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Mass Effect

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
Template:Infobox game/row/winporter
Mass Effect
Mass Effect cover
Developers
BioWare
Publishers
Electronic Arts
Engines
Unreal Engine 3
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
Retail
Requires online activation
DRM: SecuROM, three machine limit.[1] A De-Authorization Tool is available.
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Windows
Amazon.com
Requires online activation
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Windows
Amazon.co.uk
Origin
Windows
Incorrect store name. See here for available options.
Origin
Windows
GamersGate
Requires online activation
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Windows
Gamesplanet logo.svg
Origin
Windows
Green Man Gaming
Origin
Windows
Origin
Origin
Windows
Steam
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Steam DRM late v1.5. They key that Steam provides is invaild to Origin, need to contact EA Support
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Windows
Incorrect store name. See here for available options.
Origin
Windows
Incorrect store name. See here for available options.
Origin
Windows

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 the base game on Origin.
Windows
Pinnacle Station Activate the game on Origin for a free download. Not sold separately.
Windows

Essential improvements

Skip videos

Instructions
Instructions

Patches

The latest patch is update 1.02 which fixes various issues. The Steam and Origin versions are already patched.

Large Address Aware

Improves stability on 64 bit systems with at least 3GB RAM by allowing the application to use more than 2GB RAM.

Game data

In-game general settings.
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.
In-game video settings.

Template:Video settings

Anisotropic filtering (AF)

Instructions

High frame rate

Instructions

Input settings

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

Template:Input settings

Controller support

Instructions

Audio settings

In-game audio settings.
In-game audio settings.

Template:Audio settings

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
French
German
Italian
Russian
Spanish

No surround sound

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

FIX: activate the console (instructions on how to enable the console further down) and type At BIOA_NOR00 Start_BIOA_NOR00_01 and press Enter. This will place you at the entrance to the Normandy and you will be able to save and load your game with no problems. If you fall through anywhere else in the game, pctweaks has a comprehensive list of all the "At string newArea" commands.

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

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

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

Instructions

No high resolution option

Instructions

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 9
Shader Model support 3
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Physics PhysX 2.7.2
Audio ISACT,[2] OpenAL
Interface Scaleform
Cutscenes Bink Video 1.8v

Low res textures fix

Instructions

Mods

Mass Effect 1 Updated/Improved Textures Mod

Instructions

Enable developer console

Instructions

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) XP / Vista
Processor (CPU) Intel Pentium 4 2.4 GHz
AMD Athlon XP 2400+ 2.0 GHz
System memory (RAM) 1 GB (XP)
2 GB (Vista)
Hard disk drive (HDD) 12 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce 6800
ATI X1300 XT
256 MB of VRAM
DirectX 9.0c compatible
Shader model 3.0 support

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