Fallout New Vegas

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RngrHawk

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RngrHawk

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About this mod

The first in a potential series of mods which simply aim to 'upgrade' various locations of the Mojave. The Uber series.

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Permissions and credits
I am currently taking a break from modding. I still want to continue my series but no time or mind for that currently!

A little WARNING: I gotta say I am no modding genius, and only recently have I managed to discover how to edit and fix navmesh (With help from the forums!) in the newly modified cells and environments of this mod. In the near future I will be editing a lot of that so that enemies don't just walk right inside a cliff or something similar. For now, use with this in mind, some of the areas around Goodsprings will have this problem, but I haven't seen it happen a whole lot while testing.

Note I: Currently, I am working on a larger update for the Goodsprings mod, but I do not have a lot of time as of now, so this one might take a little longer. With that, I am not sure how long the others will take to finish since I'm not focusing on modding full time. As I mentioned when I uploaded this mod originally, the changes in this mod are subtle. Any 'Uberified' locations aim not to be too different from the original, but enough to make them feel fresh and slightly more... buff!

Note II: All assets I used, like the trees, are all vanilla/DLC in-game assets.

Note III: With many of the other parts of this series already planned, I am also planning to make a merged version of all of them, but that will come much later. Just to clarify, I do not plan to make quests, characters or anything of this sort as I'm not experienced with any of that in the GECK. I might add some random NPCs to the mix, but I'm only now learning how to make them NOT walk off into the sunset.

What does this mod do?
Simple! First off, ask yourself this: Have you ever looked at that near perfectly round hill of sand pretending to be a mountain which might just (not) be tall enough to prevent you from climbing or even travelling beyond it? Yes, that's basically 90% of the Mojave desert in New Vegas. And then you still get stopped by an invisible wall if you've still got those enabled.
Sooo, the 'Uber' series attempts to make that experience go away in some parts of the game's world, specifically around those which the player would be spending many'o hours playing at a time. How? By placing various static objects around the areas in question, essentially populating them in additional cliffs, boulders, rubble, flora, carts, cars, paths, lookouts and many other random things that simply fit the scene and make these locations look more 'lived in' or the opposite. Just to clarify, I try to stay as close to vanilla as possible. I see a cliff, I simply replace it with more, larger cliffs to make it seem more realistic and intimidating without taking up more space than it used to. I see a path, I add objects to the side of it, or perhaps highlight it instead. I see an abandoned house, I make it look like it hasn't been visited and cared for in years. I see a hill and I add a crown of stone around it if its not entirely made of sand, so it looks like an actual hill. I also tweak a few small locations to fit a little more, and tidy a few others! There are also new secrets awaiting the player, if one wants to explore the nearby locations.
And first on my list is Goodsprings - the start of your adventure, and probably the most repeated sequence of the entire game.
Goodsprings always felt to me a little unprotected. It felt as if the Powder Gangers were but a spot of danger on a rather large map of tough wildlife around this area. So I added a little environmental storytelling, some extra cliffs to make the place seem a little more bulky, and extra detail to make some emptier areas seem more lifted. For example, the abandoned houses are now somewhat overgrown and serve more as husks of a previous civilisation than anything else. Yet, the closer you move to the center of the town, where most of the activity happens, the areas are less populated by random bushes and in their place crates start showing up, carts, farm animals etc. I also try to add secrets and enemy spawns where there literally used to be nothing.
In the latest version, I decided to add some greenery to Goodsprings and Goodsprings Source comparable to the real location. I tried to make it as lore-friendly as possible too, adding only a few patches to where some of the folks live as somewhat of a garden. Goodsprings is known for its fresh water source, besides drinking, why not use it to restore some nature?

