Obsidian’s Fallout: New Vegas, despite being five years old, is still enjoying a booming modding scene. But what are the best Fallout: New Vegas mods? We’ve rounded them all up in this useful list, picking out the finest new quests, the fanciest texture upgrades, and the most useful fixes.
If you’re planning on revisiting the nuclear-scorched earth of the Mojave Wasteland before the Fallout 4 release date, then these are the mods we recommend bringing along for the ride.
How do I install Fallout: New Vegas mods?
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 VegasData
Windows 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 mods
Fallout Mod Manager
WIthout the Steam Workshop to make things smooth and easy, you’ll need a Mod Manager to help you get all your mods installed with the correct load orders.
New Vegas Script Extender
Adding lots of mods to the game may require an extension of Fallout: New Vegas’s scripting capabilities. This tiny New Vegas Script Extender mod will make sure the game’s script is sufficiently extended to allow hundreds of mods to work simultaneously.
Mod Configuration Menu
Generally with mods if you feel the need to change something you have to close the game and alter some files. The Mod Configuration Menu adds a management page to the pause menu, allowing you to make some alterations without ever leaving the game.
New Vegas Anti-Crash
Fallout: New Vegas is a little on the buggy side unfortunately, and can be quite susceptible to crashing to desktop. NVAC is a simple mod that helps reduce the chances of crashing.
4GB Fallout New Vegas
When using lots of big mods like textures, you may find that Fallout: New Vegas begins to struggle with its small allocation of virtual memory. FNV4GB 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 Mojave
Bethesda 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. Mission Mojave has 27,000 fixes for various bugs throughout New Vegas and its DLC packs.
Graphical Fallout: New Vegas mods
New Vegas Redesigned 3
New Vegas Redesigned addresses 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 Vegas
There’s a lot of world in New Vegas, and NMC’s Texture Pack 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 Skies
Since 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. Nevada Skies 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 Overhaul
Adding 101 different trees and plants to the wasteland, Flora Overhaul 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 Wasteland
Say ‘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 ELECTRO-CITY 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.
Fellout 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 Enhancements
The Essential Visual Enhancements 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 Lighting
A less intensive alternative to Nevada Skies, Realistic Wasteland Lighting adjusts the intensity of sunlight and adds subtle weather affects to help create a more photorealistic Mojave Desert.
The ENB of the Apocalypse
When combined with Realistic Wasteland Lighting, ENB of the Apocalypse 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 FX
Dust 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 HQ Dust Storm FX mod makes sure that the sand storms look like the gritty nightmares they are.
Oxide ENB
This 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 Oxide ENB 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.
IMPACT
New 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. IMPACT 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 mods
TitanFallout
There’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). TitanFallout 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 Nevada
Project Nevada is 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 Millenia
Weapons of the New Millenia adds 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 Expanded
One 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 Weapons Mod Expanded 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 Camera
If 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 Enhanced Camera mod, which gives you a physical body you can actually see working, and won’t ever pull you out of it.
More Perks
Every 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 More Perks 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 Ring
One of Fallout’s most unusual mods, King of the Ring 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 Rebuilt
Nipton is one of New Vegas’s key towns, but rather than being a hub of life it was razed to the ground. Nipton Rebuilt 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 Bounties
New Vegas Bounties is 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 Pain
Adding a massive 114 new location to New Vegas, A World of Pain 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 Home
It didn’t take long before modders decided they needed to bring a bit of the unreleased Fallout 4 into New Vegas. The Garage Home, 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 Defence
Whilst some mods have been inspired by Fallout 4’s reveal, other mods actually inspired Fallout 4’s development. Undoubtedly Wasteland Defence 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 Simulator
Survival games are all the rage right now, and DUST 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 Inheritance
A fully voiced quest line with 1,300 lines of dialogue, The Inheritance 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 Brazil
Project Brazil is 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 Overhaul
Playing stealth has always been an option in Fallout, but never a particularly good one. Realistic Stealth 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.
Niner
New 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. Niner 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 38
The 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 Run the Lucky 38 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.
JSawyer
Josh 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 JSawyer mod, 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, The Frontier 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 Fallout 4’s storyline, new features, mods, and system requirements.
