The Midnight Ride

IMPORTANT:
If you run into any issues at any point in the guide, please be sure to check the FAQ.
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Manual Downloads

Root Mods

The following mods, unlike most others, need to be installed directly into the game's Root folder, not through Mod Organizer 2.

Use the Manual Download and follow the instructions provided for each mod.

Fallout 4 Script Extender (F4SE)

Extends the scripting capabilities of the game.

Installation instructions

Main Files - Fallout 4 Script Extender (F4SE)

Open the downloaded archive and move everything to the game's Root folder.

If you do not know what the Root folder is, read the Key Terminology.

After proper install, your Root folder should look like this:

Making MO2 Detect F4SE

Once F4SE is installed as instructed above, restart MO2 and you should see a new option in the top right drop-down:

xSE PluginPreloader F4

Allows preloading F4SE plugins before the game initializes.

Installation instructions

Main Files - xSE PluginPreloader F4 0.3

Open the downloaded archive and move everything to the game's Root folder.

Mod Organizer Downloads

Managed

From now on, select Mod Manager Download to download mods - this will make the file appear in MO2's Downloads tab, ready to be installed according to the instructions earlier in the guide.

Creating a Separator in MO2

Right-click the empty space in the left pane of MO2 and select Create separator.
Name the separator Utilities.

Address Library for F4SE Plugins

Resource required by most F4SE plugins.

Installation instructions

Main Files - Address Library - All In One

Better Console - F4SE

Makes console menu show extra useful information.

Installation instructions

Main Files - Better Console

Performance Preamble

Limiting framerate is very important for overall stability, as it smooths out framepacing, which is the most important thing for the overall feel of fluidity.

More advanced limiters can also reduce latency or CPU power consumption (it's difficult to have both at the same time).

For a limiter to do anything, you want to set it to a framerate you can actually achieve regularly enough. This will prevent the GPU load from maxing out and further reduce latency, while reducing power usage, often considerably.

Setup

Make sure V-Sync^[1] is enabled, you can do this through BethINI Pie. Your driver settings shouldn't override this^[2].
If your monitor supports it, enable Variable Refresh Rate^[3].

Do not disable V-Sync when using VRR! The latter expects the former^[4].

In Fallout 4, specifically, do not use any external limiter. The steps below will use High FPS Physics Fix to configure one. This exception is born from Fallout 4's loading speed being tied to framerate, meaning that an external limiter cannot dynamically switch value, missing out on the speed-up.

Details

V-Sync will prevent tearing as result of syncing the monitor's VBLANK to the GPU output. This will limit your framerate from going over the refresh rate.

Even though it acts as one, V-Sync on its own is NOT a limiter. Using it without a dedicated limiter will result in a massive latency penalty.
Generally, default settings for both the Nvidia Control Panel and AMD's Adrenalin will work. Reset them if you're unsure and don't change settings unless you are sure of what they do.
You can enable VRR by going to the Nvidia Control Panel if you're on Nvidia or Adrenalin's Display Settings if you're on AMD. If the setting isn't there, your display doesn't support the feature or it's not enabled in its OSD.

Nvidia users need to make sure that G-Sync is set to Fullscreen and that Display Specific settings are enabled, the Windowed option is problematic due to it being a hacky method.

Both of the settings are wrongly named! They do not actually directly refer to the display method.
Despite popular misinformation, VRR alone doesn't get rid of tearing. It can minimize the rolling tear however, but that varies between displays. Additionally, the latency reduction applies only at framerates below the display's refresh rate.

Once the framerate reaches refresh rate, VRR will engage V-Sync emulation. To account for this, VRR users should configure their limiter with a slight bias below refresh rate (to cover spikes).

This section is purely informative, the calculator below will take all of this information into consideration.

High FPS Physics Fix

All-in-one solution for smooth FPS-unlocked gameplay, mitigates stutter and reduces loading times massively.

Installation instructions

Main Files - High FPS Physics Fix (1st file)

Once the mod has been installed, double-click it in the left pane of MO2.
In the INI Files tab, open F4SE/Plugins/HighFPSPhysicsFix.ini
Change only the following options:

Set DisableBlackLoadingScreens to true (line 37).
Set PostloadingMenuSpeed to 3.0 (line 51).
Set OneThreadWhileLoading to false (line 84).
Use the calculator below to determine your optimal FPS limit setting. You can find your exact refresh rate here.