More Modding Advice Needed

[OpenWorldAddict]

So, I originally thought that I would use the mods in Gopher's Modding New Vegas tutorial series and then be done with it and go on and play my game and be happy... yadda, yadda. Then, while watching the series and realizing how old it is and watching all of his Fallout New Vegas mod clinic videos, I realized that there is much more to modding new vegas then what he showed in his video. So many things have been updated, so many new mods that have come out that add new things to the game, that I realized that I have a ton of research to do to find the complete set of mods that add what I want to the game.

 

Now I am just coming off of playing Skyrim and before it Oblivion and Morrowind. I did all that research for Morrowind, and even now I am still discovering mods that I didn't know about before. When I got into Oblivion, there was already a Oblivion mod wiki which made that kind of research easier. With Skyrim, I've watched the modding community for that grow even before I got the game (because of Gopher's Skyrim Mod Sanctuary and Brodual's spotlights), and then a site came on called Skyrim Gems that made finding gameplay mods even easier.

 

However, for this game i really don't have a lot of time to do all the research needed for all the mods that I want for my game. I have a lot going on right now (moving house, looking for a job, trying to perfect my Skyrim and Oblviion load orders, recording videos for my Youtube channel, etc.) and so this has become a seemingly insurmountable task.

 

So I am asking for more advice. Before I get into the type of mods I am looking for, I want to tell you that I am no fussy about the visuals. All it has to be is realistic enough for me so it doesn't break my immersion. In Skyrim and Oblivion, all I focus on the visuals are mods that enhance the lighting and the weather, making nights and indoors darker, and improving small things like the look of water. I avoid things that change textures, meshes, models, etc because I really don't look at those things in great detail in game.

 

So the mods that I do want are mods that change or add to the gameplay, and mods that add things to the game world to flesh it out making it feel more lived in, lively and useful.

 

So the types of mods that i am looking for are:

1. Mods that enhance the city of New Vegas and all the surrounding towns and villages to:

A. Make them look as similar as possible to it's real life counterparts

B. flesh them out more (more npcs, unused buildings have functions, new buildings, etc.)

2. Adds systems of transportation. I am sorry, but I do not like fast travel. Fast travel feels unrealistic to me, and Fallout NV has no transportation system. So mods that add drive-able cars, motobikes, and aircraft are essential, as well as providing better roads for smoother rides.

3. Mods that add more survival gear (backpacks, tents, bedrolls, etc.) to make surviving on hardcore mode more fun (and not a chore).

4. Mods that add more and improved stealth gear. (because I am going to be playing a very stealthy character)

5. Mods that either enhance the vanilla player homes or add new player homes to gain either through purchase or questing. (getting a player home for free is not immersive for me. Homes have to be earned)

6. Mods that enhance the crafting aspects of the game.

7. Mods that enhance followers or change how you interact with followers.

8. I am even willing to try mods that change or enhance the leveling system (perks, traits, and skills)

 

That is all I can think of right now, but I think it should be enough to get a list of 100 or so mods for a moderately full load order, and I don't think I would want to push it beyond that. Talking about load order, it would be great to find mods that have more of what I am looking for with less plugin files. Having less plugin files gives me more leg room to add new mods, and it also makes resolving load order problems and stability issues easier (which can become a big headache the closer you are to the plugin limit)

Edited December 10, 2014 by OpenWorldAddict

[JoshBadWriter]

1. New Vegas Restoration is probably your best bet for a bigger, better Vegas. There isn't really anything that makes Vegas look/feel like its real life counter-part, nor is there any mod that really makes it a huge, bustling town. But this mod comes close. It gets rid of all the barriers and adds people, it updates the casinos, it adds little details, and even a few smaller casinos.

 

As for the other towns, there are a ton of mods that'll expand the settlements. There's Freeside Open, Primm Reborn, Goodsprings Reborn, and Nipton Rebuilt. I'd also suggest A World of Pain, which adds a ton of new locations and NPC's. Again, they won't really make them look like their real life counterparts, but they do add a lot of buildings and NPC's, generally making them feel alive.

 

2. Two mods stand out, XRE Cars and XRE Vertibirds. Both require New Vegas Script Extender, and both take a little getting used to to control. Sorry, but there's not really any mods that fix the roads, part of the reason why I don't use the cars mod. There is however Mobile Truck Base. You don't drive this one at all, instead just select from a list of place you want to go and it'll auto-take you there.

 

3. Leather Backpack adds backpacks, and Bottle that Water. I know it sounds simple, but the ability to bottle fresh and dirty water adds a nice bit of depth to Hardcore mode.

 

4. Not really any mods that improve stealth, I'm sorry to say.

 

5. There are a TON of player homes. Just search "player homes" on the Nexus. There are a lot of different ones that do a lot of different things, so it's kinda hard to recommend one, it comes down to whatever you're looking for really.

 

6. There's Alternate Repairing, which rebalances how to repair things and what you can use to do it. There's not a ton of mods for crafting. I know there's Crafting Improved which isn't very popular. There's also Craft Pack, which adds a ton of recipes and stuff.

