) into the Console and hit Enter.
    You should see the Field Of View adjusted dynamically (updated right away in your view).
  • Hit the Tilde key again, to close the Command Console.

That's it!

Adjust the FOV range as desired - if you need it to be 'less' (and more like the original FOV), or making it 'higher' (if you want more FOV to feel better for you personally, or more to be seen on the screen at once, on purpose (for Screenshots,etc)).

Monday, June 19, 2017

Quick Tip: Fallout 4 - TAB Key Stopped Working And Not Bringing Up The Pip-Boy? Here's A Possible Fix [Text-Only]

I have been having a ton of fun playing Fallout 4 lately [again, building up my Settlements too much and ignoring the Main Storyline!] and ran into a 'small-but-game-stopping' issue where the TAB key appeared to stop working. "Hitting TAB wasn't bringing up the Pip-Boy anymore..??"

After doing some Troubleshooting and paying attention to what I was doing and pressing... it turned out to be a very simple issue - the TAB key was 'locked' out because of how I had used it in the Console.. Let me explain briefly:

Sunday, June 18, 2017

It's Not Just You™ - Fallout 4 Crashing with NVIDIA's SHARE Game Recorder (Possibly Relating To The High Resolution Texture Pack) [Notification, Text-Only]

Updated 2017-06-19: I found one cause of the crashes with SHARE and Fallout 4 (for me) - The HRTP

Just a quick post to say that, if you are experiencing Fallout 4 CTDs (Crashes To Desktop, where FO4 closes without any messages or anything and you are left staring at your Desktop in Windows), I want to let you know It's Not Just You™ - as I am finding I am experiencing this as well, lately...

I haven't looked into Forums specifically for this, but perusing Forii off and on over the past year or so, where many are talking about Fallout 4 and Crashing, it seems to happen a lot to people anyway, for just about any reason, unfortunately. I myself wasn't experiencing this very much though (gladly), until just recently when playing FO4 again [and spending way too much time building up Settlements instead of getting Quests done], I was testing out different Game Recording Programs and started seeing this happen.

I'm happily playing Fallout 4, getting frustrated at the Building mechanics or shooting some Raiders attacking my Settlement, when all of a sudden, BOOM - desktop image and icons. No message, nothing. Fallout 4 has closed itself instantly. I of course start it up again and begin to see where I last hit QuickSave or the game automatically Saved for me - but this has happened a few times in a row now where BOOM - the desktop greets me and icons appear. No message, nothing.

Thursday, June 08, 2017

Deals And Sales: GOG.com's 2017 Summer Sale Is On Now [Notification]


Just a notification that GOG.com (formerly Good Old Games) has started their Summer Sale for the year, offering up to a crazy 90% OFF some games from their sizeable DRM-free collection [install on as many machines as there are in your household]. Here are a few Deals that I personally am thinking of getting:





Saturday, May 27, 2017

Free Weekend - Overwatch and Fallout 4 [Notification]

Just a quick notification for those that didn't know, that this weekend is a Free Weekend for two great games: Overwatch by Blizzard Entertainment and Fallout 4 by Bethesda Softworks.
To commemorate this amazing alignment of the planets that these two behemoths occupy, I created this 'Mash-Up' Image Header as a Reminder, which I will release as a Full-Sized Wallpaper, for fans of these two franchises, once it is complete... Soon™


A big fan of both companies' products, I was so excited about it - but I haven't had a chance to play yet! So, I'm trying to help out all of you fellow gamers and notify you that these games are Free and Playable all weekend - including being sold at lowered prices - but it's almost over! Get out there and jump in - and have fun! GOGOGO

See You In The Game!

Thursday, May 25, 2017

Gwent - Playable By All Now As It Enters Public Beta Phase [Notification]

Update: Added Bugs Personally Found - 20170525, Ongoing
Update: Added Example of Patch Notes - 20170526
Update: Embedded The Gwent Cinematic Trailer 'jussferfun' - 20170527

Just a quick notification that Gwent, the Free-To-Play online card game based on The Witcher series, is now playable by all, as it enters the Public Beta phase (Open Beta).

