#i popped into the game to test new engine mod and it happened

[cetuscorvus]

My son is the most beautiful character in HL period 8D

[imadeletingmysocials]

Here’s my little Fallout New Vegas modding guide

Modding new vegas is a bit more tricky than some other stuff because it recquires some very specific out of date stuff and manual handling sometimes. Remind yourself that sometimes if a mod isn’t 100% working it’s because the rar file came with a loose file you need to specifically put in the folders rather than just using a mod manager to load it.

Important things to install:

FOMM - I learned the hard way that NMM although more accessible is very weak, FOMM is strong and overwrites permissions, actually being able to install mods properly, sometimes NMM won’t even install textures because it didn’t get all of the permissions or something.

NVSE - It’s a way to extend the limited engine of New Vegas, it is an exe file and loader that opens New Vegas, if you have it extracted to your Data folder you’ll have FOMM have a “launch NVSE” in it. You’ll need this to practically run anything. 

Mod Configuration Menu - Neccessary to configure many mods, sometimes other mods overlap with this by trying to insert their own version of MCM, just fix that by re-activating this mod in the end.

Anything else will probably be recommended by Nexus before you download something.

Mods I recommend:

Solid Project - Do you like Fallout 4′s little tweaks but like a sane person know it’s a badly designed and paced game? Well There’s something called “Solid Project” that does a lot more than that, it adds a few Fallout 4 mechanics but most importantly goes well with “enhanced camera” and gives you animations of going out to open doors, climb ladders and pick up things with your hands! 

It also has a super useful weapon wheel (that you activate with mouse3) that you equip each slot with R and a quick inventory you can leave with K, the little item menu reminds me of Tomb Raider for PS1. Oh and each special item you pick up spins around in 3D, there’s a lot more too like the dynamic quest markers from Fallout 4 but unlike Fallout 4 you cannot un-mark a quest so you’ll have to get a empty quest mod called “The Quest” in case you don’t want “300meters afar” always on your screen.

 All it’s missing is the quick menu from Fallout 4 which is found seperate but is a must-have to anyone wanting some more fast gameplay: Fallout 4 Quicklook

Roleplayers Alternative Start - Start in a shed where you can customize your character a little more quicker and even give them some backstory that can give some extra stats. It might be a bit weird because the pacing of New Vegas is specifically done in such a way that makes you start in Doc Mitchell for your own good, it might put you somewhere where you are underleveled but if that bugs you, you can practically start in the same place rather than randomly.

FOOK - The only overhaul mod I seem to use fully, it changes the little things in games such as making items change their stats, it’s not too unfair, the changes are fairly little and it’s usually stuff like “why does this item not do this” and this game does it, it also fixes a lot of bugs, adds a few items and changes the texture for the stimpack.

As far as overhaul mods go, this one’s fairly simple and runs well with all of the other mods I ran, unlike other overhaul mods where you can only run them alone for a seperate playthrough. It’s important to note that this overhaul mod comes in 2 files, you need the esm file and the data file, run both or else you’ll have missing textures and a lot of issues.

Project NEVADA - The most recommended overhaul one, keep in mind that after installing you have to manually activate the esm files. In terms of immersion it gives you that cool visor vision that might annoying for many, and it does kind of make the HUD stuff stuck in place which nullifies aHub a little bit (talk about later), but it does improve stuff like FPS mechanics like a grenade button (G). 

I dissagree with the re-balance esm file though so I recommend disabling it since I’m too used to everything New Vegas. If you add this mod and realistic headshots, the slowmo function where you press C to slow down time gets REALLY fun and challenging, changes the whole game into a more strategic FPS game rather than a RPG one.

NVEC Complete - Considering how finnicky New Vegas is sometimes when it comes to adding a lot of mods without them clashing and overloading the engine, NVEC Complete is a easy way to just bundle everything toghether. It’s a exe file that installs a compilation of some of the best user-made mods that you can turn off in the mod configuration menu. There is a lot to cover here but it includes most famous quest mods.

Blind - Wanna make New Vegas look like more of an RPG? How about numbers popping out showcasing how much damage you make? If some specific numbers coming out of specific places annoy you, you can just disable them in the MCM. I don’t like the “heal” effects, I just want the damage numbers on enemies, I never knew my fists only did 1 HP of damage towards radscorpions before this.

