#SurvivalMode

“the Phoeron” Colin J E Luptonthephoeron@functional.cafe
2026-02-21

With #ImmersiveWasteland2 #SurvivalMode it took all week to get my character to Level 20 and into a suit of X-01 power armor with a badass combat shotgun to go full Ghoul Slayer on Croup Manor, instead of being able to do it leisurely in one sitting like vanilla

#Fallout4 #ModCollections #GameModding #Gaming #SciFi #PostApocalyptic #Screenshots

Fallout 4, Immersive Wasteland 2 collection: going full Ghoul Slayer on Croup Manor
“the Phoeron” Colin J E Luptonthephoeron@functional.cafe
2026-02-21

I’m still not sure how I feel about the #ImmersiveWasteland2 mod collection

On one hand, it was clearly not made for me as a gamer

On the other hand:
- it completely reinvents gameplay
- massively increases difficulty in a meaningful way while practically eliminating obnoxious nuisances
- paces progression differently, so you really have to work on building your character
- makes #SurvivalMode playable and enjoyable without replacing it with a full Fallout 76 style overhaul like Advanced Needs 76
- has a consistent, gloomy style more in keeping with the theme, setting, and tone of the franchise
- replaces all textures with grittier, older looking ones, which reinforces the style
- takes forever and a metric shit-ton of caps to get into your first suit of power armor, and all the additional differences that makes to how you strategize and survive
- comes with 20–30x the nuclear fire straight out of the tin compared to “A StoryWealth”, and a solid 100x compared to vanilla
- provides a wholly novel experience to a game I’ve played to death
- and makes for great screenshots, WTAF

So I guess I both love it and hate it equally, although it troubles me further that I can qualify exactly what I love about it, but can’t qualify the hate

#Fallout4 #ModCollections #GameModding #Gaming #SciFi #PostApocalyptic

Fallout 4, Immersive Wasteland 2 collection: a solid 100x the nuclear fire over vanilla
2026-02-21

I'll add alt text tomorrow. But I'm finding life really difficult right now. I don't understand my pain's increase, basic jobs wear me out and doing things I enjoy is, well, less enjoyable because of it.

I'm managing to make little bits of progress on projects. But mostly, right now, I'm in #SurvivalMode.

Enjoy my last #GenshinImpact shot of tonight. I'm enjoying it, even if the combat can be tricksy.

G'night / #StaySafe / #BeKind

A sunset screenshot from Genshin Impact, showing the female Traveller looking away from the camera, looking over some trees, towards crags in the distance.  Only the occasional cloud breaks up the the orange and pink dusk sky.
Ellis C. A. Arcwolf (Author)EllisArcwolf@eldritch.cafe
2026-02-04
Ellis C. A. Arcwolf (Author)EllisArcwolf@eldritch.cafe
2026-02-04

It's a fun game of pretend. I have a COVID, I'm disabled, I have asthma, I am homeless.

But I get to keep applying for jobs while I pretend I'm perfectly OK. And the second work starts, I'll be working full-time with COVID, as if I'm perfectly OK.

If I want to survive, the only way to do so is to act like I'm perfectly OK.

I deserve an Oscar.

#COVID19 #COVID #Disability #Disabled #Homelessness #Unsheltered #JobSearch #Hiring #Pittsburgh #LateStageCapitalism #Masking #Neurodivergent #MutualAid #SurvivalMode #TheGreatPretend #WorkingWhileSick #InvisibleSufferer #Spoonie

P.S. Pittsburgh sucks. I wish I'd never come here. I wish I'd never believed in myself.

“the Phoeron” Colin J E Luptonthephoeron@functional.cafe
2026-01-25

Okay let’s try this again, but this time going #FullEnclave with 10% more nuclear fire

#Fallout4 #ExtremeSurvivalMode #SurvivalMode #AStoryWealth #aSWSurvival #AmericaRising2 #Screenshots #SciFi #PostApocalyptic #Gaming

Fallout 4 (Extreme Survival Mode): let’s try this again, with A StoryWealth rev. 267Fallout 4 (Extreme Survival Mode): now with 10% more nuclear fireFallout 4 (Extreme Survival Mode): memorializing the moment I decided to go full Enclave with a gear checkFallout 4  (Extreme Survival Mode): entering the Vault 111 Government Facility to rescue General Ward &Co. from a pack of dribbling Raiders in X-02 power armour. You should have heard their commentary.
“the Phoeron” Colin J E Luptonthephoeron@functional.cafe
2026-01-24

It’s kind of amazing how quickly #ExtremeSurvivalMode turns into a wantonly absurd and absurdly wanton #TotalExterminationProtocol

Either I need more challenge or more nuclear fire, can’t decide which

#Fallout4 #SurvivalMode #AStoryWealth #aSWSurvival #Screenshots #SciFi #PostApocalyptic #Gaming

Fallout 4: Extreme Survival Mode or Total Extermination Protocol? Bathing Crater House in nuclear fire
“the Phoeron” Colin J E Luptonthephoeron@functional.cafe
2026-01-19

No playthrough is complete without my set of NCR Veteran Ranger armour (with Ranger Helmet Enhanced)

Rebranded for the Commonwealth Minutemen

#Fallout4 #ExtremeSurvivalMode #SurvivalMode #AStoryWealth #aSWSurvival #Screenshots #SciFi #PostApocalyptic #Gaming

Fallout 4 (Extreme Survival Mode): sporting my new set of NCR Veteran Ranger armour, rebranded for the Minutemen, in Sanctuary Hills
2026-01-18

"Anger is not a bad emotion. It's a compass. It's an empowering emotion if it's used right."