Stress-Test the servers!
Find bugs and improve the game!
Have fun!

https://www.playgwent.com/


From the GOG.com Store Page:

"GWENT: The Witcher Card Game is currently in public beta. The game requires an online connection to play and offers optional in-game purchases. Single player campaign will be added at a later date."


Wednesday, May 24, 2017

And More: Revue - Fantastic Four (2015) [Spoiler-Free Review, Text-Only]


I love movies - who doesn't? I like reading Reviews of them sometimes (not all of the time) - who doesn't (sometimes)? Now, while this is more of a game-centered blog [well, supposed to be haha] I wanted to start sharing some Reviews of movies I write, here. Not often maybe - and don't worry, they won't be 'long' [my personal illness along with ADHD takes care of that]. Maybe I'll call them a movie 'revue' - borrowing from the term for 'review' in the sense of smaller summaries, jokes and plays that were based on larger works. Yeah, that's it: The Game Tips And More Blog Presents... fadeawayto...REVUE...fadeawayto...insert-movie-name-here... [Heh. Hmm, kind of cheesy, but not too bad..].


Note: 
All "Revue" articles will be SPOILER FREE (and to help with that, also image-free, other than a Title Screen / Header image) and Safe-To-Read even before viewing [I personally don't like to read Reviews before movies, but I know many do - please let me know if any of my Revues are 'too spoiler-y' and I will adjust them]. Enjoy!



Revue #1 - Fantastic Four (2015)


What an oddly finished product to make an opinion on... I just watched this on Netflix, and while it's not just that the movie feels disappointing, it also left me feeling 'empty' or even ‘sad’ somehow. Like the movie was a small animal that someone found, took in to care for, then forgot it out on the street again later on... That odd mixture of disappointment and sadness is what I came away from this movie with. 

Without getting into the ‘technical’ or ‘background’ details of it (how they handled the Origin Story is what most people did not like, for example), the first two-thirds of the movie is actually not bad, if a little slow-paced. It develops their backgrounds slightly and places them together, trying to get you to have empathy for the characters somewhat. It does in fact feel like a caring hand was hanging over it all, keeping it ‘realistic’ and the work put into that made me ignore the slow pace of the development. The cast themselves by the way, seem like they could become decent actors, but they all feel ‘held back’ and are almost stoic here. 

Then, after about three-quarters of the movie has gone by, they throw everything out the window and ‘chop together’ a 1980’s-quality “battle-with-the-bad-guy” that has none of the feeling of care and pace of the first majority of the movie. Now, I know production houses, crews and casts all have time limitations that put chains on a movie - turning into whips at times, urging completion; but this last section of movie feels like someone forgot about the animal they found out in the wild that they cared for so well up to now and left it out in the elements again... In my opinion, they could have even eliminated the ‘final battle’ and just finalized the development of the Origin of the characters - maybe with some ‘competition’ or other plot point, to end on; at least then, this could be an Origin Only movie and you would be left with some feelings for them after it was all over, not minding 'the wait' until the expected Sequel with 'real action' could come along. 

While the 2005 Fantastic Four is a bit ‘campier’, it still is in my opinion a better movie than this, because of its' overall polish and the mistakes of this one. In the end, I gave this movie, not a Zero like many, but a 2 out of 5 because of the effort that was put in ..at times


Review submitted and published on Netflix


[Personal Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Netflix in any way, pay my own account with them, and have not received any compensation, in any form, for mentioning them here. I am merely an enthusiastic user of their service; but have also utilized other, similar services as well, such as Amazon's PrimeVideo and Sony's Crackle and other online streaming services. All opinions herein are my own personal opinions and do not reflect in any way, any opinions or influences of the companies, production houses, peoples or persons involved with the projects mentioned (movies). These articles which are "Revue" posts are my own personal ideas/opinions/predictions and are not open to 100% re-posting or re-distribution (please try to stay ~50% re-posting of the text involved). Some Rights Reserved.]

