Fallout 4 - Texture Optimization Project

fallout-4 — Mods & Enhancements

This mod systematically reduces the resolution of vanilla Fallout 4 textures—which are often 2K or 4K even for tiny objects like bottle caps and grass—down to 1K or 512px for distant/less-visible assets. It uses a custom DDS compression pipeline that preserves alpha channels and mipmaps, so textures still look sharp at normal viewing distances while cutting VRAM usage by up to 50%. Players install it to eliminate stuttering and frame drops in dense areas like Downtown Boston, where the game constantly streams high-res textures, and to allow playing on 4GB VRAM GPUs without hitting the memory ceiling.

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Syntax

Models and Textures

Example

Downloads: 2,829,042 | Endorsements: 75,990

💡 Notes

By torcher | v0.19Final | 75,990 endorsements

🎯 Tips & Tricks

Maximize VRAM savings with the optional 'Ultra' ini edit

After installing, open your Fallout4Custom.ini under Documents/My Games/Fallout4 and add the following under [Display]: bForceIgnoreSmoothness=1, iPresentInterval=0, and under [General]: bPreemptivelyUnloadCells=1. This forces the game to unload texture data from memory when you leave a cell, combining with the reduced texture sizes to keep VRAM usage under 3GB in most areas. Also set iMaxDesired=60 to cap texture streaming distance.

Combine with 'Texture Optimization Project' for DLC textures

The main mod only covers base game textures. Download the 'Far Harbor and Nuka World Texture Optimization' addon from the same Nexus page to apply the same compression to DLC assets. Install both, then run the 'Archive Invalidation' tool from the mod page to ensure the game reads the new .ba2 files. In Vortex, deploy the main mod first, then the DLC addon, and set the addon to 'Load After' the main mod in the Mods tab.

Check texture quality in-game with a console command

To verify the mod is working, open the console and type 'tfc 1' to enter free camera, then zoom into a wall or ground texture. If it looks blurry up close but sharp from 5 feet away, the optimization is working correctly. For a more precise check, type 'sgtm 0.1' to slow time, then use the 'showrendertarget' command to see the current texture resolution—anything above 1024x1024 for a rock or leaf means the mod didn't apply to that asset.

🔧 Troubleshooting

Texture flickering or pop-in when using with 'Vivid Fallout - All in One'

Both mods replace the same texture files, causing conflicts. Load order fix: install 'Texture Optimization Project' FIRST, then 'Vivid Fallout' on top, but in Vortex set 'Vivid Fallout' to 'Load After' the Optimization Project. This way, Vivid's higher-res versions override the optimized ones for specific textures, but the majority stay optimized. If flickering persists, delete the 'Textures/Effects' folder from the Optimization Project, as Vivid handles those better.

Crash to desktop when entering the Museum of Freedom (Concord) after installing

This is due to a corrupted mipmap in the 'RockBare' texture set. Download the 'RockBare Fix' patch from the mod's 'Miscellaneous' section on Nexus, which replaces that single .dds file. Also, delete the 'Textures/Landscape' folder from the mod and reinstall it, ensuring your extraction tool doesn't skip files due to path length limits. In your Fallout4.ini, set [Archive] bInvalidateOlderFiles=1 to force the game to use the new files.

⚠️ Common Mistakes

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👍 Pros

75,990 endorsements
2,829,042 downloads
Category: Models and Textures

👎 Cons

Requires mod manager installation
May conflict with similar mods

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