- Mass Effect 2 Binaries Folder Empty Folders
- Mass Effect 2 Binaries Folder Empty Nester
- Mass Effect 2 Binaries Folder Empty Files
I hae 2.exe files in the MassEffect2/Binaries folder MassEffect2 which is 162KB and ME2Game which is 15.6MB I have tried renaming them but nothing happens! Mass Effect 2 Binaries If you're still having issues and you're playing via steam try doing a file check to see if any files are missing/invalid. Mass Effect 2 Binaries Folder Empty Posted on 7/7/2019admin Sep 6, 2013 - Mass Effect 2 mod Released 2013. If for some reason backup is not restored, move the contents of the 'Backup' folder to the game folder. Go to your Binaries folder: C: Program Files (x86) Origin Games Mass Effect 2 Binaries In said folder you have 4 file types that you will need. First are the MassEffect2.exe and MassEffect2.par files. Delete both of these. Next rename your ME2Game.exe and.par files to MassEffect2.exe and MassEffect2.par.
Both names show up in ME2 to import, but one is green and I can select it. The other is in yellow and I can't. I went back to ME1 and loaded up the last save and beat Saren again. Then go back to ME2 and try to import it. Now that same one that I couldn't select to import shows up twice, and can't select either...this sucks Mass Effect 2: Charakter-Import aus Teil 1 - Tipps & Tricks Wer möchte, kann seinen durchgespielten (!) Spielstand aus Mass Effect 1 in den zweiten Teil übernehmen Because this question comes up a lot on the forum, a quick guide on how to import your Mass Effect save game into Mass Effect 2. There are two methods, one using the config utility which is the standard way. The other manually copying the completed save files to the right folder, which is probably the simplest and quickest way Please help ive been trying to get a way to configure the character and import it from mass effect 1 too mass effect 2 and I can't seem to figure it out even though I have found the configuration utilit
NOTE: You can also run the config utility from your steamapps or Origin Mass Effect 2 > Binaries directory. -----Step 4 Click on Save Games in the left column, then click on Copy Mass Effect 1 Save Games. -----Step 5 Navigate to the Mass Effect Save folder, which you placed the save games in back in Step 2. Click OK. The window will close, there will be no confirmation dialog. Exit the. . Am sichersten ist es, wenn ihr manuell einen Spielstand am Spielende angelegt habt. Denn ME2 erzeugt lediglich das übliche Autosave Mass Effect 2 ist, wie schon erwähnt, randvoll mit außergewöhnlichen Momenten. Einen der tollsten werden aber wirklich nur die erleben, die mit dem Charakter aus dem ersten Teil ins neue Abenteuer..
i cant import my me1 character? - Mass Effect 2
Alternatively, run Mass Effect 2 on the old Xbox to import the character, then save the game and move the resulting save file to the new Xbox. For Xbox 360 units without hard drives, such as the Arcade unit: Importing a Mass Effect save works for any and all devices and Xbox 360 SKUs If the ME1 save doesn't appear, relax, its just in another folder that ME2 can't see. Here are the steps. Go to Documents > Bioware > Mass Effect (Note: ME1) > Save. Now you will see 2 kinds of files. One Like this : Jane01_02. And like this: Char_01-36-3-1-5-25-1-2010-10-24 (Its different for everyone, but as long as it has Char_ that is the. Since the release of the trilogy edition, many people have asked how to import save files from ME1. Finding the configuration utility . MassEffect2Config.exe is located in the Binaries folder in the game's installation directory.On most PCs the default will be C:Program Files (x86)Origin GamesMass Effect 2Binaries.. There is also a Binaries folder in the Documents directory, but that's the. Probably because if Shepard dies in Mass Effect 2, then you can't import to Mass Effect 3. share | improve this answer | follow | edited Mar 7 '13 at 0:13. Frank. 21.9k 25 25 gold badges 92 92 silver badges 140 140 bronze badges. answered Mar 7 '13 at 0:01. face face. 1. The question specifically states that Shepard's alive. - Frank Mar 7 '13 at 0:13. add a comment | Highly active question. If your save doesn't import to ME3, double check the following: 1) Make sure the save completed the end of ME2. If the save did not complete the Omega 4 Relay, it will NOT import. 2) Make sure that you are putting the saves in Mass Effect 2's save folder, not Mass Effect 3. 3) Make sure that you followed the walkthrough correctly and created all the directories EXACTLY as it's shown. No extra.
Mass Effect 2: Charakter-Import aus Teil 1 - Tipps & Trick
- Mass Effect 2. All Discussions If you are worried, take the ID code route. Or just do the import, and see how it looks. You can still tweek the import's appearance, as I flipped to a hair type not in 2. Good luck. thank you but see above, the custom face code is the default because me1 didn't use codes #4. Face McShooty. Feb 6, 2017 @ 1:29pm It's not the default code. I just checked with a.
- The Mass Effect 2 Configuration Utility should open up. In the menu on the left, choose Save Games and click the big button called 'Copy Mass Effect 1 Save Games'. This opens up a Windows directory. Navigate to the folder where your Mass Effect 1 saves are kept, probably C:Users[Username]DocumentsBioWareMass EffectSave, and click OK. You can close the config utility now
- How to Properly import a Mass Effect 2 Character into ME3 for PC: 1. First install Mass Effect 3 2. If ME2 is on another computer, copy the files in your Doc..
- The import is done solely in game, when you start a new game. There has been an issue with ME3 only trying to import from the default ME2 save location. Simply put your ME2 saves in..
- Can't import Mass Effect 1 save file to Mass effect 2. ! This topic is locked from further discussion. N-REAL. Follow 2480. Forum Posts. 0. Wiki Points. 0. Followers. Reviews:.
Steam Community :: Guide :: How to import your save from
To add the import option to Mass Effect 2, you need to start the game while signed into the PlayStation Network and you'll be prompted to download and install a free update. When this update is installed you'll have the option to import your ME1 character when you start a new game in ME2. You'll need to have your PS3 connected to the internet to do this, and importing makes a huge difference. While Mass Effect 3 supports cloud saving for new or successfully imported Mass Effect 2 saves, it does not support the importation of endgame saves directly from the cloud. Additionally, this can. My DocumentsBioWareMass Effect 2. Until I placed the Mass Effect 2 folder there, in BioWare, the import UI seemed empty or broken. Once I did, it became obvious: select character name on the left and then click the button to import. Didn't think to get a screen shot
When you start a new game in Mass Effect 2 without importing a save file from Mass Effect 1, a variety of default options are chosen to choices that could be made in Mass Effect 1. There is no way to change these choices in Mass Effect 2 however, it is possible to create a Mass Effect 2 save and then use an external editor to change the default choices. In order to do this you will need to do. Mass Effect 3 had some character importing problems on the PC and the Xbox 360 i`m going to show u how to fix this problem by using Mass Effect 2 saves,but the.
