Fallout 3 and New Vegas mod discussion

So, I'm thinking of modding FO3 and NV for the first time, but I have a couple questions;

1) How do I get FO3 to run on Windows 7? Last time I tried, it crashed constantly, and that was after trying multiple fixes.

2) What are some must have (non-visual) mods for both of the games?

3) What mods should I use in both games for the best visuals while keeping 60FPS at 1080p on my rig (I'll post specs below)? I'd like to keep the default look, but boost the visual quality. A texture pack I'm guessing?

4) Should I use an ENB? I find that most oversaturate everything or make it look to different from the default look (at least the ones I used in Skyrim did, but maybe there are some that just make vanilla look better?

5) Should I use Nexus to install mods, or are there other ways that I'd be better off using? I've only ever used Nexus, but I'm willing to try other methods if it's not too difficult.

Specs:
i5-3570k @ 3.4ghz
GTX 760 2GB
8GB RAM
 
I finally got all my mods installed, and I made it out of the vault when I see this.

0HDcr8P.jpg

Now, I played hundreds of hours of FO3 on PS3 and 360, and I know that even they had better object and texture draw distance than that. there should be cars and loads of other junk on the end of that bridge (that's only a few hundred feet away), but instead it's just a flat texture.

So, I went into the in-game settings. Everything related to draw distance is maxed. Maybe it's the mod I installed for dita nice textures. Disabled it aaaaaaand nothing. So then I followed an .ini tweak guide for Fallout_default.ini. Nothing changed.

Then I opened Fallout_prefs.ini and everything was set to 0. So I followed a guide for that and still, nothing. Why are my .ini tweaks not changing anything? Do I need to start a new save file for .ini changes to take effect or something? And more importantly, does anyone know a solution? Maybe Mod Organizer has something to do with it?
 
Pretty sure Mod Organiser uses its own INI which you have to modify.
 
Pretty sure Mod Organiser uses its own INI which you have to modify.
You're right! Thanks!

Now I just need to do some fine tuning to keep a stable 60. I got it with uGridsToDraw=7, and that looked decent. It was hovering at 45 when it was set to 9. There's some multithreading tweaks I have to try when I get home that may help.

I also have missing meshes and textures now. There's a couple red squares with exclamation points at a water pumiping station near the school near Vault 101. I may have to reinstall, which won't be too bad with Mod Organizer since I haven't replaced any game files.
 
Does anyone know how to decrease pop in? I'm not talking about eliminating it, I'm talking about making it more of a "fade in" like on consoles than a "POP" like it is on PC (at least on my install). It's basically just grass that does it, but it's incredibly distracting.

(Sorry about the double post again, I should've edited this into the last one).
 
So I've installed jesawyers mod along side Project Nevada (without the rebalance part) and have been playing a couple of hours.

Man this is great. These two mods work quite well together. I'm enjoying the decisions I've had to make. Can't face a group head on in the early game. I think I'll stick with it. What are peoples thoughts on these two mods? It's always conflicted on which to use but they seem to work fine together.
 
Oh man I didn't realize we had a thread for this. I started modding New Vegas this weekend and I think I preferred it to modded Skyrim since it has a better plot and more interesting combat. Subbed.

Edit: Actually I do have a question - I'm using Rudy ENB but it's incompatible with weather mods, and honestly I'm starting to get tired of the same weather all the time everywhere. I want to install Nevada Skies but that means I need to switch ENBs. Any recommendations of good ENBs that are compatible with Nevada Skies?
 
Anyone following A Tale of Two Wastelands (mod combining NV+F3 in NVs engine)? I played around with it what seems like a few years ago now, and while the project seemed super fascinating, it was in pretty rough shape at the time. Understandable since it was a prealpha build, but I was just curious if anyone had any experience with it since then and could give some feedback.
 
Anyone following A Tale of Two Wastelands (mod combining NV+F3 in NVs engine)? I played around with it what seems like a few years ago now, and while the project seemed super fascinating, it was in pretty rough shape at the time. Understandable since it was a prealpha build, but I was just curious if anyone had any experience with it since then and could give some feedback.

