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Preface
Whispering Chills is a horror experience unlike any other. It is intended to be entirely standalone in that you don't need to enjoy or know very well how to play Fallout 4 to be able to enjoy it as a horror fan in general. Perfect for anyone experiencing burnout in their other modded setups. It is about as "lore-unfriendly" as you can get purely using the engine as a vessel to craft an entirely new experience through a unique combination of mods that enhance/rework its core mechanics and add new content that entirely change its core focus. Unlike most other Bethesda games where the horror element feels tacked on at best even using mods, the amazing modding community around this game has afforded us the opportunity to overhaul the Fallout 4 experience into an entirely unique other experience. The core premise revolves around an alternate vision of the Commonwealth where a door to the paranormal dimension has allowed for literal hell on earth to take over and has left very little remains in its wake. Your ultimate goal and place in this hellscape is for you to decide.
We've stripped away several trademarks of the base game to distinguish this as a standalone experience based in its own universe. Almost all vanilla NPC’s have been replaced with terrifying monsters from several mods installed in the modlist. All vanilla questlines have been replaced with more fitting, horror-based ones. It involves a custom dynamic spawn system using SKK mods as the foundation, allowing us to breathe an unprecedented level of creature variety into the Commonwealth (including spawning GRIM creatures without having to activate the curse). The entire soundscape from music and audio cues to ambient noises and creatures sounds have been reworked to fit the environment. And this is just the beginning. If you are looking for a truly unique and DIFFERENT playthrough for Fallout 4, this is it!
My computer specs for reference:
CPU: i7-9700k
GPU: RTX 2070 8GB
Storage: Samsung EVO 1TB SSD
RAM: 16GB DDR4
OS: Windows 10
Resolution: 2560x1440
With this modlist, I sit above 60 FPS in every area that I can otherwise in vanilla. Even though Fallout 4 is a 5 year old game, it can still be very intensive on CPU and GPU resources, especially when heavily modded. Take this into account before starting to ensure your system is strong enough to handle everything being thrown at it with this setup. Also take note of the fact that no matter what mods you use, Downtown Boston will always suffer heavy FPS drops due to poor optimization of the base game. This occurs no matter how good your hardware is and how solid your modded setup is. There will be performance options and a performance profile detailed later in the instructions on how to use for those on less powerful hardware. Generally, this is not a very intensive setup when it comes to number of mods installed, visual fidelity, and overall resource loading and should run with the main profile without any adjustments just fine on most systems, but there options are there just in case.
Things to Check Before Installing:
1) Ensure you have a LEGAL steam copy of Fallout 4 with ALL 6 official DLC (Automatron, Far Harbor, Nuka World, and the 3 workshop DLC)! These are absolutely required with no way around it. The easiest way to obtain these is by purchasing the GOTY Edition or Season Pass on Steam. You do NOT need the Ultra High Resolution Texture DLC. Uninstall this DLC if it is installed!
2) Set your game language to English in Steam.
3) Ensure that Fallout 4 is NOT installed in the default Steam location (Program Files x86). See the Before You Install section below on how to move your steam library if it is.
4) Do a clean reinstall of Fallout 4 by following the Before You Install section below. Dirty, outdated installs of Fallout 4 are the number 1 cause of issues in Wabbajack modlists! Start the game once via Steam after reinstalling.
5) If you have been using Vortex you must use its Purge feature to purge all of its mods out of your game folder. Do not use Vortex while playing with Wabbajack modlists!
6) Carefully read the instructions below. This experience WILL NOT WORK FOR YOU if you ignore anything written here and we will not help you.
