F:NV Best Fallout New Vegas Mods 2011

Fallout: New Vegas

skavenhorde

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I came across this list today and was amazed by what they have done since I last checked out the mods.

It's your regular 15 best mods list, but almost all of them sound like something I want to put in my game. A few I knew before, but a few I never heard of.

http://www.gameranx.com/features/id/2586/article/best-fallout-new-vegas-mods/

Also came across A World of Pain mod. It adds 102 locations to the world. Sounds interesting. I'll have to check and see if it will conflict with my other mods. Specifically Arwen's tweaks. It shouldn't, but Arwen has done so much with her tweaks I'll have to reread everything that has been changed. If it's just changes involving my character then it should be fine.

Or maybe just go with XFO this time. Truthfully Arwen's tweaks are a bit intense even for me.
 
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I thought Arwen's tweaks were only for sadomasochists. I would never attempt a game on her terms :)
 
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I'm starting to compile a list of potential mods to use for my summer replay of New Vegas, hopefully with all of the DLC installed, providing of course a dvd compilation for them comes out sooner or later.

However, I'm mainly interested in those that actually add content, role-playing opportunities and quests to the game rather than those that alter visuals or the mechanics too much. I might have to look into the World of Pain mod though, so thanks for that one sir rat.
The extended radio generator might be handy too - I'd love to add my Ink Spots collection for listening in game as long as it adds to existing songs rather than deleting them.
 
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Looks like it's back to Arwen's tweaks for me. I read up on XFO and not liking what I'm reading in the comments section. Seems to be a few things wrong with it right now. I'll wait around and see if he actually finishes this one. I don't believe he ever finished Fallout 3 XFO.
 
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Regarding some of the "big" mods like Project Nevada:
As open-minded as I am with mods I'm not sure why would I want FPS features like Sprint or Bullet time in my RPGs. In my next replay I will most probably look mainly for graphic mods and slight additions/rebalances of the game rather than changing it completely.
 
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Done some more searching and decided to go with nVamp from the list of the 15 best mods of 2011. Looks like it will make it a lot harder without making it insanely hard as with Arwen's. Sorry Arwen, but this rogueliker couldn't handle that mod.

I like gameplay mods because the combat became too easy towards the middle. Sure it was still difficult in places at times, but I could mostly plough through anything I wanted without breaking a sweat.

I'm going to add a few of the other mods as well including the first 3 and the OJO mods. I'll never play another New Vegas game without OJO. Stunningly beautiful like I know a desert can be. God I miss the desert.
 
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Regarding some of the "big" mods like Project Nevada:
As open-minded as I am with mods I'm not sure why would I want FPS features like Sprint or Bullet time in my RPGs.

Well, Project Nevada is completely customizable. You can scale and/or turn anything off. But, going off of my experience with bullet time + Mart's Mutant Mod in Fallout 3, when you're facing off against 2 dozen super mutants all homing in on your position in a stairwell, it becomes a matter of balance :p
 
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I loved MMM ghouls. There is nothing more terrifying than hearing a few dozen ghouls screaming for blood :)
 
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Some of those do looks like really cool mods. I did my playthrough of NV modless and I'm starting to regret it a bit now.
 
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Sorry if this is a well trodden topic, but I've still got both F3 and FNV still to play. Should I assume that you mostly level up too fast in the vanilla game (as you did in Oblivion) and so for a first playthrough, it probably warrants an XP reducer like JDR13 suggested?

I also played Oblivion with a ton of mods even though it was the first (and only) time I played it - because it was widely reported that Oblivion was broken out of the box, especially level scaling. I understand that FO3 and FNV are much better in this regard…so any other suggestions for a newbie going for their first playthrough?
 
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Done some more searching and decided to go with nVamp from the list of the 15 best mods of 2011.

I don't believe nVamp has been updated in a long while. Could be wrong. However, it's mostly a shell for other mods, anyway. You can likely track down its components; the aforementioned IWS is one of them, I believe. A World of Pain is also pretty unbalanced in terms of loot - I plan to install it but only after reaching the middle of the game or so.
I loved MMM ghouls. There is nothing more terrifying than hearing a few dozen ghouls screaming for blood :)
Ghoul rampage is actually one of IWS's features ;)

Coaster
: Vanilla FO3/FONV are mostly ok. The one mod you would unarguably need is a UI fix - being products of a Bethesda game engine, they both suffer from consolitus in that regard. Darn UI for FO3 and MTUI for New Vegas. Leveling is indeed a bit fast in FO3 as well, less so in FONV. Here's one level-scaling mod for FO3 - haven't tried it in particular, though.
 
