Nerdy And Loving It

Here’s a list/guide on the Fallout New Vegas mods that I am using and how to install them.

Similar to my oblivion mod guide, my goal is mostly to make the game look better while keeping the gameplay as close to vanilla as possible (with few exceptions).

 

You MUST follow everything exactly as it is written or you will cause massive headaches for yourself.

Make sure to go to options on the launcher and set your graphics to High or Ultra, depending on what your system can handle. Also, MAKE SURE to set Mode (in the bottom left corner of the options menu) to “Windowed”. (We’ll use this later for borderless full screen, which will allow us to alt tab out of the game without it crashing.) If you don’t care about borderless full screen, don’t use windowed mode.

Pre-Setup:

First thing’s first. We need to make it so the game can use multi threading.

Start the game once by launching the game, clicking play, and then exiting the game when you can. This will create the ini file that we will be editing below.

Open “C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Fallout New Vegas\Fallout_default.ini” and do the following:

Change “bUseThreadedAI=0” to “bUseThreadedAI=1”.

Right below that line add, “iNumHWThreads=2” (without the quotes).

We also have to change the ini so that some mods will work correctly:

Change “bInvalidateOlderFiles=0” to “bInvalidateOlderFiles=1” if it isn’t already set to 1.

Another nice thing that I do is disable the intro images for faster game startup. Change the following:

SMainMenuMovieIntro=0
SIntroSequence=0

Now let’s fix the insanely fast mouse. Search the ini for “bBackground Keyboard” (without quotes) and after that line paste the following:

fForegroundMouseAccelBase=0
fForegroundMouseAccelTop=0
fForegroundMouseBase=0
fForegroundMouseMult=0

One last fix for the character overhaul mod. Set the following:

bLoadFaceGenHeadEGTFiles=1

Next, be sure that the steam overlay is enabled. (Go to steam settings, go to “In-Game”, check “Enable the Steam Overlay while in-game”, click “Ok”, go to Fallout 3 in steam and right click it, select “Properties”, check “Enable the Steam Overlay while in-game”.)

 

Tools:

New Vegas Script Extender (NVSE) – You need to install this to get certain mods to work. On the website, find the section labeled “stable version” and select the link to download the latest stable version. Copy everything but the “src” folder and txt files to your fallout nv folder. (“C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Fallout New Vegas”)

4GB Fallout New Vegas Updated – This will add an exe file that will launch the game with 4gb of ram available. This will allow you to use mods that are graphically intensive. Copy the exe and dll file to your fallout nv directory. Make a copy of the fnv4gb.exe file. Make a copy of the FalloutNVLauncher.exe file. RENAME the fnv4gb.exe file to FalloutNVLauncher.exe. This will allow you to launch the game from steam normally.

After following the instructions above you should have the following files:

FalloutNV.exe (original exe)
FalloutLauncher – Copy.exe (backed up original version)
FalloutLauncher.exe (renamed fnv4gb.exe)
nvse_loader.exe (original exe)

Now you don’t have to touch this crap anymore.

 

LOOT – Automatic mod sorter. This needs to be installed so that NMM’s mod sorting feature will work.

Nexus Mod Manager (NMM) – This is the official nexus mod site’s tool for installing mods. It will allow you to click a single button on the site to download mods and add them to the program. When it first starts up, it will scan your hard drive for supported games. Click the green check mark on each of the games that it finds and click Ok (If you get tired of waiting for it to search for games you know you don’t have, just click the red X on each of those games). When it asks to revise folder settings, just accept where it defaults to by clicking Ok. When it asks you if you want to make the Fallout.ini file not read only, say Yes. You’ll be asked if you want categories; I chose Yes. When you try to install your first mod from the site, NMM will ask you for your login credentials. (If you haven’t already, sign up for an account on nexusmods.com)

 

HOW TO USE NMM

Unless otherwise noted, go to the files tab on the webpage for the mod in question, click the “DOWNLOAD WITH MANAGER” button for the file you want to download. I will specify which file you should be getting if there are more than one (or multiple versions). Once you click the button, you will probably get a windows popup asking you to allow the mod manager to accept the link; Click yes. Now the mod will start downloading. You can see the progress down in the bottom left.

