Update: The deal has now expired.

Original story:

Fallout 4 is currently five bucks on Amazon Australia at the moment – which is pretty bloody cheap. It's unclear how long the deal will last, and if you're not a Prime subscriber you'll need to pay postage, but even then it'll likely come in at a tiny bit over ten bucks.

The deal is here, and if you're still in the mood for picking up some dirt cheap games, Steam is currently running a sale on all Game Awards nominated titles for, presumably, the weekend. You can check that out here.

Some online stores give us a small cut if you buy something through one of our links. Read our affiliate policy for more info.  

When I want to take nice screenshots in Fallout 4 I use console cheats: tfc to enable the freecam and tm to hide the UI. But modder extraordinaire registrator2000 is working on a far more elegant solution, a lovely photo mode for Fallout 4 based on the one from Fallout 76.

The mod isn't available for download yet, but it even the little bit we can currently see looks fantastic. Here's a quick video of the work-in-progress:

As you can see, the attractive little options menu lets you set the field of view and roll the camera side to side, just like in Fallout 76's photomode, and there are also a few sliders to adjust the depth of field. The menu appears to have a character tab, too, which I'm sincerely hoping means we'll be able to choose from a few poses when our character is in frame. (Pretty please?) Another tab shows a clock, so maybe we'll be able to adjust the time of day as well, and there's also a tab that looks like it might let you use filters or photoframes.

I realize I'm speculating wildly, but Registrator2000 is a fantastic modder—just see their mod for Fallout 76 that greatly improves inventory management—so I can't wait to see the finished product of this awesome-looking photomode in Fallout 4.

Thanks, comicbook.com.

Prolific Fallout modder registrator2000—who this week released the first must-have Fallout 76 mod—is working on a fully-fledged photo mode for Fallout 4.

The work-in-progress mod will be accessible through both the pause menu and a hotkey, and it'll come with all the options you'd want in a photo mode: field of view, view roll, depth of field tweaks, saturation, contrast, colour tints, and more.

You'll be able to change everything in an easy-to-navigate pop up menu as you line up your shot, as seen in the image at the top of this post. You can see more images on the mod's Nexus page, but you'll need to sign in to your Nexus account first.

Fallout 4 never had a photo mode, but you can fudge one by using various console commands—this will make it much easier. Modder registrator2000 does great work, and has 24 Fallout 4 mods, so I have high hopes for this. 

Here's a video of an older build of the mod in action:

If you're interested, here's Chris's list of the best mods for Fallout 4.

Fallout 4's irradiated Boston Commonwealth is terrifying all year round. Take the edge off this Halloween with a selection of seasonal tunes, courtesy of Natezomby's Spooky Scary Radio mod. 

With a host of Halloween-themed songs (Monster Mash, Zombie Jamboree, Haunted Heart), movie trailers (The Mummy, The Exorcist, Frankenstein), poem readings (Poe's Raven, read by Vincent Price), and short story recitals, Spooky Scary Radio spans over 150 tracks, and has more on the way. Read the (tentative) list in full here. 

Here's a teaser:

In-keeping with the modern Fallout series' penchant for retro music, creator Natezomby says their selection here reflects Fallout 4's lore. Don't expect songs like Thriller, then.    

"Do you hear that xylophone?" asks Natezomby on the mod's Nexus Mods page. "Feel the autumn chill in the air? Smell the pumpkin spice? Well, I guess that means that it's almost Halloween as I write this—my favorite time of the year! Better blast some bone-chilling bangers and bomb some bandits with big booms in Fallout, bud. I have just the thing. 

"Please, follow me into my lab, I've been working on something. Hours and hours of curating the necessary parts, clipping, trimming, and stitching has all lead up to this. Go ahead, get closer... Lift the sheet, and reveal—Spooky Scary Radio." 

Details on how to get Spooky Scary Radio direct to your Pip-Boy can be found this way. 

Fallout: Sakhalin is an ambitious Fallout 4 mod that adds a new island, with new interiors, quests, factions and monsters. 

Inspired by New Vegas's DLC and GSC Game World's Stalker, Sakhalin Island is set within an alternate Fallout universe future, whereby remnants of Communist China, The USSR, Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany seek treasures on the eponymous archipelago.

The following teaser features communist propaganda posters, Stalin portraits, Nazi symbols, and rising sun flags among other tone-setting props.

"This moody horror based Fallout mod will take you through a hand crafted adventure on an island filled with conflict and intrigue," explains co-creator Nowsky on the project's Nexus Mods page. "Fight back against your enemies and perhaps put an end to this everlasting conflict. If you liked the New Vegas DLC, The Divide or the atmospheric environments of S.T.A.L.K.E.R You will be right at home here."