Mass Effect 2; I CAN'T import my Mass Effect 1 dude (ME1 Spoilers). Kash_1095. Follow 77. Forum Posts. 1. Wiki Points. 0. Followers. Reviews: 1. User Lists: 0 #1 Edited By Kash_1095. Please don't post spoilers for ME2 here. Basically like 3 weeks before ME2 came out my 360 got the red rings. I decided that instead of Microsoft replacing my old dinky 360 with another old dinky model, I'll just. Mass Effect 2 is a science-fiction role-playing action game developed by BioWare for the Xbox 360, PC, and PlayStation 3.1 It is the sequel to Mass Effect and the second game in the Mass Effect trilogy. For the walkthrough, see Mass Effect 2 Guide. For content cut from the final version of the..
. 49 ist. Jetzt dachte ich mir fängste mit deinem alten Chaar an stellst die Schwierigkeit auf. Can anybody shed light on the mass effect 2 character import from ME1 for me. I got this game on Friday. Went to the import settings chose the drive my ME1 saves were on and it will just not see them. Double checked that they were on the drive and they are. The only thing i can think of is that i upgraded my 20GB drive to the 120GB. But why this should cause problems i dont know. Used the.
Importing character from mass effect to mass effect 2 (PC
- This doesn't seem to be an issue for importing that save into ME2. How do I load my downloaded Mass Effect 2 saves into Mass Effect 2? If you want to load a masseffect2saves.com save in ME2, drop the downloaded file in your my DocumentsBiowareMass Effect 2Save folder. Once in ME2, click Load Game then Switch Careers
- Here are the bonuses you can get from importing a Mass Effect 2 save file. Your level from Mass Effect 2 will carry over to Mass Effect 3. Your Squad Members will also start at the same level. You..
- The Mass Effect 2 Digital Deluxe Edition takes players on a new journey with Commander Shepard. The galaxy has seen better days. A deadly group has decided to invest in abducting human colonies and it's up to you and a crew of elite fighters to save the day. Surviving the mission is one thing, but getting your peers to respect you is a whole new and very difficult adventure. Everything you.
- * PC Users: After you download, visit the MassEffect2Import Walkthrough to know how to import your save into MassEffect 3! As long as your directory structure is correct as outlined in the walkthrough, ME3 should find your save just fine! If you do not have MassEffect2 installed, just create the folder structure yourself exactly as shown in the walkthrough. -----* Playstation users, I'm.
- Be warned, though, if you don't manage to preserve at least 2 companions Shepard will die, precluding importing. Your level and perks will carry over into ME3, though the highest level in ME2 is only halfway towards the highest level in ME3 (30 and 60, respectively)
- I'm trying to import my savegame of Mass Effect 2 to Mass Effect 3. I put it in the correct folder and the game finds it normally, but I can't select it. I pick Michael Shepard (my character) and it shows the game date it was played, but I can't select it. I keep pressing the select button but nothing works
In Mass Effeect 2 for Xbox 360, you can import characters from the first Mass Effect game and receive nice bonuses for doing so.. from credits, to resources, and even free levels. Import a level 60 character and you start at level 5, get 50k credits, 4k experience, and 10k of each resource MY VOICE IS LOW! Need any help? I didn't mad myself understandable? Comment below i will reply when i'm aviable. Need an Mass Effect 2 Save Game look below!. I assume you're using the PC. Go into the My Documents/Bioware/Mass Effect/Save folder and copy the files. Then paste them into the My Documents/Bioware/Mass Effect 2/Save/ME1 folder. TS2Aggie 22:29, May 16, 2010 (UTC
Earlier we reported that a bug in the Mass Effect 3 character import feature made it so that your Commander Shepard's looks may not transfer over completely from a previous Mass Effect 2 save file When you import a char from ME1, the amount of rewards you get scales with the character being imported. (i.e My lvl 30 Paragon Engineer from ME1 carried over to ME2, got exactly half the amount stated in the OP). On a related note, Mass Effect 2 is effing amazing thus far. The one thing in ME1 I didn't particularly enjoy was the janky combat. This page is intended to show the exact conversation and/or action triggers to receive Paragon and Renegade points. 1 Mass Effect import bonus 2 Prologue: Awakening 3 Freedom's Progress 4 Stop the Collectors 4.1 Horizon 4.2 Collector Ship 4.3 Reaper IFF 4.4 Collectors' attack 4.5 Collector Base 5 Dossier Missions 5.1 Dossier: Archangel 5.2 Dossier: Tali 5.3 Dossier: The Assassin 5.3.1 Illium. Not sure if this played into my issue, but I played and beat Mass Effect 1 on my Day One Xbox One, and then I was trying to play Mass Effect 2 on my One S, which I didn't play and complete Mass Effect 1 on. So I loaded up the end game save file and beat Saren like others suggested, on my One S, and sure enough the import worked in Mass Effect 2 To help your decision, you can buy the Genesis DLC for Mass Effect 2 on PC, which summarizes Mass Effect 1 and allows you to make the choice for the major decisions in ME1. - Xantec Mar 27 '14 at 17:09. add a comment | Mass Effect 1 save import: Necessity for plot points
How to Import to ME2 - Mass Effect
- hi. i just got mass effect 2 and installed it on my hdd. both discs. i put it on and tried to import my character from me1. which seems to work but once the character import thing has finished the.
- #MassEffect2 #Save #Import How to import your Mass Effect 1 save-game into Mass Effect 2
- Okay so I bought mass effect 3 on the pc and but when I got home to play when i clicked on import character it goes to the page but after it loads nothing shows up it makes the noise for when u look through stuff but there's nothing there! Does anyone know what I should do? (I am sadly admitting I haven't beaten mass effect 2 but I don't think that's a problem I stopped at the final boss battle
Mass Effect Andromeda Heroes View your custom Ryders created in Mass Effect: Andromeda, share them with your friends, and choose one to use on your next playthrough. Facebook Twitter YouTub Mass Effect 2. close. Games. videogame_asset My games. When logged in, you can choose up to 12 games that will be displayed as favourites in this menu. chevron_left. chevron_right. Recently added 44 View all 1,139. Log in to view your list of favourite games. View all games. Mods I imagined that many people posting in this thread about importing characters from MASS EFFECT 1 to MASS EFFECT 2 would have played and would be familiar with MASS EFFECT 1 and might have suggestions as to a fun class to play in a second run through MASS EFFECT 1
Mass Effect 2 Charakter importieren Mass Effect 3 RPGuide
- Tips, including New Game+, how to import your ME1 character, locations of all Anomalies, and Rich Element Zero planets. ----- TAGS: ----- Mass Effect 2 me2 mass effect mass effect 2 tips and.
