1. Best Fallout 3 Mods 2019

Weather Mods - Couldn't be bothered - posted in Fallout 3 Mod Talk: Im posting this to share my opinion on the various weather mods out there for Fallout 3. Ive tried them all. And after more than a year, Im happy not to use any of them. Here are my reasons. (If youre a fanboy, please dont take any offense.) 1. In fact, these weather conditions might even distract some players in the game. If you’d like to overhaul these features, this Fallout 4 mod adds a bit of clarity to your game. Not only does it.

Fallout 3 is a great game - there's no denying that. From its massive and detailed world to its extensive cast of characters, it's never a bad idea to revisit the Wasteland. That said, the game was released back in 2008, so it understandably looks and feels a bit dated. Thankfully, the modding community has come to our rescue once again, and while it may not be as beautiful as Skyrim, there are tons of visual updates and gameplay tweaks that make replaying Fallout 3 as satisfying as any of its current-generation counterparts. Here's a brief overview of how to get your own modded version of FO3 up and running for the next time you want to dive into Bethesda's take on post-apocalyptic DC.

Repair and Rebuild

Despite all the critical acclaim it received, FO3 suffered - and still does - from a bunch of quirky bugs and weird glitches that could, at their worst, render the game almost unplayable. Thankfully, with the installation of just a few mods - predominantly the Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch and the Fallout Stutter Remover - most of these issues disappear and the game runs beautifully.

Additionally, there are several mods that improve upon some of Fallout's basic mechanics. Fallout 3 Re-Animated, for example, takes the default game animations and adapts them to allow characters and NPCs to move more naturally. Similarly, the RH_IronSights mod, which adds a functional iron-sights aiming mechanic to the game, helps to make combat feel more fluid as well as modernize the gameplay of Fallout 3. Many of the changes are subtle, but do a lot to improve the immersive experience.

Best Fallout 3 Mods 2019

Face Lift

Even though Bethesda released an HD texture pack for Fallout 3 some time ago, there's still a lot that can be improved on. Thankfully, there are several mods that take the basic items in the 'vanilla' version of the game and slap a high-resolution face lift on them.

• NMC's Texture Pack is arguably the biggest texture mod available for Fallout 3. Containing hundreds, if not thousands, of replacement textures, the Maximum edition of this mod brings almost every item in the game up to a 2K resolution. For would-be modders without high-end PCs, there are also customized low-rez versions available as well.
• UHQ Terrain Overhaul by Nexus user printerkop adds even finer details to the roadways, trails and groundcovers, which may result in players spending a lot of time staring at their own feet.
• Hi-Rez Weapons is an excellent texture pack that improves almost every weapon in the Wasteland. Couple it with the Weapon Texture Project and the Hall of Equipment armor / apparel re-texture mod, and your entire arsenal will look brand new.

When it comes to revitalizing Fallout's characters, it only takes a few mods to improve their looks by leaps and bounds. Fallout 3 Redesigned (formerly Project Beauty) does most of the work by softening the facial structure and remapping many of the textures, but the addition of some additional beards and hairstyles also help make the citizens of the wasteland a bit easier on the eyes.

It's also a good idea to give the lighting of the game a bit of a boost, too. Players who've experimented with mods may be familiar with Boris Voronstov's ENB Series, which allows modders to redefine and tweak the way that light bounces through the world. There are many community made presets for this add-on as well, such as the Blackout or Midhrastic ENBs, which each give a different flavor to the world. For those of us who might be intimidated by using an ENB, there are more user-friendly mods that can be installed. Fellout, for example does a great job of removing the ever-present green tint that FO3 has and allowing the true beauty of a sunny day in post-apocalyptia to shine through.