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

And More: Corel's VideoStudio - Crashing When Using 'Open With' To Import Clips Into VideoStudio [Fix/Workaround]


Just last Month, I picked up version 20 of Corel's recently-updated video editing suite "VideoStudio" (nomenclature "X10") and am having a lot of fun learning what it can do and how to do it all (coming from mainly editing videos with Sony's Vegas 'Movie Studio' line of products [now taken over by MAGIX]). However, I quickly ran into a little issue with importing clips using the "Open With" option in Windows and wanted to share what I found...




Normally, in Windows you can 'right-click' a video file and mouse-over the menu option "Open With..", which brings up a sub-menu of known applications, to 'send' the file to ('opening the file with the chosen application'). Doing this, whichever application you select will startup and the file will be sent to it to work with.


However, doing this with a video clip and VideoStudio x10 I found, every time the program would open up, it would immediately 'crash' (close/stop/etc). Hmm... time for some Troubleshooting! I double-checked that the file in question was not corrupted excessively by playing it, testing it in a couple of video/media players, and even tried a few other clips that were 'known good' (that VS worked with before). Each time, using "Open With...", the Splash Screen for VSx10 would show up and then just as the program itself looked like it was opening, the entire thing would crash and show this message:

Example of the "Corel VideoStudio has stopped working" Error Window Pop-Up
when trying to import a clip into VideoStudio X10 utilizing the "Open With" shortcut in Windows


Friday, May 05, 2017

It's Not Just You ™ - Heroes Of The Storm 'Screen Shake' = 'Motion Sickness' (Dizzy, Nausea, Headache) [Notification]


Just a quick post to let others know that - if you are experiencing this phenomenon - getting dizzy or even nauseous while playing Heroes Of The Storm lately: It's Not Just You™... I even whipped up an Example of the effect, for those that aren't quite noticing it:

Example of 'the screen shake effect' I made, in GIF format
(Click to see slightly larger Full Size)

I first came across this in the Official Heroes Of The Storm Forums at Battle.Net. It was originally posted by "Phoenix" a couple of weeks ago, here. Although I have seen it personally in-game (noticed it), I have not suffered the nauseating effects that many may/do suffer with this Special Effect the game offers - even though I have experienced 'game motion sickness' from other games. [I did notice when testing and creating the above Example, that it made me slightly queasy however..]. Mainly, I have 'been lucky' with not experiencing it because I do not normally play the Heroes that have/produce this effect (the 'screen shake' effect). Here is a list of all the Heroes and Spells that can produce this effect, thanks to a helpful post by "Hatsoz" on the Official Forums:


Spells with Screen Shake
Zagara - Nydus Network (R)
Genji - Swift Strike (E)
Sgt. Hammer - Concussive Blast (W), Blunt Force Gun (R), Napalm Strike (R)
Gazlowe - Deth Lazor (W)
Lucio - Soundwave (Q), Sound Barrier (R)
Valeera - Blade Flurry (W)
Zul'jin - Twin Cleave (W), Guillotine (R)
Ragnaros - Sulfuras Smash (R)
Alarak - Lightning Surge (E)
Cho - Upheaval (R)
Karazhim - Radiant Dash (Q) (Only with Volley of Blows Talent Lv. 16), Seven-Sided Strike (R)
Anub'arak - Burrow Charge (E) (Upon resurface)
Li Li - Water Dragon (R)
Diablo - Shadow Charge (Q), Fire Stomp (W), Overpower (E)
E.T.C. - Face Melt (W), Stage Dive (R) (Landing only)
Falstad - Hinterland Blast (R)
Kerrigan - Impaling Blades (W)
Muradin - Thunder Clap (W), Dwarf Toss (E), Haymaker (R)
Sonya - Ancient Spear (Q) (On Hit), Leap (R)
Stitches - Slam (W)
Tyrael - El'druin's Might (Q) (On sword landing), Angelic Flash (Q) (Teleport to sword), Judgment (R)
Uther - Hammer of Justic (E), Divine Storm (R)


Tuesday, May 02, 2017

In One Sentence™ - Heroes Of The Storm - Hero Overviews [Very Short Reviews Of Each, Currently Text-Only]

