The Definitive Improvement Guide

The single and most important guide you need for improving your experience with Mass Effect. Options and many other features in regards to gameplay and graphics are covered.

Introduction

Hello and welcome. I'm quite a fan of Mass Effect and with my countless playthroughs, I've learned quite a bit about each game. I've decided to write the "Definitive Improvement Guide" series to improve the experience people have with the games. While I strongly recommend playing the game without any modifications first, it's obviously your choice.

In this guide you will find every aspect covered, whether it be gameplay or graphics, I've tried to include as much as I can.

You will find that this first version is really a block of text formatted nicely. I plan to come back later and add pictures in (at some point).

I will be talking about editing ini files, and as thus, you will need a text editor to open them. Notepad in windows is a great choice. The ini files are located in Documents\BioWare\Mass Effect\Config within the user's directory. In Windows 7, it will look like: C:\Users\X\Documents\BioWare\Mass Effect\Config.

Ini files have a sectional header that's placed in [square brackets]. Under the header, there are keys with values. This is the styling I will be using for the guide.

I do not cover the graphical issues on AMD processors (with bulldozer and later chipsets) and the very strange black blocky character issue on Noveria.

Please enjoy, and comment any improvements you would like to see.

To-Do List

Here's my To-Do list. I haven't finished everything that needs to be covered, but I plan to come back and complete the guide. Comment below if I have missed anything.

• Pictures, pictures, and more pictures. This article contains a lot about graphics, so obviously graphics should be shown to demonstrate changes.

Graphical Improvements

In this section, the following is covered:

• Shadow settings
  
• Higher quality textures
  
• High refresh rate monitors
  
• 3D Vision

Shadows

Shadows can create dramatic effects, and improve the feel of environments.

Mass Effect was designed with lower console hardware in mind. This means that shadows will be of lower quality then what modern hardware can run.

DepthBias
In BIOEngine.ini the section titled [Engine.GameEngine] contains a key called DepthBias. The default value is .03. The value controls the "depth" of dynamic shadows rendered by the game.

Setting the value exactly, or close to 1.0 effectively removes dynamic shadows. Static shadows will remain however if this is the case.

A value of 0.012 or 0.006 increases the "depth" of shadows, making them more noticeable. However, this can cause glitches with the shadows.

MaxShadowResolution
Even with the previous improvement, shadows can still seem "blobby", or pixelated. Changing the value of the MaxShadowResolution key in the section titled [Engine.GameEngine] within BIOEngine.ini can improve this.

512 is the default, being that the "shadow maps" will max out at 512 by 512 px.

Increasing the value to something such as 2048 or even 4096 can help improve the looks of shadows.

The MinShadowResolution key shouldn't be touched unless you want to experiment. Setting it higher can in fact remove some shadows, which is obviously not what we want.

ModShadowFadeDistanceExponent
ModShadowFadeDistanceExponent under [Engine.GameEngine] within BIOEngine.ini changes how far you can see shadows from. The default is .2.

A value around .5 will cause most shadows to "disappear", while a value of 0.0 will force all the visible shadows to remain visible to the player, regardless of distance.

Here's the changes I made to my config file BIOEngine.ini[/i]:

....
[Engine.GameEngine]
....
ShadowFilterRadius=2.0
DepthBias=.012
MinShadowResolution=32
MaxShadowResolution=2048
ModShadowFadeDistanceExponent=0.0
....

Higher Quality Textures

There are 3 ways to improve textures in Mass Effect 1.

The first requires a little bit of editing.

TextureLODSettings
In BIOEngine.ini the section titled [TextureLODSettings] contains several keys which change LOD (or Level Of Detail). The default values work best with less capable systems and hardware (consoles). By increasing the LOD of textures, you can make them look more detailed.

From the default:

....
[TextureLODSettings]
....
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)
....

Change it to:

....
[TextureLODSettings]
....
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)
....

The other two methods require external patches.

