Fallout 4 Loses Graphical Options on Steam Deck From "Next-Gen" Update

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There is always some sort of commotion when Bethesda decides to update their games. Whether it’s breaking mod support or adding in more bugs, there always seems to be something that goes wrong. Today, Fallout 4 received a new “Next-Gen” patch, which updated the game a bit and provided some free content. One of these updates was to get the game Steam Deck verified, and while that’s appreciated, it seems to have gotten rid of the ability to change graphical options in the game.

One of the things it seems Bethesda did to get the green checkmark was getting rid of the launcher that appears when you start Fallout 4. While it is a pain to deal with, this is where we would primarily go to change graphical options for the game. With it gone, I would assume the settings would move to be in the settings menu, giving us a chance to change them around without the need for a launcher, but it seems I was wrong.

According to multiple reports, and my own testing, there are no graphical options to change while in game on the Steam Deck. So, without a launcher or any new options, we are essentially forced into whatever options the game has automatically set for us. There are other games that have done this, like Beat Slayer and The Thaumaturge, but both have had the options reinstated, so we could fine-tune and change them. There have also been reports of crashes on the Deck and not being able to launch on the Legion Go (Windows OS handheld).

You can use the launch command "SteamDeck=0 %command%" to bring back the launcher, allowing you to change graphical quality again, but this tricks the game into thinking we aren't on a Steam Deck, which goes against the new "Verified" badge. You can do this by going into the Steam preferences for Fallout 4 and putting the command into the "Launch Option" section under the general preferences.

Unfortunately, the new update doesn't fix any of the frame pacing issues the game already has, and it breaks compatibility with a lot of mods that would fix all of these issues.

Hopefully, Bethesda will fix this as soon as possible. Fallout 4 is playable on Steam Deck, but being unable to change settings means we could be subject to frame drops depending on what has been automatically set.

Fallout 4 is available on Steam for $19.99, but you can get the Game of the Year edition right now for $8.79 on Fanatical.

The Fanatical links above use an affiliate link, which gives us a small commission on sales at no extra charge to you. All proceeds go back into SDHQ and its development.

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