Fallout New Vegas is one of the most revolutionary first-person shooting role-playing games and it is thought to be the best Fallout game by the majority of players. However, the game appears to be somewhat buggy on the PC and the port appears to be faulty for some people. The “Out of Memory.
Fallout: New Vegas is a great game; arguably the best of the franchise. The issue is the game is unfinished in both a literal and figurative sense. It was a rush job that Obsidian did their best with but wasn't given enough time to realize their vision fully.
Unlike a lot of Bethesda games, mods feel less like an extra and more like a necessity to keep the game fresh after a single run through, since everything in New Vegas is nearly inextricably hooked into the main quest. Almost every quest that first appears to be optional is still related to the main conflict in some way, with few exceptions.
Some are even mandatory; you can just choose to do them out of order.However, from that flawed yet amazing shell, a lot of modders have created mods that push the game closer to its more definitive version. Many fix bugs and common crashes or add extra content or even things that were intended to be added but were never finished. In any case, from the simple quality of life improvements to necessary bug fixes, and fun gameplay tweaks, here are the top New Vegas mods. Fallout New Vegas Script ExtenderIf you want more, bigger, and more complex mods, you need the New Vegas Script Extender (NVSE).
It's only technically a mod, since it's more like an extra bit of software modders use for most complex New Vegas mods, but deserves a spot for how ubiquitous it is and how much it improves the modding scene. FNV 4 GB PatcherSadly, a necessary mod rather than a fun one.
New Vegas is an excellent game, but clearly rushed and unstable. The allows it to use more memory, increasing stability and reducing script lag and crashes from memory overload, a problem New Vegas shares with Skyrim where save bloat increases over time (exponentially so with mods) until eventually a given save file is too large for the game to process. New Vegas Anti Crash (NVAC)Another necessary one, this mod does what it says on the tin. The game will crash less.
Mind, it only reduces a specific kind of crash (though it is a common one), but combined with the 4 GB Patcher and NVSE you're in pretty good shape. NMC's Texture PackNow that the game is more stable, why not upgrade its looks? Let's be honest, New Vegas is an old game and wasn't particularly a looker at the time of its release anyway. Given the limited time Obsidian had to work with, it's understandable they focused more on gameplay than visuals, but modders have no such time constraints. While I never dive deep into heavily modded visuals for Bethesda games (I don't even use ENBs), I do appreciate a little upgrade after all these years, and 's Texture Pack hits the perfect middle ground between being easy to install and having wide-reaching changes to the game's visuals. Taking the game to vanilla Skyrim levels is quite the achievement, and looks plenty good enough for me. Plus if you want more, it plays well with most other graphic overhaul mods, as long as they don't replace the same textures of course.
Fallout Character Overhaul (FCO)What NMC's Texture Pack does to most textures, does to the people of the Mojave. Given you spend a good 40% of this game zoomed in on these people's faces, it's a pretty good idea to make sure you like what you're looking at. Similar to NMCTP, this boosts New Vegas to roughly vanilla Skyrim levels in terms of what each NPC (and your own character) looks like, which is perfectly tolerable for me. EVE-Essential Visual EnhancementsOne last boost to the visuals and we're good to go. This one is primarily about weapon effects.
Not weapon textures themselves, but bullet impacts, explosion textures, lasers, ash and goo piles on kill, and even character reactions to being shot. Given the lion's share of the other 60% of this game besides talking to people is shooting them, this will be sure to make your experience more enjoyable if you like seeing people get killed in flashy ways, like seeing brief skeletal outlines of people that get ashed by your laser criticals! Project NevadaAll right, we're into the fun stuff now. Is the overhaul for New Vegas.
It expands on existing mechanics (the cybernetic implants available from the Clinic, for example), adds a boatload of new ones (like using explosives to unlock doors and chests), and also functions as a rebalance to the game, making combat more challenging and inventory space more precious.The best part about it? It's fully customizable. Every feature can be changed, activated, or deactivated at will from its mod page. I don't like the reduced carrying capacity, so I crank it up, so I never have to worry about it again. You can make your movement speed faster, change how much health you get from Endurance and leveling, and everything else the mod touches.It's the one mod I recommend everyone install because there's something there for every kind of player.
For a while, it was the only New Vegas mod I ever installed since it did so much of what I look for in other modded Bethesda games already. The Someguy SeriesThis is a master mod for all of the quests and companion mods made. Which mods you install after are up to you, but all are great. His quests and companions are fully voice acted and are quite interesting plot-wise after the first (New Vegas Bounties I is pretty bare bones) and just keep getting better both in voice acting quality, complexity, and plot as time goes on. It's very fun to play from the start and see how the mods evolve as he gets better at creating the quests. New Vegas UncutLike the Someguy series, is not one mod, but a collection.