- Can i import my mass effect 2 save files from steam into mass effect 3? My collectors edition box for Mass Effect 3 just came in today. I've installed it and tried to play...but there is a problem. I can't import my saves. I played Mass Effect 2 a long time ago. I purchased it through steam
- When you start a new game in Mass Effect 2 without importing a save file from Mass Effect 1, a variety of default options are chosen to choices that could be made in Mass Effect 1. There is no way to change these choices in Mass Effect 2 however, it is possible to create a Mass Effect 2 save and then use an external editor to change the default.
Hey guys, I know this post won't get too much exposure, but I just wanted to ask a few questions about the Insanity difficulty for Mass Effect 2. It's my first time playing this difficulty on any Mass Effect game, and I was looking for some tips/advice to help me get through it Mass Effect fans will soon be able to import character and story save data from the first title into the upcoming sequel. BioWare has outlined the process, with community man Chris Priestly. #MassEffect2 #DLC A brief tutorial on how to obtain and install the DLC for Mass Effect 2 on Steam. 0:32 Step 1 - Creating an EA account 1:04 Step 2 - Regist..
Mass Effect 2: Der Charakter-Import - Alter Shepard im
I've finished Mass Effect 1 and let the credits scroll all the way, which is the only fix I've seen for this issue. When I go to import my character in Mass Effect 2, I just see this, like it's. 2. Importing saves. I have several large mods for ME3, and now a very large mod for ME2. All of these mods have been carefully designed to work together and require various patches. Some of the mods even require each other. All assume vanilla romance options
. You're unable to see said saves when loading them in ME for example but these are the saves you're able to import into ME2 Here are Ten Tips to help you out with the Basics of Mass Effect 2. Import, and Play Twice. Mass Effect 2 is a big game. A very, very big game, in fact. It will be literally impossible to see and. ME2Recalibrated (ME2Re) is an overhaul for Mass Effect 2 that fixes bugs and broken lore, rectifies poorly implemented content, restores cut material, and in a few small cases, adds new content to the game. 630.7MB ; 2.4k-- ME2Recalibrated. Gameplay Effects and Changes How to Import a Mass Effect 3 Character. Bonuses. Here are the bonuses you can get from importing a Mass Effect 2 save file. Your level from Mass Effect 2 will carry over to Mass Effect 3
My recommendation to start with Mass Effect 2 doesn't take that potential power away — it's still a damn and Mass Effect 1 can't quite (The import initially says your original. mass effect™ 2 terms and conditions. ea account, registration with enclosed serial code, internet connection and acceptance of end user license agreement required to play and to access online features and/or services. origin online terms and conditions can be found at www.ea.com. you must be 13+ to register for an ea account The Mass Effect 2 Digital Deluxe Edition takes players on a new journey with Commander Shepard. The galaxy has seen better days. A deadly group has decided to invest in abducting human colonies and it's up to you and a crew of elite fighters to save the day. Surviving the mission is one thing, but getting your peers to respect you is a whole. ME1 Decisions That Effect ME2 This list was taken from the Something Awful Forums Mass Effect 2 Thread. Achievements: - Rich Yes/No Random: - Full Paragon/Renegade bar - Paragon/Renegade points - Childhood choice Spacer/Earthborn/Colonist - Reputation choice Sole Survivor/War Hero/Ruthless - Purchased Elkoss Carbine license. Party Members
Save File Transfer - Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, Mass
- So I just completed Mass Effect (Steam version) and installed Mass Effect 2 (retail version) and wanted to import my save. When I pull it up in ME2 it doesn't show anything. The screen is just blank
- Mass Effect Andromeda / Mass Effect Andromeda; Guess who's on Steam? > Visit steampowered.com and start playing Mass Effect: Andromeda today. For the best results, select a topic, platform and/or key words Include content from Community Archive. Back. Answers HQ. Get help from the community, find gameplay tips, and level up by answering player.
- After having an absolute blast with my first playthrough, I decided to go for a 'New Game+' (import ME2 character). First shock - I can't switch to another class. Bummer. Okay - well, let's go with Insanity diffuclty
- Mass Effect 3 can't import cloud saves on Xbox 360. Electronic Arts has noted that importing Mass Effect 2 saved games from cloud storage on the Xbox 360 into Mass Effect 3 isn't working
- I've replayed Mass Effect 1 & 2 several times and imported into Mass Effect 3 several times in order to answer this. GarrusVakarian (so jealous of that user name) is correct in that using the digital comic for ME and getting a lot of resources in ME 2 will give you 100 on the Mineral Resources War Asset. However, there is a huge caveat
- Mass Effect 2 save files look something like this: John_10_Vanguard_110310 Jane_13_Soldier_100811 Xbox 360: There is an issue that might prevent importing your Xbox 360 save from the second Mass Effect into Mass Effect 3. ME3 does support cloud saving for new or imported ME2 saves, but it does not support importing endgame saves directly from.
