Radio mods allow Fallout players to listen to customized playlists during gameplay.
The following are available resources:
Fallout 4[]
There are a number of mod tutorials that edit ingame radio stations, overwriting existing songs in playlists such as Diamond City radio. But this is not recommended as it ruins the lore of Fallout. It is better to create your own radio station firstly. Once you know how to build your own radio, it might be possible to modify Diamond City radio to add more tracks rather than overwriting its existing sound files. Adding soundtracks requires you to modify or update the radio's Quest script. A fallout 4 radio station requires a Radio Transmitter, Sound Descriptors in .WAV 16-bit format, a Message, and a Quest that can all be prepared in Creation Kit available on Bethesda.net.
Create your own radio station[]
Setup Objective: Prepare the directory for your .wav files. Get setup for Fallout 4 modding.
Ensure your sound files are in .WAV 16-bit format
Place your sound files in this directory path: Fallout 4/Data/sound/fx/radio/<Name> Radio. Create the folders as needed if they are not appearing. See example:
Download and install Creation Kit from Bethesda.net
Open Creation Kit (Note: Please be patient during load times). Double-click Fallout.esm. Press [OK].
File / save: <Name> Radio.esp (Note: This will save to your Fallout 4/Data folder). You can call it "Test Radio.esp" and then change it later.
Create Sound Descriptors Objective: Create and match Sound Descriptor objects with your .wav files.
Go to Object Window / Audio / Sound Descriptor. Right click in the Editor ID section (Highlighted yellow below).
In the Editor ID section, right click for the Sound Descriptor window. Title the Sound Descriptor as: <Name>Radio01 (no spaces). Change the Output Model to: SOMStereo. Change the Static Attenuation (dB) to -6.00. (Note: -12.00 is too low of an audio output). See highlighted areas below. Right click [New] in the Sound window.
Select .wav sound file following the directory path where you had placed your .wav files earlier during setup. Press [Open] to link the file to the Sound Descriptor.
Once your .wav file is linked to the Sound Descriptor, press [OK] to exit the menu. See highlighted areas below showing that the .wav file is now linked to the Sound Descriptor that you created in Creation Kit.
Go to your Object Window, press on Sound Descriptor (under Audio) and run a simple search, at the 'filter' prompt, to locate your Sound Descriptor in the Editor ID section. Other tutorials will have you prefix your files with 00 which will sort your modded files at the top of the Editor ID list, such as 00TestRadio01. There is nothing wrong with naming it that way. However, it's good to become familiar with the search prompt.
Highlight your Sound Descriptor <Name>Radio01 and right click [Edit]. The objective is to update the entry for your next sound file. Avoid using the [Duplicate] option because it is not as streamlined and there are cleanup steps.
Update the name of the Sound Descriptor to <Name>Radio02. The values for the new Sound Descriptor object will carry over, so that Output Model is SOMStereo and Static Attenuation (dB) is -6.00. Right click on the old .wav file and select [Delete]. Once the entry is removed, right click again and select [New]. Then open the next sound file. Press [OK] to exit. You will be prompted to create a new form. Select [Yes] to continue.
Repeat the above steps so that you have created a Sound Descriptor for each .wav file in your playlist. For purposes of this tutorial, there are a total of five sound files that are being introduced. So there are five Sound Descriptors as shown below. Each Sound Descriptor should be linked to its corresponding .wav file.
Create a Message Objective: Create a Message object to enable visibility of the Radio Station during gameplay.
Next, you must create a message so that your radio station can be seen in gameplay. The message object is in the Object Window under Miscellaneous / Message. See highlighted example below. Right click in the Editor ID section and select [New].
Give the Message an ID in the format of <Name>Radio_Msg (no spaces). Give the title of your Radio as you would see it in your PipBoy under Radio. Give a simple Message Text. Press [OK] and SAVE to complete this Message section.
Now is a good time to SAVE and to close out of Creation Kit. If you are new to Creation Kit, this exercise will help you find where your modded files are, in case you got lost. Reopen Creation Kit. Go to File/Data... Select your mod .esp file at the bottom of the load order, then click [Set as Active File]. See highlighted example below.
Create the Radio Transmitter Objective: In order for your radio station to be heard, it has to be broadcasted via a transmitter object that you will set in the Render Window.
You will be looking at a number of windows at the same time. To begin, click anywhere in the white of the Object Window. Filter for "radiotransmitter". Double-click on RadioTransmitter listed in the EditorID. Do not edit it or change its functionality. Go to the Cell View window. Change the World Space to Commonwealth. Scroll all the way down and pick a Wilderness cell. Your radio station will be heard from anywhere on the map. It should not be located in a settlement. It should not be accessible to the player during gameplay (Read more about why in this Section 5 tutorial). In the Render Window you will see the Wilderness and the transmitter. Double-click on the transparent transmitter cube and a Reference Window will appear. Give a Reference Editor ID in the format of: Transmit<Name>RadioRef. In the Radio Data tab, the Radio Station must be given a unique number to prevent conflicting with other radio mods. Many radio tutorials give different numbers. Credit to Tutorial by HeartImpaled for using decimals in his radio station. Tick the 'Ignores Distance Checks' option so that your PipBoy can pickup the broadcast. It may be grayed out at first glance. Click the object in the Render Window then click back to the Reference Window to see if the 'Ignores Distance Checks' becomes available. Press [OK] and SAVE to complete the radio transmitter setup.