Requirements and Recommendations
There's no requirements for this mod. When it comes to recommendations, I cannot really say anything really. Instead, what I'd recommend is testing Uber Goodsprings along any other mods you use and see if they work well together. I can only confirm Uncut Wasteland as a non-conflict mod for now. I also try to avoid any Mojave Raiders and Mojave Wildlife spawns or locations of interest.
Just to mention, there is a mod out there called New Vegas Landscape Overhaul, and I actually highly recommend it. Although, I have my own view on the Mojave, and I love building up the world of New Vegas. I encourage anyone looking at my mod to also check out Landscape Overhaul, but I don't recommend running them together as I already tested it and many spots unfortunately cancel one another.
I'm also using Nevada Skies as seen in the screenshots.

The LOD Issue
As many of you know there's this genius program called LOD Generator. Personally, I don't mind using this mod without the generator as the changes that load in as I move around the world don't disturb me too much. I also had a few bad experiences with LOD generation in the past, ending up breaking my entire game multiple time, and I'm 100% sure it was a mistake I've made, so I simply don't use it because, a: I don't really need it and, b: I'm bad at it:) So you guys go crazy with it if you know what you're doing!

Word About Compatibility
Now, look, I get that there's plenty mods out there like Flora Overhaul, Uncut Wasteland, and many others that change the game world in one way or another. Personally, I use this along Uncut Wasteland, and that's about it. I try to make these simple edits least intrusive, but I cannot possibly know the exact location of every mod's object placements. This is why I can only recommend a couple that I know well. Luckily, this mod doesn't require any additional assets, just the base game and its DLCs to work at its fullest.
This mod began as one just for myself, but decided it'd be nice to upload it, most of the mods I make are exactly that. In case you see a lack of updates or a lack of patches, this is the reason. If I'm away from playing FNV, I'm away from modding it unfortunately. If I end up cutting support, I will make sure to change permissions!
There's another thing. I realised really late that I was prepping to use Functional Post Game Ending which I can already say is not compatible with this mod. I love that one for sure, but personally I don't necessarily need it for my playthrough.

In the Next Episode...
I thought 1.2 is going to be the final version of this mod, but I was SO wrong. That is because I keep finding spots that just beg for a slight redo. In the next version, I'll be polishing a lot of the cliffs around Goodsprings. Also, the further I move with this mod the more I consider using LOD Generator again, and I would recommend anyone downloading this mod past 1.2 to try as well! 

Other 'Uber' Series in the Works
Uber Quarry Junction - I've taken a thorough look at the Quarry Junction and decided I'll be making changes to it in one of my future mods inside the Uber Series. First of all, I'll be removing most of the invisible walls around it, so be careful not to fall into the Deathclaw nest! I'll be optimising the stone walls around it too, increasing the size of those that already exist while removing some that will no longer be required. Also, because I'll be removing the invisible walls, instead I'll be adding a lot of obstructions within the quarry itself, but don't worry, Deathclaws won't have a problem chasing you down because of that! Although, it'll definitely be easier to stealth through the nest if you have the skill set.
Uber Roads and Highways - While I was testing my load order, I was flying around the back of the Quarry and realised how poor the roads and highways of New Vegas are. Most of them don't have any cars or potential loot on them. I know of a mod that does this already, but I also know it adds a whole ton of cars. Uber Roads and Highways on the other hand will target environmental storytelling in as much detail as I can while also staying true to the vanilla game. This one might take a while.
Uber Primm (Considering) - There are plenty Primm mods out there, but 'Uber' aims to stay as close to vanilla as possible while enhancing the locations as much as possible. I will be taking a look at Primm after Quarry Junction, and after I begin works on Roads and Highways.
Uber [SURPRISE] - I've got an idea that I want to implement using a specific asset that is already in the engine but has never been used. I've planned out how I want to approach this already, but I don't want to spoil the project.

Install/Uninstall
Shove the ESP files into Fallout New Vegas/Data folder, and remove it to uninstall. Manager-wise, install and enable, than disable and uninstall.

Permission
Let me know, lets have a chat about it, and we'll see.
Patches: If you've got some time and are willing to make patches with other mods such as AWOP, I'd really appreciate it! Unfortunately, I don't have much time to do this myself. If you do end up doing it, lemme know and I'll post a recommendation!