New Vegas Load Order Guide
This isn’t a guide, because it’s designed to be an open discussion about which other fan-made doohickeys are best bolted onto Fallout: New Vegas while we wait for the more vibrant Fallout 4 [official site] as much as it is my own recommendations. I want you, the veteran connoisseur of a game I skipped over at the time, to tell me and other readers what the must-have FNV mods are. But I’m also going to share a few I’m using, which have dramatically reduced the severity of the post-apocalyptic RPG’s savage ugly-stick beating. They’ve added some of the fidelity and most of all colour that we cooed at in Fallout 4 footage – a game which suggested an altogether more appealing wasteland.
This page contains information on the various mods available for the PC version of Fallout: New Vegas. Given that New Vegas was released back in 2010, it still looks pretty good and plays well on.
For context, I barely played Fallout: New Vegas upon release because, despite sterling wordsmiths Obsidian handling it, I found Fallout 3’s engine and especially combat too distractingly wonky to deal with. As much as I wanted to I just couldn’t lose myself to the wasteland, because the wasteland looked and felt like Team America recreating Riverdance on some mudflats. Half a decade later, I can avail myself of the many mods aimed at resolving just that, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll finally be able to enjoy a game that half the internet is madly in love with. I’ll think about survival, difficulty and new campaign mods some other time: this is about seeing if I can find a way into to the game Obsidian made.
An important and vaguely embarrassing disclaimer is that I can’t be 100% sure if all of these mods are working fully. Several of them overlap each other, including replacing each other’s files, and there’s also a fine art to determining the optimal load order of add-ons. What I do know is that I was broadly happy with the results, and didn’t especially feel that I had to add or fix anything else.
After many and varied types of fiddling, there were three and a half tools I needed before I could meaningfully get going. The first was Fallout Mod Manager, one of several rival tools for (un)installing and managing legions of FNV add-ons. Even that is split into two different forks, which is where the aforementioned half a tool comes in. The most recent ‘official’ FMM is available here, but you’ll almost certainly need to install the 4GB RAM usage patch on top of that. So I went for this custom build which has that built in already, but is only available via (free) registration for the Lovers Lab forum (a place which I should probably warn you is festooned with assorted nudey mods, so possibly NSFW and all that, although the FMM thread itself is clean).
As well as managing mods, I used Fallout Mod Manager to bump up New Vegas’ egregiously limited level of detail fade settings so there was less pop-up and more distance scenery – go to Game Settings – Graphic Settings – LOD, tick ‘override’ on all three sliders and then manually enter bigger numbers. Mine are set to 250 currently, but that is complete guesswork and I’ll tinker further later.
Next was New Vegas Script Extender, which provides infrastructure for some more ambitious tweaks. Get that from here.
Finally (well, not finally – there’s no finally once you venture down this particular rabbit hole, partly because there are always more mods but mostly because you’ll run into all sorts of exciting errors and incompatibilities which will require fiddly fixes) there’s ArchiveInvalidation File Generator, a single-click tool which ensures FNV will load any replacement textures you’ve added. You’re best off running this once you’ve installed all the other mods, as several of them overwrite textures from several others, but in my case I just ran it every time there was a texture change.
I then manually edited Fallout_default.ini in the FNV install directory, changing uGridsToLoad to 9. This tells the game how much of the world to load into memory, and has a big effect on distance detail and pop-up. However, you’re playing with fire a little – it can cause crashes, and once you’ve saved your game while ugrids is set to a higher number, you won’t be able to load it again if you need to set that number lower. So jump up in tiny increments, then thoroughly test that the game’s stable before you commit to it. I can probably go higher than 9 if I wanted, but the other mods pretty much remove the need to do so anyway.
