Fallout 4

Fallout 4

53 ratings
Long Loading Workarounds
By courier0320
This guide covers both workarounds for long loading times on modern computers.
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The Issue
Due to an issue with the game, loading times drastically increase with the number of CPU cores which especially affect black loading screens with the green Vault-Tec logo in the bottom right corner (can often last up to a minute), even with the best M.2 NVMe SSDs available today.
Workarounds
There are 2 possible workarounds:

1) Using Alt + Tab during loading screens, then reopening the game once music stops playing in the background after a few seconds.

This is the most straightforward method which works properly with all configurations, but returning to the game before music stops playing causes resolution issues which can only be resolved by restarting the game.

For this method to work, VSync must be disabled (in "\Documents\My Games\Fallout4\Fallout4.ini", set "iPresentInterval=0" under "[Display]" to disable it), as well as Windowed mode and Borderless in the launcher. Disabling VSync requires limiting FPS to 60 in NVIDIA Control Panel (3D Settings > Manage 3D Settings > Program Settings > fallout4.exe > Max Frame Rate = 60 FPS) or AMD equivalent.

2) Making the game use fewer CPU cores (Task Manager > Details > Fallout4.exe > Set affinity) which may affect stability and performance depending on CPU model. The official requirement is a minimum of 4 cores, but the game seems to work normally with only 2 cores and loading is instant without the need for Alt + Tab at all.

As for how the first method works:

While the game is out of focus during a loading screen, FPS is temporarily unlocked and loading resumes in the background. For some reason, loading times in Fallout 4 are tied to FPS (strangely, only the black loading screens are significantly affected) and as a result, this method allows the game to load as fast as it possibly can instead of being limited to loading at only 60 FPS. That being said, permanently unlocking FPS by simply disabling VSync is not a viable option due to FPS higher than 60 resulting in various and usually major issues with the game's engine.
14 Comments
Ooboh 24 Apr @ 5:17pm 
Will tomorrow's "next gen" update fix this?
courier0320  [author] 21 Apr @ 9:01am 
Not to mention that 58.3 GB for such a minimal difference in texture quality is absolutely not worth it when the entire game (with all add-ons included) takes up around 35 GB.
KaziGaming 21 Apr @ 5:27am 
I've also found if you have the free texture pack installed, that can up the loading time dramatically, and it doesn't make a huge difference on the look of the game. Uninstalling that texture pack should decrease your loading times immensely.
Jihadi John 20 Apr @ 1:55am 
@Muffcabbage it's not just needing a ssd dumbass, read the fcking guide.
fawncashew 19 Apr @ 11:03pm 
@Muffcabbage its not caused by storage speed, as is said in the very first sentence.
Mat2 19 Apr @ 5:16pm 
NICE
Muffcabbage 19 Apr @ 5:01pm 
just buy a ssd?
SovietKappa 17 Apr @ 11:04pm 
Dude this works wonders. I was wondering why it took so long to load in after getting a new PC all together. Insane difference, thanks!
LazärheaD 17 Apr @ 3:26pm 
I ain't using 3rd party fix, even if it fixes it, the next patch would probably break it. Alt tabbing proved disastrous as I couldn't open or close the pip-boy menu anymore and my HUD reduced to tiny 720p size.
Furd Terguson 17 Apr @ 2:47pm 
The best fix i have found is the "load accelerator" mod on nexus. It only seems to work if you have the game installed on an SSD but it's drag and drop and made my load times go from 2 minutes+ to a few seconds at most. It uncaps the FPS but only during load times to avoid the issues caused by upping the FPS in gameplay