The "All You Need" Guide for Mass Effect 2 (LAST UPDATE: 20 Aug, 2021)

This guide was last updated on 20 Aug, 2021. Therefore, the information provided in it might be outdated. You can still follow the steps provided in the guide, as I will leave it as it is for those who need guidance, and don't plan to update it anytime soon. That being said, most if not everything in my guide should still work today, but, as always, I highly suggest everyone also check PCGamingWiki [www.pcgamingwiki.com] for the latest fixes and improvements to the game, provided by the community.

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Mass Effect 2 is a classic among classics, one of the best video games one can experience, but it does not come without issues, lots of them, unfortunately. Most of the issues can be fixed. I remember how long it took me to get through everything there is for Mass Effect 2, and how hard it was to understand what to install and in what order. So that's this guide's purpose: to make it easy for anyone to experience the original first Mass Effect 2 game as beautifully as possible and with as few bugs as possible.

This guide does not include anything new. It includes everything already available in other guides but put together, so whoever wants everything can check this out instead and have an easy time installing them.

This guide tries to be as vanilla & lore-friendly as possible, but there might still be minor stuff not entirely as it was supposed to be originally, so please keep that in mind. Also, this guide includes everything I have chosen to use and do (with some tiny stuff like how to fix the DLCs or the Controller mod, that I have included without trying), so there might still be mods available out there that might look awesome and could be used, but I did not include them because I did not want to use them.

Lastly, there might also be issues others in this huge world might have had, for which they have used fixes that I have not included in this guide. For anything that's not in this guide, I suggest PCGamingWiki [www.pcgamingwiki.com].

Let's make Mass Effect 2 great

Everything I have here is thanks to their respective authors. I also want to thank PCGamingWiki [www.pcgamingwiki.com], since without their page I would have never found anything for this guide. Everything here can probably also be found there.



- Please do everything in the order I wrote.

DLCs

The game has a number of DLCs that, on Steam, are not installed by default, nor are they available to be bought there. EA has provided installers for all of them officially for Steam users, but you first have to buy them. They are not mandatory, but most of them include new stories and gameplay/content. The ME2 DLCs are well known to be really amazing. I highly suggest buying them.

All installers can be found here , under Mass Effect 2.

The DLCs that include new content/story are:

• Firewalker Pack
  
• Zaeed - The Price of Revenge
  
• Normandy Crash Site
  
• Genesis
  
• Arrival
  
• Overlord
  
• Lair of the Shadow Broker
  
• Kasumi - Stolen Memory

There are two ways to buy the DLCs. First of all, you need to create an Origin account, in case you don't already have one, and then either buy this bundle [www.origin.com], which includes every DLC available, or buy them separately here [www.origin.com]. For this, you have to first buy BioWare Points, and with them, you buy the DLCs separately. (Buying the bundle does not require BioWare Points.) When you click to buy a DLC, the pop-up window shows your BioWare Points balance, and from there you can buy more.

*I am not entirely sure if you need to own the game on Origin to be allowed to buy the DLCs, but buying the game on Steam will also provide you with a key for Origin. Make sure you activate it. In case it does not work, contact the support team of Origin and they will activate it for you (that was my case). Also, make sure you disable Origin's automatic updates for games. Origin will overwrite the game's files by itself, and we don't really want that, do we?

After you have bought the DLCs, download and install them, but first make sure you launch your game at least once before running the installers. Otherwise, they might not be able to see the game. After installing them, you have to launch the game and connect to your Origin account for the game to enable the use of the DLCs. You only need to log in once, but you can enable the option for the game to automatically log you into your Origin account every time you launch the game, if you so wish. However, there is nothing for you to gain out of that.

*In case your Origin password has special characters or is too long, you might not be able to log in in-game, so you will need to change it.

*In case you wish to always be automatically logged in to your Origin account (as I said: there is nothing to gain out of that) whenever you launch your game, you might encounter an in-game error or the game will just forget that you checked the box to automatically log you in. For some, this issue gets fixed by enabling .NET Framework 3.5.1 / 3.5. You can do that by going to

Control Panel -> Programs -> Turn Windows features on or off

There, check both boxes under Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5.1 / 3.5.