That being said, it is recommended to apply a fix Mass Effect 1 so it is Large Address Aware (LAA). This will allow it to use more memory without crashing. TechPowerUp has a tool to do this for any program here[www.techpowerup.com]. Just jump through the hoops, and apply it the main Mass Effect executable.

One out of the two remaining is by using M.E.U.I.T.M.

You can download M.E.U.I.T.M. by visiting it's ModDB download page, and downloading either the torrent (if it's legal in your place of current residence) or by direct download links.

By extracting the target files (simply extract the part1 file and the rest will auto join as needed), you will be granted access to the easy installer. Run it, and clear the shadow cache before you start playing.

If you fail to clear the shadow cache, you will get odd "blocky" shadows which look funny. Simply go into your Mass Effect directory, and run the MassEffectConfig tool from the Binaries folder. In there, click the repair option, and then press the "Delete Local Shader Cache Files" button.

The last way is to use Texmod, a tool to "hack in" textures by replacing them in memory. To date, I have been unable to find the files for Texmod to use with Mass Effect 1. I would strongly recommend the above instead, as Texmod is really a last resort.

High Refresh Rate Monitors

Something I had noticed in my playthroughs was the lack of "smooth" motion. I run a 120Hz monitor myself, and regarded it as an engine issue since v-sync was off.

On further investigation, it wasn't V-Sync as I expected. The game was magically running at a cap of 62, and I know my hardware is able to pull more frames off. Digging through the game configuration files, there's a hidden feature called "Frame Rate Smoothing". In reality it does the same thing as V-Sync, but instead of pacing the frames, it simply limits the number of frames that the engine can output. Why is this option not in the settings? Who knows, and I can't really figure out why it doesn't auto detect refresh rate.

Regardless, frame rate smoothing can be helpful since it can prevent tearing, but doesn't cause input lag like V-Sync does. The default of 22 as a minimum and 62 as a maximum is not ideal for monitors which can easily show 120 or 144 frames a second without tearing.

In BIOEngine.ini the section titled [Engine.GameEngine] contains a key called bSmoothFrameRate. The default value is True, which enables frame rate smoothing.

While you can disable this feature, it's recommended that you keep it enabled since it prevents tearing, which many find horrendous and unbearable. You can instead change the maximum value to match that of your refresh rate. In my case, that would be 120.

So now BIOEngine.ini looks like:

.....
[Engine.GameEngine]
bSmoothFrameRate=True
MinSmoothedFrameRate=22.000000
MaxSmoothedFrameRate=120.000000
.....

3D Vision

Helix mod is a MUST when using stereoscopic 3D provided by 3D Vision. It corrects the depth on many gameplay elements, while either altering or removing shaders which can detract from the 3D experience.

You may have to use a driver version of 332.27 or around there to get Helix to work.


As described above with the high refresh rate monitors, "Frame Rate Smoothing" limits the frame rate of the game. This can lead to a bad stereoscopic 3D experience, since you are effectively halving the frames per a eye. With 120 frames a second, each eye gets a perceived 60 frames. This can be an issue with a frame rate limit of 60, as each eye would perceive 30 frames each.

Increasing the Max number of frames before smoothing is a valid option, but you will find that disabling frame rate smoothing entirely is the best option when using 3D Vision. It could be in part to some buffering or something else.

If you wish, you can change BIOEngine.ini so it looks like:

.....
[Engine.GameEngine]
bSmoothFrameRate=False
MinSmoothedFrameRate=22.000000
MaxSmoothedFrameRate=120.000000
.....

Gameplay Improvements

In this section, the following is covered:

• Inventory settings
  
• Grenade limit changes
  
• Weapon bindings

Inventory

Inventory mechanics can make a simple game quite hard, since you can only store so many items. However, with Mass Effect, you find that it becomes an annoyance more then anything else.

