WIP Stargate mod on Fallout 4

[Wheaton Adams]

Well, hello, everyone.

I'm just a modder from France, and Stargate fan, predictably (otherwise I wouldn't be here). For the last two decades or so, I've been tinkering and taking part in various Stargate modding projects whenever one popped up that I felt I could help. I'm also a massive fan of the Fallout games today.

Some people here may possibly know about "Morrowind Stargate", a SG mod on ... The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (obviously). That mod was one I contributed to the most back then (but did not lead). Althrough the idea of tacking-on a scifi mod/setting to a fantasy game was highly questionnable, it helped me hone my skills quite a bit on Bethesda's game engine. Sadly, the team who made the Morrow' SG mod pretty much completely disbanded since.

Today, after multiple experiments and practice, I've ended up reconnecting with a few people related to that old project. We all grew up and got more skilled at what we do, and, well, I felt like, back in 2018 or so, that there really still wasn't any good story driven SG mod out there...

(Sure, there's Carter Addon Pack / CAP for Garry's Mod, which is a gold mine in assets/ressources, but it's still a sandbox)


So why am I here?

I've been attempting for a good while to build a SG mod on Fallout: New Vegas, but eventually ended up realizing that the game engine it uses is simply too rigid and hard to work with (model export into an acceptable format in particular), so I migrated to Fallout 4 in the interim. Better engine, better performance/stability, better scripting system, and much more streamlined model conversion pipeline.

To put it simply, I am building a Fallout 4 / Stargate crossover mod. I have been doing so for the last 3 years or so, 4 now, I guess.

The mod has evolved greatly over time, but is still far from complete.
I can show some footage/elements if one wishes to see, but I feel like I'd rather not clutter the opening message too much yet.


Thing is... I have been going through some really rough times as of recently, mostly in the emotional/relationship matter. That kind of matter. My motivation to do anything has dropped to an all time low, and I barely worked on anything anymore for months. Put bluntly: I'm depressed.

I'm not gonna get fancy around it too much: I wished to do this for the fans, for people who wished to have a story driven SG mod/work to play through. I'm more into altruism, pleasing people is my gig. So logically, I guess the only way I can feel like I can kickstart my motivation into motion once again, would be to ask around if there would still be any interest/feedback about this project... I don't really want to present this as an advertisement, more like, should I resume working on this? I hope you see what I mean.


Now I can easily answer some questions related to the plot without revealing too much and all that. I am not writing the mod. Writing good plots is not something I'm good at, so a friend from the old mod is helping dramatically well on that regard.

Still, yeah. I feel like I've stretched out way too much doing nothing. Is this still worth doing? ._.

For a quick summary of some elements though, here's what I have to present: (Folded as a spoiler for brevity)

Spoiler:

• The mod's mostly about quests. There is a lot of scripted content involved, including repeatable missions. New armor, weapons and items that we expect to see are all here for the most part, plus a few new extras.
• Weapons tied to the mod have exclusive modifications such as intar rounds, for example. There's also obviously a bucketload of planets to go to, new workshop locations (read: outposts you can craft & build), and attempts at making new gameplay mechanics.
• The mod is originally written in french, but will be primarily released in english first. Full french release was a huge drawback for Morrowind Stargate.
• A safeguard system is coded in the Gate network itself, preventing sequence breaking by going to an area not scheduled for the plot yet. Reversely, a free-form DHD support works to add one's custom extra planets as sub-mods.
• SOME elements for the mod are loans from other mods, such as, well, the classic P90.
• While set in Fallout 4, the FO4 locales and geopolitics are mostly unrelated. The mod was originally developped and written for FO New Vegas, and even though there are ties to FO4's Boston (mostly to Catherine Langford and the ~1940's research on the Gate in that region), most of the "Stargate Command" action is set around California and Nevada.
• I immediately decided against having a ragtag band of survivors activating the Gate in a warehouse of sorts and explore the stars. This would be a neat story, but not the one I wanted to go for. I don't think a classic Stargate setting can work without a strong government body backing up the gate's operations with budget and assets. As such, the New California Republic plays a major role in the mod, althrough not always in a nice fashion (think Kinsey...). This used to be a New Vegas mod, after all.
• The mod's plot mostly explores the consequences of Fallout's timeline overriding the SG1 one from ever happening, causing an alternate continuity that already caused its share of problems, and may end catastrophically. The player therefore has a personal motivation to repair this derelict timeline into something closer to SG1 slowly over time.
• Multiple locations from the show are planned to reappear alongside new ones. Characters will not necessarily return, short of a jaffa's really long lifespan, but even then, Fallout 4 takes place in the 2280's. Best case scenario? You'd run into the descendents of major characters from SG1/etc.
• An episodic release system is planned, courtesy of the rather flexible ESM/ESP plugin hierarchy system used by Bethesda games.
• Stargate related assets are for the most part ported over from the Garry's Mod CAP pack, free of cost, althrough it's nice to credit&thank them for that.
• The locations of the mod are designed with a philosohpy of "practical effect zones you can walk around, with CGI in the background far out of reach", in order to avoid constructing locations that would feel too "alien" (cough) to the show's original depiction of exoplanets. Designing maps as faux filming sets is a priority.
• A full original score that will have to avoid using leitmotifs from the show to avoid copyright problems, althrough introduces its own.
• The mod's designed to work with as little extra mods as possible, and should be (it is so far) compatible with the VR port of Fallout 4, althrough that last one requires a bit of tinkering on its own, and some quirks exist (stepping out of the gate can make you face the wrong direction and such.)