As for mods proper, I started with textures, as there’s always a textures mod for Bethesda games, because Bethesda games always seem to ship with textures that look like someone wiped a dirty nappy on a mirror. I opted for NMC’s Textures, which are available in small, medium and large res – I went for the latter. The pack comes in three parts, then there’s a patch to add afterwards, so expect to spend quite some time extracting large archives. It doesn’t do much to character models, but does makes the world in general far sharper. It’s not revelatory really, but it definitely knocks a couple of years off the old man.
For characters, I went with Fallout Character Overhaul, a modular package which upgrades faces, hair, eyes and other elements and doesn’t appear to be too exaggerated. You even get to choose between dirty desert teeth and Cast Of Friends teeth. I haven’t yet installed anything to improve clothing or weapon textures, so if you’ve any particular recommendations there, please shout ’em below.
OK, the next – and, frankly, overriding – priority was to add some colour to the sea of grey-brown. Just because it’s the end of the world doesn’t mean you can’t have a little fun, or that people have forgotten how paint works. Doing this isn’t as simple as chucking in some green trees or extra-shiny Nuka-Cola machines, however. The game needs a fundamental rethink in terms of lighting and skies. Let’s start with the latter, which I addressed with the Nevada Skies mod. Of everything I installed, this was the one I was most struck by. Huge, dramatic skies, with huge dramatic weather. Even when it’s not besieging the wasteland with heavy rain or sandstorms, it just seemed to open the game right up, as well as amping up the sense of the scale. There are various versions of NevadaSkies, but I went for the one designed to work with all the DLC.
Next I stuck on Wasteland Flora Overhaul, which greenifies the desert substantially, but without preventing it from still looking like a desert. Possibly not for everyone, particularly The Road enthusiasts, but I much prefer the game this way.
Then, assorted mods for indoor and outdoor lighting.
I also stuck on Essential Visual Enhancements, which primarily adds graphical bells and whistles to combat animations and particle effects. Haven’t noticed anything especially jumping out at me with it yet, but I suspect I’d notice if it wasn’t there.
Then there was the Electro-City Imaginator, which I primarily installed because it adds depth of field effects to distant scenery, softening far-off hills and whatnot so their more limited polycounts and sparse detail isn’t so glaring. It’s a really lovely and helpful effect, because it’s pretty in its own right as well as masking some uglies. The Imaginator’s also a bunch of fun in other ways – it also appears as an in-game item, and one which allows you to add various ‘cinematic’ filters.
If you want to play in Western sepia or monochrome, if you want to make everything look like Star Trek Love Scene Vaseline Lens Effect, if you want to amp up the colour even more, those options are there. They don’t entirely play nice with some other mod I’ve got installed, but I can make it work more often than not by fiddling with load order and whatnot.
Finally – at least in terms of graphics – there’s ENB. This highly tweakable post-processing tool is available for several games, including multiple Bethesda offerings, GTA IV & V and Deus Ex. It applies and improves various modernish effects, including HDR, superior anti-aliasing and depth of field. ENB is its very own rabbit hole – there are a gazillion different user-made presets available to try out, or you can adjust settings yourself with the alt+enter in-game menu and by editing the ini file. It’s not an essential, but you get out what you put in.
After that, I added one non-graphical mod, which was the project designed to restore Obisidian’s own cut and unfinished content. There are several parts of this, all of which I ended up adding, but specifically, I wanted the one which sewed the ‘Freeside’ Strip environments back together into one whole rather than the bitty, restrictive parts of the released game.
The results? Pretty good. There’s a certain shonkiness to the Gamebryo engine which I don’t believe could ever be chased out – indeed, aspects of it are still evident in the Fallout 4 footage we’ve seen – but all this stuff modernises New Vegas hugely, as well as making it look much more as though it was designed to be a PC game first and foremost. It doesn’t quite look like Fallout 4, but it looks much more like Fallout 4 than it did, and gets rid of some of Fallout 3/New Vegas’ most dispiriting visual aspects.
