Overview
So you’ve just picked up this game on a sale (or not) and think woah,there is a big modding community for this game,what mods should I get? Or you’ve just played through the game and wondering what mods to get.Maybe you are familiar with this game and the modding but you’re looking for some cool mods to add.Which ever one of those scenarios you may be in (or none) I am here to share some mods that I think are worth your time.
Before I share some mods.
Before we start,I suggest that you have played through the game quite a bit before you start modding.Thats just my opinion though,so start whenever you feel like it.For example,I started modding when I got to the endgame mission.
First you should check out the pinned threads in the Fallout New Vegas steam discussions because they are useful.
NOTE:Some people don’t realise that the name of the mod next to the url is a link.For example – Nexus Mods New Vegas [www.nexusmods.com]
The must haves.
NVSE [nvse.silverlock.org]
The New Vegas Script Extender.You will need this for most mods.
NVAC [www.nexusmods.com]
The New Vegas Anti Crash.Its pretty self explanatory.After all,we all get crashes sometime.
NV 4GB Patch [www.nexusmods.com]
FNV4GB is a tool to load Fallout New Vegas with the Large Address Aware executable flag set so the entire 4GB Virtual Memory Address Space can be used by the game. This is useful when using lots of Mods and Texture Packs.
The Mods.
NV Interiors [www.nexusmods.com]
This mod adds some new places worth checking out.
Underground Hideout [www.nexusmods.com]
This mod adds a amazing player vault which comes with its own cool quest to unlock it.he vault includes all the amenities including a Armory, ammo Sorters, Weapons wall, water purifier, book shelf, grow area, and is Companion Friendly.This one is my favourite.When I first got this mod I spent a few hours setting the whole place up.
A World Of Pain [www.nexusmods.com]
Adds 114 intense locations to the wasteland filled with enemies and loot. They vary from small Gas Stations to huge maze-like sewers and derelict factories. Adds several days of new gameplay possibilities. A massive new linked Underground complex awaits filled with quests, NPCs with dialogue, vendors and some of the toughest enemies you will encounter anywhere in the game. Also adds many Mark II weapons, Armors and items to the game with enhanced statistics to help and hinder you throughout.I’ve only explored a few places so far but they look promising and have good loot.
DUST Survival Simulator [www.nexusmods.com]
DUST is a Post-Apocalyptic survival simulator with an emphasis on lore and story. DUST completely overhauls nearly every aspect of the game to better represent an apocalyptic survival-horror atmosphere. Combat, weather, perks, loot, enemies, you name it. Some areas have even been visually overhauled. All vanilla NPCs have either been killed or changed beyond all recognition. You will not be able to complete quests or join factions. There is but one quest in DUST. Stay alive.
Obscurum – Pandemic [www.nexusmods.com]
Obscurum Pandemic is a survival simulator, with an emphasis on combat, gameplay, character development, and fun. Sure, sure, we’ve all seen survival simulators made before.So what makes Pandemic different? Firstly, most survival simulators so far simply alter gameplay to suit their needs. Pandemic actually expands it. Changing all kinds of inner workings of the engine. It also changes the playstyle. At first, you’re a low level character. A dreg, prey, a nobody, surviving a terrible wasteland. This is where most survival simulators end. You’re always having the bad odds, and that’s that. BUT, with Pandemic, it transfers the player eventually into the hunter. This is where it becomes a strategy game, as you begin to manage your army and faction. As you fight in wars instead of mere squabbles over food scraps. Something else Pandemic does is that it makes everything new. By adding gigabytes of new content in terms of weapons, armours, creatures, characters and visual content. The wasteland is no longer the same wasteland. It’s more morbid and barren, it’s more strange and alien. It’s more hostile and unforgiving.An alternative to DUST.
CASM [www.nexusmods.com]
CASM or Cipscis’ Automatic Save Manager replaces Fallout: New Vegas’ saving system so that you no longer have to rely on only a single autosave or quicksave to fall back on.
This is achieved by cycling through a certain number of saves, so that older saves are still overridden but there are also always previous saves available if you need to reload a save earlier than your last one.
Mojave Rooftops [www.nexusmods.com]
This mod allows you to access many of the rooftops throughout the Mojave. This mod only focuses on the bigger buildings, and NOT small houses, shacks, etc.This mod is great for people who like to play as a sniper. Now you can take your enemies out from above!