Go to the “Mods” tab in NMM and find the mod you downloaded. (Note: you can hide unused categories to lower the amount of clutter by going to the icon on the left with four lines, clicking the drop down button on the right edge of the icon, and selecting “Categories: Toggle Hidden Categories”. Alternatively, you can click the last icon on the left to disable categories, then sort by download date. I do the latter.) Once you’ve found your mod, double click on it to install.

Now go to the “Plugins” tab and make sure that all of the items on it are checked.

Another thing you’ll want to do after you’ve installed a bunch of (or all) mods is to have NMM auto sort them in the optimal order. To do this find the wrench and screw driver icon and click the down arrow on the right of the icon. Select “Automatic Plugin Sorting” and wait for it to finish sorting your plugins for you. This will help to avoid conflicts between mods. Another thing we’ll do later is to uncheck Archive Validation and recheck Archive Validation. If you are installing a small number of mods at a time and then launching the game, this will help resolve issues (especially graphical ones).

 

Mods:

OneTweak for FNV – If you enabled windowed mode for the game as described at the beginning of this guide, this mod will put the game in borderless full screen mode, allowing you to alt tab instantly (and also prevent the game from crashing when you return to it).

Yukichigai Unofficial Patch – YUP – fixes a bunch of bugs that weren’t in official patches. Be sure to get the “YUP – Base Game and All DLC” file and none of the others (unless you want another language).

NVAC – New Vegas Anti Crash – Prevents crashes.

New Vegas Stutter Remover – Makes the game more stable. Be sure to get the latest version. (“NVSR_4-1-36” at the time writing this guide)

NMCs_Texture_Pack_For_New_Vegas – Adds better looking textures for roads, landscape, trees, rocks, vehicles, buildings, and a whole host of other things. Drastically improves the look of the game. Be aware that this is the largest mod we will install and it will take A VERY LONG TIME to download so be patient. Select the following files: “NMCs Textures NV LARGE Pack Part 1 of 3 FOR NMM“, “NMCs Textures NV LARGE Pack Part 2 of 3 FOR NMM“, “NMCs Textures NV LARGE Pack Part 3 of 3 FOR NMM“, and “NMC_Large_Texture_Pack_NV_Patches“. Install each part in order, but don’t install the patch file yet. If you get a pop up asking you to upgrade, select “No”. Now install the patch file. Select “Yes to all” when asked to overwrite.

Weapon Retexture Project – WRP – High res textures for normal guns. Select “Yes to all” to overwrite changes from YUP.

UIO – User Interface Organizer – Required for the character overhaul mod.

Fallout Character Overhaul – High res textures for all of the characters in the game. Also expands character creation options. Hold ctrl + shift to bring back the eye brow options if you want to reselect them. Be sure to get the “Fallout Character Overhaul 3.0” file and the “Fallout Character Overhaul 3.01” bugfix file. When you install the mod, it will give you a bunch of options. I use: Animated Sweat Effects, Glowing Ghouls, HD Teeth Clean Textures, and Hair Textures. Select “Yes to all” when installing the bug fix and the overwrite dialog pops up. I had a problem with the FCO – Russell.esp file causing the game to crash. Go to Plugins and DISABLE it so that your game doesn’t crash. (The esp is for a companion mod that we will not be using. Not sure why it’s enabled by default.)

New Vegas – Enhanced Camera – Lets you look down and see your body. Also adds first person view when sitting down, getting knocked down, and a few other things.

Enhanced Blood Textures for NV – High resolution blood textures. Select “Yes to all” for the overwriting the NMC textures.

Sprint Mod – Allows you to sprint by holding the run button (default shift) at the cost of AP points. I’m pressed for time in completing New Vegas, as Fallout 4 is coming out soon, so this will be nice for getting around faster. You mostly crouch and sneak during normal combat anyway, so it doesn’t feel like a cheat to me. I like to disable head bobbing. (Open Pip-Boy, go to Apparel, Vault-tec Pedometer, Display Settings, Toggle Head Bobbing, Ok, Ok, exit Pip-Boy). Mess with settings to taste. (I also found out you can remove the AP cost of running and set the running speed. Remove the AP cost by entering the following into the console: “set SprintAPMultGLOB to 0”. To change the speed enter the following into the console: “set SprintSpeedMultGLOB to 1”, replacing 1 with whatever faster value you want instead. Unfortunately, there’s no way to disable sprinting in combat, which is what I’d want, since I’m basically just using it to get around faster.)

