NVForever

About the project

NVForever is a free engine project in the spirit of OpenMW. It recreates how the Fallout: New Vegas engine behaves (reading the game's archives and plugins, rendering the world, running physics, scripts and dialogue) using entirely new code written from public documentation and from observing the original game.

It ships no Bethesda content and contains no Bethesda, Obsidian or Gamebryo code. You point it at the Data folder of your own copy of the game, and it reads those files without ever changing them.

Every part of the engine is checked against the original game by the project's parity lab: hundreds of automated scenarios compare NVForever's results with independent readers and with captures recorded from the real game.

What it does today

Walk the Mojave

World streaming with terrain, distant LOD, trees, grass, water, sky, weather and a day/night cycle, plus lit interiors.

Physics & movement

Collision and a character controller that walks, jumps, sneaks and swims to match captures from the original game.

Interact with the world

Open doors and containers, travel between worldspaces, manage your inventory, drop and push items.

Scripts & dialogue

Quest and object scripts run in-game, and you can talk to NPCs with their original recorded voices from your copy.

Leaves your game alone

Never runs from or writes into your game folder or My Games\FalloutNV. Your install and saves stay untouched.

Free & open source

Licensed under GPL-3.0-or-later. The full source, design notes and test lab are public on GitHub.

Development status

NVForever is in early development and is not yet a complete way to play the game. Here's where each part of the engine stands.

Done Archive (BSA) and plugin (ESM/ESP) readers, load order
Done Meshes, textures and animations (NIF, DDS, KF) and asset viewer
Done Core simulation, collision, physics and basic play
In progress World rendering and lighting
In progress Scripting and quests
Started Combat (player side) and dialogue
Not started NPC AI, the game's menus, most audio, saving and loading

Full details are in the project README.

Requirements

You must own a legal copy of Fallout: New Vegas.

NVForever is an engine only. It includes no game data and will not run without the data files from your own lawfully purchased copy. It does not help anyone obtain the game or its files, and it is not a substitute for buying it.

Fallout: New Vegas, installed from your own purchase. Tested with the Steam version (1.4.0.525) with the base game and all DLC. Other store versions haven't been tested yet.
Windows 10 / 11 or Linux, 64-bit.
A graphics card with Vulkan or DirectX 12 support.
Disk space for NVForever and its cache, in addition to your existing game install (about 10 GB).

Download

Version: 0.1.0
Released
File
Size

SHA-256

Download NVForever

By downloading you confirm you own a legal copy of Fallout: New Vegas. NVForever is provided free under the GPL-3.0-or-later licence, without any warranty. See the legal notice.

All releases & changelog · Source code

Installation

Install Fallout: New Vegas

Install the game from your own library (for example Steam). NVForever only reads its files and never changes them.
Download and extract NVForever

Extract the download for your system to a folder outside the game folder, for example:
```
WindowsC:\Games\NVForever
Linux~/Games/NVForever
```
Point NVForever at your game

Open a terminal in the NVForever folder and tell it where the game is installed:
```
Windowsfnvtool setup --game "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Fallout New Vegas"
Linux./fnvtool setup --game "$HOME/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Fallout New Vegas"
```
Use your own install path if the game is somewhere else. fnvtool paths then shows where NVForever keeps its config, logs and cache: %LOCALAPPDATA%\NVForever on Windows, ~/.local/share/nvforever on Linux.

Launch

Start in Goodsprings with play mode on:

Windowsnvforever --data "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Fallout New Vegas\Data" --cell Goodsprings --play
Linux./nvforever --data "$HOME/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Fallout New Vegas/Data" --cell Goodsprings --play

Run nvforever --help for every option.

Controls in play mode

Move	`W` `A` `S` `D` · mouse to look
Walk / always run	`Shift` / `Caps Lock`
Sneak / jump	`Ctrl` / `Space`
Auto-move	`Q`
Use (doors, containers, items)	`E`
Inventory	`Tab`
Change hour	`[` / `]`
Screenshot / pause	`F12` / `Esc`

Building from source instead

Install Rust from rustup.rs (stable toolchain), then:

git clone https://github.com/LootJunkieAzza/NVForever
cd NVForever
cargo build --release -p fnvtool
cd engine
cargo build --release

The first engine build takes a while. See the README for tests and other tools.

