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About this mod
VaST makes many different changes, ranging from adding a hybrid heat system to weapons, enemy shields being able to regen, to more customization options for both casual appearances and your armour, and minor quality of life changes like the walk key being a toggle.
While no DLC is required, files are included that edit various DLCs.
- Permissions and credits
- Donations
Various and Sundry Tweaks [VaST]
This mod was born out of liking some of the changes some mods made, and disliking others, while also implementing some features that I knew/thought were possible, but couldn't find in a mod. After extensive play-testing [five full playthroughs with all DLC installed] and more than a little anxiety about releasing this to the public, here we are.
Initial development and play-testing was done on Normal with a Sentinel, and Insanity with an Infiltrator, and a Soldier. Further testing on Insanity was done after the "Shields no longer block powers" change with the Vanguard and Engineer. While I don't normally play on Insanity, the extensive testing on that difficulty was to ensure that my changes hadn't made that difficulty impossible for me, on any class.
FULL DISCLOSURE: While ideally, a mod should be developed on a clean install, that was not the case for this one. This was developed in in an install with multiple mods installed. While I don't think it will be an issue, it bears mentioning that this MIGHT NOT WORK if you do not have the following mods installed:
A Lot Of Textures (ALOT) For ME2
Tech Armor With No Body Glow [installed via ALOT]
BloodBeGone [installed via ALOT]
ME1 style object selector [installed via ALOT]
No MiniGames
Mass Effect 2 to dark FIX [sic]
=== WHAT THIS MOD DOES ===
Combat
Storm/Sprint stamina and stamina regen increased [you're not likely to run out of stamina in combat, but it is still possible]
Enemies now have about 25% more shields
Enemy shields/barriers can now regen [5 second delay & recharge time]
Weapon will not switch out if out of ammo
Heavy weapons disabled [required grenade launcher segment on Lazarus Station still works]
Recoil removed to the best of my ability [spread is still a thing, and recoil is still somewhat present in scoped sniper shots, but noticeably lower]
Hybrid heat system for weapons [current magazine will regen ammo, no manual reloads {so fire until empty to get out of the medbay in Lazarus Station}]
All weapons except for M-76 Revenant and M-300 Claymore have had their magazine size increased by varying amounts
Spare ammo for each weapon adjusted to simulate having 5 reloads [spare ammo bonuses from gear/research apply appropriately]
Enemies no longer drop thermal clips [you'll have to rely on heat regen, or clips placed in the level]
Enemies targetable from further away [for the purposes of ability usage or just seeing their health bars]
Heavy Pistols and Auto Pistols (SMGs) combined into one category [they took up the same slot visually when holstered anyways]
Loadouts for squad-mates that used heavy pistols, auto pistols, or both have been adjusted to reflect the combined category
Geth Pulse Rifle's damage has been reduced by 10%, but accuracy has been increased by 10%
M-76 Revenant's damage has been reduced by 10%, magazine size has been reduced by 25%, but accuracy has been increased by 25%
M-29 Incisor sniper rifle now fully automatic [still fires in bursts]
M-15 Vindicator assault rifle now fully automatic [still fires in bursts]
All shotguns except for the Geth Plasma Shotgun and M-300 Claymore are now fully automatic, though their fire rate has not been altered
Hammerhead vehicle no longer made of rice paper [auto-repair is faster and starts sooner]
Hammerhead vehicle's vertical thrust burn rate reduced, allowing for longer/higher jumps
Squad powers now cooldown 50% faster
