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YOU ARE AN INSTITUTE AGENT. YOUR MISSION IS TO INFILTRATE AND PACIFY THE COMMONWEALTH. ARE YOU SYNTH ENOUGH FOR ANOTHER RUN ?

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  • Mandarin
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YOU ARE AN INSTITUTE AGENT

YOUR MISSION IS TO INFILTRATE AND PACIFY THE COMMONWEALTH

ARE YOU SYNTH ENOUGH FOR ANOTHER RUN ?

This is not a simple fast start bypass. It is fast and it offers a NEW perspective on the base game content. 
If you want to do the same old quests in exactly the same old predictable ways, use SKK FastStart New Game.



This mod must be enabled for new games to intercept the [ NEW ] game main menu option so the player can start in the Institute.


(1) Select gender, face, body and then SPECIAL stats.


(2) A terminal provides the mission briefing, along with starting options:

      Location [ *Vault 111 Cryo | Vault 111 External | CIT Ruins | Random Commonwealth Workshop ]

      Player [ *Is | Not ] a gen 3 synth 

      Equipment [ *Some | None ] 

      Player Level [ *1 | 5 | 10 | 20 ]

(3) The player is relayed to the start location on terminal exit.


Operators Notes

Read the mission briefing terminals for context. You are forced to look at the first one during chargen and there is a second marked in main quest act 1. Whilst Fallout 76 demonstrated that relying on terminals to deliver a story is a less good experience and we have become conditioned to skip 'em, they can help deliver narrative more effectively than overly elaborate dialogue alone. If you dont read the briefs and then become frustrated not knowing whats going on, what are you ?

All Vault 111 elevator and door animations are primed to run regardless where you start from. As are the Hagen elevator, Institute helix elevator and emergency relay. If you have other opening or animation issues from skipping quests, use OPEN ANYTHING to solve those problems.

If the start location is a random workshop, the relay provides 60 seconds invisible invulnerability to get your low levelness away from hot landing zones like Jamaica, Croup or Castle.

If you choose to be a top Institute Generation 3 synth agent, you can use your Institute relay transponder at any time, but your cover may be blown causing factions to turn hostile for a while if you have not yet built an external relay to misdirect the rubes and yokels.

If you are a human institute agent, not a synth, then you will not have the built in transponder so can not travel to the institute without building a relay. Trying to switch this option mid game will probably blow your game up. RPG CHOICES = RPG  CONSEQUENCES.

If you go all-in with the Institute and recruit Gen 1 & 2 synth settlers to your workshops with something like Multiracial Workshop Actors, that may also be noticed by faction visitors.



READ THE MISSION BRIEF


Player Holotape

This solution does not provide any specific quest markers as it is not a spoon fed storybook 101 quest package. It makes the minimum changes to base game quests to free your imagination. If you do not have an imagination, or after reading the mission brief you still need guidance then you are probably unready to experience this narrative. 

To try and help those that can't be bothered to actually read stuff, but randomly install software and hope for an outcome, the player is given an innocuously named [ Commonwealth News Holotape ]. It can provide some simple "where do I look now" quest pointers, but they are mostly the same base game quests you already know and love. Also exposes the console configurations as switchable options for our Xbox chums:

Teleport cloaking [ *OFF | ON ] switches institute fast travel detection. 

Music radio stations [ OFF | *ON ] switches Classic Institute and Diamond City radio stations.

Run System Diagnostics [ GO ] shows some triggers for no debug log problem reports. 

This should be totally unnecessary for 99% of players, so throw it away. Replacements can be crafted at the Chemlab if there new desirable fixes or functions are released in the future.


Futures

Many faction main quests depend on actually building MQ206 The Molecular Level relay (a) for narrative so it looks like the player has righteous access to the Institute and (b) technically so the preceding faction quests can be completed. I may add an optional fast track or skip facility if I can figure out how to seamlessly tell the Network Scanner holotape story. The enabling main quest compatible tech is all already packaged in SKK Fast Start Institute, just need to wrap it with some credible narrative.


Known Issues

This solution has a built in patch/update function, so anything that is reported can be deployed and fixed dynamically in your active games. You DO NOT need to freeze your version of this mod in perpetuity, as you may have learnt to do with less well engineered content.

(1) SETTING PLAYER START LEVEL: can stop CC and some mods from initializing as the game add EXP counter which runs for a while may block them. Use a separate player levelling utility once all that start game stuff is up and running.

(2) PIPBOY REPLACERS: are known to cause themselves to be invisible with any ALT game start which equip the base game PipBoy. Save and reload typically solves that.

