ACE COMBAT 7: SKIES RESTORED - Version 1.1.5
By Cola



Thank you for downloading Skies Restored. This readme file is intended to guide you through installation.

I have personally quality-tested this mod. Additionally, a volunteer QA team has reported bugs to me as well. However, some bugs may still have slipped through the cracks, as we are not perfect. Please drop me a comment or bug report on Restored's NexusMods page if you run into any issues. Include any relevant details, such as your play session (what missions you played since booting the game), game version, pak files used, folder structure etc. DO NOT BE VAGUE.

Link to the Skies Restored Mega-Doc, which contains more helpful information on this project:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/187RdYMvMsyNkFLeARQx6PQtJu3tw44GVFYhC7eitWJc/edit?usp=sharing



:: DISCLAIMER ::
PLEASE READ THIS FILE CAREFULLY, AND DO NOT COAST THROUGH INSTALLATION *ESPECIALLY* WHEN IT COMES TO IMPROVED LOCALIZATION.
FAILURE TO DO SO WILL RESULT IN AN IMPROPER INSTALLATION, WHICH WILL CAUSE ISSUES UP TO AND INCLUDING FATAL ERROR CRASHES.



:: FILE NAMING SCHEME ::
~~[Skies Restored] Module Name (File Name)_P.pak

i.e. ~~[Skies Restored] IIGC Mission 19 (IGC 02 No Mihaly-Champ)_P.pak
This file is for the IIGC (Improved In-Game Cinematics) module, and affects Mission 19, Cutscene 02 by removing Mihaly and Champ from the scene.


Do not remove the _P from the end of the file name. This suffix forces the game to load it after all post-launch (DLC) files, ensuring that it replaces all necessary files.
Without the _P suffix, the mod will not function as intended.

Additionally, do not remove the tildes from the folder names. These increase the load priority and allows, say, Improved Localization to load ahead of other localization files.



:: REQUIREMENTS - DLC ::
None, though some mod changes are only visible with DLC.



:: REQUIREMENTS - MODS ::
None, though some mod changes are only visible when using addon aircraft mods.



:: FILES ::
Alright, let's get to the files! Please read the description of each file carefully, and decide which files you want to use and which you do not. If you are installing through Vortex, you can safely ignore this portion. If not, do not skip this section, or you may encounter installation errors!


== Cut Content Restored (CCR) ==
~~[Skies Restored] CCR (M-XY)_P - Cut Content Restored, Mission XY. Rescripts mission dialogue and restores cut voice lines.
~~[Skies Restored] CCR (EX-YZ)_P - Cut Content Restored, SP Mission YZ. Rescripts mission dialogue and restores cut voice lines.

~~[Skies Restored] CCR (M10 SFW)_P - A variant of Transfer Orders where a restored NSFW line from Count is replaced with his sigh from the original version of the mission. Incompatible with its base counterpart.
~~[Skies Restored] CCR (M11 Freyja)_P - A variant of Fleet Destruction that replaces the Aegis vessel Hœnir with the cut Aegis vessel Freyja. Incompatible with its base counterpart. USE IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE ASSOCIATED KYE FILE.
~~[Skies Restored] CCR (M19 No Confess)_P - A variant of Lighthouse where Georg does not confess his crime, with all other mission changes remaining intact. Incompatible with its base counterpart.



== Improved Localization ==
*NOTE: CHANGE YOUR GAME AND SUBTITLE LANGUAGE SETTINGS TO JAPANESE REGARDLESS OF LANGUAGE CHOICE!!!*
~~~~~~~~~~[Skies Restored] Improved Localization (EN)_P - Fixes typos and errors in the base game's text, along with changing some subtitle colors. The text is in ENGLISH. Incompatible with its "JP" counterpart.
~~~~~~~~~~[Skies Restored] Improved Localization (JP)_P - Fixes typos and errors in the base game's text, along with changing some subtitle colors. The text is in JAPANESE. Incompatible with its "EN" counterpart.


