Can the DLC for FNV be turned off ?

[Philippe_at_bay]

I have a hazy recollection that you could turn off the DLC for Fallout 3 from inside the game.

Is there something like that for Fallout New Vegas ?

I will want to play with the DLC's eventually, but I'd like to get a feel for the plain vanilla version while I'm learning the game.

[SilvermistInc]

Just an fyi vanilla NV is lacking in Gun Runners Arsenal and different map locations, and aside from a few unique perks that's all the DLCs have to offer.

[Dorvrith]

Originally posted by Philippe_at_bay:

I have a hazy recollection that you could turn off the DLC for Fallout 3 from inside the game.

Is there something like that for Fallout New Vegas ?

I will want to play with the DLC's eventually, but I'd like to get a feel for the plain vanilla version while I'm learning the game.

Go to your steam library click play Fallout NV, go to data files and you can tick them off.

[Philippe_at_bay]

I played the first minute or so of the game earlier tonight, and when I walked out of the doctor's office I was getting bombarded with messages that I assumed were related to the DLC's.

As it happens I had left the DLC boxes un-checked before I installed the game, so I wasn't expecting to see anything like that.

So right now I'm not sure if I have the DLC running or not. I know what to do to install them, but was wondering how I could be sure that they weren't turned on yet.

I played Fallout 3 with everything turned on, and eventually realized that having the DLC present in the first half of the game distorts things a bit.

[bustedgerbil]

There is an RP mod on nexus that delays the dlc.

[talgaby]

DLCs are force-loaded into the game. If you really want to prevent this, you must delete their associated .NAM files and start a fresh game. Verifying game integrity at any point will put the loader files back, so if you start a game, the DLC data will be loaded into that save again, regardless if it is a new game or not.
Keep in mind that you'll still need some stability mods/hacks/plug-ins, but thankfully ever since YUP you don't need the DLCs for that.

[Philippe_at_bay]

I'm fairly low tech, but my takeaway is that one should install with all of the DLC unchecked, then verify the integrity of the files, and then delete the .NAM files. All in that order.

My (perhaps faulty) understanding is that DLC without associated .NAM files were NOT installed on loading. I'd be curious to know how one can be sure about this, but I'm not going crazy worrying about it.

What I'm more concerned with is that there are several different types of files with the same names as the .NAM files. Should I delete those as well? I would think their presence would confuse the engine (or perhaps their absence would do the same thing).

I'm not too concerned about any of this because if I start getting crashes I can always run the verify integrity routine. But crashes aren't good for general computer health, and I would prefer to avoid them.

[talgaby]

No, only delete the .NAM files. They are named the same because this is how the engine knows what to load. The .NAM files by themselves do nothing, they are literally a text file with the DLC name, nothing else. Their existence is what triggers the loading mechanism.

[Philippe_at_bay]

Thanks. Before I deleted the .NAM files I ran an integrity check, and noticed that one file is missing and "will be re-acquired". It's been that way since I first installed the game. I also noticed that the DLC menu in-game lacks functionality, even (and especially) when the DLC are installed.

I wonder if the missing file is the one that allows you to turn the DLC on and off. Any thoughts?

[Ladez]

That file is intended to fail verification. Nothing to worry about.

[Philippe_at_bay]

Any documentation on that ? Sounds a bit like an urban legend.

[Ladez]

Why are one or more files failing to verify?

There are many reasons that a file could fail to verify. If you encounter this issue more than once in a row, this failure to verify is intended by the developers of the game.

Files that may not be intended to verify:

• Custom DRM files that are tailored to your computer only
  
• Configuration files that would be reset to default values if verified
  
• Saved game files that would cause game progress to be lost if verified

support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=3843-OKCB-6345

[Philippe_at_bay]

Thanks that. I think I can guess what it might be. But now that I've removed the .NAM files, I won't be verifying integrity any time soon.

[talgaby]

Originally posted by Philippe_at_bay:

Any documentation on that ? Sounds a bit like an urban legend.

Not an urban legend, this is how the engine tries to protect itself. It fetches a fresh default INI file which it can use to create its own configuration from during install or manual setup. Many, many games up until the early 2000s used a similar mechanic. Heck, you can find it even on modern ones, for example Unreal Engine 3 still relies on default and user INIs to run.