(3) MISSING MOD ITEMS: Many quality mods and Creation Club content look for a trigger of MQ102 Out of Time quest stage 10 or 15 (elevator exit to Commonwealth) or a location boundary change in the Commonwealth worldspace so they know its safe to add content to the player in the world and start quests. Learn more here. This solution does not set those stages until the player is actually in the Commonwealth, so if you start from V111 Cryo and fast travel straight to the Institute or another interior/worldspace those triggers will not yet be set. 

(4) SIDE QUESTS & DLC NOT STARTING: If you skip base game quests the rats nest of dependencies may prevent side quests triggering. Example is skipping MQ105 Getting a Clue will hold the Far Harbor quest trigger (console [ SetStage DLC03MQ01 5 ] or use the Commonwealth News holotape to start). 

(5) INSTITUTE FAST TRAVEL: Sometimes the base game MQ207 Institutionalized script (which is bypassed) manages to run when the network scanner holotape is used, disabling player fast travel controls. If that happens, console [ DumpInputEnableLayers ] get the layer number for mq206questscript.ControlToggle then [ ResetInputEnableLayer LayerNumber ] or use the emergency relay button which force removes that input layer.



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WARNING
SKK mods have a reputation for conflict free quality, 
as they avoid modifying shared base game content.
Until now.
This creation clearly HAS TO hack modify base game content to work.
All changes are fully disclosed, documented and switchable.
Do not expect this to be conflict free with your other base game hacks.
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Compatibility & considerations

This does not depend on any extenders, DLCs or external content. It's 100% freshly prepared base game ingredients. So fresh that it needs Fallout4.exe 1.10.162.0 (or later) so clean out your mouldy old tech graveyard.

This is totally NOT compatible with any other ALT or fast start mods that mess with or bypass MQ101 pre-war Sanctuary or MQ102 Vault 111 including SKK Fast Start New Game and Start Me Up. MQ101 pre war Sanctuary is super fragile, if ANYTHING touches it such as mods that force player UI interaction (notes, terminals, holotapes) this will not work, for example:

Spoiler:  
Show

(1) Whatever Creation Club Content that has been stopping the Vault 111 door from opening during a normal game start.

(2) A combination of DefUI and HudFramework or FallUI-Hud and BravoHUD.

(3) Mods that try to pop UI dialogs after the looksmenu mirror scene whilst this is trying to get the player out of the vault.

(4) PLAYER COMMENTS messing with startup dialog.


If you try and pop the console during character generation to run extended looks menu or anything tries to modify the player/spouse it is likely to also break the fragile base game startup animation sequences. Gender switching is particularly sensitive (LOL). Use the console only after the player has relayed into the world.

This solution includes functions from SKK FastBOS for BOS arrival after ArcJet before meeting Kellogg. Also includes unlocking Hagen elements of SKK Fast Start Reunions so you can pal around with Kellogg, no Valentine & Dog needed to get there.  Plus some of SKK Fast Start Institute to unlock access without breaking the main quest. Don't enable any of these solutions. SKK Fast Start Minutemen and SKK Fast STOP Institute are unaffected if you are looking for those power-ups.

As this solution changes some base game quest stage scripts and provides alterative dialogue, it will conflict with anything else that tries to modify them, or depends on bypassed base game quest stages in MQ101 & MQ102 & MQ207. Load order will not solve those real time scripted dependencies. A detail list of the disgusting necessary base game hacks modifications:

Spoiler:  
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The generic condition is GlobalVariable (SKK_SPActive == 1)

MQ101 QF_MQ101_0001ED86 Stage 0 script
MQ101 MQ101_001_MirrorScene conditions 
MQ102 QF_MQ102_0001CC2A Stage 0/10/15 script 
COMCodsworth COMCodsworthPickUpScene conditions 
DialoguePlayerAdditional MISC Hellos Codsworth conditions
DialogueInstitute MISC Hellos conditions  
MQ106 QF_MQ106_000229E7 Stage 200 Stage 300 scripts
MQ106 MQ106_KelloggSKKSPScene added
DN057_KelloggTerminal01 script fragment
DialogueDiamondCity EllieGreetScene condition SKK_SPSkippedMQ104
MS07Intro QF_MS07Misc_000282A7 Stage 400 script SKK_SPSkippedMQ105
MQ104NickTraveltoCaptiveMarker packge condition SKK_SPSkippedMQ104
MQ105NickToOfficeMarker package condition SKK_SPSkippedMQ105 
MQ201a_001_PiperNickIntro scene condition SKK_SPSkippedMQ105 
MQ201a_002_NickScene01 scene condition SKK_SPSkippedMQ105
MQ203 QF_MQ203_000229EA Stage 10 conditions
MQ203 MQ203_10SKKSPVoiceover added 
MQ207 QF_MQ206_000229EC All stage conditions (yes the quest fragment on MQ207 is actually called MQ206) 
DN136_ElevatorNewScript added conditions
InstituteEmergencyRelayButtonScript added conditions
Inst301 Inst301SceneFatherIntro conditions
Inst302 Inst302Stage10Scene conditions
Inst302 Inst302Stage100OutdoorScene conditions
Inst303 Inst303DirectorateFatherScene condition