The entire purpose of this mod series is to complete and add content that was meant to be added to New Vegas, but was never released, usually due to lack of time on Obsidian's part. From weapons to entire quests, this nine mod series adds a lot to the game that's all lore friendly and could even be considered canon content. The only one I don't recommend is Freeside Open. While a very cool mod that interconnects all of Freeside's parts so there aren't so many loading screens to go through (similar to the Open Cities mods for the Elder Scrolls games) it is notoriously incompatible with a lot of other mods. Basically any mod that adds new quests, areas, some items, or NPCs to Freeside (which is a lot) breaks with Freeside Open in the mix. This includes one quest deep into New Vegas Bounties I (mentioned above) and makes the quest impossible to complete without going into the mod's files, sifting through the quest stages, and using the console to move the quest ahead.Other than that, though, they're all worth a look.
Beyond Boulder DomeWait wait wait, before you let the silly name throw you off, hear me out. E is an excellent, DLC sized (about the size and quest length of the official Honest Hearts DLC) quest and locations mod based on the Boulder Dome location from Fallout: Van Buren (a sadly never realized third Fallout game from Black Isles Studios before they went under, that has extensive notes on what a lot of Fallout's world looks like and was the partial basis for New Vegas itself) that has an interesting and disturbing atmosphere.
Definitely worth at least one playthrough. Weapon Mods Expanded (WMX)This mod adds more weapon customizations for existing weapons, and even adds a few new ones. This is another mod I consider almost official content.
The mod author (Antistar) is actually the reason why weapon mods are in New Vegas at all! He made a mod adding weapon mod kits to Fallout 3, and Obsidian liked the idea so much they implemented them as a base part of New Vegas. That makes this sort of a third generation mod; a modification of a core system based on an original mod.
Which is pretty cool to me.Moreover, it greatly expands the limited weapon mods of New Vegas (there were only three per weapon before if that since some weapons were left out entirely) and adds a lot of new variety and options to weaponry. Only three mods can be added to any one weapon still, so rather than adding the only three mods to a weapon and calling it fully kitted and never touching it again, there are actual trade-offs to modifying a weapon, since adding one mod means precluding another. It's not a deep change, but it adds enough, and in such a way that I sometimes forget it's not part of the base game, in much the same way I feel about Project Nevada. Yukichigai Unofficial PatchNew Vegas is a buggy game.
No fan will deny that. But thankfully, there are patches.
A lot of them, in fact, making New Vegas pretty unique among Bethesda's games with active modding scenes. Oblivion and Skyrim, for example, have one big Unofficial Patch team that made it their mission to patch as many bugs as possible. New Vegas, perhaps fittingly, was more like the wild west, a bunch of dedicated individuals stomping out problems as they came across them.is but one of many extensive New Vegas patches, but it is my preferred for one big reason: it's easily compatible with the last mod on this list. If you don't use the below, then any of the other patches will do you pretty much just as well. A Tale Of Two WastelandsRecreating a previous game in the series in the newest game's engine iteration is kind of the holy grail of Bethesda game modding. The Elder Scrolls series has had many failed, abandoned, or stalled projects from Morrowblivion to Skyblivion and Skywind, and several others that have produced little results over the years.
Even the New Vegas recreation in Fallout 4's engine has borne little fruit since it was initially revealed.is the exception. To be fair, they had it a little easier: Fallout 3 and New Vegas use almost identical engines and assets, and they got permission early from Bethesda to work on the project. That isn't to undersell their accomplishment though; successfully linking two games ( Fallout 3 and New Vegas in this case) into one enormous, seamless game is no small task.Still updated, this is the way to play the previous generation Fallout games in my opinion. Starting in Vault 101 and making your way to the Mojave is quite satisfying, especially with its compatibility with certain other mods (Project Nevada being the big standout). You can always go in reverse as well, though that gets a bit weird, narratively speaking.It is an excellent, ambitious mod and improves on both games by applying New Vegas' new mechanics and more interesting perks to Fallout 3's gameplay, and let you enjoy an improved version of 3 while carrying over many of the fun weapons and other items from 3 to its sequel.And that's the list!
Happy modding!
