Ninja2dan

The Fallout Wiki is pretty much the only site that I use for looking up quests, item info, locations, etc. This is the link for the Dead Money quests, and each section has some hints and notes on how to get the best results.

I think it might be fun to see some new "XCOM-like" weapons added into the game, maybe even some of the armor styles too. But you need to be careful about how far you go with it. Trying to "clone" stuff from another IP is always questionable, and you definitely don't want to "port" assets from another source. If you can get new models and textures made from scratch, then you should be okay. To be safe, I'd also suggest using "XCOM-like" names on items but nothing that says directly "I ripped off my idea and references from another game". Of all the DLC for FO3, the one I enjoyed the most was the Mothership Zeta addon. While I feel it didn't fit in with the lore at all, the gameplay felt great with FO3's setup. But I just wish there was more of it, more new world spaces instead of just the one ship. If someone had the skill and time to make a new mod, one that included a new world space and other stuff that sort of built onto the "lore" and story of the FO3 addon, placed it for NV, people would enjoy it. And I can see how making a new "XCOM" style of theme would be great, basically breeding XCom with Fallout. It would probably take a lot of work though, so you'd need people skilled in all aspects of modding. But if you can come up with a good plan, I'm betting there are talented people who'd be willing to help.

If you play on "Hardcore" mode, new features are added to the game that create "needs" such as hunger, thirst, and sleep requirements. But hardcore mode also adds other challenges to the game like companions can perma-die etc. There are also several mods that will place your needs levels on the HUD, which option you choose just depends on the mods you're using and what's compatible with those mods, plus which one has the appearance or features that you want. I personally prefer Project Nevada because it's a total overhaul mod that offers a ton of options and improvements, and it includes a few options to modify how you want the primary needs system to work and display on your HUD. As for "building" stuff, I haven't used it personally but I have read about the Real Time Settler (RTS) mod. It allows you to go out and build your own settlement using existing game assets (building models already in the game) and populate them with your own NPC. Some features do include harvesting of materials for building, but I'm not aware of it having any actual "mining" system like you might find in Skryim. The building system is also nothing like Skyrim's Hearthfire addon. The RTS mod does have some other compatible mods such as Farming Bob, which adds a sort of farming mode to settlements I guess. Again, I don't use those mods so I'm not sure what all they add or how they work, but I'm sure you can find some vids on youtube. Creating a fully customized player home in-game isn't really something that can easily be done via a mod. But there are several very good player home mods already out there that allow you to drop game items around for decorating, and already include useful features such as cooking, work benches and reload benches, armory, display mannequins, etc. I do remember that while playing Fallout 3 with a few mods like FWE, there were "portable" stations for crafting, cooking, etc. These allowed the player to drop and activate them inside pretty much any location and use that location as their own "player home". There is also a Portable Tent mod for NV that I use, which includes several features from player homes such as cooking, crafting, and item sorting and storage. Because it's portable, it's not a bad option for people not wanting to use the standard custom homes but still want access to some of those features. Personally I use the Underground Hideout player home, which I honestly can't see playing the game anymore without it. It has a cool feature that allows you to move the primary entrance to the hideout to just about anywhere in the wasteland. You can either move the entry to a place that you find more convenient, or you can move it to a place you feel fits in better with the "lore" of the game.

