Some Mass Effect LE players have an artificially limited selection of languages in their original BioWare Mass Effect LE launcher. This custom launcher can be used to unlock all of the possible language options.
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Added a RestoreGUIOnExitGame setting to the config file (MassEffectLauncher.ini). This defaults to disabled, which now causes the custom launcher to close itself automatically when a Mass Effect game is exited, rather than the GUI being restored. It can be annoying when the GUI pops back up and steals your keyboard focus some time after you have already quit the game. If you prefer the old behaviour, which is more similar to the behaviour of the original BioWare launcher, you can enable RestoreGUIOnExitGame.
Version 2.2
Now supports changing all of the other options that were present in the original BioWare launcher, through editing of the config file (MassEffectLauncher.ini). Note that the config file is initially created when the custom launcher is first used. The options include:
#### Subtitle font size
#### Disable controller vibration
#### Enable gameplay telemetry (EA collects data)
#### Enable crash reporting (EA collects data)
Changed the 'English VO' language option to be enabled by default.
Added the original BioWare launcher icon to the pre-compiled EXE.
Added the option to launch the games from the system-tray menu.
Version 2.1
Now remembers your language choice.
Added the ability to select English spoken dialogue separate from the subtitle language (feature of the 7 June 2021 patch).
Renamed the launcher from AVX-Bypass to MELo. As of the 7 June 2021 patch, the original BioWare launcher no longer requires AVX instruction set support on your CPU. Now the most common use-case for the custom launcher will likely be to unlock all of the possible language options.
Version 2.0
Added the ability to select from all of the supported languages of the Mass Effect games.
Removed the need for each user to edit the source code of the launcher and compile it for themselves, as the script now uses its own location to determine where the game EXEs are.
Version 1.0
Initial release.
You may use the pre-compiled custom launcher EXE, or if you prefer you can compile it yourself from the AutoHotkey script file included. If you do want to compile it yourself, thankfully it is quite easy. The instructions for how to do this are provided in the readme file.
Besides the language options, which are available to change directly from the GUI, there are other options that can be changed through editing of the config file (MassEffectLauncher.ini). Note that the config file is initially created when the custom launcher is first used. These options include:
Subtitle font size
Disable controller vibration
Enable gameplay telemetry (EA collects data)
Enable crash reporting (EA collects data)
When you launch a Mass Effect game, the GUI will hide itself but the launcher will still be running in the background. When you exit a Mass Effect game, the launcher will close itself automatically. If you wish to have the GUI restore itself when you exit the game instead, which is more similar to the behavior of the original BioWare launcher, you can also enable the RestoreGUIOnExitGame option in the config file.
If you do use the RestoreGUIOnExitGame option, be sure to close the launcher using the x button when you have finished playing. (You can also close it from the system tray by right-clicking the custom launcher's icon there.) If you leave the launcher running, Steam will constantly count you as playing Mass Effect LE when you are not. This is harder to miss with the original BioWare launcher, since it's a full-screen application with music etc., but with the custom launcher you could easily idle with it running in the background for hours without realizing it. This isn't harmful or anything, but, like I say, Steam would then count you as playing Mass Effect LE for those hours.
Does this custom launcher:
Still allow achievements to still be earned? Yes, achievements still work fine.
Still keep Steam updated with hours played? Yes, but see the paragraph above if you enable the RestoreGUIOnExitGame option.
Bypass the Origin stuff? No, if you own Mass Effect Legendary Edition on Steam you will still need to have Origin running. Origin will still launch automatically if it is not running though.