Electonic Arts and BioWare have shown quite a lot of Mass Effect 2 recently, but there has been one major thing we haven't had a look at: the biotic users. The Adept class, focused primarily on. Below, you can find information on all six Classes in Mass Effect 2, in addition to informative videos on each specific class 8. Start Mass Effect 2. When you go to import, the name will be blank on the first selection screen, but will be filled in once you view the details and it should import fine from there. ----- Option #2: (Recommended) Download gibbed's Save Editor from the mods list. 1. Expand the player-menu in, after loading your savegame into the editor. 2 A decade has passed since Mass Effect 2 first launched and times have changed. Players want more control over their character and more options made available to them. While the Mass Effect franchise let players take on the role of Fem-Shep (a female version of the main protagonist), players wanted there to be more availability when it came to the in-game romances
My import for ME2 wont work : masseffec
File a claim online or by phone 24/7. If we can't repair it, we'll replace it or reimburse the purchase price with an Amazon e-gift card. Plans are only valid for new or certified refurbished products purchased in the last 30 days with no pre-existing damage. Protection plan documents will be delivered via email within 24 hours of purchase To add the import option to Mass Effect 2, you need to start the game while signed into the PlayStation Network and you'll be prompted to download and install a free update. When this update is installed you'll have the option to import your ME1 character when you start a new game in ME2 Do you have Mass Effect 2 owned, if you do try uploading it the cloud, that could help depending on the situation. Or if you have a disk of ME3 your Xbox One you should be able to play it, if you have a digital copy of it head to the Xbox Store, get ME3 on the Xbox then take the Mass Effect 2 save that you put on the cloud and start from there
. Local ME2 save files that have been moved from another Xbox 360 via the cloud are also. Long Service Medal is an achievement in Mass Effect 2. It is worth 75 points and can be received for: Complete Mass Effect 2 twice, or complete it once with a character imported from Mass Effect
Mass Effect 2 [Japan Import] by Electronic Arts. Platform : Xbox 360 | Rated: Mature 3.8 out of 5 stars 35 ratings. Price: $89.28 & FREE Shipping: Only 1 left in stock - order soon. Arrives: Aug 27 - Sep 14 . Ships from and sold by Ichigo Ichie Japan.. Hey i was trying google and could find a propper answer.Basically, ive deleted my ME1 save for space before knowing choices would carry over. What i was wondering was if anyone knew the default. hi i just got mass effect 2 and installed it on my hdd. both discs. i put it on and tried to import my character from me1. which seems to work but once the character import thing has finished the. I just bought mass effect trilogy for the ps3 and I passed the first one but I cant import my character into the second game mass effect 2. When I start the game on mass effect 2 I start a new game but the only options I have are male or female it doesnt give me any other options like import character or nothin
Hey Guys. I haven't actually gotten Mass Effect 2 yet but I wanted to prepare for when I get it and Im about to start a new game in Mass Effect 1 which will probably be my last game and therefore will probably be my best because I know what choices to make and I was wondering because I have the first Mass Effect and I will most likely import my character from it, what are the best choices to. As revealed by the developers, the choices you made in Mass Effect 1 can affect your story progress in Mass Effect 2. If you have at least one complete playthrough on ME1, you can import the saves to ME2 and continue from where you left off (not having saved games does not mean you'll miss out on anything in ME2 though) Mass effect 2 import saves? I finished mass effect 1 and was importing the saves into mass effect 2, but on the service history it only had a few of the thing i did throughput the game. Like rank,who i left on virmire, and that i saved wrex and the council, but it didn't have that i saved the alien queen on noveria or who my romance interest was
Using the ME2 import character question So I noticed that I can't get higher than level 30, though I thought that the level cap was 60. I do not have the original Mass Effect Topic: Mass Effect 2 Importing Problems (Read 12735 times) steven1075. Newbie Posts: 14. Mass Effect 2 Importing Problems « on: January 26, 2010, 06:23 » Hi I'm trying to import the PSK file into Unreal Development Kit, but it crashes everytime I start the process.. The Penny Arcade Website has a clarification from BioWare's Chris Priestly that the information they posted earlier that he gave them about players with no Mass Effect 1 saves being able to manually select Mass Effect 2 choices from a list of key decisions from the first game was not accurate: Unfortunately I was working from a test build used by our internal testing department To import shop video games on the Xbox 360, the sport must be performed on the demanding tension the stored interest replaced into achieved on, by way of fact it is no longer achievable to pass the document that Mass result 2 imports utilising the Xbox 360's document administration strategies (whether that's achievable whilst shifting the whole contents of the stress utilising a pass cable.
Can't import mass effect characters I absolutely love the first 3 mass effect games and recently played Mass Effect 1. Played for days, did all sidequests etc. But now i wanna scream because after installing Mass Effect 2, it won't let me import the character. There is a really old character that shows as green and usable but the character i. [Mass Effect 1 Spoilers] IGN Character Import Video - Jan 23, 10 All Mass Effect Forums Neoseeker Forums » Xbox 360 Games » Mass Effect 2 » Importing ME2 characte Yes New Game + is making a return to 'Mass Effect 2'! Though a maximum 11 end-of-game saves will be allowed, Priestly outlined how those save files will impact the ME2 experience
Solved: [PC] Importing a save file from Mass Effect 1
re: Any way to import ME2 character's face to ME1? - Mass Effect 2 It doesn't have this in the 360 version of ME1, but in ME2 their is a code at the bottom left of the screen of the creat a sheperd Hello, I'm having issues with importing my save from mass effect 2 to mass effect 3 in xbox one. I can't see it in my xbox one, however I can see it in my 360. I copied the save to the cloud from the 360 but I still can't see it in xbox one. I need to play it on xbox one because I am using it with EA Acess. What do I do? Plz hel Mass Effect 2 + DLC features 202 prerendered .BIK videos, weighing together 3 GB: Spoiler: Show. These original BIKs had a resolution of 720p with an average bitrate of 1.4 Mbit/s The same ones upgraded to 1080p have a bit rate of about 3.4 Mbit/s and in the 4K variant, it is about 9 Mbit/s..
pc - Why am I unable to import my Mass Effect 2 saves
MassEffect Legendary Edition will include single-player base content and DLC from MassEffect, MassEffect2, and MassEffect 3, plus promo weapons, armors, and packs - all remastered and optimized for 4k Ultra HD. It will be available in Spring 2021 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC, with forward compatibility and targeted enhancements on. Mass Effect 2 forum. Join our community and participate in a collection of forum threads, questions, answers, and other discussions about Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect 2 Armor. Armor is a protective casing utilized by many different species to protect specific body parts from injury. There are specific armors for each species; Turian Krogan, Quarian Human and Asari. Armor can be customised with upgrades to give better shields or health regeneration, improve cooldown times for tech abilities, or. Mass effect 1 save to import into mass effect 2 worth it? This topic is locked from further discussion. Lach0121. Follow 11559. Forum Posts. 0. Wiki Points. 0. Followers. Reviews:. One of the most important features of Mass Effect 2 is the ability to import a character from the first game. While the character itself including class and appearance can still be changed at the beginning of the game, he will get a huge bonus both in credits, experience points and minerals at the start of the game depending on the character. importing mass effect 2 charactor into mass effect 3 Hi,anyone else out there having this prpoblem too.I have played all mass effect games on my hard drive and had no problem doing mass eff 1 to mass eff 2.But when it comes to doing mass effect 2 to 3,I dont even get the option to import my charactor.so what am I doing wrong.ANYONE SOLVED THIS.