The creator adds that the mod's team is keeping some things up their sleeves for now, which will be introduced once ready. Nowsky et al are also responsible for Skyrim's Gothic Orpheus Project. 

More information on Fallout: Sakhalin lives here. Once installed, head here on the world map to activate it: 

Here's some more screens: 

The best Fallout 4 mods let you customise the wasteland. Be that through settlements and crafting, visual improvements and weather, or new locations and adventures there's pretty much something for everyone. With 510 lines of dialogue and four sing-a-longs, Kilosandwich's Echo transforms the Boston Commonwealth into musical about employment. I've no idea which category that best fits. 

I do however know we should expect one fully-voiced quest that last two hours and contains multiple endings, a plethora of puzzles, and "oodles of player choice". With music from Bing Crosby, Leonard Warren, Pat and Shirley Boone and a number of other 20th century crooners, Echo also invites players to "embark on a quest to discover the cause of a raft of disappearances, and find yourself swept up into an exciting and musical journey."

Within, you might achieve "personal growth and enrichment", posits Kilosandwich on the project's Nexus Mods page, which is where the creator also outlines the hows and wheres of activating Echo. 

"The narrative of this mod is built for a solo experience," Kilosandwich adds. "As such, you should dismiss your companion before embarking on it—if you should choose not to do so, the mod will dismiss your companion for you back to their last place of recruitment (the settlement last assigned, or their initial place of recruitment) upon entering the Dartmouth Professional Building."

And as if that all wasn't out there enough, the Q&A at the foot of this page talks about drugged wine, waking up on roofs and taking "dynamic naps" that could cost you your job. The images featured there don't exactly scream whimsical musical about sound work ethic, but I do like this pink flamingo. I hope it sings, too. 

Fallout 4: New Vegas is a mod that aims to recreate New Vegas in the Fallout 4 Creation Engine, as the name suggests. Back in March the mod team decided to expand their work to also include all-new voice acting, in response to the Fallout 4: Capital Wasteland mod project being canceled after its creators had discussions with Bethesda about whether they'd be able to use Fallout 3's audio.

Fallout 4: New Vegas has carried on, and now you can see some of that pay off. The video above shows the start of the game, in which Doc Mitchell (played by a new voice actor) wakes you up and guides you through customizing your protagonist. It's not the best part of New Vegas to be honest, but it does show us what to expect from the new character models. 

There are some new animations and sounds during trait and skill selection, but otherwise it seems a lot like the familiar New Vegas experience. The only thing missing is the pop-up telling you the DLC has been loaded.

You can follow the mod's development on Facebook.

The Fallout Miami mod brings sun, sea and sand to the post-apocalypse. Its latest update explores its story beginnings, and one of its main joinable factions—The Enclave. 

By following the tale of mod protagonist the Sole Survivor, Fallout Miami takes place in late 2287, ten years after the Battle of Raven Rock. The project's latest blog post explains that two years before the fall of Raven Rock, The Enclave sent a team to Miami Beach to establish a stronghold. Communications were ultimately lost, and thus begins The Enclave's involvement with the player in The Magic City. 

The following armoured Enclave vehicle cannot be driven, sadly, but it looks cool nonetheless. 

The blog post then turns its attention to Colonel Magnus, whose concept art comes courtesy of project member Qsy. 

"The burden of command is a heavy one, even for an experienced officer," says the post. "The rock-solid image of the dependable commander is just as often a facade as it is a foundation. In the case of Colonel Magnus—it’s a little bit of both. 

"Driven, loyal to the cause, able, and stretched thin as a rail, he does everything he can to keep his ship on course. The responsibilities are many, the quiet moments few, and he has to somehow find time not only to command this operation but to also be a father. Getting some sleep wouldn’t be bad either."

Captain Killian Beckett, we're told, is an Enclave companion. 

"Let me ask you this—what happens when a man loses everything except his mission?" asks the blog. "Family, loved ones, certainty in what tomorrow will bring? He has a choice—lose himself in his purpose or hold on to the hope of a brighter future and just work towards it. Captain Beckett took the latter path. A model soldier and citizen in many ways, Killian just tries to do his job as best he can. 

"Although he might not always agree with his orders or the way the Enclave intend to achieve their ultimate goal, he remains loyal and believes in the dream of rebuilding the United States of America. He doesn’t let the bitterness and doubts get to him; a cold beer, someone to talk to, and clear objectives are all he needs."