Weapons of the New Millenia [www.nexusmods.com]
This mod is simply a collection of Millenia’s individually released weapons into one big pack.It adds over 40 new weapons which you can play with and find out which ones you like best!
Wasteland Flora Overhaul [www.nexusmods.com]
A much more varied Wasteland. 101 different trees and plants are carefully placed throughout the wasteland, several thousands of these variations has been hand placed. You’ll encounter cacti, ancient bristlecone pines, dead trees, desert sunflowers, desert candle flowers, lupins, reeds, a variety of different junipers, pines and shrubs. Most of the default trees are replaced with higher detailed models and textures.
RobCo Terminal Operating System [www.nexusmods.com] This guide explains it. [link]
The Weapon Mod Menu [www.nexusmods.com]
The Weapon Mod Menu replaces the existing menu when choosing to “Mod Weapon” in the PipBoy. You use it by pressing “X” as you normally would to open the mod menu.
There are four main features added by The Weapon Mod Menu:
Removal of attached weapon mods
Specific information on the amount of improvement each mod gives
Information about all of the weapon’s mods, even if you don’t own any of them
The number of available mods in your inventory
Gameplay Effects and Changes Mods
The Strip Open [www.nexusmods.com]
This is a mod that removes those stupid gates in the strip as originally planned.”Memory problems caused crashing in both The Strip and Freeside, so they had to be split up”. As you might expect, for these very reasons this mod is more demanding than the vanilla game, so users with lower end machines should tread with caution. The Strip Open should however run comfortably on most modern computers.
Freeside Open [www.nexusmods.com]
Pretty much the same as The Strip Open but restores around 100 lines of dialogue that was cut from the final game,new kinds of npc’s,more gamblers with bodyguards and squatters trying to rush the strip gates with predictable consequences.You also are at risk at being pickpocketed so watch out!
Perk Every Level [www.nexusmods.com]
Pretty self explanatory.You get a perk each level as opposed to the vanilla perk every other level.
Run Speed Perk [www.nexusmods.com]
This adds a box in front of the prospector saloon in Goodsprings which has “chokers” which increases your speed.Equip then unequip the choker that has the run speed you want in the title and you will get increased run speed for you and your companions.
Reasonable Deathclaws [www.nexusmods.com]
This mod reduces Deathclaws stats so they aren’t too OP.
Sprint Mod [www.nexusmods.com]
This is for people who don’t fancy the Run Speed Perk mod or just want both and people who don’t want project nevada since its already in it.
Cheaper Vendor Repairs [www.nexusmods.com]
This mod sets Repair Vendors to offer their services for a choice of reduced prices.This mod is useful as the prices are more reasonable than the huge rip-off.
Better Game Performance V5 [www.nexusmods.com]
This removes a couple unused items from the game to create a better performance.It may not be too significant but it would be useful for low-medium end computers.
♥♥♥♥ New Vegas [www.nexusmods.com]
♥♥♥♥ – New Vegas is an overhaul for the Fallout: New Vegas game. ♥♥♥♥ is a coherent and balanced overhaul, adding and fully integrating many bug fixes, new items, high quality retextures and gameplay features to the base game. It also has full support for the Fallout: New Vegas DLCs.
For some reason the word Foo(letter k) is an inappropriate word to steam.
Quest Mods
New Vegas Bounties I [www.nexusmods.com]
“New Vegas Bounties I” is the first installment in a planned series for Fallout: New Vegas. Upon initiating the quest, you’ll be tasked with tracking down the most malevolent and vile assortment of outlaws in the Mojave Wasteland.Your targets will include rogue rangers, fiends, raiders, drug smugglers, cannibals, and pistoleros, to name a few. Your opponents are all designed to be boss-caliber, akin to the fiends in “Three-Card Bounty”, and become gradually more difficult as you progress.At its core, New Vegas Bounties is an action mod; extreme violence and profanity are ubiquitous. In lieu of mind-boggling puzzles or “go collect x or y resource”-type quests, you will be confronted with dangerous opponents who are designed to frustrate and kill you. You will be harried, ambushed, outnumbered, and outgunned. This is the path of a bounty hunter – take it or leave it.