== Improved In-Game Cinematics (IIGC) ==
~~[Skies Restored] IIGC Mission 4 (IGC 04 Georg)_P - Replaces the F/A-18F that flies past the player in the ending cutscene with a Gargoyle F-14D. Incompatible with its "UAV" counterpart.
~~[Skies Restored] IIGC Mission 4 (IGC 04 UAV)_P - Replaces the F/A-18F that flies past the player in the ending cutscene with an unmanned F/A-18F. Incompatible with its "Georg" counterpart.
~~[Skies Restored] IIGC Mission 9 (IGC 02 Formation)_P - Reorganizes the Spare Squadron formation in the cutscene to match the gameplay.
~~[Skies Restored] IIGC Mission 16 (IGC 02 EASA)_P - Replaces Princess Rosa's transport in the ending cutscene with the EASA transport plane seen in the mission.
~~[Skies Restored] IIGC Mission 19 (IGC 02 No Mihaly-Champ)_P - Removes Mihaly and Champ's aircraft from the saturation attack cutscene. They are replaced with a Sol Squadron Su-30M2 and generic Erusean Su-35S, respectively.
~~[Skies Restored] IIGC SP Mission 01 (IGC 01 LRSSG Skins)_P - Gives the LRSSG aircraft in the opening cutscene their proper skins, inc. aircraft number, tail code, and emblem.
~~[Skies Restored] IIGC SP Mission 01 (IGC 02 Audio)_P - Replaces the wimpy death cry of the Erusean killed by Scream in the cutscene with its equivalent from the Japanese dub. ONLY USE IF YOU PLAY WITH ENGLISH VOICES.