Textures and other aesthetics:

NMCs_Texture_Pack - Honestly this has probably been used by about everyone, it is THE texture pack everyone uses, comes in 3 big 1gb files, takes a while to load them in FOMM but they do make everything look nice.

Wasteland Flora Overhaul - Based on an actual study of the flora of Vegas, and considering New Vegas is nuclear missile hit free, it’s realistic that New Vegas would actually look like this. Also the textures are very nice and I really like the plants.

A Familiar Friend - Pip-Boy 2500 - This really makes the pip boy more interesting and it makes me feel more connected to the classic Fallouts, in fact a lot of the replacements or additions I have in textures is making the game feel like more of a original Fallout and that Fallout 3 never happened, stuff like:  Classic Adobe Buildings is great because it’s more true to the lore.

Fonts:

Fallout Classic Fonts  To spice up your new experience you may want a new font because Fallout’s New Vegas font is kind of ugly after a while, I use “Fallout Classic fonts”, keep in mind that you do have to follow extra instructions on how to set a new font, you need to go to Fallout.ini in your “my games” folder and edit the [Fonts]. Usually there’s a text file to help this process, also I’m pretty sure most font mods can only be loaded through FMM. 

HUD:

aHud is a must (Or it’s upgraded counterpart if you want more:  One HUD - oHUD that includes more features), you can organize your hud that way, you can get some custom huds, the one I use is cellHUD which is a bit finnicky because one of the versions of that HUD is the main file needed for the second version (install the non-icon version then icon if you want the icon version).

Also I’m pretty sure (or at least mine) custom HUDS do not erase text such as “HP” or “AP”,  you'll need to edit  \Steam\steamapps\common\Fallout New Vegas\Data\Textures\Interface\interfaceshared0.dds ...A dds file is something you can edit like an image. Nevermind you will never get the HP text out of your hud apparently? 

Animations:

Get Enhanced Camera, seriously, it’s very cute to always look down and see your body, it sometimes clashes with other animations but just keep your head up if you are doing common FPS things like the pick up animation from Solid Project.

I use Weapon Animation Replacers - Enhanced Camera compatibility pack, it makes me feel as if I’m in the game or something.  (The Mod kind of is broken combined with other mods that use animations) It’s not everyone’s cup of tea in FPS games because the weapon is realistically low and cannot be seen all the time unless you are aiming down it’s scopes. Be sure to copy  NVSE_EhancedCamera.ini in the rare towards the NVSE plugins folder in New Vegas’s data and you won’t have a wonky body with no arms. If anything follow the good instructions on their page.

ENB:

If you got a PC that can run Nier Automata in it’s lowest settings chances are you have a PC that can run a pretty neatly modded beautiful New Vegas that adds modarn things like better shadowing, a fancy depth of field. I recommend installing an ENB for last because some say that it might cause issues while you are configuring mods and cause them all to crash? 

So your ENB only starts working when you see in the corner your graphic card information at the start, to be able to do this you gotta follow instructions very clearly (usually each ENB you get has it’s own easy to follow install instructions), and be sure to get d3d9.dll from the latest version: enbseries_falloutnv_v0322, or else your ENB won’t work.

Add to enblocal: in my case it is “VideoMemorySizeMb=8192″ (the ENBlocal should be the ENB pack you installed from Nexus or something, unless it won’t have this option), you can put your graphic card ram in there or just put 0 if you want to skip this entirely?

Important: Go into the New Vegas Launcher and turn off anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering, HDR needs to be checked, go into Advanced and turn off Depth of Field, Water Displacement off, you need to do this because the ENB reprograms this things, now when you use the new vegas launcher your fallout.ini file becomes read only again, so do the fallout.ini stuff (like the fonts). 

You’ll know you’ve hit your limit when certain mods just do not respond anymore. The most obvious sign would be lack of custom HUD if you are using one. Considering New Vegas loads fairly fast, it shouldn’t be that painful to test each mod individually. 

Anyways I got kind of lazy with this post so I’m just going to show a list of my mods since the rest is fairly obvious:

Some Stuff I had in NMM which might be the reason why they’re not 100% working unlike the ones I put in FOMM. 