Shields no longer block powers
Non-Combat
Logo movies on game launch disabled
Some cutscenes in the introduction are now skippable [see known issues for more details]
Leaving Illium cutscene is now skippable
Space bar skips dialogue without selecting responses
Slightly longer window for Paragon/Renegade interrupts [3 seconds, up from 2]
Normandy now has more fuel - 1500, up from 1000 [Samara's upgrade to max fuel brings the fuel total to 2250]
Normandy now has better fuel efficiency - 1.0, up from 1.5 [yes, that's up, even though it's a smaller number]
Normandy now has more probes - 50, up from 30 [Thane's upgrade to max probe count brings the probe total to 100]
Second playthrough resource bonuses increased by 500% [you'll still have to do some planet scanning, but not nearly as much]
Renegade scars and eyes no longer glow
All hints disabled - except for "Press and hold (F) to blah blah blah" ones, and initial tutorial ones
Notification display time halved [specific amount varies, as it is based on the notification's original display time]
Walk is now a toggle, instead of a held keybind [side note: walking is the only thing that I've seen that alleviate's Shepard's rubber-necking somewhat]
Spin speed of Shepard model in armour/casual customization screen raised - 135 degrees per second, up from 90
Greater variety of choice in casual appearance - 25 total options each for male and female Shepard
All armour is now available from the start of the game
All helmets count as full-face atmospheric and don't switch out [exceptions are the default N7 Breather helmet, and no helmet, which still behave normally]
Armour colour customization greatly increased - 216 colours each for Tint 1, Tint 2, and Pattern Colour, as well as 8 pattern types [80 million+ possible combinations]
Keybinds
Tilde/Grave - brings up the console
F12 - brings up a truncated console, which only shows the command line, and closes after you enter a command/cheat
X - held - activates "ghost" mode, which turns off clipping while held - handy for getting unstuck
V - Switches FOV [Field of View] to 90 for the remainder of the session
B - Reverts FOV back to default of 75
Bonus
While I was unable to implement them into the character creation presets, I did spend the time and effort to find 30 different faces [15 each for male/female Shepard]. These are not included in the mod itself, but there's no sense letting them go to waste.
Female Face Codes:
743.EJM.A11.H8C.GGG.91W.A4P.786.NJ6.E92.9G6.576
723.QGN.A19.J2J.LL7.34D.BJJ.11I.P41.G17.AB7.176
711.F1F.L21.T81.PDF.1AW.3NA.116.LG6.IC7.1G6.117
621.8AD.FD7.G8A.FFI.51N.7IB.3HB.QC6.286.9G6.326
731.34F.SD1.W98.R6K.11L.JRM.511.W67.KG5.AG6.117
713.L4Q.KHE.D8W.N7M.G94.HHB.A3Q.VLB.H87.367.116
143.JDC.K6A.G18.RBK.16L.QML.751.NC6.8F1.4G5.376
711.11C.11I.W17.FM2.996.597.122.H15.1K6.966.376
131.815.WI7.F81.CCK.19N.1NF.918.KI6.187.2G6.11A
711.Q9G.M17.F1A.JDQ.6DQ.1DA.A11.W66.417.AG6.372
721.F1F.L21.T81.HDF.1DW.3NA.116.LG6.IC7.647.116
753.M1G.114.P1E.FL1.14S.BWH.461.KC6.573.2G6.27B
741.9GN.G56.M1K.JIH.19S.QIH.6F1.CD7.GK5.3G6.872
621.81D.HF7.I89.GDF.11B.1EA.11B.G16.1B6.6G6.376
133.A77.R69.W17.J1S.1B1.HIL.111.M11.4C7.537.314
Male Face Codes:
111.IBB.KCW.13G.N5F.D1B.7EH.37W.TM4.EI3.E37.6
521.W7K.DWI.12W.KAT.87T.8WR.6E3.6QA.177.E55.5
531.WGE.F8W.P31.KGR.G4N.NNN.69S.7N8.185.857.6
121.R8H.LBW.63F.L6P.W4W.PEH.37Q.1S5.AA3.857.6
543.WTG.AWU.13L.SCL.G1W.M8L.79W.DH8.628.337.6
531.7G8.78E.D3M.A7K.14I.FW4.33F.1K8.155.E31.5
521.D3E.DU6.13U.GBS.B65.CR1.692.1N6.162.B54.5
312.QML.HGG.139.F6Q.WA3.VEW.6MJ.6D5.1W7.E47.6
523.WTG.H8U.13I.SCL.G7W.M8L.69W.DH8.622.837.6
111.IAM.MBP.23G.P6M.W5F.PEH.6AL.RU5.DD1.B47.6
113.WHD.H9H.93W.19V.1DQ.HHL.29W.HS9.917.757.6
521.R3D.1FW.P31.BNW.ADU.FWI.3MW.189.1M1.B57.6
521.WHC.HEJ.73C.CAW.71M.WDU.6IF.AH3.1J1.E47.6
551.ICK.DGI.71K.LBS.A26.LGB.6CN.6I2.1H5.E57.6
543.PL5.C8G.83G.GAW.G7W.WNN.2CG.852.958.E33.5
