Alistair Dialog Patch Readme
Alistair Dialog Patch
By Lady Olivia
Version 1.0 (January 21, 2010)
Index:
1. Description
In a highly polished game such as Dragon Age: Origins, even the smallest mistakes and omissions tend to stand out. Ever cringed at the broken kiss cutscene in the camp? Raised an eyebrow at nonsensical bits of otherwise perfect conversations? Wondered how the game could have forgotten one of the most important consequences of the Landsmeet quest during endgame? If so, you’re in the right place.
This OC extension aims to fix all the little (and some not so little) inconsistencies that can be noticed in Alistair’s conversations, including missing or broken cutscenes, repeated dialog, inappropriate conditionals and absent branches. All the new lines of dialog (around 20 the last time I counted) are voiced by recycling the existing voice-overs. The new cutscenes are also minimally modified versions of materials from the OC.
The addon does not add new conversations, romance or plot options – only addresses the problems with existing ones, and only those related to Alistair.
This is the detailed list of features:
- Fixed the endgame conversations with Morrigan and Alistar in Redcliffe Castle, about the ritual. Now both will behave properly if Alistair is not the king.
- Fixed a bug that stopped Anora from showing up and speaking in Redcliffe Castle prior to the siege of Denerim as sole queen (with Alistair still in the party, but not the king).
- Fixed the bug that let Alistair give the rallying speech prior to the siege of Denerim even if he is not the king.
- Fixed the endgame conversation at the Gates of Denerim where the player says goodbye to all party members. Now Alistair will behave properly if in active romance or still in love with the player; in particular, two or three dialog options can now lead to a goodbye kiss.
- Fixed the endgame conversation at the roof of Fort Drakon where it is to be decided who gets to kill the Archdemon. Now Alistair will behave properly if he is not the king.
- Fixed the romance-related dialog that Alistair initiates after making love, dealing with the future of the relationship. Now the player will behave properly if Alistair is not the king.
- Fixed the romance-related dialog that the player can initiate after making love, dealing with the future of the relationship. Now Alistair will behave properly if he is not the king, if he is marrying the player, and if he is not changed.
- Fixed a post-Landsmeet dialog with Alistair that was supposed to appear in the case the player selected Anora as sole queen, while choosing to punish Loghain for his crimes. This originally unreachable dialog is now unlocked.
- Fixed Anora's epilogue dialog so that now she will not speak of Alistair as if he were alive in case he is not.
- Changed the conversation about other party members so that now it will only appear after all the quests to gather allies are complete (before the Landsmeet).
- Fixed the early-game conversation about the Joining that was originally unreachable. Now you may try to persuade Alistair into speaking about the ritual after Duncan has sent you on the quest to get the darkspawn blood.
- Fixed the broken kiss cutscene prior to making love.
- Fixed the issue of kissing music overlapping with music in cutscenes that follow (the sex cutscene; goodbye kiss before entering Denerim; gooodbye kiss at the roof of Fort Drakon).
- Replaced the “Something you need, my dear?” response with “My love?”
- Replaced the “Well, we're in camp. Now's as good a time as any to talk, right?” response (which will only appear once) with a palette of shorter responses appropriate for the level of intimacy the player has reached with Alistair.
- Replaced the in-camp kissing response “A-ha! I see talking isn't quite what you had in mind. Got it.” (which will only appear once) to “At your service.”
- Untangled Alistair's adore/jealousy dialogs so that the crossovers are now minimal. Alistair will now ask about Zevran if the player slept with Zevran before reaching "adore" approval rating. Also unlocked the first-kiss cutscene in the case Alistair’s confession results from questioning the player’s relationship with another party member.
- Modified the endgame slideshow to acknowledge some early-game dialog choices related to Alistair and also to treat Alistair’s kingship in a more realistic manner.
- Tweaked the volume levels of some voice-overs that seemed either too quiet or too loud originally.
