Fallout 4 Beta Patch 1.3 Live on Steam, Settlements Get Status Menus

[LoneRanger]

The developers in charge of Fallout 4 at Bethesda are announcing that a new beta patch for the open world title, labeled 1.3, is now live on Steam, available to all those interested in trying out the changes that are still being tested by the company.

Gamers who want to get the new update will have to go to the game in their library, get to the properties tab and then select the new beta from the dropdown list before waiting for the title to download and apply it.

Beta patch 1.3 for Fallout 4 offers a new HBAO+ setting for ambient occlusion as well as Nvidia card only weapon debris effects, designed to enhance the look of the title.

Gamers will also be able to see the status menu for all the settlements, making it a little easier to handle their development, and gamers will also find it easier to navigate the Workshop mode.

A full list of all the changes made by patch 1.3 to Fallout 4 can be seen by clicking on the button at the end of this article, with the highlights being improvements to memory use and stability as well as a tweak that means copper is no longer used when building wires.

Bethesda is not saying when it plans to make the new update an official one on the PC and how long it will take for the tweaks to also be introduced on the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One.

Gamers who try out the beta version of the patch should also offer their feedback if they find bugs or other mechanics that are not working properly to allow the development team to improve the experience before the official launch takes place.

The title had plenty of issues when it was launched, but Bethesda has been trying to eliminate them all before it starts delivering any sort of expansions.

Fallout 4 is set to get downloadable content later in 2016

Patch 1.3 will certainly bring some players back to the open world experience for their second or their third playthrough, but the best way to ensure the title stays interesting in the long-term is to offer DLC.

So far Bethesda has offered no information about the packs that it plans to introduce, but the company is already selling a Season Pass that covers all the content that will be introduced this year.

The fan community has been speculating that the company will introduce new storylines that will take place after the end of the main narrative as well as extra options for the settlement system, which represents one of the biggest innovations of the game but feels a little underdeveloped.

Fallout 4 is an open world role-playing game with a focus on action sequences that allows players to explore a world centered around Boston and decide its future and which one of four factions will emerge victoriously.

The game shipped more than 12 million units in the first 24 hours after it was launched in the fall of 2015.