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Fallout: New Vegas mods
Fallout 5 release date
Making New Vegas was fraught
So you did yourself a favor and you bought Fallout: New Vegas for the PC. Good work! Now you can start modding, but where do you start? Do you install major weather and sky mods that change how the entire Mojave looks? Or do you want to give yourself more perks from the get-go? Well, lucky you! You just found yerself a mighty fine list here partner.
#15 Nevada Skies
Nevada Skies changes not only how the sky itself looks but adds weather, too! It offers sandstorms, rain, thunderstorms, cloudy days, more kinds of sunny days and a myriad of different clouds to look up and squint at. There's even snow in appropriate locations, and rad storms when you think the desert couldn't get any harsher. The night itself changes too—it's darker now and the sky is changed as well, filled with a universe's worth of stars to gaze upon. Even better, it's not sunny one day and then rainy the next. It still feels like it's the desert.
This mod and the next two listed are highly recommended to download together as the modders themselves have worked to bring them together in a way that makes sense, and so each mod actually affects the other.
#14 Imp’s More Complex Needs / IMCNNV
Imp's More Complex Needs is a HUGE mod. It changes how food, water and drugs work as well as how your body is affected by them. It even affects the Mojave itself. The mod adds 6 additional levels of nutrition to enhance your immersion in the game.
There's Protein, Nutrients, Fullness, Stimulants, Mood and Alcohol. Different foods affect you in different ways—for example eating raw gecko meat will make you ill with food poisoning, but cooking it beforehand will increase your mood, fill you up and increase your protein intake. Higher moods equal faster health regeneration. Meat will spoil in your inventory if left there for too long, and if you drink too much Whiskey you'll end up dead in the dirt. Rates have their own multipliers as well, so for example if you find yourself drinking too much water you can adjust that. You can enable or disable the healing factors of food and change your height and weight which in turn affects your metabolism.
There is just so much this mod does to change the game, that you might not want to return to vanilla mode.
#13 Ambient Temperature.
This mod alongside the previous two, changes how your body is affected by the wasteland's weather. The temperatures, humidity, dew points—they all change how thirsty and fatigued you become. It also affects what NPCs are wearing and when equipment overheats. It's even set up to reflect Las Vegas' real weather patterns, so it all feels natural. If you get the previous two mods mentioned then I highly recommend you pick this one up too.
#12 The IMAGINATOR – Visual Control Device
The Imaginator vastly changes how you see the world. You can make things brighter, change the overall tint, increase or decrease contrast, saturation, and even add film effects! You can make the Mojave look like something filmed from Star Trek's 1960s cameras. You can also make the world black and white, sepia toned, and add a slow shutter effect for something even more old timey. Make the world bright green or just change the vibrancy to make everything pop. Can't see in the dark? You can fix that too!
The Imaginator comes with many preset styles as well as giving you the ability to make more subtle changes yourself, so don't be afraid to play around all day long instead of fighting Cazadores—no one will blame you.
#11 Darnified
This mod changes the words you see on the screen so they are smaller, and more compact allowing you to fit more information on the screen at once. You don't have to scroll forever now, because it's all there in front of you. It makes reading through your inventory so much easier, especially while trading.
#10 Extended New Vegas Radio Generator
This mod doesn't come with music but it changes the game so you can add more songs yourself. You won’t have to listen to the same old music over and over again. It even converts your own MP3s for you, so you can listen to them in New Vegas. The mod will hold up to an amazing 32,000 songs, so you'll never grow tired of the radio again.
#9 Goodsprings Farmhouse
This mod gives you a home to call your own in Goodsprings, so you don't have to carry all that stuff that you HAVE to have 4 towns away. Even better—it fits! It's not filled to the brim with high end equipment that you'd never so early in the game. In fact, it's messy just like every other building in the game and there's more than enough room for all your goods. There's even a couple of small quests that go with it as well! There's a nice backyard where you can grow your own foods and a secret down in the basement.
You are awarded the home after defending the town but you can also cheat and get the key early, but I won't tell you how to do so here—it’s something you'll have to look up the mod.
#8 Active Wasteland
Active Wasteland lets you use more items you find in the wasteland. Next time you're at the doctor's office, try messing with the air tanks. You can use the coffee machines now as well, all you need is a mug and some pinyon nuts. Turn on those hotel desk lamps so you can finally cast light on those darkened hallways.
