Post by giftfish on Jan 10, 2017 20:09:25 GMT
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:
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:
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:
Will update with dream #2 when it's ready
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.
Will update with dream #2 when it's ready
