New Vegas Modding Guide - Vanilla Plus Edition

The aim of this guide is to tweak inconsistencies of the base game, patch up the game and enhance the gameplay without going over the top from base game.

1. Introduction

Fallout: New Vegas is one of my most favorite games of all time. Unfortunately, thanks being only developed nearly two years, Obsidian didn't had all the time to fix inconsistencies and bugs that Bethesda had left upon the game. Despite that, the game has been enjoyable, from the main game to DLCs that can stand out on it's own, yet there are some mods that I feel that could spice things up in this game.

Having played New Vegas for hours, first with PS3, then with Steam version, I decided to do this mod guide as means to list my own personal mod loadout I play with usually, and also provide a configurable user experience. These mods breathe new life into the game, while not straying off from the base game's look and gameplay.

Notice: This is not a guide to make your game as beautiful as possible or make the game as hard as possible. This is to give out vanilla focus upon the game and not resort into flashiness the other modding guides are prone to do.

2. Starting Tools

To start up modding, fill up these bullet points before everything else, to ensure if things screw up, you have way to revert back to original files.

• Have a copy of Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition. Yes, we are going to need every DLC here.
  
• Start up the launcher, so that it generates the default .ini files and have tweaked them as you see fit.
  
• Went into My Documents/My Games/FalloutNV and checked that each ini file is not read only.

And with that, let's get the necessary tools to mod the game.

New Vegas Script Extender

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/67883
NVSE adds more scripts/functions that most mods use for full usage. Install and extract the archive into New Vegas folder.

Mod Organizer 2

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/6194
The best Mod Manager to come out. It lets you configure and add mods for your hearts content and uses "virtual data" folder instead the actual data folder of New Vegas, meaning that your game files are not screwed if something happens. Create a folder anywhere and extract contents there.

FNV 4GB Patcher

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/62552/?
Simple patcher to make Fallout New Vegas 4GB Aware. Supports all known steam versions. Also makes lets you launch the game from New Vegas .exe instead nvse .exe. Install and extract the file into New Vegas folder.

FNV BSA Decompressor

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/65854
Decompresses BSA files for less stutter and better performance. Download and extract the folder wherever you want.

Ultimate Edition ESM Fixes

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/77170
Fixes for base game plugins. Download and extract the folder wherever you want.

New Vegas Heap Replacer

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/69779
Replaces in-game heap system with more optimized one. Download and extract the contents to game's root folder.

Once those are done, let's start by having Mod Organizer configured.

• 1. Go into Mod Organizer folder and launch ModOrganizer.exe. The title should appear, showing you window if you want to do the tutorial or not. If you are not familiar with it, it is recommended to click yes, but if you just follow this guide, click no.
  
• 2. Once the window appears, go up and choose the icon with screw and wrench, which is options. In General, set your language, and style you want to have for the mod manager to ease your eyes. In Nexus, you can login to Nexus that way, letting you use mod manager download from Nexus to download mods to MO.
  
• 3. Click the puzzle icon and choose INI editor. Go into falloutcustom.ini and copy paste this in there:
  

  Originally posted by ini:

  [Audio]
  ; Enables additional worker thread for minor performance improvement. Disable if you encounter audio stutter.
  bMultiThreadAudio=1
  ; Disables debug logging to save memory and CPU time
  bUseAudioDebugInformation=0
  ; Increases memory buffers to reduce audio issues
  iAudioCacheSize=8192
  iMaxSizeForCachedSound=1024
  
  [BackgroundLoad]
  ; Forces cell unload on fast travel to lessen memory usage
  bSelectivePurgeUnusedOnFastTravel=1
  ; Reduces stutter when loading multiple NPCs
  bBackgroundLoadLipFiles=1
  
  [Controls]
  ; Disables mouse acceleration
  fForegroundMouseAccelBase=0
  fForegroundMouseAccelTop=0
  fForegroundMouseBase=0
  fForegroundMouseMult=0
  
  [Display]
  ; Enables Fullscreen mode
  bFull Screen=1
  ; Forces highest texture quality so the game won't crash if you had it set to anything lower
  iTexMipMapSkip=0
  ; World FOV
  fDefaultWorldFOV=90.0000
  ; 1st person FOV
  fDefault1stPersonFOV=57.0000
  ; Pip-Boy and terminal FOV
  fPipboy1stPersonFOV=47.0
  fEnvMapLOD1=16000
  fEnvMapLOD2=24000
  