Beckett's concept art is by team member CynicalBounce.

More information on that and more lives on Fallout Miami's site. 

Some of the best Fallout 4 mods apply new textures, shaders and dynamic shadows to the Boston Commonwealth. Fuse00's Synths Revamped makes the wasteland's automaton wanderers way prettier than before. 

With new 4K face, body, eyes, and teeth textures for synths, Synths Revamped draws from Detroit: Become Human to craft gorgeous cyborgs that look like this:

This: 

This:

And this:

Moreover, here's the mod's creator—who's also responsible for Ghouls Revamped—talking us through how it works:

As outlined there, the mod includes a reworked, sexier version of Nick Valentine. That looks like this:

*Swoon*.More information on all of the above, and installation instructions for Synths Revamped lives on its Nexus Mods page. 

Located among the stormy radioactive wastes of the Glowing Sea, Vault 117 was once teeming with life, but now lies rotting, irradiated and empty. Well, almost. Some of its residents have transformed into mindless ghouls, cursed to endlessly roam the shadowy corridors of their former home. But what happened to them? 

The Lost Vault was created by Spiffyskytrooper, who is perhaps best known for his acclaimed Fallout 4 landscape mods. Regrowth Overhaul fills the Commonwealth with lush flora, while Dustbowl Overhaul does the opposite, transforming the map into a desolate and arid desert. But this mod is something else entirely, being an atmospheric dungeon dive set in a sprawling ghoul-filled Vault. 

After downloading The Lost Vault from www.nexusmods.com, drop the files into your Fallout 4 installation directory, then activate it via the in-game mod menu. This will make the entrance to Vault 117 discoverable at the bottom-left of the map. Just make sure you have the Vault-Tec Workshop DLC or it won’t work.

I arrive at the Vault and see the entrance looming through the sickly yellow haze of the Glowing Sea. Skeletons litter the exterior and I notice a sign with ‘WE HAVE CHILDREN’ scrawled on it by some desperate parent who didn’t make it inside before the bombs fell. This sets the tone for The Lost Vault, which is unrelentingly bleak.

Dark forces

Inside, the Vault has been plunged into almost complete darkness, forcing me to use the light on my Pip-Boy to navigate. There are skeletons everywhere, of people who seem to have been caught off-guard by something. In the atrium I see tables toppled over, presumably used as makeshift cover, and security officers lying dead, weapons at their sides. Blast marks cover the walls. 

Spiffyskytrooper clearly has a knack for environmental storytelling. As I study these grim scenes, I find myself piecing a story together, trying to figure out what happened. Then the eerie silence is interrupted: a horde of ghouls wearing Vault 117 jumpsuits comes tumbling out of the darkness. Luckily I brought a sawn-off shotgun, but it’s still a tough fight. There are lots of them, and the low light means I’m not sure where they’re coming from.

A lot of the Vaults in Fallout feel a little too small, not really selling the idea that entire communities were supposed to have lived in them. This makes the sprawling Vault 117, which is broken up into several large areas, particularly impressive. It really does feel like an underground city, with a logical layout and a large residential area that I spent a good 40 minutes exploring every corner of. 

In the residential district I find clues about what might have happened to the Vault, but I appreciate how Spiffyskytrooper shows restraint when it comes to storytelling. Nothing is spelled out, giving your imagination some room to play. At the end of a corridor I see a strange glow, only to discover a gruesome fungus growing over the walls, almost as if it’s eating the Vault.

Ghoul me once

The Vault is crawling with ghouls, which I have to admit gets tedious at times. Some enemy variety would have been welcome. The Vault’s size can work against it, too, with a lot of empty rooms that would have benefited from some additional decoration or loot to scavenge. But overall The Lost Vault is a very well-made mod, and if you told me it was a part of the main game, I’d have probably believed you. 

Mods for Bethesda games often take things to extremes, such is the temptation of such a powerful suite of editing tools. But I love The Lost Vault because it succeeds in blending in with the rest of Fallout 4. Spiffyskytrooper has constructed the Vault with the same design philosophy as Bethesda, staying true to the style of the game, and that makes it stand out from the crowd. 

The Vault ends with a boss fight that, while difficult, does at least give you a break from the onslaught of ghouls. There are a few chests containing a selection of randomly-generated loot, but I would have liked a special weapon or something else relating to the story of the Vault as a memento, and as a reward for getting through it. But as an effective horror experience and a quality dungeon, The Lost Vault is worth exploring.

Check out our favourite Fallout 4 mods for more ways to expand Bethesda's epic.