Mass Effect 3

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Mass Effect
Mass Effect	2008
Mass Effect 2	2010
Mass Effect 3	2012
Mass Effect: Andromeda	2017
Mass Effect Legendary Edition	2021

Key points

Mass Effect 3 can optionally import save games from Mass Effect 2, which in turn can import save games from Mass Effect.

General information

Official game site

Mass Effect Wiki

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail
Amazon.com		Digital Deluxe

Incorrect store name. See here for available options.
Origin		Digital Deluxe also available.

All versions require Origin DRM.

Game will not run in offline mode on Origin. You can bypass it altogether with this

DLC and expansion packs

This game has in-game micro-transactions (not listed below).

DLC can be bought through Origin by right clicking Mass Effect 3 and View Game Details or from Amazon

Name	Notes
Alternate Appearance Pack 1
Citadel
Earth	Free.
Extended Cut	Free.
Firefight Pack
From Ashes	Included in Digital Deluxe
Genesis 2
Groundside Resistance Pack
Leviathan
M90 Indra Sniper Rifle
Mass Effect™ Trilogy Art	Included in Mass Effect Trilogy bundle
Mass Effect 3 Digital Art Books	Included in Digital Deluxe
Mass Effect 3 Soundtrack	Included in Digital Deluxe
N7 Collector's Edition materials	Included in Digital Deluxe
Omega
Reckoner Knight Armor	Obtained by logging in to account in Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning demo^[2] (The demo is available on Steam)
Reckoning	Free.
Rebellion	Free.
Resurgence	Free.
Retaliation	Free.

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Instructions

Instructions

HD Texture Pack

A Lot of Textures(ALOT) is a re-texture project aiming to bring Mass Effect 3's textures to today's standards, replacing around 2200 textures with high-resolution variants.

Game data

In-game general settings.

In-game narrative settings.

Configuration file(s) location

Template:Game data/row

System	Location

Save game data location

Template:Game data/row

System	Location

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Origin

Video settings

In-game video settings.

Template:Video settings

Borderless fullscreen windowed

If the taskbar appears on top, set the game to Fullscreen and then back to Window (No Border) to eliminate it.^[3]

Anti-aliasing (AA)

By default the game only has FXAA for anti-aliasing. But is possible to force other anti-aliasing types.

Instructions

High frame rate

Instructions

Vertical sync (Vsync)

Instructions

Input settings

In-game general control settings.

In-game key map settings.

Template:Input settings

Controller support

Complete Xbox 360 interface restoration: http://www.nexusmods.com/masseffect3/mods/407/?

https://me3tweaks.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=5

Instructions

Audio settings

In-game audio settings.

Template:Audio settings

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French
German
Italian
Polish
Russian
Spanish

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		4	Co-op Use ME3 Private Server Emulator/LAN.
Online play		4	Co-op Multiplayer activity and progress affects the singleplayer storyline. Note that the Extended Cut DLC modifies the game such that playing the multiplayer is not required for the "best" singleplayer story ending.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
UDP	5659, 6000

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision		See Helix Mod: Mass Effect 3
TriDef 3D

Issues fixed

GeForce.com has created a comprehensive guide for fixing issues in this game.

"Origin (EA) is no longer running. Mass Effect 3 will now close"

Instructions

64bit Version Error Message

Instructions

Mouse Causing Stuttering

Mouse movement may cause slowdowns. This can be fixed by disabling Origin overlay within the game.

Instructions

MSVCR90.dll startup Crash

Sometimes the game crashes with an error about MSVCR90.dll.

Instructions

Startup Crash 2

This error message may appear on startup:^[4]

 Problem signature:
 Problem Event Name:    BEX
 Application Name:    MassEffect3.exe
 Application Version:    1.1.5427.4
 Application Timestamp:    4f46d052
 Fault Module Name:    awc.dll
 Fault Module Version:    3.2.4.6
 Fault Module Timestamp:    4ee2521d
 Exception Offset:    0008342f
 Exception Code:    c0000417
 Exception Data:    00000000
 OS Version:    6.1.7601.2.1.0.768.3
 Locale ID:    1033
 Additional Information 1:    636e
 Additional Information 2:    636ed4ad6e2ce5a3e01564e40133fee8
 Additional Information 3:    61e2
 Additional Information 4:    61e20e96bfcd8b3479be5a6b63429556

Going into the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\Bioware\Mass Effect 3\Binaries\Win32\ and remove or rename the "atiags.dll" may fix this issue.