[redvsvblue]

Busy

It occurred to me I haven’t written enough Mavin lately, so...here’s some fluffy Mavin, set in the FAHC AU. 

It's their anniversary and Gavin is busy.

Their anniversary. Gavin busy.

Michael almost can't fucking believe it – almost. For some reason (his laugh, his looks, his odd curiosity, apparently endless creativity) he loves this guy.

But all the love in the world right now can't stop Michael from being angry and frustrated and, under all that, disappointed and a little bummed out.

He knows Geoff didn't assign anything for Gavin today – Jack corroborated that story – because he asked for their day off and Geoff always respects anniversaries if he can.

Which means Gavin forgot their anniversary and is fucking working.

Michael sighs and looks dejectedly down at his phone, the can't, I'm busy, boi text still shining up at him, immediately under the wanna go for lunch? text.

Michael's already cancelled the lunch reservations. He had such a nice place lined up, too, one that does all of Gavin's favourite food and all of Michael's favourite drinks and it was going to be fun and Michael was going to drag them down to Vespucci next, check out the stores and the new retro-style arcade on the corner but no.

Gavin's busy.

Michael huffs and lies down on the sofa, rolling to grab the remote and turn on the TV – it's still paused on the Game of Thrones episode they were watching last night, almost got all the way through it before they got a little distracted by each other and had to move to the bedroom.

Fuck it. Michael presses play – he'll tell Gavin about it later.

No, he's not sulking. He's busy. Busy absorbing this episode so he can thoroughly spoil it for his absent-minded boyfriend later.

Busy.

--

Michael's phone buzzes during his four p.m. solitary dinner – reheated leftovers – and he scoffs loudly to himself as he reads the text.

Come to Chiliad?

> No

It'll be fun, boi

> No

Michael slams his phone screen-down onto the table – it buzzes a couple of times but he pays it no mind, angrily scraping his fork against the plate as he shovels more rice into his mouth. What, now the fucker wants him to go to him? No way. No fucking way.

--

There's a sharp knock on his door at six and Michael yanks it open with a huff, glaring at Gavin as he crosses his arms.

“What?” He snaps, and Gavin's smile falls, his eyebrows pinching together.

“I – Michael, I came to pick you up. Didn't you get my texts?” He steps closer and Michael pointedly steps to fill the doorway, blocking Gavin from shimmying his way inside.

“No,” he says. “Didn't bother with them.”

“You're angry,” Gavin says with a frown. “Michael, what happened?”

Michael cocks an eyebrow.

“What happened?” Michael repeats. “What happened?! You fucking forgot it was our anniversary is what fucking happened!”

Gavin's mouth drops open in horror and he frantically starts shaking his head, reaching out for Michael but stopping himself before he touches him.

“I didn't forget,” he says, “Michael, I didn't forget, I – I've been – can you just come with me?”

“No,” Michael snarls, hurt and disappointed and angry and frustrated and tired of today's bullshit. “You ruined my plans.”

Gavin freezes and frowns again, glancing down at the floor.

“You made plans?” He asks quietly.

“Yeah, of course I made plans! It's our fucking anniversary, you dipshit!” Michael shouts, tossing his hands in the air.

“Oh.” Gavin fiddles with the hem of his shirt and clears his throat. “I didn't – know you had.”

“Well no shit, it was supposed to be a surprise,” Michael spits. Gavin's mouth twists and the twinge of guilt that runs through Michael almost derails his bitter self-righteousness. Almost.

“I'll see you at work tomorrow,” Michael says, stepping back to close the door in Gavin's face.

“I had a surprise, too,” Gavin blurts out, his head snapping up and hand shooting out to stop the door. “I – I had a surprise, too, Michael. I wasn't – I wasn't working, I was - “ he breaks off with a thick swallow and glances away, shuffling a little closer.

Oh.

Michael kind of thinks he should feel stupid for assuming Gavin forgot off of one text, but – but Gavin doesn't plan things. He's a spontaneous guy, buying Michael birthday gifts on the spot and taking him on dinner dates on the way back from weapons testing – Michael's never known him to plan much in their romantic affairs at all – for god's sake, their first time was in the back of Michael's car, tipsy from the bar and sweaty from the dance floor. Gavin's a random, creative guy, and Michael's the one with a little bit more thought behind his gestures. It works. It's them. It's partly why Michael loves the guy.