Player quests this mod skips because they are not relevant to the narrative:

Spoiler:  
Show

MQ102 Out Of Time (You are not actually from Sanctuary, stupid synth.) 
FFGoodneighbor01 The Memory Den (No Kellogg killed spouse and abducted kid backstory to play.)
MQ203 Shattered (No Kellogg killed spouse and abducted kid backstory to play.)
MQ207 Institutionalised (You are already Institutionalised, stupid synth.)

If you choose to go direct to Kellogg, that can skip MQ103 Jewel of the Commonwealth, [/font]MQ104 Unlikely Valentine, MQ105 Finding a Clue depending on when you actually make the main quest break. Yes you can go direct to Hagen to chat with Kellogg from a new game start.


Actors with modified responses. To help with the narrative, key actors dialogue has been modified to not recognise the player as the "sole survivor". Although if you start from Vault 111 and wear a vault suit that will be conditioned for the local yokels who don't know any different. For those who just can't handle anticipation, the actors are:

Spoiler:  
Show

Codsworth does not know who you are.
Gen 1&2 synths in the Commonwealth may detect the player has a relay transponder.
Kellogg knows you are an Institute agent.
Valentine does not yet know about the fake kidnapping if you skip his MQ104 rescue. 
Father treats you like your on the team, will not refer to you in a parental context.
Institute hellos won't include family references.
No other actors need to be modified because you are of course making sh1t up, as per THE MISSION BRIEF.  


All quest fragment/terminal/dialogue changes are separate entries to the base game originals. They are only picked if GlobalVariable [ SKK_SPActive ] is set to 1. If you start a new game with this mod installed and active but xEdit [ SKK_SPActive ] to 0 then your game will run 100% vanilla and none of this additional fragment/terminal/dialog content will run.

If you happen to load this ESP in Creation Kit and notice editor warnings, relax. Thats just quest MQ102 set to zero exp so it doesn't pop a quest banner on silent completion. That no exp change is not switchable so will affect other games if the mod is left active in the load order.


Content Creators

If you want to use this to create content and need to suppress music to avoid monetization/royalty issues, xEdit GlobalVariable SKK_SPPlayRadioMusic to 0 before starting a new game. RadioInstitute and RadioDiamondCity will not start so your revenue can roll in ker-CHING.


xEdit and Console Commands

SKK_SPActive ; Set this to 0 with xEdit to stop the mod starting in a new game whilst active in a load order. None of the in game triggers or additional dialogue will be used. Do not change this setting with the console in an active game, it was not designed or tested for that. Stupid synth.

SKK_SPPlayRadioMusic ;  Set this to 0 with xEdit before starting a game to not start Radio Institute in chargen or Diamond City Radio in the Commonwealth. Changing with the console has no effect in an active game, use the holotape.

SKK_SPDetectInstituteTeleport ; Can be set with xEdit before starting a new game or with the console in an active game [ set SKK_SPDetectInstituteTeleport to 0  ] or with the holotape if your synthetic heart can't take the pressure.


Nexus PC manual installation & disable

Copy SKKSyntheticPlayer.esp and SKKSyntheticPlayer – Main.BA2 to your...\Fallout 4\Data directory, enable in the Bethesda mod menu, mod manger or whatever. 

This mod cleans up references and scripts as it goes, but is not designed to be disabled or removed from a save game as its content and triggers are threaded through the main quest and world. 

As this is published after November 2019 it requires Fallout4.exe 1.10.162.0 (or later) or equivalent workarounds.


Nexus FAQ

(1) What about an ESL version ? NO, because ESLsifying dialog changes causes more problems than your load order slot is worth.

(2) Is this compatible with X, Y or Z ? This is 100% compatible with the vanilla base game and DLC content. It has not been tested with any 3rd party content. Check the user posts, if your X, Y or Z is not mentioned then you will need to test it out yourself.

(3) Can I still do any of the faction main quest endings ? YES totally. Whilst this skips some main quest stages in early V111 and Institutionalised you can still do any of the vanilla base game main quests to their endings.


Infiltrate. Pacify. Terminate.

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If you have read the comprehensive solution description and articles but still need support,
best to use the SKK Mods Discord channel discord://discord.gg/tgKNT77DC8
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