(If you are already happily playing patch 8 with v2.2 of this mod, then you don't need to update!)
The final patch of Baldur's Gate 3 brings the final new dialogue and a good place to do one last reformat of the mod. I have been following the people who have had issues with this mod before, and I believe they should be solved with version 2.3 and should now work with any mod manager. No new content from previous patch 8 mod update.
The main mod should now always take priority over the base game audio. The easiest way to get the full restoration is to use BG3 Mod Manager to install main files:
DVQR - VoiceMeta
DVQR - Voice1
DVQR - Voice2
For anyone previously playing with other voice mods on top, unfortunately this means potentially a little bit of tweaking. If you use the main mod with a DVQR compatible voice mod before, then you will likely have to unpak and repak the other voice mod with packing priority >30 and it should work again. Alternative is to use DVQR - Full Basegame Replacement and previously compatible voice mods should work the same as before.
Provided optional installation for restoration as basegame pak replacement for people with issues. This means that in the game files, only the restored version and converted patch voice lines of the audio files exist. (Size difference between base game and DVQR .paks is correct due to the different audio codecs.)
If you backup the original Voice.pak and VoiceMeta.pak in this method, make sure they are moved outside of Baldur's Gate 3 game folder.
There is something wrong with shadowheart's voice lines. I unpaked the mod and took all 180,000+ lines and put them into the game manually. Her lines would not play. But when I took out all 9,000+ lines starting with "v3ed", her audio returns. Tested with the Origin intro dialogue, Patch 8, newest version of this mod. Did not use the voice meta as I had directly installed all the files, only used Voice 1 & Voice 2.
The only other voice related mod I have for shadowheart is really shadowheart but I tested this without having that one active.
EDIT: also tried repacking into 4 separate files that could be installed with bgmm with the meta data file.
The issue you are having is due to mod conflict with that Shadowheart mod. This mod and that one are replacer mods (orange colour in BG3MM) which means the assets (such as voice lines and voice meta files) are always active if they exist in your /mods/ folder regardless what your mod manager says about active state. You need to "permanently remove" them to actually disable.
If you only have Voice1 and Voice2, all dialogue is silent due to missing WEM_Opus metadata information. If you have VoiceMeta, Voice1, and Voice2, and that mod, then all Shadowheart dialogue is silent because that mod reverts it back to Vorbis and this mod has the Opus audio. You need this patch.
Even after applying the mod, the dialogue sound quality is unacceptably poor. It sounds like the voices was recorded on a cheap mobile phone. It ruins the whole experience.I think they compressed sound files to death to reduce the file size or improve performance whatever. It is very interesting that while everyone is talking about graphics performance or other bugs, there is no mention of this anywhere.
almost a full year later and i'm having the same issues. did you ever manage to fix it? i've disabled everything I can think of, not using any spacial audio stuff, still sounds like ass
No, this mod does not change such lines. It simply restores the audio files used before patch 6 (which is 99% of all dialogue) that were in a better audio codec.
Dear Arbitality, the idea behind your mod is great! Could you explain to me how it works that your replacer files are about 9 GB smaller than the original ones (Patch 8)? The files you use are significantly smaller — is the quality still better? Why does Larian use much larger files with comparatively poor quality? Also, when I compared the files, I noticed that the original .pak contains about 5,000 more files than your replacer. Thanks in advance for your clarification!
The quality is better yes. It is the difference between audio codecs of Vorbis (current vanilla BG3) and a decade of research to create Opus (this mod and what BG3 used before patch 6).
File size difference is due to that difference in codec compression and techniques. Vorbis is used a lot in games and can definitely pass for dialogue no problem but in this case the change certainly bothered me enough. All I'm doing is restoring the same Opus files that used to be part of the game (+supporting patch audio) because I happened to have the entire Voice.pak backed up before the change to Vorbis. Why this codec was ever changed for this game, I do not know.
For the number of files, I'm not sure I understand? This mod and the optional replacer both have few more audio files than the original voice related paks due to patch changes, not the other way around? The latest changes this week cleaned most of the oudated ones out but these shouldn't affect anything anyway.
I use the full replacement version of this mod just for the fact that it is 9GB smaller than the Patch 8 audio files. - of course backup the originals somewhere else.
I have been trying to use several male narrator replacement mods but none of them work. The civ 5 one in particular has a patch 6 and pre patch 6 version but it's still just the original voice.
Can you upload an optional version that renames the .paks to something like _DVQR so it is at the top of the priority.