- And the silliest of all: Alistair will now keep his eyes closed while kissing (applies to the two goodbye-kisses during endgame, where you can actually see Alistair's face).
2. Installation
You can install the mod automatically, using DAUpdater, or manually, by copying files yourself.
If you choose the automatic installation, you will be able to enable/disable the mod from in-game, under "Downloadable content". If you install manually, this won't be possible, but you will be able to control how individual files override your installation.
Installation using DAUpdater
- Ensure that Dragon Age is not running.
- Download the .dazip file to your desktop (or wherever you like).
- Open the “daupdater” program in your \Dragon Age\bin_ship folder (usually C:\Program Files\Dragon Age\bin_ship).
- Drag-and-drop the file to be installed into the updater window; it should appear in the updater window in the “Content Name” column.
- Select the content in the updater window by left-clicking on it, then clicking the “Install Selected” button at the bottom of the updater window.
- Once the “Status” column for the content reads “Installed” close the updater.
- The content should now be available in-game under "Downloadable content".
Manual installation
- Ensure that Dragon Age is not running.
- Download the .zip file to your desktop (or wherever you like) and extract it.
- Copy the entire "lo_alistair_dlg_patch" folder into your local Dragon Age\AddIns folder (usually My Documents\Bioware\Dragon Age\AddIns).
3. Uninstallation
If the mod was installed using DAUpdater
- Disable the mod in-game by unchecking the "Enabled" box under "Downloadable content". This will stop the addin from showing up in your game. The steps that follow will completely erase the addin from your hard-drive.
- Ensure that Dragon Age is not running.
- Delete the following files and folders:
- My Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\AddIns\lo_alistair_dlg_patch
- My Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\packages\core\data\lo_ali_dlg_patch_package.erf
- Open the the AddIns.xml file in My Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\Settings and delete the
block for the addin. You can find the block by searching for "Alistair Dialog Patch". Make sure to take out the entire contents of the addin's block, starting at " " and ending with " ". Save the AddIns.xml file.
If the mod was installed manually
- Ensure that Dragon Age is not running.
- Delete the entire "lo_alistair_dlg_patch" folder from your local Dragon Age\AddIns folder (usually My Documents\Bioware\Dragon Age\AddIns).
4. Compatibility and known issues
I believe this addin will conflict with any other addin that overrides the resources I have modified. These are the modified resources:
- alistair_main.dlg
- cutscene_slideshow.dlg
- epi_anora.dlg
- morrigan_main.dlg
- party_camp.dlg
- party_events.dlg
- alistair_main.fev
- alistair_main.fsb
- alistair_talked.plo
- cli300_riordan.dlg/.dlb
- cli400_the_speech.dlg/.dlb
- cli300ar_redcliffe_castle.nss/.ncs
- cli420ar_city_gates_cutscn.nss/.ncs
- genpt_alistair_defined.nss/.ncs
- genpt_romance_triangles.nss/.ncs
- plt_genpt_alistair_talked.nss/.ncs
- genpt_alistair_talked.plo
Known issues
- The endgame slideshow has been altered to acknowledge if the player said she would go with Alistair to find Duncan's home. If you had the conversation in question prior to loading the addin, your choice won't have been registered, so you won't get the slide that mentions it.
- The newly added lines don't show up in the Journal.
5. Credits, contact & legal
Thanks to:
- Bioware developers for making Dragon Age: Origins and for staying in touch with the community.
- All the people at Bioware Social who supported the mod, whether through bug reports, encouragement or constructive criticism.
- Special thanks goes to weebeady, Neriana, Midnight Voyager, leafstray, Mariessa, ValkyrieShan, mitimai and mcomommy for the time and effort they invested in testing the mod.
Contact:
Project page: http://social.bioware.com/project/1545
My site: http://olivia.aob.rs/dragonage/dragonage-mods-adp.html
My mail: olivia at aob.rs
Legal:
Please don't redistribute this mod, its parts or derivations without asking me first. If you need the source files, want to patch/merge, or just wish to say hi, feel free to contact me. :)