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Tech Enhanced - Mass Effect
A guide created and maintained by TechAngel85.
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Help support STEP! ALL donations are applied to operating expenses.
Notice: |
Only original disk or Origin installations are supported for this guide! |
Users playing the game through Steam will not be able to use the overhaul mod from this guide due to changes required to the .EXE file. Steam protects these files from tampering and will not launch the game if they are altered. However, Steam users can register their game through Origin in order to complete the entire guide. Users who are using a downloaded version of the game should only be altering files in an Origin installation! Also note that the downloaded Origin version of the game automatically includes the two DLCs for free, whereas finding and getting the DLCs to run on Steam is a major pain. Users with the original disks can use this guide without issue.}}
Welcome! Mass Effect has been out for many years now. Anyone that has played these games can attest to their greatest in both storyline and gameplay. Although an older game, Mass Effect is still visually appealing on modern systems, however, there is always some room for improvement! This guide aims to:
- Setup Mass Effect on modern systems
- Improve the visual appearance of the game
- Improve the stability of the game
- Improve the Dynamic Shadows used
This guide will not:
- (Completely) Fix the Dynamic Shadows
- Use tweaks which provide no measurable benefit
- Be a complete game overhaul such as S.T.E.P.
Mass Effect was built upon Unreal Engine 3, which provides users some customization; however, certain things can not be easily fixed. One of these are the Dynamic Shadows. BioWare's implementation of dynamic shadows in Mass Effect is horrible. Yes, they may have looked okay on consoles; however, when the game was ported over to the PC, like many titles before it, Mass Effect had no real upgrades done specifically for PC users. Dynamic Shadows are addressed in the INI Tweaks section of this guide, but do not expect gold. Unfortunately, dynamic shadows are simply going to remain comparably bad when put up against more modern games; even with the tweaks included.
Since Mass Effect was built upon Unreal Engine 3, there is a lot of customization which can be done via INI files; however, Mass Effect does not use a good majority of the parameters available in the Unreal Engine. When the game was ported to the PC by Demiurge Studios, there were a few changes made to the game to make it easier for keyboard and mouse users but very little of the work was actual optimization for the PC. As such, much of the Unreal Engine was left unused. Many 'old school' gamers that have tweaked the Unreal Engine to its limits will be left disappointed. This guide will only cover the tweaks which have an actual effect in the game and will not cover any tweaks that would allow cheating or easier gameplay. Users wanting those types of tweaks can implement them, if they wish but they will not be included here.
Finally, Mass Effect was not built to be an easily modded game such as The Elder Scrolls or Fallout games; however, with the right tools anyone can mod games built on the Unreal Engine. There are many texture replacement mods for Mass Effect, but most require the use of a utility called TexMod. This tool is infamous for making the game unstable; therefore, there will not be any mods included in this guide which would require the use of this tool.
Software Installation & Initialization
Install the game as you normally would with either the CD-ROMs or Origin. I personally recommend installing most games to a different drive/partition than the OS is installed on. If using a CD-ROM version, download and install the Official 1.02 Patch from BioWare. The Origin version of the game should already be patched to v1.02.
Notice: |
Make sure in your Origin settings you have 'Automatic game updates' and 'Automatically update Origin' turned OFF! It has been reported that if Origin is set up for 'automatic game updates', the changes made in this guide can be reversed when starting the game. This is due to the fact that Origin validates the game cache when checking for updates. |
The Mass Effect Config
Users should now run the configurator. Navigate to where the game's installation folder is located ( ...Mass EffectBinaries ) and launch the MassEffectConfig.exe application. Click on [Video] in the left pane and choose the settings best for your system. Unfortunately, these settings will vary from system to system so there is no right or wrong choices here. I do recommend choosing the maximum settings available. It should be noted, most modern systems will be able to run Mass Effect at 1920x1080 resolution with maxed out settings without any performance issues whatsoever. Keep this in mind and use the recommended settings during the initial setup. Lower them later if the game is running at too low a frame rate, or if the system isn't even breaking a sweat, adjust them higher.
Video Settings
- Resolution
- This is the resolution Mass Effect will run at. It is recommended to choose the native resolution of the monitor in use.
- Aspect Ratio
- This is the orientation of the monitor in use. The choices are [4:3], [16:9] and [16:10]. This setting defaults to 4:3 on most systems; therefore, adjusting it may be required before changing the Resolution above, if the monitor being used is a widescreen monitor.
- Particle Effects
- Think of this as an early version of PhysxX on the NVIDIA graphics cards. The higher the setting the more particles will be rendered during explosions and other effects. The recommended value for this setting is [High].
- Texture Detail
- This determines the detail at which textures are rendered. The recommended value for this setting is [Very High].
- Filtering Mode
- The determines how the textures are rendered. The recommended value is [Anisotropic].
- Dynamic Shadows
- Dynamic shadows are shadows rendered on moving objects in the game, such as the characters. These shadows are determined from light sources and in Mass Effect are rendered by the CPU. The recommended value is Enabled (checked); however, Mass Effect's implementation of dynamic shadows isn't very good. They are often blocky and feathery. If this is an annoyance, simply disable them because there is no fix for this. In the INI section below they will be improved, but only slightly. Ambient Occlusion can be forced in Mass Effect which will also improve the dynamic shadows a bit more.
- Vsync
- Vertical Sync (vsync) will sync the game's FPS with the monitor's refresh rate, which is most commonly 60Hz. This means the FPS will be capped at around 60FPS. This can be changed in the INIs. The recommended option is enabling this (checked).
- Windowed
- If checked, this will run Mass Effect in a window instead of full screen. This is not recommended so leave it unchecked.
Here is a screenshot of my settings:
Audio Settings
There is only one setting here with two options to choose from; [Hardware] or [Software]. This will determine how the audio is handled and could be different for different systems. The recommended option is [Hardware], which will use the on-board or expansion slot audio hardware for all sound rendering. Users who have anything above a 2.0 channel speaker setup, will have to use the Hardware option to take advantage of these setups.
Save Settings
Once the proper settings above have been chosen. Save the settings:
- Click on [Mass Effect] in the top menu bar.