Mass Effect was designed with lower console hardware in mind. This is one reason I was given by a friend that may explain why the caps on the inventory size are what they are. Another valid reason is because the game was really a bridge between older mechanics and more "modern" versions.

m_nMaxCredits
In BIOGame.ini the section titled [BIOC_Base.BioInventory] contains a key called m_nMaxCredits. The default value is 9999999. The value controls the amount of credits the player can have at one time.

I don't really want to give a lesson on data types and sizes of variables, but let's just say that changing the value to something massive could cause issues. It depends how the value is stored.

There's no real reason to change it, you can always add more credits later if you want though the developer console.

m_nMaxGrenades
The previous improvement wasn't something really significant. This one is, as it can allow for grenades to be stored. Changing the value of the m_nMaxGrenades key in the section titled [BIOC_Base.BioInventory] within BIOGame.ini can resolve any storage issues.

5 is the default, which is ok. Again, data sizes come into play, so pick something reasonable such as 99 or 999.

m_fMaxSalvage
m_fMaxSalvage under [BIOC_Base.BioInventory] within BIOGame.ini changes how much omni-gel you can store. The default is 999.

With the inventory size change listed below, this is a worthy change if you like using omni-gel instead of solving puzzles.

The data type would seem to be a float. If you don't know what that is, it's not going to change anything, but for those with background in programing, they can fine tune the setting.

m_nMaxInventoryItems
Changing m_nMaxInventoryItems under [BIOC_Base.BioPlayerSquad] in BioParty.ini could be the most significant change, and probably most important.

The small default value of 150 drove me insane towards the end of the game. Something much more reasonable, such as 500 proved better.

m_nMaxInventoryWarningThreshold
m_nMaxInventoryWarningThreshold under [BIOC_Base.BioPlayerSquad] in BioParty.ini simply changes when it warns you you are running out of space.

The small default value of 135 only allows for 15 more items to be added before you might have to ditch some good items. Obviously change as you see fit, with my value of 500 above, I picked 450.

Weapons

With the sniper rifles, some users prefer the ability to toggle the zoom on and off instead of holding down a key.

Bindings=
Bindings= under [BIOC_Base.BioPlayerInput] in BIOInput.ini has one line that references this binding. Look for the line:

Bindings=(Name="RightMouseButton",InputMode=BIO_INPUT_MODE_NONE,Command="ToggleZoom | OnRelease ZoomOff | InGamePropertyEditorLeftTrigger | MiniGame_LeftTrigger | GuiKey BIOGUI_EVENT_BUTTON_LT | OnRelease GuiKey BIOGUI_EVENT_BUTTON_LT_RELEASE | FireVehicleCannon 1 | OnRelease FireVehicleCannon 0",Control=False,Shift=False,Alt=False)

and replace the OnRelease ZoomOff with OnRelease Zoom as such:

Bindings=(Name="RightMouseButton",InputMode=BIO_INPUT_MODE_NONE,Command="ToggleZoom | OnRelease Zoom | InGamePropertyEditorLeftTrigger | MiniGame_LeftTrigger | GuiKey BIOGUI_EVENT_BUTTON_LT | OnRelease GuiKey BIOGUI_EVENT_BUTTON_LT_RELEASE | FireVehicleCannon 1 | OnRelease FireVehicleCannon 0",Control=False,Shift=False,Alt=False)

I played Mass Effect 1 with these settings made to BIOGame.ini[/i]:

....
[Engine.GameEngine]
....
[BIOC_Base.BioInventory]
....
m_nMaxCredits=9999999
m_nMaxGrenades=99
m_fMaxSalvage=999
m_fMaxMedigel=99
....

Changes made to BIOParty.ini[/i]:

[BIOC_Base.BioPlayerSquad]
....
m_nMaxInventoryItems=500
m_nMaxInventoryWarningThreshold=450
....

Adding DLC

For Mass Effect 1, there were two DLCs released. The first (and one that's free) is Bring Down the Sky. The second was Pinnacle Station, which must be purchased outside of Steam.