Yes. I started a playthought with it a month or so ago. My current save already has 40+ hours, and I'm just playing the Fallout 3 content for now, even the DLCs. I even managed to install a Fallout 3 mod!

Impressive project.

They say it's more stable then Fallout 3 itself. It's only in beta (or alpha, I can't remember) because they are yet to balance everything. For example, you could do everything that is possible in Fallout 3 and then start New Vegas with a 50 level wasteland Superman.
 
I started having this weird issue where I was seeing ground textures in the sky once I enter and leave a building. Tried uninstalling a bunch of mods but couldn't figure it out, so will try a fresh re-install of the game to see if I can fix it.
 
I thought GFWL had been removed! But I installed this today and that goddamn abomination pops up asking for a cdkey! What gives?

It wasn't removed, but it's not mandatory either. You can just ignore it.

Alternatively, I think there's a mod out there to get rid of it once and for all.
 
Alright, I need a good open world game to play, so I'm going to give NV + expansions a try again. I was hoping to get a good list of mods that meet a few criteria to enhance my experience!

  • Visual overhauls - I want prettier landscapes, not just these barren sandy nothingnesses everywhere
  • Unique/fun/extra dungeons and areas to explore
  • Major community bug patches
  • Any other must have or must consider mods
Any help/guidance on this?
 
After 180 hours of Fallout New Vegas, I think I'm finally ready for an eventual Fallout 4. I'm not stopping now because I did everything nor because I stopped enjoying the game, but godmmit, those freaking random crashes that I can't get rid of. Fuck random crashes.

At least Skyrim is much more stable so even if they keep the same engine for the next game, it hopefully won't be so bugged.

Anyway, New Vegas is my RPG of the generation.
 
i'm kind of tired of people asking me which mods to install so i'm making my list of essential mods!

it's not super comprehensive or anything, but it should be a good compilation of lore-friendly and balanced mods that i consider to be either must-haves or almost must-haves. also none of those huge texture mods or enb because i don't like em. and obviously no naked/gross shit. also might be a bit outdated since i haven't played new vegas in a year and been only casually browsing the nexus, but i'm guessing it should make a good start


ui: basically only mtui, the only ui mod you'll ever need
mtui: best ui mod, unintrusive and does exactly what you need, which is making the font smaller so there can be more shit on screen. most important mod you'll install
oHud: does nice things like hide the hud when you're outside of combat and other useful crap. works with mtui too

gameplay: rebalances the game or adds new features. new vegas is pretty feature complete so mostly rebalances
project nevada: second most important mod, rebalances the game to make it a lot more enjoyable on hardcore difficulty, adds a shit ton of lore-friendly weapons, lets you sprint and bullettime and other crazy shit and more. i generally just install rebalance+weapons since the cyberware stuff is super overpowered
jesawyer's: alternatively you can install josh sawyer's mod, which does a few of the same things but it's a lot more low key.
weaker boone: nerfs boone so he doesn't one shot everyone before they even show up in your screen
mission mojave: huge bugfix compilation

weather: better looking lighting and stuff
nevada skies: the best weather mod, comes in many variants, vanilla being my favorite as i find the rest of them to be overly saturated or just plain ugly to look at. it adds a bunch of cool weather stuff like sandstorms, rain and snow, it's the best.

faces: less goofy-looking npcs
new vegas redesigned 3: a really good faces mod that doesn't just pretty up npcs but actually try to match their voices with their face, age, etc. changes some of the recruitable npcs like cass and veronica which is a shame but i'm pretty sure you can just delete them and use the defaults. requires FCO to work

restoration stuff: i love this kind of stuff, restored cut content
new vegas restoration: massively improves new vegas by merging both areas, adding new casinos, cleaning everything up, etc. makes new vegas better match what you've been told it would be like
freeside restoration: same for freeside
npc project series: i really like these, they restore a bunch of cut content to different areas of the game, making places like the 188 trading post look a lot more alive. there's a bunch of em: 1 2 3 4. afaik the freeside mod should work with freeside restoration but if not just ignore this one.
new vegas uncut series: really cool series that restores bits of cut content, including some cut quests and voiced characters. again a lot of them: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
populated casinos: adds people to the vegas casinos which makes them feel more alive. fairly straightforward, but makes a pretty big difference. i think there are some compatibility issues with this one, so you gotta install compatibility mods for it to run properly