Change the World

When it was first released, the vast explorable area of Washington D.C. and the surrounding area was almost unprecedented. By today's standards, however, the world itself feels a bit empty - though that's easily remedied with a few addons and some elbow grease. Simple mods, like Enhanced Night Skies or PureWater, do much to improve the sense of immersion players experience by replacing the muddy default water textures with sparkling clear pool or adding beautifully detailed starscapes above you after the sun goes down.

More intensive mods can completely change the face of the world as well. The Flora Overhaul by Vurt (which you may recognize from our list of Skyrim mods) adds new vegetation to every square inch of the former U.S. capital, and even has variable installations depending on how lore-friendly you want your world to look. Other mods, such as Project Reality or Enhanced Weather, add new dynamic weather patterns to the world including rain, snow, sandstorms and even rolling clouds of deadly radiation.

There are also dozens of mods that add new content to the game, making it an entirely new experience for those of you who may not have played it since it first launched. Mart's Mutant Mod not only diversifies the various mutants and creatures that roam the wasteland, but also adds brand new species of friendly and hostile wildlife. The Fallout Wanderer's Edition introduces survival mechanics such as hunger and thirst to the game, and also completely overhauls the way that VATS is used during combat (among other changes too plentiful to list here).

These are just a few of the mods that we like to use when revisiting Fallout 3 - for our full list of mods, as well as the proper install order and download links, be sure to check out our Fallout 3 wiki.

Jon Ryan is an editor at IGN who spends most of his days on Twitter, writing wikis, and playing with his three-legged dog (that's not a euphemism).

Despite being a great-looking game when it first released back in 2008, it's hard to deny that the default (or 'Vanilla') version of Fallout 3 looks a little outdated when compared to games of the current generation.

Thankfully, the modding community has created dozens upon dozens of mods that make FO3 look like an (almost) entirely new game. Here are some of our favorite mods for overhauling the world and inhabitants of Fallout 3.

Texture Mods[edit]

Enhancing the quality of the textures that each object in a game uses does a great deal to improve the visual aesthetic of your game. Fallout 3 received and HD texture pack from Bethesda some time ago, but these mods will allow you to add even more detail to almost every aspect of the Wasteland.

This massive undertaking retextures almost every object found in the wasteland, from cars to fire hydrants to stop signs and much more. The Maximum edition contains all the textures in 2K resolution, and lower-res versions are available for a more performance-friendly option. Download it here.

printerkop's Ultra-High Quality terrain mod replaces the default ground textures with much higher definition textures. Download it here.

This update by the a-burns updates and enhances the texture quality on most of the small arms found throughout the game (pistols, rifles, shotguns, etc). Download it here.Download service tool v3400 canon g2000.

Millenia's Fallout 3 Weapon Retexture Project improves the textures for specific weapons, such as the .44 magnum, sawed-off shotgun and 10mm Pistol. Download it here.

The Unique Weapons With Unique Textures mod by Dra0ntamer also updates specific weapon textures, this time for the unique weapons owned by specific characters. Download it here.

In this mod, Emerald Reign has created rich textures from scratch for several items in the game, including the minigun, Flamer, and some grenades and mutants as well. Download it here.

Another mod from Deblazkez, the HoE completely revamps the textures for almost every piece of armor found throughout Fallout 3. Download it here.

This mod from dDefinder replaces the generic blood textures that get spattered about during combat encounters with HD ones that are able to dynamically react to the space they appear in. Download it here.

ObsidianStag replaces much of the random clutter and rubble throughout Fallout 3 with HD models, some of which replace items with more lore-friendly variants. Download it here.

KevKas replaces many of the stimpack / Med-X textures with more realistic versions. Seeing as you'll be using these items often, you'll want to have them look their best. Download it here.

This mod from OpenSaucer not only replaces the textures for many of the robots found throughout the game, but also adds a few variations for each model as well. Download it here.

TSD gives the old computer stations of Fallout 3 a much-needed facelift with this mod that is as aptly-titled as it is effective. Download it here.

Lighting FX Mods[edit]

In addition to boosting the quality of your in-game textures, refining the way each area is lit will greatly improve your gameplay experience.

