[PS4] Downtown Boston Poor Performance & Crashes

[Reygunz]

I have had Fallout 4 for years, yet I have never completed most of the game because Downtown Boston has always been a major performance hit on the PS4. I don't remember if things were smoother before mod support became available, but I know I installed mods that likely broke precombines. After reading through some of the old posts on these forums, I have a richer understanding of the game engine, it's features (rather than it's "bugs"), and how mods can negatively impact game performance. So I have scrubbed my mod list of all mods that potentially break precombines. I decided to be very conservative with any mods I install because I don't own a desktop computer and, therefore, cannot confirm if in any way of a mod is breaking precombines or uncapping FPS. (I know. I really should just get a desktop at this point, but I just don't want to spend the money right now.)

All that said, I already have come across the game dropping FPS. I know that CPU users and possibly Xbox users have access to one or two mods to that is supposed to add more precombines and previses (I think that's how they work, but IDK), but I am not aware of anything similar available for Sony. I guess adding precombines and previses are considered external assets unless I am sorely (and likely) mistaken on what those mods do.

Beyond what I have already done, is there anything I can do as a PS4 user to mitigate performance impact?

 

[GuardianMF]

Boston FPS Fix seems to be available to Xbox players, but as always Playstation users get the short end of the stick. I'm am not aware of any solution for PS4, except maybe getting a PS4 Pro,which should be at a cheap price nowadays? More info on this video

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[Reygunz]

Thank you for the reply, @GuardianMF! If there really is nothing else to be done, than it is what it is. I will probably never purchase a console again so I'll save my money. I can totally afford a desktop, but I'm waiting for certain life events not too far in the future to transpire. I'm trying to avoid buyer's remorse. I'll know better if it will be a good purchase for myself in a few months.

Anyways, I'm all ears if anyone has some additional ideas.

 

[jshwea]

I have played on PS4 & Xbox series S. I researched this in depth sometime back.
There is nothing you can do. The designers pushed the engine too far with regards to downtown Boston. Even with no mods, it is an issue. Between pre placed NPCs and random events, the game engine was never really designed to handle that much in one space.

Having said that, I have found a mod on Xbox that removes about 90% of those NPCs. The author was careful to not remove anything that would affect the game progression. Even with that mod, I still have issues.

 

[Reygunz]

The designers pushed the engine too far with regards to downtown Boston.

I'm skeptical of this claim. I don't doubt that there may be some proof in support, but I also have heard similar claims on repeat. For example, a popular claim is that Bethesda didn't opimize the ge well when in fact they did in many ways.

 

[jshwea]

I also do not trust what others say. I like to dig into things myself. I have a background in IT and a little software testing. I have tested this problem on both PS4 and Xbox. With and without mods on both. This is what I can say.

I ran the same test on both systems, I also have done this for Skyrim. I test the game and system by stress testing. I achieve this using a cheat mod. Making the game render as much as possible over a large area. I set character speed to times 3 or more and turn on god mod, then go pick fights.

I have found about 4 areas that are problematic. 1 The Forge south of the Slog, which is next to Gunners. 2 West Roxbury station north of GNN. 3 Quincy Ruins and 4 Downtown Boston especially near the hospital.

Once you get multiple NPCs engaging in combat, the game starts to drag. It gets worse when it is done on a three dimensional plain. The game is running many scripts from explosions, bullets, calculating damage and NPC pathways. My PS4 is an original and CTD pretty quick. The Xbox serious S does better but will eventually CTD. I do not have a PC, but I would imagine even a great gaming PC would struggle to some degree.

You can have plenty of RAM and CPU power and software can still crash. I deal with this at work. I am not saying the engine is bad. I love Fallout and Elder Scroll games. Ever engine and system has its limits.

 

[msalaba]

I do not have a PC, but I would imagine even a great gaming PC would struggle to some degree.

You really don't need a great PC to play FO4. The game is old! I initially played it on an i5 2500k, 8GB RAM & GTX 970. Playing the game pure vanilla, you could sprint through downtown and only have occasional fps drops. (not enough to make the game stutter) I do not remember encountering any CTDs doing this. I do remember getting random CTDs when activating a door that teleports you. When I started modding the game, I realized the hardware was barely adequate. I upgraded to an i5 6600k, 8GB RAM & GTX 1070. I still use this rig to play the game. I have never used the Boston FPS fix and never felt I needed it.

You need to be picky when installing mods. While its fairly easy to create mods, its also easy to cause performance issues. Although, this is not much of an issue on PS4 as it doesn't allow new assets to be used. This also means no mod can fix vanilla mesh, texture or script issues on PS4 either...

 

[Reygunz]

I have tested this problem on both PS4 and Xbox. With and without mods on both. This is what I can say.

I test the game and system by stress testing. I achieve this using a cheat mod.

So how did you test without mods?

 

[jshwea]

So how did you test without mods?

With out mods I just played my high level character and ran around the same areas using legendary explosive guns, until I died or CTD. The performance on both is better. On original PS4 I can go about 20 minutes Downtown Boston before CTD or even longer, a few times I had none. This is running around and picking as many fights as possible in an area. The Xbox S has a better average of about an hour before issues, but it has run with no CTD so long I just got bored. After an hour it is kind of pointless. You have hit one of those times everything is working great.

Having said that, when I use SS2, downtown Boston is almost impossible. My little Xbox can't handle the work load.