textures: texture mods, i don't include nmc and such cos i don't like em, but ojo bueno and nmc are popular and well regarded
weapons retexture project: pretty cool mod that redoes the textures for like a billion guns. it's one of the few i like because you're gonna be looking at those guns up close all game so it makes a big difference that they look a hell of a lot nicer.

others: random crap
electro-city: adds tons of streetlights and such to the wasteland which go really well in the really dark nights of nevada skies. also looks cool as hell
more grass: i like this one over the super complicated flora mods because of how simple and effective and performance light it is
eve: adds a ton of cool "shooting stuff" special effects.
weapon animation replacer: less goofy animations for some of the weapon stances

stutter remover: helps with some stuttering issues you will most assuredly run into

guilty pleasures:
waster's scarf: a scarf. it looks cool. that's it
holster: a holster for your pistol. vanity stuff
tailor maid: my favorite barbies-playing mod. just mix and match different armor to find a combination u like. all lore-friendly stuff and it comes with a non-stupidly-overpowered version, so it's really cool
project mikoto: tons of hairstyles, mostly for females


that's about it, i don't use too many mods as i try to mostly play the game as intended

lemme know if i missed anything!
 
As good as the Freeside and Vegas restoration mods are, I'd personally recommend against using them, because the performance hit is huge. They should only really be used if you have a beast of a PC, and even then it's questionable.

I'd say that this guide is probably the best out there to ensure the game remains as stable as possible, while adding a fuckton of content and fixes. On my current 100 hour save, barely had any crashes or issues compared to when I was using Nexus Mod Manager and had no idea about a lot of stuff. The guide even includes a couple of lost mods like a mesh replacer for the supermutants, and a version of the NCR Ranger overhaul that comes with a mod installer so you don't have to fiddle with tons of files and folders.
 
What's the verdict on unofficial patches for FNV? The last time I've modded the game I used Mission Mojave but I rarely or never see this mod listed when people post their lists. Is it incorporated into one of the bigger mods that are frequently on those lists or am Missing something really obvious?
 
As good as the Freeside and Vegas restoration mods are, I'd personally recommend against using them, because the performance hit is huge. They should only really be used if you have a beast of a PC, and even then it's questionable.

I'd say that this guide is probably the best out there to ensure the game remains as stable as possible, while adding a fuckton of content and fixes. On my current 100 hour save, barely had any crashes or issues compared to when I was using Nexus Mod Manager and had no idea about a lot of stuff. The guide even includes a couple of lost mods like a mesh replacer for the supermutants, and a version of the NCR Ranger overhaul that comes with a mod installer so you don't have to fiddle with tons of files and folders.
my computer isn't a "beast" (560gtx and a i5 2500k) and runs the restoration mods just fine

also that guide is fine and you should use that if you want to see everything there is, mine is meant to be a starting point of what i mostly consider to be the essentials

What's the verdict on unofficial patches for FNV? The last time I've modded the game I used Mission Mojave but I rarely or never see this mod listed when people post their lists. Is it incorporated into one of the bigger mods that are frequently on those lists or am Missing something really obvious?
pretty sure these mods have compatibility patches with each other
 
pretty sure these mods have compatibility patches with each other

Compatibility's not an issue here, I just rarely see bugfix mods mentioned on the various mod lists for FO3 and FNV. With Skyrim it's the opposite, UOP's are listed as mandatory on pretty much every mod list you can find.

Hence me wondering if the fixes were rolled into one of the larger gameplay enhancing and/or content mods.
 
Compatibility's not an issue here, I just rarely see bugfix mods mentioned on the various mod lists for FO3 and FNV. With Skyrim it's the opposite, UOP's are listed as mandatory on pretty much every mod list you can find.