- Click [Save Settings]
- Close the Configuration Utility
Video Card Configuration
I currently only have a Nvidia card to reference for this section so AMD users will have to figure out their corresponding settings on their own. For this section Nvidia Inspector will be used to force a few graphical settings to be used in the game. These changes will have a performance impact so please adjust them up or down according to the performance of your system. Most modern systems should stay around the 60FPS range, even with all the tweaks from this guide. To get started, download Nvidia Inspector and navigate to the Mass Effect profile. If you're unaware of how to do this, see the Nvidia Inspector Guide. There are only a few settings of interest here:
Antialiasing
Mass Effect 2 Binaries Folder Empty Folders
- Antialiasing - Mode
- Antialiasing - Setting
- Do NOT change the above settings! Doing so will cause very bad lighting glitches in the game. We will be using SMAA injector for this guide as the preferred antialiasing solution.
Texture Filtering
- Anisotropic filtering mode
- Change this to [User-defined / Off]. This will allow a user-defined setting for anisotropic filtering.
- Anisotropic filtering setting
- Change this to [16x]. This forces 16x anisotropic filtering via the video card rather than the game engine. This will provide slightly better results than using the game's setting.
- Texture filtering - LOD Bias (DX)
- This setting can be changed to a negative value to increase the sharpness of the distant textures in Mass Effect. If, this is changed start with low values and then test, such as [-0.125]. Be aware this can also cause shimmering on some textures. I have simply mentioned the possibility to change this setting for users who want to try it. For this guide, the setting is not changed and left unaltered.
Common
- Ambient Occlusion setting
- Change this to [High Quality]. This forces ambient occlusion to be used in the game which provides more realistic lighting in shadowed areas and corners. This setting can be lowered according to your system performance.
- Ambient Occlusion usage
- Ensure this is set to [Enabled], else ambient occlusion will not work.
Subpixel Morphological Antialiasing (SMAA)
Mass Effect 2 Binaries Folder Empty Nester
Since forcing antialiasing through the drivers causes lighting glitches which make the game unplayable, we'll be using SMAA injector as the recommended solution for this guide. SMAA is lighter weight than Multisampling Antialiasing and still provides very good results compared to the game's original antialiasing solution.
- Download SMAA Injector
- Extract the files
- Copy the files from the d3d9 folder to the Mass Effect binaries folder: ..Mass EffectBinaries
- Open the injector file
- Under the [smaa] heading change the preset from SMAA_PRESET_HIGH to SMAA_PRESET_ULTRA
- Save the file and close.
Mass Effect 2 Binaries Folder Empty Files
SMAA is now installed and will inject itself into the game. The ULTRA preset has been chosen for this guide because during testing the game remained at a steady 60 frames per second. A lower preset can be chosen if desired.
Software Hacking (Easy Dencryption)
Before the INI settings can be adjusted, Mass Effect has to create them. This is done by launching the game for the first time. Launch the game and allow it to load up the to the first menu. Then exit back to the desktop. This creates the default INI files that are required for the sections below. They are located in the '..DocumentsBioWareMass EffectConfig' directory. The only files of interest are BIOEngine.ini, BIOGame.ini and BIOInput.ini.
Take the usual precautions before moving forward by backing up the three INI files listed above. This is more important for users either experimenting with the following tweaks or using other tweaks not covered in this guide. If the INI edits cause any issues, they can be restored by simply deleting them and restoring the backups or by relaunching the game after they've been deleted. A new set of default INI files will be recreated for the ones that were deleted when not restored from a backup.
There are also a couple things to keep in mind before tweaking the files beyond what is covered below:
- Some parameters are in multiple locations in the INI files. For this guide, pay special attention and only change the parameter in the location shown below or the tweak will not work.
- If the parameter does not exist in the location, create it.
- Many parameters in the INI files will have no effect in the game. If a parameter hasn't been included below it's because these are the either unused features of the Unreal Engine, parameters used for debugging, or parameters used for other things not applicable to this guide (like allowing the play to cheat).
BIOEngine.ini
The BIOEngine.ini file houses the main audio and graphic settings for Mass Effect.
[Engine.GameEngine]
- bSmoothFrameRate=True
- This is similar to vsync. It will tell Unreal Engine to keep the game within a minimum and maximum frame rate. It's recommended to leave this set to true or change it to true. If you desire to use Mass Effect in benchmarks, then setting this to false and turning off vsync will enable you to record the maximum FPS the system is capable of.
- MinSmoothedFrameRate=22
- MaxSmoothedFrameRate=60
- These two parameters control the minimum and maximum framerate for the setting above. If bSmoothFrameRate above is set to true then the parameters specified here will be enforced. The framerate will be capped at the minimum and maximum specified in order to prevent framerate spikes and dips. The default for minimum has been left alone; however, the maximum has been edited from 62 to 60. This is to match the most common refresh rate of most monitors. If your monitor has a higher refresh rate, feel free to increase the maximum to match.
- bUsePostProcessEffects=True
- This setting controls the majority of the post processing effects in Mass Effect. This includes the Film Grain, Motion Blur, Bloom and Depth of Field effects. It is recommended to keep the default of true or change it to true to enable these effects. If there is an effect you prefer to disable, you may be so individually either below or in-game.
- bEnableBranchingPCFShadows=True
- This setting enables a rendering of softer shadow edges. It is recommended to keep it enable or some shadows can appear blocky. From testing, this doesn't not affect dynamic shadows which is unfortunate.
- bUseBackgroundLevelStreaming=True
- This setting should remain as 'true'. It is related to background streaming of textures. Setting it to 'False' will dramatically increase level loading time and may result in crashes.
- ShadowFilterRadius=3.50000
- This parameter controls the shadow filtering and determine how sharp or clear the outlines of shadows appear. Higher values result in more rounded and faint shadows. Lower values result in sharper shadow outlines. I have set the recommended value above which are for 'ultra shadows'. You can reduce this and the other shadow values if the performance hit is too great on your system.
- DepthBias=.006
- This parameters determines the way Dynamic Shadows appear. Higher values will reduce the number of shadows shown; whereas, a value of 1.0 will totally remove dynamic shadows on objects. Lower values will increase the number of shadows; however, values too low can result in glitches. As of the 1.02 Patch, the DepthBias value may default to '0.030'. This will remove dynamic shadows. Setting it to '0.012' to restore all dynamic shadows. The recommended value is .006 for this guide.
- MinShadowResolution=32
- MaxShadowResolution=4096
- These two parameters determine the minimum and maximum values for shadow resolution and may have a performance impact on some systems. Higher minimum values result in darker and richer shadows. Lower minimum values result in less distinct and grey shadows. Too low or too high of values for the two parameters may also result in visual glitches. The upper threshold for MinShadowResolution and the lower threshold for MaxShadowResolution varies from system to system. Raising the minimum higher than 32 may result in missing shadows. The recommended values for this guide are above.