Crash on From Ashes DLC

Instructions

Retail DVD Install Issue

Some users experience issues installing Mass Effect 3 from a retail disc. After starting the install process and entering the product key, an error message claiming it is not a valid Mass Effect 3 serial number appears. Despite this, Mass Effect 3 will now be activated in your Origin library. Further attempts to run the installation process will still prompt for a product key, and upon entering it will result in an error message stating the key has already been used. It is impossible to continue the install process from this point.

There are two possible solutions to this issue. The first and easiest option is to simply download Mass Effect 3 via Origin. However, for those on slower or bandwidth limited internet connections, this may not be a viable option. It is still possible to install from the DVDs using the following workaround:

Instructions

Origin Install Issue

In some cases where Mass Effect 3 has been downloaded through Origin, upon installation users are met with this error message:

Error: The VC++ runtime redistributable package was not installed successfully. Setup cannot continue.

In order to solve the issue:

Instructions

Language Fix

If you buy the game on Origin and discover the in-game menu and subtitles are a different language then English, there is a way to correct it;

Instructions

DLC Error

Instructions

Unable to save any more games

Instructions

Importing

Import Save Game

Instructions

Import From Mass Effect 2 Folder

Instructions

Import Without Reinstalling

Instructions

Lost Old Save Game

Instructions

Save Game Not Detected

If a Mass Effect 2 save game is not detected, there are currently some methods to fix this.

Instructions

Instructions

Multiplayer game using "Different Version"

When attempting to join a game an error will display that you cannot join due to the executable being version 1.6 instead of 1.5

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
Audio	Speex, Wwise
Interface	Scaleform
Cutscenes	Bink Video

Ambient occlusion

Default NVIDIA driver profile does not have compatibility bits to enable ambient occlusion for the game. But it can be enabled by tweaking the driver profile settings.

Instructions

Mods

Mass Effect 3 Nexus - One of the most popular modding communities, has decent amount of mods for Mass Effect 3.
ME3Explorer - A multi-tool software for modding Mass Effect 3. Also includes a Coalesced.bin editor for further tweaking.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP	Vista, 7
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHz	Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz
System memory (RAM)	1 GB (XP) 2 GB (Vista, 7)	2 GB (XP) 4 GB (Vista, 7)
Hard disk drive (HDD)	15 GB
Video card (GPU)	ATI Radeon X1800 Nvidia GeForce 7900 256 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible Shader model 3 support	ATI Radeon HD 4850 Nvidia GeForce 9800 GT Nvidia GeForce GTX 550 Ti 512 MB of VRAM

AMD video cards below minimum system requirements: Radeon HD 3200, HD 3300, HD 4350

Nvidia video cards below minimum system requirements: GeForce 9300, 8500, 8400, and 8300

S3 video cards are not supported

References

↑ Psyonix on Twitter: "@Shinjiki81 Well, we helped contribute to the multiplayer for that one. The lovely folks at @bioware crafted the rad single-player game." - last accessed on 2017-07-23
↑ Kingdoms of Amalur Crossover Content - Mass Effect 3 Wiki Guide - IGN - last accessed on 2016-8-30
↑ Tested by Andytizer
↑ Crash on startup - The BioWare Forum - last accessed on 2016-8-17

[1] Psyonix on Twitter: "@Shinjiki81 Well, we helped contribute to the multiplayer for that one. The lovely folks at @bioware crafted the rad single-player game." - last accessed on 2017-07-23

[2] Kingdoms of Amalur Crossover Content - Mass Effect 3 Wiki Guide - IGN - last accessed on 2016-8-30

[3] Tested by Andytizer

[4] Crash on startup - The BioWare Forum - last accessed on 2016-8-17

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

Developers

Single player	BioWare
Multiplayer	Psyonix^[1]
Publishers
	Electronic Arts
Engines
	Unreal Engine 3
Release dates
Windows	March 6, 2012