Tangible ways to get out or at least relieve survival mode - Rage Work with Patrick Teahan

youtube.com/watch?v=8UqxRDRMDds

#ChildhoodTrauma #trauma #anger #rage #SurvivalMode #PatrickTeahan #PTSD #ToxicParents #ToxicSiblings #NarcissisticAbuse #TraumaSurvivor

“the Phoeron” Colin J E Luptonthephoeron@functional.cafe
2026-01-16

Would you look at the size of this Behemoth???

It’s marauding the road to Vault 81 next to Chestnut Hillock Reservoir

#Fallout4 #ExtremeSurvivalMode #SurvivalMode #AStoryWealth #aSWSurvival #Screenshots #SciFi #PostApocalyptic #Gaming

Fallout 4 (Extreme Survival Mode): a Behemoth so big that it actually embodies the stuff of nightmares, next to Chestnut Hillock Reservoir
“the Phoeron” Colin J E Luptonthephoeron@functional.cafe
2026-01-16

Holy frikkin’ ginormous Deathclaw Matriarch. Didn’t want to risk running away, so had to sneak past it, in power armour. Only possible because of the deafening roar of the rainstorm.

Northeast of the Lexington ruins, between the Red Rocket station and Mystic Pines.

#Fallout4 #ExtremeSurvivalMode #SurvivalMode #AStoryWealth #aSWSurvival #Screenshots #SciFi #PostApocalyptic #Gaming

Fallout 4 (Extreme Survival Mode): a Deathclaw Matriarch northeast of the Lexington ruins
“the Phoeron” Colin J E Luptonthephoeron@functional.cafe
2026-01-16

#ExtremeSurvivalMode is far more gruesome than your average “Saturday-Morning” Fallout game

#aSWCreatureMadness includes that brutal laser and plasma weapon gore mod, as seen below while rescuing the Quincy 5 from Raiders in Concord… which no longer feels particularly heroic

#Fallout4 #SurvivalMode #AStoryWealth #aSWSurvival #Screenshots #SciFi #PostApocalyptic #Gaming

Fallout 4 (Extreme Survival Mode): mostly incinerated remains of a Raider in the Museum of Freedom
“the Phoeron” Colin J E Luptonthephoeron@functional.cafe
2026-01-16

Here are some screenshots from my new #ExtremeSurvivalMode playthrough, just to show you how pretty it is compared to the vanilla AE

#Fallout4 #SurvivalMode #AStoryWealth #aSWSurvival #Screenshots #SciFi #PostApocalyptic #Gaming

Fallout 4 (Extreme Survival Mode): character creationFallout 4 (Extreme Survival Mode): emerging from Vault 111
“the Phoeron” Colin J E Luptonthephoeron@functional.cafe
2026-01-12

New #Fallout4 #ExtremeSurvivalMode build:

- “A StoryWealth” collection
- aSW Harder / Survival
- aSW Creature Madness
- aSW Expanded: Environment
- aSW New Playgrounds

Oh yes.

#AStoryWealth #aSWSurvival #aSWExpanded #aSWCreatureMadness #SurvivalMode
#Fallout4Mods #ModCollections #NexusMods
#SciFi #PostApocalyptic #Gaming

“the Phoeron” Colin J E Luptonthephoeron@functional.cafe
2026-01-12

Had an amusing time experimenting with a new how-many-Creations-does-it-take-to-make-Survival-Mode-tolerable challenge

It can be played a couple different ways:

- the least number of Creations, for a nearly vanilla survival experience and most stable gameplay
- or the most number of Creations, for the best overall survival experience but high-risk of stability issues and frequent crashes, adding to the vanilla survival mode angst

but only mods from the new Creations store, with or without the Anniversary Edition’s CC bundle

I made it as far as Level 48, claimed every settlement in the Commonwealth, only pursuing the Minutemen faction quests… but damn-it-all I miss A StoryWealth

#Fallout4 #Fallout4Mods #Fallout4Creations #SurvivalMode #SciFi #PostApocalyptic #Gaming

“the Phoeron” Colin J E Luptonthephoeron@functional.cafe
2026-01-11

#SettlementsReborn vs #SimSettlements2 :

Which one do I like more? Which one gives me a bigger reason to rebuild the Commonwealth? They’re such completely different mods, taking mutually exclusive and incompatible approaches to settlements-gameplay, and yet their intentions feel very much the same

It’s a conundrum, for sure

#Fallout4 #Fallout4Mods #Fallout4Creations #SurvivalMode #SciFi #PostApocalyptic #Gaming

The Unqualified Opinionvlua_hei
2026-01-10

Steamed broccoli: the mom patch for shitty dinners.

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