#7 Blackwolf's Backpack
This mod gives you a number of backpacks of various carrying weight that allow you to hold more goods in your personal inventory. It is a life saver, and it's not just some mod that changes a number—it's an actual backpack. With this mod, you can carry up to 90 more pounds of goods! You can really become your own personal caravan with this. The packs themselves are beautifully made as well.
#6 Light Step ED-E
Why does a flying robot set off mines? It is a mystery we will never know, just like why people thought it would be a good idea to have nuclear-powered vehicles. This mod changes this so you'll no longer be scratching your head and wasting precious stim-packs.
#5 Realistic Repair
This mod allows you to repair your goods in a more sensible manner. It lets you use items that you'd normally just skip over and sell to fix your stuff. Glue your armor back together or give it a good scrub with Abraxo. You can use hammers to bash your weapons back together and repair them with items that share similar properties. You can use a baseball bat to fix up the stock of your rifle. If you like to make a lot of caps repairing the stuff you find, then you'll want this mod.
#4 Type 3 Cute Country Girl Cass and Presets
I've never seen such a wonderfully done companion redesign. Cassidy is adorable, and it's still her. Unlike other character mods, she isn't all dolled up like an anime character or wearing slutty undergarments. She's still got her jeans, jacket and cowboy hat. If you want to give her something a bit more protective than what she's wearing, then you will have to install another mod to do so.
#3 Real Time Settler
This mod changes the game entirely. It allows you to build a settlement, let it grow and develop, and ultimately defend it. Your settlement can become the architectural beacon of the Mojave. I can’t recommend this mod enough. Even though it's creator is no longer modding the game, it has been placed into good hands.
#2 Project Nevada
It's not a traditional overhaul, so don't mistake it for that. Though it offers many subtle changes to the game itself, you can pick and choose modules to suit your style, allowing you more freedom than other mods like this. You can pick from a rebalancing module, cybernetic implants and new weaponry and armor. There's a dynamic crosshair, and you can now even sprint! This mod is a must have for everyone who’s fed up of the game’s vanilla combat system.
#1 nVamp
nVamp is a huge overhaul mod designed to seamlessly integrate many of the mods available out there, like those on this list, so everything flows and works together as they should. It brings you bug fixes, stronger enemies, and you can even find yourself stumbling into battles. There are new areas to explore, and the entire Mojave will come alive like you've never seen it before. You're sorely missing out on an incredible experience if you pass this up.
So you did yourself a favor and you bought Fallout: New Vegas for the PC. Good work! Now you can start modding, but where do you start? Do you install major weather and sky mods that change how the entire Mojave looks? Or do you want to give yourself more perks from the get-go? Well, lucky you! You just found yerself a mighty fine list here partner.
#15 Nevada Skies
Nevada Skies changes not only how the sky itself looks but adds weather, too! It offers sandstorms, rain, thunderstorms, cloudy days, more kinds of sunny days and a myriad of different clouds to look up and squint at. There's even snow in appropriate locations, and rad storms when you think the desert couldn't get any harsher. The night itself changes too—it's darker now and the sky is changed as well, filled with a universe's worth of stars to gaze upon. Even better, it's not sunny one day and then rainy the next. It still feels like it's the desert.
This mod and the next two listed are highly recommended to download together as the modders themselves have worked to bring them together in a way that makes sense, and so each mod actually affects the other.
#14 Imp’s More Complex Needs / IMCNNV
Imp's More Complex Needs is a HUGE mod. It changes how food, water and drugs work as well as how your body is affected by them. It even affects the Mojave itself. The mod adds 6 additional levels of nutrition to enhance your immersion in the game.
There's Protein, Nutrients, Fullness, Stimulants, Mood and Alcohol. Different foods affect you in different ways—for example eating raw gecko meat will make you ill with food poisoning, but cooking it beforehand will increase your mood, fill you up and increase your protein intake. Higher moods equal faster health regeneration. Meat will spoil in your inventory if left there for too long, and if you drink too much Whiskey you'll end up dead in the dirt. Rates have their own multipliers as well, so for example if you find yourself drinking too much water you can adjust that. You can enable or disable the healing factors of food and change your height and weight which in turn affects your metabolism.
There is just so much this mod does to change the game, that you might not want to return to vanilla mode.
#13 Ambient Temperature.
