Overview

So, I bought Fallout: New Vegas (On Steam), I got all the mods I wanted, I used 'Nexus Mod Manager' to install them, I got them all compatible, blah-blah-blah. As soon as I load NVSE (New Vegas Script Extender) it shows me 'Missing Master! This list assumes you’re using the Ultimate edition of Fallout: New Vegas (all DLC). And you’ve installed it somewhere other than Program Files, on an SSD if you have one. Download and install your mod organiser, this guide will be for Vortex, as it’s the simplest to get up and running with. Other mod organisers are available.

For Fallout: New Vegas on the PC, a GameFAQs message board topic titled 'NVSE doesn't work.'

This procedure a template so it may be included in several instances in the article 'Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting'.

Programs and Tools

• A plain text editor like Windows Notepad.

Detail

When installing New Vegas Script Extender (NVSE), the nvse_loader.exe file should be in the game root folder: i.e. '<Steam install path>steamappscommonFallout New Vegas'), so it's along with the FalloutNV.exe file. However, just unpacking the NVSE archive package to the 'Fallout New Vegas' folder may not create a 'DataNVSE' folder or the 'DataNVSEPlugins' sub-folder upon installation unless you tell it to include sub-folders when doing so. If not, you will have to do so manually. It definitely does not create a configuration file (in the 'NVSE' sub-folder), nor automatically enable it's log files (which will be found in the game's root folder). You need to do so yourself, using any plaintext editor such as Windows

The Nexus Fallout New Vegas

NotePad. Supplemental NVSE Plugins such as JIP, Lutana, MCM, NVAC, or NVSR should go into the 'DataNVSEPlugins' folder; along with their configuration/INI files.

• If not present, manually create folder 'NVSE' under the game 'Data' folder (at the same level as the 'Meshes' and 'Textures' folders), and then 'Plugins' under the 'NVSE' folder.
• Make sure 'hide known file types' is disabled in Windows/File Explorer's 'Folder Options' menu, or your new INI file in the next step will have a hidden '.txt' extension which you don't want. (The DigitalCitizen.life article 8 ways to open the Folder Options window, in Windows (all versions) will show you how to access that.)
• In the folder 'DataNVSE' create a new text file and name it 'nvse_config.ini'.
• Copy and paste the following into 'nvse_config.ini':

This will enable the game's error log the next time you run it, which will then be found in your FNV root folder (where you put the NVSE executable files). There will be at least three files: 'falloutnv_error.log', 'falloutnv_havok.log', and 'nvse.log'. The first one is very useful for finding broken stuff in mods or the cause of crashes. Not everything in it is an error so keep that in mind; some are just warnings. The 'nvse.log' is helpful to identify problems with NVSE itself, and plugins that rely upon it.

The warnings are supposed to be written by the game engine in 'C:Users<YourAccountName>DocumentsMy GamesFalloutNVwarnings.txt', but this may be dependent upon the 'log level' in the 'nvse_config.ini'. The default is level '1' and there is no 'warnings.txt' file created; but it goes up to level '5' (debugging) with increasing verbosity. However, it appears this 'warnings' file feature was never actually implemented for FNV, but have been restored by the GECK Extender Plugin for NVSE.

• To activate the 'Sheson patch', Add the following before the '[Logging]' section of the 'nvse_config.ini' file:

Using a size of '240' or '256' is suggested if you are not using FNV4GB or some other means to utilize the maximum ~4GB of game memory. Too small or too large a heap size causes problems. Keep it under '500' (i.e. '496'), and in multiples of 16. Skyrim SKSE users may be aware of a 'scrapheapsizeMB=' setting. This is carried over to NVSE, but is not used in the FNV game engine. Remember, nothing is 'free memory'. Everything you assign to a 'heap' is no longer available to the game itself.

References

Nexus wiki articles referred to by this article:

Fallout New Vegas Nvse Nexus 4

Nexus wiki articles that refer to this article:

Fallout New Vegas Nvse Nexus 5