Playable without mods?

[Soothsayer]

Hello,

I'm super bad at tech/computers, i've looked at what i should do to install mods and it seemed way too complicated for my boomer tiny brain.

Is the game playable without mods, or is it an unplayable mess due to modern hardware ?

Thank you very much

[Fluffy_Llama]

Game is just fine without mods but you do need to do a couple things. Get the 4gb enabler for the exe, fixes the 32bit limitation of only using 2gb of memory.

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/62552

Then get the NVTF New Vegas Tick Fix, it patches a bunch of problems that lead to the game "stuttering" even on high end hardware.

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/66537

You would also need the Script Extender. http://nvse.silverlock.org/

Should be some videos on the mod pages on what to do.

[Vex Hilarius]

Do you know where to find the NV files and know how to download stuff off the internet? If so, you know how to mod.

If not, how are you on Steam, let alone a PC?

[Death Approaches]

Goedemorgen from NYC, Sooth.

>> my boomer tiny brain

I've always said games should be for AARPers, you youngins go have a life you dummy, but post-60 everything hurts, lots of your friends are gone, and illness may prevent you from enjoying even a simple vacation... and you have a lot of free time. You can have an digital adventure without worrying about stopping at every doctor to get 3 months worth of medications in advance.

Of course the converse, you're still going to die - soon - so you might want to re-think that whole gaming thing if you're still healthy, because... Death Approaches.

Not you, you're clearly a gamer by choice! Great Satan that's some library you got there, Sooth!

And yes, most play all the Fallout games without mods their first time. Mods become fun when you love a game so much, you want to keep it going even after you've basically memorized all the content.

Looking at some of the titles in your library I know there's some mods you would very much enjoy, combat mods, new missions and adventure mods, sex and nudity mods, silliness mods, etc. so don't rule it out - besides, if you mess up, you can just delete it all and start over.

There's 3 stickies in this discussion and a bunch more in the Guides section about modding F:NV, I'm confident you could learn this, boomer brain is still a brain, and you could argue that growing up before carrying a smartphone that gives you answers instantly, your brain is BETTER equipped to learn something new than a 20-something. Just a thought.

[Graceful Jabberwocky]

it should work without mods, it mostly does for me

but it might not

[Monstricide]

https://vivanewvegas.moddinglinked.com/intro.html
here bud dont listen to that top guy NVTF is broken for windows 10 and above, you can get away with just the utilities and bug fixes section of this. This is a whole guide that can and will hold your hand the whole way if you have questions message me or add me id be more than willing to help

[Fluffy_Llama]

@Monstricide - You are thinking of the Fallout NV stutter remover, it is indeed broken. NVTF works perfectly and was last updated only a month ago. I have 120 hours on my current TTW play thru with zero crashes and im on windows 10.

It has 30,000 endorsements and no recent posts in the comments section saying its broken for anyone. Really the only thing the OP needs is the 4gb enabler utility.

[ravens_creed]

I have been playing the base game for months without any mods, fixes, or add-ons on a newish rig. It does suffer from frequent crashing and the occasional endless load screen (that requires a reboot or a ctrl+alt+del to sign-out to get out of), but saving regularly prevents game progress loss and I guess I've gotten used to the crashes to the point that they are only mildly annoying. I'm playing the base vanilla game in 4k. It can absolutely be done, just be prepared for the crashes and infinite load screens. You'll even start to pick up on when the crashes are most likely to happen (loading from one area to the next, usually).

[Ruffus Jubei]

I've logged 25 hours and so far so good! Not a single issue. Plays great.

[The Real Private Kowalski]

i did a full play thru on Xbox and i only crashed in loading screens other then that the base non-modded game was fine

[BigCatRob]

Definitely playable without mods, but might run into a few CTDs along the way

For some reason tho, my Steam Deck plays it significantly more stable than any desktop/laptop I put it to. The latter usually CTDs when entering certain locations or just out of nowhere. The former handles it relatively well with little to no issue at least from my experiences so far, just had to disable cloud saves because I kept getting stuck in infinite loads when booting the game back up and loading the most recent save.

[Ezenthar]

Like Fluffy Llama said, I would highly recommend just a couple of performance-enhancing changes because the game unfortunately was made on a dinosaur engine where performance of this game tends to get worse the newer your computer is. The script extender, the 4GB patch, and the stutter removal mods are honestly great, that's how I'm currently playing, completely vanilla otherwise.

[Vassago Rain]

It's absolutely playable without mods, but you'll run into many issues and limitations that only keep getting worse with age.
In the year of viva new Vegas, there's really no good reason not to play with at least that installed.

[Cinderblaze3]

How do I put this...is this game playable without mods? Yes, since constant crashes, infinite loading bugs causing hours of lost progress, and literally being too scared to go to a certain location because the game crashes every time you go there, is technically still PLAYABLE.
Is this game enjoyable without mods? I'd argue, no.
FNV was the unstable aunt at the Bethesda family reunion when it came out, and its technical state has deteriorated drastically since then. I recently started playing this game, intending to do a vanilla run first, but I gave up 10 hours in because of the aforementioned issues. The game runs so, soo much better ever since I installed the basic bug fixes, script extender, and various utilities. I too am not that good with tech, but these mods are actually really simple to install, the instructions can make it sound complex and intimidating, but trust me, if you take your time and read it over carefully, it can be a breeze.