Viva New Vegas Installation Guide

DISCLAIMER:
Qolore722 currently does not offer any support for automated setup installations; please do not ask him or his team about any issues you experience with Wabbajack. He recommends users at least read through the official guide to get a basic understanding of the modding process.

DISCLAIMER #2:

This version of Viva New Vegas is different from the original. If you want a version that is exactly the same as the original guide, please go to the official guide website and complete the guide manually. Once more,** Do Not** go to the original guide author about any issues with the wabbajack version. This version is not officially supported by the original guide author.

Please visit the Wabbajack Discord channel if you need assistance!

Getting Started

Preface

The Wabbajack autoInstaller will not give you a working game out of the box, so you will need to follow all steps in this guide. This simple process should take between 30 minutes and 2 hours, depending on your computer/internet speed and modding knowledge. By contrast, following the the Viva New Vegas official guide without Wabbajack typically takes ~8 hours! This guide has been made for moderately experienced users in mind; you are still expected to have basic knowledge of Fallout New Vegas modding and Mod Organizer 2 (which is specifically designed to work with Bethesda games).

Highly recommended: If you wish to learn about MO2, watch these (extremely well-made!) official guide videos by GamerPoets.

Pre-Installation Requirements

Before continuing, you will need:

• A fresh installation of:
  • Fallout New Vegas
  • All DLCs & add-ons:
    * Dead Money
    * Honest Hearts
    * Old World Blues
    * Lonesome Road
    * Courier's Stash
    * Gun Runners' Arsenal

---

You cannot use a previously modded Fallout New Vegas game
(or else things will probably go wrong).

• At least 20GB of free space on your drive.

• Windows 10 (Windows 7 and 8 will not be supported)

• A Nexus Premium account is needed for Wabbajack’s automatic downloading.

• Microsoft VC++ 2013

  • Run the installer and follow the instructions. (If you get a message that the program is already installed, exit.

• Microsoft VC++ 2015,2017.2019.

  • Click the x86:vc_redist.x86.exe and x64:vc_redist.x64.exe links under the “Visual Studio 2015, 2017, and 2019” header.
  • Run both .exe files, follow the instructions.
    (If you get a message that the program is already installed, exit.)

  Configure Antivirus:

Any anti-virus you have, including Windows Defender, needs to have file exceptions made for your Root Game folder and VNV folder. If you don't do this, critical files from mods or tools can be deleted by your anti-virus. It is also recommended (but not required) to completely disable your anti-virus for the duration of the guide to avoid downloaded files being flagged as dangerous.

Installation Instructions

• Run your fresh (un-modded) installation of Fallout New Vegas (FalloutNV.exe) game at least once.
• From the launcher set your Resolution to your preference.
• Select the High preset option. Untick Enable shadows from Advanced settings. Click ok and Exit.

---

Important note:

If your copy of Fallout New Vegas is installed in a default Windows system file branch
(such as: C:\Program Files ; C:\Program Files (x86) ; Downloads ; Desktop), 
reinstall it in a new location. 
Installing in those areas can cause major issues down the line.

---

• Download the latest version of Wabbajack.
• Create a new folder at the root of a drive (Example: D:\Wabbajack).
  • Make sure this is separate from your Viva New Vegas install folder, not in common folders like Downloads or Desktop.
• Place Wabbajack.exe into this new Wabbajack folder.
• Create a new folder named Viva New Vegas (or something similar). Do not place this folder inside the Wabbajack folder!
• Launch Wabbajack.exe
• Select “Browse Modlists” and download the Viva New vegas modlist file.
• In “Installation Location”, choose the Viva New Vegas folder. The “Download Location” should update automatically.
• Click the large “Play” button.
  • (If you get a warning about unknown files, move your downloads folder outside of your VNV folder, ensure the VNV folder is clear of all files, then close and restart Wabbajack.)
• If you get a Nexus API request, accept it.
• Once installation is complete, open your Viva New Vegas folder. You should see another folder inside of it called Game Folder Files.
  • Copy all files inside this folder into your Fallout New Vegas game directory
    (the same folder where FalloutNV.exe is located).