Click below to expand As with any modlist, it is recommended you start with a clean install. Uninstall Fallout 4 through Steam if it's already installed (yes even if you already have a modded setup this is the safest approach) then proceed to Documents/My Games/Fallout 4 in File Explorer and delete everything inside that folder. Then navigate to wherever you have installed Fallout 4 (steam/steamapps/common/Fallout 4) and delete everything left inside that folder. Now you must install Fallout 4 in a non-Windows Protected folder (NOT within Program Files, Program Files x86, Documents, Desktop, or any other other protected folders on the OS/C Drive). The default install location for Steam games is in a Windows-protected folder Program Files (x86) which we do NOT want as it can cause many issues with permissions and read/write access to your game files. If you already have a Steam Library set outside this default location, you can simply install Fallout 4 there. If you currently only have a Steam Library created with games being installed to the default Windows-protected folder on your C drive, please follow the steps below based on whether or not you have a separate hard drive from your OS drive. If you have another hard drive in addition to your OS drive: * Open Steam and click on Steam in the top left corner then click on Settings. Go to the downloads tab listed on the left panel that opens and select the Steam Library Folders option. When the popup appears, click on the plus button to the right of any listed drives and then create a NEW FOLDER on any of the other drives (not your native C Drive where steam default installs to) and click select. A new steam library folder will be created on your other drive in this new folder (reference image https://imgur.com/KiuYDe2/). * Navigate to the Library section of Steam where all of your games are listed and click Fallout 4 then choose to Install Fallout 4 as per usual, but when prompted to choose an install location, specify the new SteamLibrary folder you just created on a separate hard drive instead of the default location on your OS drive and proceed to install as per usual. If you only have one hard drive for your computer (the OS drive) and your Steam games install to the default location in a Windows-protected folder: * Use this tool (https://github.com/LostDragonist/steam-library-setup-tool/wiki/Usage-Guide) to create a new Steam library in a non-protected location on the same drive as your current library. By default, Steam only allows you to have one Steam library instance to install games to on a single drive so this is the only safe way to create a new library outside protected folders for those who only have a single hard drive. After the new Steam library is created, install Fallout 4 from the Library section of Steam where all your games are listed and specify this new library folder as the install location. In either case, make sure you LAUNCH Fallout 4 through steam when installation is finished to allow the game to set registry keys and create the initial game configuration ini's. You should see a popup notifying you that the launcher is configuring your settings based on a preset that matches your hardware. After clicking OK to the popup, launch the game to the main menu and exit. Lastly, right-click on the listing for Fallout 4 in the Library tab of Steam and select Properties... Under the opening General tab UNCHECK the box next to enabling Steam Overlay in-game. Under the Updates tab set the first drop-down for update method from Automatic Updates to "Only update this game when I launch it" so that any potential game updates don't mess with your modded setup.
Installing Whispering Chills
Click below to expand Download Wabbajack from the home page (blue download button) https://www.wabbajack.org/#/ Place Wabbjack.exe in a new root folder on one of your drives (e.g. E:/Wabbajack). Run this exe and then once Wabbajack is fully installed select the big Browse Modlists button. Check the Show Unofficial Lists button in the top right corner of the app or you will not see this modlist. Search for Whispering Chills among the offerings here. You can filter by Fallout 4 at the top to help your search. Then click the download button for the Whispering Chills listing. You’ll then have to specify 3 paths for install. Target Modlist: Should automatically be specified after selecting this in the UI. Installation Location: The location where this modlist will install to. Create a new root folder ideally on the same drive as where you have Fallout 4 and Wabbajack installed and path to this folder here (e.g. E:/Whispering Chills). Do not install to the game folder! Download Location: Will default to a Downloads subfolder within your installation location path. It is fine to leave this as is unless you want the downloaded archives to go to another folder/drive where you have more space which you can specify here. Avoid using Windows-Protected directories for all of the above (Program Files, Desktop, etc.). Click the Play button and if you are a Nexus Premium user it will all automatically go through everything for you. Otherwise you will have to click through and download for each mod. Check out our Discord server linked at the bottom of this page if you have any questions (though support is only offered on a limited basis and is not guaranteed) or follow this video tutorial on how to install Wabbajack modlists if looking for a visual aid: https://youtu.be/Na7-MHiy9Ck
After Installing Whispering Chills
Important note for streamers/content creators: Whispering Chills includes a mod
called Mutilated Dead Bodies which features bloodied and mangled nude
corpses which may result in issues regarding content guidelines when streaming.