Thank you so much for sharing this. Seemed like an oversight with packing priority. New optional version is up that should now run voice mods same as the main mod!
Thanks heaps for the mod Arbitality, the quality uptick is noticeable and works great on my Patch 8 playthrough. This is a must have in my opinion.
Just a quick question, is there any conflict between your mod and other mods that restore/alter voice lines and banter, such as Dark Urge Banter Dialogue Fixes?
Thanks for clarification. That mod claims it adds removed banter for The Dark Urge back in the game rather than adjust existing lines. If that's the case, would that mean it is still incompatible with DVQR? For example, I noticed a lower quality banter voice line from my Dark Urge after meeting Zevlor and Aradin and letting Aradin punch the Tiefling (which triggers a very soft audio of "Well, that could gone better"). Not sure if that banter line was in the base game or if it was added by the Dark Urge Banter fix mod. Just documenting this for anyone else using both mods.
I also downloaded your main file plus Audio1 and 2 just before you uploaded the new optional file. Can you explain to me whether I'd need the new optional file to get the best quality audio, and how it's different to the older version? So it's an overall replacer that also converted the new dialogue lines added in Patch 8 to the higher quality audio you use here?
285 comments
The final patch of Baldur's Gate 3 brings the final new dialogue and a good place to do one last reformat of the mod. I have been following the people who have had issues with this mod before, and I believe they should be solved with version 2.3 and should now work with any mod manager. No new content from previous patch 8 mod update.
The main mod should now always take priority over the base game audio. The easiest way to get the full restoration is to use BG3 Mod Manager to install main files:
For anyone previously playing with other voice mods on top, unfortunately this means potentially a little bit of tweaking. If you use the main mod with a DVQR compatible voice mod before, then you will likely have to unpak and repak the other voice mod with packing priority >30 and it should work again. Alternative is to use DVQR - Full Basegame Replacement and previously compatible voice mods should work the same as before.
If you backup the original Voice.pak and VoiceMeta.pak in this method, make sure they are moved outside of Baldur's Gate 3 game folder.
Tested with the Origin intro dialogue, Patch 8, newest version of this mod. Did not use the voice meta as I had directly installed all the files, only used Voice 1 & Voice 2.
The only other voice related mod I have for shadowheart is really shadowheart but I tested this without having that one active.
EDIT: also tried repacking into 4 separate files that could be installed with bgmm with the meta data file.
If you only have Voice1 and Voice2, all dialogue is silent due to missing WEM_Opus metadata information. If you have VoiceMeta, Voice1, and Voice2, and that mod, then all Shadowheart dialogue is silent because that mod reverts it back to Vorbis and this mod has the Opus audio. You need this patch.
It is very interesting that while everyone is talking about graphics performance or other bugs, there is no mention of this anywhere.
the idea behind your mod is great!
Could you explain to me how it works that your replacer files are about 9 GB smaller than the original ones (Patch 8)?
The files you use are significantly smaller — is the quality still better?
Why does Larian use much larger files with comparatively poor quality?
Also, when I compared the files, I noticed that the original .pak contains about 5,000 more files than your replacer.
Thanks in advance for your clarification!
File size difference is due to that difference in codec compression and techniques. Vorbis is used a lot in games and can definitely pass for dialogue no problem but in this case the change certainly bothered me enough. All I'm doing is restoring the same Opus files that used to be part of the game (+supporting patch audio) because I happened to have the entire Voice.pak backed up before the change to Vorbis. Why this codec was ever changed for this game, I do not know.
For the number of files, I'm not sure I understand? This mod and the optional replacer both have few more audio files than the original voice related paks due to patch changes, not the other way around? The latest changes this week cleaned most of the oudated ones out but these shouldn't affect anything anyway.
Now it all makes Sense! I will use the Replacement Version ':)
Thanks!
I have been trying to use several male narrator replacement mods but none of them work. The civ 5 one in particular has a patch 6 and pre patch 6 version but it's still just the original voice.
Can you upload an optional version that renames the .paks to something like _DVQR so it is at the top of the priority.
Just a quick question, is there any conflict between your mod and other mods that restore/alter voice lines and banter, such as Dark Urge Banter Dialogue Fixes?
I also downloaded your main file plus Audio1 and 2 just before you uploaded the new optional file. Can you explain to me whether I'd need the new optional file to get the best quality audio, and how it's different to the older version? So it's an overall replacer that also converted the new dialogue lines added in Patch 8 to the higher quality audio you use here?