[RELEASED] Better Dreams

[giftfish]

Better Dreams

Just realized I didn't have a thread started yet for this. Let's fix that.

I've always hated the dreams. The trope of Shepard being traumatized by a dead kid s/he had no relationship with, the slo-mo running, the whispers (which are actually hella fucked up), and the forced conversations with Liara afterward. I hate all of it. HATE it.

Clear? I hate them.

Okay, moving on.


GENERAL PREMISE
The whispers Shepard hears when running through the dreams are essentially audio flashbacks. Lines the player (in theory) heard an NPC speak in previous games, or earlier in ME3. What I always thought would make more sense is if the dreams were actual flashbacks. Flashbacks to some of the most horrific and poignant moments in the trilogy. Flashbacks that illustrate Shepard's personal loss and fear of the Reapers dominating the galaxy.

So, I've made new dreams. Well, am making new dreams. The first two are done and in game. Second one still needs some tweaking. The third hasn't been started yet.

What I decided to do for each dream was have it center around one game. So, dream 1 = ME1, dream 2 = ME2, dream 3 = ME3. To ensure immersion, each dream contains footage that will be experienced by all Shepards. That means that, A-Shepard is never shown (uh, mostly), and events that have plot variation also aren't shown. This includes footage of certain squadmates in ME2, since several are not mandatory recruits. Finally, the new dreams will *only* work for imported games, since they don't make sense for a fresh ME3 PT. 

The new dreams, of course, don't remove the dialogue with Liara afterward. Post-dream #1 convo is actually easy to remove, though I haven't done it yet.  Post-dream #2 convo is especially hard to remove, since it segues into the talk with the salarian councilor. Liara's dialogue is necessary to introduce this. I have some ideas on how to deal with that, but I won't be exploring them for a while yet. Either way, removing Liara would be optional.


DREAM #1
Finished.



DREAM #2



DREAM #3
Okay, plans for dream #3.

This will be, by far, the hardest and most time-consuming dream to do. There is an incredible amount of plot variation in ME3, so many obvious events of loss cannot be used: Mordin's death, Thane's death, Kirrahe's death, loss of Rannoch/Tali, loss of Miranda, shooting Wrex, and many more. I'll have to choose clips very carefully.

Also making things complicated will be the BioD_Nor_600Cat4Intro.pcc file. Any ending mod that alters this file will require a compatibility patch.

Finally, a voluntary complication: due to the dream occurring in the middle of the romance scene, I'm going to incorporate the LI into the dream. Likely, at the very end. I'm planning on using a snippet from the romance scene itself (or Shep's reunion with an ME2 LI), along with one other shot. Making all the videos won't be too bad, since I'll be able to set up the entire dream and then swap out clips. I think *not* having Shep's LI in the dream at this point would be more immersion-breaking. So, LI is in the dream.

I'll also be including Jacob, Kelly, Samara, and of course, Thane in this. And, Miranda for folks using EGM's MirandaMod. I also don't think I can get around needing videos for Miranda and Tali in the case of their deaths, since both romances may be active at that point. So, from my count, that means:

• Sam
  
• Steve
• Liara
• Kaidan
• Ashley
• Garrus
• Tali - alive
• Tali - dead
• Miranda - alive
• Miranda - dead
• Miranda - Mirandamod
• Jack
• Jacob - BackOff users only
• Samara - Citadel DLC kiss with BackOff only
• Kelly - with BackOff only
  
• Thane - with ThaneMOD only

It's possible that Thane will get one or two other versions, depending on how development for TMv3.0 plays out. There are some decisions I haven't made.

I could definitely use some help in acquiring video clips for all of these. So, here's the criteria for a clip:

• Clips should be of the lock in itself or the romance scene in ME3
  
• Clips cannot show Shepard, squadmates, or any parts of scenes that have variation and might not have occurred in a PT
  
• Clips should be straight from a cutscene or a flycam capture during the cutscene
• No subtitles (obviously)
• No non-vanilla-centric textures. HR is okay, but if they are a moderate to significant departure from vanilla, I cannot use them. In other words, the texture replacement should not be immediately noticeable to folks who are not playing with that texture
  
• Clips should have good composition
• Clips cannot show the TM/BO/EGM cabin photo, as these are LI-specific
• Clips cannot show any other modded cabin tweaks from EGM/BO/TM/etc, as all players will not have these installed. Clips should avoid the armor locker, model ships, space hamster, and aquarium fish for the same reasons.
• Ash's clip will need to be of her default ME3 appearance. Sorry. There's no way I can use any type of plot check to know if the player has her texture/mesh modded into her former self. I may be able to provide an alternate, optional video with her ME2 look though, if someone is willing to capture it. No nudity, as it's not in the vanilla game.
• Tali's clip cannot have a see-through visor, as it's not vanilla.
  
