Porting mods from Fallout 4 to Starfield

[mechatech]

Maybe this should be in the Starfield forums but that place is currently a ghost town right now. So I'm posting here.

 

When Fallout NV came out it was quite easy to port over modded (not vanilla) weapon, armor, body, hair and clothing assets from Fallout 3. All that was needed was a new esp for FNV. I have an armor that works equally well in both games.

 

I'm wondering if the same will be true for modded assets from Fallout 4 to Starfield? Basically take meshes and textures from FO4, drop them into SF folders, make a new esp and it will work.

 

I wonder it the same would be true for radio staions (if SF has any), atmosphere and lighting effects, animations, (walking, running, shooting etc).

 

Any thoughts?

[showler]

How often have you seen Fallout 3 assets ported to Fallout 4?

 

Generational differences are difficult. Fallout 3 and Fallout NV were basically the same game.

[mechatech]

I wasn't aware of that much difference.

 

So Fallout 4 to Starfield would be like Oblivion to Skyrim. While I have seen the odd thing ported over, like you said, it's not easy.

 

That pops that balloon.

[teslashark]

Apparently Starfield will use Rage 2's engine, not Gamebryo.

[HeyYou]

Apparently Starfield will use Rage 2's engine, not Gamebryo.

What? Where did you get that from??? Everything I am reading, including from Bethesda..... says Creation Engine 2. Basically, and updated version of what was originally gamebryo.

[StormWolf01]

That's what I am reading too. That it's an updated engine not an entirely different one.

It's going to be hard to tell. It really depends on what they update and how.

It also depends on how long it takes for the modders to figure out those new changes, what existing tools still work, what needs to be updated, or what has to be created from scratch.

 

Release for Starfield has been pushed back into 2023, so who knows how long we have to wait, until we find out.

 

 

I happen to have a mod that was ported from NV. The Jackal, the pistol used by Alucard in Hellsing. Created for both systems by the awesome DMagnus.

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/14527

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/57873

 

While I am be NO means casting shade at his wonderful work... the gun is outstanding, and the work put into it is really, really good. It's pretty clear that it was created for a game that used a different graphics system.

Dmagnus is one of those guys who have been around modding, for many, many years. Who has made quite a name for himself. So it's really not surprising that he'd be able to pull off a port job between the two engines.

So while it "Can" be done.... IMO it's a lot of effort, where it might be easier to just recreate the assets. (I say that, but I can't 3d model or texture :( )

 

(BTW) that gun is OP as all get out!) Just the way that it was intended in the anime! :D

[showler]

That's probably not a case of "porting" the mod though. They probably used their 3D model as a base to create a mod for each game separately. Harder to take a finished product, go back and then go forward to a different game.

[StormWolf01]

That's probably not a case of "porting" the mod though. They probably used their 3D model as a base to create a mod for each game separately. Harder to take a finished product, go back and then go forward to a different game.

Ok, so I'm not disagreeing with you Showler. ;)

In fact, I do agree. And yes, that is most likely what DMagnus did with his mod.

I guess, what I didn't explain properly, was that it takes somebody who knows what they are doing, to pull these off. And who wants to put the effort into it.

 

What we're both saying, is why we don't see very many mods that are made for both skyrim, and fallout 4. The engine differences make for some definite changes having to be made by the authors. It can definitely be done, and there's authors that are releasing versions of their mod for both. Since I don't mod (or play) skyrim, I don't know those differences myself. But from what I've read in author's comments, it's work.

[RaidersClamoring]

It will heavily depend on whether they stick to the NetImmerse (nif) platform, Scaleform (the UI), Havok etc. The first two are discontinued. With Nif they might not care because it seems they like it (so many custom flags and node types). Regarding CK, Todd said literally "we like the editor", so that one will probably just get an upgrade. To approximately quote Kinggath on what the Papyrus guy is hinting: "He seems to want to take away a lot of the freedoms we have today". Depressing news. It was already intentionally restricted in ways I find obnoxious and belittling. That said there will certainly be scriptextender plugins but it will take a while for c++ modders to catch up.

 

All changes but the last one are bound to be positive but ironically huge improvements correlate negatively with backward compatibility. Also there is the problem of art assets and IP. There are more people involved than just Bethesda itself. Quest mods and visual repurpose mods are basically screwed. Original content, gameplay overhauls and script-based mods that don't use much artwork will stand a greater chance of surviving.

 

What I fear most though is Bethesda deciding to take the game online. This will terminate the possibility of any interesting mods being allowed, there will just be artwork-mods.

[HeyYou]

It will heavily depend on whether they stick to the NetImmerse (nif) platform, Scaleform (the UI), Havok etc. The first two are discontinued. With Nif they might not care because it seems they like it (so many custom flags and node types). Regarding CK, Todd said literally "we like the editor", so that one will probably just get an upgrade. To approximately quote Kinggath on what the Papyrus guy is hinting: "He seems to want to take away a lot of the freedoms we have today". Depressing news. It was already intentionally restricted in ways I find obnoxious and belittling. That said there will certainly be scriptextender plugins but it will take a while for c++ modders to catch up.

 

All changes but the last one are bound to be positive but ironically huge improvements correlate negatively with backward compatibility. Also there is the problem of art assets and IP. There are more people involved than just Bethesda itself. Quest mods and visual repurpose mods are basically screwed. Original content, gameplay overhauls and script-based mods that don't use much artwork will stand a greater chance of surviving.

 

What I fear most though is Bethesda deciding to take the game online. This will terminate the possibility of any interesting mods being allowed, there will just be artwork-mods.

I think they have already stated there won't be a multiplayer..... Beth is famous for their SINGLE player games. No reason to think they are going to throw that away now.