One of the most important tools for using mods is a "Mod Manager", such as either Fallout Mod Manager (FOMM) or Nexus Mod Manager (NMM). Which one you use doesn't really matter as much if you're new to mods, as they both do pretty much the same thing. A mod manager will allow you to easily change the "load order" for your installed mods, which is the order in which the mod files load when you start the game. If files are out of order, some mods won't work or you'll see all sorts of bugs/glitches while you play. The mod manager also makes installing/activating mods a lot easier than having to do a manual install, which for new people can actually cause accidents that jack up your game files. Another very useful tool is FNVEdit, which has a lot of functions but as a new mod user the primary function you'll be using it for is to create a "merge patch", which is basically a small patch file that gets all of your mods to play nice together and not catch your PC on fire. It can also tell you if there are major conflicts with your installed mods or your mod load order. Some mods will also require the New Vegas Script Extender (NVSE), or a few other common utilities (MCM/etc). And of course some mods may also be using other mods, so those must also be downloaded and installed. For example, a quest mod might require an armor mod to also be installed. It's always a good idea to make sure that your game is patched to the latest version, as well as all of your utilities and tools. Obviously, you also want to make sure you are using a legal copy of the game, and not a pirated/hacked copy. Personally, I recommend only using mods that are available through the Nexus site. Mods downloaded from other sites (with a few exceptions such as NVSE) can't be trusted, and can even include malware/etc. When you view a mod to download on the Nexus, the description page will also list all other required mods and usually have links to those mods. It's also very easy to use the site to track mods in case you need to visit their page often. Some mods will require a "compatibility patch" to work with other mods. Some of the major mod packs, such as Project Nevada for example, make a lot of changes to the game and other mods might not work. A compatibility patch will allow certain mods to work together, such as the Project Nevada - EVE patch. Any time you download a mod, it's a good idea to see if there are any compatibility patches required for other mods you may be using. These are not the same as the merge patch you made with FNVEdit. There are tutorial videos on Youtube for just about everything, including how to install or use certain mods, and a lot of mod reviews. Gopher has a large section of videos on New Vegas mods that you might want to check out, link is here.

After a lot of testing and numerous crashes, tt appears to be from hand grenades or pretty much any explosion as well and not just mines. I don't have this problem with New Vegas, just FO3. And as noted before, it happens even without any mods installed, and regardless of which settings I try to use.

I'd like to start off with saying that I am aware of the "Marine Edition" sub-mod for Enclave Commander NV Edition that was out a while ago. And I am aware that the Marine Edition mod is still "under moderator review" and is unavailable for download on this site. I had been using the Enclave Commander mod for a while, but really wasn't a fan of the default choice of factions or their assigned equipment. It didn't really fit in with the role and feel of the game that I was playing, so I ended up using the mod mostly just for the air strikes option and as an alternative method of transport. But after seeing a few video reviews for the Marine Edition around Youtube, I thought it looked cool and went searching for it, only to find it unavailable. Reading the original EC mod notes, it stated that there were in fact some "dummy factions" already in place to allow people to modify the mod and do exactly what the ME sub-mod did. So I set out to try and figure out how to do that on my own, adding new weapons and armor to create new factions that more resembled the unit type that I was wanting to play with. After messing around in the GECK for a few days, I have finally been able to achieve most of my goals. I have been able to add in two new factions, while "removing" the default factions from the list. I've been able to assign new weapons and armor to those new factions, and I have changed out the text in all of the menu windows to reflect the new factions. But I am new to modding, and I'm aware of some things that still need done before this mod is ready for public use. Right now I'm happily able to play it myself with no problems, but I don't consider it "done" enough that I'd be comfortable uploading it in its current state. So for now I'll keep working on the small things, such as making sure in-game notes and readme files match up with the new changes. I'm wondering if anyone else is interested in helping out with the "administrative" tasks associated with getting a mod ready for public release? While I do have permissions already from almost all of the new assets being used, I'd like to double-check and make sure I didn't miss anyone. And I'd like to get a proper readme file put together in a proper format. Most of the other "technical" work is done, but I wouldn't mind having some new eyes to give it a play-through test and see if any bugs pop up or if there is something I missed along the way. As noted above, I haven't noticed any problems on my own while testing it out, but having more people test it is the best way to ensure nothing is missed. I know that the Marine Edition sub-mod was quite popular, and many people have been asking for either a copy of it or for a new version to be released. While I am not personally sure as to why it's still under moderation, I have my own ideas as to what might be the cause. And I'm doing my best to ensure my own version of the EC mod doesn't have similar problems. If my version of the mod can be finished up and made ready for public use, then maybe the NV community will have some fun with it like I am. And if all goes well, I'll try to get some "tutorial/guide" set up to show others how to make their own versions. If you're interested in helping out with what's left to fix, and help get this ready for public upload, please let me know.