Installing a single mod into Fallout: New Vegas is easy. All you need to do is place the new files you’ve downloaded into the ‘Data’ folder of your Fallout: New Vegas installation. If you have the Steam version, typically this will be:C:Program FilesSteamsteamappsCommonFallout New VegasDataWindows will alert you that you’re overwriting files, so press ‘OK’ to accept the changes. It’s best to make a backup of your Data folder before you start modding in case you need to return Fallout: New Vegas to its original form.You’re probably going to want lots of mods installed though, so it’s best to use the Fallout Mod Manager.
This installs and uninstalls mods for you with a lot more ease than doing it manually. To set it up, first download and install the program. It’s then useful to create a folder on your hard drive called ‘Fallout New Vegas mods’ or something similar. Downloaded mods come in.zip files, so use something like WinRAR to extract the mod files into your new ‘Fallout New Vegas mods’ folder.In Fallout Mod Manager, open the ‘Package Manager’ using the button to the right hand side of the window. The new window will have a button labelled ‘Add FOMod’. Click this, and then use the file browser to find your mod folder and select the mod you wish to install.
The mod will now be displayed in the Package Manager window, with a tick box next to it. If the checkbox is ticked, the mod will be active in your game.
Simply untick if you want to remove the mod. Essential Fallout: New Vegas modsFallout Mod ManagerWIthout the Steam Workshop to make things smooth and easy, you’ll need a to help you get all your mods installed with the correct load orders.New Vegas Script ExtenderAdding lots of mods to the game may require an extension of Fallout: New Vegas’s scripting capabilities. This tiny mod will make sure the game’s script is sufficiently extended to allow hundreds of mods to work simultaneously.Mod Configuration MenuGenerally with mods if you feel the need to change something you have to close the game and alter some files. The adds a management page to the pause menu, allowing you to make some alterations without ever leaving the game.New Vegas Anti-CrashFallout: New Vegas is a little on the buggy side unfortunately, and can be quite susceptible to crashing to desktop.
Is a simple mod that helps reduce the chances of crashing.4GB Fallout New VegasWhen using lots of big mods like textures, you may find that Fallout: New Vegas begins to struggle with its small allocation of virtual memory. 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.Mission MojaveBethesda and Obsidian are renowned for publishing games riddled with glitches and other breaks.
Despite numerous post-release patches, Fallout: New Vegas has never been completely fixed. Thanks to the mod community though, things are significantly better these days. Has 27,000 fixes for various bugs throughout New Vegas and its DLC packs.Graphical Fallout: New Vegas modsNew Vegas Redesigned 3addresses a few issues related to lore and world, but it’s key focus is recrafting every NPC to better reflect who they are. If they’re a grizzled war veteran, scars are added and skin made rough.
A young, happy, beautiful NPC will have clearer a complexion. These HD retextures, and adjustments to proportions and structure, make New Vegas’s NPCs just that little bit more believable.NMCs Texture Pack for New VegasThere’s a lot of world in New Vegas, and reskins almost all of it with high-definition textures that will make the Mojave Wasteland look so much sharper.
Roads, buildings, trees, and plenty of items have their textures replaced, making this a one-stop-mod for overhauling a huge percentage of New Vegas’s visuals.Nevada SkiesSince you’ll be spending so much time outside in Fallout: New Vegas, you’d might as well make sure that blue sky is doing something interesting. Adds 320 new cloud variations to the game, alongside some fantastic weather effects such as sandstorms, rain, rainstorms, RADstorms, thunderstorms, and even snow.Wasteland Flora OverhaulAdding 101 different trees and plants to the wasteland, brings a subtle sense of beauty to the otherwise barren and sandy Mojave. The mod creator is aware that too much living flora could be counter to Fallout lore, so the mod comes in three different grades: Fertile Wasteland is the whole lot for a much leafier world, Dead Wasteland is a compromise between living and dead plants, and ESP-less uses just retextured versions of the original withered tree models.ELECTRO-CITY Relighting the WastelandSay ‘Vegas’ and the first thing that comes to mind is likely the lights. Neons, flashing LEDs, and burning bright bulbs. You’ll find barely any of that in New Vegas, but is the mod to add the shine the world needs. Hundreds of new lights are added, from street lamps and signs to burning barrels.
