Fallout 76 getting custom servers as part of Fallout 1st subscription
Now you can build the VATican.
Good news for Fallout 76 building enthusiasts, as Bethesda is bringing custom servers to the game, allowing you to remove CAMP building limits and construct a home wherever your heart desires. If you're paying for a Fallout 1st subscription, that is.
Fallout Worlds is a new system that's set to arrive in the live game this September, and it's already been rolled out to Fallout 76's public test server. It includes a feature called Custom Worlds, which allows players to tweak world rules such as where CAMPs can be placed, the permitted size of CAMPs, or whether "free building" is allowed. Which basically sounds like a creative mode.
It seems there are some options for PvP players, too: the combat section of the world settings allows players to tweak the difficulty of the world, such as the AP cost of using VATS and Melee. There's also an option to turn on infinite ammo, so you could essentially turn Fallout 76 into your own personal paintball game.
As for those more interested in survival, you can tweak creature spawn rates to create your own hunting grounds, or disable fast travel to encourage exploration. You can also set the weather to foggy or stormy for some spookier vibes, transforming Fallout 76 into a horror game (although I can also recommend a good Fallout 4 mod for that). And if you want to be silly, you can also enable ragdoll physics and "absurd jumping heights". It's a list of customisation options that Bethesda says will "continue to expand".
According to the in-depth blog post, players will be able to make up to three Custom Worlds at a time. The progress made by characters in Custom Worlds will remain separate to that made in Adventure mode.
This all sounds great, but the catch is that custom servers can only be created by those with a Fallout 1st membership - the monthly £11.99 subscription service that gives players access to Private Worlds (among other perks).
There is some good news for those without a Fallout 1st subscription, however: you can still be invited to visit other players' Custom Worlds, while Bethesda is also introducing another feature called Public Worlds. These are a "rotating series of Fallout Worlds experiences available to all players", each with a unique combination of Fallout Worlds settings selected by the Bethesda team (with input from the Fallout 76 community). One Public World will be available at a time, and the themes will rotate on a monthly basis in the live game.
The blog post goes into more detail about the sort of Public World combinations that are due to appear in the Test server, and the sort of options that are available to tweak in Custom Worlds. Time to make friends with someone who's got a subscription, I guess.