 

7. Not really any mods that change how you interact with Followers or how they interact with you that I know, but there are some that customize their appearance. There's a great mod companion named Willow that's totally different from the vanilla ones. She's got a radio that you can use to call her, she'll also occasionally say things about what's going on in the story or new locations you visit.

 

I hope that helps some. Let me know if you'd like any more mods or anything. I know a lot of great Quest mods if you're interested.

Edited December 12, 2014 by JoshBadWriter

[OpenWorldAddict]

Sorry, I have been moving so it took me some time to notice this.

 

1. New Vegas Restoration is probably your best bet for a bigger, better Vegas. There isn't really anything that makes Vegas look/feel like its real life counter-part, nor is there any mod that really makes it a huge, bustling town. But this mod comes close. It gets rid of all the barriers and adds people, it updates the casinos, it adds little details, and even a few smaller casinos.

 

As for the other towns, there are a ton of mods that'll expand the settlements. There's Freeside Open, Primm Reborn, Goodsprings Reborn, and Nipton Rebuilt. I'd also suggest A World of Pain, which adds a ton of new locations and NPC's. Again, they won't really make them look like their real life counterparts, but they do add a lot of buildings and NPC's, generally making them feel alive.

 

 

I got Goodsprings Reborn and Primm Reborn. I'll look into the other mods as well. Right now, a World of Pain adds too much for me. However, if I am looking for more things to fight, I will take a look into it later.

 

 

2. Two mods stand out, XRE Cars and XRE Vertibirds. Both require New Vegas Script Extender, and both take a little getting used to to control. Sorry, but there's not really any mods that fix the roads, part of the reason why I don't use the cars mod. There is however Mobile Truck Base. You don't drive this one at all, instead just select from a list of place you want to go and it'll auto-take you there.

 

I got XRE Cars. It's neat. I haven't gotten too far into the game yet, so I am going to hold off with XRE Vertibirds. I did find a mod called "Roads Restoration Project". It's a neat immersive mod that improves many of the roads, but not all of them (specifically in areas that road crews can't get to or afraid to go to. Very immersive!)

 

 

 

3. Leather Backpack adds backpacks, and Bottle that Water. I know it sounds simple, but the ability to bottle fresh and dirty water adds a nice bit of depth to Hardcore mode.

 

What I've heard is that Project Nevada already includes Leather Backpacks, I found a mod that adds military style backpacks as well. I'll look into the Bottle that Water mod. Sounds interesting. By the way, i found a Portable Campsite mod that is good for survival gameplay.

 

 

 

4. Not really any mods that improve stealth, I'm sorry to say.

 

Not mods that improve stealth, i was looking for mods that added more stealth gadgets and equipment. As far as I know, the only mods so far that adds those things are Gopher's "Advanced Recon" series of mods. I was just looking for more.

 

 

 

5. There are a TON of player homes. Just search "player homes" on the Nexus. There are a lot of different ones that do a lot of different things, so it's kinda hard to recommend one, it comes down to whatever you're looking for really.

 

Any player home mod just won't do. Just walking into a home and claiming it yours is SO un-immersive for me. Every player home I get i want to feel as i earned it. So far, I've found a mod that turns the Goodsprings Gas Station into a player home that can be 'earned' as a reward for completing 'Ghost Town Gunfight'. It's small and useful as a beginner's base of operations, but later on in the game when I am far from Goodsprings and have alot more stuff than I do at the start, a centralized player home would be so convenient.

 

 

 

6. There's Alternate Repairing, which rebalances how to repair things and what you can use to do it. There's not a ton of mods for crafting. I know there's Crafting Improved which isn't very popular. There's also Craft Pack, which adds a ton of recipes and stuff.

 

I'll look into Alternate Resources. I did pick up New Vegas Extended Crafting, which has been useful.

 

 

 

7. Not really any mods that change how you interact with Followers or how they interact with you that I know, but there are some that customize their appearance. There's a great mod companion named Willow that's totally different from the vanilla ones. She's got a radio that you can use to call her, she'll also occasionally say things about what's going on in the story or new locations you visit.

 

I hope that helps some. Let me know if you'd like any more mods or anything. I know a lot of great Quest mods if you're interested.

I did notice JIP Command and Control mod, which looks like it is a good mod for follower interaction. As for followers themselves, I downloaded the Sunny Companion mod so that I have someone to travel with in the areas of Goodsprings and Primm and maybe a little beyond.

 

Thank you for your advice. I think I am going to take it slow modding my game because i am not that good with shooter style gameplay, and so it will take me a long time to get a handle on it, and I rather not add things that add more enemies or change the combat mechanics in any way or form. I did get the Loose Ends and Off the Books quest mods. They continue the story started in "Ghost Town Gunfight' and it comes to a head with an assault on the NCR Correctional Facility. I think these two mods combined provide a nice pace to questing in the Goodsrpings/Primm area near the beginning of the game.