[In light of the recent 'Heroes Of The Storm 2.0' release - even though this was a 'work in progress' since I started playing 'Heroes' again a bit ago and it is not fully compiled yet - I wanted to get this hopefully-slightly-helpful information up right away for everyone... So here it is - being added to as I complete it but without any Screenshots yet - I am collecting some together and plan to place them in-line within ...Soon™]



Update: Last Added - Arthas on 2017.05.04



In One Sentence™


A Heroes Of The Storm

Hero Thingy Overview  


By: The Game Tips And More Blog


Presented in Alphabetical Order, in a Document-sorta-but-not-really format



[Initially, was invited to the Heroes Of The Storm Beta; but was not able to play much at the time and so I didn't write about it much back then. I did work on a few articles, such as this one, adding to it the bit that I did play. Only recently (before I knew about "Heroes Of The Storm 2.0") I got back into this fun game, tallying up my own opinions and favourites, of each and every hero in the game. Seeing "Version 2.0" come along, I felt that, even though I have not fully compiled every singly hero yet, I wanted to share what I did have done, so that everyone - and especially newcomers to the game - could get a quick idea of each Hero and how they played in the game, helping them make a choice as to which one to try. I will be returning to this post and adding more Heroes as I play them... I hope you enjoy these little snippets of info for each one - and See You In The Game!]





Rating Key (if applicable to Hero, when used):

* = Heroes I ‘Liked’ (fit my personal playstyle(s), or is unique in some way)

** = Heroes that are A Personal Favourite (I myself would play often or ‘mainly’ would use (may not match your individual preferences dear reader, this is just a Personal Rating of mine))






Auriel = Finding myself playing more offensively than defensively with this Hero, I enjoyed her AOE and healing capabilities.


Alarak = With skills focusing on mainly attacking Heroes, in the right hands this high-damage-potential Assassin could be quite deadly.


Artanis * = Another Hero with skills focused on killing other Heroes, Artanis comes with high damage output potential - and although I was left feeling oddly ‘limited’ playing him, Artanis was fun to play overall.


Arthas = A mobile tank - big, tough, but a little slow [in my opinion] - with some light healing (and the possibility to heal yourself) and some nice offensive moves as well, Arthas can become quite competent in The Nexus.


Azmodan ** = This large and lumbering behemoth is capable of dealing out huge damage as a "Ranged Specialist" - just be careful as you have fun creating your own armies on the way to dish it out on the enemies’ base, as you are also a ‘heavy target’, so to speak. A Personal Favourite.


Saturday, April 29, 2017

And More: "An Internal Error Occurred When Overlapped Buffer Is Full" in VideoStudio X10 [Error Workaround]

[This post is currently Text-Only for speed of Posting. I may return and add example Screenshots and more, Soon™]


Update 2017-05-02: While not a 'Fix' for this issue, I have done more testing and found what is essentially the issue

Go to "Update 2017-05-02"


Just a quick bit of information, for those using Corel's VideoStudio X10 to edit and render their video projects and running into this error...

I was working on trying to finish some of the many, many, many projects I have in various stages of completion, and ran into an odd error when trying to render a Project in VideoStudio X10. The error said only:

"An Internal Error Occurred When Overlapped Buffer Is Full"


This is somewhat odd, as this is more of a generic Windows Application error than it is a VS (VideoStudio) error. So, I went to the Official Corel Support Forums and did other online searching...


Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Quick Tip: Heroes Of The Storm 2.0 - Where To Choose Skins, Mounts, Announcers And More [Interface Change]


Yesterday, Heroes Of The Storm "Version 2.0" came out - and along with it a bunch of changes and additions, breathing some new air into Blizzard's MOBA entry. I have been having fun playing it off and on, discovering the changes and new progression system. I am working on a First Impressions/Overview of '2.0' - but before that, I wanted to quickly make a Tip about something I am seeing a lot in the General Chat in HOTS: people asking how to change the Announcers, Mounts, Skins and other new additions, as the new UI has changed things a bit...