Lighting is often key to an immersive graphical experience, and this mod makes sure the light is there.Fellout N.V.is one of the most popular Fallout 3 mods thanks to its ability to wipe out the sickly green filter that washes over everything. The New Vegas variant takes a similar approach, stopping the game making everything look a cosy orange and replacing colours with hot, desert tones that make the desert feel a lot more unforgiving.Essential Visual EnhancementsThe mod addresses all the various animations and effects that occur in combat, be that the ejection of a bullet from a gun, or the blood squirt as said bullet impacts on enemy flesh. Explosions, particle effects, critical hits, and impact wounds are all reanimated and overhauled to look significantly more impressive and violent.FNV Realistic Wasteland LightingA less intensive alternative to Nevada Skies, adjusts the intensity of sunlight and adds subtle weather affects to help create a more photorealistic Mojave Desert.The ENB of the ApocalypseWhen combined with Realistic Wasteland Lighting,helps achieve the excellent photo realism than ENBs are associated with. The NMC Texture Pack is also recommended to make the most of this ENB’s graphical enhancements.HQ Dust Storm FXDust Storms happen frequently in New Vegas, but chances are that you’ve mistaken them for bad periods of fog. The clouds simply look more like heavy mist than whipped up sand.
This mod makes sure that the sand storms look like the gritty nightmares they are.Oxide ENBThis interesting ENB adds an atmospheric, colorful, and intense look to the Mojave Wasteland, rejecting photorealism for a world that pops with excitement. Not only is a more fun-looking alternative to The ENB of the Apocalypse, it also includes its own weather and lighting systems, so there’s no need to combine with other mods.IMPACTNew Vegas is a great RPG, but it lacks when it comes to the shooter elements. Guns lack any feedback and feel like peashooters compared to the best FPS games out there. Remedies this by changing the impact effects when bullets hit different surfaces, with new bullet hole decals and particle effects upon impact. The calibre of gun you use changes the size of the hole you make, and ejected shells are now weapon appropriate.Gameplay Fallout: New Vegas modsTitanFalloutThere’s not a game out there that couldn’t be improved with the addition of big stomping robots, and this mod proves it (at least for Fallout). Is, as the name suggests, a mod that adds the robotic mechs of Titanfall to New Vegas. With a new gadget you can call a Titan drop, which will rain down a hulking metal man.
It can fight alongside you like an NPC follower, but you can of course climb aboard and use it’s massive machine gun yourself.Project Nevadais made by the team behind Fallout 3’s Wanderers Edition, one of our essential Fallout 3 mods. It’s designed to make New Vegas a more challenging, more fun game, through the installation of a variety of module. You can pick and choose which ones are installed, allowing you a degree of control about how far you stray from the ‘vanilla’ experience. The modules cover Core systems like health, vision, and bullet time, Cyberware: which implants you with a variety of bionic enhancements, Rebalance: which overhauls all the RPG systems of the game, and Equipment: which adds a huge selection of new usable gear to the game. For an instant change to the way New Vegas plays, Project Nevada is essential.Weapons of the New Milleniaadds 45 amazingly detailed weapons to New Vegas, with wonderful high-definition models and textures. They’re all modern-day guns you’d recognise from the likes of Call of Duty and ARMA, so if you’re a bit of a weapons nut and would like to replace Fallout’s rag-tag shooters with something more realistic, then this is the mod for you.Weapons Mod ExpandedOne of the most exciting things coming to Fallout 4 is the ability to modify weapons at a crafting bench, bolting on all kinds of additions like scopes, silences, and stocks.
But you don’t have to wait for Fallout 4 for that kind of thing; just grab for Fallout New Vegas and strap a laser sight onto your revolver, a choke on your shotgun, or a variety of other great and useful modifications for many of the game’s guns.New Vegas Enhanced CameraIf you’re going for the immersive New Vegas experience, the one thing that’s going to get in your way is the camera. It makes you a floating set of eyes rather than a real person for starters, and every time you do something like sit down or die the game insists on pulling out to third person. Keep your eyes firmly in a body with the mod, which gives you a physical body you can actually see working, and won’t ever pull you out of it.More PerksEvery two levels you progress in Fallout, you get to choose a new perk to add to your ability-enhancing collection. But if the selection you have to pick from just isn’t good enough, then this mod is for you. It adds, as the name suggests, more perks to the game, adding bizarre abilities such as being able to spontaneously grow fruit from your own body, or become hopelessly addicted to stims.King of the RingOne of Fallout’s most unusual mods, adds boxing to the game. Step into the ring, slip on the gloves, and thump you opponent down to a third of their health to be crowned the winner.Nipton RebuiltNipton is one of New Vegas’s key towns, but rather than being a hub of life it was razed to the ground.
