Looking for a true western mod/game?

[buchenrad]

Ive been a huge fan of the Elder Scrolls series ever since I got Morrowind years ago, and Ive always wanted a game that was set in the old west but had RPG mechanics similar to the Elder Scrolls series (like if Red Dead Redemption and Skyrim had a baby; Ive got kind of close with M&B mods but they lack a true open world) and of course available on PC (RDR itself isnt too bad but its not available on PC and I dont bother with consoles) which has led me here to New Vegas. It looks like it has a lot of potential but Im not really into the whole post apocalyptic mutated creatures radiation madness stuff. I just want a pure old west game.

 

Is there a conversion mod for New Vegas (or Fallout 3 or anything else available on PC) that is a true late 1800s open world western?

[TheBlob2]

Things like the cartoony mutants, the bulky robots, and the crazy tribals, the underground vaults, the alien ships, the 50s science fiction aesthetic with a hints of old america, and the mutilating and bloody combat give fallout its uniqueness. i don't understand why anybody would remove all of the elements while keeping the very minor feature of it being somewhat western like. Seems like a ridiculous prospect

[charwo]

Not really, Fallout is first and foremost New Old West.

And no, there is nothing that expansive. The art assets alone boggle the mind. See, assume that you're setting this western conversion in the Las Vegas valley, so in theory you can use the main map and Zion too if you're feeling ambitious.Then you have to hack out ALL the buildings that aren't Old Mormon Fort, cause even the Pioneer Saloon was built in 1910. You need new animals, unmutated bighorn sheep, wolves, possibly camels, real cows of various breeds, ridable horses and a slew of other other Mohave critters. Then you'd need have take out the Hoover Dam and put in Boulder Canyon at the expense of Lake Mead

Besides, and here's no nice way to put it, unless you are Rockstar, your sandbox game is going to suck because it's a sandbox game. They don't give the scale necessary for real immersion due to law of conservation of detail. And then there's the needless violence of the FPS. People expect things to shoot at because the first person shooter is literally a movable shooting galley. For a western feel, you'd need a rebalanced economy, new skills "can speak Spanish," can ride horse, every quest designed from the ground up and as mentioned in the last sentence, make the violence far less and far more costly. In practical terms you're talking about a scenic, sparely populated corner of Nevada. Basically Shadow of the Colossus for the Western Genre. Someone should make that game, bu not modders.

But there is a series of mods so dripping with Spaghetti Western it will give your shirts stains that will never come out:
The Someguy Series!
http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/48925/?
Especially Russel, Good God Russel one giant shoutout to Blood Meridian, although unlike Cormac MacCarthy Someguy isn't a hack

Also, to get a more Western-y feel rather than ass end blighted wasteland get these:
Vurt's Flora Overhaul, recovering version
Project Reality (realistic skies, better value for system resources than Nevada Skies)
Smaller Bugs (this makes the bugs much harder because while less HP, they are much, much harder to see)
NCR pre-war flag replacer. Makes NCR Flag the American Commonwealth flag which makes the game feel far more American frontier rather than post-American Wasteland. It's my favorite mod ever.

[buchenrad]

Thank you very much for the detailed response. That clarifies things pretty well. I havent actually played any of the Fallout games so I wasnt sure to what extent things would have to be changed, but I figured I would ask and then pick up a copy if there was a decent mod I could play along with the original game. I still may try it out some time though. As I have read more about it has grown on me.

[bben46]

One thing that makes it difficult to be more western is the complete absence of horses. There have been many attempts to put horses into FONV but no success. And what good is a horse opera without horses? :blush:

 

As for the rest of the conversion. Possible but very time consuming. If you have a few years you may be able to do it.