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Sorry if this is a well trodden topic, but I've still got both F3 and FNV still to play. Should I assume that you mostly level up too fast in the vanilla game (as you did in Oblivion) and so for a first playthrough, it probably warrants an XP reducer like JDR13 suggested?

I also played Oblivion with a ton of mods even though it was the first (and only) time I played it - because it was widely reported that Oblivion was broken out of the box, especially level scaling. I understand that FO3 and FNV are much better in this regard…so any other suggestions for a newbie going for their first playthrough?

I spent the whole day today looking for the best mods out there and made a mistake along the ways. So I'm pretty sure I can help you, but do you want gameplay changes on the first go, models and texture enhancements, more guns, more monsters, there are a few quests that even on the first playthrough would be a blast to play. Better Bounties 1 and 2 are prime examples. Do you want better companions, a mod to make the best mega mods playable together, radios to play custom music or just want to basically improve the interface (it NEEDS it) and the performance. I know a few quick mods that are easy to install and make a world of difference.

Post your preference and I'll post the better ones I know of, plus a couple of great youtube tutorials on how to get them properly installed.

@Drithius Yea I found that out the hard way today. I did the excellent install guide they have for it and then found out at the end that a few of the optional mods that I HAVE to have are outdated now. Should have read the end dang it :p
 
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Drithius - thanks for those, I'll take a look.

Skavenhorde - thanks for the offer. In terms of pointers (sorry about the WOT but you did ask!):

-balance - I don't mind things being challenging (even difficult) at the beginning as long as I am pretty powerful at the end (Gothic 2 NOTR was great in this respect). I also don't want to hit an XP cap halfway through so feel I am adding to my character growth throughout the whole game. I don't know much about VATS so wouldn't want to ditch that without experiencing it (even though I heard it is a bit of an easy mode) but might prefer something to make it a bit more challenging if it does make battles too simple. I don't like "ultra realism" mods though - eg. sleeping I guess I can live with, but eating/drinking - I'd rather not, and I don't want to be encumbered because I'm carrying a lot of bullets (for example).
-content - some subtle additions are always nice as long as they don't screw balance (uber quest rewards or silly XP for example) and are nicely written to fit in with the original game feel. Probably don't want any huge additions to content first time round (eg vast new areas) but a few extra bits here and there are fine. More monster types - sure, within reason. I recall I played with Martigen's (+Francesco's) mods in Oblivion and they were OK, seemed pretty good quality. Again the proviso is that they shouldn't add huge XP rewards. In terms of monster "density" I don't want a monster round every corner - I like a bit of solitude in my games to contrast with the intense fights. I don't think I added any spawn points in Oblivion.
-I like sneaking and sharpshooting with handguns or rifles rather than hitting things with big sticks or firing off rocket launchers. So enhancements for "thiefy" type approaches are good (again I played with a couple of the Thief-like mods in Oblivion). And I played a gunslinger character in both F1 and F2 which was great fun.
-I have a pretty powerful PC so I wouldn't mind a few graphics improvements. Again I would look for something which doesn't radically change the original look of the game - I often try lots of texture packs but end up going back to the originals. I think with Oblivion I mostly just went with better distant LODs, better skies (although I had a bit of a clunky PC then so I couldn't handle Qarl's etc even if I wanted to).
-Interface/UI etc - yes please, I think I went with Darnified UI before in Oblivion so my default choice would probably be to try Drithius's link. How's the map?
-Companions - not interested as I prefer to solo (unless there are companion Quest NPCs who behave in particularly stupid ways, in which case improved AI might help)
-Sound/music - not too bothered, will probably want to try the vanilla offerings first.
 
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No, problem. You sound like about what I want from a game so this will be easy. It'll just take some time. It's 3:30 am here so I'll post the mega list tomorrow :)

In the meantime check out this guys tutorials. I learned a lot about improving performance and about mods watching his videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdfJME1nhGA&feature=related This one is about getting started and the interface. You're proabably familiar with NVSE and FOMM so you can skip past the first part of the video.