Turns it into the town it could have been, and you can take control and become Mayor. With some funding from your own pocket, you can start to add new areas to Nipton and encourage its growth into a busy new location in the Mojave Wastes.New Vegas Bountiesis a new questline mod tasks you to hunt down and eliminate the Mojave Wasteland’s Most Wanted. A dastardly collection of rogue rangers, fiends, raiders, drug smugglers, cannibals, and pistoleros, they all have a massive price on their head waiting for you to collect. Be wary though: they’re all mean and tough, and won’t come along quietly.A World of PainAdding a massive 114 new location to New Vegas, is the right choice for challenge-seeking explorers. Alongside smaller outposts is a huge underground complex, filled with difficult monster encounters and even a few quest lines. There’s plenty of loot to find, including MkII weapons to help you overcome these new difficult areas.Garage HomeIt didn’t take long before modders decided they needed to bring a bit of the unreleased Fallout 4 into New Vegas.
The, as seen in Fallout 4’s reveal, can now be yours to live in in Fallout: New Vegas, bringing with it a couple of new weapons for you to defend your new hovel with.Wasteland DefenceWhilst some mods have been inspired by Fallout 4’s reveal, other mods actually inspired Fallout 4’s development. Undoubtedly was one of them, which is a mod that allows you to build your own fortress, rig up a set of defensive measures, and then trigger raid attacks that you must fend off. Essentially a tower defence mini-game, it’s one of New Vegas’s most interesting and accomplished mods.DUST Survival SimulatorSurvival games are all the rage right now, and transforms New Vegas into one, too. The whole game has been rebalanced to work as a survival sim, with thirst, hunger, and keeping yourself healthy now a main priority. Whatsmore, all friendly NPCs have been wiped out, meaning the only quest in the game is to simply survive.The InheritanceA fully voiced quest line with 1,300 lines of dialogue, sees a mysterious stranger approach you with the request that you deliver a package.
This unfolds into a choice-heavy main quest and a series of smaller side quests, all designed to be lore-friendly and offer a balance of ultra-violence and finesse approaches. It includes some interesting ‘evolving dungeons’, which if emptied of enemies will be occupied by a rival force when you next return.Project Brazilis more than a mod; it’s a complete new campaign. You even select it from the New Game option on the main menu, and it has an opening cinematic and everything. You take on the role of an Orphan from California’s secretive Vault 18, and head out on a quest involving a war between the Super Mutants, the Survivalist Raiders, and the New California Republic. Six new companions can join you, and a whole new area in the Black Bear Mountain National Forest is available to explore. It’s basically an amazing piece of DLC, all for free.Realistic Stealth OverhaulPlaying stealth has always been an option in Fallout, but never a particularly good one. Makes a lot of changes to the systems to make sneaking about a far more effective approach, ensuring that detection is based on line of sight, and that back stabbings work as they should.NinerNew Vegas has some of the best companions seen in a Fallout game, but we’ll never refuse additional buddies, provided they live up to Obsidian’s quality bar.
Is a brilliant companion; tough, drug-addled, and dog loving. He’s voiced with over 500 lines of dialogue, and constantly makes observations about the world.
He also has his own quest line that develops as you travel through the Mojave Wasteland.Run the Lucky 38The Lucky 38 casino and hotel is in need of a new owner, and you’re just the person. Re-open this establishment, put in some capital, and start to expand one room at a time with the mod. The casino is also a key part in some of Mr. House’s conspiracies and ventures, and having ownership of the place may shed light on one of New Vegas’s most shadowy characters, should you wish to investigate.JSawyerJosh Sawyer was director on Fallout New Vegas. When the game shipped, he wasn’t entirely happy with the final result, and so spent time tinkering and tweaking with the game’s core systems in the months after release. He went on to release the, a set of big fixes and changes that work to bring New Vegas closer to his vision.
The ‘Director’s Cut’ of New Vegas, if you will. You’ll find health is significantly reduced, how much you can carry is lower, and you can’t progress any higher than level 35.
A distinctly more challenging experience for the hardcore Fallout fan.Fallout: The Frontier. One to watch rather than grab now, is currently in development and due to release late in 2015. Taking you to a brand new region of Portland, Oregon, The Frontier is a snowy wasteland designed to be super-harsh. The weather has an impact on your health, so you’ll need to dress appropriately or risk death by frostbite and hypothermia. The total conversion mod adds a main quest, side quests, hunting, and even a fire propagation system to the game.If your anticipation is high for your next trip to a bombed-out apocalyptic shooter, you’ll want to read everything we know about.