Enhanced Creatures
Enhanced Creatures is a complete enemy overhaul that enhances combat difficulty by fixing animations and improving attack patterns. It specifically addresses the issue of backpedaling.

One thing I never liked is how backpedaling is the answer to basically every single melee attacker in New Vegas. It doesn't matter what you're facing, just keep on backpedaling and chances are, you'll end up taking the least damage. Granted, it's an old game and the combat has never been great, but it should still involve a bit more action and timing than just backpedal and shoot mindlessly all the time.

Some attempts to address this problem have come up over the years, most notably reducing backpedaling speed, but gimping the player to make clumsy, ineffective enemies work never feels good. They should have been effective in the first place. Instead of preventing the player from backpedaling in full speed, the enemies should engage in a way that makes backpedaling itself a bad choice tactically. That to me, is the only real way to solve the problem.

And with Enhanced Creatures, hopefully it's solved.


Features

• Fast Paced - Enemies are faster and more aggressive, so they're able to consistently close the gap and deal damage
• Quick React - The "ready weapon" animations like the Ghoul and Lakelurk roars are adjusted and will only be played randomly
• Animation Fixes - Many issues in base creature animations, like sliding and stuttering, are fixed
• Improved Accuracy - Running attacks are much less likely to become stuck in place and miss the target
• Backpedaling Punished - Mindless backpedaling is no longer the ultimate defensive move and is heavily punished
• Strafe Dodging - Running attacks no longer lock on, so strafe dodging is now possible and a real combat mechanic
• Fair Difficulty - No bumping up damage and lowering player HP at all, all changes are in the animations, speed, and movements
• Complete Overhaul - Covers melee creatures and NPCs, including a few ranged creatures like the Centaur, Spore Plant, and some robots
• Melee Hitstop - Melee hits cause a quick hitstop effect on the target and no longer knock back, so attacks can be chained much more easily
• Enhanced Legate - Custom unique moveset that is extremely quick and deadly, based on the animations from Titans 2.0
• Restored Content - Many unused animations are restored and properly implemented, ensuring combat effectiveness
• Lightweight - ESPless, animation and event based, fully scripted, detailed but complimentary, high compatibility
  

Requirements
New Vegas Script Extender (NVSE xNVSE)
JIP LN NVSE Plugin
JohnnyGuitar NVSE
ShowOff xNVSE Plugin
kNVSE Animation Plugin


How To Config
Edit the file "Enhanced Creatures\Config\ECR_Config.ini".


Mod Recommendations
NPCs Sprint kNVSE - ESPless


Compatibility
The mod is fully scripted and there are minimal stat changes outside of the ones on movement speed and a few ranged creature weapons. The latter can also be disabled in the ini if needed, so it should be compatible with everything and most gameplay mods.

It supports all creatures in both New Vegas and TTW.

Modded creatures that use the skeletons of base game creatures should be fully compatible, but I can't say for certain because I never use such mods.

The mod also modifies base game combat styles and adds some of its own, so mods that make enemies switch up combat styles may cause some compatibility issues and make them behave incorrectly.


Notes
While it's ESPless, the movement speed changes on creatures are permanent once the creatures appear on screen, so that's something to keep in mind if you are looking to uninstall the mod mid-game.