Where Does Fallout: New Vegas Store Mods?
New Vegas mods live as loose files in the game's Data folder, managed by Mod Organizer or Vortex. Load order decides everything.
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Fifteen years on, New Vegas modding is a solved science with one address: the Data folder inside the game install. Mod files land there loose or through a manager's virtual filesystem, and the game's plugin list decides what loads. Textures, meshes, and esps all share the same tree.
Use a manager. Manual installs worked in 2012 and cause unresolvable soup today. Mod Organizer 2 and Vortex keep downloads, load order, and profiles apart, and both know the difference between a texture replacer and a script extender plugin. New Vegas Script Extender sits in the game root beside the exe, not in Data, which trips up every newcomer once.
Where Fallout: New Vegas stores this, by platform
[Steam]\steamapps\common\Fallout New Vegas\Data
Loose mod files, meshes, textures, and plugins land here. Managers virtualize this folder per profile. Script extenders live in the game root beside the exe instead.
Frequently asked questions
How do I fix mod load order conflicts?
Open the manager's load order pane and sort quest and overhaul mods below fixes and frameworks. Conflicting files resolve top wins or bottom wins depending on the manager, so learn yours once. Test with a new save before committing a long playthrough.
Can I run separate modded profiles?
Yes through the same managers, which keep profiles with separate mod sets per character. Manual installs share one Data folder, so managers win the moment you run two builds.
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