Visual mods in New Vegas are a tricky thing. On the one hand, mods can make the world more detailed and realistic, adding higher resolution textures and more intricate 3D models which are nice to look at and help immerse the player in the experience. On the other hand, they can create an inconsistent visual experience, as the many modders who create visual mods don't necessarily have the same design principles in mind. While individual mods may not mesh well with one another, it is even more problematic when mods take on a drastically different stylistic approach than what is found in the vanilla game. The same can be said of gameplay and quest mods as well. One must keep in mind that the people who originally created the game were a highly-skilled team of developers who did everything for a reason. I believe that to truly enhance the experience, one must try to interpret the original vision of the developers -- the vision which created, in my opinion, the greatest game ever made -- even as you adapt their creation to add something new or take away something which didn't work so well. 

When it comes to weather mods, it is easy to simply add what looks good without much concern for the vanilla game's style. It seems to be taken for granted that New Vegas' weathers are piss-colored, washed-out, and generally just bad. Thus we see the creation of many mods which attempt to remove unnatural tints from the game's weathers or replace them entirely with more realistic alternatives. In my opinion, this leads to the loss of certain features which help create a sense of atmosphere in the vanilla game. Wasteland weathers are yellow-tinted to help create the feeling of being in a hot desert wasteland; removing the tint makes the game feel cold and bland. When weathers are dark or desaturated, it helps create an atmosphere of gravity, as in areas like Cottonwood Cove or the Fort, which are probably intended to feel like the movie 300; removing them removes the power they have to influence a player's emotional state, whether enhancing feelings of dread or sadness, or creating a welcoming reprieve from the dangers of the wasteland, as is the case with the Strip's comparatively saturated weather or Jacobstown's clearer, colder atmosphere. 



My intention with Vanilla Weather Tweaks is not to fundamentally alter the game's aesthetics by adding new weathers or removing tints, but rather to reimagine the existing ones to make the game's visuals more consistent and compelling. Days are sunnier to enhance the feeling of brightness and heat, helping reinforce the illusion that the player is traversing a post-nuclear desert. Nights are darker to increase the feeling of dread that comes with the mutants and raiders who rule the night, as well as to create a greater contrast between areas of light and comparative safety versus the unknown of the darkness; at the same time, nights are not so dark as to blind the player and thus reduce their desire to experience them in the first place. In a similar vein, one will find that nights feel different in different locations. Wasteland nights are bluish and slightly more saturated than their counterparts in urban or riskier areas, such as Freeside or Hoover Dam, making them feel more serene, as is befitting moonlit Mojave nights under the open sky. Freeside's less saturated darkness creates a feeling of danger lurking around every corner, while the darkness of the Strip helps accentuate the brightness of its many flashing neon lights. 



Effort has been made to make individual weathers more consistent with themselves and the tone of the game as a whole. Sunrises and sunsets are no longer brighter and more saturated than their daytime counterparts. Why should Freeside go from bright blue sunny skies in the morning to desaturated, hazy skies at noon? Similarly, nighttime weathers have been edited to reflect the uniqueness of their day weathers, where before all nights were mostly the same. The Fort is now just as desaturated and gloomy during the night as it is during the day, as is Black Mountain. Other visual inconsistencies which have been edited include the fog colors of places like the Fort and Zion Valley. Previously, the Fort's fog was blue-tinted, which stood in stark contrast to the yellow and gray of the rest of the weather. Zion Valley's fog was brighter than its skies, which created a jarring contrast when observing its otherwise picturesque mountains. Goodsprings' fog received an edit for the same reason. Other edits range from fixing the inconsistent weather in Caesar's tent to restoring unique weathers in the Lucky 38 and the Legate's Camp. 

Finally, I should state that visual mods are, of course, subjective. Some people will prefer more intricate and realistic weathers, and that's fine. But for those of you who share my feelings about keeping things close to vanilla and preserving/enhancing the original atmosphere, this mod is for you, and I hope you enjoy it.