53 réponses à ce sujet

[MrFob]

Hi everyone,

I am creating this thread as a place for general discussion of ME3  sound and cinema modding, specifically ending mods.
Some of you may have heard about my MEEM project or about MEHEM but whether you like that or not, it turns out there is much more we can do.
As small "apetizers", here are some proof of principle mods I quickly made up:
Shepards last breath
A more optimistic outlook
(these are just "quick and dirty" examples I made in half an hour to test my modding procedures)

I am going to update this OP as I'll make video tutorials on how to manipulate things properly.
One first one is on sound import.
Not a video but a very rough and technical rundown on the procedure to replace bink videos
(don"t get discouraged by this post. This was intended as a brain dump and for people who already know the file structure of ME3. We will try to provide a GUI interface for video import in the ME3Explorer soon. At that point, I'll also make a video tutorial)
Tutorial on sequence modding (to be updated regularly)
A rather complex music import tutorial (see a few posts down on that page)

In the end, there are very few limits. It is really up to the community to come up with nice videos.

Some important links:
"creating new end for Mass Effect 3" facebook group
the ME3Explorer wiki
The ME3Explorer forums
Also, This is reasuring
Check those out for further info on modding. It's eaier than you might think.

Feel free to share suggestions, possible videos to mod into the game, ideas for dialogue changes, voice actor offers, requests or any other related stuff here.

Update: Now we also have a happy ending!

Modifié par MrFob, 10 novembre 2012 - 02:10 .

[Sable Rhapsody]

Thanks for offering this OP and the tutorials. I'm going to go take a look at the wiki--never done anything beyond Gibbed or simple editing of .ini files before.

I have no technical expertise, but I'm a decent writer and editor if you guys need that

[ElectronicPostingInterface]

Just to make sure I'm understanding correctly:

..we can modify the ending that runs in the _actual_ game. Not make a youtube video that runs externally, but actually run it in the game.

That would be immersion-wonderful.

[MrFob]

That is what I did. Check out the videos, linked in the OP. They are not youtube cuts. They are unedited material running in my game.
If you follow the link to the MEEM thread, you can download the mod there, install it into your own game and run it yourself. Instructions are included.

Modifié par MrFob, 10 octobre 2012 - 11:43 .

[ElectronicPostingInterface]

This is going to sound silly, but I'd like to install your mod without exactly seeing what it does to m ake the ending experience more fun. Is it possible for you to create like a bullet point list of each ending edit you did and the changes?

Also - I'd be more than willing to help with stuff for a project like this. I did a little (very inexperienced) texture modding here. I'm also willing to learn whatever. But I'd really like to use someone else's edit before making something myself because I'm on my 2nd playthrough since I played the game and it's almost like a new experience.

Thanks for your help.

Modifié par PKchu, 10 octobre 2012 - 04:43 .

[ogiler]

I was thinking about new ending.Maybe editimg cutscenes?

[OldRebellion]

Watched Shepard Last Breath video...still trying to fix my jaw. It was just...wow...all these flashbacks from previous games. Goddamn, why original ending couldn't be like that!
And you can for real see something like that in game?
*Stands up and claps*

[Fingertrip]

Cheesy, corny and is worse then the ending we got.

[ElectronicPostingInterface]

Fingertrip wrote...

Cheesy, corny and is worse then the ending we got.

Man, it's too bad we individiually can't edit and customize stuff to our own personal preferences!

Jesus.

Modifié par PKchu, 10 octobre 2012 - 10:22 .

[voodooseason]

Fingertrip wrote...

Cheesy, corny and is worse then the ending we got.

Oh, come on Fingertrip, no one's forcing you to install anything. Plus, I'm pretty sure the point of this post is less "Y'ALL QUIT COMPLAINING I FIXED THE ENDINGS LOL" and more "Here's what we can do now!" Just sayin'!

Aaaanyway, though, back on topic...

I'm just totally, completely jazzed that this kind of thing is possible now. I don't know if I'd have the ability/patience to make one myself, but I'm excited to see what people are able to come up with. I doubt ME will ever be as ridiculously moddable as Source games, but a girl can dream, heh.

(Also, just watched the Last Breath one...guh, BRB, sobbing forever. Damn Virmire Survivors, always poking me in the feels...)