“Gavin Free? Planning?” He says, makes it a little teasing to clear some of the defeat in Gavin's expression. Gavin mumbles something and Michael follows up with a confused “What?”.

“I wanted it to be special,” Gavin says, louder this time. “Y'know, two years. That's kind of special.”

Michael's frustration simmers down to practically nothing – yes, he's annoyed Gavin just let him think he forgot, left uncharacteristically early at the crack of fucking dawn, but it's tempered by Gavin's obvious nerves, his fingers twisting fitfully in his shirt and his weight constantly shifting from foot to foot.

Michael supposes if Gavin's taken the day to plan something for him, it must be important.

“Let me get changed,” he says finally, and the corners of Gavin's mouth tip up into a small smile as Michael finally lets him in. To be fair, it is their place, Gavin could have just barged in with his key.

Gavin's getting himself a drink when Michael reemerges, shrugging a leather jacket on and grabbing the keys to his Adder off the counter – Gavin sets his Coke down and gestures to the keys.

“You don't need those,” he says, and Michael quirks an eyebrow.

“Well I'm sure as fuck not letting you drive me,” he says. Gavin grins and pulls out a set of keys from his jeans pocket, tossing them to Michael.

“I'm not driving,” he says.

--

“Holy. Shit.”

“You like it?”

“Gav, I love it,” Michael breathes, running a hand over the smooth black hood and then leaning over to splay himself on it. Gavin laughs behind him and Michael pushes himself up to perch on the edge of the hood, pulling Gavin to him by his beltloops.

“Sorry I didn't tell you I actually had a plan for once,” Gavin murmurs. Michael shakes his head and kisses him quickly on the lips.

“You were trying to surprise me,” he replies, pressing their foreheads together. “I was being an asshole.”

“A justified asshole,” Gavin mutters, and Michael huffs out a laugh.

“It's both our faults,” he says, and kisses Gavin again. “Sorry I said all that shit.”  

With that, Gavin finally seems to relax, melting easily into another kiss as his hands settle on Michael's hips, pressing up against his thighs and the car. Michael places one hand on the back of Gavin's neck and lets himself indulge for a bit, his other hand braced on the hood behind him.

“Mm, fuck, Gav, the surprise,” Michael says, reluctantly breaking away. Gavin nods and pulls away with a smile, sheepishly wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Michael slides off the car and saunters around to the driver's side, unlocking it with a sharp beep.

The inside is - absolutely beautiful. It's sleek as shit, all black leather and smooth, varnished dark wood, the stitching a tasteful silver. Gavin grins when he sees Michael light up, running his hands over the steering wheel and the dash and over to Gavin when he turns to kiss him.

“Jesus, you got me a car,” he breathes, pulls away from Gavin to admire the gearstick. “Did you drive it here?”

“Yeah,” Gavin says. “It's, uh, I got it black so you could – use it more often. Outside of jobs.”

“I love you,” Michael exclaims, adjusting his seat and glancing at Gavin. “I absolutely love you.”

Gavin's smile grows and he straps himself in as Michael starts up the engine – oh fuck, it even sounds amazing.

“Fuck, you modded the engine?” Michael groans, flexing his fingers on the wheel.

“Level 4,” Gavin replies, popping a stick of gum into his mouth and smirking when Michael groans again. Michael makes a mental note to suck Gavin's dick later.

“Fuck, Gavin. Chiliad, right?”

“Just to the cable cars.”

--

Gavin's practically vibrating with excitement the entire cable car ride, gazing at the view below them and restlessly bouncing his knee. Michael leans forward to place his hand on that knee and Gavin shoots him a smile before looking back out.

It's a gorgeous view, the sky darkening to purple to navy as the city livens up, neon signs flipping on and whole skyscrapers lighting up in vibrant colours. It would be breathtaking if Michael could take his eyes off of Gavin.

The cable screeches to a halt at the top of Chiliad, and they've barely stopped before Gavin's grabbing Michael's hand and leading him out. The wind whips around them up here, jostling the flaps of Michael's jacket and ruffling Gavin's hair as Gavin guides them out of the building to the wooden platform.