Create a Quest (under construction) Objective: Create a Quest object to enable playability of soundtracks in sequential order or at random. Scripts for the radio mod are written in the Quest object.
Go to the Object Window under Character and click on Quest. Right click in the Editor ID section and select [New].
Select the Quest Aliases tab at the top of the Quest window. Right click in the grid-space [New Reference Alias]. Be patient during load time for the new window pop-up.
In the Reference Alias window, prefix the Alias Name with Alias_<Name>Radio (no spaces). Making 'Alias' the prefix will help you identify it later in the Quest/Scenes section. Now update the Display Name to the Msg file that you created earlier: <name>Radio_Msg (Allows visibility in the PipBoy). Tick the 'Stores Text' option (See Fallout 4 Creation Kit - How to Add a Radio Station - Detailed Guide for reason why). Select 'Specific Reference' then click on 'Select Forced Reference'.
Read this section ONLY if the Render Window is grayed out: You will have to back out of the menus and go back to Cell View. The World Space had changed. So update it back to Commonwealth and press [w] to call up the wilderness section. You will see an asterisk next to the Wilderness* that you modified earlier (where you put the transmitter). Click on Wilderness* so that the Render Window can show you the cubed transmitter. SAVE. Return back to the Quest object and continue following the steps where you left off.
After clicking on [Select Forced Reference], the Choose Reference window will then pop up. Click [Select Reference in Render Window]. The Render Window will next appear, showing the cubed transmitter. You must DOUBLE-CLICK the cube in order for it to take. If for some reason the cube is not appearing. Press [M] on the keyboard.
The Choose Reference window will then display familiar items that you setup earlier. Press [OK].
IMPORTANT: You will then get a pop-up to 'Recommend Fill Type Change'. You must select [NO]. If you choose any other option, it will auto-fill an undesired reference and your mod will not work.
Your transmitter is now properly referenced (see example below). Go all the way to the bottom of the large Reference Alias window and press [OK] to exit. Press [OK] to exit the Quest window. Now SAVE.
Go to the filter and call up the Quest that you just created. You are back in the Quest window, now with more tab options available. Select the [Scenes] tab.
Making a scene
Tick 'Begin on Quest Start'. See highlighted below. Right-click in EditorID section for [New]
Give the new Scene ID in the format <Name>Radio_Scene1 (no spaces). You must click on the entry once it's created in order to work with it.
Right-click in the white main space and select [New Actor]
Select the Alias entry (that you made earlier) in the Select Form window. An 'Alias' box will appear in the main space.
Right-click again in the main space and now select [Add Phase at End]. Do this seven times because for this tutorial we have 5 songs. We are placing a buffer phase at the beginning and at the end, and including five phases for each song-track. IMPORTANT: Although some tutorials skip this, you really should have a buffer phase at the beginning, before you start your first song track. Problems are noticeable without that first phase buffer, especially if you are not using a script. Scripts are needed to randomize song content. If you are only putting in one sound file or a few sound files that don't need randomization, then you don't need a script. Thus, 1 audio-track requires 3 phases; likewise 5 audio-tracks require 7 phases.
Beginning with Phase 2, right click and select New Action > Radio.
In the Radio Action window, click [Select Sound]. You can run a filter for your tracks, in order to easily find them. Double-click to select your first song object. press [OK]
Once your first sound track object is selected, press [OK] to continue.
Continue this process of New Action > Radio for the remaining 4 phases until you have all 5 song tracks linked to their corresponding sound object. All of the Actions are highlighted in green.
The final step is to loop the content back to the first Phase (the buffer at the beginning). Go to the last Phase and right click New Action > Start Scene.
The Start Scene Action window appears. Right-click in the Editor ID space. When the Scene Info box pops up, for 'Scene', use the drop-down menu to select the first scene you created earlier. Press [OK] when done. Press [OK] to exit.
You have now linked all of your sound files and looped it to the first track. At this point, you may close all menus and SAVE. You can test your mod in Fallout 4 to see if it is functioning correctly in your PipBoy.
Randomizing tracks/songs
Please follow this YouTube link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1vu0uFAZWk&t=4s and fast forward to the end to see how the instructor shows you how to randomize tracks using scripts, under Quest/Scripts tab in Creation Kit. Sorry for any interruption to this tutorial this may have caused. Vault40 (talk) 07:11, 3 June 2021 (UTC)