CASM_NV – Replaces the buggy save system in Fallout NV with a better one. Use F4 to quick save. Unfortunately, there is no button to quick load a casm save. You’ll have to go to the menu. Load the game and disable the auto save functions built into the game by going to Settings, Gameplay, “Save On Rest” OFF, “Save On Wait” OFF, “Save On Travel” OFF. Many people suggest not using the normal quick save and quick load features of the game if you are using casm (e.g. F5 and F9).

Authentic Burned Man – Better looking burned man npc.

EVE – Essential Visual Enhancements – Improves the visuals of energy weapons, explosions, and more. Be sure to get the the “EVE v1.17” file and not any of the other ones. Select “Yes to all” to overwrite the conflict with YUP (Unofficial Patch). Also, make sure “True Iron Sights” is set to ON in the game’s settings, otherwise you’ll end up having two target reticles when you aim your weapon.

New Vegas – Re-Animated – Changes the animations so that it looks better when you are holding weapons. Be sure to get the “Release v0_23” (or whatever the latest is) and none of the others.

Mojave Nights – a moon and stars replacer – High resolution night sky. Be sure to get the “Mojave Nights” file and none of the others.

SmoothLight – Pip-Boy light enhancer – Makes your pip-boy light work more like a normal flashlight instead of being terrible. (If you don’t remember how to turn it on, you can do so by holding Tab.)

Less Intrusive Kill Camera – Makes kill cams last half as long. (I get annoyed at how they seem to hang sometimes after the enemy dies.)

Faster Terminals – Do you get annoyed at how long terminals take to sloooooowly show up? I know I do. This makes them pretty much instant.

5x faster waiting – Makes waiting five times as fast.

Daily Vendor Restock – This changes the time it takes vendors to restock take one day instead of four days. Mainly a quality of life change.

Quicker PipBoy Light – Makes the Pip-Boy light turn on much faster. Be sure to get the “QPBL 0_2 sec” file and not the other one.

HI-RES Chems and Health Re-Texture – Because, why not?

Ghouls Hires retexture – High resolution ghouls. I like these textures better than the FCO mod’s texutres. Select “Yes to all” to overwrite the conflict with FCO.

FeralGhouls Hires retexture – High resolution feral ghouls.

Pre-War Money Retexture – Because, why not? Be sure to get the “Pre-War Money Retexture -RRS” file and none of the others.

UHQ Terrain – Rocks – Roads Overhaul – High resolution textures for rocks and roads. Looks even better than the NMC textures. Select “Yes to all” to overwrite the conflict with NMC.

MGs Neat Clutter Retextures – High resolution textures for most of the small clutter type items in the game. Be sure to get the “MGs NCR Pack 7” file and none of the others. Select “Yes to all” to overwrite the conflict with NMC.

HD Smoky Fire and Explosions – High resolutions smoke, fire, and explosions. Select “Yes to all” to overwrite the conflict with EVE.

PipBoy 3000 HD Retexture – High resolutions texture for the Pip-Boy.

HD Glass Impact Decals – Because, why not?

Improved Super Mutants Textures – High resolution textures for super mutants. Make sure to get the “Improved Super Mutants Textures” file and none of the others.

Improved Deathclaw Textures – High resolution textures for deathclaws. Be sure to download the “Improved DeathClaw Textures” main file and the “DeathClaw Vanilla Color Patch” file (if you want the normal colors in hd). Select “Yes to all” to overwrite the conflict with the main file when you install the patch.

Improved LOD Noise Texture – Improves the look of textures that are far a way for very little cost to performance. Be sure to get the “Improved LOD noise Texture” file and not the other one.

Auto Aim Tweaks – Removes buggy auto aim (that tries to force your aim at the torso) and increases the max distance that you can shoot enemies from (changed from 1800 to 9999).

Its a Dogs World – Dog Texture Overhaul – High resolution dog textures! Be sure to get the “DogsWorldTextureOverhaul_Large_V1_0” file (or whatever size you want). Select “Yes to all” to overwrite the conflict with YUP.