== Know Your Enemy (KYE) ==
*NOTE: REMOVE FILES FROM THE STANDALONE VERSION OF KYE IF YOU HAD ALREADY INSTALLED IT!*
~~[Skies Restored] KYE_P - The primary component of the module. Adds new HUD tags in all 23 missions.
~~~[Skies Restored] KYE (M07 Drone Phase Patch)_P - A patch file for First Contact that attempts to fix a game-breaking error experienced by players where the drones would fail to spawn in Phase 2 of the mission. ONLY USE IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE ASSOCIATED CCR FILE.
~~~[Skies Restored] KYE (M11 Freyja)_P - A patch file for Fleet Destruction that replaces the Aegis vessel Hœnir with the cut Aegis vessel Freyja. ONLY USE IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE ASSOCIATED CCR FILE.
~~~[Skies Restored] KYE (EX02 New Death Cry)_P - A patch file for Anchorhead Raid's second phase that corrects an issue in CCR where the Rage version of the BGM "Mimic" fails to play. ONLY INSTALL IF USING CCR'S EX02 FILE.


== Radio Portraits Remastered (RPR) ==
~[Skies Restored] RPR_P - Contains full HD remakes of all 36 base game radio portraits. Also includes five new radio portraits for: AWACS Sky Keeper, AWACS Bandog, AWACS Long Caster, Ionela A. Shilage, Alex.


== Emblems (EMB) ==
~~[Skies Restored] EMB (HD Base Emblems)_P - Contains a full HD overhaul for 135 of the base game's emblems.
~~[Skies Restored] EMB (New Emblems)_P - Contains 42 new emblems, the list of which can be found in the project's mega-doc. Also re-sorts the game's emblems to make their listing more cohesive. DO NOT USE THIS WITHOUT IMPROVED LOCALIZATION, OR THE GAME WILL CRASH!


== User Interface Changes (UIC) ==
~~[Skies Restored] UIC (Mission Thumbnails)_P - Changes the thumbnails seen in the Free Mission and SP Mission menus to brand-new thumbnails, taken by me.
~~[Skies Restored] UIC (Screen Backgrounds)_P - Changes the background of the mission preview screen, and Japanese-only copyright screen to new ones. Refer to the project's mega-doc for more information.
~~[Skies Restored] UIC (EX01 Intro Text Removed)_P - Removes the "PROJECT ACES PRESENTS" and "ACE COMBAT 7 SKIES UNKNOWN" text from the introductory cutscene to SP Mission 01, for players who desire the intro without text on-screen.
~~[Skies Restored] UIC (Squadron Intros)_P - Edits the game's squadron intros (found in Missions 1, 5, 11, 20, along with SP Mission 01). They remain in the same style, but feature altered text and an HD makeover.
~~[Skies Restored] UIC (Title Screen - XYZ)_P - Replaces the game's title screen with a new image. There are multiple variants of this file. ONLY INSTALL ONE.

== Misc ==
~~[Skies Restored] Misc (Credits)_P - Adds English voice actors and Skies Restored project contributors to the game's credits.
~~[Skies Restored] Misc (SP03 Terrain)_P - Fixes an incorrectly-placed piece of level geometry in SP Mission 03.



:: INSTALLATION ::
This passage will assume you have decided which combination of the files listed above you are going to use. Please refer to the Mega-Doc (link can be found at the top of this file) if you would like images to help with certain steps of this process.

To install Skies Restored, first locate your ~mods folder, which should be located at steamapps\common\ACE COMBAT 7\Game\Content\Paks\~mods.

1) If you installed both Steam and the game in the default location, it will be located at C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\ACE COMBAT 7\Game\Content\Paks\~mods.
1.1) If this is your first time modding Ace Combat 7, you will not have a ~mods folder. If this is the case, simply create one!
Note: If you are creating this folder, MAKE SURE to name it “~mods”. Do NOT name it “mods”, as this will affect your mods' load priority and cause them to not function.

2) Then, move the Skies Restored files that you wish to use into your ~mods folder. Read the files section above to be certain of which files you wish to use!

3) Next, if using Improved Localization, change your game AND subtitle language to Japanese. This is done because certain aspects of the mod only apply to the Japanese language version. Don’t worry, the game will still be displayed in English if you install the EN localization file.
3.1) To do this, first go to your Steam library. Right click on Ace Combat 7 on the left sidebar, then select “Properties.” From there, in General Properties, change the Language setting to Japanese.
3.2) After that, open up Ace Combat 7. You can tell if you did the Steam step correctly if the main menu text now says MAIN MENU (SKIES RESTORED) with a version number.
3.3) Go to Options, then scroll down to Language. Change ONLY the Subtitles option to Japanese. Unless you play with the Japanese voices, you DO NOT to change the Voice-over option to Japanese.

If Improved Localization still does not work, try moving the file out of any subfolders and into the main ~mods directory, and make sure it has the most tildes in front of its file name out of any mod in the directory. That should ensure it functions properly.

After that, you're done! Enjoy playing Skies Restored!



:: COMPATIBILITY ::
This section is regarding compatibility with other mods.

The following Skies Restored modules are incompatible with the given mods:
Cut Content Restored is incompatible with xBlazedEdge's I Would Have Been Your Buddy (IWHBYB).
Cut Content Restored AND Radio Portraits Remastered are incompatible with pipibearFreddie's Ultimate AWACS Portraits.
Cut Content Restored (Mission 3) is incompatible with TacticoolLaserSystem's Dialogue Volume Reduction; the fix applied by that mod is already present anyway.
Know Your Enemy is incompatible with ElectronicOldMen's Enhanced Gunplay (Ace of Aces/Gauntlet mission files only).
EMB - New Emblems is incompatible with sincerity's Additional Emblem Slots (AES).

Make sure that Restored's Improved Localization file is of higher load priority than any other localization file.
To increase load priority, add more tildes to the front of the file name.
If you are using Sincerity’s localization file, make sure Restored’s localization files are of higher priority.



:: BONUS ::
You may have noticed a loose "Splash.png" file in the downloaded zip. This is a bonus file that replaces the splash screen that appears when booting up the game. If you wish to install it, navigate to [Your Steam Directory]\steamapps\common\ACE COMBAT 7\Game\Content\Splash, then either rename or make a backup of the original "Splash.png" file, before moving the new version into the Splash folder.



:: CREDITS ::
KeystoneGray (@KeystoneWolf) - For giving me the idea and the motivation to bring this mod to life.
Megalith (@Agnus_Dei9) - For providing advanced modding support during the development process.
Cherry / CallsignYukiMizuki (@MommyOneeChan) - For providing advanced modding support during the development process.
SlyAceZeta (@SlyAceZetaX) - For compiling textual errors for fixes to be made in the Improved Localization module, conducting Quality Assurance testing, and promoting the mod on his Twitch channel.
Elchkatze - For assisting me with Quality Assurance testing.
Digolgrin - For brainstorming the mod’s name and helping out with Quality Assurance testing.
achako04 / あちゃこ (@achako04) - For granting permission to use her incredible HD vector emblems for use in the Better Emblems and Radio Portraits Remastered modules.
atenfyr - For developing the UAssetGUI program, without which this project would have been impossible.
GreenTrafficLight - For developing the DAT Localization Tool that allowed for dramatic strides forward in localization editing, allowing me to progress much faster in the project than I would have otherwise.
Sincerity - For assisting me with a crippling error involving Avril and Long Caster’s emblems, and for providing significant assistance with custom aircraft localizations.
The ACE COMBAT Fanbase - For building a supportive community that carried me through the arduous development process.
Project ACES (@PROJECT_ACES) - For creating a wonderful game series that I have grown up loving.