This mod alongside the previous two, changes how your body is affected by the wasteland's weather. The temperatures, humidity, dew points—they all change how thirsty and fatigued you become. It also affects what NPCs are wearing and when equipment overheats. It's even set up to reflect Las Vegas' real weather patterns, so it all feels natural. If you get the previous two mods mentioned then I highly recommend you pick this one up too.
#12 The IMAGINATOR – Visual Control Device
The Imaginator vastly changes how you see the world. You can make things brighter, change the overall tint, increase or decrease contrast, saturation, and even add film effects! You can make the Mojave look like something filmed from Star Trek's 1960s cameras. You can also make the world black and white, sepia toned, and add a slow shutter effect for something even more old timey. Make the world bright green or just change the vibrancy to make everything pop. Can't see in the dark? You can fix that too!
The Imaginator comes with many preset styles as well as giving you the ability to make more subtle changes yourself, so don't be afraid to play around all day long instead of fighting Cazadores—no one will blame you.
#11 Darnified
This mod changes the words you see on the screen so they are smaller, and more compact allowing you to fit more information on the screen at once. You don't have to scroll forever now, because it's all there in front of you. It makes reading through your inventory so much easier, especially while trading.
#10 Extended New Vegas Radio Generator
This mod doesn't come with music but it changes the game so you can add more songs yourself. You won’t have to listen to the same old music over and over again. It even converts your own MP3s for you, so you can listen to them in New Vegas. The mod will hold up to an amazing 32,000 songs, so you'll never grow tired of the radio again.
#9 Goodsprings Farmhouse
This mod gives you a home to call your own in Goodsprings, so you don't have to carry all that stuff that you HAVE to have 4 towns away. Even better—it fits! It's not filled to the brim with high end equipment that you'd never so early in the game. In fact, it's messy just like every other building in the game and there's more than enough room for all your goods. There's even a couple of small quests that go with it as well! There's a nice backyard where you can grow your own foods and a secret down in the basement.
You are awarded the home after defending the town but you can also cheat and get the key early, but I won't tell you how to do so here—it’s something you'll have to look up the mod.
#8 Active Wasteland
Active Wasteland lets you use more items you find in the wasteland. Next time you're at the doctor's office, try messing with the air tanks. You can use the coffee machines now as well, all you need is a mug and some pinyon nuts. Turn on those hotel desk lamps so you can finally cast light on those darkened hallways.
#7 Blackwolf's Backpack
This mod gives you a number of backpacks of various carrying weight that allow you to hold more goods in your personal inventory. It is a life saver, and it's not just some mod that changes a number—it's an actual backpack. With this mod, you can carry up to 90 more pounds of goods! You can really become your own personal caravan with this. The packs themselves are beautifully made as well.
#6 Light Step ED-E
Why does a flying robot set off mines? It is a mystery we will never know, just like why people thought it would be a good idea to have nuclear-powered vehicles. This mod changes this so you'll no longer be scratching your head and wasting precious stim-packs.
#5 Realistic Repair
This mod allows you to repair your goods in a more sensible manner. It lets you use items that you'd normally just skip over and sell to fix your stuff. Glue your armor back together or give it a good scrub with Abraxo. You can use hammers to bash your weapons back together and repair them with items that share similar properties. You can use a baseball bat to fix up the stock of your rifle. If you like to make a lot of caps repairing the stuff you find, then you'll want this mod.
#4 Type 3 Cute Country Girl Cass and Presets
I've never seen such a wonderfully done companion redesign. Cassidy is adorable, and it's still her. Unlike other character mods, she isn't all dolled up like an anime character or wearing slutty undergarments. She's still got her jeans, jacket and cowboy hat. If you want to give her something a bit more protective than what she's wearing, then you will have to install another mod to do so.
#3 Real Time Settler
This mod changes the game entirely. It allows you to build a settlement, let it grow and develop, and ultimately defend it. Your settlement can become the architectural beacon of the Mojave. I can’t recommend this mod enough. Even though it's creator is no longer modding the game, it has been placed into good hands.
#2 Project Nevada
It's not a traditional overhaul, so don't mistake it for that. Though it offers many subtle changes to the game itself, you can pick and choose modules to suit your style, allowing you more freedom than other mods like this. You can pick from a rebalancing module, cybernetic implants and new weaponry and armor. There's a dynamic crosshair, and you can now even sprint! This mod is a must have for everyone who’s fed up of the game’s vanilla combat system.