New Vegas Bounties II [www.nexusmods.com]
New Vegas Bounties II is the sequel the popular New Vegas Bounties I, and picks up immediately after the uncertain ending of the first episode. Without a firm to provide sponsorship, you must strike out as a solo contractor for the NCR. As such, you are no longer obligated to follow a linear questline, but may pursue dozens of bounties in any order. Your targets will include terrorists, duelists, fiends, traitors, and more! As in episode I, most of the named adversaries are boss-caliber, and make use of perks, powerful weapons, and countless cronies to thwart your efforts.Like its predecessor, NVB II contains a healthy dose of profanity and violence. Nonetheless, it includes substantially more dialogue options, as well as choices that should accommodate players at both ends of the karma spectrum.
New Vegas Bounties III [www.nexusmods.com]
New Vegas Bounties III is the final installment in the New Vegas Bounties series of quest mods. It features several hours of content, a frigid, new worldspace and over 2,000 lines of voiced dialogue.
For The Enclave [www.nexusmods.com]
This mod is designed to add the Enclave as a joinable faction within Fallout: New Vegas, complete with unique, fully voice-acted characters, various side quests and a storyline.
After the numerous defeats across all remaining fronts, the Enclave has splintered into their own factions with their own ideologies. Two factions are about to go head to head in the Mojave Wasteland, and General Jamison is turning to the Courier for help. Will he join the Enclave, or leave them to their fate?
Project Brazil [www.nexusmods.com]
In Fallout: Project Brazil, you play as the kid from Vault 18. Orphan. Loner. Mutant. On the last big night of the Vault Ball season, you make a fateful decision that will change the course of your life — and eventually the future of New California.Vault 18 is at the heart of the California Wasteland high in the San Bernardino Mountains, and it’s legendary Wasteland Scouts have managed to keep its secrets safe for decades despite the wars raging beyond the great door. In their old age, their adventures have created a new generation to take their place… if their rebellious adopted kids survive the threat brewing within their own ranks.You will face the New California Republic under president Wendell Peterson, the New Reno Mob’s Bishop Family, the remnant Shi Clans, The Enclave Leonidas Squadron, the Super Mutant Army, and the “legions” of bloodthirsty Survivalist Raider Tribes that have allied together in the remote Athens-Tec Uranium Mine off the Long I-15. Through them all you’ll choose your path from SPECIAL dialog options, aquired PERKs, and travel with 8 possible companions depending on your choices. You’ll enjoy two new radio stations, hours of voice acting, and professional grade presentation.
There is always another path to take in Project Brazil. But War? War never changes.
The Couriers Cache [www.nexusmods.com]
The first quest begins upon activating the mod and beginning your game. You recall having stashed some things in Primm before beginning your courier job for Mr. House. When you return for them, you find that you’ve been looted. Two victims of a double-cross lay dead in the underground storage area where your things had been. You search for clues, then begin your quest!
The Inheritance [www.nexusmods.com]
Having learned of the Courier’s exploits, a dying man contacts the player in hopes of employing him/her to deliver a mysterious package. Upon accepting the job, the Courier will soon find himself/herself making unwilling allies and dangerous enemies, all jockeying to claim the same prize.The Inheritance is a compact, lore-friendly quest mod for Fallout: New Vegas, designed to offer new avenues to experience combat and role-playing for high-level characters. It offers a challenging primary quest that is followed by a collection of small sidequests, all dependent on the player’s actions.
New Vegas Trade Center [www.nexusmods.com]
New Vegas Trade Center (NVTC) is a quest/building mod.The goal of this mod is to bring a small sense of economy business and finance into the fallout universe.
Tale of Two Wastelands
TTW [taleoftwowastelands.com]
Tale of Two Wastelands (TTW) is a project that seeks to merge the content from the popular video game Fallout 3 into the more modern game engine of Fallout New Vegas so that both games can be played in the Fallout New Vegas engine.Keep in mind that you need to own Fallout 3 and Fallout NV with all the DLC.I haven’t had the chance to try this yet because I don’t own Fallout 3 but when I do get it I’ll make sure I try it.Last time I checked this doesn’t work with the Better Game Performance mod.
