Leveled Item Fixes (LIF) Mod

Installation

There's not a lot to it but for the totally new players out there I'm going to describe the basic modding setup steps here regardless:

• Download and install a modern mod manager. Nexus' own Vortex and Mod Organizer 2 are the most commonly used ones.
• Make the game use Archive Invalidation as explained in this article. Vortex mod manager does it automatically for you.
• Download this mod's main file (preferably via the MOD MANAGER DOWNLOAD button) from the FILES section and install/enable it from within the mod manager. The mod manager will read the FOMOD installer this mod comes in and presents you with some choices regarding the mod.
• Once done make sure the mod's plugins are enabled in your mod manager's plugin pane.

Configuration

• The holotape can be crafted on any Chem Station under the "Leveled Item Fixes" category.
• It allows to tweak various Epic item chances. For an explanation on what this does read the paragraph above or the descriptions in the holotape.
• There is a debug option that allows the user to revert some improperly injected forms.
• There's also an optional MCM that becomes available once you install Fallout 4 Script Extender (F4SE) and Mod Configuration Menu. It sports the same options as the holotape but is easier and faster to control.

Compatibility

The main plugin is an ESL file, so it won't count towards your ESM/ESP plugin limit. It sticks to the top of your load order so other mods have priority over LIF and override it if necessary. Other mods that hard edit [i.e. make use of direct form overrides] Leveled Item forms might override and therefore undo some of LIF's changes. In those cases you have to create a patch.

The optional DLC item distribution plugins are ESL-flagged ESP files. They don't count against your ESM/ESP plugin limit either. They don't stick to the top of your load order but appear as normal ESPs instead, which allows them to be moved like any other ESP in your load order. This was done in order to enable the user to make those plugins win a conflict in load order.

LIF is incompatible with the VR version of the game. More on that below in the FAQ section.

FAQ

Can I install LIF mid-playthrough?

Yes, installing most mods, including this one, mid-playthrough is totally fine. Uninstalling mods mid-playthrough is the problematic part. And if a mod shouldn't be installed mid-playthrough for one reason or another its mod author usually warns about that on the mod's description page.

Can I update LIF mid-playthrough?

Yes, updates in a running play-through are possible and recommended unless the changelog specifically says otherwise. So, for your own good, form a habit of reading Patch Notes / Change Logs before updating any mod. That saves you from a lot of trouble in the long term.

How do I update LIF?

The same way as any other mod. Your mod manager (usually Vortex or Mod Organizer 2) can update mods automatically. In addition to that make sure to read the changelog before you update LIF. In some rare cases updates in an already running play-through should be done with caution. You'll find a warning in the changelog when that case applies.

If you're managing your mods manually then simply override the files of LIF's previous version with the new one but I won't provide any support in that case.

Where can I find patches and expansions for LIF?

On this page (description), almost at the top, click on the Requirements bar and under the "Mods requiring this file" section you can find all sorts of mod pages with patches and expansions.

Is it safe to uninstall the mod mid-playthrough?

The following part is entirely about mods that come with an engine plugin (ESM/ESP/ESL) and/or Papyrus scripts. You can safely uninstall mods that solely consist of textures, models, animations and the like.

Yes, it is safe if you revert back to a save file that existed before you installed this mod. The only other 100% safe method is to start a new playthrough. Other than that the engine doesn't support uninstalling mods mid-playthrough. That is why the game will show a warning when you try to load a save with a mod plugin missing that got baked into your save. Bethesda devs also made clear statements in that regard, that it is never safe to uninstall a mod mid-playthrough. Doing so regardless is considered bad practice. Installing a mod almost always modifies some things in your save and you can't revert that without going back to a state (save) before installing the mod in question. And there's nobody who can predict what will result from doing it anyway.

That's all I have to say in that regard. I won't provide a simple Yes or NO as an answer. Make your decision based on the information provided or do your own research. It is your responsibility to deal with problems that may arise from uninstalling mods. I don't want to see any comments with users complaining that something broke in their game from uninstalling a mod and that they lost hours of progress.

Will you create a non-DLC version?

No.

Does LIF work in the VR version of the game?

No, unfortunately it doesn't. ESLs (or ESL-flagged plugins in general) didn't support the FormID range 0 to 7FF when they were first introduced back in the day. Fallout 4 VR is based on an engine fork of that time and didn't get the updates the original version got since then. The fix for ESLs, that unlocked the FormID range to its full potential, 0 to FFF, was implemented way later, back in 2019 IIRC. LIF was created in the new engine version and uses the unlocked FormID range. FO4 VR can't read those which makes huge parts of the mod unusable.

Some of the new mechanics don't work at all. What could be the cause?

The most likely potential cause for this is that you never enabled loading of loose files (archive invalidation). This mod, like many other ones, doesn't make use of file archives and instead provides its files in loose format. That way it doesn't count against the engine's archive limit, which, when exceeded, will make your game crash. But loose files only work when you have Archive Invalidation enabled, as explained in this wiki article. This is always one of the first things you should do when trying to mod any Bethesda game, and at this point, expected knowledge. Otherwise you'll break many mods that rely on it.

As a side note, if you're running other mods which rely on loose script files, and you progressed with them enabled in your current playthrough, without having Archive Invalidation enabled then there's a good chance you already broke those mods in your save.

Will you add feature X?

This mod is meant to be as lightweight as possible and I consider it feature-complete by now. It already has a lot of features and I don't want it to become bloated with stuff only a few people would use but impact the experience for everyone. If you think it is missing something important to you feel free to create an expansion and publish it so other users could enjoy your work as well.

Will you add item X to the DLC item distribution?

No. Everything that currently isn't part of the system I want to stay unique to their respective DLCs. This includes faction-specific equipment which I want to keep faction-specific. If you want something else to be included feel free to make your own changes to the system or build your own distribution (e.g. via the included injection scripts) on top of LIF's.

Is it possible to use LIF and another mod that distributes DLC items in conjunction?

Yes, you can. But if you do I'd recommend you skip LIF's distribution (and if you already injected revert the injection) to prevent an overabundance of DLC items found everywhere.

If that other mod you intend to use for DLC item distribution doesn't use scripts to distribute the items but uses form overrides (the "hard" way) then it is quite likely that some of LIF's features will be overridden as well. In that case you'd have to create a patch.

What happens when I use the mod DLC Leveled List Integration and Rebalance on top of LIF? Is there something I should pay attention to?

First of all, if you use those two mods in conjunction you shouldn't use LIF's DLC item distribution. More on that in the previous paragraph.

Secondly, there are a couple of things I want to point out about that other mod which you might want to consider when running both mods:

• It'll override some of LIF's features, incl. bug fixes and standardisation.
• It heavily affects game balance, by making certain items appear in an overabundance and have end-game equipment appear early on (e.g. Marine Armor found on CoA corpses from level 1).
• It changes how certain vanilla leveled item forms operate. That can be a big problem and has the potential to break other mods that make use of scripted item injections, in the sense of making those mods and their injections show unintended behaviour.

Don't get me wrong, it's still a great mod, I used it for a long time myself. But when using it you should also be willing to make use of Creation Kit / FO4Edit to create your own patches and resolve problems.