So you did yourself a favor and you bought Fallout: New Vegas for the PC. Good work! Now you can start modding, but where do you start? Do you install major weather and sky mods that change how the entire Mojave looks? Or do you want to give yourself more perks from the get-go? Well, lucky you! You just found yerself a mighty fine list here partner.
#15 Nevada Skies
Nevada Skies changes not only how the sky itself looks but adds weather, too! It offers sandstorms, rain, thunderstorms, cloudy days, more kinds of sunny days and a myriad of different clouds to look up and squint at. There's even snow in appropriate locations, and rad storms when you think the desert couldn't get any harsher. The night itself changes too—it's darker now and the sky is changed as well, filled with a universe's worth of stars to gaze upon. Even better, it's not sunny one day and then rainy the next. It still feels like it's the desert.
This mod and the next two listed are highly recommended to download together as the modders themselves have worked to bring them together in a way that makes sense, and so each mod actually affects the other.
#14 Imp’s More Complex Needs / IMCNNV
Imp's More Complex Needs is a HUGE mod. It changes how food, water and drugs work as well as how your body is affected by them. It even affects the Mojave itself. The mod adds 6 additional levels of nutrition to enhance your immersion in the game.
There's Protein, Nutrients, Fullness, Stimulants, Mood and Alcohol. Different foods affect you in different ways—for example eating raw gecko meat will make you ill with food poisoning, but cooking it beforehand will increase your mood, fill you up and increase your protein intake. Higher moods equal faster health regeneration. Meat will spoil in your inventory if left there for too long, and if you drink too much Whiskey you'll end up dead in the dirt. Rates have their own multipliers as well, so for example if you find yourself drinking too much water you can adjust that. You can enable or disable the healing factors of food and change your height and weight which in turn affects your metabolism.
There is just so much this mod does to change the game, that you might not want to return to vanilla mode.
#13 Ambient Temperature.
This mod alongside the previous two, changes how your body is affected by the wasteland's weather. The temperatures, humidity, dew points—they all change how thirsty and fatigued you become. It also affects what NPCs are wearing and when equipment overheats. It's even set up to reflect Las Vegas' real weather patterns, so it all feels natural. If you get the previous two mods mentioned then I highly recommend you pick this one up too.
#12 The IMAGINATOR – Visual Control Device
The Imaginator vastly changes how you see the world. You can make things brighter, change the overall tint, increase or decrease contrast, saturation, and even add film effects! You can make the Mojave look like something filmed from Star Trek's 1960s cameras. You can also make the world black and white, sepia toned, and add a slow shutter effect for something even more old timey. Make the world bright green or just change the vibrancy to make everything pop. Can't see in the dark? You can fix that too!
The Imaginator comes with many preset styles as well as giving you the ability to make more subtle changes yourself, so don't be afraid to play around all day long instead of fighting Cazadores—no one will blame you.
#11 Darnified
This mod changes the words you see on the screen so they are smaller, and more compact allowing you to fit more information on the screen at once. You don't have to scroll forever now, because it's all there in front of you. It makes reading through your inventory so much easier, especially while trading.
#10 Extended New Vegas Radio Generator
This mod doesn't come with music but it changes the game so you can add more songs yourself. You won’t have to listen to the same old music over and over again. It even converts your own MP3s for you, so you can listen to them in New Vegas. The mod will hold up to an amazing 32,000 songs, so you'll never grow tired of the radio again.
#9 Goodsprings Farmhouse
This mod gives you a home to call your own in Goodsprings, so you don't have to carry all that stuff that you HAVE to have 4 towns away. Even better—it fits! It's not filled to the brim with high end equipment that you'd never so early in the game. In fact, it's messy just like every other building in the game and there's more than enough room for all your goods. There's even a couple of small quests that go with it as well! There's a nice backyard where you can grow your own foods and a secret down in the basement.
You are awarded the home after defending the town but you can also cheat and get the key early, but I won't tell you how to do so here—it’s something you'll have to look up the mod.
#8 Active Wasteland
Active Wasteland lets you use more items you find in the wasteland. Next time you're at the doctor's office, try messing with the air tanks. You can use the coffee machines now as well, all you need is a mug and some pinyon nuts. Turn on those hotel desk lamps so you can finally cast light on those darkened hallways.
#7 Blackwolf's Backpack
This mod gives you a number of backpacks of various carrying weight that allow you to hold more goods in your personal inventory. It is a life saver, and it's not just some mod that changes a number—it's an actual backpack. With this mod, you can carry up to 90 more pounds of goods! You can really become your own personal caravan with this. The packs themselves are beautifully made as well.
#6 Light Step ED-E
Why does a flying robot set off mines? It is a mystery we will never know, just like why people thought it would be a good idea to have nuclear-powered vehicles. This mod changes this so you'll no longer be scratching your head and wasting precious stim-packs.
#5 Realistic Repair
This mod allows you to repair your goods in a more sensible manner. It lets you use items that you'd normally just skip over and sell to fix your stuff. Glue your armor back together or give it a good scrub with Abraxo. You can use hammers to bash your weapons back together and repair them with items that share similar properties. You can use a baseball bat to fix up the stock of your rifle. If you like to make a lot of caps repairing the stuff you find, then you'll want this mod.
#4 Type 3 Cute Country Girl Cass and Presets
I've never seen such a wonderfully done companion redesign. Cassidy is adorable, and it's still her. Unlike other character mods, she isn't all dolled up like an anime character or wearing slutty undergarments. She's still got her jeans, jacket and cowboy hat. If you want to give her something a bit more protective than what she's wearing, then you will have to install another mod to do so.
#3 Real Time Settler
This mod changes the game entirely. It allows you to build a settlement, let it grow and develop, and ultimately defend it. Your settlement can become the architectural beacon of the Mojave. I can’t recommend this mod enough. Even though it's creator is no longer modding the game, it has been placed into good hands.
#2 Project Nevada
It's not a traditional overhaul, so don't mistake it for that. Though it offers many subtle changes to the game itself, you can pick and choose modules to suit your style, allowing you more freedom than other mods like this. You can pick from a rebalancing module, cybernetic implants and new weaponry and armor. There's a dynamic crosshair, and you can now even sprint! This mod is a must have for everyone who’s fed up of the game’s vanilla combat system.
#1 nVamp
nVamp is a huge overhaul mod designed to seamlessly integrate many of the mods available out there, like those on this list, so everything flows and works together as they should. It brings you bug fixes, stronger enemies, and you can even find yourself stumbling into battles. There are new areas to explore, and the entire Mojave will come alive like you've never seen it before. You're sorely missing out on an incredible experience if you pass this up.
