...they don't technically exist yet. That's right; the mod tools for "Fallout 4" aren't actually around to do anything with.

That's not exactly great news, especially for a game that's big selling point was its ability to be modified. But there's actually a good reason for this; reports direct from Pete Hines say that the company is focusing on getting the game done ahead of its November launch date. Then, in 2016, the company will move to mod tools in 2016.

With the launch date a little over three months out, the news that "Fallout 4" is "basically done," as a separate report from Pete Hines noted, means that there's just a few basic things to do. Things like improvements to the frame rate, improving the game's overall look and polish, and--in a move that will be welcome to Bethesda enthusiasts everywhere--taking on the massive power of the bug list.

That does mean that there won't be any new features added in; the game is pretty much done as is with some fixes coming in to make sure the game runs right. Hopefully it will run right from day one, which would be a marked improvement over earlier titles. Bethesda games are wonderful, but they do have a distressing tendency to have some oddly game-breaking features.

It's not a good sign, either, that the mod tools won't be ready at launch, and likely won't be ready until sometime in 2016. It would have been quite the coup to have the mod tools ready either before or very near to launch so as to allow mod makers to start churning out exciting new ideas right from go, thus helping to ensure that people would be even more immersed in the Fallout universe all along. But here's a key point that we may not be considering: this could be a good idea.

If Bethesda can have the mod tools ready to go by February, or March at the latest, this could be the sweet spot to get the most utility out of the game. "Fallout 4" comes out in mid-November, which means plenty of Thanksgiving weekend, Christmas vacation, and New Year's play will go down. With the mod tools ready to go subsequently, it might be that the first 400-odd hours of gameplay promised by lead producer Jeff Gardiner will finally start to run out. That's when new content will be most appreciated, and if it doesn't come from DLC, it will likely come from mods. That might be the smartest approach there is, but it's going to have to be pretty closely timed.

Still, this is going to be one amazing release, and once "Fallout 4" arrives, it's going to be the end of a lot of people's free time.