I wouldn’t be unique in saying that Fallout New Vegas is one of the best RPGs ever made, but after over a decade of wandering the Mojave Wasteland, the 18-month development time starts to show in the often barren and drab landscapes. That’s not to say Obsidian didn’t make one of the most interesting game worlds around, but this new mod revamps the Mojave, taking key inspiration from the Stalker and Metro games while it does so.
Desert Landscapes by ‘friendlynonmurderingsort’ is billed as a “comprehensive landscape overhaul” for Fallout New Vegas. Everything is still in line with Obsidian’s work from 2010, but 14 years later it’s nice to see the RPG‘s version of the Mojave get a facelift.
This Fallout New Vegas mod combines some old work of friendlynonmurderingsort and the photography of ‘the lucky thirty kate,’ who took photos of the real-world locations you can find in New Vegas, to try and place accurate fauna and more in the right parts of the map.
“The spirit of this mod was inspired by my experience with other apocalyptic titles like S.T.A.L.K.E.R and Metro: Exodus and the journeys I had through the Zone in particular,” friendlynonmurderingsort writes. “The lack of fast travel forces the player to acquire map familiarity, recognize landmarks, and notice a lot more detail in the game world overall.”
You can see a before (above) and after (below) shot of the kind of work the mod does below.
“This lends to a greater ‘aliveness’ of the setting and humbles the player to feel less like the protagonist, but just another person in this region,” they add. There’s even some inspiration drawn from the outskirts of Cyberpunk 2077’s Night City, and how that naturally feels “filthy and seedy” in its design.
You can check out a full changelog on the mod page, but you can expect more Joshua Trees, Mesquite, and Yucca along the whole map based on real-life locations. There are packs of stray dogs, more rock formations, more graffiti, and a load of minor details that all stack to give the Mojave an overhauled feel.
If this has rekindled your love for the series we’ve put together everything we know about the Fallout 5 release date to keep you busy. There’s even a whole world of games like Fallout if you’re looking for something a little different with a similar flavor.
You can also follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides, or grab our PCGN deals tracker to net yourself some bargains.