I learned a few tricks watching his performance video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LszcW7DMQHU&feature=related You'll need this for the OJO textures. Absolutely beautiful textures that cover just about everything, but they are resource hogs.

I'd recommend Darnified. Muti is also good, but it seems that the more popular mods have Darnified compabatibilty more often than MUTI. Not sure why no one has made a better one yet because Darnified hasn't been updated in a long long time.

Alright, I'll post the rest tomorrow.
 
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Balance

Project Neveda This one is always being updated and you have a choice of 4 different areas you can load. These are the same guys that brought us FWE in F3.

The core deals with adding more immersion to the game and other tweaks such as slower backpedaling, a grenade hotkey, sprint and a whole assortment of things that don't overpower you.

Cyberware - adds more implants. Vanilla woefully lacked in cyberware that you could implant. These add in more options. Again not overpowering, just more options to choose from.

Rebalance - reduced leveling speed, configurable options and tons and tons of other tweaks.

Equipment - Adds weapons and armor. You could skip this one in favor of some other one (I do), but to tell the truth I don't believe they are overpowered as some other mods. There are just more choices.

FOOK New Vegas - What would Fallout be without a FOOK. Personally I don't like FOOK, but it seems to be popular. Read the desciption for all of the added stuff. There is far too much to list.

XFO-NV - Highly customizable mod that changes just about everything how the game actually works. The enemy AI is improved, removes the level and skill cap, changes the raririty of the items that are found and much much more. Almost all of the options are customizable one way or another to make for an easier or harder game. The only thing is that this hasn't been updated since January while Project Nevada seems to be always being updated.

Arwen's Realism Tweaks
- I don't think you'll like this mod. Hell I'm not even sure if I like this mod :p, but it is impressive what she did. She has 4 different modules Realism Core, Hard-Core module, Encumbrance module, and Med-Tec module. This would be awesome if I could use it when I'm at level 20 and steamrolling over everything that gets in my path, but as it is it is really difficult in the beginning. I will try this one again in a year or so after she has ironed out all the bugs and there is no more DLC or patches to adjust the mod to.

Puce Moose Tweak and Balance Center - Lots of individual mods to tweak the game to your liking. I've never used it because I want Project Nevada and a lot of these mods would conflict with it.

Content

VVV - Very Voracious Vermin - It's basically MMM, but better. Just recently updated. Here are the features:
Features:

[] Now 100% Standalone! No longer requires any other mods!
[] 100% Compatible with nVamp by using the included Effects Override Patch!
[] New spawn system! You can change it's options in the VVV Menu.
[] Bosses and Glowing Creatures made optional through the VVV Menu.
[] Hardened abilities, such as Gecko Regen and Plasma Spitting Ants are made optional! You can change it's options in the Hardened Menu.
[] Added loot, such as Wanamingo Teeth and Deathclaw Horns.
[] New sever effect makes skinning creatures and taking loot more realistic.
[] New Creature Abilities added by Hardened, now all creatures added by VVV have unique abilities! Find out more in the Hardened.txt file.
[] Static Creatures added to the backround, like butterflies and rats, for a more realistic experience.

CFW - Classic Fallout Weapons - What more needs to be said? I use this because it's compatible with AWOP (with a patch).

Monster Mod - Adds over 150 new creatures. Just take a look at some of the pics to see what kind. I'm using this one because it is AWOP friendly. Not too sure about VVV. None of the added monsters are unbelievable to the Fallout Universe (with the exception of the alien and terminator, but those are optional plugins). Check out the pictures to see if you want these guys roaming your wasteland. Freaking spiders creep me the hell out though.

Increased Wasteland Spawns - This increases the spawn rate of the besties and adds in a few non-hostile critters if you use MoMod. It's compatible with Monster mod and AWOP which is why I use this. Don't use it if you go with VVV.

WarZones Misanthropy Pure - I'm only adding this because it is an awesome mod, but it's not lore friendly. It adds new locations, new scenery, battles being played out in the game and bosses. I wouldn't recommend this one for a first playthrough though. Go with AWOP instead.

