36 réponses à ce sujet

[Seival]

I think it will be great if BioWare will release Extended Cut with 100% functional ME3 map/scene editor which devs used to create the game areas. In this case players will not just see explanations of what did devs mean by the original endings, but also will be able to create their own endings, if they want to.

I think this will really make everyone happy... Especially hardcore anti-enders



EDIT: Replaced "Location Editor" with "Map Editor"... sorry for using the wrong word

Modifié par Seival, 02 mai 2012 - 04:02 .

[Cypher_CS]

Location editor?

[Apfelweinbrauer]

Oh yes, please also include all the voice actors and a guy that will do all the rendering and CGI stuff, so players can just make their own endings... :-/

[GrumpyGit]

Don't you mean map editor?

[Seival]

Cypher_CS wrote...

Location editor?

Location editor, Level Editor, Area Editor... call it as you like

I mean the toolset devs used to create game's areas and scenes... I think I should change the topic's name a little.

[sergio71785]

Man, I wish ME had that kind of modding support. But it won't happen; Bioware has shown little interest in supporting the modding community. Plus EA may not like content being created for their game that they can't put a price tag on.

It could have been great though. This community has so much creativity in it. We would have seen some amazing projects.

[Kilshrek]

You can hope, but it won't happen. Something to do with licencing and stuff. That and selling appearance pack DLCs seriously rake in the dough, y'know.

[Apfelweinbrauer]

Seival wrote...

I mean the toolset devs used to create game's areas and scenes... I think I should change the topic's name a little.

Areas? Ok, that's actually possible to do, but creating actual scenes - I suppose you mean cutscenes? - for a game like ME3 with just an editor is completely unrealistic.

[Seival]

Apfelweinbrauer wrote...

Oh yes, please also include all the voice actors and a guy that will do all the rendering and CGI stuff, so players can just make their own endings... :-/

Did you know there are programs that can generate human (and non-human) voices from text input?

[Apfelweinbrauer]

Seival wrote...

Did you know there are programs that can generate human (and non-human) voices from text input?

Yes I do, but somehow I can't imagine how a cutscene with emotional content could actually work, if all the characters sound like Stephen Hawking...

Modifié par Apfelweinbrauer, 02 mai 2012 - 04:06 .

[Qutayba]

Unfortunately, they license he Unreal engine from a third party. Unlike DA:O or NWN, it's not an in-house engine.

As for voice acting, people that use player-made mods for other games gladly give up on the notion of having Hollywood list voice acting if it means more content. And most toolsets include resources to create cutscenes. So, if they COULD release it, player-creators would be able to do almost everything. But, unfortunately, they cannot, because of the legal complications.

[Iconoclaste]

Apfelweinbrauer wrote...

Seival wrote...

I mean the toolset devs used to create game's areas and scenes... I think I should change the topic's name a little.

Areas? Ok, that's actually possible to do, but creating actual scenes - I suppose you mean cutscenes? - for a game like ME3 with just an editor is completely unrealistic.

Mass Efect was made with a customised version of the Unreal Engine 3. The Unreal Editor (or UDK : Unreal Development Kit) includes all the tools to make the game : skeleton based mesh animation , the Matinee interface for cutscenes, Kismet for object programming and scripting into levels, etc. It's free, but almost 1.5 gig to download, plus a bit complex. Still, there would need to be some scripting in Unreal Script, but a "Mass Effect editor" could give access to sample scripts. The problem would only be to find volunteers with decent voices, and some for nice cutscenes in other software. I'm working with the UDK presently, and with Blender for modeling / animating characters, but there is a lot of content in these games. I would probably try to just add some sidequests in ME1, on some of the little planets with wide flat areas, just to see how that would turn up. Integrating new content and gameplay into an existing game like ME1-2-3, with variables importing from one version to another, plus the flow of cameras in and out of cutscenes, will not be an easy task. It's not really like creating a "new level with creatures", and just popping it in some directory.

Modifié par Iconoclaste, 02 mai 2012 - 04:18 .

[OchreJelly]

They would have to redistribute all the ingame assets in uncompiled form to be able to recompile pcc packages. If we're talking uncompressed source content, it'd be probably 40-60gb worth of stuff.

Plus I doubt the version of the UDK they have licensed to use for the game engine includes redistribution rights so it's a moot point. The free UDK is not quite the same as the professionally licensed versions (in terms of what you can use it for, that is.)

That being said, it would be amazing to have a mod kit. Baldur's Gate and Infinity Engine games are still popular due to the modding community.

Modifié par OchreJelly, 02 mai 2012 - 04:20 .

[Iconoclaste]

It's practically the same, with limited rights, and almost no support from Epic / UE techs.

Edit : just saw your edit.

Modifié par Iconoclaste, 02 mai 2012 - 04:22 .

[dekkerd]

I'd happily pay for a save game editor that's official and usable on the Xbox.

[Apfelweinbrauer]

Iconoclaste wrote...

