As is the case with many older RPGs, they haven’t aged all that well. That’s not really the case when it comes to evaluating Fallout: New Vegas. Having said that, not everything is perfect. Here are some of the best mods for Fallout: New Vegas.
NVAC – New Vegas Anti Crash
We’re kicking this off with the basics, the mod that you absolutely need to install, even if it’s not especially exciting. The New Vegas Anti Crash mod does exactly what it says on the tin: It makes the game more stable on modern and older systems. It’s no secret that Fallout: New Vegas is a bit of a buggy nightmare, and while it’s been patched since its launch to improve its performance, it’s nowhere close to running smooth. Hard crashing occurs often and unexpectedly, and sometimes quick-saving just won’t cut it.
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Per the mod’s official description, installing NVAC “implements structured exception handling and sanity checking to reduce frequency of game crashes.” That’s really all this upgrade is going to do, but given the prevalence of these crashes, it’s essential that you start with NVAC before getting into some of the more fun mods.
Yukichigai Unofficial Patch
While we may have addressed the constant crashing with the NVAC, there are still plenty of other bugs that we need to address in New Vegas. While there’s some debate as to which mod compilation is better between Mojave Mission and Yukichigai Unofficial Patch, I’d recommend the latter. MM can be difficult to track down now, given that Nexus Mods has archived its page, and YUP is not only accessible but generally a great deal more efficient.
As the name suggests, the Unofficial Patch fixes thousands of bugs, glitches, and errors that may crop up during an average play-through of New Vegas. The amount of fixes is truly staggering, with creator Yukichigai working on modding out many lingering problems for years after the game’s launch. If you want the smoothest experience possible, I highly recommend making YUP a priority. At the very least, you can opt to skip the included NVAC mod since you’ve already installed it!
JAM – Just Assorted Mods
When it comes to improving the general playability of New Vegas, you won’t get much better than the Just Assorted Mods. A collection of tweaks compiled by NexusMods user Yvileapsis, the bundle of upgrades is designed to improve the minute-to-minute gameplay of New Vegas. JAM introduces a wealth of changes to both the UI and mechanics that elevate Obsidian’s Fallout to modern standards, improving an already exceptional game.
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When it comes to specifics, JAM adds things like a dynamic crosshair to help indicate bullet spread and accuracy and a weapon wheel that grants players the ability to quickly swap between weapons rather than constantly navigating a menu. Small improvements include hit markers that help you figure out if a shot has landed and an option to hold your breath for those tricky snipes. Overall, it’s just a solid collection of updates that really take New Vegas a rung up the ladder.
Fallout Character Overhaul
Again, the name gives away what this mod is all about. While New Vegas may have some excellently written characters, the graphics used to bring them to life leaves a great deal to be desired. The game’s faces are flat and bland, with stilted animations doing them no favors. If you don’t want to feel miserable every time you chat with an NPC, you’ll want to install the Fallout Character Overhaul mod, which provides a wealth of improvement to the models used to bring the denizens of the Mojave Wasteland to life.
You can expect to find upgraded textures, improved animations, and remakes of every face in the game. This doesn’t just apply to the standard smooth skins, as ghouls are also treated to a wealth of new options unique to them. Even tiny details like upgraded hair textures and animated eyelashes go a long way to making everyone look more realistic. Just what Benny would have wanted.
New Vegas Uncut
It’s no secret that Fallout: New Vegas had an incredibly rushed development cycle, which is one of the reasons the game was so buggy on launch. In order to meet the deadline, Obsidian Entertainment was forced to cut out a great deal of content, but fortunately, with the help of mods, you can restore it all. Simply Uncut, or any other mod that’s worked to restore most of the removed elements, can take New Vegas back to how it was originally envisioned, and the results are fantastic.
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New quests, major changes to the story, and several new character interactions help not only to flesh out the already excellent narrative but also reveal that New Vegas was planned to somehow be even more flexible than the final release. The amount of new quests added through Simply Uncut is staggering, and better yet, many have been remade to organically fit into the game. Once you’ve got any of the Uncut mods installed, I highly doubt you’ll be able to play New Vegas without them again.
Wasteland Flora and Terrain Overhaul
I don’t want to repeat myself, but yeah, New Vegas is ugly. What’s worse than the sickly green of the Capital Wasteland? The overwhelming brown of the Mojave Desert. With the Wasteland Flora and Terrain Overhaul mod, you’ll be able to add more than 100 new desert plants and trees to populate the landscape. While that may ignore the concept of a Wasteland, let’s just pretend all that radiation was good for the environment.
The addition of some greenery that’s not the occasional cactus goes a long way to making New Vegas a pleasant place to hang out. It’s helped by the fact that many of the models used in the Flora and Terrain Overhaul mod are genuinely impressive in their construction, adding a splash of beauty that fits with the overhaul aesthetic of the Mojave. Life needn’t be so drab in the apocalypse!