I've tried searching the forums, but I've been unable to find anything relating to my problem. Searches such as "mines crash" and "crash mines" simply pops up results for everything related to "crashes", "mines", etc. So if there are previous posts/topics about this issue that I was unable to find, please post a link. Basically, my game constantly crashes (not always, but frequently) when mines detonate. Either mines that I have dropped/armed, or other mines out in the environment that either I have set off or others have set off. For example, I can hear gunfire/explosions in the distance, probably two NPC that are hostile to each other have started to fight. Or an NPC has stumbled across some placed mines that are not owned by their faction. When those mines explode, my game crashes without any error messages or anything. It's not all the time, but it still is quite frequent. I've installed a save manager mod (similar to CASM) that does help reduce the amount of time I have to recover, but I can't figure out why those mine detonations are causing crashes. The crashes happen either inside or outside, doesn't matter which mine type. This has been happening since I installed the game, and has continued even after I've installed other mods. I'm pretty sure though that it has nothing to do with any mods directly, as I recall it was happening even after the fresh install. I am currently running FWE, WMK, RH ironsights, Underground Hideout, Adv recon armor/nightvision/trap detect, and compatibility patches for all of the above. Everything is latest version, FO3Edit merge patch with no errors, etc. I have tried reducing my graphic settings, but it still persists. Other than that, everything else seems to be running fine. Again, I don't crash EVERY time a mine goes off. It's maybe 1/5 or 1/10 mines that cause a crash. It can happen after 2 minutes of playing, or 2 hours. It appears totally random.

I'm not sure what that means yet. I've only recently installed FNVEdit, and so far I'm only using it to confirm load ordering is good and that mods don't conflict. I've been able to mess around with the GECK enough to learn a few things such as where articles of clothing and weapons get their object effect lists, as well as how to create new ones. I know how to modify certain values of items, change icon images, and even swap out a few bad textures. But I'm still very early on in the learning process. I can go into a mod through the GECK and FNVEdit and I can see everything that a particular mod changes, such as which vendors have those items added to it or where new containers have been placed. So I think I have a good understanding of how to move or delete those containers in order to keep them from conflicting with other mods. But there are some changes that I simply can't figure out how to revert, and think it would be easier to just tear the mod down and rebuild it using only the portions that I personally need. I'm also not understanding how to properly select more than one esp file in the GECK for editing. For example, I want the armor from one mod, and the weapons from two other mods. So that's a total of 3 esp that need to be loaded up, but you can only set one as active. And any changes will edit the active esp file. I'm only wanting to take the armor from one mod, and the weapons from another few mods, and combine them into a single new esp file for personal use. While I like the armor for example, I don't want any of the other changes that armor mod adds, such as new NPC or vendor lists. Basically, I'm saying "I like your armor, but I don't want the rest that comes with it".

My general rule for games like this is to do at least one full play-through un-modded (vanilla). This way you can see how everything works "as intended", be it quests, items, locations, or storyline. Once you've played through fully once or twice, you'll start to notice "problem areas" such as bugs that were never fixed via an official patch, or content that was left out (unfinished). You might also find that after playing through once or twice, things feel too easy. Maybe it's because you already know what to expect this time around, or you know how better to select perks and skills, maybe this time you know how to choose the dialogue on a quest to produce the best outcome. It's at this point where you really start to consider adding mods. Many mods are well-made, in that they add content that doesn't break the core storyline or immersion. Mods that fix bugs, restore lost (cut) content, correct errors in equipment stats, etc. So your overall playthough won't change much in regards to storyline, but you'll have far fewer annoyances like crashes or glitches. Then there are mods that alter some of the gameplay enough to increase the challenge, or offer you new methods of completing certain quests. They change the gameplay enough to make it feel "new", but not enough to break the original storyline or game outcome. And finally you have mods that totally change the game by adding in new quests, new NPC, new locations, new equipment, etc. Some of the weapons and armor for example in these mods might be considered overpowered, intended to spice things up and make it a little less boring for the experienced player. Using these kinds of mods from the first playthrough might ruin the experience for some, so it's suggested to wait until you've done things vanilla first. Personally, I've finished FONV about 8 times already without mods, trying different tactics or dialogue choices. But it got to the point where no matter what I did, the game was getting stale. Project Nevada for example changes a whole bunch of stuff, like changing loot rarity, adding the ability to sprint, etc. And because all of the options can be customized, you can configure the game to your own liking. WME for example adds a lot of weapon options, while the Pipboy Readius simply changes your pipboy device from the arm-mounted version into a handheld device. Everyone has their own opinion on what mods are good or not, what portions of the vanilla game need changed or not, etc. Once you've done a full playthrough, go browse the mod files and look for things that sound interesting to you. Try things out, see what's fun, and when you have a list of everything you want you just start up a new modded game.

