Just commenting to let others know that this works on the Legendary Edition as well. I know there's another mod to skip straight to character customization, but this is a nice alternative if you don't want to install new mods on a texture modded game.
im rly not good at this but im tired of those loading screens and i did install it and it worked for skipping movies, but now it says my overlord dlc pack isnt downloaded and authorized. i ran the bat to void and return it, and the movies come back and my game is unplayable? i dont know which dlc folder it is and the bioware forums are now gone so idk what to do :(
eta i had dlcs backed up and i copied them over and now zaeed and overlord are not authorized lol
I'm sorry it took me so long to reply, I've been tied up in the real-world, sadly. :x
I don't believe this is as much to do with the batch file as it is just ME2 being inhospitable; but regardless, we can fix it rather simply I think, and I always like to help where I can.
So first off, the DLC_EXP_Part01 folder is the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC; and according to the screenshot it just isn't registering as what ME2 finds to be "legitimate" or "complete" so if there's some form of corruption in there it should be fixed with a simple reinstallation of that DLC (if you have problems with that send me a PM).
Secondly then, the files for Zaeed and Overlord are DLC_HEN_VT and DLC_UNC_Pack01, respectively. In your screenshot those two are registering as unauthorized, so to fix that we should be able to just use a DLC Patch found here:
https://github.com/Erik-JS/masseffect-binkw32
So... 1.) Download that patch in the link above (it includes patches for all three games also, in case you ever need them), 2.) Then make sure you have the fresh backed up Zaeed and Overlord files, and also a fresh LotSB file where they need to be in the game's directory, 3.) And then finally go to the "masseffect-binkw32/ME2/Release/" folder in the downloaded files and copy paste the "binkw32.dll" and the "binkw23.dll" to the ME2 Binaries folder (make sure to backup your original .dll files there (the binkw32 and binkw23 if you have one there). That /should/ fix the problem with Zaeed and Overlord and may also fix the issue with the DLC_EXP_Part01 content being "corrupted". Like I said if you still get that notification about DLC_EXP_Part01 being corrupted or anything just PM me. Let me know if everything works! And again I'm sorry it took so long to reply ><
EDIT: Also just to clarify on what we're doing here, ME2 does a "verification" of all DLC files when it starts in order to check to see if they're "originals" or unaltered in some way; of course mods that affect these DLC files will naturally then cause ME2 to mark them as a "no-go". That's where these patched binkw32/23.dll files come in, they automagically allow the DLC files to be verified regardless of any modification made to them. Anything that even touches those files can cause them to become "unauthorized" in that way, so this patch should make sure that doesn't happen for you in the future as well. If you already knew all this I apologize, I just wanted to be sure~
thanks for replying! i did get the fix to bypass the dlcs so they are validated now.
thats odd about the lair of the shadow broker because i don't have that dlc...... i have a lot of mods though. no dlcs. mostly textures, no mini games, using a controller
Awesome! And okay that makes sense then; like if you have any kind of texture mod or something similar installed that would have also modified LotSB along with the base game, that mod would create the directory /for/ LotSB and just stick the modification inside (if you /did/ have that DLC it would have overwritten files that were already present with modified versions). That being said, if you're still getting an annoying notification when you start the game about it being "corrupted", it should be totally fine to delete the "DLC_EXP_Part01" and it should get rid of it.
But anyway, I'm glad you got it working! Any other problems just let me know~
I installed this last night to test but it seems like it didn't work. Some files did show up in the backup folder, and the startup EA movies didn't play, but all of the other movies during the new game sequence played nonetheless. Does this have any particular requirements?
How many files out of 12 are being placed in "...\Movies\Bypass"? Also remember that some portions of the opening sequence are unavoidable as of right now, sadly. The Miranda-Illusive Man conversation at the very beginning, the short text-sprawl immediately after, and the 2 dialogue portions (the one with Kaiden/Ashley/Liara and the one with Joker) are unavoidable at the moment, up until Joker saying "oh no...", at which point it should cut to Genesis or the Character Creation loading screen).
