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Tools to Avoid

In this section we will go over some popular mod managers and mod tools that shouldn't be used for Fallout New Vegas or Tale of Two Wastelands, an explanation of the issue(s), and what to use instead.

Mod Managers to Avoid​

Mod Organizer 1​

There is no reason to use Mod Organizer 1 over Mod Organizer 2.

Nexus Mod Manager/Fallout Mod Manager​

Outdated/abandoned, NMM/FOMM have no virtual file system or even dynamic movement of mods with loose files.

Vortex​

Vortex features a convoluted and inconvenient conflict management system that simply isn't compatible with how the modding community shares load orders. For example, imagine that we have been instructed to apply the following load order:

FalloutNV.esm
Mod1.esp
Mod2.esp
Mod3.esp

In Mod Organizer 2, this is as easy as it gets - simply drag the files into the desired order. Vortex, on the other hand, provides no straightforward way to do this. Instead it relies an on overly complex and frequently confusing system of "rules" which need to be painstakingly created one-at-a-time.

This conflict management system is cumbersome and inconvenient enough to be a dealbreaker when it comes to the kind of workflow we are aiming for, where we have granular control over our game and the order in which it loads content. Additionally, Vortex doesn't track generated files, and is slower than MO2.

Vortex moment This utterly incomprehensible web of nightmares is what Vortex considers conflict resolution

Modding Tools to Avoid​

LOOT​

LOOT isn't an AI. It can't magically make intelligent decisions about how your mods should be ordered. In reality, LOOT relies on a simple masterlist being maintained by humans, which it compares to your modlist. This works fine for highly popular games with dedicated communities maintaining that masterlist, such as Skyrim. However, nobody maintains the masterlist for Fallout New Vegas, and no masterlist even exists for TTW. Consequently, there is no underlying logic when you use LOOT on TTW - your mods will essentially be randomized. LOOT is greyed-out when MO2 is in TTW mode for good reason! (Although you shouldn't really use it for vanilla FNV either.)

Merge Plugins Standalone/zMerge​

Automated merging can potentially cause major breakage in mods, especially heavily-scripted ones.

New Vegas Configator​

Outdated and possibly dangerous. You won't need any INI tweaks other than the ones in the guide.

Ordenador/DDSopt​

Breaks many textures by needlessly converting/adding/resizing alpha channels, cubemaps, and mipmaps. Use BSArch Pro instead.

Wrye Bash/Flash and Mator Smash​

These programs are fully automated, and without the oversight of a human being they are liable to misidentify intentional overwrites as "conflicts" that need to be solved. Actual critical conflicts are often missed too.

zEdit/zClean​

Neither have any real advantages over xEdit, and lack some essential features/support than xEdit has.