The Fallout 4 next-gen update’s one new PC feature sucks as is, but you can fix it — here’s how
Bethesda’s ultrawide solution is awful, but at least you can fix it with this great mod.
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What you need to know
After two years since it was announced back in 2022,Fallout 4’s next-gen update has finally arrivedon the heels of the excellentFallout TV showthat debuted earlier in April. It brings some nifty new performance and quality mode options to Xbox Series X|S and PS5 consoles, adds a trio of free Creation Club add-ons (including an Enclave-themed questline with themed skins and some of the faction’s gear) and fixes a number of different bugs and glitches — and on PC, it also implements official support for 21:9 and 32:9 “ultrawide” display resolutions such as 3440x1440 and 5120x1440.
As someone who’s been a part of the ultrawide gang for a full three years now, I was very happy to see Bethesda’s 2015 RPG shooter finally get this feature. After booting the game up to see how it looks, though, I was thoroughly disappointed with the end result. Not only doesFallout 4fail to recognize and give you a display option for your native 21:9 resolution if you’ve got your display scale set to anything other than 100% in Windows (I use 125% to make text easier to read, and I suspect most people with a big monitor do, too), but it also stretches out the game’s HUD and menu user interfaces instead of scaling them properly.
Basically, Bethesda’s solution is functionally identical to theconfiguration file editplayers have used since the game’s release year to get ultrawide working, and itlooks terrible out of the box. Luckily, youcanfix it (for 21:9 displays, anyway) in the Steam version with a mod people have paired with the aforementioned INI tweak for years:TRUBY9 ULTRAWIDE. It converts every UI element in the game so it looks normal at 21:9, and it’s still available to download even though its author has discontinued it — and I’ve personally verified that it still works after the patch.
To use TRUBY9 ULTRAWIDE, you’ll first need to enable Fallout 4 modding by first pasting “bEnableFileSelection=1” (without quotes) under the [Launcher] section of the Fallout4Prefs.ini file found in C:\Users[YourUsername]\OneDrive\DocumentsMyGames\Fallout4, saving the file, then pasting the below lines of text into the Fallout4Custom.ini in the same folder and saving it, too:
[Archive]bInvalidateOlderFiles=1sResourceDataDirsFinal=
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Once that’s done, you can install the mod from the files tab of its page on Nexus Mods, which Istronglyrecommend doing with a good mod manager likeVortexorMod Organizer 2. You can also install it manually if desired or if a mod manager isn’t working for whatever reason; to do so, extract the mod archive’s contents to a folder of your choosing, paste the TRUBY9.ini file into Fallout 4’s root directory (right-click the game in Steam and select “Browse local files” to find it), and drag the TRUBY9.esp into Fallout 4’s Data folder. Then, in the mod files, open either the Default UI Scaling or the TRUBY9 UI Scaling folder and copy the Data folder within over to the game’s root directory as well.
The default scaling option maintains Fallout 4’s vanilla HUD and UI size, while the TRUBY9 one reduces it considerably so it takes up less space. Personally, I prefer the more minimalist preset, though you should look at the comparison screenshots below before picking one yourself (I’d keep a backup of each so you can switch between them if desired).
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It’s frustrating that Fallout 4’s new official ultrawide support is as lackluster as it is, though I’m glad the TRUBY9 mod fixes its shortcomings. Still, there’s currently not a good solution available for 32:9 “ultra ultrawide” users (the mod that worked previouslyisn’t compatible with the next-gen update), and frankly, this isn’t something that players should have to mod into their game, anyway.
Ultimately, I’m pretty disappointed with the Fallout 4 next-gen update in general, as it doesn’t fix some of the game’s worst issues such as physics being tied to framerate, NPCs speaking too fast above 60 FPS, and crashes caused by the Weapon Debris setting for NVIDIA RTX GPU users, among others. It also doesn’t feature graphical improvements of any kind (avoid the High Resolution Texture Pack, by the way, as it’ll tank your performance for barely noticeable visual gains). At least the new Baseball Launcher weapon is funny.
Fallout 4’s next-gen update certainly leaves a lot to be desired, but the game itself is one of the best Xbox games and best PC games to play if you’re looking to get intoFalloutafter watching the excellent Fallout TV show. I prefer Fallout 3 and New Vegas, personally, but Fallout 4 is still great for what it is: an action-packed RPG shooter brimming with content in its open world. Like all the Fallout games, it’s on Xbox Game Pass.
Brendan Lowry is a Windows Central writer and Oakland University graduate with a burning passion for video games, of which he’s been an avid fan since childhood. He’s been writing for Team WC since the summer of 2017, and you’ll find him doing news, editorials, reviews, and general coverage on everything gaming, Xbox, and Windows PC. His favorite game of all time is probably NieR: Automata, though Elden Ring, Fallout: New Vegas, and Team Fortress 2 are in the running, too. When he’s not writing or gaming, there’s a good chance he’s either watching an interesting new movie or TV show or actually going outside for once.Follow him on X(Twitter).
