I know there is a slim chance that we will ever see it, but here is my vote for a version of this mod that can be customized so that it retains the original functionality and omni gel cost for containers. I like the removal of the minigame on minerals and artifacts as it seems rather pointless, but I feel like having no cost for opening containers screws up the economy of the game a bit too much.
I don't really see how it screws up the economy of the game, since in vanilla you always have the choice to play the minigame and not pay anything. So it's in-game resource vs. player time.
But I'll keep your suggestion in mind if I revisit this mod in the future, it may not be too difficult to add an installation option.
I think I found the the values responsible for the omni gel requirements.
One thing I noticed: During UNC: Espionage Probe, the bomb cannot be diffused as the mini game doesn't show up. It seems omni gel is automatically used but the values do not correspond to the vanilla game.
Hm I'll have a look, though it's the first time I hear of this, and with the number of people using this mod I doubt it would softlock anything. It just skips the mini game on the bomb and defuses it automatically?
Yes, it works by automatically using omni gel. It's just very underwhelming in the context of the quest.
Here's a video of the normal behavior without the mod (at 10:58):
And this is the behavior with the mod:
It costs 1, 2 and then 3 omni gel to defuse the bomb. Having the minigame here would be great, but I assume it would take manual effort to add it back in.
Ok so you can defuse the bombs, but my mod skips the mini-games. Which is reasonably expected given its name. But I see your point, in the case of that quest it has the side-effect of removing the tension of having to do it quickly. I'll have a look when I have time, but I guess those mini-games are called by the game in the same way as for the minerals so my mod can't really differentiate. Not sure where the omnigel cost comes from though, that's weird.. Thanks for the report/info!
I assume the files for the probe would need to be edited to call another instance of the minigame. However, it would seem that there's some kind of modifier for the omni gel cost as it is at 100 in vanilla (and other costs depend on the difficulty).
Technically it's very difficult to see what's going on, because a lot of the code is "native" (in the .exe rather than the unreal packages) and we can't even look at it (let alone modify it). But these minigames are called by the game in different ways, and possibly with some additional parameters. For the minerals I was able to make a short cut around some invisible code, and that did the trick. I guess those are called in the same way and so are affected by the short cut as well, but maybe with different parameters which define the omnigel cost. Might be able to make the shortcut conditional, but no idea... it's not just plain coding, it's finding loopholes around invisible code.
Thanks for the explanation. I'm not very proficient at ME/LE modding as of now. Back when I originally played the OT, we only had a program called TexModder and no ways of actually modifying the game content. But I've been active in the modding community of other games for several years and I do get that we as modders are very much limited by the inability to alter source code.
I love this mod. Thank you. I can't stand the decryption minigame in ME1, but I also don't like wasting resources bypassing it. This solved that problem for me.
While this is awesome and thank you for doing the mod, it would have been cool if they could have put in the console mini-game for ME1 instead of the one the pc version got......*shudders*
I can't believe it took me this long to finally use this mod. I've been using most of your QoL mods for months except for this one and I don't know how it flew under my nose :D
No you do not need to start a new game. I'd suggest starting by re-applying the mod with mod manager (it's possible that some other mod overwrote the changes). Then check in Mod Manager > Manage Target (for LE1) > modified basegame files, that SFXGame.pcc is modified by Skip Minigames. If it still doesn't work, you can make a log from one of the menus in mod manager, and post the URL here.
I am having the same issue. I click apply mod for this, but it does not apply it to the SFXGame.pcc file. The only mods applied to that file are LE1 Community Patch, and Vignette Remover. I have also restored the file to original and the apply only this mod first, but it still would not apply. When applying the mod, it gets to running autoTOC at 0%, and then stops.
Here is the log: https://me3tweaks.com/modmanager/logservice/logviewer?logid=09764984d9ac16aa0e204f855fabdd25
It appears that this mod is not compatible with the LE1 Community Patch. The mod wasn't working for me, so I checked the Modiefied Basegame Files in ME3Tweaks Mod Manager, and it did not show up as modifying SFXGame.pcc. I restored the game to vanilla and installed this mod first. Checking Modified Basegame Files again, showed the mod properly modifying SFXGame.pcc, but as soon as I installed the LE1 Community Patch, the SFXGame.pcc file was re-modified, and this mod no longer showed. The same thing happens with the mod N7 Mako. XP Rescale and Remove Screen Shake basically wipe out every other mod modifying SFXGame.pcc, including this mod.. Also, just as an aside; although I see it is a different author, Skip Minigame LE2 IS comppatible with the Unofficial Mass Effect LE2 Patch.
It should be compatible with community patch. What Mod Manager shows in modified basegame files seems to not always be 100% reliable. Best way to check if the mod is properly installed is to check in-game if it works.
With the exception of Black Market License (which needs to be installed first), those type of mods typically do not wipe out other changes to SFXGame.pcc (but then again it's possible that not everything shows up properly in modified basegame files). XP Rescale doesn't even touch SFXGame.pcc at all, only Engine.pcc.