  [General]
  ; Forces faster cell unload to lessen memory usage
  bPreemptivelyUnloadCells=1
  ; Enables multithreaded AI
  iNumHWThreads=3
  
  [Grass]
  ; Increases grass draw distance
  fGrassStartFadeDistance=11200
  
  [PipBoy]
  ; Fixes flicker when opening Pip-Boy when its light is on
  fLightEffectFadeDuration=400

• 4. Click the gear icons to bring up executables. You want to add your tools you installed as launchables through MO2. Title should be the name of the tool, binary is the location of the tool and Start in should be Fallout: New Vegas directory. Here's an example:
  
  
  
  
• 4. Click the ID card looking icon to bring up profiles. You want to create a new profile, name it as you want, then click it tick Automatic Archive Invalidation from below. This ensures data files from mods will be used, so texture mods will show all the textures. If you want to switch profiles even without this window, you can see the profile above the modlist. It should also create notification incase the .ini files are read-only, so it allows you to tick them off this way too.
  
  
• 5. Put the files into order. It should be like this:
  -FalloutNV
  -DeadMoney
  -HonestHearts
  -OldWorldBlues
  -LonesomeRoad
  -GunRunnersArsenal
  
  
• 6. Close MO and now run BSA Decompressor. Setup has its own instructions and reminds you to have ini tweaks on archive section, which we put on custom ini a while ago.
  
  
• 7. Create a folder called ESM Fixes and run ESM fixes wizard. Game directory is obvious, but for the other directory you should point it to the folder we just created. Hit install, let it finish and once done installing, move the folder into the directory where your MO mods are. For me as I created global instance, it would be C:/MO2/Fallout New Vegas. There's a folder called mods, drop the ESM Fixes there.

After those are done, close MO for while to execute FalloutNVPatch.exe, which should be now be in Fallout New Vegas folder. It will automatically patch it up and by that point, you can use New Vegas.exe to launch the game in an instant, as it loads nvse.exe automatically with it.

REMEMBER TO USE MOD ORGANIZER TO LAUNCH THE GAME, INSTEAD OF STEAM, OTHERWISE MODS WON'T ACTIVATE & REMEMBER TO LAUNCH NEW VEGAS EXE SO THAT INIS WONT RESET TO DEFAULT VALUES

3. NVSE plugins

Now is time for the NVSE plugins, some required additions to make the life more viable in Mojave wasteland. You want to install these plugins manually and drop them into Fallout: New Vegas/Data/NVSE/Plugins folder.

JIP NVSE Plugin

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/58277/?

Originally posted by Jazziparis:

This plugin is an extension of the New Vegas Script Extender (NVSE). It adds 800+ new functions, which can be used in GECK scripting and (in some cases) as conditions.
Additionally, this mod includes numerous engine bug fixes/tweaks, and restores several broken game features.

NVTF - New Vegas Tick Fix

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/66537?
A lighter, more compatible version of the 64hz stutter bug fix from NVSR. Fully Windows 10 compatible, including Fast Exit. No more fiddling with inis on windows 10!

Mods by lStewie

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/users/2232669?tab=user+files
An espless collection of game tweaks and fixes that take advantage of his master mod, lstewie's tweaks and engine fixes. If nothing else, I recommend getting that one.

JohnnyGuitar NVSE

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/66927
an NVSE extender required for some mods.

Improved Lighting Shaders

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/69833
xNVSE plugin that almost completely fixes the exterior lighting bug, and allows up to 4x the number of active lights!

FNV Mod Limit Fix

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/68714
Exactly what it says, allows you to have more than 100 plugins in the game and not cause stability issues.

AnhNVSE

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/74012
Another Script Extender Plugin.

SUPNVSE

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/73160
Another one.

Showoff NVSE

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/72541
And another!

yUI - User Ynterface

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/74357
NVSE plugin that adds support for UI mod coming later here.

Improved Console

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/70801
Just as it says.

Knvse

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/71336
Plugin to allow custom animations.

Climate Control NVSE

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/77205
Fixes and utilities to weather mods.

Mods By WallSoGB

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/users/22363364?tab=user+files
Various NVSE plugins that has focus on graphical fidelity.

User Interface Organizer

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/57174
UIO is god send to make HUD/UI mods that overwrite each other play nice with each other.