#1 nVamp
nVamp is a huge overhaul mod designed to seamlessly integrate many of the mods available out there, like those on this list, so everything flows and works together as they should. It brings you bug fixes, stronger enemies, and you can even find yourself stumbling into battles. There are new areas to explore, and the entire Mojave will come alive like you've never seen it before. You're sorely missing out on an incredible experience if you pass this up.
Fallout: New Vegas lives. Years go by but the fourth entry in the post-apocalyptic series retains its unwaning popularity among RPG fans with an appetite for a juicy experience. At the same time, the modding community gathered around Obsidian’s work persists in its efforts to keep the Mojave Desert’s glory alive for as long as possible.
And while the spirit of New Vegas remains strong and timeless, its visual flesh is significantly more likely to suffer at the hands of time. The Gamebryo engine was considered not the most beautiful even at the moment of the game’s release; 5 years later and it can sometimes be as repulsive as a flock of feral ghouls after midnight. As a result, long-time players coming back to the Strip after a break may be discouraged, and newcomers – outright scared away.
To counter that effect, we give you our selection. Here are the mods that will change the way you look at Mojave Wasteland, and allow you to re-appreciate one of the best Fallouts in history without disgust on your face. You will find here instructions how to install each add-on as well as universal tips on how to mod New Vegas from now on. All mods in this selection are compatible with the latest version of the game.
Fallout New Vegas Modding Guide
The description “Vanilla” you see on some of the screenshots signifies a basic (unmodified) version of the game.
…but the Wasteland does – and for the better. Installing the mods for Fallout: New Vegas.
In this section you will find a list of applications enabling you to install and manage the mods as well as ensure their proper working.
ATTENTION: Before you modify any game files, the game has to be launched at least once using the default launcher.
Nexus Mod Manager
Fallout New Vegas supports the content available on Nexus Mods website. This means that you can download mods using the Nexus Mod Manager software (later on referred to as NMM).
NMM allows you to automatically install, enable, and disable the mods. Furthermore, the application is clear, easy to use, and offers access to nearly 100% of the resources available on the dedicated nexus.
The nexusmods site dedicated to New Vegaswill inform you during the download procedure whether the modification requires any additional plugins to work properly.
Using the Nexus Mod Manager
1. Download and run the latest Nexus Mod Manager software.
2. Wait until it finishes scanning your drive for games or cancel the scan and choose the game manually.
3. Select the modification in the Mods tab (the mod itself may be placed in an automatically generated subfolder) and click the second button from the top (the green check mark) – this will enable the mod in the game.
ATTENTION: To download files from Nexus Mods you need to have an account there.
Managing your mods
The latest version of NMM provides the options to comfortably manage all of your modifications. By which we mean not only automated installation (enabling and disabling whole mods or selected .esm and .esp files), but also validation of all plugins (archives) and reorganization of the files’ load order.
First of the abovementioned actions becomes handy after having manually installed mods that added new textures. To verify the archives select Tools from the upper menu, then uncheck and recheck the Archive Validation option.
The second action will set the right loading order of the mods, which prevents the game from crashing or malfunctioning of individual modifications. To do it, select Tools once again and simply check the Automatic Plugin Sorting option.
New Vegas Script Extender
New Vegas Script Extender (NVSE) is a tool enabling you to unleash the full “scripting potential” that lies dormant in Fallout: New Vegas, ensuring the proper working of mods that would otherwise have to interfere with the game’s .exe file.
As NVSE is used by many modifications that change gameplay mechanics, it would be a good idea to begin your modding with this one.
How to install the New Vegas Script Extender mod
1. Download the New Vegas Script Extender (version 5.0b2).
2. Copy the archive’s contents into the game folder (the one containing FalloutNV.exe)
New Vegas 4GB
New Vegas 4GB (NV4GB) is an add-on enabling the game to access and use up to 4 gigabytes of GPU RAM. Some advanced visual mods require this modifications to work; without it they may cause stuttering, crashes or significant performance drops.