It took a lot of effort, and indeed this run-down skips over most of the trial and error I experienced getting it all to run, and it is well worth reiterating that you might run into any number of problems I didn’t. I got there in the end, and it was worth it: I do feel like I finally want to play New Vegas now. It no longer suffers from a ubiquitously sickly pallor and blurry surface, and once in a while I’m stopping to admire the scenery rather than pulling a face at it. And, of course, there’s a whole buncha stuff I haven’t tried yet, which is where you come in. What else, to your mind, are the essential New Vegas mods?
# Viva New Vegas - A Comprehensive 2019 Fallout New Vegas Modding Guide:::danger:exclamation: NOTE: This version of the guide has been pretty much depreciated in favor of the new guide [here](https://vivanewvegas.github.io) :exclamation: ::: *'If you want to see the fate of democracies, look out the windows.'*:::danger:exclamation: NOTE: This version of the guide has been pretty much depreciated in favor of the new guide [here](https://vivanewvegas.github.io) :exclamation: :::Fallout New Vegas is a wonderful game hindered by its engine, consoles, and a limited development time. The aim of this guide is to enhance the game without straying too far from its vanilla roots, but also making sure you have a fresh experience no matter how much you have played. This guide will take a long time, expect it to take multiple sessions to complete. Remember, if you have a question about anything, don't be afraid to ask. The main goal is to play the game, so make sure it's right!**[Changelog](https://hackmd.io/s/r1YDqbl57)****[Future Considerations](https://hackmd.io/s/H1AMoWxqm)** **[Discord](https://discord.gg/fXYxNPt)** - For troubleshooting/help, suggestions, and announcements when the guide is updated# Other Guides I SuggestFallout New Vegas: [Rika's Guide to FNV Modding](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ci3sNT0wcrbjETw4sM7JqlK-zmcjoLqJFSjqhmTjk_0/edit?usp=sharing) - More or less the 'base' for this guideFallout 4: [BiRaitBec's Modlist](https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/23556)Fallout 4: [Way to the Lost](https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/30329)Skyrim Special Edition: [Legacy of The Dragonborn Special Edition](https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/14614) - The *Prerequisites* and *Finishing Line* pages from this guide are great tools to learn advanced modding techniques# Pre-Installation Checklist1. A freshly installed, legal copy of Fallout New Vegas with all the DLC. I suggest you install it on an SSD if you can. Make sure it is not in *Program Files*, *Program Files (x86)*, or any other Windows UAC protected folders2. Launch the *FallouNV Launcher.exe* and have it pick a quality preset for you. You may want to go through and make sure all the settings are to your liking, but some will be tweaked later anyways3. If you use the Steam version of the game, disable the Steam Overlay. You can do this by right clicking on the game in the steam library, click *Properties*, and under the *General* tab, uncheck *Enable Steam overlay in game*. You will also need to disable any additional in-game overlays you may have active, such as MSI Afterburner or Discord# My System Specs Part Model -------- -------- CPU Intel i5 7500 RAM 16GB 2400mhz DDR4 (New Vegas can only use a maximum of 4GB of ram, so anything over 4GB is fine) GPU GTX 1060 6GB GDDR5 Storage Samsung EVO 250GB SSD (Where my FNV and MO2 are installed) Toshiba 1TB 7200RPM HDD (Where my MO2 downloads are stored) OS Windows 10 Pro (Windows 7 is currently the best option for modding Fallout New Vegas. Windows 10 has a few issues that I will make note of throughout the guide. ~~Not to mention the trillions of other issues with Windows 10~~)# Mod Installation Advice* <span>Main Files</span> + <span>Updates</span> + <span>Hotfixes</span> - Install as one mod (e.g. Merge together in MO2)* <span>Optional Files</span> - Install as separate mod in MO2* <span>Miscellaneous files</span> - Install as separate mod in MO2* <span>Patches</span> - Install as separate mod in MO2* Read the descriptions, pinned comments, and read-me's of mods before commenting in the Discord about a mod-specific issue to see if one of them has the solution. It's also a good idea to read them to see if you will like the mod, as mindlessly installing every mod on here might not be the best result for your personal tastes* If I don't give any special install instructions for a mod, just install the main file* If I say *<span>Special Install Instructions: Don't Install the following Files/Folders:* </span>, uncheck the box adjacent to the listed file/folder during the installation in MO2* Track every mod you install, so you know when it's updated. I won't be making announcements when any mods are updated so that's up to you. Also endorse the mods you if like them# A Note About the Plugin LimitSo, as I mentioned in the opening paragraph, the Gamebryo engine isn't exactly very polished. Unlike Skyrim and Fallout 4 that have a 255 plugin limit, New Vegas and 3 have a 'cap' of 140. However, the game can experience stability decreases from 125 onward, as the limit can vary based off the size of plugins. For that reason, the guide will stay under 120 plugins always. If you are adding your own mods try to get familiar with zMerge so you can try to stay below 120 also. However, be careful with large merges, as the large file size will make you reach the breaking point much quicker.# PrerequisitesInstall to any folder other than *Program Files*, *Program Files (x86)* or any other UAC protected folder (I suggest something like C:/Games) unless instructed otherwise:### **[Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2017](https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads)**Files to install:>**vc_redist.x86.exe>vc_redist.x64.exe**>-Tool required for MO2 to function correctly### **[Mod Organizer 2](https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/6194/?tab=files)**Files to install:>**Mod Organizer 2 (Archive)**<span>Special Install Instructions: </span> > **Install to a folder outside of New Vegas's main directory > Right-click *ModOrganizer.exe* and select *Properties* > Go to the *Compatibility* tab and check *Run this program as an administrator* > Click *Apply* and then *OK*** > **Join the team's [Discord](https://discord.gg/dVChxen) for developer builds and troubleshooting**-- By far the best mod manager for Fallout New Vegas, 3, 4, Skyrim, and SSE. For an explanation of its advantages and a basic tutorial, watch GP's video series [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DG3eqyNOByw&list=PLlN8weLk86Xh3ue76x2ibqtmMramwQmHB)### **[FNVEdit](https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/34703?tab=files)**<span>Special Install Instructions: </span> > **Download *[Generate Bash Tags.pas](https://www.mediafire.com/file/80dwcrqthupqi5c/Generate_Bash_Tags.7z/file)*, *[dubhfunctions.pas](http://www.mediafire.com/file/fi10py1p6pa8hh6/dubhfunctions.7z/file)*, and *[mteFunctions.pas](http://www.mediafire.com/file/bktk9439j8xxv80/MteFunctions.7z)*** > **Extract the scripts to *...FNVEditEdit Scripts*** **Join the team's [Discord](https://discordapp.com/invite/5t8RnNQ) for developer builds and troubleshooting**-- Mod editor that will be used to create merged patches, clean plugins, detect conflicts, and add bash tags to mods later in the guide### **[Wrye Flash](https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/35003?tab=files)**Files to install:>**Wrye Flash 18.0 - Standalone Executable**><span>Special Install Instructions: </span> > **Extract the *Mopy* and *Data* folders to the New Vegas main directory**-- Multipurpose mod management utility, mainly used for conflict resolution### **[LOOT](https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/1918?tab=files)**<span>Special