If editing a video for this experience, be cognizant of this. If streaming Whispering
Chills without the ability to edit around this, you are advised to
WATCH THIS VIDEO
and do everything precisely as shown. You must do these steps in the video correctly or you will experience crashes.
Join our Discord Server linked at the bottom of this page if you have any questions about how to do this.
Click below to expand Once everything is finished Wabbjack will turn green and say Installation Complete. If you have any issues installing please visit our Discord server for further self-service support tips (https://discord.gg/strraNQxEQ). Now go to the folder where you installed this modlist to and open the folder within called Game Folder Files. Copy ALL of the contents within the folder named Game Folder Files to your game directory (where the game is installed; i.e. steamapps/common/Fallout 4). Make sure you copy all the contents WITHIN the Game Folder Files folder to the ROOT of where the game is installed (where the game’s executable is) (reference image if you are confused https://imgur.com/1Nu9KzL). DO NOT COPY THE ENTIRE MODLIST TO YOUR GAME FOLDER. DO NOT COPY THE ENTIRE GAME FOLDER FILES FOLDER TO YOUR GAME DIRECTORY! ONLY COPY THE FILES WITHIN THE GAME FOLDER FILES FOLDER! To actually play Whispering Chills, launch ModOrganizer.exe from within the installation directory for this modlist. It should default to F4SE as the executable in the top-right corner of MO2. Make sure the listed profile is Whispering Chills - Main Profile! Click the Run button to launch Whispering Chills!
Game Folder Files - Read CAREFULLY! Very Important!
Holotape and MCM Configuration - NECESSARY STEP!
You must EITHER watch the above video OR expand the text section below for instructions
on how to finalize setup for this experience. Follow all steps carefully as we will not offer support
to those who rush through this. The video above and text below contain the same content so it is
just up to your preference between a visual walkthrough or text.
Click below to expand After exiting the vault, select Disable Legendary Crafting and EE Slot (3rd option) for Equipment and Crafting Overhaul and then DO NOT MOVE! Configure the following holotape settings as shown below by opening the holotape listed from the Misc tab of your pip-boy. SKK Actor Replace & Respawn Manager should be enabled and configured as shown BEFORE applying the MCM preset as instructed below. Do not move from where you exited the vault until you have done everything as outlined below including Holotape/MCM configuration and restarting the game!!: SKK Actor Replace & Respawn Manager Holotape Enable this mod by activating it from its holotape under the Misc tab in the Pipboy. Now very carefully follow the steps below to correctly configure the mod to replace vanilla actors with custom actors from mods installed in the guide. * Activate the mod with the option that appears when you open the holotape. Then scroll to the bottom of the main menu and click submit changes at the bottom. * Click the actor keywords menu listed at the bottom after submitting changes and set it exactly as shown in this image (https://imgur.com/2l2iNjs) (the only change you need to make is to click on the last line in this menu for custom keyword files so it shows it as SELECTED) and then submit changes * Lastly go to the replacement actors menu and scroll to the bottom to change the custom actor file line to ENABLED as shown in this image (https://imgur.com/ZLf9BHk) and then submit changes. You can now close the holotape. Whispering Hills Holotape Whispering Hills has a holotape where you can configure settings related to the Otherworld. You can either craft it at a chemistry station or the Universal Workbench or open console (~ tilde key) and type help whispering 4 note and then player.additem (using the 8 digit ID returned from the help command) to spawn it via console and have it appear in the Misc tab of your pip-boy (reference image https://imgur.com/pDzUGT2). The otherworld is when the Hell Dimension temporarily opens and waves of creatures will attack you in complete darkness. The only way to escape is to hide inside a building and sleep until it (hopefully) goes away or kill each wave of the attacking horde. You can increase/decrease the frequency of this event as well as the number of spawned NPC's per wave if you feel the default settings are too intense or not intense enough. I would recommend you not mess with anything under the tabs not related to the Otherworld as this may affect visuals or settings in ways that were not intended or optimized for the provided ENB/visual setup. MOD CONFIGURATION MENU Open the Mod Configuration Menu (MCM) by pausing and clicking the Mod Config option at the top. Be sure you have configured your holotapes and set up everything else you need to be ready to play because after you apply this preset things will become very intense very quickly. After opening the MCM, open the top MCM Settings Manager listing and you will see a listing in the right pane under the Presets section titled WC MCM Settings with an option