Sometimes you'll encounter mods that add more complex functionality to the game that will require a download called the 'New Vegas Script Extender,' hosted at that you'll need to download and install on your own (Nexus Mod Manager can't handle that for you, as far as I know.) Always read a mod's description page to see if it has NVSE or any other mods as requirements. The Nexus family of websites have a program called 'Nexus Mod Manager' that will take your download requests from the website and handle the installation. Your best bet will be to go to and just browse around for whatever seems interesting to you. Everyone's going to have different ideas of 'essential' mods for New Vegas because it's a pretty complete experience on its own (especially with the DLC). On the topic of mods: I'd say avoid them on your first playthrough and use them as an excuse to spice up future playthroughs. You need to enable it at the beginning and never turn it off. If you care at all about achievements though, bear in mind that because you didn't enable Hardcore Mode at the beginning, you can't get the achievement for beating the game with Hardcore Mode enabled. It's just something to keep in mind: things might get a bit tedious. As a result, eating and drinking start to feel less like a struggle and more like busywork, an excuse to get you into the menu more often.Ĭonsidering all the other benefits, I usually play with Hardcore Mode on anyways. You'll rarely have trouble finding those resources. New Vegas, by comparison, has food and clean water in spades. There was a mod for Fallout 3 called 'Fallout Wanderer's Edition' that added this functionality (before New Vegas was even announced) and it was really, really cool in that mod: Fallout 3 presented a harsher wasteland where clean water and good food were really hard to come by, and it made survival a very serious struggle. The main thing I dislike about Hardcore Mode is the need to eat and drink. Companions can die permanently so you need to be more careful with them, bullets have weight which means you need to be more aware of the items you're carrying, stimpaks heal over time instead of instantly so you need to avoid situations where you would take heavy burst damage, and crippled limbs can only be fixed by (fairly rare) items called Doctor's Bags or by seeing an actual doctor or sleeping in a bed that you own (which aren't very many, especially early in the game.) Some of the additions are pretty cool and add some neat consequences. If it clicks with you like it did with me, you're in for one hell of a ride. Congratulations! New Vegas is one of my favorite games of this generation.

New vegas hardcore mode