Fallout 3 -- Mods for Better Gameplay

Essential Fallout 3 mods to expand gameplay, story, and overall appearance. I have personally tested all of these mods myself. Fallout 3 can become quite a long game and actually very engaging thanks to its modding community. In honor of Fallout 4, these mods are the ones I hand-picked -- and will be updated as I find more.

Remember to rate up!

Currently in the works sorry, released this now so that there is at least a small amount available

Essentials -- Bug Fixes and Performance-Boosters

Fallout 3 is a great game, but part of its charm is that it can be easily modded.

If you haven't already, download Nexus Mod Manager[www.nexusmods.com]
It organizes and automatically installs your mods so that the files are always in the right place.

UPDATED Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch[www.nexusmods.com] by BenWah and Hairylegs
Fixes several bugs and errors. Highly recommended if you plan to install mods.

ArchiveInvalidation Invalidated[www.nexusmods.com] by Quarn
Fixes a great deal of crashing with mods. Even if it doesn't seem like a necessity, it is.

Rivet City FPS[www.nexusmods.com] by wogz187
Greatly reduces the amount of FPS needed to run Rivet City by removing a lot of hidden and unused items.

Graphics + Textures

Terrain Pack[www.nexusmods.com] by NeilMc_NMC
This pack changes a lot of the low-definition textures to higher quality, realistic textures. I was actually pretty impressed with this mod, because the textures blend very well and I could not tell that it was photograph-based.



Raider Grafiti Re-worked[www.nexusmods.com] by Shadowjack
Replaces the grafitti done by Raiders with more HD colorful and graphic sprays.

GreenWorld[www.nexusmods.com] by Khyrin
Adds grasses, trees, and bushes to the Wasteland.

PureWater[www.nexusmods.com] by Khyrin
Makes the water of the wastes a crystal-clear blue. Recommended to install upon the completion of Project Purity.

Enhanced Core Gameplay

Free Play after MQ[www.nexusmods.com] by Zalmoxis and DJ_Kovrik
Highly recommended if you have already completed the main quests but want to continue playing, as this option becomes inaccessible after finishing the story.

Slower Item Degradation[www.nexusmods.com] by SpaceAlex
This mod makes armor and weapons degrade at a much slower pace, as how quickly weapons get ruined can sometimes become obnoxious.

More Map Markers[www.nexusmods.com] by Xyx
Adds all map markers to your Pip-Boy-- even the ones you haven't found yet. Helpful for exploring the Wastes.


Stealth Kills Enabled[www.nexusmods.com] by Attentater5
Ever want to stealth kill a certain character but find it impossible without angering the entire town? Add this mod so you that your murders no longer become massacres~!

Level 100 Cap[www.nexusmods.com] by dimsumz
If you have the Broken Steel add-on installed, chances are that you'll continue playing after completing Project Purity. It changes the level cap from 30 to 100.

~I recommend installing this[www.nexusmods.com] as well
-It increases your skill maximum levels to 255, so that once you're past 100, you no longer have to exit the level up screen by using the console. Any skill level from 101-255 acts the same as 100.

Bobbleheads - Collectors Book[www.nexusmods.com] by King Shelby
The mod allows you to obtain a book with all of the locations of the Bobbleheads from Moira in Craterside Supply.

Environment Boosters/Lighting

DC Moods[www.nexusmods.com] by Monster Monkey
I think this goes down as my favorite FO3 mod of all time. It still continues to impress me. It adds beautiful weather and lighting, with darker nights, brighter days, and deeper sunsets. In Megaton, the sky is clear and blue. But over by Old Olney, deathclaws emerge through the foggy surroundings. The moods fit perfectly with each location, adding more character. I wish I had found this earlier, it really makes the game beautiful without the need for massive texture packs.

SmoothLight - Pip-Boy Light Enhancer[www.nexusmods.com] by HunterZ and Ma-1025
Increases the Pip-Boy flashlight magnitude and reduces brightness for more of a natural feel. The decreased brightness reduces a lot of unecissary glare.