I'm just telling you what I saw first hand, by checking the Basegame files after installing each mod. And you are correct, I mistakenly said that XP Rescale was overwriting SFXGame.pcc file, and it does not. You have to forgive an old man (nearly 70) for the occassional memory issues after surviving two strokes. Gaming actually helped me recover from both. Once I determined which files were overwriting SFXGame.pcc and affecting other mods in the process, I went through the tedious process of resetting the game to vanilla and checking those mods individually against each of the other mods I was using, one at a time, to confirm which mods were being wiped out by the overwrites, and which were unaffected. Doesn't matter anyway, since even with Skip Minigame (LE1) installed and showing up properly, the minigames are not being skipped; containers, doors, or otherwise.
Not all minigames are completely skipped with this mod: for the ones on mineral deposits and artifacts on UNC planets, the minigames should disappear completely and the rewards are granted directly, but for containers etc, the first decrypt panel will show normally but it can then be skipped with 0 omnigel.
I understand that, but I'm saying that no minigame at any point was skipped. I still had to do them for the minerals, crashed probes, doors, locked containers on the Citadel, etc. It's undoubtedly an issue on my end, not an issue with your mod (BTW, I always had Black Market Licences installed first), but I invested two days trying to get it working. Even when it and the Community Patch werer the only two mods installed, Skipped Minigames did nothing. I've played ME1 and MELE1 a combined total of 90+ times over the course of 15 years (Two play throughs each on Veteran, Hardcore, and Insanity each time, at least once a year), but this is the first time I decided to use this mod. I don't hate the minigames, and I would rather be playing the game than fighting to get one mod working, when I have 19 others that are working without any issue. Well, four of those are texture mods, so they don't count. Thank you for taking the time to respond and trying to help me resolve the issue, though. Thank you for the hard work that I know went into creating the mod. Even though I could not get the mod to work for me, I do appreciate all of that, and for that reason, I have endorsed it.
Well, I'm sorry if it doesn't work for you. I doubt there is a compatibility issue with the community patch, I guess it's always possible... but since both mods are rather popular, I'd be getting a lot more reports and complaints. And in your specific case, it's hard to troubleshoot without complete info, so I'm going for the most likely explanations.
Anyway, I'd say that in general, to check whether a specific mod is working... start from a clean backup restore with mod manager, install only that mod, and check in-game if it works. Then add other mods progressively. If you're not willing to go through that trouble, maybe get a save right in front of a mineral deposit or something, and just try reinstalling Skip Minigames over everything (this one is safe even if you already have texture mods).
I already said that I had done precisely that. I said it took two days to go through all my mods one at a time, checking them against each other. I also said that 15 other content mods were all working perfectly, but that even when your mod and the Commuinity Patch were the only two mods installed, your mod did not work; so emperical evidence indicates that there is in fact a compatibility issue.
Okay, time to put this all in the past, and get on with the important busiiness of actually playing the game, albeit with one mod less than I had planned on. Have a good one.
You didn't say whether the mod worked when installed from a clean backup restore, only that it showed properly in modified basegame files (which, like I wrote, should not be taken as a 100% reliable indicator). And you definitely didn't say that you tried (re)installing Skip Minigames after the community patch and any other mods. These mods seem to work fine in combination for thousands of people, so you'll forgive me if I'm not too convinced by your empirical evidence. Just trying to give some stuff that you can try. If you've already tried everything you're willing to try, that's fine.. though in that case the convo was maybe a bit pointless from the start.
FWIW, I tested clean installations a total of 120 times over the course of two days (I did state that I spent two days checking them). If you understand combinations and factorials, that is a set of 16 items (the mods I was using, including this one) taken 2 at a time 16!/(2!(16-2)!) = 120. I simply was not prepared to sit here and type out all 120 individual results, and so summarized them. I assumed that would be sufficient, but apparently not. My mistake.
Okay look, you and I have spent far too much of our time on this, and I never intended it to become an argument; so let's both just agree to end it here, all right? I won't bother you any longer about it, and you don't have to keep tryiing to prove that I was too lazy to do all the necessary work to show that the mod was not working.
As I said, I do appreciate all the work you do on your mods. I use seven other of your mods. I have had no trouble with any of them, endorsed all seven, and wouldn't play without them.
I'm not sure why you felt you had to test all combinations, if there was only one mod that was not working. Despite my inability to comprehend and extrapolate, it seems that at most 14 out of those 105 combinations are possibly relevant here. And your binomial total won't account for installation order, which might actually matter... this is why I suggested to re-install Skip Minigames over everything.
Well, you answered me before I could edit my post, so I will take this last opportunity to explain. It appeared that one of two mods was overwriting many of the others, including this one, so I felt it necessry to test all of them.
I'm having the same issue, not having it shown in Modified Basegame files and not seeing it ingame, either. I just re-applied the mod in the mod manager after everything else, then it worked in-game, but still SFX isn't even listed in the modified game.