• Clips should be uncompressed AVIs, 10s or less in length.
• Only one clip per LI, please. Pick a favorite. My NAS is big, but not that big, lol.
  

I'll take care of the Thane, Jacob, and Kelly clips. I need clips of everything else. If people could help out by uploading their favorite moments during these two scenes, it would be extremely helpful.

I won't be starting on Dream #3 for at least a month yet, so folks have plenty of time to help. I need to make some other progress on ThaneMOD before I hop back to this. This project is actually sort of a part of ThaneMOD, but I've decided to release it separately. The Alternate Better Dreams below will be built into ThaneMOD and possibly other mods.

I think that about covers it. Let me know if you have any questions
 

ALTERNATE BETTER DREAMS
In addition to the brand new dreams, I'll also be working on an overhaul of the whispers for the existing dreams. This will be functional for imported or new PTs. I may or may not bundle it into Better Dreams. Instead, I may just toss it into ME3Re. It will also be released as a patch for ThaneMOD and BO.

These dreams will be vanilla, but will have edits to the whispers (and an increased run speed). There are actually a lot of problems with the whispers, including:

• Jack has no whispers at all (and yet Allers does)
  
• Inconsistent choice of dream speakers who are not former squadmates (e.g, Eve & Wiks, but not Bau or Kirrahe; Kelly & Chakwas, but not Ken or Gabby)
  
• Lots of missing plot checks, including ones for romance status and gender (e.g., Thane will call BroShep, "Siha")
  
• Large discrepancy between the amount of whispers for different characters
• Thane's voice is his f-ed up ME3 voice, rather than his original ME2 voice
  
• Mordin's voice is from his new VA, not his original ME2 VA (boo)

And some other things. I'll go through and fix most issues, and release it as a separate download.

MOD CONFLICTS

Better Dreams will conflict with Shorter Dreams, as it mods the exact same content. Players can't use both.

A quick note for JAM vB and MEHEM users: Better Dreams will actually be a perfect compliment to these mods, though I might have to make some patches (or find someone to make them for me). Since they both remove starbrat, using these mods + Better Dreams will remove the kid from the entire game, short of during the Prologue on Earth. Yaaaay.

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Will update with dream #2 when it's ready

[sil]

Could you clarify whether you hate the dreams or not? You were a bit vague on your views.




As you know, I love the video dreams. Can't wait for this mod.

[deager]

I'm just waiting for release so I can mention from the Shorter Dreams Nexus page that another option exists if people would prefer. I like the video idea better too; I was just lazy.

[creeperlava]

I like the idea, the video is quite good. Not too fast, not too flashy, nice work ! Only problem I have is : why is there music in a dream ?

These are just some ideas I'm throwing around to replace the music, feel free to ignore. Having an oppressing silence would be an option, although you'd still need some sound to accentuate it. For example, explosion, voices, things that correspond to the images being shown.
Otherwise, just have the background hum of the normandy play, like you're hearing it while sleeping. Maybe apply some effects to it, make it more deep, and again, oppressing. Perhaps add some variations to these effects, in relation to the images being shown. Like the dream changes your perception, the things your senses catch.

[giftfish]

Jan 11, 2017 19:20:51 GMT deager said:

I'm just waiting for release so I can mention from the Shorter Dreams Nexus page that another option exists if people would prefer. I like the video idea better too; I was just lazy.

And I'll be putting a link to Shorter Dreams in the Better Dreams Nexus description

I think Shorter Dreams is a very nice option for folks who don't mind the vanilla version but don't want the kid

Jan 11, 2017 21:02:07 GMT creeperlava said:

Only problem I have is : why is there music in a dream ?

Am I the only one who has music in their dreams? >.>

But, in seriousness, there is music in the vanilla dreams, it's just very ambient. And, really, it's a dream, so basically anything goes. They don't follow rules

[thommal]

Love the idea. And the video is great, though there is one logical problem with some of the scenes you chose: Shepard was not present when Nihlus was shot or when Saren was intimidating Benezia on Sovereign, so there should be no memory to draw from to get it "right" in the dream. That the commander didn't see the battle around the Citadel is another matter - no reason to assume that Shepard did not watch the feeds later, so (s)he would have memories to weave into dreams.