Fallout Street Lights[www.nexusmods.com] by SpeedyB64 and RW2112
This mod adds streetlights and other lights throughout the Wastes to create a more accessible and creepy atmosphere. The flights even flicker and randomly turn on and off.

Taller DC- True Skyscrapers[www.nexusmods.com] by naugrim04
Adds a background to the horizon that features additional ruined skyscrapers and buildings to add a more urban feel.

Companions, Caravans, and Characters

Caravan Tracking[www.nexusmods.com] by Alystin
This mod just adds four dynamic map markers that locate the four different caravans. They move just as the caravans do. However, they do not feature the names of the caravans. It is possible to get a quest for this from Uncle Roe in Canterbury Commons, however if Roe is dead, it will just appear in the quest log in your Pip-Boy instead.

Essential Followers and Caravans[www.nexusmods.com] by Misterfido
This is an essential mod to have (sorry bad pun). Caravans, including their guards and brahmin can no longer be killed by random encounters. It also makes any companions only killable by your own hand-- enemies can only knock them unconcious. It will also respawn any previously dead caravans within a few days.

NPC Height Randomizer[www.nexusmods.com] by Luchaire
All this mod does is randomize NPC heights-- adding more diversity within characters. So far, this mod has not obstructed any NPCs from entering certain doorways and tunnels, as my follower Charon is giant but never has trouble walking in the tunnel in the Jefferson Memorial.


Followers Hire[www.nexusmods.com] by Jalor
Allows you to hire any follower in the game-- regardless of karma. It bases the number of followers you can have based on Charisma level, but doesn't count Dogmeat.
-Make sure you install this patch![www.nexusmods.com]

Crowded Cities[www.nexusmods.com] by Volek
Adds more NPCs to major settlements. NPCs include Wastelanders, mercenaries, punks, children, dogs, and friendly robots. Scavengers also spawn, and can repair up to 90%.
-Not recommend for slower computers

Rivet City Merchants[www.nexusmods.com] by DonLemonade
Rivet City is supposed to be the biggest market in the game, yet it only has a few stalls. This mod adds three fully-functional market stalls to the previously empty ones.

BoS DC Ruins Patrols[www.nexusmods.com] by dragontwosix
This mod adds more Brotherhood of Steel patrols throughout the downtown D.C. area. Its helpful in getting rid of monsters and is relevant in the storyline. The number and kind of patrols per group is fully customizable.

Expanded + Alternate Quests

More Quests - Part One[www.nexusmods.com] by onowrouzi
Definitely worth downloading pretty early in the game, as it just adds a pretty nice amount of smaller side quests from current characters to nicely expand the story and explore more places. It also adds a few new companions to go with some of the quests. There is voice acting to go with the new quests, and believe it or not, it was pretty impressive and high-quality.
-Requires all DLC to be installed for it to work

More Quests - Part Two[www.nexusmods.com] by onowrouzi
Part two of the same mod above. Features more quests and several more companions.
-Does not require DLC unlike its counterpart
-Does not require part one to be installed

The Regulators[www.nexusmods.com] by WillieSea
This quest mod further explores the Regulators, by adding collectible bounty quests on over 50 different Wastelanders.
-Regulators will only accept those who have good karma!

Safe Regulator HQ[www.nexusmods.com] by Talthybius
Removes the two nearby monster spawners so that deathclaws and others will stop killing all of the Regulator Brahmin and patrols.

Tenpenny Tower Reborn[www.nexusmods.com] by Clgseed
This mod expands and adds several alternate endings to Tenpenny Tower, especially if you didn't like the results between Tenpenny and the ghouls. It also adds the ability to earn the Tenpenny suite even if you didn't blow up Megaton, as well as several unique home upgrades.

New Maps/Lands

DCInteriors Project[www.nexusmods.com] by chuckSteel
This mod adds over fifty new interiors to explore in previously boarded up and inaccessible buildings around the DC area. It adds more charm when exploring the mostly barren downtown ruins.