Hence me wondering if the fixes were rolled into one of the larger gameplay enhancing and/or content mods.

i'm pretty sure mission mojave is a good one and i'm actually gonna add it to my list right now
 
imo it's definitely yukichigai, i've read that mission mojave has some weirdo changes/introduces problems with weirdo changes (though i've never used it so this is purely secondhand)

you don't really need any unofficial bugfixes though i thiiink? they ended up catching most of the stuff
 
Yeah, Mission Mojave does a lot of unnecessary shit, like merging GRA and vanilla weapons together, along with NPC changes and various other stuff. I know that one of their former members got called out for being incredibly incompetent with some behind the scenes thing. Yukichigai's mod is leagues better, and doesn't require compatibility patches to work with other mods.

you don't really need any unofficial bugfixes though i thiiink? they ended up catching most of the stuff

Lol, that really isn't the case. The game stopped getting officially updated a loooong time ago, and the community is still fixing the stuff that was never addressed, and Yukichigai compiles these fixes into a mod.

my computer isn't a "beast" (560gtx and a i5 2500k) and runs the restoration mods just fine

also that guide is fine and you should use that if you want to see everything there is, mine is meant to be a starting point of what i mostly consider to be the essentials


pretty sure these mods have compatibility patches with each other

They can run fine, sure, but you'll see a pretty huge performance drop compared to not using them, because the engine is a piece of shit that wasn't designed for it.
 
The wings are a bit too small for what mass the creature has so they probably can't really fly but it still looks good.
 
Getting ready to play Fallout 3. I've installed FOMM and FOSE, not sure where to go next. This is my first time playing the game so I think I want to keep things pretty vanilla. Any recs? I've looked at the OP but I see it hasn't been updated in long while. I don't have New Vegas, by the way.
 
Getting ready to play Fallout 3. I've installed FOMM and FOSE, not sure where to go next. This is my first time playing the game so I think I want to keep things pretty vanilla. Any recs? I've looked at the OP but I see it hasn't been updated in long while. I don't have New Vegas, by the way.

my outdated suggestion would be to get fallout wanderer's edition, mtui and project beauty (contrary to what its name says, it's not like a pretty up mod, it just fixes most of the broken bethesda faces, and it's really lore friendly)

there's probably more for ppl that keep up to date with fo3, but those are the absolute musts i can think of right now

and if you can try to get new vegas, it's a much better game in every possible way
 
my outdated suggestion would be to get fallout wanderer's edition, mtui and project beauty (contrary to what its name says, it's not like a pretty up mod, it just fixes most of the broken bethesda faces, and it's really lore friendly)

there's probably more for ppl that keep up to date with fo3, but those are the absolute musts i can think of right now

and if you can try to get new vegas, it's a much better game in every possible way
Thanks. Don't think I'm going to mess with the Wanderer mod for now. I'm really hesitant to use gameplay mods in general.
 
Thanks. Don't think I'm going to mess with the Wanderer mod for now. I'm really hesitant to use gameplay mods in general.

i can't remember 100% but i think you can switch on and off certain features to make it to your liking

i specially liked not having as many perks and also leveling up slower. makes level ups feel more important

there's also some other cool additions like stimpacks healing over time rather than right away and such

but like i think you can turn off the more game-changing stuff like the survival aspects and having to use a bike with fuel to fast travel and whatnot

i think you should give it a shot, install it and check out for yourself which features you like
 
iirc fwe adds a real crosshair to the game instead of the [><] crosshair that is static

that's probably the biggest thing i need out of any mod and like the main reason why i even installed project nevada
 
First time player here.

What mods do I install if I don't want gameplay mods?

I'm mainly looking for improvements in the UI, Map, Textures and bug fixes.
 
The only mods that are essential for New Vegas imo are

Interface Mod - Revelations which makes the fixes the UI and makes it more Fallouty by using UI stuff from Tactics.