Bugfixing Mods
YUP [www.nexusmods.com]
This mod is an unofficial patch for the game.It fixes bugs in the vanilla game and all the DLC as well.YUP is the only pure bug fix compilation available on the Nexus.This is a mod that does not contain any new content, restored content, new features, balance tweaks, or other general non-bug-fix changes. Every single change in YUP exists to address a bug, exploit, or impediment to gameplay.So its pretty much the only pure bug fix compilation available on the Nexus.I use this mod instead of Mission Mojave.
Mission Mojave [www.nexusmods.com]
You need to own all DLC to use this mod.After all its called Mission Mojave – Ultimate Edition.Unlike YUP where the sole intention was to fix bugs,this not only fixes bugs but adds new content and restores cut content.However I’ve heard that the layer of red rock is removed at Red Rock Canyon unless they changed it.
NVSR [www.nexusmods.com]
NVSR or New Vegas Stutter Remover is pretty self explanatory.It removes those nasty stutters you may get.NVSR has caused many a problem with TTW. NVSR and Nevada Skies both regularly break acted cutscenes and, nevada skies in particular, certain locations(EX: Citadel interior) – Thanks Cdr. Amora Shepard
Visual Enhancements Mods
EVE [www.nexusmods.com]
EVE – Essential Visual Enhancements is a mod that improves visuals in combat.
– critical kill scenes (via energy weapons)
– Bullet weapon impacts (water jumps, blood squirts, ect)
– unrivaled energy weapon textures/meshes
– new explosions
– custom HD impacts
– dazzling particles
– static mesh animations
– character reactions
– and more
Weapon Retexture Project [www.nexusmods.com]
This is a mod that retextures most if not all of the weapons so they look cooler.
NMC’s Texture Pack [www.nexusmods.com]
This mod changes the vast majority of the in-game graphics with improved textures.This does not retexture the DLC though.
Nevada Skies [www.nexusmods.com]
This mod adds more versatile weather effects to the Mojave. Weather effects include Sandstorms, Rain, Rainstorms, RADstorms (make sure you got Rad-X), Thunderstorms (with/without rain) and snow at appropriate areas. The Mod adds more than 320 new cloud- and weather variants to the game. Sunrises and sunsets have been tweaked for more diversity, and nights are darker and do look more like real nights. Additional changes to the environmental light appearance to support the weather appearance and the mood they create. Bloom effect reworked to reduce NPC and player figure glow appearance. Also this weather mod provides you with a large amount of special weather themes, that create a unique and new feeling to the game and can be activated as standalone or as part of the main climate. Some of those moods have special effects such as snow, icestorms, toxicstorms and firestorms.
Enhanced Camera [www.nexusmods.com]
This mod enables a visible body and player shadows when in first person. Also, any points where the game force switches to 3rd person (sitting down, getting up, knockout/death, etc.) are now in 1st person.
Poco Bueno [www.nexusmods.com]
Another retexture pack.
DarNified UI [forums.bethsoft.com]
This is a UI overhaul.This isn’t on nexus but in the bethesda forums so keep that in mind.
Vault 22 Flora Overhaul [www.nexusmods.com]
This mod try to improve your visual experience in Vault 22.Resulting from a “green” experience, the vault had been invaded by moss, plants, roots, mushrooms and spore carriers.This results in a much more creepy & realistic exploration.Now the vault has much more a jungle overgrown inside and outside his walls.
Fallout Mod Manager
FOMM [www.nexusmods.com]
This is very useful for installing most mods.You can edit the load order in this too.Nothing much to say other than that you should get this if you’re tired of installing mods manually.
Nexus Mod Manager
NMM [www.nexusmods.com]
This is another option instead of Fallout Mod Manager.I’ve never used it before but I’ve heard from numerous people that it crashes quite a bit.However you aren’t limited to just Fallout for this as you can mod other games through this.
LOOT
LOOT –[loot.github.io]
Setting the right load order for your Fallout: New Vegas mods is a crucial step to enjoying a stable modded game. The Load Order Optimisation Tool (LOOT) can help with that, by providing automated load order sorting that’s simple to use and fully customisable.
Afterword
Thanks for reading this guide.Its the first I have ever made and any feedback is appreciated.I’ll be updating this guide constantly.