3. Create a desktop shortcut leading to fnv4gb.exe
4. Open the shortcut properties. Add space after the quotation mark in the “Target” field and add the following line: -SteamAppId 22490 -laaexe .FalloutNV4GB.exe (example: 'C:program files (x86)steamsteamappscommonfallout new vegas enplczrufnv4gb.exe' -SteamAppId 22490 -laaexe .FalloutNV4GB.exe
5. From now on, launch the game using this shortcut. NVSE will be loaded automatically.
ENB Mods – what are they and how to install them
ENB is a general name encompassing all modifications based on the files created by Boris Vorontsov. The files enable a game to support advanced post-processing features that were partially supported or weren’t supported at all.
Although post-processing in modern games is a rather resource-consuming process and can have a significant impact on performance, Fallout: New Vegas goes rather easy on system resources, allowing even older PCs to handle the following ENB Series mods with little if any problems.
The mods created using Vorontsov’s files will be referred to as presets from now on.
How to install the files enabling you to use ENB presets
1. Download the latest version of ENB Series.
2. Extract the archive. Copy the contents of the WrapperVersion folder into the game folder (the one containing FalloutNV.exe)
3. From now on, copy every new preset into the game folder, overwriting files if asked.
Using the ENB presets
There’s more to be done with ENB than installing the right plugin – when the game is running, you will have access to a powerful editor that allows you to modify every parameter of the currently loaded preset.
To open the editor press the Shift+Enter key combination. You will see a menu on the left (see the screenshot below).
Through the editor you have the ability to manipulate properties of the enbseries.ini config file, which, with some effort on your part, will allow you to fully adjust the plugin to your preference. In other words – your imagination is the limit.
The post-processing applied by a ENB mod can be enabled and disabled with the Shift+F12 key combination.
Weapon Retexture Project – better textures for your arsenal
What’s better than a big gun? A good-looking big gun, obviously. The creator of Weapon Retexture Project knows those words of wisdom well. That’s why he decided to refurbish the looks of every single piece of trigger-equipped hardware laying around Mojave. Although the completion of his noble goal lies still far ahead, even as it is now his mod upgrades texture quality of most available firearms, making it a pleasure not just using them but simply looking at them.
Creator: Millenia
How to install: Download the mod manually, extract the archive and copy its contents to: [game_folder]Data
Mojave Sandy Desert – true sand
Monochromatic, parched desert soil? Not if Mojave Sandy Desert can help it. The plugin adds a wide array of new textures, replacing not only the deserts as we know them but also the maps drawn on some types of terrain or the roadside. Never before have the wastelands of Nevada been so sandy, so tempting to go for a walk on and simply appreciate the landscape.
Creator: AceeQ
How to install: Download and enable using the Nexus Mod Manager.
Interior Lighting Overhaul – see indoors in a new light
There’s hardly place for mood with improper lighting – even the most charming locations can be ruined with unrealistic or overexposed lights. Interior Lighting Overhaul will provide the interiors of all the buildings with lighting that is properly balanced, toned down, and adjusted to their individual character, boosting immersion and contributing a well-thought-out harmony that is a joy to the eye.
Creator: Sarge198
How to install: Download and enable using the Nexus Mod Manager.
Essential Visual Enhancements – general visual upgrades
Explosions, gunshots, and gushing blood – take that away and what’s left? Certainly not immersion and satisfaction. The creator of Essential Visual Enhancements wanted to reach new depths of the visual experience that accompanies combat with all kinds of lethal objects. Thus, he implemented new death animations, environmental effects of bullets and particles, as well as refurbished looks for explosions, gun- and laserfire. As the mod is constantly developed, we can expect further tweaks and improvements in the near future.
Creator: weijiesen
How to install: Download and enable using the Nexus Mod Manager.
Fallout Character Overhaul – better-looking NPCs
Ghouls are not the only creatures in the Wasteland that could use some facelifting – faces of most NPCs were severely tested by the aged game engine that powers New Vegas. Fallout Character Overhaul was created specifically for them, as it changes facial features of not only NPCs but also the Courier’s companions… or even the Courier himself/herself. The plugin adds new, high-res textures, reduces angularity, provides better-looking eyes and teeth, and, last but not least, it doesn’t collide with any visual mods from the ENB Series.
Creator: Drumber
How to install: Download and enable using the Nexus Mod Manager. The mod has a built-in config app, which will allow you to pick from several variants of character and enemy appearances.