4. Mods - Patches/Bugfixes

Finally, the thing you have been awaiting for. These mods are to be installed by the way they are in here. In MO, there's downloads tabs upon your right where you can see them. To install them, you double click them and press OK to install them. You can also do it manually by clicking manual upon there, that way you can see what is included upon the file you install. Finally, tick them from the left to activate them. Keep in mind to when you want to test them, click the executable, next to run button to bring up LOOT and run loot, in order to sort out the load order.

Yukichigai Unofficial Patch - YUP

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/51664
YUP is the unofficial patch. This means that it has been designed to fix purely bugfixes and not feature creep anything else on it. It's guaranteed installing this will solve majority of problems that comes in form of visual or quest related issues.

Unofficial Patch NVSE Plus

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/71239
YUP is good bugfix mod, but it only covers bugfixes where you don't need NVSE. For NVSE related bugs, a pure bug fix mod that covers issues that needs script extender.

Weapon Mesh Improvement Mod

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/65052
Fixes for mesh errors, uv errors, incorrect flags, missing extra data, form lists, projectiles, and other weapon related bugs and errors. Additionally makes weapons look a bit nicer.

Throwable Weapon Fixes

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/62767
Fixes few oddities with throwable weapons.

New Vegas Mesh Improvement Mod - NVMIM

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/74295
Improves Meshes, duh.

Meshes and Collision - Totally Enhanced Nifs (MAC-TEN)

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/83815
Mesh fixes of various objects. Same as above.

skinned mesh improvement mod

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/82042
Improves various meshes, mostly on apparel.

Misc Audio Tweaks and Fixes

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/77073
Makes few audio files less annoying.

Aqua Performa - Strip Performance Fix

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/78617
Improves Strip performance by removing water.

5. Mods - UI/HUD

The Mod Configuration Menu

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/42507
Mods that have menus will be showcased by this. Needs to be installed manually, the main file and update file. Click the disc shaped button on MO, and choose mod configuration menu archive. Comes with Installer. Click the update file as well and rename it to the name of the mod and merge it with it.

Vanilla UI +

https://www.moddb.com/mods/vanilla-ui-plus
Much more cleaner UI that doesn't stray off from Vanilla style. Optional hardcore compass. Comes with installer when you activate it.

Clean Vanilla Hud

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/70001
Clean Companion Wheel: https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/70486
Clean Vault Boy Paper Doll: https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/76966
Makes HUD look less blurry.

Character Preset Menu

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/72789
Finally import and export your character face creations.

Consistent Pip-Boy Icons

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/65046
FrameWork Plugin: https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/83432
Adds higher definition, consistent look on all pip-boy icons and images.

JIP Improved Recipe Menu ESPless

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/75920
Makes recipe menu not to shut down the moment you craft something.

ySI - Sorting Ycons

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/74358
Adds icons at the start of each item, letting them to be categorized.

6. Mods - Gameplay Content

Delay DLC Redux

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/75851
DLC delayer that has optional file for distributing Courier's Stash DLC to game world.

Better Character Creation

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/70973
Streamlines the start of the game to get the player out of Doc Mitchell's house smoothly and quickly, without skipping it entirely.

Gameplay Tweak mods by PTWB

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/78877
https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/73803
Merge of small tweaks and enchantments thanks to PresstheWinButton

Rewarding Exploring - Improved Version

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/72373
GRA unique weapons are scattered across the Mojave for you to find out.

DT Multiplier and DR Adder (MCM) (JIP LN NVSE) (Compatible with Everything)

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/61544
Adds Damage Resistance to armors and allows you through MCM configure multiplier for Damage Treshold, Resistance and weight of the armor.

PerkPackPlus

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/70473
Adds different new perks suited for different playstyles.

Just Mods Assorted

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/66666
Bullet Time Improved: https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/78324
Just Sprint Plus Expansion: https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/83797
A compilation of gimmicky FPS features.

Immersive Recoil 2.0

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/61973
Recoil to each ballistic and energy weapon added.

Retrievable Throwables Reforged

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/66461
Allows you to retrieve throwing weapons instead having them be lost forever.

Harder Barter Faster Stronger

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/80360
Makes bartering bit harder but also at the max level narrows the selling and buying range.

Nevada Arsenal

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/73651
Customizable integration of DLC and GRA weapons.

