Our definitive step-by-step guide to setting up and playing this classic RPG.
Now boasting a glossy (and surprisingly authentic) TV adaptation, Fallout is the talk of the town again—not bad for a series that started out as a niche turn-based isometric RPG from the ’90s. While Fallout 4 and 76 are probably better known these days, most longtime series fans still sing the praises of Fallout: New Vegas and its hugely reactive, freeform story. At least, they recommend it more strongly than any other game in the series, just with some assembly required. You’ll need to do a bit of legwork unless you happen to enjoy bugs and crashes, even after New Vegas got some official patches and a round of (excellent) DLC.
Years of dedicated community efforts have culminated in New Vegas being a better game than ever (and arguably one of the best RPGs ever made), but only if you’re willing to go that extra mile through the Mojave to gather all the parts needed and cobble them all together at a crafting bench. So here’s a crash course on how to get the most out of Fallout: New Vegas in 2024. Get it all done, and your friends will be atomic-green with envy.Install this oneWhat’s the best version of Fallout: New Vegas?
There are a few places you can pick up Fallout: New Vegas, but you’ll want the Ultimate Edition from either Steam, GOG or Epic if you plan on modding the game, which you will absolutely want to do. Also if you’re unfortunate enough to have the German version, you’ll need to follow some extra steps—see the Viva New Vegas guide below.
The full version of the game is normally $20, but New Vegas goes on sale multiple times per year, so savvy shoppers can often snag it for under $5. The Ultimate Edition includes four lengthy expansions that most bugfix packs require. The rest of this guide will assume you own this version of the game.
You’ll probably want to skip on the Game Pass or Microsoft Store versions, because they don’t play nicely with the Script Extender used by many mods.First steps Before you do anything else
New Vegas is technically playable straight from the jump, but if you want to play the game at its best, you’ll want to go through a few steps before anything else:
1. Install the game, and then run it at least once. This will create the directories on your PC to hold your saves and INI files. If you’ve got a PC from any time in the past six years, you’ll be fine cranking every graphics setting up to maximum too.
2. Make an account on Nexus Mods. You won’t be able to download the key mods and fan-made patches until you do this. Don’t worry about Nexus’s premium subscription thing—it’s fully optional and only worth it if you’re very impatient.
The PC Gaming Wiki—a perennial tech-advice hub—has tips for how you can force higher frame rates, fix field-of-view for ultrawide resolutions and ambient occlusion. But aside from the Ambient Occlusion fix, you should hold off on doing anything, because we’re diving into the deep end with a lot of heavy changes.Use these modsEssential mods for the newest New Vegas possible (The Easiest Way)
A couple years ago, this process was a bit easier, thanks to a community mod pack named Viva New Vegas, which you could automatically install via Wabbajack, a time-saving app that downloaded mods for you, set up the correct load orders and handled all the finicky parts for you. Unfortunately, the maintainers of Viva New Vegas felt that updating the Wabbajack version of it continually was more effort than it was worth, and so you’ll have to follow a guide to assemble it yourself.
Viva New Vegas is still your easiest route to a smoother, more stable New Vegas, but now it’s in the form of a step-by-step guide to follow here.
As with the previous iteration, there’s varying levels of modded-ness you can pick from, with the default setup guide just focusing entirely on patches, fixes and some quality-of-life fixes.
While you should follow the guide to install them (most of which you’ll be slotting into place using Mod Organizer 2), the key mods of the most basic install include:
Yukichigai Unofficial Patch – Thousands of little errors ironed out
Unofficial Patch NVSE Plus – Uses script extenders to fix even more issues
Improved AI – Cleans up a lot of pathfinding issues that kneecapped combat
Iron Sights Aligned – Makes your bullets go where they should when aiming
But there’s plenty more, including a separate guide on optimizing and tuning the game for your hardware. The more you add from the initial setup list, the smoother and more stable the game will become. You’re restoring the game’s foundation here, rather than building a wobbly Jenga tower of add-ons.
For those wanting to start on that tower and build up a richer, meatier New Vegas experience, the VNV Extended section of the Viva New Vegas guide is where you want to go. Split up into UI, Gameplay, Overhauls, Content, Visuals and Finishing Touches, you’re free to pick and choose what modules you use.
I personally recommend Vigor, from the Overhauls section, a further-refined version of the ‘JSawyer’ mod, which rebalanced the game to fit the personal preferences of New Vegas’ own development lead, Joshua Sawyer, making the game a bit tougher and less loot-centric, but also buffing a bunch of lesser-used items to make more playstyles viable.