A World of Pain - Speaking of AWOP here it is.
Description:
Adds 102 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 modified weapons, armors and items to the game with enhanced stats to help and hinder you throughout.
Everything has been done using vanilla content at this stage so the filsesize should still be tiny. That said everything is complete and navmeshed and there should be no gaps or unfinished interiors. The final version should be complete before the end of 2011.
The final version will not have a name change (I changed my mind about that) so it�s gonna be called a Preview forever.
Note about Loot: This mod adds quite a lot of loot (though much less than older versions). If you don't like finding lots of useful stuff in most AWOP locations then get the Low Loot patches from the patches site.
Also if you are concerned that having about 300 extra NPCs in the wasteland will slow your computer down too much grab the LowNPCs Patch (also on the AWOP Patches Site) which removes all but about 15 AWOP NPCs (from exteriors only and removes no-one important or with dialogue).
AWOP Patches Site:
http://www.newvegasnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=40950

This one adds so many new locations and keeps it believable…..well as far as a game with giant spitting ants can be believable ;) There are two main reasons I use this over Warzones. One it's compatible with a lot of the other mods I like to use and two I love exploring and with 102 new locations to explore I'm in heaven. Check out the description to see all the changes.

AWOP Patches - Here are a few patches to make other mods usable with AWOP or changes how AWOP works. I'm going with Classic Fallout Weapons and AWOP.

AWOP MoMod - Makes it so you can use AWOP and Momonsters.

AWOP Monster Patch -
Description: This patch adds many huge new locations aka �Rumble Zones� to AWOP and vanilla areas. All these areas are filled with loads of dangerous monsters. Each location has a uniquely named boss creature with a key to a reward box. All enemies are set to respawn including the bosses but the Reward Box will not respawn. All current locations are very dark. Taclights and nightsights just became your new best friend.

WME - Weapon Modification Expansion -
Description: A massive expansion to the New Vegas weapon modification system, adding over 150 new modification options to the game.
Every standard gun has received the maximum number of possible mods, as have all but four Uniques. As a bonus, instead of removing mods from uniques, most have got minor stat boosts to reflect the mods they come with, and most use that extra room for some extra modding options.

Not enough? Being graphically inclined, every modification (that I've added) is visible on your weapon, be it tapered barrels, a recycler, or a Double Load Missile Launcher.

WMX - Weapon Mods Expanded -
Desription:
My Weapon Mod Kits (WMK) mod for Fallout 3 was the inspiration for Obsidian's implementation of the weapon modding system in Fallout New Vegas; something which I am quite proud of and flattered by. I like Obsidian's take on it; enough that I wanted to add to it… 'expand' upon it, you might say.

Weapon Mods Expanded (WMX) for Fallout New Vegas expands upon the base game's weapon modding system in the following ways:

- ALL weapons get the maximum of three applicable weapon mods; this includes unique weapons.
- Unique weapons can be modified with the same weapon mods as their common counterparts.
- Some existing weapon mods (from the base game) are newly applied to weapons besides their defaults…
- But many more are weapon mods newly added by WMX.
- Some weapon mods can be applied to multiple different weapons.
- New crafting possibilities for the more low-tech weapon mods (mainly melee weapon mods).
- Some unique weapons without a common counterpart (for example That Gun and This Machine) receive one.
- New and altered art assets to visually depict most of the new weapon mods.
- Chance to find weapon mods in loot.
- More weapon mods available from merchants (to compensate for more types being available).
- WMX also contains numerous fixes for visual bugs in weapon meshes and textures.

Models & Textures


Beware of Girl Type 3 -Skin replacer that that many many mods use. The girlz are nekkid so bear that in mind if you get it.

NVCE - New Vegas Character Expansion - Makes the NPC better looking plus a few other things. Haven't really tried this one out, because I'm afraid it'll conflict with other mods I use.

OJO Bueno High Quality Texture Workshop - Amazing. Download everything and run it or better yet load NV first and look around the game. Then load this and see how much better it looks. It's a resource hog so make sure you use those tweaks from that youtube video (even on a highpowered rig) or you might get some stuttering.

POCO Bueno Texture Pack - If you're having too many problems with the previous OJO mod then use this one. It's not quite as much of a hog on your system as the other one. Never used it though since my computer can handle OJO.

