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Mass Effect

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
Revision as of 20:23, 17 November 2014 by Garrbot (talk | contribs) (fixed Flawless Widescreen link(s))
Template:Infobox game/row/winporter
Mass Effect
Cover image missing, please upload it
Developers
BioWare
Publishers
Electronic Arts
Engines
Audio[1] ISACT
Facial animations FaceFX
Graphics Unreal Engine 3
Physics PhysX
Release dates
Windows May 28, 2008
Mass Effect on Wikipedia
Mass Effect
Mass Effect 2008
Mass Effect 2 2010
Mass Effect 3 2012
Mass Effect: Andromeda 2017
Mass Effect Legendary Edition 2021

General information

Official game site
Official forums
Mass Effect Wiki
Steam Community Discussions
Steam Users' Forums for game series

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Steam
Icon overlay.png
Steam gives product key which can be activated on Origin
Icon overlay.png
Error: OS parameter cannot be empty
Origin
Origin
Error: key type '{{{5}}}' not recognised
Error: OS parameter cannot be empty
Retail
Requires online activation
DRM: SecuROM, three machine limit.[2] A De-Authorization Tool is available.
Icon overlay.png
Error: OS parameter cannot be empty

DLC and expansion packs

Origin version includes all DLC (existing Origin owners can install the latest update to get the DLC).
Name Notes
Bring Down the Sky Free download from Bring Down the Sky DLC Redemption or by activating on Origin.
Windows
Pinnacle Station Activate the game on Origin for a free download. Not sold separately.
Windows

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Instructions

Patches

The latest patch is update 1.02 which fixes various issues. The Steam version is already patched.

Mods

User Catechrism has made a texture pack which improves the in-game graphics.

If you are just experiencing really low texture quality see low res textures fix and see if that helps as mod does effect game performance significally and has problems with under 4K monitors including "shimmering" effect.

Enable developer console

Instructions

Game data

In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

Template:Game data/row
System Location
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/17460/pfx/[Note 1]

Save game data location

Template:Game data/row
System Location
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/17460/pfx/[Note 1]

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
Origin
Steam Cloud

Video settings

In-game video settings.

Template:Video settings

Anisotropic filtering (AF)

Instructions

High frame rate

Instructions

Input settings

In-game general control settings.
In-game key map settings.

Template:Input settings

Controller support

Instructions
Instructions

Audio settings

In-game audio settings.

Template:Audio settings

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
French
German
Italian
Spanish

No surround sound

Instructions

Issues fixed

TweakGuides has created a comprehensive guide for fixing issues in this game. It can be found here.

Game simply doesn't start

Instructions
Instructions
Instructions
Instructions
Instructions

Launcher crashes (retail)

Instructions

Failed to compile shader ** error

Instructions

Therum missing textures

Instructions

If this however wouldn't fix the problem. The issue is not to be found anywhere else than on Therum.

People and objects become black

Instructions

Low res textures fix

Instructions

IGameExplorer --> Verify Access. Unable to verify access to the game

Instructions

No high resolution option

Instructions

Issues unresolved

Some menu screens have sides "cut off" on 4:3 screen resolutions

Playing in 4:3 resolutions like 1600x1200(useful for non-widescreen monitors and projectors) results in some menu screens displaying incorrectly: the left and right hand sides of the screen are clipped (as if "zoomed in" too far), so important information cannot be seen (like journal details and the map legend). Screens affected include: Map, Party Selection, Planet details, and Journal. Currently the only known fix is to use a 16:9 screen resolution when playing, like 1920x1080.

Black screen after loading a save

Instructions

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) XP
Processor (CPU) AMD 2.0 GHz
Intel Pentium IV 2.4 GHz or faster
System memory (RAM) 1 GB (XP)
2 GB (Vista)
Hard disk drive (HDD) 12 GB
Video card (GPU) ATI X1300 XT
NVidia GeForce 6800
Shader model 3 support
AMD video cards below minimum system requirements: ATI X1300, X1300 Pro, X1600 Pro, Radeon 2600 HD, HD 2400
NVidia video cards below minimum system requirements: GeForce 7300, 7600 GS, 8500

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/17460/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (17460) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References