Dust Mote and Fluid Drip Effects HD for NV – Adds high res textures for the dust devils and fluid effects. Select “Yes to all” to overwrite conflicts with EVE.

HD Mist – Better looking floating mist. Be sure to get the “HD Mist 2k” file since it won’t affect frame rate too much.

PipWare UI New Vegas Edition – Improves upon various UI annoyances. For example, DAM/DPS is split on the inventory page. Be sure to get the “PipWareUI_NV_v1_3” file and none of the others. NOTE: this mod and all of the UI mods listed below must be installed in the order this guide presents them.

MTUI – UI mod that makes the game more playable at 720p. Select “Yes to all” to overwrite conflicts with PipWareUI.

Shiloh DS – Clean Pipboy Screen – Cleans up the Pip-Boy screen so that it looks better. I use these settings: Remove Scanlines, Remove Screen Glare, Remove Distorting Effects, Add Pure Black BG, Remove Map Tinting, MTUI 1.0 Compatibility, Glow Intensity 200%. Select “Yes to all” for the MTUI override pop up.

Shiloh DS – Colored Map and Icons – I only use this for the icon pack and getting the ability to zoom out more on the map. The next mod is for the map itself. I use: “No Custom Map”, Zoom Out Setting 2, and “Icon Pack #4”.

Realistic World Map – High resolution map to use in conjunction with the two mods above. Be sure to get the “Realistic World Map 250 Percent Brighter” file and NONE of the rest.

The Mod Configuration Menu – We need this to use the oHUD mod below. Select “Yes to all” to overwrite the conflict with MTUI and PipWareUI.

One HUD – oHUD – Allows you to totally customize your hud. NOTE: you have to press “i” to toggle the hud on and off, otherwise the mod assumes you want the immersive hud to only show stuff when needed. Select “Yes to all” to overwrite the conflict with MTUI. Now then, press escape when in game and go to Mod Configuration. Here’s my setup: Go to Extra HUD, go to Show / Move, Check Show Clock, Check Show Encumbrance, Check Show Rads. Click on “Click to Move” for Show Encumbrance and use the arrow or wasd keys to move Weight UI element below your weapon condition. You can see where weapon condition is by pressing any key other than arrows, wasd, or space to stop moving the Weight UI element and click on “Adjustable HUD” to show the regular hud. Go back and forth between the “Click to Move” and “Adjustable HUD” to move each item where you want. After moving Encumbrance below weapon condition, move the Rads indicator below your ammo count. I leave the clock where it is. You can mess with other stuff like when things should show up if you are using the immersive hud or the location of basically any HUD element, but that’s basically all I use the mod for. Adjust yours to taste.

PipWare UI New Vegas Edition (Status Page Addition) – We had to install all of the previous UI mods in the order above to get part of the PipWare UI mod to work (like displaying DAM and DPS at the same time) This time go back to the download page and get the “PipWareUI_NV_v1_2c_statsOnly” file and none of the rest. This will make the combined status page work. Select “Yes to all” to overwrite the conflicts with MTUI and the main PipWareUI mod. NOTE: I also like to change inventory scrolling to be one line at a time (like in fallout 3) instead of the default one page at time. To do so, open the following file: “C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Fallout New Vegas\Data\menus\config_pipware.xml”. Change “scrollVert_wheelStepMode” from 1 to 0. Now you have one line scrolling again. Hurrah.

The Weapon Mod Menu – Adds a more advanced weapon mod menu and let’s you remove weapon mods. This file must be manually downloaded. Open up the 7z file and double click the fomod. This will add the mod to NMM. You can then install it like normal. Select “Yes to all” to overwrite conflicts with MTUI.

Hall Of Equipment – High resolution clothes and armor. Be sure to get the “Hall Of Equipment X2“, “Hall Of Equipment X2 For Dead Money“, “Hall Of Equipment X2 Honest Hearts“, “Hall Of Equipment X2 Lonesome Road“, and “Hall Of Equipment X2 Old World Blues” files. Select “Yes to all” to overwrite conflicts with MG Neat Clutter and YUP. Also, select “Yes to all” to overwrite any conflicts when installing the DLC texture packs as two conflict.

