Fallout: New Vegas is over ten years old, but with just a few mods, the acclaimed RPG can feel good as new. In fact, the last decade has seen mainstream RPGs, particularly from Bethesda, move away from some traditional RPG mechanics to the extent that many considered Fallout 4 a solid shooter with RPG elements.
For those old-school fans who want to dive back into the Mojave Wasteland and see what a more traditional RPG can look like in 2021, here’s the top 5 mods to make Fallout: New Vegas feel like new.
Getting Started
Fallout: New Vegas is getting on in years, and Obsidian was praised more for its design philosophy and storytelling than it was for pushing the boundaries of technology at the time. As a result, there are some vital changes which need to be made to the game before it’s able to handle most mods. Additionally, many newer mods will only work properly if all of the New Vegas DLCs are also downloaded.
Fallout: New Vegas’ base game is capped at using just 2GB of RAM, so the first step is to download the FNV 4GB Patcher. Once the files are extracted, the prospective player can simply drag and drop the FalloutNVPatch.exe from the extracted files into the New Vegas directory, usually under Steam/steamapps/common/Fallout New Vegas. They can then have double-click on the patch to open it and press any key to execute it.
As with Skyrim modding, New Vegas' script needs extending as well. Players should download the latest stable version of the NVSE – the New Vegas Script Extender – and copy all the dll. and exe. files to the New Vegas directory as well. It’s also worth downloading the New Vegas Tick Fix and NVAC – New Vegas Anti-Crash.
Simply Uncut
Simply Uncut is a fantastic New Vegas mod which works to restore as much of the content left on the cutting room floor as possible. This mostly means restoring cut NPCs, many of which already had some dialog recorded for the game. It also restores many unique items or items cut between Fallout 3 and New Vegas.
Perhaps most impressively, the game gives the player a bunch of new options in major questlines. For example, in the Powder Ganger questline “I Fought the Law,” the player can now turn the other convicts against the gang’s leader Eddie, as well as help Caesar's Legion take the NCR Correctional Facility for themselves. This mod doesn’t transform the New Vegas experience, but it does add extra details all over the world that help it feel refreshingly unfamiliar to veteran players.
Fallout Character Overhaul
New Vegas may be a fantastic game, but even the most hardcore Fallout fans would be hard-pressed to vouch for its character design. Most of the modelling is identical to that in Fallout 3, which came out all the way back in 2008.
Fallout Character Overhaul massively upgrades the facial models of the game’s NPCs including the player character. During character creation, the player can now choose from far more race options including ghouls and a “Courier” option which keeps a large scar from Doc Mitchell’s surgery to save the player’s life. Fallout Character Overhaul has a huge effect across the whole game, bringing its character design up to Skyrim’s level and removing one of the biggest reminders of the game’s age.
Classic Dialog Options
Classic Dialog Options is a mod which stays true to Fallout: New Vegas’ old-school RPG roots while making the experience even more immersive. In the base game, dialog options which require skill checks will have the player’s skill out of the necessary skill level next to them. For example, a player with a 22 in explosives who’s trying to get Easy Pete to hand over his dynamite in Goodsprings will see “22/25” next to the dialog option.
Classic Dialog Options simply removes those numbers, immersing the player far more in dialog. Instead of knowing that a piece of dialog will always be a dead end, players have to remember their character’s own strengths and weaknesses when engaging with NPCs. It’s a small change that makes the Mojave Wasteland far more immersive without simplifying the game’s skill system.
Nevada Skies
Nevada Skies adds a huge amount of individually optional weather conditions into the game. Nevada Skies can leave the player fighting off the Powder Gangers in the middle of a nuclear firestorm or with enough rolling fog to rival Silent Hill. It adds a huge amount of variety to both the visuals of the game and the tone of key moments during different playthroughs.
One HUD – oHUD
One HUD adds another small but hugely immersive change in Fallout. Parts of the HUD which are always visible and hides them when they aren’t necessary, which means that most of the time the player spends exploring the Mojave they’re treated to a totally uncluttered view of the world. It also allows the player to move any individual part of the HUD like the health bar or compass to anywhere they’d like on the screen. There are many mods which make more radical changes to the Mojave Wasteland, but few have such an all-encompassing effect on the experience as oHUD.
After over a decade for the New Vegas modding community to grow and flourish, players can mod the game to fit almost any personal preference they like. There are a huge texture packs like NMC and Poco Bueno, aesthetic weapon upgrades like the Weapon Retexture Project, and even mods that add hundreds of new period-appropriate songs to the player’s pip-boy radio. The modding community has allowed open-world games like Fallout: New Vegas and Skyrim to age better than most in the market. What remains to be seen is whether Bethesda or Obsidian will be able to one-up themselves as gaming enters a new decade and a new generation.
Fallout: New Vegas is available for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.