Miguicks mods

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/users/337763?tab=user+files
I can't stress enough how many wonderful mods Miguick has done, and it's shocking there's not yet big merge of all of them together ( though that might be a huge nightmare to do). All I can say is, just browse them. From minor tweaks to huge ones, only few rare ones stand out as odd one, but most integrate well into the game.

7. Mods - Quest Content

Uncut Wasteland

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/79358
Restores lot of content which some of Moburma's mod doesn't cover. Mostly props and scenery, but also includes NPCs.

The Living Desert

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/64623
This mod adds hundreds of npcs and several scripted events to the world of Fallout: New Vegas; people patrolling the roads, traveling between towns, occupying locations, exploring the desert and reacting dynamically to your choices throughout the game. The Mojave will never feel empty again.

Simple Open Freeside & Strip

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/73128
https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/73127
Performance friendly, less loading screens on Freeside and Strip thanks to gates having been removed.

A World of (Less) Pain - A Lore Friendly AWOP Revision

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/71139
A revision of AWOP that integrates well to base game.

MoreMojave

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/69809
A location mod that extends gameplay area around borders, while also adding bunch of stuff in rarely visited spots of Mojave.

FPGE - Functional Post Game Ending

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/66726
Allows you to continue game after ending.

8. Mods - Graphics/Visuals

Improved LOD Noise Texture

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/46451
Vastly improves the LOD noise texture used on all distant land. Uses only minimal video memory and greatly improves quality.

Desert Natural Weathers - NV - TTW

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/75437
A removal of piss filter, and giving a nice weather look to the game.

Securitrons in CRT

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/63258
CRT Monitor effects for Securitrons.

Universal Pip-Boy Customization

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/66598
Customize your Pip-boy however you see fit.

Character Expansions Revised

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/64862?
A purist NPC face rexture mod. Comes with changes that makes NPCs look more human, and most iconic NPCs based off from concept art are used as base in this mod.

EXE - Effect teXtures Enhanced

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/62989
Texture enchanter for some nice looking lasers and explosions.

IMPACT

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/57113 (Install all but .esp file from 1 of the 3 selections)
https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/62050 (merge with above as this containts the esp)
Adds nice impact textures and decals.

Caravan and Casino FNV themed playing cards

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/41861
Cards are replaced by the ones in Collector's Edition of the game. Aesthetical.

Anniversary Anim Pack

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/70158
hitman has created nice, simple animations for weapons.

Clean Animations

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/70599
Rockbiter takes usage of KNVSE to bring out customized animations, that play nicely with above mod.

9. The End Result

The changes to the game are subtle, but overall, except much less blurrier Mojave wasteland.




I hope you enjoyed this guide and it showcased mods that you haven't seen before. I put effort upon this not only to share a good experience I had with others, but to let them also get used to New Vegas without having to rely on big overhauls like Project Nevada and such. And Most importantly, I wanted to keep things relevantly configurable, so that you can tweak the settings as you may see fit for your tastes.
Incase you have anything to ask or comment upon, please do.

If you want to support my content, you can always give me a Ko-Fi.
https://ko-fi.com/valde007

[METALGRINDS]

My game crashes upon reaching the "Obisidan" logo when starting up, any help?

I did everything as told in the guide, new to modding aswell.

Thanks in advance!

[Terrence]

Thanks, 1st time ever actually trying to play this game & this helped allot.

[Tall_Tapper]

what if we hugged each other in front of the lucky 38

[Taufox]

Cheers, gonna check it out again

[Valde]

Updated once again, this time adding new screenshots.

[Taufox]

updated like right now?

[Valde]

Mod Guide has been updated after a huge hiatus from this game.

[affan.elfaqee]

Well, both newer versions now cause crash on start up.

Thanks by the way.

[Valde]

Affan.elfaqee,
Theres 2 versions of NVHR. One for older and one for newer CPUs. You gotta try out the other file if it didn't work out for you, and if it still causes crash on startup, I recommend removing it.

[affan.elfaqee]

Well, I seemed to find the cause of the problem. it was the heap replacer. I don't know why. I followed your every instruction from section 1 to 5, and got the problem. Sometimes mods don't show up in MCM, sometimes MCM won't even show up when pausing the game, and sometimes pausing the game made the game crashed.

I read on the NVHR nexus page that it isn't compatible with NVSR, but I don't even install NVSR.
So, I won't be using NVHR for now.

I anyone know why it causes problems, please let me know.

Thanks.