In 2.0, right away you will see that things have changed, as the Main Menus themselves have moved around and information is in different places. For example, the Shop link/text at the top of the screen is gone:




Here is where the Skins, Mounts, Announcers, etc can be located now:

The Loadout button (first one on the bottom, far left) has combined the "Heroes" and "Mounts" buttons and now holds all of the settings for the currently selected Hero. Here, you can choose the Skin, Mount, Announcer used and other new additions via the sections within the Loadout (you can even save Presets of combinations you like). 

Here is a 60-second tutorial showing where it all is, in Heroes Of The Storm 2.0:




That's it for this Quick Tip - it was just something fast because I have seen it asked a lot in the General Chat lobby lately - have fun in Heroes 2.0!

Friday, April 21, 2017

Deals and Sales: Saints Row 2 and Syberia II, TotallyFree™ [Notification]

Update: As of Sunday, April 23rd, Saints Row 2 is no longer available for Free, but Syberia II still is

I haven't been feeling too great lately (hence my not posting for a while) - but I wanted to make sure and come and get a quick notification out, for those that don't know and are interested - that I saw two games being given away TotallyFree™ right now:

Saints Row 2, the open-world, GTA-style Action game is at GoodOldGames (now just GOG, they also offer newer titles these days), found at GOG.com

and

Syberia II, the third-person, mouse-driven Adventure game is being given away at Origin's "On the House", found at Origin.com

Both are completely free, so go get them now! GOGOGO


[Note: I do not get any compensation in any form for mentioning these games or companies here (there are no 'referrals' or 'trackbacks' in the links above); I am just a gamer who likes to share things I figure out and find on my own here, with you, other gamers... Have fun!]

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

It's Not Just You™ - Mirillis' ACTION Crashing On Startup After 2.2.0 Update [My Issue Fixed with 2.2.1]

Just a quick post, to let those of you using the game and desktop recording application ACTION! by Mirillis know that a few days ago (on February 10th, 2017) the program was Updated to version 2.2.0. I enjoy testing out ACTION! as it has good performance - I purchased a License for it a while back and I want to do a 'Game Recorder Comparison' for The Blog which includes it as 'one of the contestants' here someday "Soon™" - but for now, I wanted to let other users of it know that ACTION! currently seems to be crashing after this latest Update...

Example of ACTION! currently crashing on Startup as of the date of this post.
GFX (GeForce eXperience, my abbrev.) shown in the background as having the Latest Drivers.
Click to see Full Size.

Now, this may only be NVIDIA GPU owners - I recently received a shiny new GTX 1060 GPU for Christmas from Santa and was testing out some game recording applications off and on - and found that ACTION! is crashing. Steam users are talking about it as well, as they seem to be having the same issue [my version of ACTION! is the Standalone version]. *Note, I am not "Joker5", one of the users mentioning this issue, in the Screenshot containing the Steam Activity Feed about it, I did not make a comment on the Feed at this time

While I am sorry to say that I do not have a Solution or Fix at the moment (I usually put "[Fix]" or something similar in the Title if I do), this is just a quick post to let other users of Mirillis' ACTION! know that - if you are having 'crashing-on-startup' issues at this time - It's Not Just You™...




Update 1 (2017-02-14):
I did eventually get the application to start, but it took six tries/restarts to do so. I will Update this post when a more permanent fix/update is known

Update 2 (2017-02-15 AM):
There is a new version of NVIDIA drivers released (378.66 dated 2017-02-13), but after installing them, now ACTION gives an Error 104 about half the time when starting it up... I purchased a Commercial Use License for ACTION a while ago, and made no changes to my firewall (the error is related to those aspects) so this should not be happening. I may contact Mirillis or post in their forum, etc. to see if this is related and/or notify them of this
Example of an Error that was occurring with ACTION version 2.2.0 showing NVIDIA Driver version in GeForce Experience
Click to see Full Size

Update 3 (2017-02-15 PM):
There was just now an Update released for Mirillis' ACTION (version 2.2.1, released today, 2017-02-15)
Update 2.2.1 notification message at the bottom of the ACTION! interface
Click to see Full Size
I have installed this new version and tested it - and it runs without issue - I have closed it an opened it numerous times now, without any problems. Here is a Screenshot of it starting up:

Screenshot of ACTION! version 2.2.1 starting up in Windows (including a wide-angle Desktop Wallpaper I compiled from multiple screenshots, with customized logo, I will make these available in the future)
Click to see Full Size
Using this version now, I went and looked at the Changelog for it (History of Changes and Updates to the program). Here is the Changelog for this version:


It is the first item that I find interesting, as I recently was testing out a 'Razer Surround Pro' audio device that came with my Gamepad - and as a result of porting audio through that device, there are no longer any Audio Devices listed as operational in the Recording tab of sound devices in Windows. Here is what my list of input devices look like now:


I only mention this because it is interesting to me [I wonder how related having no Input Devices was, to the issue I was experiencing (along with others, according to their forum and Steam Feeds), with ACTION - prompting this Update? I don't know the answer, of course, I am not a Developer or Programmer for Mirillis... I am merely thinking out loud. Wondering, heh].

Regardless, if you have run into this issue, it seems to have been solved by this update that 'just' came out - go get it - hopefully it will fix any issues for you too. Way to go, Mirillis - keep it up!



[Personal Note/Declaration: I am not affiliated with Mirillis or any of their products in any way (look at the links, there are no 'affiliate links' or 'tags' in them) and have not and will not receive any compensation in any form, for talking about ACTION here. I am merely a user of their program and wanted to share this information to help others. I have also utilized other similar programs in the past (such as FRAPS and Bandicam, free recording programs like OBS and MSI's Afterburner and more) and will use any of these products in the future]

Sunday, February 12, 2017

And More: Share and Tell - Imitating The GTAV Title Logo Style [Commentary]

I recently created a logo for The Blog, done in the style of the GTAV game logo (Grand Theft Auto Five Title Logo, seen Left). I had a lot of fun figuring out how to imitate the look of it and wanted to share a bit of how I did it, in case others want to give it a try too, or just to enjoy the 'Behind The Scenes' story of things... Originally I was creating this to be used on Headers for posts here at The Blog (since I was playing GTAV lately), but I also put it on a Wallpaper posted at The Blog's Flickr page - but then decided that from now on, I will not put 'my logo' on Wallpapers that I want to share with everyone, I will just use whatever game logo the game is at the time, reserving 'my logos' mainly for use here [I was feeling bad for 'forcing them onto others' if I were to put them on Wallpaper for sharing with everyone...]


Just below this paragraph then, is The Blog logo, re-done in the style of the game logo from the game GTAV (Grand Theft Auto Five)... Created entirely in Corel's Paint Shop Pro, I first had to find a font for the lettering. I found a few of them (Pricedown is one, GTArussian is another, the name of the last one escapes me at the moment). I typed out each word separately, so that I could place them really close together (like the GTAV logo has for its' words), overlapping some of the 'tails' of the text (which was fine, for me). The "B" behind the ribbon was something else... Baskerville, that's it.

My version of The Blog logo, done in the style of the GTAV game title logo
(Click to see Full Size)


The ribbon was its' own element, blanked out (white with no text), placed on top of the "B", which itself was made in layers of outlines and a Gradient, using the original game title logo ("GTAV") as the source for the green shades (clicking with 'the dropper' on the far sides of the green area in the "V" in the GTAV logo). The spiral design was found online by an anonymous maker [let me know if it is you, I'll give you Credit!], which I had to colourize and then placed in a way that was similar to the GTAV logo, on a layer below the text "B" vectors, so that it 'shows through' within the "B" area.

The text on the ribbon was made with a font that escapes me at the moment, but the colouring for it was hard to figure out, as it looks like it is directional (as though a light were casting highlights from one direction). I figured out to use the Bevel effect in the Layer Styles of Paint Shop Pro, to emulate a light source coming from the bottom-left, for the text 'The Blog'. It turned out great for imitating the lighting on the text 'Five' in the GTAV game title logo ribbon! The hardest part was getting it to 'curve'. I don't know how to create a line and make the Text follow the line yet, so I simply used the Mesh Warp function, to 'move it around' manually and get it to seem at least a bit like it is curved.