=== KNOWN ISSUES ===
- All cutscenes in the introduction prior to the first dialogue wheel are unskippable even though I've set it so they should be skippable. Recommend renaming the following filenames if you don't want to watch them:
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\Movies\ME2_006_ON_AntiGlamour2.bik
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\Movies\ME2_Opening_SunMid_INT.bik
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\Movies\Opening_Seq_INT.bik
- Unavoidable repercussion of making all helmets count as full-face atmospheric is that they all now have the voice filter that full-face atmospheric helmets do - you'll sound like you're talking through a radio/speaker
- One of the male casual appearances - specifically the one that's Jacob's armour - sometimes displays untextured. I believe this is tied to Jacob's loyalty uniform, so not equipping that on Jacob should prevent this issue. It does not, however, solve it.
- While all armour is available immediately, pieces that you originally had to buy, will still show up in stores for purchase
- Occasionally ammo powers do not display as activated on quickslot bar. This might actually be a bug in the base game, as nothing I changed affects ammo powers. Either way, it's just a visual glitch, and ammo powers still work properly.
- Shields no longer blocking powers is pretty unbalanced, as it straight-up trivializes some fights, but it's kind of necessary on the higher difficulties if you're not playing a gun-centric class. I went back and forth on this setting a lot.
- The name of the mod is redundant as "various" and "sundry" mean pretty much the same thing. Names are hard.
=== INSTALLATION ===
1. Make sure automatic game updates are DISABLED in Origin. [Origin > Application Settings > Client update]. If they're on, any changes this - or any other - mod makes will be reverted.
2. Make backups of the following files:
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\Config\PC\Cooked\Coalesced.ini
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\DLC\DLC_CER_02\CookedPC\BIOGame.ini
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\DLC\DLC_CER_02\CookedPC\BIOWeapon.ini
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\DLC\DLC_EXP_Part01\CookedPC\BIOGame.ini
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\DLC\DLC_EXP_Part02\CookedPC\BIOGame.ini
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\DLC\DLC_HEN_MT\CookedPC\BIOWeapon.ini
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\DLC\DLC_MCR_01\CookedPC\BIOWeapon.ini
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\DLC\DLC_MCR_01\CookedPC\BIOGame.ini
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\DLC\DLC_MCR_03\CookedPC\BioGame.ini
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\DLC\DLC_PRE_Cerberus\CookedPC\BIOWeapon.ini
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\DLC\DLC_PRE_Collectors\CookedPC\BIOWeapon.ini
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\DLC\DLC_PRE_Incisor\CookedPC\BIOWeapon.ini
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\DLC\DLC_PRO_Gulp01\CookedPC\BIOGame.ini
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\DLC\DLC_PRO_Pepper01\CookedPC\BIOGame.ini
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\DLC\DLC_UNC_Hammer01\CookedPC\BIOGame.ini
2a. If you are missing some of the above folders, make a note of which ones.
3. Install any non-coalesced-editing mods you may want [No MiniGames, BloodBeGone, ALOT, etc] [NOTE: ALOT *does* edit coalesced, but any changes it makes are also present in this]
4. Unzip the contents of the directory to your Mass Effect 2 directory, and, when prompted, overwrite any folders/files
4a. If you made a note of any folders in step 2a, delete them. [eg. If you didn't have the DLC_MCR_01 folder before, you'll want to remove that folder now.]