While Nexus Mod Manager and Fallout Mod Manager will not directly tell you if there is a conflict between mods, you can use FNVEdit to check for problems. http://newvegas.nexusmods.com/mods/34703//? It's not perfect, but it can help tell you if a load order causes conflicts or if mods are adding data that conflict with each other. FNVEdit has the ability to create a "merge patch" to try and make all of your mods work together instead of butting heads. Again, it's not perfect, and it can't actually change mods to fix problems. But it's a great way to test for simpler problems. The only time I've seen major conflicts between mods is when they both edit the same data, such as two mods trying to add/remove items from the same particular container or trying to make changes to a specific NPC. And making a FNVEdit merge patch can only fix so much.

One good thing about not clearly defining the back-story is that they can add in details at a later point, such as they did in the various DLC. So many games just throw the player some place with little or no back-story on who they are, where they come from, etc. This game at least throws in some of that, but leaves it open enough that the player can come up with their opinions. Due to the fact that you can hop around between factions, be a "good" or "bad" person, etc means you're able to form your own back-story, at least what's not clearly disclosed through the various DLC. As for why Benny and his group hit the Courier in the Goodsprings area, you can look at the dialogue between the player and Yes Man when they first meet up. Through that dialogue, Yes Man points out that he was aware of all the items House was tracking, and where each of those items was located. He knew exactly where the Courier (player) was at, what his intended/likely route was, and where Benny should ambush him. And I really don't recall them stating exactly where the player was ambushed either. We know it's in the general Goodsprings area, but that's a fairly general area. He could have been ambushed south of town, but oddly enough that would have brought the player through Primm. We did see a dead body outside the Primm Mojave Express office, which appeared to be another courier carrying one of the other items for House. Yes Man and Benny knew where each item was, so I doubt Benny and his group took that courier out as a mistake. I'm also going to assume that Primm being taken over and that other courier being killed happened while the player was still incapacitated in Goodsprings (at Doc Mitchel's place). But the fact that the player speaks to the Nash's like he was unaware of the ME office there, means he never actually stopped in Primm before. Yet if the player had been taking the route north, wouldn't Primm have been a more likely supply and rest stop than Goodsprings? But I do see how it can be difficult to nail down a solid back-story on why the Courier (player) was actually in Goodsprings. It never bothered me too much, but for those mods that give alternate starting locations, I wonder how they deal with creating some sort of plausible writing to explain the variances.

I'm fairly new to mod creation/editing for New Vegas, but I'm learning slowly. One thing that I have yet to figure out is how to "borrow" individual parts of another mod's .esp to use in a private combined esp. First off, I want to say that I'm not talking about stealing content from other mod creators and attempting to use it in my own mod for public distribution. I have worked in the game industry for over a decade, so I'm quite aware of the policies and requirements for using the work of others. Let's say I have an assortment of other mods that include various items that I like, but at the same time they include items that I dislike, or features that conflict with my game. I'm wanting to break those original mods down into parts, take the parts that don't conflict, and combine all of them back into a single new mod. FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY One example is that a mod includes armor, weapons, and a few NPC. But the mod also adds those weapons via a container that conflicts with other mods I'm using. I don't need the armor, won't be interacting with the NPC, I just need a few of the weapons their mod adds. Another example is that a mod adds some armor, but the armor is placed in a bad location that causes problems with other mods or breaks the game. I'd like to have that armor available, but I'd like to place it in my own desired spot that doesn't conflict with anything else I'm using. After obtaining permissions from the original mod authors, how would I go about breaking down their .esp files to extract just the items that I need? And once I have all of that together, how would I package it back up into a single .esp file? And once again, I am NOT talking about stealing someone else's model to apply my own texture and rename it as my own work. I'm not asking to steal someone else's weapons to place into my own poorly-written quest mod. I'm talking about using portions of mods in my own personal-use mod, after obtaining full permissions from the original mod authors.