Well, yep it's what I was answering to the other person: - reapply the mod after everything else, if it works for you then it's all good there's no issue - the info in modified basegame files appears to not always be 100% reliable
Just came here to leave an update, as I also have a compability issue stated above.
However upon just ignoring and just accepting to do the cursed minigames, I discovered that the community patch which overrides this mod actually makes it so 0 omni-gel is consumed when using the skip function.
I feel dumb because I haven't actually read the full notes of the community patch, so I'm guessing it is intentional?
The community patch does not override this mod (Black Market License might, and must be installed before Skip Minigames). The community patch does not make it so that 0 omni-gel is consumed, this mod does.
Not sure I understand what you mean? Restore the normal amount of omnigel needed for bypass, instead of 0, for the minigames that are not completely skipped (e.g. on containers)?
Hm, but that's kind of what the mod does, to "skip" those specific minigames (since I haven't found a better solution, a complete skip looks like it would require changing every container individually). That said I could put it as optional... It won't be right away, but I'll keep your suggestion in mind. I more or less plan to go through my released mods and make some updates, I'll see when I get to this one.
126 comments
Perfect, thank you :)
But I'll keep your suggestion in mind if I revisit this mod in the future, it may not be too difficult to add an installation option.
Any chance for a version that only affects the salvage/mining parts of the game?
I'd still like having to decrypt in other instances.
One thing I noticed: During UNC: Espionage Probe, the bomb cannot be diffused as the mini game doesn't show up. It seems omni gel is automatically used but the values do not correspond to the vanilla game.
It just skips the mini game on the bomb and defuses it automatically?
Here's a video of the normal behavior without the mod (at 10:58):
And this is the behavior with the mod:
It costs 1, 2 and then 3 omni gel to defuse the bomb. Having the minigame here would be great, but I assume it would take manual effort to add it back in.
But I see your point, in the case of that quest it has the side-effect of removing the tension of having to do it quickly. I'll have a look when I have time, but I guess those mini-games are called by the game in the same way as for the minerals so my mod can't really differentiate. Not sure where the omnigel cost comes from though, that's weird..
Thanks for the report/info!
I assume the files for the probe would need to be edited to call another instance of the minigame. However, it would seem that there's some kind of modifier for the omni gel cost as it is at 100 in vanilla (and other costs depend on the difficulty).
But these minigames are called by the game in different ways, and possibly with some additional parameters. For the minerals I was able to make a short cut around some invisible code, and that did the trick. I guess those are called in the same way and so are affected by the short cut as well, but maybe with different parameters which define the omnigel cost. Might be able to make the shortcut conditional, but no idea... it's not just plain coding, it's finding loopholes around invisible code.
I've been using most of your QoL mods for months except for this one and I don't know how it flew under my nose :D
I'd suggest starting by re-applying the mod with mod manager (it's possible that some other mod overwrote the changes). Then check in Mod Manager > Manage Target (for LE1) > modified basegame files, that SFXGame.pcc is modified by Skip Minigames.
If it still doesn't work, you can make a log from one of the menus in mod manager, and post the URL here.
Here is the log: https://me3tweaks.com/modmanager/logservice/logviewer?logid=09764984d9ac16aa0e204f855fabdd25
What Mod Manager shows in modified basegame files seems to not always be 100% reliable. Best way to check if the mod is properly installed is to check in-game if it works.
With the exception of Black Market License (which needs to be installed first), those type of mods typically do not wipe out other changes to SFXGame.pcc (but then again it's possible that not everything shows up properly in modified basegame files). XP Rescale doesn't even touch SFXGame.pcc at all, only Engine.pcc.
And in your specific case, it's hard to troubleshoot without complete info, so I'm going for the most likely explanations.
Anyway, I'd say that in general, to check whether a specific mod is working... start from a clean backup restore with mod manager, install only that mod, and check in-game if it works. Then add other mods progressively. If you're not willing to go through that trouble, maybe get a save right in front of a mineral deposit or something, and just try reinstalling Skip Minigames over everything (this one is safe even if you already have texture mods).
Okay, time to put this all in the past, and get on with the important busiiness of actually playing the game, albeit with one mod less than I had planned on. Have a good one.
Okay look, you and I have spent far too much of our time on this, and I never intended it to become an argument; so let's both just agree to end it here, all right? I won't bother you any longer about it, and you don't have to keep tryiing to prove that I was too lazy to do all the necessary work to show that the mod was not working.
As I said, I do appreciate all the work you do on your mods. I use seven other of your mods. I have had no trouble with any of them, endorsed all seven, and wouldn't play without them.
- reapply the mod after everything else, if it works for you then it's all good there's no issue
- the info in modified basegame files appears to not always be 100% reliable
However upon just ignoring and just accepting to do the cursed minigames, I discovered that the community patch which overrides this mod actually makes it so 0 omni-gel is consumed when using the skip function.
I feel dumb because I haven't actually read the full notes of the community patch, so I'm guessing it is intentional?
The community patch does not make it so that 0 omni-gel is consumed, this mod does.
The mini-games are utter trash; that's not why I'm playing ME!
Great stuff!!!