=== UNINSTALLATION ===
You can either replace the files this mod edits with your backups [you DID make backups,, right?] or you can re-enable automatic game updates in Origin, which should revert all files back to their original state. If you do the latter, it will uninstall ALL installed mods.
This mod was born out of liking some of the changes some mods made, and disliking others, while also implementing some features that I knew/thought were possible, but couldn't find in a mod. After extensive play-testing [five full playthroughs with all DLC installed] and more than a little anxiety about releasing this to the public, here we are.
Initial development and play-testing was done on Normal with a Sentinel, and Insanity with an Infiltrator, and a Soldier. Further testing on Insanity was done after the "Shields no longer block powers" change with the Vanguard and Engineer. While I don't normally play on Insanity, the extensive testing on that difficulty was to ensure that my changes hadn't made that difficulty impossible for me, on any class.
FULL DISCLOSURE: While ideally, a mod should be developed on a clean install, that was not the case for this one. This was developed in in an install with multiple mods installed. While I don't think it will be an issue, it bears mentioning that this MIGHT NOT WORK if you do not have the following mods installed:
A Lot Of Textures (ALOT) For ME2
Tech Armor With No Body Glow [installed via ALOT]
BloodBeGone [installed via ALOT]
ME1 style object selector [installed via ALOT]
No MiniGames
Mass Effect 2 to dark FIX [sic]
=== WHAT THIS MOD DOES ===
Combat
Storm/Sprint stamina and stamina regen increased [you're not likely to run out of stamina in combat, but it is still possible]
Enemies now have about 25% more shields
Enemy shields/barriers can now regen [5 second delay & recharge time]
Weapon will not switch out if out of ammo
Heavy weapons disabled [required grenade launcher segment on Lazarus Station still works]
Recoil removed to the best of my ability [spread is still a thing, and recoil is still somewhat present in scoped sniper shots, but noticeably lower]
Hybrid heat system for weapons [current magazine will regen ammo, no manual reloads {so fire until empty to get out of the medbay in Lazarus Station}]
All weapons except for M-76 Revenant and M-300 Claymore have had their magazine size increased by varying amounts
Spare ammo for each weapon adjusted to simulate having 5 reloads [spare ammo bonuses from gear/research apply appropriately]
Enemies no longer drop thermal clips [you'll have to rely on heat regen, or clips placed in the level]
Enemies targetable from further away [for the purposes of ability usage or just seeing their health bars]
Heavy Pistols and Auto Pistols (SMGs) combined into one category [they took up the same slot visually when holstered anyways]
Loadouts for squad-mates that used heavy pistols, auto pistols, or both have been adjusted to reflect the combined category
Geth Pulse Rifle's damage has been reduced by 10%, but accuracy has been increased by 10%
M-76 Revenant's damage has been reduced by 10%, magazine size has been reduced by 25%, but accuracy has been increased by 25%
M-29 Incisor sniper rifle now fully automatic [still fires in bursts]
M-15 Vindicator assault rifle now fully automatic [still fires in bursts]
All shotguns except for the Geth Plasma Shotgun and M-300 Claymore are now fully automatic, though their fire rate has not been altered
Hammerhead vehicle no longer made of rice paper [auto-repair is faster and starts sooner]
Hammerhead vehicle's vertical thrust burn rate reduced, allowing for longer/higher jumps
Squad powers now cooldown 50% faster
Shields no longer block powers
Non-Combat
Logo movies on game launch disabled
Some cutscenes in the introduction are now skippable [see known issues for more details]
Leaving Illium cutscene is now skippable
Space bar skips dialogue without selecting responses
Slightly longer window for Paragon/Renegade interrupts [3 seconds, up from 2]
Normandy now has more fuel - 1500, up from 1000 [Samara's upgrade to max fuel brings the fuel total to 2250]
Normandy now has better fuel efficiency - 1.0, up from 1.5 [yes, that's up, even though it's a smaller number]