They stop by the railing and Gavin checks his watch – it's five minutes to eight – and Michael takes the chance to pin him against the railing, dipping down for a hot kiss to combat the chill of the wind. Gavin squeaks at the surprise and then loops his arms around Michael's neck, his watch cold against Michael's nape as he tugs him in closer.

Just as Michael starts to escalate it, nudging between Gavin's legs and biting gently on his lower lip, Gavin slaps at his chest, breaking away with a breathless laugh.

“Michael, you're going to miss it,” he says, glancing again at his watch. Michael kisses him again and Gavin indulges briefly before pushing him back once more. Their eyes lock and Michael keeps them pressed together everywhere else, his arms around Gavin's waist and Gavin's mouth inches from his.

A second later there's a series of small explosions and light bursts around them, illuminating the planes of Gavin's face and reflecting gold and red in his eyes.

“You're missing it,” he whispers, and Michael would argue that he's not missing a single thing, standing here staring at Gavin, but he looks away anyway, watching in quiet awe as more fireworks shoot up around them, around the entire mountain, bright reds and vivid greens offset by dazzling white and shimmery gold.

“You did all this?” Michael breathes, fascinated by the next boomboomboomboom of charges that sends fast streaks of blue into the sky, blooming into a constellation of light as it falls to earth.

“I had help,” Gavin says with a little shrug, staring at the next shot of fire that paints them in purple. “I owe Jeremy and Lindsay a few favours,” he murmurs. “And Ryan. And Trevor.”

Michael laughs and hugs him closer, kissing him as red bursts above them.

“Happy anniversary,” Gavin says when they separate, his fingers curling around Michael's shoulder.  

“Happy anniversary,” Michael repeats, kissing him slower this time. “I love you.”

“Love you, too.”

[cashcounts]

SMOK TFV8 X-Baby review | O Brother, where art thou?

SMOK TFV8 X-Baby Intro

Did you think SMOK was ever going to stop? Hell no! They have only been grinding harder. Today we’ll have a look at the TFV8 X-Baby, the latest edition to the family. My first thought was, “WHY!?”. The Baby Beast works fine, why would they change it?

Upon further inspection, I see what they did here… Imagine the Baby Beast, but with top airflow, instead of having it on the bottom. You got it, brother!

Colors: Black, green gold, blue, red, stainless steel, purple, tri-color

Price: $15.90

SMOK TFV8 X-Baby Gallery

SMOK TFV8 X-Baby Specs and Features

Kit Content

1 x SMOK TFV8 X-Baby Sub-Ohm Tank

1 x SMOK V8 X-Baby Q2 Core 0.4ohm Dual Coil Atomizer Head (Pre-installed)

1 x SMOK V8 X-Baby M2 Core 0.25ohm Dual Coil Atomizer Head

1 x SMOK TFV8 X-Baby Replacement Glass

1 x Set of Spare Parts

Specifications

Dimensions: 59 x 24.5 mm

Diameter: 24.5 mm

510 Threaded

4.0 mL E-liquid Capacity

Top Fill Swivel Design with Large Fill Hole

Larger Heating Air Tube for Higher Airflow Efficiency

Top Airflow Control Valve

Large Dual Adjustable Airflow Slots

Wide Bore Delrin Drip Tip

Large Central Airflow Chamber

Stainless Steel Construction

Utilizes SMOK X-Baby Beast Brother V8 Core Atomizer Heads for Variable Wattage

Includes (1) V8 X-Baby Q2 Core 0.4 Ohm Dual Coil Atomizer Head (Pre-installed) (Designed for 40 – 80 Watts)

Includes (1) V8 X-Baby M2 Core 0.25 Ohm Dual Coil Atomizer Head

Optional V8 X-Baby RBA Head (Sold Separately)

Notable Remarks

We are family

It’s a boy! Oh wait, it’s a sub ohm tank. Another one!?

You know how SMOK gets down. They take no breaks when it comes to improving their already successful line of products. Today we have the latest edition to their family called the X-Baby, otherwise known as the SMOK TFV8 Baby Beast Brother… Say hello to your new baby brother.

