How to install HD texture pack for ME1

[I2epresent]

I am not the author of the texture mod and I did not write the below instructions. I'm just another gamer who installed the mod and loved the results, and since I see questions here on the forums about how to install the texture pack and make the necessary tweaks, I thought posting it in a single thread would be helpful.

Here is the link to the texture pack, download link, and mod information:

http://www.moddb.com/mods/mass-effect-1-new-texture-updatesimprovements-mod/downloads/me1uitm-texmod-free-version-readme


Here is the FULL instruction list for installing the textures and tweaking the game's text files to enable higher quality lighting effects and other changes that, along with the HD textures, make a big difference in how the game looks.

Remember to back up your game folder beforehand! Although it worked flawlessly for me, and I had no issues with my Steam install, it's always smart to back up:


Readme and troubleshooting:

Let's get Started:

Pre-Install:
Apply LAA patch to MassEffect.exe (This will allow higher ram usage and prevent crashes)

LAA Link

Download, extract, and run. Now browse for MassEffect.exe and apply Large Address Awareness Patch

Tweak the bioengine.ini:
(This will fix many normal maps in the game without requiring TexMod.)

This file is located:

x:\Users\xxx\Documents\BioWare\Mass Effect\Config

**Note any typos will break the game and cause crashes so be careful here**
All mistakes can be fixed but if you avoid typos it will save a headache in the long run.

Find the following 3 entries:
TEXTUREGROUP_Character_Diff=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=512,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_Character_Norm=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=512,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_Character_Spec=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=0)

And change them to:
TEXTUREGROUP_Character_Diff=(MinLODSize=512,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_Character_Norm=(MinLODSize=512,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_Character_Spec=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

This will allow you the highest detailed normal maps the game can render without needing modding which allows me not to have to modify many, many normal maps.

DYNAMIC SHADOW FIX:

Find the following 4 entries:
ShadowFilterRadius=2.000000
DepthBias=0.030000 or(0.012 if you restored to pre-official 1.2 patch values)
MinShadowResolution=32
MaxShadowResolution=512

And change them to:
ShadowFilterRadius=5.000000
DepthBias=0.006000
MinShadowResolution=32
MaxShadowResolution=4096

These tweaks combined with the texture will give you much better dynamic shadows in game.

Now we are ready to download the mod:
DOWNLOAD ALL 9 PARTS of the mod from Moddb. Now EXTRACT ALL 9 PARTS into the same place of your choice and run the ME1UITM.exe. Follow the instructions of the installer. Be sure when it asks for the directory that it is your exact path to the "Mass Effect" folder. Back up your files before the install in case you don't like the mod and/or simply want to play the game unmodded, the installer will permanently mod your files. Continue with the install after you have backed everything up and in 5-10minutes, once the installer has completed, run Mass Effect like you always have and enjoy the mod :)
You may have to re-setup your graphics settings and .ini tweaks after install, this only needs to be done once.
To further improve shadows clear your shader cache using MassEffectConfig.exe and the game will now render shadows more similarly to ME2.

Mass Effect Troubleshooting:

Mass Effect with or without the mod can crash and have issues!!!!!!! The most prominent issues and crashes are:

1 Hardware sound issues. These will cause random invalid page faults and crashes. There are pages and pages online of people with this issue back to 2008. Google is your friend here. Usually a fairly simple bioengine.ini fix, which will vary depending on your audio hardware.

2 AMD processors (bulldozer or later chipsets) this is because Mass Effect is seeing AMD and looking for 3D now instruction sets that existed when it was made. AMD has ditched these instructions in their latest processors causing miss timings and faults in communication between Mass effect and the CPU. Due to this you will see black textures for characters and have potential crashes/general instability.

link to the bug:
Link
video of the issue on un-modded game with workaround fix:
Link

Mod Troubleshooting:

1. RANDOM CRASHING:

SEE MASS EFFECT TROUBLESHOOTING FIRST!
If all is well, check your bioengine.ini for typos as they will cause invalid page faults, missing mip level/lod/texture loads and many other random crashes. Better yet delete your Bioengine.ini and run the game, this will create a new one and will guarantee its free of errors.

If you still have errors, make sure you have applied LAA to MassEffect.exe

If you have a 32-bit OS LAA can help, but you need to do the following to allow 3gb usage in 32-bit Windows:

"Run Command Prompt in the Accessories program group of the Start menu. Make sure to run as Administrator manually even if you are an admin on the computer, it requires extra admin rights granted by right clicking and running as an admin).
At the command prompt, enter:

"bcdedit /set IncreaseUserVa 3072" (without quotes)

Restart the computer"

Now LAA will work properly on 32-bit systems :).

2. MY SHADOWS ON FACES ARE BLOCKY, I DON'T LIKE IT:

Set shadowdepthbias to 0.03 to turn down the facial shadows. Many people prefer this look, where as I like the extra shadows cast by 0.006 even if they are a bit funny looking, AO usually blends them well enough to mask the majority of the issues.

3. BLACK/MISSING TEXTURES (not the black character bug on Noveria this is and AMD processor issue):

This is a result of an incomplete install: Check your "CookedPC" folder after installing the mod it should be 20.0 GB anything less means you will have missing textures, usually this happens as a result of not running the installer as administrator or using a previously modded Mass Effect as a base install. If you cannot get the install to the full 20.0 GB there is a work around. Point the installer to a new folder, run it, and then copy/cut and paste both folders, should be ~13.25GB, into your Mass Effect folder.

4. SHIMMERING TEXTURES:

To get the mod to work I had to force these textures to load at full lod meaning 4096x4096, since no one has released affordable 4k monitors I'm guessing your running resolution will be lower than the source texture, and due to the fact that is full lod you will see shimmering unless very close to the texture. A pretty decent fix is to force SSAA (ATI/AMD cards) and SGSSAA (Nvidia) these options with high enough setting should stop the shimmering or at least minimize it so it's less annoying.

If you still have problems post them here and we will work them out, this is a brand new version of the mod in both textures and form so we are all learning, with the infinite number of hardware configurations out there we are bound to need to fix a few things to get it running on those configurations.