Busworld[www.nexusmods.com] by summel
Ever get annoyed that you can't explore the hundreds of abandoned buses and train cars throughout the Wastes? It adds interiors and even a small quest that can be picked up at the Museum of History.
-Better English Translation[www.nexusmods.com]
-Busworld and DC Interiors Compatibility Patch[www.nexusmods.com]

Bases + Overhauls

A Water Tower Hideout V1_1[www.nexusmods.com] by Orophin
Adds a very nicely designed player hideout. The base also comes with a quest-- to explore the tower's history and past residents.


Dtoms Rivet City Apartment[www.nexusmods.com] by Dtom
This is personally the apartment I use, as Rivet City is more convienent. Pretty large with several rooms, but never feels too spacious or empty. For those of you who are obssessed with collecting and organizing your items, this apartment is definitely for you, as it comes with a lot of pre-labelled storage cointainers.
-Must be purchased from Seagrave Holmes for ~5000 caps

Toastys Rooved Megaton[www.nexusmods.com] by Toasty Fresh
Adds a giant, metal-worked roof to Megaton, further adding to the scrappy and isolated feel.

Radio + Sound

CONELRAD 640-1240 - Civil Defense Radio[www.nexusmods.com] by Macabre Productions
I personally love this radio station. It adds 55 new tracks and several recorded civil defense PSAs. The music is all 50's atomic related and fits in very nicely with the game.

Existence 2_0 - Robot Radio[www.nexusmods.com] by Macabre Productions
This station features around 30 eerie-tech sounding tracks and several announcements, logs, and recordings all done by a robot. The mod even features a mini-quest to find this mysterious nonhuman. It adds to the overall creepiness of the Wastes.

Cheats

PersonalTerminal[www.nexusmods.com] by ITJunky
Adds a personal terminal to the player's home. The terminal allows you to almost anything-- spawn items, change skill levels, add karma, etc, as well as store unlimited items. The terminal is also portable-- allowing you to access home containers while away, and can also hire followers.

Armor + Retextures

Armored Vault 101 Suit - Legacy Edition[www.nexusmods.com] by DeathclawAlpha
The Armored Vault 101 suit is supposed to be the most iconic in the entire game-- yet its poorly textured. This mod updates the texture with a more fitting one-- in higher definition.

Type3 Armor Replacers[www.nexusmods.com] by Exeter
Makes female amor a little bit more feminine fitting without being too revealing.


HiRes Chinese Stealth Armor[www.nexusmods.com] by eidospsogos
The Chinese Stealth armor, earned upon completing the Operation: Anchorage DLC, is definitely my favorite armor in the game. This gives it an HD boost.
-There are several different skins

Screenshots

Just some lovely screenshots to share with all of these mods installed.

[MelloDef]

@MrUrick theres links in the page

[MrUrick]

Where I can find all these mods, and downloaded it togheter?

[Violent Tornado]

"fallout 3 is easily moddded"
> me whose game is the version "0.0.0" and fallout3exe can't be found when loading nvse, neither can the nvse downgrader.

[Coster of Joy]

These mods all look brilliant. Now if only I didn't have to go through the FOSE song and dance.

[MTBear]

@Tacigriller Download LooT and use that to help sort your loadorder.

[Pineappled]

Plus high res weapons V3 for them sweet sweet high resolution firearms

[zzlightningzz]

The thing is when you add the darker nights the NPCs still see you as if it was a sunny day out and will kill you because it will be hard for you [the player] to see where they are shooting from....there needs to be a dumbing up of NPCs so they don't see you as easy...As far as realist the nights are darker as in real life and streetlights mods look great....

[TacoGriller]

Do you have a recommended load order?

[Hydra-T]

I recommend downloading Nexus Mod Manager. Then when you download mods from the Nexus Mods site, they are automatically installed in the right folder. @sPideyman

[sPideyman]

First time modding Fallout: Do I need to download a mod installer? Or should the mod manger do the work? And final question, would installing the mods and putting them in the right file should do it?