Electro-City - A must for every New Vegas playthrough, imo of course.
Description: In non-marketing-speak, what I've done is add a ton of new lights and light fixtures in-game in order to (in part) compensate for (or, as I see it, capitalize on) the darker nights of URWL, NEVADA SKIES, FELLOUT, etc.
If you're wondering if this is lore friendly well I believe it is. It's been years since the bombs fell, there is electricity in this wasteland and by now some people might have hooked some of the lights back up. Plus it is just plain awesome if you are using a darker nights mod.

Imaginator - I didn't think much of this when I first read about it, but it's actually pretty awesome. It adjust (in game) lighting, contrast, tint and DOF. There are also two novelty ……things (not sure what you would call them) called the cinemator and focuser. Those wear neat for about a few seconds.

Dynavision - Another odd one from the same guy that did Elctrocity and Imaginator. I'm going to give this one a shot this time around just to see what it's all about.

Anyway, it focuses on what you are looking at and blurs the background. Not sure if you would want to use this on your first playthrough, but it's seems like a neat little mod.

Nevada Skies - Adds weather and what I think you'll find interesting is that it improves sneak during storms. Also makes the world a much more beautiful place by getting rid of the orange and making the skies much better.

FNV Enhanced Shaders
- Just get it. You can thank me later.

Fellout - Same as the original Fellout. Makes the world more real instead of that……orange. Not sure why games keep throwing these colors all over the place. I had to use a mod to get rid of the gold in Deus EX. I had to use a mod to get rid of the green in F3 and now I have to use a mod to get rid of that damn orange. Also has darker nights. Nevada Skies does the same as long as you choose either the 6.0 and 6.3 or the URWLified 31 allinone mod. The new 7.0 Nevada Skies still has the orange in it (probably to make it more compatible with Fellout).

There are other texture packs that enhance everything, but I don't use them. I just use OJO. The most endoursed texture pack seems to be Detailed Normals, but can't tell you anything about it other than it's endorsed up the ying/yang.

Quests
I'm not really a quest mod kind of guy because I'm always afraid they'll conflict with the other massive changes I make, but there are two that you have to have.

New Vegas Bounties I - You hunt down outlaws in the wild west. Need I say more.

New Vegas Bounties II - More outlaw goodness.

Radio
Later on if you want to listen to your own music instead of the crap they have. Then grab the Extended New Vegas Radio Generator. Easiest way to add your own music.

BTW, Fallout 3's music I could listen to forever. It was a little odd at first, but it grew on me and I started to love it. Fallout: NV's music sucks. I couldn't wait to get rid of that crap and found myself turning off the radio. Also I want 3 dog back. That radio announcer in NV is annoying as hell.

Companions


Willow seems to be the most downloaded and talked about companion. She has a quest, but I don't really like companion mods either so I haven't tried it yet.

Utilities

If you didn't watch the "performance enhancing" video then here are the utilities you'll need to boost the performance and have less CTD's

Fake Fullscreen - all beth games run better in a window. This lets you do that and it stretches the window out so it looks like fullscreen.

CASM - Disable New Vegas' autosave in the options menu and use this instead. Less CTDs

4GBFallout NVSE -
Description: 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 designed to be used by players with 64 Bit Versions of Windows. Usage on 32 bit Windows is unlikely to work (will run but wont increase the address space).

New Vegas Stutter Remover - Does exactly what it says.

I can't really help with thief like mods because I don't really care about sneaking, but some of the first mods I listed deal with that.

Alrighty I think that's all I know about. I think I posted only the mods that have been updated within the last 6 months with the exception of XFO.

Have fun and hope this helped.

EDIT: forgot to mention to not use them all at once since some of them (especially the gameplay ones) conflict with each other. That's sorta obvious, but had to be said.

In case you're wondering these three work together: AWOP, Project Neveda and Monster Mod.

If it's too much then Project Nevada is a must plus I'd add VVV since it's similar to MMM.
 
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If you'd like a more immersive game or actually being able to run a lot of these mods together then check out GopherVids's youtube tutorial. He covered stuff even I didn't know how to do and he did it in an easy to understand way.

The list of all of his tutorials


They're long, but worth watching. Especially "modding Fallout Part 1". I never really did understand all the HUD mods, but after following his directions it makes a world of difference.
 
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