Mr New Vegas' Secret Stash. It cant be found on the Nexus any longer but adds many new songs to the rotation. Almost every quest in the game is named after a period appropriate song so this mod fits right in New Vegas lorewise. Like i said its been gone from the Nexus for awhile but was still floating around last i checked.

edit: Below is a list of Secret Stash. i got tired of copy pasting in List mode by song 53 but theres 80 songs in the collection. It would have been great if Obsidian had the budget to get all these songs in the game but i doubt anyone shy of Rockstar could get that many in one game.

  1. "Back in the Saddle Again" performed by Gene Autry
  2. "They Went That-a-Way" performed by Earl Gleason & The Bar D Wranglers
  3. "Ring-a-Ding-Ding" performed by Frank Sinatra
  4. "Ace in the Hole" performed by Ella Fitzgerald
  5. "You'll Know it When it Happens" performed by Frank Sinatra
  6. "All or Nothing at All" performed by The Billie Holiday
  7. "Arizona Killer" performed by Katie Lee
  8. "Ain't Misbehavin'" performed by Bill Haley and His Comets
  9. "Eyesight to the Blind" performed by The Larks
  10. "Cold, Cold Heart" performed by Tony Bennett
  11. "Eddie My Love" performed by the Chordettes
  12. "Come Fly with Me" performed by Frank Sinatra
  13. "By a Campfire on the Trail" performed by Gene Davenport
  14. "Volare!" performed by Dean Martin
  15. "Hound Dog" performed by Big Mama Thornton
  16. "Aba Daba Honeymoon" performed by Kitty Kallen & Richard Hayes
  17. "Bye Bye Love" performed by The Everly Brothers
  18. "Back in Your Own Backyard" performed by Al Jolson
  19. "No, Not Much" performed by The Four Lads
  20. "Guess Who I Saw Today" performed by Carmen McRae
  21. "You Can Depend on Me" performed by The Count Basie Orchestra with Lester Young
  22. "Beyond the Reef" performed by Napua Stevens
  23. "Anywhere I Wander" performed by Danny Kaye
  24. "I Left my Heart in Mississippi" performed by The Porky Freeman Trio
  25. "That Lucky Old Sun" performed by Louis Armstrong
  26. "One for My Baby" performed by Frank Sinatra
  27. "That Old Black Magic" performed by Sammy Davis, Jr.
  28. "St. James Infirmary Blues" performed by cab Calloway & His Orchestra
  29. "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" performed by Elvis Aaron Presley
  30. "The Finger of Suspicion (Points at You)" performed by Dickie Valentine
  31. "Someone to Watch Over Me" performed by Billy Eckstine
  32. "When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain" performed by Jimmy Wakely
  33. "Can't We Be Friends" performed by Frank Sinatra
  34. "I Put a Spell on You" performed by Screaming Jay Hawkins
  35. "I Hear You Knocking" performed by Smiley Lewis
  36. "Oh! My Papa" performed by the Browns
  37. "Tend to Your Business" performed by Jimmy "Wee Willie" Wayne
  38. "Hard Luck Blues" performed by Roy Brown
  39. "Cry Me a River" performed by Julie London
  40. "I Don't Hurt Anymore" performed by Jerry Lee Lewis
  41. "Wheel of Fortune" performed by The Cardinals
  42. "Wang Dang Taffy-Apple Tango" performed by Pat Boone
  43. "GI Blues" performed by an unknown Elvis Presley impersonator
  44. "I Fought the Law" performed by The Bobby Fuller Four
  45. "There Stands the Glass" performed by Jerry Lee Lewis
  46. "How Little We Know" performed by Frank Sinatra
  47. "I Could Make You Care" performed by the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra
  48. "Return to Sender" performed by Otis Blackwell
  49. "Can You Find it in Your Heart" performed by Tony Bennett
  50. "For Auld Lang Syne" performed by Freddie Rich's Radio Orchestra
  51. "Crazy With Love" performed by Guy Mitchell
  52. "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" performed by Shirley Bassey
  53. "Don't Make a Beggar of Me" performed by Frank Sinatra
 
Mr New Vegas' Secret Stash. It cant be found on the Nexus any longer but adds many new songs to the rotation. Almost every quest in the game is named after a period appropriate song so this mod fits right in New Vegas lorewise. Like i said its been gone from the Nexus for awhile but was still floating around last i checked.

edit: Below is a list of Secret Stash. i got tired of copy pasting in List mode by song 53 but theres 80 songs in the collection. It would have been great if Obsidian had the budget to get all these songs in the game but i doubt anyone shy of Rockstar could get that many in one game.