Boris Voronstov's ENBseries for Fallout 3 / New Vegas totally changes the way you view the wasteland. It's best used with one of the many user-created presets, but can also be tweaked to your own personal liking.
Download it here.

This ENB preset created by Xilandro, while technically for FO:NV, does a great job of making the DC area more immersive. Download it here.

A softer, somewhat more colorful ENB preset, this ENB preset is an excellent choice for making the Wasteland a bit more vibrant. Download it here.

Wanny's ENB preset is a bit of a mix of both Blackout's stark lighting, which gives the wastes a bit of a bleak aesthetic and Midrhastic's more colorful variation. Download it here.

If installing an ENB and a preset seems too daunting of a task, Fellout does a great job of removing the green tint that's so present in the vanilla version, and allows for a more natural aesthetic. Download it here.

This mod from SpeedyB64 and RW2112 not only updates the lighting effects from the various streetlights, but improves on their beam FX and ambient lighting as well. Download it here.

Deanoman's mod replaces the default fire, smoke and explosion textures with HD ones that are compatible with many lighting modifications. Download it here.

Also known as EVE, this mod by weijiesen and Cipscis updates the discharged particles for energy weapons, as well as adds some new models and functions for the enemies that are affected by them. Download it here.

This mod redoes almost every lighting fixture in the town of Megaton, so that every night will be a neon-fueled party - at least up until you reduce it to a smoking crater. Download it here.

World Mods[edit]

These mods do much to enhance the world itself, whether by adding weather effects, extra vegetation or improving the way objects and characters interact within the space.

This mod adds dynamic weather, including rain, snow, fog and thunderstorms to the wasteland. Download it here.

Similar to Project Reality, this mod from Skingrad24 adds rain and snow to the Wasteland. It also allows players to set specific weather parameters, such as how long it can rain for and how much snow can fall in a given time. Download it here.

Building on the Enhanced Weather mod, Xepha's Dynamic Weather adds a ever-chaning lore-friendly weather system, including rain, snow, lighting, and even sandstorms. Download it here.

Similar to the Skyrim Flora Overhaul, Vurt's mod adds a variety of new plant life to the DC Wasteland. It boasts three different variations - a forested one, a 'total devastation' setting that replicates the actual effects of a nuclear detonation, and a dead version that merges the two. Download it here.

CptJoker's mod replaces the default nighttime skybox with a much more detailed HD sky, compiled from real-world starfield photography. Download it here.

Ste41k overhauls and fixes many of the issue present when dealing with objects colliding. Stacking items has never been easier - nor has making a horrible mess of any room you can find. Download it here.

Like it's Skyrim counterpart, Khyrin's Pure Water replaces the stagnant default water textures found in the Wasteland with HD transparent versions that greatly improve the believability of this post-nuclear future. Download it here.

This mod helps to mesh NMC's texture pack with the default LOD files in Fallout 3. Download it here.

Character Mods[edit]

Fallout 3's default character models looked alright for 2008, but these mods will patch some of the odd texture mapping issues and improve the blocky facial structure that plagues the vanilla version of the game.

This mod by Dracomies and SpaceOden does a lot to improve the facial features of the many NPCs that players encounter in the wasteland. Download it here.

This facial hair mod by RowdyJoe not only improves on the default beards and mustaches available in the vanilla version of FO3, but also adds a bunch of new options for both NPCs and player characters. Download it here.

Tony the Wookie's mod adds a ton of new hairstyles to the Wasteland, as well as improving many of the default hair textures. Download it here.

Also called LiL, this eye improvement mod by Emerald Reign gives characters and NPCs alike more realistic eyeball textures and adds some additional environmental mapping to allow light to reflect in a realistic manner. Download it here.

Another mod from Deblazkes, this one improves facial textures and adds a few new options to the character creation menu as well. Download it here.