*In case you get the "Unable to authorize the listed DLC" error, you have to download the ME2 Binkw32 proxy DLL from here [github.com]. Put the 2 files in Mass Effect 2's main folder \Binaries. Then make sure you have your firewall block internet connection to ME2Game.exe. For this fix to work, make sure you have auto-login disabled in the in-game settings menu.

Mass Effect Save File Import

To import your save file from the first game, you have to use MassEffect2Config.exe, which is located in Mass Effect 2's main folder \Binaries. Go to Save Games -> Copy Mass Effect 1 Save Games.

*In this tool, you can also edit your video settings, settings that are not all available in-game, by going to Video.

FOV Fix

Download this [thirteenag.github.io] and copy the files into the game's main folder \Binaries.

ME3Tweaks Mods

Download:

• ME3Tweaks[www.nexusmods.com] - You need this to install the mods
  
• HUD Icon Fix[www.nexusmods.com] - Fixes a bug that incorrectly positions HUD weapon icons
  
• Same-Gender Romances[www.nexusmods.com] - This one can be skipped if you're not interested. It adds same-gender romances, using stuff already present in the game files but not used by BioWare for some reason.
  
• Early Recruitment[www.nexusmods.com] - Minor bug fixes and changes to the time of recruitment for your team
  
• Project Variety[www.nexusmods.com] - Major bug & lore fixes, but also overhauls lots of other stuff

1. Launch „ME3Tweaks Mod Manager”, let it get extracted wherever you want (desktop works as well), then launch „ME3TweaksModManager” (you can find it where you chose to extract it).
   
2. After you get through the launch window, choose ME2 on the left side of the window (Mod Library).
   
3. Drag & drop the HUD Icon Fix archive and choose to install it.
   
4. If you choose to install the Same-Gender Romances mod, do it now by drag, drop & install as well.
   
5. Drag & drop the Early Recruitment archive and choose to install it (with or without compressing it, your choice, but if you choose to compress, you have to launch ME2 once after installing the mod).
   
6. Drag & drop the Project Variety archive and choose to install it (with or without compressing it, your choice, but you have to launch ME2 again, once, after installing the mod). You will get a list of choices you can make. Choose whatever you want.

ME2Controller (optional)

This adds Controller Support. I will only provide the link to the mod, nothing else, as I have never tried it and have no idea how it works, what issues (if any) it has, or if it breaks anything while running with anything else inside my guide. You can try it if you so wish. Follow the steps written there.

You can find it here[www.nexusmods.com].

ALOT & ALOV

ALOT is a visual upgrade that contains a huge number of textures, and ALOV upscales and remasters all pre-rendered cutscenes.

First of all, download ALOT[www.nexusmods.com], found under the MAIN FILES category. Unzip it somewhere (wherever you want, since you will be deleting it after the install), and then launch ALOTInstaller.exe. Let it update, and then let it open, don't close it.

We then have a list of stuff we gotta download (save them wherever you want, best to keep all of them in the same place/folder):

• Improved Static Lighting[www.nexusmods.com] (you can find it under the OPTIONAL FILES category)
  
• ALOV[www.nexusmods.com] (you can find it under the MAIN FILES category. Also, I highly suggest you download the 4K version instead of 1080p, no matter what resolution you will be playing on)
  
• ALOT Update[www.nexusmods.com] (you can find it under the UPDATE FILES category)
  
• ALOV Update[www.nexusmods.com] (you can find it under the OPTIONAL FILES category)
  
• Carnifex Weapon Texture[drive.google.com]
  
• Katana Weapon Texture[drive.google.com]
  
• Predator Weapon Texture[drive.google.com]
  
• Shuriken Weapon Texture[drive.google.com]
  
• Mantis Weapon Texture[onedrive.live.com]
  
• ME2 Improved Bun Textures[www.nexusmods.com] (download the ALOT version)
  
• HR Blood Dragon Armor[www.nexusmods.com]
  
• HR Inferno Armor[www.nexusmods.com]
  
• HD Omega Asteroid Textures[www.nexusmods.com] (download the TPF version)

Drag and drop all of them, one by one (waiting for each to load), into the already open ALOTInstaller. After that, go install them. In my opinion, you can ignore the warning that you did not back up the game. You can do it if you want, though.