Activation Instructions: </span>>**Run *LOOT* outside of MO2 and sort your load order**>>**This will make sure the masterlist updates properly>>Run it through MO2 from now on**>>>**Check the [GitHub](https://github.com/loot/loot/releases) page for developer builds** -- One-click load order sorter### **[GECK](https://geck.bethsoft.com/index.php?title=Main_Page)**Files to install:>**Click the *Download the Garden of Eden Creation Kit for Fallout New Vegas here* link**<span>Special Installation Instructions: </span>>**Extract to the main directory**-- Tool that allows you to create or edit any data### **[zEdit](https://github.com/z-edit/zedit/releases)**-- A multi-purpose integrated development environment. Will be used to merge plugins### **[xLODGen](https://forum.step-project.com/topic/13451-xlodgen-terrain-lod-beta-for-fnv-fo3-fo4-fo4vr-tes5-sse-tes5vr/)**<span>Special Install Instructions: </span> > **Install to a folder outside of New Vegas's main directory** > **Developer builds and troubleshooting can be found on the same xEdit Discord** > -- One-click LOD generator# Configuring Mod OrganizerNOTE: If you get an error upon launching MO2 and/or creating/switching profiles, either set the .INI files in Mod Organizer 2/Profiles/Default to not read only (And do the same for the profile that wil be created soon) or use one of the Developer Editions from the Discord1. Launch MO2, and on the pop-up box that says *Choose Instance* pick *Portable*. On the next pop-up, select your New Vegas game directory path2. Click *No* on the Start Tutorial pop-up3. Click *Yes* on the pop-up that asks Mod Organizer to handle nxm links4. In the right pane, right-click and select *Enable all*5. In the left pane, align the files in the same order that they are in the right pane6. Launch the game through MO2, and then immediately exit. This is just to set the .ini's7. Click the  button on the top bar of MO28. Click on the Default profile, and click *Copy*9. Name the new profile *Viva New Vegas*. Make sure *Use profile-specific Game INI Files* is checked.10. Select the profile and check *Automatic Archive Invalidation*11. Close out of that box12. Select the new profile in the drop-down menu right above the left pane13. Click the  button on the top bar of MO214. If you are using an SSD and a separate HDD, click the *Paths* tab, and set the *Downloads* directory to a location outside of the SSD15. Click on the *Nexus* tab and check *Automatically Log-In to Nexus*, type in your username and password, and click *Associate with 'Download with manager' links* and click *Ok*16. Click the  button on the top bar of MO217. In the *Title* box, type *FNVEdit*18. In the *Binary* box, click the three dots on the right and navigate to where FNVEdit is installed and double click *FNVEdit.exe*19. In the *Arguments* box, type *-IKnowWhatImDoing* and click *Add*>**Run FNVEdit through MO2>Exit once the *Module Selection* screen pops up>Right-click in the left pane of MO2 and select *All Mods* -> *Create Empty Mod*>Title the mod *FNVEdit Cache*>Drag the *FNVEdit Cache* folder from the MO2 *Overwrite* folder into the mod you just created>Activate *FNVEdit Cache* in the left pane of MO2>Right-click *FNVEdit Cache* and select *Ignore missing data***20. Add a second instance of FNVEdit, but with *FNVEdit Cleaner* in the *Title* box and *-QuickAutoClean* in the *Arguments* box22. Add xLODGen the same way you added FNVEdit with *-FNV* in the *Arguments* box>**Use *xLODGenx64.exe* for the *Binary* box**23. Add LOOT, zEdit, GECK, and Wrye Flash the same way you added the previous, but without anything in the *Arguments* box>**Run Wrye Flash through MO2>Click *OK* to any pop-ups>Right-click on the top bar where the *File* listing is>Make sure *Lock Times* is unchecked** # .INI Tweaks1. Click the  button on the top bar of MO22. Select *INI Editor*3. Paste the following into the *FalloutCustom.ini* tab:NOTES: -- Change *INumHWThreads* to