Thanks to new technology, modders can dig up official unused voice files found in Mass Effect: Legendary Edition to implement more same-sex romances than are officially supported in the trilogy, such as a relationship between FemShep and Miranda Lawson.
This was already possible long ago as both voice actors for Commander Shepard, Mark Meer and Jennifer Hale, recorded all dialogue for both characters regardless of any gender-specific related content. Sometimes players mistake this for an early intention to support same-sex romances only to get scrapped down the line, but this is fairly common practice in game development. Cyberpunk 2077 saw some controversy after modders discovered there were male V voice files romancing Judy, a lesbian character. But like what BioWare intended for Mass Effect, this is simply done to avoid accidentally missing some lines and having to record them later on. Still, this leaves some content for modders to have some fun with.
Despite the backlash that came after a report from TheGamer detailed how Jack's pansexuality was censored in Mass Effect 2, a female Shepard still cannot start a romantic relationship with her. Likewise, male Shepards cannot date Jacob Taylor, despite the fact that the gay romance was originally modeled after Brokeback Mountain. So when it comes to Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, those wanting more gay romance are forced to turn to mods.
But another report from TheGamer's Cian Maher on the matter explains how there are voice files regarding same-sex romance for the characters Jack, Jacob, Kaidan, Ashley, Miranda, Thane, and Tali. Speaking to Ryan "Audemus" Ainsworth, a prominent figure in the modding community, the modder reveals that there's dialogue present for many unused scenes, not just unintentional same-sex options for Commander Shepard.
For example, in the game's files, there's complete dialogue for a cut romance with Ashley and Kaidan, as well as other romantic scenes that were consciously cut from the Mass Effect trilogy, possibly a romance between a female Shepard and Jack.
But why this is happening now rather than years ago when each game released boils down to the technology that is now available. Now, modders can add new audio and sync them with the character models in a way that wasn't as feasible before. Even when Mass Effect 3 released in 2012, doing this was very limited, Audemus explains, and during Mass Effect 2, audio-related modding projects weren't possible at all.
This essentially means that the material that's always been there for modders to play with is now useable, and considering how soon after Cyberpunk's release that aforementioned Judy romance mod dropped, it probably won't be too long before PC players see mods that finally allow FemShep to date Jack.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Source: TheGamer