Again, I'm totally okay to show some content/footage/etc if one asks, but I feel this message is long enough as it is.

[Theu]

Hello Wheaton Adams,

I have just stumbled over your post in search of such a mod! Your idea sounds like a total conversion overhaul of Fallout 4! That is awesome!

Therefore I am super excited and pretty sure it will become very enjoyable.

How have you learned to mod for Fallout? I would like to learn it, too, in order to be able to help you, if you want.

(Sure, there's Carter Addon Pack / CAP for Garry's Mod, which is a gold mine in assets/ressources, but it's still a sandbox)

Stargate related assets are for the most part ported over from the Garry's Mod CAP pack, free of cost, althrough it's nice to credit&thank them for that.

hahaha, that is so classic! I have played many games with Stargate Mods, most of which use Garry's Mod CAP. For example The Stargate Reborn Mod in Stellaris. That makes sense since they have indeed created wonderful assets!

Best regards from your german neighbour ????

Theu

[Wheaton Adams]

Hey!
I'm so sorry for keeing you in the dark for nearly a month, I had a lot going on (as stated earlier in the OP) IRL.

Your idea sounds like a total conversion overhaul of Fallout 4!

While a big mod (clearly a bit on the ambitious side) it is not a total conversion. It can be played side by side with the regular FO4 game. It's DLC sized at best.
Put simply, the starting premise involves the player character cleaning out a museum as part of a quest, and unwittingly ends up transport-ring-ing themselves to the nearest platform, in California.

The NCR owns the place and seems to have mis-attributed the transport rings' purpose to the Stargate. Any fan would know this is wrong. Once a few initial quests are done, the transport rings are repaired and two-way travel is restored.
hese rings pretty much serve as the entry point in the mod.

How have you learned to mod for Fallout?

I've actually been modding Bethesda games since about 2003 with Morrowind. I was part of the team who made a "similar" Stargate mod for TES 3 / Morrowind, as limited as the engine and assets back then could allow. Some trouble arose when the team wanted to make a do-over on TES4 Oblivion, resulting in it being disbanded. The desire to make a Fallout / Stargate crossover story stuck with me ever since Fallout 3 came out.

That said, well, now that I made a new post, I believe it's a good time as ever to present some pictures, because it speaks a lot better than words.

MEDIA:

Spoiler:

Goldome Mill Complex (The approximation of an SGC in this place. Note some assets of the mod are from loan and/or are placeholders. The NCR uniforms are one of these here and are scheduled for replacement/update):

The briefing room overlooking the Stargate (the flag is not there initially, as the program formally doesn't exist at the start of the plotline):

The office of a certain archeologist that really isn't Daniel Jackson:

Control Room, with a peculiar detail:

And yes, it spins:


Hmmm... Déja vu.

"I hate sand, it gets everywhere."

And well, yeah, we can't really have Stargate without some canadian forest planets:

Amusing, since these were usually shot at a gravel pi--... Oh...


(This picture was taken elevated to make it clear this is a greek temple over there)


Yeah, the zat is tagging along. For balancement purposes, it's been relegated to a regular energy pistol. The two-shot rule can't really work well in a game, any double tap done to and from the player could kill anyone. If a critical hit was to kill though, the disintegration rule does applies.


Yes, it is clear some areas of Chulak are not quite finished yet.
Here's a new planet, arriving at night.


Hmm. Odd. Let me remind you that this timeline is set after two centuries and a half of SG1 not happening due to the Fallout timeline taking precedence. Things went a bit differently...

Let me know what you think? I hope this proves more interesting than the opening post. I just really don't like making overly long or double posts.