[LoganKey]

Those flashback sequences were for an ending where Sheppard dies (interpret the last breath as Sheppard's "last breath").

Alot happier endings can be made using this method, but personally, I think we need to keep supporting these guys so that we can ultimately create our own content using the Unreal Engine. I know right now it's a very far away goal, and even if we don't reach it, at least we'll be able to use editing techniques to remove some of the worst parts of the ending... like starjar .

[Mello]

Fingertrip wrote...

Cheesy, corny and is worse then the ending we got.

ALL THE LOVE! Its so overwhelming...

[MrFob]

PKchu wrote...

Fingertrip wrote...

Cheesy, corny and is worse then the ending we got.

Man, it's too bad we individiually can't edit and customize stuff to our own personal preferences!

Jesus.

That is exactly what this thread is about. It's not about my current mods. They are just supposed to be examples. This thread is about giving everyone the opportunity to do it easily and conveniontly. (I realize the description I provided is not that helpful for people who are not already very familiar with the ME3 file structure)
Until we have a GUI for video import in the ME3Explorer, I would even be happy to patch really well thought out stuff into the game for people. Just contact me or post here with your videos and suggestions or self made videos. I am happy to help and make stuff available.

I am of course happy if you like my original mod however and I'd like to encourage you to post in the story forum thread. A lot more people are reading there and it would be a good opportunity to spread the word of what is possible.
The more people contribute, the better the mods are going to be in the end.
As for your request for a summery on the MEEM endings, I'll post a quick one on the MEEM thread. There is already a little "feature list" in the OP but nothing on the plot itself.
EDIT: It's done. Look toward the end of this post

Modifié par MrFob, 10 octobre 2012 - 11:44 .

[MrFob]

OldRebellion wrote...

Watched Shepard Last Breath video...still trying to fix my jaw. It was just...wow...all these flashbacks from previous games. Goddamn, why original ending couldn't be like that!
And you can for real see something like that in game?
*Stands up and claps*

I see exactly this in game . The video (as all on the ME3EM channel) is an unedited recording, I made with xfire (a free equivalent to fraps).
It's not as good as reunion scene would be but it's only supposed to be a test anyway and I have to reiterate that I did not make the video I used for this mod.
I'd recommend the "an optimistic outlook" one. While I am not a fan of conventional vicutory myself, I think that one worked out rather well (and I just love that song).

[ogiler]

Can t we just edit cutscenes to get what we want.

[Sable Rhapsody]

OK--here's an idea that ties into my question on the other thread: whether it's possible to completely skip the Catalyst. A friend and I were shooting the breeze and came up with this solution:

Instead of trying to skip the Catalyst in-game, would it be possible to insert all the ending cinematics (Crucible firing, EC ending slides, etc.) into the game just after the cinematic with Anderson and Shep talking? Then everything would play BEFORE the Catalyst's magic elevator, and you could just alt-F4 out of the game before the Catalyst turns up at all. It's a very crude solution, but I remember you saying it's very difficult to remove the Catalyst. So instead of removing it, can we insert the desired ending before it turns up, then just exit the game?

[MrFob]

There is one difficulty here. While I can modify videos in game, I cannot just add them where ever I want at the moment. This means, I can only insert a new video at a point where there already is one in the original game (e,g, Shepards last breath scene). If I remember correctly, there is no video playing after Anderson's death which means I cannot put one there.
However, at the moment I am working on understanding better how sequences in the game are linked.
I'll try and give you some idea of how it works in layman's terms .
All cutscenes in the game work like a chain with each event linked to the next (like a->b->c). This means that theoretically - and I haven't tested that yet - you could just change these links to link one event directly to the end of the chain, bypassing everything that lies in between (like a->c).
The problem with the star kid scene is that it is not one chain but a couple of different chains (i.e. different files). I don't know how these are linked yet but once I find out, I should be able to go wherever I want from whatever point I want.
Of course, you have to be very careful when you do such a thing because imagine you "jump over" the ending choice but you jump to a point where the game needs to know what this choice was. Things like that may crash the game.
The other thing I am concerned about is that it's not only cutscenes but there is a section where the player has control (when shepard walks towards the three choices). Not sure how that fits in yet (but I think it might not be a problem if you just "jump over" this whole section)
Despite these difficulties, I think the best bet is to determine the link structure to just bypass the whole section and to put the video you want to play instead in the place of, say, the "Normandy departing from Gulliver's planet" video. This way, you won't miss out on the credits either. It will need some substantial modification but in principle, I think it is possible