next to it to apply which you should click now (reference image https://imgur.com/Z1jASPs). Click yes on the prompt to apply the preset then reload the MCM when prompted on the left and now everything will go into effect! You can change any MCM settings per mod to your liking afterwards here but everything has already been set to provide the ideal, intended experience. NOW THIS LAST STEP IS VITALLY IMPORTANT! If you don't do this, you will break the experience and not have a good time! Open the MCM one more time and then open the MCM entry for SKK 4-76 Open World and then in the final section for it titled Enable Mod there is a Conversion Switch on the right currently set to OFF (reference image https://imgur.com/0SfTTit). Click this once to turn it ON and then a message will prompt you to close the MCM and wait. Close the MCM entirely and wait in place. Do NOT open your pipboy during this time! You will see a text popup that says "Fallout 4-76 is Preparing the Open World" in the top left corner. This will continue to appear every few seconds until it is finished (typically takes 2-3 minutes). Do not move while you are waiting. When it finishes you will see a new text popup appear that says Fallout 4-76 Open World is Ready (reference image https://imgur.com/a/8N0spus). Lastly, do a hard manual save from the pause menu and fully exit the game, relaunch, and reload that save before starting to play. This is to get everything set in working order and properly initialized before you really start to play. You're ready to go! Continue reading the below sections for important information related to the experience if you wish. Now grab the universal workbench next to the vault exit, head to the stash behind the player home buried under the fence, and find refuge for the night ASAP (I hear Concord has a nice saferoom to hide out in if you can find it)!
Important Information About Whispering Chills
(Optional, But Highly Recommended)
Beginner's Guide
Click below to expand -There is a saferoom and other places to spend the night in Concord early on, but you do not have to venture into the city center and it is advised that you don't as it is very dangerous there. -Find an indoor/interior space each night and get some rest. Exploring at night is a death sentence only made more certain if you happen to receive an otherworld event while exploring outdoors at night. Spawn systems at night are relentless so sleeping outdoors even in a walled off settlement will almost certainly result in death. -Whispering Chills is a very difficult setup. You will have to avoid many combat encounters and sneak your away around early on. Remember that you can adjust many elements of gameplay to your liking via the GCM and Survival Config Menu MCM entries. Most notably, you can adjust incoming and outgoing damages under the Difficulty section of the GCM menu in the Mod Config Menu and you can configure your base experience multiplier under the Experience section to speed up or slow down levelling progression as you please. -FallSouls MAY break certain quests from tracking in the Data tab of the Pip-Boy (never experienced this myself). This, however, works in my favored preference as I encourage open exploration and coming across objectives naturally. If it bothers you, try reloading the game or setting the Pipboy option to OFF in the MCM for FallSouls. -WC includes a patch for the universal workbench from Equipment and Crafting Overhaul. Grab this next to the vault 111 exit and you can construct just about anything anywhere so long as you have that on you. Disabling most mods in the setup may break this patch and newly-added items will not be included. -There are several premade player homes and new questlines/locations added for you to explore. Not all of these will appear on the map or as a quest in your pip-boy immediately so keep exploring and you're bound to come across some hidden gems. Certain quests are also unlocked and will automatically trigger at certain levels. -You are not intended to use power armor in WC. Most premade sets have been removed and pieces are harder to find. Just know it will detract from the intended experience in using it. -There should be no sources of radiation. No need to carry items to mitigate radiation. -A nomadic build is the intention. Move/explore by day and hide/rest by night. Going out at night is a death sentence in most cases. There are only about 5-6 hours of daylight per day in WC. -Don't get too attached to any locations or settlements as the unrelenting spawn system will likely find a way to exploit it. -The spawn system has levelled lists so as you increase in level, you will face increasingly difficult enemies throughout the Commonwealth and during Otherworld events. -Don't forget to take advantage of the stash behind the player home (where Codsworth is roaming in front of). It is buried under the far back fenceline and can be a bit difficult to find but just keep scanning the ground back and forth and it's there. The stash includes flares which are essential for use during otherworld events. You can also craft flares at the universal workbench.
