Fallout: NV - 'Dust' Mod

With rumors about a potential Fallout 4 reveal flying fast and furious in the lead-up to Bethesda’s first-ever E3 press conference, one mod promises to breathe new life into New Vegas’ aging post-apocalyptic landscape. It’s called DUST Survival Simulator, and it replaces New Vegas’ quest-based structure with a single, seemingly insurmountable goal: just stay alive.

According to naugrim04, DUST’s author, “DUST is a Post-Apocalyptic survival simulator” that “completely overhauls nearly every aspect of the game to better represent an apocalyptic survival-horror atmosphere.” In DUST, supplies are limited, and the environment much harsher. Players will starve to death, or die due to dehydration (“Don’t go to bed thirsty,” naugrim warns. “You will die.”), while food and water are hard to find. Ammo is scare, and combat is incredibly punishing. Don’t worry too much, though: if food becomes too hard to come by, cannibalism is an option.

There is a story in DUST, but players “are not the main character,” and the story will unravel primarily via environmental clues, a la Portal or Left 4 Dead. DUST players can “win” by escaping the desert, but the exit is hidden, and reaching it isn’t easy: naugrim himself can’t finish the game without cheating via the Fallout 4 console. Don’t expect previous New Vegas playthroughs to help, either. Naugrim changed the topography, the NPCs, and some of the graphics. Not everything’s brand new in DUST, but much of it is.

In order to install DUST, players need a copy of Fallout: New Vegas, the game’s three story DLC packs, and a handful of supporting mods. Look for more information at DUST’s official NexusMods page.

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