[Sable Rhapsody]

MrFob wrote...
I'll try and give you some idea of how it works in layman's terms .
All cutscenes in the game work like a chain with each event linked to the next (like a->b->c). This means that theoretically - and I haven't tested that yet - you could just change these links to link one event directly to the end of the chain, bypassing everything that lies in between (like a->c).
The problem with the star kid scene is that it is not one chain but a couple of different chains (i.e. different files). I don't know how these are linked yet but once I find out, I should be able to go wherever I want from whatever point I want.
Of course, you have to be very careful when you do such a thing because imagine you "jump over" the ending choice but you jump to a point where the game needs to know what this choice was. Things like that may crash the game.
The other thing I am concerned about is that it's not only cutscenes but there is a section where the player has control (when shepard walks towards the three choices). Not sure how that fits in yet (but I think it might not be a problem if you just "jump over" this whole section)
Despite these difficulties, I think the best bet is to determine the link structure to just bypass the whole section and to put the video you want to play instead in the place of, say, the "Normandy departing from Gulliver's planet" video. This way, you won't miss out on the credits either. It will need some substantial modification but in principle, I think it is possible

Thank you for being so patient with all my questions and pestering  Slowly picking my way through the wiki.  Wouldn't it be nice if Unreal Engine were as easy to mod as Aurora or Infinity?

[VonAnsorge]

You sir are awesome. Just watched both new videos and I cant believe my eyes. We may actually get EC 2.0
Keep up the good work. Huge fan here

[ElectronicPostingInterface]

Yeah, I would be completely happy with something like this because what the EC did best was unscrew the future of the universe and imply a reunion scene. A mod can add what was IMPLIED now, without changing what actually happened.

[Sable Rhapsody]

OP, is it possible to construct new dialogue using snippets of the in-game sound files from the official VAs? I think for the most part your VAs in the proof of concept videos did a good job, but it's still jarring hearing a different voice coming out of Shep or Liara's mouth.

[MrFob]

PKchu wrote...

Yeah, I would be completely happy with something like this because what the EC did best was unscrew the future of the universe and imply a reunion scene. A mod can add what was IMPLIED now, without changing what actually happened.

That was actually the main reason I started to look into modding in the first place. I am usually not at all fond of mods or messing with a story that has already been told. However, at the moment, I don't see how the ME universe can move forward without either canonizing one ending (in which case our mods are just more non canon ending) or rendering the differences in the consequences moot (in which case most of the mods probably would work just as well). In any case, the current situation is so messed up, I don't really feel bad about messing it up just a little more.

Sable Rhapsody wrote...

OP, is it possible to construct new dialogue using snippets of the in-game sound files from the official
VAs? I think for the most part your VAs in the proof of concept videos did a good job, but it's still jarring hearing a different voice coming out of Shep or Liara's mouth.

That is something, I am looking into and it is my final goal to do this. I have started to try it for the first version of MEEM a couple of months ago but it didn't work out very well. However, I learned a lot about sound editing and the like in the mean time and I think I could do a much better job now. I am certain there are people out there who can do a much better job than I ever could as well.
On that note, extracting audio from ME2 and 3 is no problem but I am having some trouble getting the audio out of .upk files from ME1. If anyone has any idea about this kind of thing, please look up this thread and post either there or here. Thanks!
Alternatively, if you happen to know Mark Meer, Jennifer Hale, Lance Henriksen or Ali Hillis, ask them to call me.

Modifié par MrFob, 12 octobre 2012 - 12:08 .

[Honorable Ensign]

This is awesome! So it's possible to insert images into the endgame choice video? My preference would be to have the geth/EDI survive Destroy with a high enough EMS.

I'd also love for the last breath video to be followed by a brief still image of Shepherd's reunion with their LI (or just the crew if they don't have one.)

I love that song in the optimistic Refusal example. And hey, Liara's voice file has had thousands of years to degrade, presumably...

[AdmiralCheez]

Thanks for the resources! Your work is awesome, as well.

[reivzjE]

Greetings OP, i have a question is it possible to add that video depending on whom you romanced? If yes, you should check out the One More Story videos by ladyxinsanity out