Glossary

Last updated on 2018-05-23

Basegame

Basegame files are files that shipped only with the vanilla game of Mass Effect 3. Typically refers to files in the BIOGame folder.

Binkw32.dll Bypass

THe binkw32 bypass will allow you to use modified DLC and access the console every time you run the game. This replaced LauncherWV back in 2014.

BioWare

The company that developed the Mass Effect series. They are owned by Electronic Arts.

BSN

BioWare Social Network. Home to some infamous Mass Effect 3 trolls and occasionally some decent content.

Coalesced

Coalesced is a file containing a plethora of variables the game uses. It has multiple files spread through the basegame and DLCs as well as on ME3 servers. It is a compiled binary file that must be decompiled to edit.

Custom DLC

DLC folders that are not made by BioWare. Others may call these things like DLC mods, but Mod Manager and ME3Tweaks denotes them as Custom DLC.

DLC

Downloadable Content. It is extra content released after the launch of a game, unless it is From Ashes, which is clearly removed from the game to be sold.

Export

Exports in PCC files are objects that are local to that file. This can include things like scripts, models, variables, etc.

Health gate

A state when health of the player is fully depleted, but not yet down. During this state there is a short damage reduction.

Import

Imports in PCC files are references to exports already in memory by other game packages. Note that declaring an import will not load it - it must be previously loaded or the game will crash.

Kit

A kit is a character, typically considering multiplayer, with a combination of powers, appearance, weapons, and other variables related to a unique character.

LauncherWV Bypass

EXE created by Warranty Voider that patches Mass Effect 3 (when in memory) to force the game to authorize modified DLC. LauncherWV has been fully replaced by binkw32 bypass.

ME3Explorer

Toolkit for modifying Mass Effect 3. It's the swiss army knife if you want to do any sort of complex editing.

Mod Descriptor

A subkey in the moddesc.ini files used by Mod Manager. Examples are moddir, moddev, and modsite.

moddesc

Mod Manager Mod Descriptor file. This file is how Mod Manager detects mods in the mods folder, and how to install it. Includes metadata like description and version, as well as info about what new files to place, where to place them, and any automatic or manual configuration options.

Name

Names in PCC files are exactly that - a name of something. Variable names for everything are compiled into a table and are referenced by their index number. The name table effectively let us reverse engineer significant parts of game files.

Nexus

Reference to NexusMods.

PCC

PCC files are the 'packages' for Mass Effect games. They contain everything from models to scripts to levels and can be modified to some degree with ME3Explorer.

PCConsoleTOC

PCConsoleTOC files are index files that map a filename to the size. This file is loaded when the game starts up as well as when loading a DLC so it knows how much memory to allocate. If you mod files and don't make this big enough, the game will crash.

PUG/PUGS

Pick Up Group. Essentially a public match with randoms.

Ragdoll

Ragdoll is a state when something goes limp. Most commonly this is what happens when a character dies or is incapacitated.

SFAR

SFAR is the extension used by DLC files in Mass Effect 3. They are all named Default.sfar and are essentially proprietary zip files. Inside they contain compressed directories that are similar in structure to the main game directory.

Shield gate

A state when a shield or barrier is broken. When the shield is broken, damage is reduced or negated entirely for a small period of time.

SuperCoal

Supercoal was a project that took all the DLC Coalesced's and merged them into the main one. It worked to some degree, but many things were broken, like the store, display values, and overall was too buggy for realisitic use.

Sync Kill

A synchronized perma-death kill. The banshee, atlas, praetorian, scion and brute can all do sync kills in which you die instantly.

TESTPATCH

The internal name for the Patch_001.sfar file located in BIOGame\Patches\PCConsole. It carries higher restrictions on edits than normal SFAR files due it being loaded as soon as the game is started.

TOC

Table of Contents file. Always named PCConsoleTOC.bin, these files contain the size of every file in the same folder and subfolders. Always located next to a CookedPCConsole Directory, they are used to tell the engine how much memory to allocate for each file. If the size is too small, the game will hang.

UE3

Unreal Engine 3. The base engine that powers Mass Effect 1, Mass Effect 2, and Mass Effect 3, and alot of other games too.

Unpacked File

Unpacked files are DLC files that have files moved out of the SFARs.