Mass Effect's Cut Planets & Missions Being Modded Into Legendary Edition
Modders are adding cut content into Mass Effect Legendary Edition that will restore missions and planets left out in the original trilogy. Mass Effect modders had updated or debugged the series long before Legendary Edition was released. Now with the remastered games out, modders are combing over the files for even more content to add. The newly uncovered files, previously unusable due to technological limitations, can now be implemented with modern modding tools.
Most Mass Effect mods redo the textures for characters and environments or fix bugs still prevalent in the games. Most notable of the mods use game files to create new options for players during playthroughs. Cut content in games is nothing new. Developers tend to cut content because of time or budget constraints during the development of games. However, with so many remakes and remasters, this content can return, as is the case with NieR: Replicant.
In an interview with TheGamer, modder Ryan “Audemus” Ainsworth explains what and how he plans to use the unused audio files from Mass Effect in Legendary Edition. The cut audio relates to “Global” missions that involved venturing out across the galaxy to complete. Three of these quest types were planned for Mass Effect but ultimately scrapped before launch. Audio from one of the missions has Shepard investigating a secret war between the Hanar, the jelly-like sentient tentacle aliens seen in the Citadel, and the Lystheni, a “cultural offshoot of Salarians.” Ainsworth helps manage Mass Effect Modding, a community responsible for many of the cut content mods available. He is also responsible for creating the A Lot Of Videos mod that upscales cutscenes in the Mass Effect trilogy to 4K resolutions. Ainsworth shared some of the audio uncovered in videos with TheGamer.
“These kinds of mods are the most exciting to me. When you’re using cut content, it doesn’t necessarily create that ‘fanfiction’ feel that some mods have, since the mod is built around what the original writers wrote, and even what the original actors recorded,” Ainsworth says."
Some, not all, of the three Global mission audio files are in Legendary Edition (only two of the missions have files). Ainsworth explains that since audio files are so small, they tend to stay in the game even if they aren’t used. Mass Effect Modding is currently working to implement cut audio files that enable gay relationships with Kaidan, Ashley, Jack, Jacob, Miranda, Thane, and Tali. Thanks to Legendary Edition, more of this content will be usable due to the updated Wwise audio technology and other systems.
Mass Effect Legendary Edition already has dozens of mods since release, with more undoubtedly in development. What the community will do with all of the uncovered files is unknown, but the possibilities are exciting. Hopefully, the mods from the community will have feature more cut content to flesh out the official lore still buried in the game.
Mass Effect Legendary Edition is available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
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