Viva New Vegas

Home Introduction Setup Mod Organizer 2 Utilities Bug Fixes Base Finish

User Interface Gameplay Content Overhauls Visuals Extended Finish

Changelog Resources LOD Guide Decompression Guide FAQ Tools to Avoid Mods to Avoid Wabbajack

Discord Donate GitHub

Mods to Avoid

This list is far from comprehensive. There are still tons of mods not listed here that will break your game. This is why it is very important to have some modding knowledge before adding any mods.
Always view every plugin you install with FNVEdit to check for conflicts.

Bugfix & Optimization Mods

UI element - Chevron

ENBoost

ENBoost works around the game's managed memory pool with memory sharing across processes. NVTF changes pool type and fixes the problem at the root, allowing higher VRAM usage. ENBoost also requires configuration based on the user's system and much like ENB, has been abandoned.

New Vegas Stutter Remover

Will cause periodic crashes. New Vegas Tick Fix and New Vegas Heap Replacer replace NVSR while also doing more. The game's performance (and stuttering) is also massively improved by lStewieAl's Engine Optimizations.

There is no reason to use NVSR, even on Windows 7.

Zan AutoPurge Crash Protector, PCB Hotkey, and Clear Cache Hotkey

Purging cell buffers is already done by the game during fast travel. Adding these mods will increase the usage of this command for no real benefit, possibly causing stutter.

FOOK, New Vegas Enhanced Content and Mission Mojave Ultimate Edition

Massively outdated compared to Yukichigai Unofficial Patch and will introduce bugs of their own.

NVAC

  • It mostly consists of very generic null checks that allow the program to run even when it should not be able to.
  • It can lead to increased instability and save corruption because of the unpredictable behavior after ignoring an error.
  • Crash logging is impossible with NVAC, meaning you will get nonsensical and useless crash logs.
  • NVAC's aggressive inlining and patching can conflict with other NVSE plugins. Due to the closed source nature of NVAC, not every conflict point is known, thus there's always a chance for NVAC to actually cause crashes due to memory corruption.
  • Most engine issues have been fixed in other plugins, meaning that the only use case NVAC has in the modern day is to hide issues of "normal" mods (scripts, meshes etc.).

Visual Mods

UI element - Chevron

AI-upscaled texture packs

Mods upscaled with AI or other lazy techniques generally are not worth the higher VRAM usage.

Oversized textures

Based on the object size and how the texture is wrapped around it, you should pick textures with a reasonable resolution and avoid the very big ones also based on your display resolution. Keep in mind that the textures will not be displayed with their full resolution at all times, in fact they will be scaled down because of mipmaps based on distance and other factors, as shown with these sliders. Just for reference, a maximum of 2K at 1080p is a pretty safe bet in terms of balance.

ENB

Fallout 3 and New Vegas ENBs were never fully developed and have been abandoned by the author. This means they are left with some issues, like transparent and glowing objects (which can be somewhat mitigated with ENB Glowing Objects Overhaul).

Due to its post-process and deferred nature, ENBs require MSAA to be disabled which introduces visual issues with alpha textures, that are not solvable with post-process anti-aliasing solutions.

Additionally, ENB's integration with the game is pretty high level and detection based, which means that mods modifying graphical features in-engine can easily break ENB by changing something as simple as a resolution of a rendered texture, or replacing a shader.

Many popular ENB features like LUTs, lens flares or god rays can be replicated with ReShade. There's also New Vegas Reloaded, which while still in development, offers similar feature set, while adding graphical features such as PBR or real global shadows.

Fallout Character Overhaul

  • Multiple broken file paths which cause missing mesh triangles and pink textures.
  • The installer auto-selects patches for mods you don't have installed.
  • It doesn't cover every NPC in the game.
  • The ghoul file and the bLoadFaceGenHeadEGTFiles INI setting both reduce performance.
  • Reverts many YUP fixes.
Use New Vegas Redesigned 2 Revised or Character Expansions Revised instead.

Handheld Pip-Boys, such as the 2500

All hand-held Pip-Boys share the same common visual bugs that occur if you enter/exit your Pip-Boy too fast. The methods these mods use to hide the Pip-Boy in third person are also quite janky, as they were made before NVSE extensions like JIP LN. These bugs and quirks have mostly been removed with Handheld Fixes though. Either 2500a or 2000 Mk VI are recommended.

Electro City

Contains unnecessary bloat and leftover features from a planned quest. Use A Little More Lamplight instead.