the number of cores your CPU has, including hyperthreading-- Both *fXenonLookSpeed* tweaks can be removed if you do not run in a 16:9 aspect ratio[General]bUseThreadedAI=1INumHWThreads=4bPreemptivelyUnloadCells=1bLoadFaceGenHeadEGTFiles=1[BackgroundLoad]bSelectivePurgeUnusedOnFastTravel=1bUseBackgroundFileLoader=1[Display]bFull Screen=0iPresentInterval=0[Controls]fForegroundMouseAccelBase=0fForegroundMouseAccelTop=0fForegroundMouseBase=0fForegroundMouseMult=0 fXenonVertLookSpeed=1200.0000fXenonHorizLookSpeed=1500.0000[Grass]fGrassStartFadeDistance=17000 [Audio]iAudioCacheSize=8192iMaxSizeForCachedSound=10244. Paste the following into the *GECKCustom.ini* tab:[General]bAllowMultipleMasterFiles=1bAllowMultipleMasterLoads=1<p> <a href='#collapseExample'> What do these tweaks do? </a></p><div> Tweak Effect -------- -------- bUseThreadedAI=1 Allows AI to use threads to increase performance INumHWThreads=2 Allows the game to better utilize the CPU bPreemptivelyUnloadCells=1 Prevents ‘Out of Memory’ crashes when changing cells bLoadFaceGenHeadEGTFiles=1 Enables facial morphs for face overhauls to work correctly bFull Screen=0 Disables Full Screen (OneTweak has borderless fullscreen) fForegroundMouseAccelBase=0 fForegroundMouseAccelTop=0 fForegroundMouseBase=0 fForegroundMouseMult=0 Disables Mouse Acceleration fXenonVertLookSpeed=1200.0000 fXenonHorizLookSpeed=1500.0000 Sets the mouse speed the same for the *x* and *y* axes fGrassStartFadeDistance = 7000 Increases Grass Distance Fade iAudioCacheSize=8192 iMaxSizeForCachedSound=1024 Increases audio cache to prevent stuttering and audio not playing bAllowMultipleMasterFiles=1 bAllowMultipleMasterLoads=1 Allows files with multiple masters to be loaded in the GECK</div># [Utilities](https://hackmd.io/s/HybJzBb9X)# [Optional Utilities](https://hackmd.io/s/B1YgI2Ds7)# [Bug Fixes/QOL Improvements](https://hackmd.io/s/BkYj7rb97)CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING TWO:# [HUD/UI (Vanilla UI Plus Version)](https://hackmd.io/s/BJrh_YZ9m)# [HUD/UI (DarnUI Version)](https://hackmd.io/s/Bkepau-cm):::infoNow would be a good time to run the game to make sure everything is working.Before launching the game, run LOOT. LOOT should be run every time before you test the game. Start the game and load up a clean save. Make sure all of your HUD is installed correctly and check to see if the MCM has all the right entries.:::# [Textures/Models/Visuals (Recommended)](https://hackmd.io/s/SkWDyxNo7)# [Textures/Models/Visuals (Optional)](https://hackmd.io/s/rJk1rnM57):::infoNow would be a good time to run the game to make sure everything is working.Start the game and load up a clean save. Make sure all the textures look as they should and RWL is working correctly. If for example, your road textures are still the default, you will need to re-enable Automatic Archive Invalidation on your profile in MO2. [Here](https://imgur.com/a/7cKgpth) is an idea of what your game should look like if using only the *Recommended* section:::# [Gameplay Effects/Changes](https://hackmd.io/s/rJ1MukHcX)# [Cut Content Restored](https://hackmd.io/s/SJw1Wut9X):::infoNow would be a good time to run the game to make sure everything is working.Start the game and load up a clean save. Run around the world for a bit, visiting all major sections of the map. Go to areas that have been changed/added by mods to make sure they're all good.:::# [Weapon Related Stuff](https://hackmd.io/s/SywulTcqQ)# [Quests/New Locations](https://hackmd.io/s/r1f_56j97)# [Audio](https://hackmd.io/s/BJ9cZb2qQ)# [Late Loaders](https://hackmd.io/s/H1YZhZK-4)CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING TWO:# [LOD Improvements (With Recommended Textures)](https://hackmd.io/s/HJQbuvyhX)# [LOD Improvements (With Optional Textures)](https://hackmd.io/s/Skv11ma9m)# [zMerge Guide](https://hackmd.io/s/rkqXh0li7)# [Conflict Resolution](https://hackmd.io/s/SyjYu0giQ)# [Suggested Settings](https://hackmd.io/s/SJSlS7qiX)