Bring Down the Sky

Even as Bring Down the Sky is free, it's not included with your Steam copy. We are going to resolve that issue now.

This DLC adds a mission to the game which introduces the batarians along with 90 minutes of additional gameplay.

To acquire the DLC, simply download a new installer from EA, and select the English, Spanish, French, Italian, & German link. After downloading, install the DLC like a normal program and it should now be available in game.

Pinnacle Station

Pinnacle Station is not available in Steam, and must be purchased through Bioware/EA.

This DLC adds 3 new missions, the landable Pinncacle Station, along with an apartment for Shepard. This additional content adds about 2 to 3 hours to the gameplay.

To acquire the DLC, you must install EA's Origin Client. From the client you can purchase the DLC, install the DLC with respect to your steam copy, and then uninstall Origin. For more information, please see this link[help.ea.cohttp].

[Jode]

BIOGame.ini and BioParty.ini are called DefaultGame.ini and DefaultParty.ini in my game folder (vanilla Steam version).

[Chewygamerz]

Thanks for the help. I'd award you but I just used all of my points recently. I'll try to keep you in mind the next time I make a big purchase.

[&Belle]

Thanks for the guide. I don't have ME1 on steam, but this really helped my origin install of the game look better. At full potential the native graphics have actually aged pretty well, considering.

The only hitch was the LAA patch. To make the patched game run with origin, I had to Run Origin As Administrator. The game then started up and ran normally. (I'm not using any other mods, driver settings, or external programs.)

[🌈fantasmagorilla]

Hi! You can download both Bring Down the Sky and Pinnacle Station DLCs from EA for free (at least at the moment). Pinnacle Station does need a working product key though but EA actually provides you that key.

Here's the download link and more info:
https://help.ea.com/en/help/faq/dlc-for-classic-games/#masseffect

[Gabiii]

possibly, anywho for the meantime im not entirely in the mood to keep redoing the entirety of the changes, all i had done is change the values, never deleted any of the words.

also, im unsure if i still needed to do the fix for the game LAA, but the websites that held the fixes are shutdown

[DarK_St3alth]

My assumption is that it couldn't load a texture map because either there wasn't enough vram or some typo in the [TextureLODSettings] section.

[Gabiii]

So, anywho i reverted the changes in the .ini files to their original values, game opened right back up

[Gabiii]

hey could i get a little help with something, on startup i cant get past the bioware logo without this popping up

Rendering thread exception:
Attempting to load unused mip #0 for Texture2D
BIOG_HMF_ARM_MED_R.MEDa.Iconic.HMF_ARM_MEDa_Ico_Spwr_Stack

Address = 0x78ff9c (filename not found)
alcCloseDevice{} Address = 0x1b48e7 (filename not found) (in
C:\Program Files (x86]\Steam\steamapps\Mass Effect\Binaries\OpenAL32.dll)
Gmatrix2D::Swap() Address = 0x10d950c6 (filename not found) (in
C:\Program Files (x86]\Steam\steamapps\common\Mass Effect\Binaries\MassEffect.exe)
GMatrix2D::Swap() Address = 0x10db34f0 (filename not found) (in
C:\Program Files (x86]\Steam\steamapps\common\MassEffect\Binaries\MassEffect.exe)
free() Address = 0x749b4c58 (filename not found) (in
C:\WINDOWS/WinSxS\x86_microsoft.vc80.crt_1fc8b3b9a1e8e3b_8.0.507.27.9659_none_d08cfd96442b25cc\MSVCR80.dfg

what could be causing this

(yes i had to type all this crap out)

[BadTrip]

Just a quick note if you try these hacks: ME 1 is REALLY sensitive and don't be surprised if you experience crashes. In particular if you try any texture mods. Likely you haven't done anything wrong, but the game engine is not designed for modding so make sure you make backups before editing/adding stuff. You can, of course, always run the repair tool, but restoring backups is way quicker.

[Pvt. Peripheral]

"and then uninstall origin", best tip of the whole guide