It's a minor point - and one that can be explained away - but whenever I see a dream in a movie show something the dreamer could not know or would not perceive that way, it cracks my suspense of disbelief and hurls me out of the story making me think about the director's choices ..

Oh, and, where is the weird?

Don't tell me you dream without adding something .. trippy to even the mundanest scene? Please, nod.

You know, there is very little of the unexpected in ME3, and most of the time mods are somber affairs as well. You have the golden opportunity to have a little fun for a frame or two, so why not add some whacky detail or go meta or self-referential for a moment or .. whatever? .. No one else will find a better reason to do so while following this particularly funereal plot.

[giftfish]

Jan 11, 2017 23:40:11 GMT thommal said:

Love the idea. And the video is great, though there is one logical problem with some of the scenes you chose: Shepard was not present when Nihlus was shot or when Saren was intimidating Benezia on Sovereign, so there should be no memory to draw from to get it "right" in the dream. That the commander didn't see the battle around the Citadel is another matter - no reason to assume that Shepard did not watch the feeds later, so (s)he would have memories to weave into dreams.

It's a minor point - and one that can be explained away - but whenever I see a dream in a movie show something the dreamer could not know or would not perceive that way, it cracks my suspense of disbelief and hurls me out of the story making me think about the director's choices ..

That's true. However, the player sees it, and that's the important part. It's something that every player experiences regardless of what plot decisions they make as Shepard, which is the rule I set when it came to selecting clips.

Glad to see folks are liking the idea. As with all my mods, you pretty much have Thane to thank for all of this. BackOff, ME3Re, Better Dreams, they all contain content that originally started as something I was doing anyway for ThaneMOD

[giftfish]

Dream #2 should be up in a day or two.

Finally solved my sequencing problem, but I have one more issue I'm trying to figure out

[giftfish]

Yay, done!!

A couple words of warning on this one:

• Pacing is much faster than the first dream. This is b/c of the Collector theme used. It feels like more of a mind fuck.
  
• Collector theme is used for the same reason that I used the Sovereign theme for the ME1 video. It's creepy and is one of the main music themes of the game. Instantly recognizable as from ME2.
  
• There are a couple audio artifacts that seem to have been exacerbated by compressing into a BIK and playing through the game engine. I'm a bit grumpy about this right now, as I've already rendered this video over a dozen times, and rendering -- especially in RAD Tools takes a while. They aren't horrible (just a couple "snaps"), but they are noticeable. I might try fixing them in the future, but the first release of the mod will likely stay as is. I need to move onto other things.
  

---

I'll also embed this in the OP, along with explaining my upcoming plans for dream #3.

[sil]

That looked great!

[giftfish]

FYI, be sure to take a look at the info I posted for dream #3 in the OP. I could use some help getting certain clips together

[neph]

You know I'm good for Kaidan scenes since I did the B/O testing for him. I've still got that Shep saved and can replay whatever parts you need. I've also got a Shep that's romancing Traynor, so I can probably pull you some videos from that romance as well. And as always, I can offer you multiple videos of a Shepard that romances no one, because Joker. *sobs* I'll pull the Kaidan vids for you this week and upload them. Let me know if you need Traynor. I'll pull some for her, too, but probably not for a few weeks - I'm moving in three weeks and it will take some time to get set up in my new environment.

[giftfish]

Jan 15, 2017 16:31:51 GMT neph said:

You know I'm good for Kaidan scenes since I did the B/O testing for him. I've still got that Shep saved and can replay whatever parts you need. I've also got a Shep that's romancing Traynor, so I can probably pull you some videos from that romance as well. And as always, I can offer you multiple videos of a Shepard that romances no one, because Joker. *sobs* I'll pull the Kaidan vids for you this week and upload them. Let me know if you need Traynor. I'll pull some for her, too, but probably not for a few weeks - I'm moving in three weeks and it will take some time to get set up in my new environment.

Not too many, Neph, lol!

Give me your 10s favorite clip of both Kaidan and Traynor Thanks!

Poor Joker. Will you be getting back to Shokermod soon?

[thommal]

About the 2nd video: At first, I was a bit irritated* that it showed events speeded up but it did work great with the high cut rate and the cross-fades and also the sounds as well as the quickened music. This video had dream-like qualities. I liked it a lot.

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* and with irritation, I mean that it was a "What? - Ah,yes!"-sequence, which is exactly what should be triggered by watching a dream, imo.

[giftfish]

Jan 15, 2017 21:39:15 GMT thommal said:

* and with irritation, I mean that is was a "What? - Ah,yes!"-sequence, which is exactly what should be triggered by watching a dream, imo.

Lol. Yay for when things have the intended effect