ATTENTION: The mod requires the Old World Blues expansion as well as the UIO mod to work properly.
Wasteland Flora Overhaul – better textures for vegetation
The Wasteland is, by definition, a desolate and harsh place, making any pleasant landscape elements a change not only welcome and worthy of attention but also – where possible – of embellishment. Here’s where Wasteland Flora Overhaul comes in to the fray, by increasing the number and variety of plants the Courier can stumble across. Furthermore, the plugin adds several new types of trees and bushes (around 80 new 3D models) and is available in two versions – the more austere ‘dead’ and the more vivid ‘fertile’.
Creator: vurt
How to install: Download and enable using the Nexus Mod Manager.
Realistic Wasteland Lighting – see the outdoors in a new light
If your choking on that dirty, brownish dust covering all of Mojave and your eyes have learned to differentiate between more than 50 shades of sepia – perhaps you should look at the Wasteland in a different light. Realistic Wasteland Light will deliver some fresh touch, making the post-apocalyptic landscapes a bit more pleasant to watch and (at least visually) free of radiation. The plugin increases color saturation and removes the ever-present “sandy” screen filter, with no repercussions for overall performance.
Creator: sal203
How to install: Download and enable using the Nexus Mod Manager.
Project Reality – realistic landscapes
Project reality is a mod that puts gameplay immersion first and foremost. The plugin adds some new weather effects and revamps the visuals of those already present. Furthermore, it implements several sound effects to accompany different weather conditions, like sandstorms or downpours. It will also replace the color scheme of the Wasteland with a more consistent, cooler set of colors.
Creator: jjc71
How to install: Download and enable using the Nexus Mod Manager.
ATTENTION: The mod is not fully compatible with Nevada Skies.
Enhanced Shaders ENB – better shading
If you ever thought, when walking the New Vegas Strip, that your surroundings are bleak, unpolished, and generally lacking, you were dead on. One of many things it lacked was proper ambient occlusion, provided by the Enhanced Shaders preset, which focuses on adding the missing shade where it is due – in the corners, in the foliage, or under light sources. Enhanced Shaders’ strong point, however, lies in it unobtrusiveness – it leaves the original colors as they were.
Creator: tapioks
How to install: Download manually and follow the instructions included in the section dedicated to ENB Mods.
Nevada Skies – realistic sky and weather effects
Be it rain, snow or blazing sun – the Wasteland has a hard time surprising you because, weather be as it may, everything remains basically the same. One way to counter such progressing indifference is the Nevada Skies mod, which provides a complete makeover of the sky and turns all weather conditions much more unpredictable, severe, and spectacular. After having installed the mod, more often than not you will find yourself entranced by the image of clouds racing on the sky, standing on a hill to watch the sun sink below the horizon, or, if an unexpected sandstorm comes down, hiding in the closest shelter with other NPCs to avoid death. Provided you find a shelter in the area.
Creator: Yossarian22
How to install: Download and enable using the Nexus Mod Manager.
ATTENTION: The mod is not fully compatible with Project Reality.
NMC’s Texture Pack – textures of high(est) resolution
The more details the better – especially when it comes to the details of the smallest elements of the environment. NMC’s Texture Pack revamps the looks of nearly all objects in the game by significantly increasing the resolution of textures covering them. From streets and pavements through cars and road signs to wallpapers – the seemingly boring Wasteland suddenly becomes a land of minuteness. The mod is available in three versions – large, medium, and small; the first one is recommended – to avoid stutters – only to the owners of GPUs possessing more than 4GB of RAM.
Creator: NMC
How to install: Download and enable using the Nexus Mod Manager. If, during the installation, the app asks you to overwrite existing files, choose “No to all”.
Blackout ENB – Repainting the Wasteland
Blackout ENB is one of the most popular presets, offering not only a different, more clean and toned-down visual quality, but also increasing the intensity of darkness ruling the Wasteland during night hours. The mod draws its popularity from the fact of being well-balanced and not overly exaggerated when it comes to colors, creating a very fresh and natural look. Additionally, the mod, once activated, doesn’t particularly affect the overall performance; unless you find yourself in the middle of an intense downpour.
Creator: Xilandro
How to install: Download manually and follow the instructions included in the section dedicated to ENB Mods.
ATTENTION: The mod works best when paired with Nevada Skies or Project Reality.