FAQ

Is this an official Fallout: New Vegas release or remaster?

No. NVForever is an independent, unofficial fan project. It is not made, approved or endorsed by Bethesda, ZeniMax, Microsoft or Obsidian, and it is not a replacement for the official game.

Do I need to own the game?

Yes. NVForever contains no game content. It only works with the data files from your own legally purchased copy of Fallout: New Vegas.

Can I play the whole game with it?

Not yet. You can explore the world, use doors and containers, manage inventory, run scripts and talk to NPCs, but NPC AI, the game's menus, most audio and saving are still to come. Keep playing the original game for a full playthrough.

Will it change my game install or saves?

No. NVForever never writes into the game folder or Documents\My Games\FalloutNV. Its own files live in %LOCALAPPDATA%\NVForever on Windows or ~/.local/share/nvforever on Linux.

Does it work with GOG or Epic versions?

It has only been tested with the Steam version so far. Other versions may work but are untested.

Is NVForever free?

Yes, and it stays free. It's open source under GPL-3.0-or-later. You can optionally support development on Ko-fi, but donations buy nothing: no game content, no early access, no extra features.

How do I uninstall it?

Delete the NVForever folder and its data folder (%LOCALAPPDATA%\NVForever on Windows, ~/.local/share/nvforever on Linux). Your game is unaffected.

Where do I report a bug?

Open an issue on the GitHub repository. Please don't attach game files.

Support the project

NVForever is built in spare time and will always be free. If you'd like to help keep development going, you can buy me a coffee on Ko-fi.

Support me on Ko-fi

Donations are entirely voluntary and buy nothing: no game content, no early access, no extra features. You still need your own copy of Fallout: New Vegas.

Legal notice

NVForever is an unofficial, non-commercial fan project.

It is not an official Fallout: New Vegas product, remaster, port or replacement. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by or otherwise connected to Bethesda Softworks, ZeniMax Media, Microsoft, Obsidian Entertainment, Valve, or any other company involved in making or publishing Fallout: New Vegas or the middleware it uses.

No rights to Fallout

The NVForever project holds no licence or rights to the Fallout franchise, Fallout: New Vegas, or any of their content, characters, names, logos, artwork, music or other intellectual property, and claims none.

Fallout, Fallout: New Vegas and related names and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Bethesda Softworks LLC, a ZeniMax Media company, in the United States and/or other countries. Fallout: New Vegas was developed by Obsidian Entertainment. Gamebryo, Havok, SpeedTree, FaceGen, Bink, Steam, Windows and all other product and company names are trademarks of their respective owners.

These names are used only to describe what NVForever is compatible with. Their use does not imply any affiliation or endorsement. The name "NVForever" refers to this project only.

A legal copy of the game is required

NVForever does not run without the data files of your own lawfully purchased copy of Fallout: New Vegas.
It is not a substitute for buying the game and does not help anyone obtain it or its files.
Your use of the game's data remains subject to the terms under which you bought the game.

No game content distributed

NVForever's source code, releases and this website contain no content from the game: no plugins or archives, no meshes, textures or animations, no audio or voice files, no executables, and no screenshots or frames rendered from game data.

Clean-room development

NVForever contains no code from the original game, its editor (the G.E.C.K.) or the Gamebryo engine.
No leaked source code, debug symbols, or decompiled or disassembled game code is used.
NVForever does not circumvent copy protection or DRM.
NVForever does not modify the original game or its files.

Behaviour is written down from public documentation and from observing the unmodified game, then implemented from those notes. The full process is described in the project's LEGAL.md.

Licence and warranty

NVForever is free software, licensed under the GNU General Public License, version 3 or later. Copyright belongs to the NVForever contributors. This licence covers NVForever's own code and documentation only. It grants no rights in Fallout: New Vegas or its data files, which remain the property of their owners.

NVForever is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. You use it at your own risk.

Donations

NVForever is and will remain free. Donations are entirely voluntary, are not a purchase, and give nothing in return: no game content, no early access and no extra features.

Rights holders

If you represent a rights holder and have a concern about this project, please contact the maintainer through the GitHub repository and we will respond promptly.

This notice describes how the project is run and is not legal advice.