>**Quick note: this is an accessibility mod that uses the native Windows built-in text-to-speech system.

Hi redditers,

I’ve spent the last few months building a text-to-speech mod for Fallout 2 in my spare time.

It auto reads dialogue, floating barks, combat log messages, and a fair bit of the general text using whatever Windows voices you have installed.

It does NOT replace the original Fallout 2 voice acting. The talking-head scenes still play without problems. The mod is most useful for all the other text in the game.

What I have currently implemented:

• Reads NPC dialogue in a variety of voices
• Detects male/female NPC voices where possible
• Reads floating barks, including combat taunts and ambient chatter
• Narrator voice reads the message log during combat and exploration
• Reads dialogue choices when you hover over them
• Gives companions their own voice profiles
• Has an in-game settings menu from the ESC screen
• All settings can be enabled and disabled in the Settings Menu

The challenges I faced:

The main hairy parts were:

• Keeping dialogue, companion speech, and background barks on separate audio lanes
• Making less important chatter duck under the players main dialogue
• Adding distance-based audio levels, so NPCs farther away sound farther away
• Getting it to work with modern Microsoft voices through NaturalVoiceSAPIAdapter, for anyone who wants something better than a 2000s sat nav.

Why the heck I'm making this

The honest answer is accessibility.

Fallout 2 is one of my favourite games, but it is also a wall of text with a combat system attached. That is part of the charm, but it can be rough for people with dyslexia, reading fatigue, eye strain, or anyone who jsut wants to play without reading every single line manually.

Current state

This is still a late-stage demo. But it will be released in a few days.

I’m polishing it now and deciding whether to run a small public beta first or just put it on Nexus and polish it more from player feedback.

I'm Happy to answer any technical questions.

Thanks folks

-VaultDoc

Note: This mod does not use AI! It uses Windows inbuilt TTS.

Hi Everyone

In order to help my wife play the game (she has dyslexia). For the past few months, I’ve been working on a text-to-speech mod for Fallout 2 that reads dialogue, floating barks, and message log entries aloud using your installed Windows voices.

It is not meant to replace the original voice acting. Talking-head scenes still play normally. The goal is to fill in the huge amount of Fallout 2 that was never voiced in the first place.

What the demo shows

• NPC dialogue spoken aloud with male/female voice detection
• Floating barks read out in real time, including combat taunts and ambient chatter
• The message log narrated as combat and exploration happen
• Dialogue response options read aloud when hovered
• Per-companion voices for Sulik, Cassidy, Vic, Marcus, Myron, Lenny, Goris, and K-9
• Full in-game settings menu from the ESC pause screen

A few technical bits

Some of the harder parts were:

• Three independent audio lanes, so barks, companions, and main dialogue can play at the same time without completely trampling each other
• Audio ducking, so ambient barks lower automatically when important dialogue starts
• Distance-based volume, so far-off NPCs sound farther away
• Support for modern Microsoft neural voices through NaturalVoiceSAPIAdapter, for anybody who wants something better than 2000s GPS narrator

Why I’m making it

The main reason is accessibility. I wanted Fallout 2 to be more playable for people who struggle with large amounts of text, reading fatigue, or keeping their eyes off the screen constantly.

But it has also changed the game in a way I did not fully expect. Fallout 2 is dense with text, and hearing the world speak back makes it feel slower, clearer, and strangely more alive.

Current status

This is still a late-stage demo. The mod is not released yet.

I’m polishing it now and would like to run a proper public beta before putting it on Nexus, ideally, but I might just put it out there and let the players test it straight away so I can do some more iterations and polish from user feedback.

I’m mainly posting this to gauge interest and get feedback on what people would actually want before release.

Target compatibility

Planned / currently being tested:

• Fallout 2, GOG or Steam
• sfall
• High Resolution Patch
• Restoration Project / RPU compatibility
• Windows PC

Happy to answer technical questions in the comments.

I’m especially curious about one thing:
Should voiced floating barks be on by default, or should they be optional from the start?

Thanks folks

-VaultDoc