Did they really need to improve the Baby Beast? Probably not, but if you like top-airflow, this one’s for you. The question becomes, how will this airflow system impact flavor and vapor production? More importantly, how does it compare to the original TFV8 line, and other tanks on the market?

Oh brother, here we go again…

Atomizer construction

SMOK seems to have stepped up their game in terms of machining. The X-Baby feels a bit sturdier than the previous TFV8’s I’ve tested. The top-fill portion is identical, but seems to lock into place a little better than the original Baby Beast. A minor improvement that is surely worth mentioning.

The airflow control is firm, yet easy to adjust. SMOK engineered the perfect balance with this one, and made it possible through expert machining. They didn’t just slap on top-airflow, they made it better. Unfortunately, the tank is incompatible with the original Baby Beast coils, but hey, C’est la vie.

I have yet to experience the paint chipping. It seems to be an anodized finish. Only time will tell, so far so good. But then again, it is SMOK, so I will remain skeptical. If the paint holds up well, then I think they might want to consider coloring their mods in a similar fashion. *Cough* Alien *Cough*

Other than that, the only issue I’ve found is that the included drip tip wasn’t so easy to remove.

Performance

You’re probably wondering, well, how does it vape? I wish I could say it performs just as well as the original Baby Beast, but that would be a lie. The flavor and cloud production is on par with the rest of the TFV8 line, however the performance was rather wonky to be honest. I was getting dry, funky hits on the X-Baby, with both pre-built coil heads, running it on the lowest wattage recommendations.

The flavor is superb one minute, but then it will cut out randomly, not just when chain vaping. There were moments where I would get a dry hit on my first puff! I never had this sort of issue with the Baby Beast. It boggles my mind why SMOK would take one of their best products, and make it worse.

Once I installed the RBA section, it was a whole different story. As a rebuildable atomizer, this thing is great. As a sub ohm tank, not so much. I would recommend the Baby Beast over the X-Baby any day. However, if you want a rebuildable tank that also takes pre-made coil heads, it might be for you.

Building

Just as I was about to give up on this thing, I popped in the RBA head and see how it compares. I’m glad I did, because now I am in love. The flavor is on point with some of the best RTAs I’ve tested. Building on the velocity style deck was effortless, and I didn’t have to do anything special to wick it.

It is always recommended not to stuff too much cotton into the wick holes. It also helps to cut your wicks in a diamond-shape, so that they are tapered on the ends. I didn’t do any of that. In fact, I used too much cotton on purpose, just to push its limits. I have yet to get a dry hit while using it as an RTA.

It even came with pre-installed 0.38 Ohm dual-Claptons, which happens to already be my go-to build.

Likes

Expertly machined

Top-airflow design prevents leakage

Drip tip doesn’t overheat

Massive cloud production and flavor

Easy to build and wick (with RBA head)

Handles Max-VG liquids well

Easy top-filling system

Comes in eight colors (with optional resin drip tip)

TPD-compliant version available

Dislikes

Random dry hits

RBA-section sold separately

Incompatible with original SMOK Baby Beast coils

Verdict

I don’t even know what to say. As a sub ohm tank, the X-Baby isn’t terrible. But If you like to take long puffs, especially at higher wattages, you probably won’t be satisfied with it. Unless you absolutely NEED top-airflow, it’s more of a downgrade from the original Baby Beast series than anything.

Sure, the new airflow system prevents leakage, but that was never an issue for me with the original. The top-airflow doesn’t enhance flavor or clouds, although it does make a rather pleasant sound when vaping. Other than that, save your money, especially if you already own a TFV8 Baby Beast.

We have already received some feedback from our readers on social media regarding the dry hits, so it wasn’t just my experience. Taking longer puffs at wattages above 40 W doesn’t pan out too well.

However, if you’re looking for a great RTA that’s also compatible with pre-built coil heads, it might be worth considering. Once you install your coils and wick it up, the flavor is incredible. I could crank this badboy up all the way to 70 Watts with a 0.38 Ohm build, and chain vape it without fear of a dry hit.

What has YOUR experience been with the X-Baby? Have you tried it with the RBA-section yet?

Leave a comment and tell us what you like/dislike about it…

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