ENB
Click below to expand Whispering Chills includes its own ENB preset that you placed in your game directory from the Game Folder Files folder after installing this modlist. If anything isn't to your liking visually, please check out my How to Configure ENB Presets Tutorial (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n67F7oYvN8c) to learn how to configure any preset to your preferences. Important Note: This preset will lock your FPS to 60 max by default. This is intended as the game runs into issues running above 60 FPS even with High FPS Physics Fix. If you want to disable this, open the enblocal.ini in your game's root folderand change the line EnableFPSLimit= under the [Limiter] section from true to false. In order for this preset to look as intended for you and for the game to look as visually striking as possible, I highly recommend your calibrate your monitor both through the NVIDIA/AMD Control Panel (right-click Desktop and the option should appear, then for NVIDIA in the left side panel click Adjust desktop color settings under the Display header, and I'm not familiar with how to do this for AMD) and through Windows display calibration (reference image https://imgur.com/a/BYf4BC2; search for Calibrate Display Color in your Windows search bar or Windows settings panel).
Performance Tips
Click below to expand This is not a very intensive setup and should be able to run above 60 FPS on most modern hardware. My hardware is listed at the top of this readme for which I am able to maintain a constant 60+ FPS at almost all times without any distracting FPS drops or extended stutters. If you are on older hardware (the kind that struggles to run any modded setup or even the game in vanilla) there is a performance profile available for you to try. Click the Profiles drop-down in MO2 and change it to the Whispering Chills - Performance Profile. Functionally, this profile is identical to the main profile just with some added tweaks and optimizations based around using the game’s “medium” profile. It won’t look all that different visually but should perform much more smoothly for those struggling to maintain above 60 FPS. General tips for saving performance on EITHER profile: * In the MO2 INI editor, set fshadowdistance= and fdirshadowdistance= to 5000 for both in the fallout4prefs.ini (this will already be set in the performance profile so more meant for the main profile). Shadow draw distance will be reduced, but not in a significantly noticeable way given the vision-obscuring fog * In the ENB GUI, under the Effects tab on the left, click the checkmark next to Enable SSAO so that it is unchecked and thereby disabled. The lack of AO is hardly noticeable in this setup, and it drains a lot of FPS having it on. * Simply disable the ENB preset altogether while you play by pressing the F12 key on your keyboard. More meant as a last resort as you will not receive the intended visual experience but FPS cap and other fixes from ENBseries will remain intact. * Set the game resolution to 1080p instead of 1440p if you have a 1440p monitor. Open MO2’s INI editor and switch the isizeH and isizeW values to 1920 and 1080 respectively under the [Display] section of the fallout4prefs.ini tab (reference image https://imgur.com/f64WmSQ).
Complex Sorter Patch
Click below to expand If you add or remove any mods to this modlist you need to rebuild the Complex Sorter patch which properly tags all items and injects all recipes into Equipment and Crafting Overhaul's Universal Workbench. To do this, first deactivate/uncheck the Complex Sorter (CS) .esp plugin already at the bottom of the load order (right pane plugins tab in MO2) then select Complex Sorter from the executables drop-down in the MO2 instance for Whispering Chills and run it. In the window that appears, it will prompt you to select which plugins to load in for patching. Leave all plugins selected and click ok to proceed and a big popup window will appear. In the window, click the Change button next to M8r Complex Sorter.exp in the bottom-right corner Output ESP section and then select New ESP and give this plugin a unique name. Then simply click the Generate Patch button in the bottom left and let it run. Once it finishes, it will be added to the right pane Plugins tab at the bottom in MO2. Activate/check this plugin and you're good to go.