- ModShadowFadeDistanceExponent=0.20000
- This parameters controls the distance at which shadows fade into/out of view. Higher values result in shadows fading at shorter distances and will also result in fainter dynamic shadows. At 0.5 most shadows will be very faded to almost invisible. At 0.0 all shadows will be shown at all distances. This improves the realism of the game at the cost of some performance on some system. The recommended value for this guide is 0.20000.
[SystemSettings]
- DynamicDecals=True
- Dynamic decals are decals left by players from weapons fire. When set to 'False', weapons will not leave scorch marks or bullet holes on objects when hit. It's recommended to leave it set to 'True'.
- DynamicLights=True
- This parameter controls the Dynamic Lighting. Dynamic Lighting is lighting that interacts realistically with the world. Setting this to 'False' can result in lighting glitches such as objects appearing as black. It's recommended to leave this set to 'True'.
- LightEnvironmentShadows=True
- This parameters controls whether or not the environmental lighting, such as sunlight, creates shadows. It's recommended to leave set to 'True'.
- CompositeDynamicLights=False
This is a less accurate form of dynamic lighting and as a result, not as high a quality. Leave it set to 'False'.
- ShadowFilterQualityBias=4
- This parameter appears twice in this section for some unknown reason. When changing one, also change the other for good measure. It controls the quality of the shadow filtering used. Higher values result in higher quality shadows. The recommended setting for this guide is '4'.
- DirectionalLightmaps=True
- Leave this parameter set to 'True'. Disabling it can result in black textures where lightmaps are used. When enabled, this will improved image quality, giving surfaces additional depth and detailing.
- FloatingPointRenderTargets=True
- Altering this parameter can have an negative visual impact on the game by turning off some effects. Leave it set to 'True'.
- Trilinear=True
- Trilinear Filtering can improve the appearance of textures in the game. It's impact is minimal; however, it is recommended to leave it set to 'True'.
- SkeletalMeshLODBias=0
- ParticleLODBias=0
- LOD Bias alters the clarity of textures and details via mipmaps. Higher (positive) values will make these blurrier and less detailed. Lower (negative) values will make these clearer and crisper but can result in unwanted aliasing. The SkeletalMeshLODBias parameter affects animations and the ParticleLODBias affects particle effects. It's recommended to leave these set to '0'; however, a '-1' value should be safe as well.
- MaxAnisotropy=0
- This parameter controls the level of Anisotropic Filtering (AF). The default is 4; however, the recommended setting for this guide is 0 due to the fact that we're forcing it through the graphics drivers instead.
[TextureStreaming]
- PoolSize=1024
- This should be changed to the value above to help reduce texture glitching and studdering. The default value is 140.
[TextureLODSettings]
The parameters below control the LODs in the game. The recommended values for this section are below. You can simply copy and paste this section to overwrite the defaults.
BIOGame.ini
The BIOGame.ini file holds various game world settings for Mass Effect.
[BIOC_Base.BioActorBehavior]
- AllowFriendlyCollateral=False
- If set to 'True', this parameter will allow your squad members to be injured by friendly fire and vice versa. Enabling this will make the game more realistic but will also make it more difficult in heavy combat areas. The option is yours whether or not to enable it.
[BIOC_Base.BioPawnBehavior]
- m_bAllowPhysicsOnDeadBodies=True
- If set to 'True', this parameter will activate physics on dead bodies. This allows them to be shot resulting in blood and minor movements. Enabling this will add realism to the game. It's completely optional; however, I recommend it be set to 'True'.
[BIOC_Base.BioPawn]
- m_fCorpseCleanupFirstAttemptTime=60.0
- This parameters determines how many seconds the game will wait before attempting remove a corpse from the game. Increasing this value will increase realism in the game. The recommended setting is '60'.
- m_fCorpseCleanupAttemptRetryTime=30.0
- This parameters controls how long the game will wait before attempting to remove a corpse once the m_fCorpseCleanupFirstAttemptTime parameter's value has expired. The recommended setting is '30'.
BIOInput.ini
The BIOInput.ini file holds the key bindings for Mass Effect.
[Engine.Console]
- ConsoleKey=Tilde
- This parameter doesn't exist by default; therefore, it must be added. Setting this to 'Tilde' will enable access to the in-game command console using the [~] key (the key above [Tab] on a U.S. standard keyboard). Common console commands can be found at the end of this guide.
Texture Hacking (Easy Dencryption)
I was hesitant to add any mods into this guide because the main modding tool for doing this (Texmod) is notorious for making the game unstable. However, there is one overhaul that doesn't require using this tool. Though many more mods exist for Mass Effect, the majority use Texmod. This guide will not cover these mods due to Texmod's issues with stability.
Mod Preparation
In order to run the following mod without issues, the game needs to be allowed to use more than 2GB of RAM, which is its programmed limit. This limit is not an issues if MEUITM is not installed. If MEUITM is going to be installed (and I do recommend doing so), then the mod will be adding a lot of higher resolution textures to Mass Effect which will require more memory than the default game allows. To edit this programmed limit, we'll be using Explorer Suite. This utility will allow users to alter .EXE files. Follow these instructions to edit the Mass Effect executables:
- Install Explorer Suite
- Navigate to 'Mass EffectBinaries' folder
- Right click on MassEffect.exe
- Click on [Open with CFF Explorer]
- Click [No] to the pop-up.
- In the left pane, click on [File Header]
- In the right pane, on the bottom row that says 'Characteristics' click where is says 'Click here'
- Check the box next to 'App can handle >2gb address space' and click [OK]
- Now in the menu bar at the top click [File] and choose [Save As...]
- Save the file as MassEffect2.exe. DO NOT save as MassEffect.exe and overwrite!
- Close CFF Explorer
- In your Binaries folder, right click on MassEffect.exe and click [Rename]
- Rename it to 'MassEffect_original.exe'. This preserves the original file in case there is an issue and it needs to be revert back.
- Finally, right click on the saved file, MassEffect2.exe and rename it to 'MassEffect.exe'.
- You're now ready to install the mod.
M.E.U.I.T.M.
Mass Effect Update/Improvement Textures Mod (M.E.U.I.T.M.) sets out on a mission to improve Mass Effect's textures in a way that doesn't alter the original concept of these textures. They are upscaled to higher resolutions, re-painted, have added/enhanced details and bump maps, and some of the normal maps have also been rebuilt. This gives the textures a higher quality look and an overall polished feel which bring it more in line with the later games in the series. Not only has the author improved the textures, but the Lighting and Shadow Maps on the walls and floors have also been improved to provide more appealing and realistic lighting for these sources. Finally, the author has given us a new Film Grain texture which mimics the grain texture found in Mass Effect 2; a great improvement from the muddy grain of the default texture in Mass Effect.