A few layers of black and grey for 'outlining' the text and entire composition (made by 'expanding' the selected text and then Filling with Black or Grey, moving the white text in front of it each time) and it was complete...

I'll mainly be using it in Headers and Screenshots in posts almost exclusively here, at The Blog. I just thought that some might like to hear a bit of 'Behind The Scenes' or 'Commentary' about it - hey, there are a lot of people that (like me) watch Commentaries! Haha

I hope you enjoyed my little Share and Tell - and if you play GTA Online - See You In The Game!


Original GTAV game logo design by Rockstar, Take-Two Interactive

[Personal Note/Declaration: I am not associated with, nor do I receive anything in any manner or form, for mentioning Corel or Paint Shop Pro. I am merely an enthusiastic user of the program (I have played with it off and on since it was owned by JASC). For fairness and completivity, I shall mention another great graphic editing program, The Gimp (now just called GIMP?) - which is Open Source and entirely Free - all of the steps above can also be performed with this free program]

Tuesday, February 07, 2017

Fallout 4: High Resolution Texture Pack (Free DLC) Is Now Available [Notification]



For those that haven't heard yet, as mentioned last week at their site here, Bethesda has released a High Resolution Texture Pack, that is now available for free, downloadable via Steam.


The graphic 'upgrade' includes 'native 1440p' textures [which means the textures themselves are 2560x1440 pixels in size - but remember, textures usually aren't displayed at Full Size, they are squished into say, the sides of a gun, or a sign or other things in the world - even if they cover a large wall in the game, they will usually not display 'at full native size' - and even if they do, they can be repeated ("tiled") to fill in the space of objects needed, in the game world - basically, 1440p textures should make the game look great]. It also includes Enhanced Draw Distancing and God-Ray tweaks [those glow-y, streaks of light, showing up especially when a source of light is behind something, such as the sun behind trees or buildings].

Now, up until this release, I personally was playing with SweetFX a lot in FO4, having fun increasing Sharpness and Shading, dealing with the Aliasing, taking Screenshots and 'Realistic Photos' and 'Close-Ups' (with Depth-Of-Field, etc) of some of the Characters in the game. These can be found here, at a slowly-growing Flickr page I started for The Blog. A couple examples of these, taken with 'SweetFX in ReShade' are just below - I look forward to what the entire game could possibly look like with the new High Resolution textures!

Fallout 4 - Mrs. Nordhagen, Settler I - SweetFX in ReShade
(GTAMblog7Photo SweetFX Preset, made available Soon™)
Click to see Full Size
Fallout 4 - Mrs. Nordhagen, Settler I - SweetFX in ReShade
(GTAMblog7Photo SweetFX Preset, made available Soon™)
Click to see Full Size
ReShade by Crosire (reshade.me)
SweetFX by CeeJay.dk (ceejay.dk)
Game Material by Bethesda Game Studios (bgs.bethsoft.com)
Captured by Troy from The Game Tips And More Blog

Since I don't actually have room for it on any of the drives I have Games on at the moment [which seems to always happen when something cool comes out, of course], I will be moving some things around and uninstalling other games I am not playing at the moment, to make room for this big fella...



It is an optional/separate "DLC" download, weighing in at a hefty 58GB installation through Steam. Once I get it going, I will be working on a QualityTest for it, comparing the graphic look between the two versions and what they really look like in-game - as well as the Performance Hit the Texture Pack creates - look for that coming post Soon™ if you are waiting to see what they look like or if it is 'worth the download'; but if you can't wait and want to get started seeing it yourself, go get it via Steam for free now, here.


This free download, by the way, is - in Bethesda's own words, "...a love letter to our amazing PC fans that have supported us – not just with Fallout 4, but across multiple decades and games...". 
Right back at ya', Beth! 
"Thank You" ~ Sincerely, The Game Tips And More Blog

Header and Footer Images captured by Bethesda, from their example screenshots of the High Resolution Texture Pack