FCOM Custom Faction Guide
by Kelcken

***I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE IF YOU BREAK SOMETHING***
***This guide focuses on using the CK as the primary edit method. Not possible to do in FO4 edit with this template, as blank script properties do not show in in FO4edit. They still show up in CK.***
***Custom Faction is set up using the BOS faction as a base. They will use BOS Faces, Voices, and reinforcement method. I will not be going over how to change faces/voices(extremely lengthy process) but I will explain how to change the reinforcement method.

[Table of Contents]

I. Tools Needed
Ia. Creation Kit
Ib. FO4E
II. Preparing Plugins
IIa. Vanilla
IIb. Using Other Mod Assets 
III. Loading Plugins in Creation Kit
IIIa. Load Plugins
IV. Editing Faction
IVa. Faction Name
IVb. Units List
IVc. Quest Notifications
IVd. Levelled Lists
IVe. Outfits
IVf. FCOM Actor
IVg. Custom Actor
IVh. Custom 
IVi. Finishing Up in Creation Kit
V. Finalize Plugins
Va. FO4E

[Section I. - Tools Needed]
Ia. Creation Kit - https://www.creationkit.com/fallout4/index.php?title=Creation_Kit
-You have to edit the CreationKit.ini in order to load multiple master files.
-Open the .ini and add this under the [General]
bAllowMultipleMasterLoads=1

Ib. FO4E - https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/2737/
-Create a shortcut for the .exe, right click and select Properties.
-Add the following in the "Target" box after the text that is already there
-AllowMasterFilesEdit -IKnowWhatImDoing

[Section II. - Preparing Plugins]
IIa. Vanilla - If you are only using Vanilla files, you can skip this section.

IIb. Using Other Mod Assets - Check permissions for mods that you want to use in your plugin, ESPECIALLY if it is for public release.
-Open FO4E using the shortcut you made and load the mods that you want to use in your plugins if they are NOT ESMs
-Click the file header for each mod, then double click the space next to "Record Flags" and check the ESM box 
-Do this for all mods you want to use, then close and save plugins FCOM must be an esm as well.
-Manually change the .esp files to .esm files in your Fallout "Data" folder

[Section III. - Loading Plugins in Creation Kit]
IIIa. Loading Plugin - Click File and Data
-Check all ESM files from the previous step
-Check the "FCOM Custom Faction.esp" plugin, and click "Set as active file"
-Click Ok

[Section IV. - Editing Faction]
IVa. Faction Name
-In the Object Window, click the very top "Actor" and then in the search box type "FCOM_CR_FactionsList", then double click the result 
-Rename the "Custom Faction Name" with whatever you like.
-In the Object Window, click the very top "Actor" and then in the search box type "FCOM_CustomFaction", then double click the result 
-Rename the "Custom Faction Name" with whatever you like.

IVb. Units List
-In the Object Window, search "FCOM_Factions_CustomFactionUnits" and open the entry.
-Change each "Custom Faction Unit"for each entry to whatever you want the unit to be called.
-You can do up to 15 custom units. If you want to use more than I have listed, just remove the condition from the "EMPTY - DO NOT DELETE" entries and change to whatever you want the unit to be called.
-I recommend writing down the unit names in order at this point to make the rest of the setup easier.
-Click "Ok"

IVc. Quest Notifications
-In the search box type "FCOM_CustomFactionReinforcements, then find the entry for each of the forces that you wrote down in IVb. 
-In Quest Stages, change the Log to whatever you want the notification to say when you start the quest (when you click to the next step, you'll get an error, but I've never had an issue with ignoring it.)
-In Quest Objectives, change the Display Text to whatever you want (originally the same as the quest stages)

IVd. Levelled Lists - You can choose to create levelled lists to give individual Actors within a single force random outfits, or you can just assign specific gear to outfits
-I generally create sepereate levelled lists for Helmets, Torso, Arms, Legs, and any accessories. This way units may appear fully armed up, or with random pieces of gear. I think it helps keep the game fun.
-I do the same for weapons, for the same reasons

-I'm only going to teach how to do a basic levelled list, but you can do something like IndividualGearPiecesLL->FullArmorSetLL->MasterArmorSetLL- >Outift, then each unit with that outfit has a chance to spawn with a random selection of any number of gear sets you've put together
-In the Object Window, expand Items and click LevelledItem
-Right click and click new
-Enter a unique name (I usually do factionname_unitname_type ex. UNSC_ODST_Helmets)
-Right click in the table and click new, then repeat for however many items you have in this category
-In the filter type in part of the name of the item to narrow the list
-Once done, click OK and repeat for any other pieces.