Reload Speed Game Start Fix – Fixes a bug where weapons reload slowly when you start up the game. Normally reload is slow until you switch weapons. This fixes that so that weapon reload is always normal.

Improved Robots Textures – High resolution robot textures. Get all four files and install them in order: “Improved Main Robots Textures“, “Improved LR Robot Textures“, “Improved OWB Robot Textures“, and “Lore patch“. Select “Yes to all” to overwrite conflicts with the main robot textures file.

Further 3rd Person Camera – Makes it so that you can zoom out as far as you could in Fallout 3.

FNV_MoreVendorCaps – Gives vendors ten times the amount of caps. This is mainly a quality of life change. You won’t have to wait over and over to refresh their money. Don’t use this if you plan on playing hardcore as it will allow you to save in game time.

Junk Be Gone – Removes junk items that you would never want to pick up anyway from CONTAINERS ONLY. Leaves normal junk items laying around. Mainly a quality of life change as you would never pick up this crap anyway.

Lutana NVSE Plugin – NVSE plugin used for the Enhanced Item Info mod below.

JIP NVSE Plugin – NVSE plugin used for the Enhanced Item Info mod below.

Enhanced Item Info – Extra UI HUD – I only use this mod to show the value to weight ratio (V/W) in the Pip-Boy and container UI. Be sure to get both files: “Enhanced Item Info” and “Enhanced Item Info – Non-Darn patch“. Select “Yes to all” to confirm the overwrite of the main mod’s files. NOTE: I disable all of the extra stuff besides V/W by going to the mod’s directory “C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Fallout New Vegas\Data\menus\prefabs\EII”, creating a folder called “hide” and moving the following files to the folder to disable them: “EII_ListBox.xml”, “EII_ListBox2.xml”, “EII_Recipe.xml”, and “EII_VATS.xml”. If you want to use these other features, go for it. Just know that they might look a little screwed up with the UI mods we are using.

Dynamic Quantity Prompt Beta NVSE – Allows you to hold shift to instantly sell/move a stack of something or ctrl to sell/move one of something. Also makes it so that the scroll wheel works on quantity prompts.

Inventory Sorters – Puts a category word (e.g. food) in front of items so that it’s easier to sort out stuff. Be sure to get the “Inventory Sorter Combined 2-2” and “Inventory Sorter Dead Money 2-2” and NONE of the rest. There may be a very smaller number of items that the mod doesn’t cover.

A Cuter Veronica Felicia Day edition – When I met follower Veronica and realized that she was voiced by Felicia Day, I wanted to make the character look like her. Found this mod.

 

AFTER YOU ARE DONE WITH EVERYTHING BE SURE TO DO “AUTOMATIC PLUGIN SORTING” IN NMM AS DESCRIBED AT THE TOP.

Lastly, go to “C:\Users\USERNAME\Documents\My Games\FalloutNV” and set Fallout.ini as not read only (if you didn’t choose to do so in NMM). Now go to NMM, click the wrench and screw driver icon,  and UNCHECK Archive Invalidation, then go back and CHECK Archive Invalidation. This will fix any graphical mod problems.

 

BONUS

Here’s the Energy Weapon only build that I used.

STR     5 (6 w/ implant)(7 w/ end game armor)
PER    5 (6 w/ implant)
END    5 (6 w/implant)
CHA    1
INT    9 (10 w/ perk)
AGI    6 (7 w/ implant)
LCK    9 (10 w/ implant)

Traits:
Built to Destroy (+3% crit chance, +15% weapon decay)
Good Natured (+5 to Speech, Medicine, Repair, Science and Barter, -5 to Energy Weapons (and other skills we won’t use))

Low Level Perks:
2 Intense Training INT
4 Educated
6 Comprehension
8 Vigilant Recycler (Science 70)

Early skill points: get lockpick and speech up quickly otherwise the game will punish you with stuff you can’t open and people who you can’t use speech on. Shoot for lockpick 55 and keep getting speech up as you go. Novac has one for 41 speech and you get there pretty early. Get science to 70 by level 8 (though you could wait to get the perk if you wanted). The rest is up to you, though I focus on energy weapons first and then worry about sneak later.