I /am/ working on a way to get rid of the intro sequence entirely so we can all just start immediately at Genesis/Character Creation, but as we know ME2 is very "unfriendly" when it comes to modding. But yes, let me know if all 12 *.bik files are being moved, because if not I'll certainly take a look. If all 12 are in the \Bypass do a quick check for them in the \Movies folder as well; if you mod a lot like I do sometimes we end up with duplicate files, so I just wanna cover everything just in case.
These are the files that got moved - https://i.imgur.com/oVIVnfg.png
And yeah, I had done this manually before in a previous install so I remember how it looked when the movies weren't there, which is how I realized that it didn't seem to be working quite right (particularly the "they're coming around for another attack" part and the whole surgery sequence as well). So I'm familiar with those. As I said the game startup movies were indeed missing (thank gawd) but the other ones still played.
There are no duplicates in the movies folder either, so it seems like the bat file is indeed doing its job but my game is being stupid. Maybe it would help if I moved the backup folder to, say, the desktop? I dunno if the game has become sentient enough to still see the movie files in a subfolder of the movies folder lol.
So the two you mentioned ("coming around for another attack" and the surgery sequence) would be: • "Opening_End_Seq.bik" (and "Opening_End_SeqFM.bik" for FemShep) and • "ProNor_Shepard_Rebuilt.bik"
But at least we know they are all being moved properly, so that's good. I did notice that your copy of "Opening_End_SeqFM.bik" seems like it could be corrupted possibly (just at a glance due to the filesize saying "1 KB"; which should normally be something like 148.788 KB) and also the same with "BWLogo.bik", which should be somewhere around 8.000 KB. I doubt that it's related to the problem, but I just noticed it as an anomaly there.
Either way, thanks for letting me know; since you're having some issues with it, that means it could easily happen again with anyone so I'll probably end up just tweaking the code so those files are /renamed/ rather than moved to a sub-directory. That way, in case it's an issue with OS version or something of that nature it should work without issue.
EDIT: I've gone ahead and updated it like I mentioned. With the files actually renamed to an unknown format, they should be totally unusable to the game until "returned" via the batch. I hope this fixes things. If not, just let me know, and thanks again for all the input.
Oh, sorry I didn't answer last night but I went to bed early lol! Thanks for the new version. I didn't even realize some of my movie files may be corrupted... I'm reinstalling the game thru Steam right now, so I'll download the new version you uploaded and test it later so I can report back. fingers crossed and thanks again! I'll let you know how it fares!
I just got done testing and it worked perfectly! Thank you so much for the update. It all went swimmingly and the movies didn't play. Perfect :)
Something funny I noticed is that the audio still played. Not a problem of course but it was amusing to walk around the destroyed Normandy before talking to Joker while the sound of the escape pods popping out played (I have played the game A LOT... these sounds are burned into my memory lol!) and screams were heard around. I think it made it more exciting hehe!
Anyway thanks for the update, I'll be saving a copy of this in case I end up having to reinstall the game again in the future. You rock! Endorsed :)
Yeah, I'll never understand why the devs decided to use separate audio and video files for a lot of the game's cinematics; probably a combination of making dialogue easier to match up and also just poor file-setup? Who knows...
Thanks again for all your input and endorsement! Any other problems, just let me know; enjoy, my friend!
16 comments
Install this mod and read installation
Should work
Could it perhaps be because i'm using ALOV?
eta i had dlcs backed up and i copied them over and now zaeed and overlord are not authorized lol
https://imgur.com/MwyJUTR
I don't believe this is as much to do with the batch file as it is just ME2 being inhospitable; but regardless, we can fix it rather simply I think, and I always like to help where I can.
So first off, the DLC_EXP_Part01 folder is the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC; and according to the screenshot it just isn't registering as what ME2 finds to be "legitimate" or "complete" so if there's some form of corruption in there it should be fixed with a simple reinstallation of that DLC (if you have problems with that send me a PM).