Normandy now has more probes - 50, up from 30 [Thane's upgrade to max probe count brings the probe total to 100]
Second playthrough resource bonuses increased by 500% [you'll still have to do some planet scanning, but not nearly as much]
Renegade scars and eyes no longer glow
All hints disabled - except for "Press and hold (F) to blah blah blah" ones, and initial tutorial ones
Notification display time halved [specific amount varies, as it is based on the notification's original display time]
Walk is now a toggle, instead of a held keybind [side note: walking is the only thing that I've seen that alleviate's Shepard's rubber-necking somewhat]
Spin speed of Shepard model in armour/casual customization screen raised - 135 degrees per second, up from 90
Greater variety of choice in casual appearance - 25 total options each for male and female Shepard
All armour is now available from the start of the game
All helmets count as full-face atmospheric and don't switch out [exceptions are the default N7 Breather helmet, and no helmet, which still behave normally]
Armour colour customization greatly increased - 216 colours each for Tint 1, Tint 2, and Pattern Colour, as well as 8 pattern types [80 million+ possible combinations]
Keybinds
Tilde/Grave - brings up the console
F12 - brings up a truncated console, which only shows the command line, and closes after you enter a command/cheat
X - held - activates "ghost" mode, which turns off clipping while held - handy for getting unstuck
V - Switches FOV [Field of View] to 90 for the remainder of the session
B - Reverts FOV back to default of 75
Bonus
While I was unable to implement them into the character creation presets, I did spend the time and effort to find 30 different faces [15 each for male/female Shepard]. These are not included in the mod itself, but there's no sense letting them go to waste.
Female Face Codes:
743.EJM.A11.H8C.GGG.91W.A4P.786.NJ6.E92.9G6.576
723.QGN.A19.J2J.LL7.34D.BJJ.11I.P41.G17.AB7.176
711.F1F.L21.T81.PDF.1AW.3NA.116.LG6.IC7.1G6.117
621.8AD.FD7.G8A.FFI.51N.7IB.3HB.QC6.286.9G6.326
731.34F.SD1.W98.R6K.11L.JRM.511.W67.KG5.AG6.117
713.L4Q.KHE.D8W.N7M.G94.HHB.A3Q.VLB.H87.367.116
143.JDC.K6A.G18.RBK.16L.QML.751.NC6.8F1.4G5.376
711.11C.11I.W17.FM2.996.597.122.H15.1K6.966.376
131.815.WI7.F81.CCK.19N.1NF.918.KI6.187.2G6.11A
711.Q9G.M17.F1A.JDQ.6DQ.1DA.A11.W66.417.AG6.372
721.F1F.L21.T81.HDF.1DW.3NA.116.LG6.IC7.647.116
753.M1G.114.P1E.FL1.14S.BWH.461.KC6.573.2G6.27B
741.9GN.G56.M1K.JIH.19S.QIH.6F1.CD7.GK5.3G6.872
621.81D.HF7.I89.GDF.11B.1EA.11B.G16.1B6.6G6.376
133.A77.R69.W17.J1S.1B1.HIL.111.M11.4C7.537.314
Male Face Codes:
111.IBB.KCW.13G.N5F.D1B.7EH.37W.TM4.EI3.E37.6
521.W7K.DWI.12W.KAT.87T.8WR.6E3.6QA.177.E55.5
531.WGE.F8W.P31.KGR.G4N.NNN.69S.7N8.185.857.6
121.R8H.LBW.63F.L6P.W4W.PEH.37Q.1S5.AA3.857.6
543.WTG.AWU.13L.SCL.G1W.M8L.79W.DH8.628.337.6
531.7G8.78E.D3M.A7K.14I.FW4.33F.1K8.155.E31.5
521.D3E.DU6.13U.GBS.B65.CR1.692.1N6.162.B54.5
312.QML.HGG.139.F6Q.WA3.VEW.6MJ.6D5.1W7.E47.6
523.WTG.H8U.13I.SCL.G7W.M8L.69W.DH8.622.837.6
111.IAM.MBP.23G.P6M.W5F.PEH.6AL.RU5.DD1.B47.6
113.WHD.H9H.93W.19V.1DQ.HHL.29W.HS9.917.757.6
521.R3D.1FW.P31.BNW.ADU.FWI.3MW.189.1M1.B57.6
521.WHC.HEJ.73C.CAW.71M.WDU.6IF.AH3.1J1.E47.6
551.ICK.DGI.71K.LBS.A26.LGB.6CN.6I2.1H5.E57.6
543.PL5.C8G.83G.GAW.G7W.WNN.2CG.852.958.E33.5
=== KNOWN ISSUES ===
- All cutscenes in the introduction prior to the first dialogue wheel are unskippable even though I've set it so they should be skippable. Recommend renaming the following filenames if you don't want to watch them:
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\Movies\ME2_006_ON_AntiGlamour2.bik
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\Movies\ME2_Opening_SunMid_INT.bik
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\Movies\Opening_Seq_INT.bik
- Unavoidable repercussion of making all helmets count as full-face atmospheric is that they all now have the voice filter that full-face atmospheric helmets do - you'll sound like you're talking through a radio/speaker
- One of the male casual appearances - specifically the one that's Jacob's armour - sometimes displays untextured. I believe this is tied to Jacob's loyalty uniform, so not equipping that on Jacob should prevent this issue. It does not, however, solve it.