Vault 22 Flora Overhaul

Has tons of unnecessary bloat such as new weapons, enemies, poison effects, skill books and more. Use Vault 22 Flora Overhaul Remastered instead. Be aware that the mod is still pretty performance-intensive and should be avoided on weaker systems.

New Vegas Landscape Overhaul Remastered

Has broken navmeshes, many misplaced objects and bad balance. Use New Vegas Landscape Overhaul Re-Remastered instead. Be aware that the mod is still pretty performance-intensive and should be avoided on weaker systems.

Project Reality

Will cause massive performance issues and save bloat due to bad scripting. Check out Weathers Revised if you don't like Desert Natural Weathers (what the guide uses), but this will require you to disable or uninstall MoonlightNVSE and High Resolution Bloom NVSE to achieve its intended look.

Dragbody 10 Year Anniversary Pack and Ragdolls

Broken meshes prone to crashing.

Interior Lighting Overhaul

Nothing inherently wrong with it but needs proper patching for it to work as intended. Use Simple Interior Lighting Overhaul instead for a plug and play solution.

Weapon Animation Replacer WAR

Might cause crashing, use the newer kNVSE animations by author such as hitman47101 and rockbiter68.

Borderlands Inspired Numeric Damage

Has a bug that can cause NPCs to teleport directly to you upon entering an interior.

Content & Gameplay Mods

UI element - Chevron

Project Nevada

Outdated, inefficient, bloated, and some features either don't work or break the game (chargeable weapons, lethal headshots and the stealth/AI changes).

Although it may seem counterproductive to install a bunch of small mods to replace one big mod, these alternatives are all more functional and performance friendly:

Core Module

Cyberware Module

Rebalance Module

Equipment Module

Unlimited Companions

Unlimited Companions re-compiles every script in the game and will break many mods. Use JIP Companions Command and Control if you want unlimited companions at the same time or other companion-related features like equipment managing, infinite ammo, combat-ready companions and much more.

Before installing any mods that edit companion behavior, you should check if JIP CCC already does it.

Populated Casinos

Poorly made mod with many dirty edits, ITMs, and UDRs. It will also severely reduce performance due to the amount of new NPCs. Use Casino Crowds instead.

Freeside & Strip Open

Same performance issue as Populated Casinos. Adds many new NPCs and pieces of unpolished restored content that cause many bugs and performance drops and lacks any sort of performance optimization. Use Simple Open Freeside and Simple Open Strip instead.

Increased Wasteland Spawns

Causes save bloat due to using the PlaceAtMe function. Use The Living Desert and/or Mojave Wildlife instead.

True Wasteland Economy

Incredibly script-heavy, will cause save bloat and deteriorate performance over time. Use Economy Overhaul or Harder Barter Faster Stronger instead.

DUST

Contains tons of errors of all kinds. If you do insist on playing it, DUST Tweaks, DUSTed DUST, and DUST - Additional Fixes are a must, optionally alongside DUST Expansion Project.

Weapon Mods Expanded/Extended

Needs careful patching, mostly for YUP. Some bugs may remain as the mod is abandoned and very old.

More Perks

Made in 2010 without the use of any script extenders, so many of the perks are broken or have poor implementation. Use More Perks Reimagined instead.

CAGE - Continue After Games Ending

Broken, use Functional Post Game Ending instead.

NV Interiors Project

Causes save bloat due to the large amount of havok-enabled items that all have their individual positions stored on the save when you enter an interior. Use NV Interiors Remastered instead, or keep the original paired with Cell Save Bloat Fixer (ScriptRunner).

Classic Fallout Weapons

Countless broken meshes and leveled lists that will cause crashes. Use Classic Fallout Weapons Remastered instead.

Honest Hearts Reborn

Re-compiles every script in the game and still has many bugs after cleaning.

Killable children mods

Might break quests.

Weapons of the Wasteland

Causes crashes.

Leave Conversation

Force closes dialogues, breaking scripts and possibly locking you out of dialogue choices.

Monster Mod (MoMod)

Has broken meshes that cause crashing and broken levelled lists.

Enhanced NPC Awareness

Causes random NPCs and companions after firing to become hostile to the player, among other issues.

The Storyteller Companion

Contains dirty edits.

Miscellaneous

UI element - Chevron

Sinitar's Modlists

If you have a few hours and want more information about Sinitar's lies, scamming and lack of modding knowledge, check out this twenty-eight page essay that goes into excruciating detail about it.

Game Settings Tuner - GST

Bad scripting that causes save bloat and corruption. Use Stewie Tweak's GMST override feature instead.

DSOAL

Can break audio or make it lag.