There are two ways to download this mod. The first and best way is with a torrent client by using the MEUITM v12062014 (Torrent Link) main file. This will download a .zip archive. Extract this file and open the torrent file in a torrent client to start the download. The second method, which doesn't require a torrent client is to download the mod whole directly from Nexus in a single file by clicking the MEUITM direct Download 12062014 main file. These files are very large and since Nexus will often have some issues with large files, I recommend the torrent option.
Warning: |
Installing the following mod will permanently alter the game. If any issues arise from the installation process, users will have to reinstall Mass Effect to correct them. |
M.E.U.I.T.M. (main file)
File size: 4.21GB
Required disk space: 12GBs
Installation:
- Extract the archive and run the MEUITM.exe file.
- Click [Next]
- Click [Change] and navigate to your Mass Effect installation folder. Select the Mass Effect root folder.
- Click [Next] twice to install the mod. This will take several minutes to complete. Once it's done, click [Finish].
M.E.U.I.T.M. (No Brows fix for female NPC's)
Description: Fixes bugged female NPC eyebrows
File size: 73.5MB
Installation:
- Extract the archive to the Mass Effect installation folder.
- Click [Yes] or [Copy and replace] to all overwrite prompts.
Mission Debriefing
Clean the Shader Cache
Before running the game, the shader cache needs to be cleared. This is done in two steps:
Step 1
- Open 'MassEffectConfig.exe' located in your Binaries folder ( ...Mass EffectBinaries ).
- Click the [Repair] button on the left
- Click [Delete Local Shader Cache Files].
- Click on the [Video] button on the left and ensure the settings are correct. If so, simply exit the program. If not, correct the settings and then save them by clicking [Mass Effect] at the top and clicking [Save Settings].
Step 2
- Navigate to your ..DocumentsBioWareMass EffectPublishedCookedPC directory.
- Delete the 'LocalShaderCache-PC-D3D-SM3.upk' file, if it exists. If it doesn't, you're good to go!
Set the Compatibility Mode
Mass Effect apparently doesn't like to run on 64-bit systems very well. If running a 64-bit version of Windows, doing this step will help protect you against the 'General Protection Fault' error. It could be beneficial doing this on 32-bit systems as well; however, I have no way of testing this. Users on 64-bit systems will need to set the game to run in compatibility mode. To do this, Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8 with 1GB of free system RAM and 15 GB of free disk space is required. Here's how:
- Navigate to the installation folder ( ...Mass Effect ). Here you will see a file called 'MassEffectLauncher.exe'.
- Right click on this file and choose [Properties].
- Click the 'Compatibility' tab at the top of the window that opens.
- Here, check the box for [Run this in compatibility mode for:] and choose [Windows XP (Service Pack 3)] from the drop-down menu.
- Next, click the box for [Run this program as an administrator] at the bottom and click the Apply button.
- Exit the window.
Now open the 'Binaries' folder. Repeat the above steps for the 'MassEffect.exe' file.
Defrag
If the M.E.U.I.T.M mod was installed, it replaced nearly 12 gigabytes worth of files for Mass Effect. At this point, it's recommended to defrag your hard drive where Mass Effect was installed or the Mass Effect Folder, itself. I recommended Auslogics Disk Defrag for HDD users. It's free and does a better and faster job than Windows. Skip this step if Mass Effect has been installed to a solid state drive (SSD). SSDs should not be defragged!
Console Commands
- SetRunSpeed #
- sets the running speed. 99 is slow, 9999 is very fast.
- SuperSpeed
- Toggles super fast movement on and off. Entering this twice will reset the the game to the default speed.
- Ghost
- Disables collisions.
- Walk
- Enables collisions.
- FOV ##
- Changes the field of view.
- SloMo #.#
- Changes the game speed. 1.0 is default. 2.0 is twice as fast. 0.5 is half speed. (Handy for taking slow motion video.)
- ToggleFlyCam
- Toggles the free camera on and off.
- CamToggleDebug
- Moves the camera angle slightly up and behind the character.
- PlayersOnly
- Pauses the game. (Handy for screenshots.)
- Quit / Exit
- Exits the game. You will lose your unsaved progress!
- Shot
- Takes a screenshot. These will be saved as BMP files. I recommend using FRAPS with the PNG format rather than this.
- Stat FPS
- Displays the game's included FPS counter. This may not work if you are using compatibility mode to run the game. If you're not able to use this, FRAPS can be used here as well.
Debugging
General Protection Faults
These errors will cause the game to freeze. If the game has frozen, Alt+Tab during the freeze without closing the game and you should see an error message displayed. If this message states, 'General Protection Fault' near the top of the message, then most likely you forgot to set the game to run in compatibility mode. See above under the 'Mission Debriefing' section to learn how to set up compatibility mode.
This error can also be caused by using the LAA Patch method instead of the Explorer Suite method described in this guide to allow the game to use more than 2GB of RAM. If you used the LAA Patch, revert your files back to default by either replacing the MassEffect.exe file with a backup or if you didn't back it up, by reinstalling the game. Once you have the original EXE files back, use the method above under 'Texture Hacking' to allow the game to use more than 2GB of RAM. The method described in this guide is the only supported to perform this action.
The last known reason users may receive this error is due to certain hardware configurations which, unfortunately, nothing can be done about it. Mass Effect doesn't play nice with some hardware setups (video card/processor combinations). If you're getting the 'General Protection Fault' error and you've tried the above solutions, then this error may simply be caused by your hardware and you're out of luck.
Characters turn black & blocky in certain locations
If you are playing on a recent AMD processor (late 2011-up), some locations will cause characters to turn into an assortment of black and blocky pixels for seemingly no reason. This is known to happen on the Peak 15 labs in Noveria, and in Illos. The reason for the processor-specific issue is because Mass Effect uses 3DNow instructions, which were removed by AMD starting with the late-2011 Bulldozer architecture.
To work around this, open the console (make sure ConsoleKey is set beforehand in the INI...see above), and type 'viewmode unlit'. This will brighten the lighting, but will also fix the issue until you have played through the area that is causing the issue. When you are out of the area, reopen the console and type 'viewmode lit' to reset the lighting back to normal.