Fabulous New Vegas: A Modding Guide

Lucas9

Still Mildly Glowing
Fabulous New Vegas is a modular modding guide for Fallout: New Vegas.
It addresses a number of significant issues with the game:
  • Bugs and stability: includes all major bug fixes released for the game so far, and a handful of minor, purist bug fixes that are entirely optional.
  • Consolized user interface: improved readability and functionality, ironed out inconsistencies between carried over and new assets.
  • Poorly implemented DLC: reworked implementation, GRA items available as loot and expansions delayed.
  • Poor gunplay: new mechanics and improved animations, better visuals and sounds for a more satisfying experience.
  • Unexisting difficulty: using JSawyer Ultimate Edition as a base to rebalance the game for a more hardcore experience, and other mods to improve NPC AI and mechanics, more dangerous radiation, decreased loot, harsher economy, less absurd repair system, less OP companions, and more.
  • Empty world: restored content, new NPC and creature spawns.
  • Potato characters: lore-friendly overhaul of NPCs that makes them look less like mutated Play-Doh and more like actual people.
  • Disgusting piss filter and disappointing city of New Vegas: new lighting, improved Strip and LOD to experience the Mojave in all its glory.
What this guide doesn't do:
  • Address every single micro-issue in the game: no game is perfect and all of them have flaws, yet we still enjoy them. My intention is to fix or at least address the most glaring ones, those that are a problem in the moment to moment experience.
  • Add new features no one asked for: there are many gameplay mods out there, but the amount of them that actually try to fix issues with the existing game are in the minority. If you want to build your own settlement or robot army, look someplace else.
  • Nitpick over individual meshes or textures: unless it's an actual fix, this guide won't bother. And even then, it probably won't bother either.
  • Improve the meshes and textures of everything I can: this alone can add another 50 or 100 mods to any install, and inconsistency will sooner than later rear its ugly head.
This guide is split in two sections:

- Setup. Includes setting up utilities and tools, as well as Mod Organizer 2. This section will be useful to anyone deciding to get into Fallout: New Vegas.
- Main. Includes all mods we will be installing, including instructions for mod and load order, conflict resolution, configuration, and LOD generation.

I've worked on this modlist for a few years already, but only recently decided to make a guide out of it. All I ask in return is your patience when it comes to following instructions. If I took the time to write them, you should take the time to read them.

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With this generic description out of the way, I'll post my opinion on my guide from an NMA/RPG Codex perspective. This is because I know what may interest the generic Bethesda player (defined as someone who plays and mods Bethesda-based games) may not be as interesting to more discerning players.

There are very few visual mods in the guide, the way "visuals" has come to be understood. You will find next to no retextures or high quality meshes.

The idea of listing so many mods is not that you need to install them all. Rather, knowing that they all work together. Of course this doesn't mean I will list every single mod that works with my install, only the ones I think are worth my time (and if they are worth your time, it is up to you to decide).

The game is decidedly harder than vanilla New Vegas. It is not a BRUTAL experience, but it is definitely harder. I tried my best to make it enjoyable. This means adjusting mods as I play with them. Whenever I encountered something I didn't enjoy, I looked for a mod to fix it, or made one myself.

I want to emphasize every single mod is optional. The guide is as long or as short as you want it to be. In my case, which may be one of the rare cases, being the one who made it means I use all the mods present in it. The good thing is that many of the mods can be installed on an on-going playthrough.

If anyone has any questions or needs some help in following the guide, or troubleshooting issues if they were already following it, this thread is just for that.

Happy trails!
 
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