Just a few more steps...

(Wabbajack cannot complete these by itself at this time.)

• Open your Viva New Vegas Folder

  • Open the Tools folder within.
  • You should see an FNV BSA Decompressor folder.
  • Open this folder, right click on “FNV BSA Decompressor.exe”, then click ”Run as administrator”.
    • Read & follow the directions of the installer carefully.
    • Once it is finished, you can exit the program.

• Right click on FalloutNVpatch.exe inside your Fallout New Vegas game folder.

  • Click ”Run as administrator”.
  • Once the prompt appears, hit “Enter”.
  • Check that you now have 2 files:
    • (1) a new [📁] FalloutNV.exe
    • (2) a separate [📁] FalloutNV_backup.exe.

  From now on, you will be starting the game with FalloutNV.exe from Mod Organizer 2 (which Wabbajack automatically installed inside your Viva New Vegas folder).

  • Double click New Vegas Tick Fix Performance ini in the left pane of MO2. In the INI Files tab click on NVSE\Plugins\NVTF.ini. Set iMaxFPSTolerance to 2 less than your monitor's refresh rate

Capping FPS

NVIDIA GPU USERS

• Right-click on your desktop and select NVIDIA Control Panel
• In the left pane, select Manage 3D settings
• In the right pane, select the Program Settings tab and select Fallout - New Vegas from the drop down.
  • If it’s not there select Add and select Fallout NV from the pop-up or by selecting the FalloutNV.exe after choosing the Browse option.
• Scroll down in the settings box and click on Max Frame Rate
• Select the On option and set the limiter to 2 less than your monitor’s refresh rate
• Click Apply changes in the bottom right

AMD GPU USERS

• Right-click on your desktop and select AMD Radeon Settings
• In the Gaming tab. Select the Fallout New Vegas Profile
• In the profil;e Graphics tab, change the following
  • Enable Chill(FPS)
  • Set Chill Min and Chill Max to 2 less than your monitor’s refresh rate
• Hit the home button in the bottom left (settings should save automatically) and make sure the word Enabled appears below the profile name. If not, click the vertical dots to the right of the profile name and select Enable Profile.

Note: If you have a GOG copy of the game, there may be a FalloutNV_lang.esp in the right pane. If so, navigate to the Data folder and delete it.

You are now ready to play Viva New Vegas! Use the top right drop down list, select New Vegas, and click Run to start the game. Unfortunately, the launcher may once again appear, configure your settings as you did before. If you are prompted about a read-only INI, have MO2 remove that flag. Don’t forget to check MCM Settings and Post Install Notes before asking questions!

Enjoy!

Post-Install Notes/Troubleshooting

• If updating your install, make sure all modding applications are closed. Download the new wabbajack file. You will install the modlist as you did before but this time you will be prompted to overwrite your previous install. Click yes and the install will continue.
• Important Note: No ENB of any kind is supported for VNV. Use one at your own risk. Check the wabbajack discord for instructions on using reshade if interested.
• iPresentInterval can be set to 0 if you use G/Free-sync, or want to use GPU Driver v-sync
• In your FalloutCustom INI, Change INumHWThreads to the number of threads your CPU has. If you do not know how many threads your CPU has, use CPU-Z to find out. This may help with performance.
• fXenonVertLookSpeed and fXenonHorizLookSpeed can be removed if you do not run the game in a 16:9 aspect ratio.
• Mod Configuration Menu settings can currently be found below. However, you are free to use whatever settings you prefer for gameplay.

MCM SETTINGS

• JSawyer Ultimate Edition:
  • Tweak the Config ini file in JSUE Addendum with Notepad++ if you wish to make any changes. Make sure there are no files overwriting it in the left pane.
• Mojave Arsenal:
  • Uncheck Weapon Mods and Custom Weapons, check everything else. (Idiot check: Leave uninstall unchecked)
• JIP CCC:
  • Optional Settings: Set True Passive Mode to Until hit/player Attacks, Check manage Equipment and Draw with Player, Uncheck Unlimited Companions and Disable Companion Wheel, Uncheck Anti-Overlap