Launch the game once after the install has finished

MEUITM2

This mod is a compilation of new textures for Mass Effect 2. Some are remastered textures in vanilla style, and some are completely new and optional. You have lots of options in the installer, you can check whatever you want to get installed. MEUITM2 also gives you the option to remove the Black Crush the game has, which pretty much means too much black in the game. If you do choose to go with it, the best way would be to also include the ReShade the installer provides, since it works perfectly together.

*There seems to be a little issue/bug with the ReShade, making the game way too dark at rare times. Reloading it by pressing ALT+TAB seems to fix it.

Download MEUITM2, HD Realtime Reflections, Better UI Patch and Miranda Installer Fix from here[www.nexusmods.com].

• Unzip MEUITM2
  
• Copy the files from Better UI Patch and Miranda Installer Fix inside the MEUITM2 folder
  
• Copy the files from HD Realtime Reflections inside the Mods folder, which is inside the MEUITM2 folder
  
• Run MEUITM2.exe

Launch the game once after the install has finished

Config files changes

Frame rate:

• Open Gamersettings.ini, located in C:\Users(YOURUSER)\Documents\BioWare\Mass Effect 2\BIOGame\Config
  
• Search for SmoothFrameRate, and make sure it is followed by =False. If you can't find it, search for the [SystemSettings] section (if you can't find it, write it yourself at the end), and then add it yourself underneath.
  
• We also need to disable VSync. Search for UseVsync= and add False. If you can't find it, add it under the FPS line you just added/changed.

Shadow resolution:

• Open Gamersettings.ini, located in C:\Users(YOURUSER)\Documents\BioWare\Mass Effect 2\BIOGame\Config
  
• Search for MinShadowResolution= and MaxShadowResolution=, and change them to 256 and 4096 respectively. In case you can't find them, just add them under the [SystemSettings] section (if you can't find it, write it yourself at the end).

Filmic response shader:

• Open UberPostProcessBlendPixelShader.usf, located in Mass Effect 2's main folder\Engine\Shaders
  
• Search for float3 x = max(0,InLinearColour-0.001); (it can also be another number, e.g. 0.004)
  
• Replace it with float3 x = max(0,InLinearColour);

Mouse sensitivity and acceleration:

• Open Gamersettings.ini, located in C:\Users(YOURUSER)\Documents\BioWare\Mass Effect 2\BIOGame\Config
  
• Add or change the following:
  [Engine.PlayerInput]
  bEnableMouseSmoothing=false
  MouseSensitivity=0.15
  
  [SFXGame.BioPlayerInput]
  bUseMouseDampening=false
  
  [SFXGame.BioSFHandler_PCConversation]
  AccumulationDivisor=600.0f
  
  
• Download and install Notepad++[www.notepad-plus-plus.org]
  
• Open Coalesced.ini, located in Mass Effect 2's main folder\BioGame\Config\PC\Cooked with Notepad++
  
• Then change or add the same lines you added or changed inside Gamersettings.ini. (You can ignore the ones starting with [ and ending with ])
  
• Save the file and then download this[community.pcgamingwiki.com]
  
• Unzip the downloaded file in the same location where Coalesced.ini is, and run it once

Credits

Nothing could have been possible without the authors of the awesome stuff I have provided in this guide:

• PCGamingWiki (fixes & list of mods)
  
• Erik-JS (Binkw32 Proxy DLL's)
  
• ThirteenAG (FOV Fix)
  
• Mgamerz (ME3Tweaks)
  
• Paleforce (HUD Icon Fixes)
  
• rondeeno (Same-Gender Romances)
  
• beccatoria (Early Recruitment)
  
• Khaar Machinima (Project Variety)
  
• Dybukk (ME2Controller)
  
• CreeperLava (ALOT)
  
• Audemus (ALOV)
  
• TheDarkFalkon (Weapons Textures)
  
• LiasFfalenn (Improved Bun Textures)
  
• Ottemis (Blood Dragon & Inferno Armor Textures)
  
• ClearanceClarence (Omega Asteroid Textures)
  
• C3Anderson (MEUITM2)
  
• Don Ho (Notepad++)
  
• Corvin666 (ME2 Coalesced Fixer)

You can now enjoy the game with as few bugs and performance issues as possible, with huge improvements and a big overall quality difference. I am sure there are other things one can add to this guide, or change, but this is 100% what I did and I am more than happy with the results. I hope my guide helped you! ^^

[Griffin]

Why is there not a single comment here?