  1. "Back in the Saddle Again" performed by Gene Autry
  2. "They Went That-a-Way" performed by Earl Gleason & The Bar D Wranglers
  3. "Ring-a-Ding-Ding" performed by Frank Sinatra
  4. "Ace in the Hole" performed by Ella Fitzgerald
  5. "You'll Know it When it Happens" performed by Frank Sinatra
  6. "All or Nothing at All" performed by The Billie Holiday
  7. "Arizona Killer" performed by Katie Lee
  8. "Ain't Misbehavin'" performed by Bill Haley and His Comets
  9. "Eyesight to the Blind" performed by The Larks
  10. "Cold, Cold Heart" performed by Tony Bennett
  11. "Eddie My Love" performed by the Chordettes
  12. "Come Fly with Me" performed by Frank Sinatra
  13. "By a Campfire on the Trail" performed by Gene Davenport
  14. "Volare!" performed by Dean Martin
  15. "Hound Dog" performed by Big Mama Thornton
  16. "Aba Daba Honeymoon" performed by Kitty Kallen & Richard Hayes
  17. "Bye Bye Love" performed by The Everly Brothers
  18. "Back in Your Own Backyard" performed by Al Jolson
  19. "No, Not Much" performed by The Four Lads
  20. "Guess Who I Saw Today" performed by Carmen McRae
  21. "You Can Depend on Me" performed by The Count Basie Orchestra with Lester Young
  22. "Beyond the Reef" performed by Napua Stevens
  23. "Anywhere I Wander" performed by Danny Kaye
  24. "I Left my Heart in Mississippi" performed by The Porky Freeman Trio
  25. "That Lucky Old Sun" performed by Louis Armstrong
  26. "One for My Baby" performed by Frank Sinatra
  27. "That Old Black Magic" performed by Sammy Davis, Jr.
  28. "St. James Infirmary Blues" performed by cab Calloway & His Orchestra
  29. "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" performed by Elvis Aaron Presley
  30. "The Finger of Suspicion (Points at You)" performed by Dickie Valentine
  31. "Someone to Watch Over Me" performed by Billy Eckstine
  32. "When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain" performed by Jimmy Wakely
  33. "Can't We Be Friends" performed by Frank Sinatra
  34. "I Put a Spell on You" performed by Screaming Jay Hawkins
  35. "I Hear You Knocking" performed by Smiley Lewis
  36. "Oh! My Papa" performed by the Browns
  37. "Tend to Your Business" performed by Jimmy "Wee Willie" Wayne
  38. "Hard Luck Blues" performed by Roy Brown
  39. "Cry Me a River" performed by Julie London
  40. "I Don't Hurt Anymore" performed by Jerry Lee Lewis
  41. "Wheel of Fortune" performed by The Cardinals
  42. "Wang Dang Taffy-Apple Tango" performed by Pat Boone
  43. "GI Blues" performed by an unknown Elvis Presley impersonator
  44. "I Fought the Law" performed by The Bobby Fuller Four
  45. "There Stands the Glass" performed by Jerry Lee Lewis
  46. "How Little We Know" performed by Frank Sinatra
  47. "I Could Make You Care" performed by the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra
  48. "Return to Sender" performed by Otis Blackwell
  49. "Can You Find it in Your Heart" performed by Tony Bennett
  50. "For Auld Lang Syne" performed by Freddie Rich's Radio Orchestra
  51. "Crazy With Love" performed by Guy Mitchell
  52. "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" performed by Shirley Bassey
  53. "Don't Make a Beggar of Me" performed by Frank Sinatra

Here's a link to it: https://www.mediafire.com/?t38tjt8yb17dl
 
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