- While all armour is available immediately, pieces that you originally had to buy, will still show up in stores for purchase
- Occasionally ammo powers do not display as activated on quickslot bar. This might actually be a bug in the base game, as nothing I changed affects ammo powers. Either way, it's just a visual glitch, and ammo powers still work properly.
- Shields no longer blocking powers is pretty unbalanced, as it straight-up trivializes some fights, but it's kind of necessary on the higher difficulties if you're not playing a gun-centric class. I went back and forth on this setting a lot.
- The name of the mod is redundant as "various" and "sundry" mean pretty much the same thing. Names are hard.
=== INSTALLATION ===
1. Make sure automatic game updates are DISABLED in Origin. [Origin > Application Settings > Client update]. If they're on, any changes this - or any other - mod makes will be reverted.
2. Make backups of the following files:
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\Config\PC\Cooked\Coalesced.ini
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\DLC\DLC_CER_02\CookedPC\BIOGame.ini
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\DLC\DLC_CER_02\CookedPC\BIOWeapon.ini
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\DLC\DLC_EXP_Part01\CookedPC\BIOGame.ini
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\DLC\DLC_EXP_Part02\CookedPC\BIOGame.ini
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\DLC\DLC_HEN_MT\CookedPC\BIOWeapon.ini
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\DLC\DLC_MCR_01\CookedPC\BIOWeapon.ini
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\DLC\DLC_MCR_01\CookedPC\BIOGame.ini
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\DLC\DLC_MCR_03\CookedPC\BioGame.ini
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\DLC\DLC_PRE_Cerberus\CookedPC\BIOWeapon.ini
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\DLC\DLC_PRE_Collectors\CookedPC\BIOWeapon.ini
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\DLC\DLC_PRE_Incisor\CookedPC\BIOWeapon.ini
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\DLC\DLC_PRO_Gulp01\CookedPC\BIOGame.ini
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\DLC\DLC_PRO_Pepper01\CookedPC\BIOGame.ini
Mass Effect 2\BioGame\DLC\DLC_UNC_Hammer01\CookedPC\BIOGame.ini
2a. If you are missing some of the above folders, make a note of which ones.
3. Install any non-coalesced-editing mods you may want [No MiniGames, BloodBeGone, ALOT, etc] [NOTE: ALOT *does* edit coalesced, but any changes it makes are also present in this]
4. Unzip the contents of the directory to your Mass Effect 2 directory, and, when prompted, overwrite any folders/files
4a. If you made a note of any folders in step 2a, delete them. [eg. If you didn't have the DLC_MCR_01 folder before, you'll want to remove that folder now.]
=== UNINSTALLATION ===
You can either replace the files this mod edits with your backups [you DID make backups,, right?] or you can re-enable automatic game updates in Origin, which should revert all files back to their original state. If you do the latter, it will uninstall ALL installed mods.