IVe. Outfits - Create a new outfit for your units, or you can use vanilla outfits
-In the Object Window, expand Items and click Outfits
-Search for "FCOM_CustomFaction" and open the entry, or duplicate and name as something new for different units
-In the object window, expand items 
-If you used created levelled lists or are using vanilla ones, click Levelled Items
-Search for the lists you want to use
-Drag the lists into the outfit, and click OK
-If you just want to use individual armor pieces, expand armor
-Search for the items you want in the outfit
-Drag the items into the outfit, and click OK

IVf. FCOM Actor - Customize the FCOM NPC's to your liking
-In the Object Window, expand Actors and click Actors
-Search "FCOM_Custom" to pull up a list of custom unit actors. This should be basic human, robot, synth and dog units. I did not include other creatures or COA units.
-Double click to open the one you want, or you can duplicate and rename to create additional unit types.
-Change the Name field to whatever you want this actor to be called in game, and a short name for dialogue purposes.
-Click Inventory
-Select the outfit you created or a vanilla one that you want your unit to use
-For Power Armor units, you'll need to select the Power Armor Furniture you want them to use. I do not know how to creat new ones, so I won't be going over that. Select one from Vanilla, or created by a mod, or if you have the know how, create one yourself.
-In the inventory table, you can click the items already there, then use the dropdown box underneath to select your levelled weapon list, a vanilla levelled weapon list, or individual weapons
-If you want the actors to be able to unlock doors/terminals
-Click Templates
-Change the "Scripts" template to "FCOM_TemplateKeywordHumanSupport" 
-You can also customize the "FCOM_EnclavePilot" actor using the same steps as above so they use the same gear type as your other units, though this is not essential.
-Click OK

IVg. Custom Actor - Set the Custom FCOM actor in Script Variables
-In the Object Window, expand Quests, and search for "FCOM_Custom"
-Select the FCOM quest for the custom faction and double click to open
-Go to the Scripts tab, and click properites.
-Expand Actors
-Change each "abUnit" actor to your custom actor (using the list you made in IVb)

IVh. Change unit transportation methods. (Time consuming, but relatively easy. I would reccomend leaving it as is.)
-In the Object Window, expand quests and search FCOM. Decide which faction's transportation method you want to use
-Duplicate it, then change the name to whatever you like
-Open both the new one you made, and the original one you copied. 
-You will have to recreate the "scenes" tab EXACTLY as it was in the one you copied. It's a tedious process, and I won't be going over each step.
-Use the same method as in IVg to swap the FCOM actors with the ones you want to appear.
-In the one you made, go to the "Scripts" tab
-Select the script, and click properties
-In the "Ungrouped Properties", change the scene to the one you made 
-Open the "FCOM_Master" Quest
-In the "Scripts" tab, select "FCOM_CommandRadioScript" and click properties
-Expand "Quests", and change the reinforcment quest for whatever faction(s) you changed the transportation method for to the new quest you made.
-If changing to COA or Institute, you'll need to retemplate the Actors to use the COA or Institute teleport scripts.

IVi. Finishing Up in Creation Kit - Save plugin and Push to PC
-Click File, then click Save and Push Plugin to PC
-I highly recommend testing this in game at this point to make sure everything is working before finalizing.
-If everything is correct, move to the next step

[Section V. - Finalize Plugins]
Va. FO4E - Load You Plugin and change masters
-Open FO4E using the shortcut
-Load the plugin that you made (it will automatically load all of the masters)
-Undo the ESM flag change that you made in IIb.
-In the file header for YOUR plugin, double click on each mod that you changed to an ESM, and change it to an ESP
-Exit and save all plugins
-Go back to your Fallout Data folder and switch each of the plugins that you made ESMs back to ESPs

That's it! This is the method that I use to customize my own FCOM factions!
Huge thanks to:
ElminsterAU for developing FO4E, and helping me figure out how to do some things
MadGodSheogorath for creating FCOM, and for teaching me a little bit about how it works!