I would probably try to just add some sidequests in ME1, on some of the little planets with wide flat areas, just to see how that would turn up. Integrating new content and gameplay into an existing game like ME1-2-3, with variables importing from one version to another, plus the flow of cameras in and out of cutscenes, will not be an easy task. It's not really like creating a "new level with creatures", and just popping it in some directory.

Granted it's technically possible to do a basic "level" with some gameplay to it, how would you integrate it into the actual game, in NWN you just could load every module you wanted from the starting menue, but in ME?

Even given that implementing this would be possible, the OP's idea about making a whole new ending with actual cutscenes (CGI?) and voice acting by yourself just seems so bizarre, it actually reminds me of the WoW-prank...

[Seival]

Apfelweinbrauer wrote...

Seival wrote...

I mean the toolset devs used to create game's areas and scenes... I think I should change the topic's name a little.

Areas? Ok, that's actually possible to do, but creating actual scenes - I suppose you mean cutscenes? - for a game like ME3 with just an editor is completely unrealistic.

Cutscene editor is a part of any game's tools. Sometimes cutscene editor even works as a part of map editor... I think ME3 cutscene editor is not just some separate tool.

Modifié par Seival, 02 mai 2012 - 04:29 .

[Iconoclaste]

Apfelweinbrauer wrote...

Granted it's technically possible to do a basic "level" with some gameplay to it, how would you integrate it into the actual game, in NWN you just could load every module you wanted from the starting menue, but in ME?

Even given that implementing this would be possible, the OP's idea about making a whole new ending with actual cutscenes (CGI?) and voice acting by yourself just seems so bizarre, it actually reminds me of the WoW-prank...

New content would have to be "scripted in", like DLC. The "levels" packages contents are simply put in separate or existing directories (adding specific pcc / afc /  tfc files), and referenced by the scripts. But still we would need guidance in some way as to where to write what in which files. Nothing a willing team of modders cannot achieve, though. I don't know the mechanics of that, I suppose it updates some of the basic scripts.

For some other games, it's possible to decompress / rebuild the original files/directories from packs with a patch, so it's not necessary to download the whole thing again.

Modifié par Iconoclaste, 02 mai 2012 - 04:34 .

[Seival]

Apfelweinbrauer wrote...

Seival wrote...

Did you know there are programs that can generate human (and non-human) voices from text input?

Yes I do, but somehow I can't imagine how a cutscene with emotional content could actually work, if all the characters sound like Stephen Hawking...

I heard such programs can simulate emotions and different voices quite good nowadays...

Modifié par Seival, 02 mai 2012 - 04:35 .

[Apfelweinbrauer]

Seival wrote...

Cutscene editor is a part of any game's tools. Sometimes cutscene editor even works as a part of map editor... I think ME3 cutscene editor is not just some separate tool.

You would try to do something like this with an editor?

Well uhhhmm, good luck dude!?

[Iconoclaste]

Many (if not most) animations were made with motion capture. I do not have the resources to buy this stuff, but it's possible to use existing animations for different characters, in different scenes. And a rendered scene like this one can be done with the editor, or in a 3d program with an exporter / importer. This is already feasible with some content from the 3 games.

Modifié par Iconoclaste, 02 mai 2012 - 04:42 .

[Seival]

Apfelweinbrauer wrote...

Seival wrote...

Cutscene editor is a part of any game's tools. Sometimes cutscene editor even works as a part of map editor... I think ME3 cutscene editor is not just some separate tool.

You would try to do something like this with an editor?

Well uhhhmm, good luck dude!?

Any animation can be reused. If toolset is user-friendly and have some tutorials, then I'll not need a lot of time to learn how to make such scenes.

...Even some VOs can be reused to create particular scenes.

Modifié par Seival, 02 mai 2012 - 04:44 .

[Apfelweinbrauer]

Seival wrote...

All game's animations can be reused. If toolset is user-friendly and have some tutorials, then I'll not need a lot of time to learn how to make such scenes.

Ahhhh... Ok, I cave in, a winner is you!

[Iconoclaste]

A quick search on Google can find most of the tools / apps to make this already, it just does not make someone a programmer in Unreal script capable of integrating new content in the games. But animations can be done already, for sure.

[OchreJelly]

Iconoclaste wrote...

It's practically the same, with limited rights, and almost no support from Epic / UE techs.

Edit : just saw your edit.

I was under the impression that older licenses were very different from the current free UDK license (besides what you point out there) when it comes to redistributing tools and source code and resources. I could be wrong; I can no longer find the page on their wiki where I referenced that statement.

If that's the case, well, it seems like it's up to them and so far they seem to not want to provide, even in limited fashion (even DA2 had no workable toolkit, a game based on DA:O, their own engine.)

As I said, it would be amazing to be able to mod the Mass Effect games and I could see some really quality work come from it, especially in the form of restoring cut content.

But sadly I don't see it happening.

Modifié par OchreJelly, 02 mai 2012 - 04:55 .