Secondly then, the files for Zaeed and Overlord are DLC_HEN_VT and DLC_UNC_Pack01, respectively. In your screenshot those two are registering as unauthorized, so to fix that we should be able to just use a DLC Patch found here:
https://github.com/Erik-JS/masseffect-binkw32
So... 1.) Download that patch in the link above (it includes patches for all three games also, in case you ever need them), 2.) Then make sure you have the fresh backed up Zaeed and Overlord files, and also a fresh LotSB file where they need to be in the game's directory, 3.) And then finally go to the "masseffect-binkw32/ME2/Release/" folder in the downloaded files and copy paste the "binkw32.dll" and the "binkw23.dll" to the ME2 Binaries folder (make sure to backup your original .dll files there (the binkw32 and binkw23 if you have one there). That /should/ fix the problem with Zaeed and Overlord and may also fix the issue with the DLC_EXP_Part01 content being "corrupted". Like I said if you still get that notification about DLC_EXP_Part01 being corrupted or anything just PM me. Let me know if everything works! And again I'm sorry it took so long to reply ><
EDIT:
Also just to clarify on what we're doing here, ME2 does a "verification" of all DLC files when it starts in order to check to see if they're "originals" or unaltered in some way; of course mods that affect these DLC files will naturally then cause ME2 to mark them as a "no-go". That's where these patched binkw32/23.dll files come in, they automagically allow the DLC files to be verified regardless of any modification made to them. Anything that even touches those files can cause them to become "unauthorized" in that way, so this patch should make sure that doesn't happen for you in the future as well. If you already knew all this I apologize, I just wanted to be sure~
thats odd about the lair of the shadow broker because i don't have that dlc...... i have a lot of mods though. no dlcs. mostly textures, no mini games, using a controller
https://imgur.com/ci9rEJ2
But anyway, I'm glad you got it working! Any other problems just let me know~
I /am/ working on a way to get rid of the intro sequence entirely so we can all just start immediately at Genesis/Character Creation, but as we know ME2 is very "unfriendly" when it comes to modding. But yes, let me know if all 12 *.bik files are being moved, because if not I'll certainly take a look. If all 12 are in the \Bypass do a quick check for them in the \Movies folder as well; if you mod a lot like I do sometimes we end up with duplicate files, so I just wanna cover everything just in case.
And yeah, I had done this manually before in a previous install so I remember how it looked when the movies weren't there, which is how I realized that it didn't seem to be working quite right (particularly the "they're coming around for another attack" part and the whole surgery sequence as well). So I'm familiar with those. As I said the game startup movies were indeed missing (thank gawd) but the other ones still played.
There are no duplicates in the movies folder either, so it seems like the bat file is indeed doing its job but my game is being stupid. Maybe it would help if I moved the backup folder to, say, the desktop? I dunno if the game has become sentient enough to still see the movie files in a subfolder of the movies folder lol.
• "Opening_End_Seq.bik" (and "Opening_End_SeqFM.bik" for FemShep) and
• "ProNor_Shepard_Rebuilt.bik"
But at least we know they are all being moved properly, so that's good. I did notice that your copy of "Opening_End_SeqFM.bik" seems like it could be corrupted possibly (just at a glance due to the filesize saying "1 KB"; which should normally be something like 148.788 KB) and also the same with "BWLogo.bik", which should be somewhere around 8.000 KB. I doubt that it's related to the problem, but I just noticed it as an anomaly there.
Either way, thanks for letting me know; since you're having some issues with it, that means it could easily happen again with anyone so I'll probably end up just tweaking the code so those files are /renamed/ rather than moved to a sub-directory. That way, in case it's an issue with OS version or something of that nature it should work without issue.
EDIT:
I've gone ahead and updated it like I mentioned. With the files actually renamed to an unknown format, they should be totally unusable to the game until "returned" via the batch. I hope this fixes things. If not, just let me know, and thanks again for all the input.
Something funny I noticed is that the audio still played. Not a problem of course but it was amusing to walk around the destroyed Normandy before talking to Joker while the sound of the escape pods popping out played (I have played the game A LOT... these sounds are burned into my memory lol!) and screams were heard around. I think it made it more exciting hehe!
Anyway thanks for the update, I'll be saving a copy of this in case I end up having to reinstall the game again in the future. You rock! Endorsed :)
Thanks again for all your input and endorsement! Any other problems, just let me know; enjoy, my friend!