Planning a new FONV install - what mods would ya'll suggest?

[TheArkady]

Yay, the HD on my desktop died!

...

I'm bored, so I guess I might as well start making plans for when I get around to doing my new FONV install. And since I bet I'll have a week or three, I might as well solicit opinions on what mods to go for. Let's start with the big one.

 

1. Stability

I clearly haven't found a good selection of stability mods for my system (i.e. I haven't managed to reduce CTDs substantially), so I'm very curious as to what everyone would recommend atm. If anyone feels they need system info to comment: Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit, Core I3-2120 @ 3,3 GhZ, 8 GB RAM, GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1 GB

 

2. Bug Fixes and Gameplay Enhancements

Tossing these together because both NVEC and MMUE+ do that. I'm a bit weary of both due to bloat, and I guess the third option would be YUP and cherry-picking enhancement mods. That, however, would be impractical unless I can keep the mod count reasonably low (as I seem to be too stupid to get merged patches to work).

 

I absolutely want Signature Armors and Weapons (which are included in NVEC), but beyond thhat, it doesn't really matter that much. Anyone with thoughts on which way I should go?

 

3. Looking Good!

That's essential, obviously, but there's actually quite a few steps.

 

a. Default body and armor replacers

I'd prefer a bounce enabled default body for female NPCs, and vanilla armors to match. I think the only easy way is Bouncing Breasts Type 3 Armors and a body to match, or has some alternative eluded me? (I figure a T6M bouncing install should be possible between resources here and on Nexius. though it'd be fairly fiddly.)

 

b. Custom race with custom body

I want to use a custom race to set up my PC to use a custom body. The easy one to go with is Desert Succubus, but I'd prefer to go without it (to avoid the modifications it makes inside the Goodsprings Saloon, a cell that's always been pretty crashy for me regardless). I'm tempted to go with Mojave Delight, modifying the esm to use custom bodys - that looks like a simple enough, safe edit (can anyone confirm, perchance?).

Obviously, I'm curious as to suggestions for body/texture replacers I should give a try.

 

c. Pretty faces

If I do go with Mojave Delight for custom races, I'll still need something to make NPCs look better. What would you consider the best mod(s) to go for? (Previously, I simply used LingsPrettyThings as Lings is a prereq for DS.)

 

4. More Varied Stuff

Really, the Mojave looks a bit monotonous. I'm sick and tired of every damn casino having their card fronts look the same (but the mods I find have cards looking too pristine for being pre-war artifacts), I started feeling like I've seen the same posters a billion times way too early in my very first playthrough (but only know of mods that change them, as opposed to adding more variety), etc.

Anything that might help on this front I'd love to hear about.

 

5. You Completely Forgot...

... what did I completely forget? If there's any mod you think is really, really cool and doesn't fit the above categories, let me know.

 

Thanks for any input you all can give!

[thunderwalrus]

1. Stability - Stability in any Bethesda game is a crapshoot. My best results have been with Performance Of The Gods (which cleans up random trash and debris), New Vegas Anti Crash, and Stutter Remover. Beyond that, the tweaks get a lot more complicated. Dick around with ini files and try New Vegas Configurator (simplified gui for ini tweaking), FNVEdit (for cleaning esps), Wrye Flash (you should know what this is), and BOSS (doubly so!). Lower the graphical settings as necessary. Honestly you probably know all this but it never hurts to make sure right?

 

2. Bug Fixes and Gameplay Enhancements - Dude, I hear you on MMUE and NVCE. I usually stick to NVCE because it covers such a wide range. I'm also keen on YUP and Operation Fixed Terrain (which unfucks New Vegas' terrain). Other than that I generally just cherry pick like you do. The aforementioned combo takes care of all the really glaring problems for me.

 

3. Looking Good! - Pffft, like I even need to tell you. Don't forget ENBoost. Make your own ini tweaks for ENB for gods sake! Director's Chair by Gopher/MGE also got a nice patch and it's now all packed together instead of being a loose association with a MCM plugin.

 

 

a. Default body and armor replacers - T6M is the only body/armor replacer I can think of that actually has support. Breeze's Males is (I think?) the most supported male base these days.

 

 b. Custom race with custom body - Daughters of Ares is a really well thought out robot girl race with some unique perks and stuff. The body mesh is a HEAVILY modified Type 6 variant that looks pretty good with converted armors.

 

c. Pretty faces - DoA has Lings preset faces I believe, so it wont work with most face replacers. If you don't end up using DoA then I heavily recommend Fallout Character Overhaul or Redesigned 2. That's based on personal preference, I've never used Lings so I can't vouch for it.

 

4. More Varied Stuff - NVEC adds a lot, but for landscape you can use Flora Overhaul and your choice of texture pack like Ojo Bueno. URWL is for weather but it can be kind of glitchy.

 

Other than that - Project Nevada - Makes the game a real challenge, but not masochistically so. GRA - Right To Bear Arms - Gives GRA items to Tha People. EVE - for all your energy weapon needs. Weapon Mods Expanded - What it says on the tin.

 

BE SURE TO RESEARCH THE RELEVANT PATCHES FOR ALL OF THESE MODS. Be sure to clean everything in FNVEdit and then bash it with Wrye Bash. Be sure and run BOSS. Have a good'n.

 

Edit: Forgot some stuff. If you run a 64 bit OS (Windows Vista and above basically) be sure and use FNV4GB. The hope is that Sheson's memory patch will get back ported to all the other Beth titles, but until then 4GB is what we get. If you're okay with using third party stuff, put New Vegas in windowed mode and use Borderless Gaming for fluid alt tabbing. If you really REALLY need a performance switch try Hialgo Switch. It decreases a the games resolution by up to 50% on command. Be sure and run msconfig and tell Borderless Gaming and Hialgo Switch NOT to start with windows, and just activate them before playing a game of choice. Hialgo Switch also has some really really pointless settings like watermark opacity (HIALGO logo in the top lefthand corner at all times - srsly dog?).

[TheArkady]

Thanks for the feedback, Some good info to go o for me. For example, I didn't get into FNV until after that modding site with the berserk moderators had made sure OFT was gone from there...

 

DoA goes beyond what I'm looking for though, I really just want a custom race that makes using a custom PC body + texture easy. (Can't run around basically looking the same as every silly little no-name NPC now ).

 

Ah, Right To Bear Arms indeed! It's one of the parts of NVEC I like, definitely need to remember to DL that if I do decide to ditch the big pack.

[ТigегШооd]

For an awesome face (trust me I looked, Mojave Delight & others look bad compared to it) go with Jill Valentine race, the blonde one or make up looks best, can't go wrong with it; it's for t6m body, but for type 3 f  body is unnoticeable, especially if you use a collar or necklace. There's 2 versions on that page, use the new one.

http://lsquall.deviantart.com/art/Fallout-New-Vegas-Jill-Valentine-Mod-Release-1-3-301554921

 

t3f:

http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/45445/?